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"Breeze!" A familiar voice calls from down the hallway at the arena in Osaka. "Breeze! Come here!" Xavier Woods calls again.
Tyler's head pivots between Ravyn and JJ who just shrug. They'd barely been in the arena for five minutes after their birthday adventure with Tyler. The girls exchange a smirk behind his back as they follow him down the hall. He steps into the room Woods is in and the girls poke their heads into the door.
"Breeze come play Street Fighter with me!" Woods demands excitedly.
"Cool!" Tyler sits down next to his friend in front of Woods' portable Playstation 4. "Are you filming Up Up Down Down?"
"Yeah, might even do some filming on a game hunt when we get back into Tokyo," Woods confirms.
"We just got back from a really cool arcade," Tyler tells him as the game starts up.
The boys chat about the arcade while the girls watch over their shoulders. While they're playing Dolph and Zack sneak out of the locker area behind them carrying two small round cakes. Some other superstars join them, watching silently. Zack steps up to Tyler's left and Dolph to his right.
"Look everyone it's Tyler!" Zack shouts as he and Dolph smash the two cakes into either side of Tyler's face. Tyler turns around slowly as the rest of the superstars shout "Happy Birthday!" Before breaking into a round of laughter. Kofi records the entire thing on a GoPro. Tyler swipes gobs of cake and frosting from his eyes and glares at the girls.
"You two set me up!" He declares, knowing that they had some part in this.
The girls just point and laugh at him. They're joined by Seth Rollins who had once caked Xavier Woods on Up Up Down Down's birthday. Tyler gets up and rushes at the three of them with cake covered fingers.
"Nooo!"Ravyn wails as the sugary mess streaks her face. JJ and Seth react similarly. They collapse into a heap giggling like mad. Tyler huffs while the rest of the locker room has a laugh at his expense. Ravyn drags herself to her feet and wraps her arms around his neck. "Happy birthday babe," she grins and gives him a quick peck on the cheek for the camera. She licks the sweet frosting from her lips and smirks, "Delicious AND Gorgeous."
Their friends slowly begin to disperse back to the actual locker rooms. Ravyn catches AJ's eye as he sneaks out into the hallway. They exchange quick smiles before going about their days. Ravyn leaves the room to go check in with Mark Carrano. He lets her know that they'll be doing variations of the same card for the entire Japan loop. She's delighted to learn that she and Breezango will get to wrestle JJ, Dolph and Zack for the next four nights. She practically skips out of the office to find her friends.
The first show goes off without a hitch. There's a minor mishap before the second show of the tour when the Total Divas crew gets in a car accident and almost misses the show. But JJ and the divas manage to get to the building in just enough time for JJ to make it to ringside and manage her boys. Ravyn and JJ both feel good in the ring, but are still glad that they have tag matches to ease themselves back into the mix. The third night of the tour the girls get to work almost the entire match in Korakuen Hall while the men fight outside. The crowd is super hot and loud for a Japanese audience. The girls get a great reaction while having a fairly basic match Ravyn gets as much cheap heat as she can, beginning the build up for their upcoming feud. Ravyn barely manages to squeak out the victory for her team to end the match. Once they're back through the curtain the girls squeal and hug each other.
"You two sure have come a long way," Road Dogg congratulates them. "Great job out there tonight. I'm proud of you girls."
The girls give him a huge hug while saying some heartfelt thank yous before heading back to get changed. They shower and start getting dressed when Ravyn starts cracking jokes.
"You gonna be able to make it back to the hotel okay tonight?" She giggles reminding JJ of the day before when she and the Total Divas cast almost missed the show.
"Ha. Ha," JJ rolls her eyes. "I think Dolph and I are staying in tonight. I'm saving my energy for Tokyo Disney tomorrow!"
"Well, you ARE a ride addict," Ravyn snorts. "I think you'll probably ride every single ride in that park six times."
"Luckily Zack is just as obsessed as I am," JJ sighs. "The rest of you jerks don't stand a chance of keeping up." She leans back in the steel chair and looks at her friend. "What are you guys doing tonight?"
Ravyn shrugs, "I think AJ is going to show me around Roppongi. Then who knows. Probably hanging out at the hotel."
"We'll meet you in the lobby tomorrow morning then," JJ confirms before leaving to find Dolph.
Ravyn finishes up and heads to the bus that will take her back to the Tokyo Dome Hotel. She drops off her gear bag and meets AJ down in the lobby. A black baseball cap with his initials on the side pulled down snugly on his head. His smile when he sees her coming gives her butterflies. He hails them a taxi and they're on their way to Roppongi. AJ leads her by hand through some of the more interesting parts of the bustling area. Once they've had their fill of touristy night life they stop at a street side kabob cart before getting in a cab back to the Tokyo Dome Hotel. AJ stops to sign some autographs for a small, but growing, group of fans . Ravyn heads inside while munching on her kabob.
"What do you have there?" Karl Anderson asks appearing from around a corner. She just holds up the skewer of meat and veggies to show him. "Oh, got yourself a Roppongi K-bab?"
"A K-bab-bab-bab-bab?" Gallows pipes in over her other shoulder being silly. "I love a good Roppongi K-bab-bab."
"Where are you headed off to Hoot?" Karl asks her.
Before she can answer Gallows cuts in, "How about you come down to the hotel bar with me and Machine Gun Karl Brotherson here and have a couple drinks!"
Karl nods, "A little welcome to Japan!"
Ravyn shoots a sideways glance at AJ who just smirks and keeps signing for his fans. She shrugs and follows the good brothers to the bar. They sit down at a round table with a bunch of chairs around it. Ravyn sits next to Karl, Gallows on the other side of him. Gallows orders the first round and as they're waiting a guest arrives.
"How are you doing Hoots?" The smaller man asks.
"Well look what the cat dragged in," Karl beams. "If it isn't Little Cute Hoot!" He stands up and hugs the guy tightly. "This is one of my best friends in the whole world! Rocky Romero." He explains to Ravyn.
Rocky and Ravyn introduce themselves to each other as Rocky takes a seat next to Gallows. The three of them easily pick up like they hadn't missed a day apart. Ravyn listens intently, laughing at Gallows and Anderson's Stone Cold voices. By the time the second round arrives AJ joins the table, sitting next to Ravyn.
"Hey there Phenomenal Hoot," Rocky grins.
"Rocky," AJ smiles. "How've you been? How's New Japan?"
"Great! Roppongi Vice has been a huge success in New Japan!" He tells them.
"What's Roppongi Vice?" Ravyn asks.
Gallows and Anderson exchange looks, knowing what's coming.
"Roppongi Vice stays up real late, drinking in hotels like weirdos... Then we go eat McGriddles from Japanese McDonalds SUPER early in the morning," Rocky jokes quoting his entrance music. "Roppongi Vice is the tag team I'm a part of with Trent Baretta."
Ravyn laughs, "He says this as we're sitting in a hotel drinking."
"Oh hell yeah!" Gallows booms in his Stone Cold voice.
Karl nods, "Too sweet me on that Hoots!"
The table exchanges Too Sweets then continues chatting and drinking. Gallows voices soon spread to the other guys. Even AJ gets in on doing the Stone Cold impersonations.
"Is it me? Is it only freakin me?" AJ laughs. "I caught myself out there tonight doing the Stone Cold voice." The boys laugh. "I was out there telling the crowd 'Shut up! Shut up!" AJ confesses.
"Gallows popped me so hard tonight I had to roll out and hide myself laughing," Karl admits.
"He really just likes to hear himself talk," Rocky explains to Ravyn.
"Oh I noticed," she snickers. "We've been on the same bus all tour."
"How did you get so lucky?" Rocky's voice drips with sarcasm.
"Because she's one of the boys!" Gallows shoots him a look. "Speaking of the bus. Phenomenal Hoot hasn't been angry with us all week."
"Yeah Uncle Allen," Karl turns to face him. "What's going on? You haven't been nearly as cranky as you usually are."
AJ rolls his eyes at their childish mockery, "Maybe you just haven't been as annoying this tour."
Rocky snorts, "That's just not possible."
"No, there's something different," Karl observes looking AJ up and down.
"Maybe Uncle Allen found a girlfriend," Gallows jokes.
Rocky and Karl join in his laughter. For the first time in their relationship Ravyn catches AJ blushing. She starts to smirk but turns her head so the boys don't see.
"Maybe I did," AJ half confesses.
Karl glares, "Bullshit Hoot. If you had a girlfriend you'd be just as miserable as us. Being here, far away from home. Not cheating on your girl so you spend your days jerking off instead."
AJ cracks a smile, "Maybe my girl isn't back home."
Now it's Ravyn's turn to blush.
"What are you saying Hoot?" Gallows questions. "Do you have a girl from Japan?"
"No you idiot," Rocky slaps his chest. "She's probably in WWE."
Like sharks smelling blood the three of them start hammering out questions at AJ in rapid succession. "Do we know her?" "Which show is she on?" "Is she a good sister?" The redneck voices take over. "Have you taken her to your property?" "Get a little somethin somethin?"
"You've met her once or twice," AJ confirms trying to hide his reddening cheeks.
Karl leans towards the table, "Come on Hoot, don't leave us hanging!"
"Wait..." Gallows starts smirking. "Can she be on my podcast?"
"No!" Rocky, Karl and AJ all yell in unison.
Gallows loots briefly crestfallen, "Well you guys are no fun."
"So who is it Uncle Allen?" Rocky asks again, ignoring Gallows attempt to plug his fake podcast.
"Maybe..." AJ takes his time formulating a response. "Maybe she's here at the table."
"Ha!" Gallows bursts. "There's no way that's a thing."
"She would eat you alive Hoot," Karl agrees. He shoots Ravyn a grin and smirks.
AJ slips an arm around Ravyn's shoulders. She scoots her chair closer to him and leans into his leather jacket clad chest. She looks up at the rest of the table and smiles sheepishly.
"Is this a shoot?" Karl asks seriously. Both Ravyn and AJ nod.
"Prove it," Gallows demands jokingly.
Without hesitation AJ's hand cups Ravyn's chin, tilts her face towards him and kisses her deeply. For a few moments they're completely lost in each other. Their tongues dance together eliciting cat calls from the boys. When they pull apart a few seconds later Gallows, Anderson and Rocky are just staring at them in awe.
"Well hot damn Hoot!" Karl breaks the silence with a chuckle.
Gallows makes a point of closing his gaping mouth which had fallen ajar when their kiss began, "Hoot, that was hot!"
Ravyn blushes a bit at their display. Kissing AJ in public floods her with a whole new wave of emotions.
Rocky laughs, "So what's a beautiful girl like her doing with an old man like you?"
AJ rolls his eyes before slipping into his Ric Flair impression, "Brother, Space Mountain may be the oldest ride in the park. But it's got the longest line! Woo!"
"Easy there Nature Hoot," Karl giggles. AJ shoots Ravyn a quick wink. "Why don't you go ahead and take... Punk Rock Princess Hoot back to your room. We wouldn't want to keep you two love birds."
AJ stands up from his chair and offers a hand to Ravyn. She gladly takes it. The two of them wave a quick goodbye before turning to leave the bar. As they near the exit they hear Karl say, "Rocky, they are definitely going over thirty minutes!"
AJ holds up a Too Sweet on their way out the door, earning a round of laughter and clinking glasses from the boys.