Wrestling Angels - Burning Fire Tournament
An Orginal fic by Richard Beaubien

With many thanks to Ammadeau and Lerche for Editing!

****

Manami leaned in the corner of the wrestling ring, using the ropes
to keep herself upright. Every breath she took was labored; the pain
of the evening's event was finally catching up to her. Looking across
the ring she saw her opponent, a masked wrestler clad in red and bathed
in the white haze of the ring lights. She was slowly stalking towards 
her, like a predator moving in to finish off its wounded prey. She 
tried to move forward so she could avoid being an easy kill but her 
attempt at escape was halted by the sharp surge of pain she felt in 
her legs.

Sighing, she slumped into the ring corner and tried to
drown out the cheers of the sold out crowd, cheers which served to
amplify her headache. The end was near for Manami, she knew this
as she tried to stand up once more, ignoring the screams of pain
her legs were sending her. She had done her best, fighting off three
of her opponents by herself, but the fourth was so methodical in her
attack that Manami had little energy left to fight off a pin.

'No', Manami thought as she shook the cobwebs out of her
head, 'I'm not going to think that way.'

She turned once more to look at her masked opponent before 
she dashed towards her with unexpected speed.

"If I'm going to lose then I'm going to lose fighting!" She
cried as she ran towards her masked foe. Manami moved with such
quickness that her opponent was unable to defend herself as Manami
jumped into the air, extending her right knee out at the apex of the
jump. The knee connected violently with her opponent's face and sent
her reeling back towards the ropes. The impact force was so heavy that
she was knocked silly for a few seconds.

With her foward momentum Mananmi leaped over her stunned
foe,leaving her no time to recover from the previous strike. 
She quickly turned around so she face the back of her opponent 
andwrapped both arms around her waist. "I've got you now!" She exclaimed 
as she leaned back, carrying the weight of her opposition with her. 
She arced her back quickly, forcing her opponents shoulders and neck
hard into the mat.


"1..." Manami faintly heard, trying her best to keep her arms
wrapped around the prone masked girl. The roar of the crowd made 
it hard to listen to the refs count so she had to keep her focus 
till the end.


"3!" She heard yelled out. Manami finally let her arms relax,
which freed her opponent. Slowly standing up she heard the crowd 
cheer, drowning out the constant rininging of the bell which pounded
inside her head. The PA system flared to life, announcing something
that Manami could barely make out with her massive headache. 
Looking confused, she turned to face the referee, who made a 
three-count signal towards her.

Manami smiled as she collapsed to the ground. She was
able to pull it off against all odds. She was able to win the
tournament, the legendary Burning Fire Tournament, for her school.
She looked up at the arena lights, their soft light filling her eyes
and somehow soothing the pain she felt. Tears started to come as she
realized what she had done. She had done it for her school; Manami 
Fujiwara had won the Burning Fire Tournament for her school. And now 
at last Manami the Typhoon would become one of the
legends of the sport . . .

The ringing of the bell grew louder as Manami laid there,
drowning out the cheers of the crowd. "Mou, could you stop ringing the
bell!" she yelled as she turned over, gazing outside the ring. This 
was her moment, and she wasn't going to have it ruined by a constantly
ringing bell. What she saw outside of the ring put a quick end to her
festive mood though . . .

"No . . . No . . . Not now," she cried as she saw the giant
alarm clock outside of the ring, flanked by thousands of smaller 
alarm clocks in the bleacher seats. "At least let me get to the trophy
presentation this time!"

The clocks didn't listen to her plea, though, as they
started ringing in unison, bringing Manami crashing back to 
reality . . .

*****

Battle One: In pursuit of a dream, the Transfer to Toyota!

****

The morning sun warmed the streets of Tokyo, and the air
was filled with the chirping of birds. Signs of spring where spread
around the city; from the Cherry trees in full bloom to the festival
signs that decorated the stores. People everywhere paused to take in
the atmosphere of the new season, to forget the doldrums of winter and
to welcome the fresh start spring provided.

Everyone, that is, except Manami Fujiwara, who was running at
a breakneck speed down the street while trying her best to avoid
running into anyone. "Gomen!" the black haired girl apologized as she
weaved her 5'5" body through the sidewalk traffic, "But I can't be
late for my first day at Toyota High!"



She ignored the angries cries of the pedestrians as she ran
though, trying her best to stay on course. Manami didn't want to be
late on her first day of school, especially after putting in all that
extra work at Juku to transfer into Toyota High. Being tardy lead to
bad school records after all, which would get in ther way of fulfilling 
Manami's dream.

Glancing at her watch, she saw that she had little chance of
making it to school on time if she stayed on this road. 'Ack,' Manami
thought in a panic, 'I need to take a short cut!' Shutting out the
part of her brain which was telling her that she didn't really know 
the area and thus should stick to the main roads, Manami spotted a 
corner which would make a perfect place to start her shortcut. Speeding
up, she rushed around the corner and prepared to jump over the small
fence surrounding a nearby property. She didn't think the house owner 
would mind if she cut through the yard. After all, it was for a good 
cause . . .

Before she could jump though, Manami found her forward
progress halted as she ran into something, or rather someone. Sent
reeling in the opposite direction but able to stay standing, she 
quickly looked down to make sure the person she ran into was okay.
After all, Manami was quite sure that running into someone, even
if it was an accident, would marr the good school record she wanted.

"Ow, Why'd you do that?" The girl asked as she started to
collect her books. "Who do you think you are!"

"I'm sorry," Manami replied as she bowed in apology, "Here,
let me help you with those!"

"Mou!" the girl cried as she and Manami placed her books
back in the bag, "Now I'm going to be late..."

She trailed off as she finally got a good look at the person
who had run her over. "Mi-chan?"

"You... You know me?" Manami asked nervously as she
looked at the girl, trying to place a name to the face. She hadn't
seen many 5'1" girls with long blonde hair, glasses, and a face
decorated with freckles recently. Although something about the
freckles tugged at Manami's memory and forced her to imagine what the
girl in front of her would like as a 6-year-old. Suddenly the name
came to her, "Sakamoto-san?"

"Hai!" the girl exclaimed as she quickly wrapped Manami up in
a hug. "Though you know you can call me by my first name."

"Yes . . . Yes . . . Sora," Manami said, her friend's iron
grip making the simple process of breathing difficult.

"Sora-chan. Mi-chan, Sora-chan," A giggle escaped Sora's
lips, a huge smile appearing on her face. "And I haven't seen you for
years, ever since my family changed districts. What brings you around
here?"

"Can't . . . breathe . . . Sora-chan . . . "

"Oh," Sora plainly said as she let go of her grip, "Sorry,
I was just excited to see you again and I got a little carried away."

"That's . . . Okay." Manami gasped, filling her lungs with
as much air as she could in case Sora hugged her again for old times
sake.

"So what does bring you here, Mi-chan?" Sora asked, a
childish grin still on her face. "Did ya skip school to come catch up
with old Sora-chan!?!"

"No, I'm actually in this area to go to school, and I
was trying to find a short... -cut." Manami trailed off as she saw
her childhood friend look at her with even bigger eyes.

"That means... That mean, you're going to Toyota High, right?"

"Yes... "

"Sugoi!" Sora exclaimed in joy as she wrapped her arms
of iron around Manami one more time. "That means we can hang out
and be best friends and do all sorts of cool things!"

"Sora... chan...can't... "

"And I can show you around campus and introduce you to my other
friends and... and," Sora paused mid-breath to look down at her
watch, quickly letting go of Manami. "And we'll be late if we don't
hurry up. Follow me Mi-chan!" She yelled as she skipped along at a
brisk pace, leaving behind Manami to shake off the after effects of
her friends affection.

"Mou!" Manami cried as she gasped for breath, turning to follow
Sora. "Now I'm going to be really late. And I have to meet the student
council president as well!"

****


The student council president's office was elegantly designed;
from the fine oak bookshelves resting against the wall, to the sheer
white curtains covering the windows. A well-polished oak table was in
the middle of the room, covered in a fine white lace tablecloth with a
vase of red roses resting in the center.

Manami rested in one of the easy chairs near the table, catching
her breath from the sprint she and Sora had run to make it to school.
They had made it into the school grounds one second before the bell
rung, meaning Manami was more or less on time for her first day of 
school. She was gasping for air in front of the student council 
president though, which was probably not the best way to make a first 
impression Manami thought.

The president didn't seem to mind though, as she casually sipped
her tea. She had introduced herself as Hiromi Takada, a tall girl 
with brown eyes and long brown hair styled in a ponytail. Hiromi 
offered both a glass of water and a few minutes of rest to help Manami
recover from her sprint to school. It was not the kind of reaction Manami
was expecting from the president, she thought she'd get bucket duty for
a month because of her transgressions, but then Hiromi didn't seem like
the typical student council president.

Perhaps it was Hiromi's demeanor, which seemed to exude
a sense of peace and tranquility in everything she did. Or maybe it
was the way she wore her elegant school uniform, a long formal dress
designed especially for her using the colors of Toyota high. She 
would expect a prima donna to wear such a uniform, to attract 
attention to oneself and place them above her fellow class mates.
But Hiromi wore it with such grace and elegance that it made her 
seem like a real lady, yet still a part of her class.

Whatever the reasons, Manami felt at peace near Hiromi and knew that
she could
easily talk to the president if she needed to.

"Are you okay now?" Hiromi asked as she sipped her tea.
"Or do you need a few more minutes to rest? I can get another glass of
water if you need it . . . "

"I'm . . . okay . . . Hiromi-san. Thanks," Manami replied
as she bowed slightly, her strength having returned fully. "I
shouldn't even be like this, I'm a trained athlete . . . "

"Who just sprinted one whole kilometer here if the information in
your file is correct," Hiromi trailed off as she picked up the 
folder on the table and started to flip through it, "Actually it's 1.2 
kilometers from your place to Toyota. The fact you made it here on time 
after getting up is quite amazing."

"Thank . . . you," Manami said, still fighting for the odd breath,
"I just had to be on time for school! I know school starts at 8:30, so
it doesn't matter if I wake up at 8:20 or 8:25. I still need to make it
to school on time!"

"Yes it does Manami-san. With that kind of dedication you'll
do all right here. Though I do suggest you set your alarm earlier to
make it easier on yourself."

"Yes, Hiromi-san!"

Hiromi took one more sip of her tea before she started to speak
again, "Well, we don't have much to go through today, really. The
principal just wanted me to meet with you and to give you the Toyota
High rule book before taking you to your homeroom class. I'm also 
supposed to run down the clubs and programs you can join as well."

"Including the wrestling program?" Manami asked, a childish
curiosity appearing in her voice.

"Wrestling? you mean like the Burning Fire High School
championship Toyota has won over the past two years Manami?"

"Yes!" Manami exclaimed as she stood up, fire appearing in her
eyes, "I came here, I came here to . . . "

"To further your training as a professional wrestler, didn't
you?" Hiromi sighed slightly. "That's not a very lady-like activity
now is it?"

"But . . . But . . . " Manami stuttered as she tried to reply; a
look of concern appearing on her face.

"Oh no need to worry," Hiromi laughed. "As much as I don't care
for wrestling I try not to limit the club options of students. We have
a fine selection of wrestling clubs for you to join, including the
junior one run by Reika-san."

"Then I want to join that club!" Manami exclaimed as the
worry disappeared from her face

"But are you sure you don't want to join another club? We
have a great home making club here which would use more members."
Hiromi asked with a giggle as Manami looked on in shock. "I'm just
kidding Manami-san. I'm just kidding."

"Mou." Manami pouted, though it didn't remain for long when she
looked at Hiromi's gentle smile.

"Don't worry, Manami-san," Hiromi said with conviction. "I'll do
my best to help you achieve your dream. It's my goal here at Toyota 
as president, after all."

"Thank you, Hiromi-san . . . "

"Please call me just Hiromi. Everyone else does, Manami-san."

"Yes . . . Hiromi . . . "

"That's better." the president giggled as she stood up. "It makes
things less formal now, doesn't it?"

Manami had to agree there, she already felt more at ease with
Hiromi than with any other student council member she dealt with 
before. Most had seemed too caught up in their positions to worry about 
other students, but Hiromi seemed to genuinely care about her classmates.

"Anyway, let's show your home room now, Manami-san . . . "

"Yeah, let's go meet my new classmates!" Manami exclaimed as she
stood up, quickly running out of the door as fast as she could. It was
time to meet her future head on and live out her dreams. With the
help of her friends and Toyota High she could easily do that. As
she dashed along to her class, one thought came to her mind. "Oh wait
. . . I don't know where my home room is," Manami said with a sweat
drop.

"Please follow me, Manami-san, Follow me."

****

Manami nervously paced around the entrance of the classroom, her
new home room at Toyota High. In her hands was a note from Hiromi
explaining why she was late this morning. It was more than enough to
save her from a good chewing out by the teacher on her first day. In 
fact Manami could probably be a few more minutes late and still get 
away with it.

Tardiness and it's punishment where not the true reason behind
Manami's pacing No, there was another reason for her feelings of
dread, something which made Manami break out into sweat. It was one of
the few things that she generally feared in this world, perhaps even
more than a scary movie. It was . . . It was . . .

Public speaking.

Manami sighed as she leaned on the classroom door. It was ironic
really, she thought, a professional wrestler who was afraid of 
public speaking. It was an integral part of the sport, and Manami 
had seen talented wrestler's careers fade into nothingness because 
they couldn't speak in front of the fans. But no matter how hard 
she tried, no matter how many times she practiced her speech 
and posed, she just couldn't perform them in public without
goofing them up.

The problem wasn't limited to wrestling either, as other public
speeches tended to end in spectacular failures for her. Manami still
had bad memories of her last class play, where she had just one simple
line to say as a supporting character. A simple line which Manami had
memorized the night before, only to forget it before the start of the
play, leaving Manami no choice but to make up a line on the spot. It
came out so badly that she thought she ruined the whole class play.

And here she was, standing in front of her new class ready to
be forced to make another speech. She was well aware of the tradition
of schools getting their new students to speak for a few minutes
about their past when they first transfer in. It was the kind of
speech that, if done right, could make a wonderful impression on
everyone. But if done wrong . . .

"Well I can't hide forever I guess," Manami sighed, wishing Hiromi
had stayed to introduce her. At least that way she could count on the
president to do most of the speaking for the introduction, leaving her
with the simple task of saying hello. But Hiromi had to run off to
take care of school business.

"Victory to the bold," Manami whispered as a cheer to
herself, slowly turning around to open the door. She bowed slightly as
she entered, hoping that would serve as an apology for interrupting
the teacher's lecture. "Good Morning," she said as she walked forward
through the opened the door. She offered up a silent prayer to the
Kami, hoping that Toyota didn't expect extra special introductions 
from their new transfers.

"Good morning Fujiwara-san," the teacher said. "We've been
expecting you for quite a bit so I hope you have a reason to explain
your tardiness."

"I have a note from the student council President." Manami replied
as she looked around the classroom, a hint of relief present in her
voice. If the teacher lectured her for being late then Manami might
not have to speak in front of the class today.

"Ah, I see Takada-san did one of her lengthy introductions again,"
the teacher said as she looked over the note. "Well in that case
welcome to Toyota High Fujiwara-san. I'll be your home room and
English teacher, Chizuhara-sensei."

"Nice to meet you, Sensei," Manami bowed, taking a second to look
at her new teacher closely. She was wearing a sharp blue business suit
with blue trousers. Her long blue hair was worn freely with a small
strand covering her left eye slightly. It almost made her look like
one of those mysterious heros Manami saw on anime, an appearance 
which was only enhanced by her demeanor. Chizuhara-sensei seemed to 
be the type of teacher who would take little to no back talk from 
her class, though most teachers were like that to Manami. But then 
her former teachers weren't as young as Chizuhara-san, who looked 
like she was in her early twenties.

"Now please introduce yourself Fujiwara-san!"

"Well . . . " Manami stammered as she turned around to face her
classmates, trying her best to find a way to start her introduction.
'Should I just introduce myself or should I start with a joke,'
Manami thought as she looked at her new class. She hoped they would 
provide the inspiration needed to start her speech


Her eyes darted around the room, which seemed to grow bigger and
more cavernous as time went on. Dark shadows hung ominously over the
room, covering everything in their gloomy embrace. Suddenly her fellow
students grew into giants, towering over Manami. They looked down
towards her with a sneer on their faces, daring Manami to start her
introduction.

"Eh . . . " Manami stuttered as she looked up at the sight. 'It's
just your imagination running wild,' Manami repeated to herself, 'This
isn't real, this isn't real...'

'But I'm still scared,' Manami cried to herself as she looked up
to
the imaginary giants. 'Someone help me...'

"Mi-chan!!!" Manami heard as the vision in front of her reverted
back to normal. Well normal except for the fact that Sora was now
directly in front of her face sporting a huge smile. "You're in my
class again Mi-chan, after so many years!"

"Wow," Manami replied in an understated voice. "Who would have
thunk it?"

"Sugoi," Sora cried as she wrapped Manami in a vice like grip
again. "Sora-chan and Mi-chan are classmates again. We can eat lunch,
study togther, and do all sorts of other cool things togther."

"Ah . . . " Manami trailed off as she looked at Chizuhara-sensei,
her eyes pleading for help.

"Sakamoto-san?"

"Yes Sensei?"

"While it's nice to see you're friends with Fujiwara-san, such
reunions can be done after class time." Chizuhara paused for a few
seconds, her eyes looking squarely at Sora's with an intense glare
Manami had never seen before. It didn't take long for Sora to wilt, as
she slowly freed Manami from her grasp. "Thank you, Sakamoto-san, now
please continue Fujiwara-san."

"Well . . . "

"Well Mi-chan wants to be a pro-wrestler," Sora interrupted in
fast paced voice, allowing little time for the teacher to protest.
"She's always wanted to be one since she was a kid and she's really
good at it, she was the best at our old school and She's also a good
student and a great friend and will have lots of fun at Toyota, 
and can she sit near me, please, please, please?"

"So... Is that all Fujiwara-san?" Chizuhara slowly asked, trying
her best to figure out just what Sora said in her rapid fire speech.

"More or less," Manami replied in the affirmative, a sweat drop
appearing on her head as she looked at Sora.

"Well then, you can take your seat," Chizuhara-sensei paused as
she looked at the happy expression on Sora's eyes. "Right next to
Sakamoto-san, she can show you the ropes here . . . "

"Wai!" Sora exclaimed, once again practicing her bear hug on
Manami. She quickly let go and started skipping to the back of the
class. "My seat's over here in the back, right where the best seats
are!"

"Cool," Manami plainly said as she followed Sora to the back of
the class. She breathed a slight sigh of relief though as she didn't
have to speak in front of the class. Granted it came at the expense of
being put in a painful torture grip by her friend, but to Manami that
was still better than speaking in front of a crowd.

"Anyway let's open our texts to page 121 and take a look at these
verbs . . . " Chizuhara-sensei lectured as Manami quickly opened her
text. She'd have time to work on a proper face to face introduction
later, but right now she had to do school work. And prepare for later
in the day, when she would get her first taste of Toyota high
wrestling training.

"I can't wait!" Manami exclaimed in an excited whisper. She had
already lost interest Chizuhara-sensei's lecture after only a few 
short minutes. Instead she was planning out her glorious training at
Toyota High. Already she had drawn out a complete work out plan in 
the margain of her paper, each doddle having a smiling Manami flashing
a victory sign as she worked out.

"Fujiwara-san?"

"Yes," Manami responded in a confident voice. Her eyes were
filled with stars as she turned to look at the teacher, a huge smile
on her face. "The key to my success was running 100 laps daily, doing
1000 squats. And the most important thing was that one box of pocky!" 
Manami than finished the speech of by flashing a 'V' to the whole 
classroom.

"Fujiwara-san!" Chizuhara growled, waking Manami up from her day
dream.

"Ahh, I'm sorry sensei. We we're reading page 121, right?" Manami
asked as she quickly picked her book up. Chizuhara responded to the 
question by throwing her eraser at Manami. It hit her squarely in the 
face, covering her in chalk dust.

"Now would you please translate this phrase into English Fujiwara-
san?" Chizuhara asked angrily.

"Hai Sensei," Manami replied meekly as she shook the chalk dust of
her face. There would be enough time for wrestling glory later, she
thought as she flipped through the pages. Right now she needed
to keep Chizuhara-san happy.

"To be or not to be..."


****

"And this is the fashion club room, they make the greatest dresses
in the world," Sora explained in a cheerful voice as she led Manami
down the hallway. They were stopping in front of each and every door
in the hall so Sora could show Manami what was in the room. "Oh, 
you'll love this . . . This is our cooking club room, where some 
of our best students come to improve their culinary skills!!"

Manami sighed; it seemed like such a good idea at first to ask
Sora for directions to the gym. She really didn't know the layout of
the campus and it would be a chance to spend time catching up with her
old friend. At least that was the original idea, somehow Sora saw it
as a chance to show Manami the entire school grounds and practice for
her chosen career as a tour guide.

"And here we have the Toyota library," Sora mentioned as she
stopped in front of two large oak doors, "This is the oldest part of
Toyota, one of the few remaining structures left over when the campus
was rebuilt in 1960."

"The campus was rebuilt in 1960?" A girl to the side of Manami
asked in subdued voice. She had introduced herself as Keiko, and was
one of Sora's friends at Toyota. Unfortunately for her she was around
at the start of the Toyota tour, and was dragged along so Sora 
could have another person to practice with.

"Hai! The campus was rebuilt in 1960 thanks to donations from
former class alumni. The library and the gym, which is across
from the library, remained as they were as a link to the past."

"The gym?!" Manami interrupted. "You mean it's over there?" 
She asked as she pointed at the doors on the other side of the 
hallway.

"Yes Mi-chan," Sora replied enthusiastically, "The gym has large
oak doors linking it to the main lobby which we are in right now. It
can hold up to a thousand people at a time, and holds many events
including . . . including . . . " she trailed off as she saw half of
her audience missing. "Mi-chan?"

"Over here!!" Manami yelled from the front of the gym, waving Sora
and Keiko over. "Is this where the wrestling club meets?"

"Well, I think they do meet here sometimes, though I could . . . "

"Cool," Manami exclaimed as she opened the doors to the gym. "Come
on Sora-chan, Keiko-san!"

"Mou . . . I haven't shown her the pool yet," Sora fumed as she
followed Manami into the gym. Keiko just giggled as she followed the
pair in, thankful that the tour was mercifully cut short.

"Sugoi," Manami whispered as she looked at the gym. The structure
was taller than her old gym, and the seating was set up like a 
sports stadium instead of the usual pull out bleachers. Up high in 
the gym rafters were the championship banners Toyota High sports 
teams had won. She looked at all of them before she stopped on the
two most recent banners, the ones from the last two Burning Fire 
Championships. They where the reasons behind Manami's transfer,
they proved that Toyota was the best wrestling school in Japan.

'If I train with the best I'll be sure to improve!' Manami
thought excitedly. 'And maybe one day I can be on a Burning Fire
Team...'

"Wow, this place is packed," Keiko said as she found one of the
few remaining seats in the gym. "I wonder if something special is
going on here today?"

"It's the club try-out today for the wrestling club,"
a voice behind the girls said. "So we have lots of young girls here."

"Eh, so that's why we have so many girls here," Keiko trailed off
as she looked at the source of the voice. "Hiromi-san."

"Please call me Hiromi, Keiko-san." Hiromi replied in a slightly
embarrased
voice.

"Yo Hiromi-chan," Sora greeted cheerfully, "What brings you to
this club meeting today? I know your not a big wrestling fan . . . "

"I know I'm not, but it's the duty of the student council
president to observe all club activities," Hiromi explained.
"And what better what to observe a club than at the
try-out day."

"Wow. You're so professional Hiromi!" Keiko and Sora exclaimed in
unison.

"It's just part of the job Keiko-san, Sora-san." The assembled
crowd let loose a great cheer, interrupting the conversation with
shouts of 'Reika-san'. Hiromi sighed, waiting for the cheers to die
before she continued again. "So what brings you here Sora-san, Keiko-
san?"

Before Keiko could respond Sora started to speak in an excited
tone, "Well I'm here showing Mi-chan around campus with the help of
Kei-chan. I showed her the cafeteria, the lab, the sports field, the
library which has a great selection of books as you know, and finally
we stopped here. Right Mi-chan?" Sora trailed off as she started to
look for Manami only to find she was no longer close by. "Mi-chan?"

"I think she's near the ring Sora-san."

"Eh!" Sora exclaimed as she started to look for Manami. Her view
was blocked by the crowd though, so she had to jump to see her 
Mi-chan. Sora continued to leap until she saw Manami near the front of 
the ring. "Mi-chan, mou!!!"

"Err . . . Sora-san?"

"All right come on!" Sora exclaimed as she quickly grabbed
Hiromi's and Keiko's wrists. Before the pair could protest Sora
started to plow through the crowd, "Just you wait Mi-chan, Sora-chan
will be there to cheer you on to wrestling glory."

"Sora . . . "

*****

A loud cheer filled the arena as the competitors faced each other
in the middle of the ring. The referee stood between them, quickly 
explaing the rules of the match. She then quickly stepped aside and 
motioned for the ringing of the bell. In a flash the leader of the club, 
Reika Nakano, was on her
opponent.
She quickly let loose with a savage chop to her foe's chest, forcing
the air
out of her. Reika repeated this until her opponent was stunned and
unable to
defend herself.

The fast paced action in the ring held all of Manami's attention.
The quick and deadly accuracy of the strikes and suplexes excited her
as much as any professional wrestling event did. For a try-out session
the moves were being done incredibly crisp and smooth, showing skill
beyond most high school opponents. Watching the action reinforced
Manami's decision to transfer to Toyota, the ability shown here would
be perfect for her to hone her wrestling skills.

Reika quickly captalized on the stunned form of her opponent.
Lifting her opponent up from behind, she drov her back and shoulder
hard into the mat with a vicious back suplex. With cat like quickness 
Reika sprang up and grabbed a hold of her opponent's arm. She then 
leaned back with all of her weight, finishing of the arm bar submission
by wraping her legs around the arm. Reika pulled back with all of her 
weight on the hold, increasing the force. "Wow, she's so cool," Manami 
exclaimed, joining the cheers of the surrounding fans.

Reika's foe started to quickly tap the mat, the sign that the pain
was too much for her and she was giving up. The roar of the crowd grew
as the ringing of the ring bell filled the gym, heralding another
victory for their sempai in the ring. A loud Reika chant started up,
and Manami couldn't help but join in with them.

But she soon stopped chanting as she looked into the ring and saw
Reika continuing to apply the submission hold. Her foe continued to
tap the mat, but it was to no avail as Reika was ignoring her pleas.
Instead she was taunting her as she contuined to pull back on the
hold. Manami's eyes quickly turned to the referee only to find the 
official was showing no interest in the events transpiring in front of 
her.

Rage boiled deep down in Manami's heart, she couldn't stand by and
let this happen. Reika had already shown her skill in the ring and
didn't need to rub it in anymore. It just wasn't the right way to 
wrestle, Manami thought. She had always been taught to wrestle fair 
and show good sportsmanship by her trainers. Wrestling in any other
way would always result in Manami running laps at the end of practice. 
But more than that Manami just couldn't stand a skilled opponent picking 
on a weak opponent.

So with the crowd still chanting for their sempai Manami leaped 
up over the security rail and jumped onto the ring apron. Breathing
deeply, she turned to face Reika and let loose with a cry of "Stop 
this Nakano-san!"

The arena suddenly became silent; the cheers fading away as
their attention was turned to the person standing on the ring apron.
Reika casually turned her glance towards Manami, slowly releasing the
arm bar hold.

"And what do you think you're doing?" she asked as she stood up, a
hint of acid in her voice.

"Fujiwara . . . Manami," Manami replied nervously."A new transfer
student that wants to join . . . that wants to join...."

"So you want to join the Wrestling club eh?"

"Hai!"

"And you think you can join like this!" Reika angrily yelled as
she glared straight into Manami's eyes.

"No," Manami stammered before she regained her composure. "I don't
think this is the correct way to join this club. But I had to stop you
from hurting that girl!"

Reika's laugh filled the arena, causing the crowd to join in for a
few seconds. It quickly died down though when Reika raised her hands,
motioning for silence. "I'll have you know I wasn't going to
hurt her. I was just showing her what to expect from the Toyota
wrestling clubs."

"By keeping a submission hold on after a match?"

"It'll teach her toughness. Next time she's in a hold like that
she'll work harder to fight it off."

"Toughness!" Manami screamed as her anger grew."That's not 
toughness, that's cruelity!"

"It would seem like cruelity to a cream puff now, wouldn't it?"
Reika replied in a mocking tone. "But I train my wrestlers to be
tough, not weaklings. If you can't accept that then you need to find 
another club to join, little girl."

"Tough training doesn't meaning hurting your wrestlers!
As the head of the club you should know that!"

"Eh," Reika said with a wry smile. "If you're so confident about
your so called training methods then why don't you show me your skill
, cream puff. That is unless you're scared."

Manami stared at Reika with a grim look of determination, fire
appearing in her eyes. "If that's the way it has to be, Reika-san,
then
I accept."

"Wonderful, Wonderful," Reika laughed as she started to stretch.
"Now I'm going to be a bit tired so it may take about two minutes to
finish you off, cream puff."

"That's Manami! And don't judge your foe before you've faced them
in
battle."

"Whatever," Reika smirked as she motioned the ref over, "Standard
rules, you win by pinfall or submission. Oh, and I'll try not ruin
your street clothes too much."

Manami just nodded in the affirmative, doing her best to loosen
herself up before the match started. She looked deeply at her opponent
to size her up. Reika was about Manami's height, being around 5' 4",
which meant Manami didn't have much of a reach advantage. The bangs
of her short blue hair covered her eyes, making them hard to read. She
also had her ring outfit on, consisting of a one piece black bikini
and matching knee boots with elbow high gloves. Manami silently cursed
to herself; she was fighting in her school uniform instead of her
usual wrestling gear. Reika would easily be able to grab some loose 
fabric and use it to throw her around if given the chance.

"Then let's get it on!" Reika screamed, as the ref motioned for
the bell to be rung. Reika quickly moved in to attack, running 
towards Manami. When she was close enough to Manami she jumped high
into the air. She threw her right knee forward as she flew, its path 
heading directly towards Manami's forehead. Manami barely had the time 
to bring up her hands to block, the force of Reika's strike pushing
her into the ropes.

"Mi-chan!" Sora cheered as she finally made her way to the front
of the ring, Keiko and Hiromi being pulled behind her. "Do your best
Mi-chan!"

"You show her Manami-san," Keiko added in before she turned to
Hiromi and started to whisper in her ear, "She'll be okay, won't she
Hiromi-san?"

Hiromi didn't answer though, as all of her attention was focused
on the action in the ring. She carefully watched Manami recover on 
the ropes, a wry smile appearing on her face.

"Thanks, Sora-chan!" Manami exclaimed as she regained her
composure, her eyes searching for her opponent. She was shocked to
see that Reika had moved in quite close, a wicked gleam in her eye.
"How'd she?"

"Take this, cream puff!" Reika yelled as she quickly brought her
left leg up to kick Manami's mid-section. The blow moved too quickly
for her to block and thus Manami took the full force of the strike.
The impact of the attack forced all of the air out of Manami's lungs,
stunning her for a few seconds. She started to stumble back into the
ropes again but found her motion stopped. Reika was behind her and she 
had wrapped her arms around Manami's mid-section.

"And now I end this little charade," she cried as she leaned back
with all of her weight, bringing Manami's body over with her. She let
go as Manami started to fall, allowing her shoulders and neck to
freely hit the matt with a loud thud.

"Mi-chan!!" Sora screamed as she saw Manami laying motionless in
the ring. Reika stood over her with a smug look on her face and Sora 
knew that Reika had something nasty in store for her friend. "Come on 
and get up, you can do this!" Sora exclaimed, hoping her pleas would 
bring Manami to her feet.

'What, is this all you have?" Reika laughed as she pulled 
Manami's limp body away from the ropes. Once she reached the middle
of the ring she grabbed a hold of Manami's right arm. Reika then 
started to slowly lean back, putting her weight on the arm. "Let's 
see how you like this hold ,cream puff!"

"MI-CHAN!!!"

Manami smirked as she heard Sora cry her name. Her ruse was
working as the crowd thought she was out of this contest. Truth be
told she almost was; she didn't expect Reika to hit her that hard or
fast. But she wouldn't underestimate Reika again and would be
ready for any attack she'd try to pull off. Luckily for her Reika
seemed
to enjoy taunting her foes, wasting valuable time by dragging her to
the center of the ring. And she was taking so long to apply the arm
bar submission hold, which would allow Manami more than enough
time to rest up for her counterattack.

"Behold fool, Victory is mine!" Reika exclaimed as she went to
lean back with all of her weight. Before she could finish of the 
hold though, Manami had used her free left arm to spring up into a 
handstand. She was able to surprise Reika with this, which gave her
a chance to wrap her legs around Reika's neck. Locking the hold in 
tightly, she proceded to cut off Reika's air supply with her legs.

A few seconds later Manami found her right arm had been released
from Reika's grasp. She was now using both of her hands to try and
free herself from the grip of Manami's legs. This was the moment
Manami was waiting for, using both of her free arms to push herself 
forward. The momentum flipped Reika over, sending her flying to the 
corner of the ring.

Reika landed hard on the mat, the impact of the throw knocking
her for a loop. It took her a few seconds to stand up, her eyes
darting around to find Manami. She turned around, hoping she would be
able to counteract the offence the cream puff had shown. She didn't
have the chance to react though as Manami was barelling down on her, 
her arm extended.


"Uryaa!!" Manami let loose with her battle cry as she leaped into
the air, her arm impacting with Reika's throat area. She flipped
herself over as she flew through the air, landing on her feet. The
impact of the blow sent Reika falling back towards the mat, where 
she remained this time.

"Mi-chan sugoi!" Sora cheered, the only voice which could be
heard in the now quiet gym. "That was so cool Mi-chan, keep it up and
win!!!"

"Sora-chan . . . "

Manami trailed off though as she saw Reika starting to rise.
Slowly she started to lurch over towards her, a wicked smile on her 
face. "So you've got some skill," she said darkly, "I guess that means
I can go all out on you, cream puff!!!" She screamed as she dashed 
towards Manami, her expression wild as she moved in for the kill.

But Manami wasn't worried as she held her ground, ducking
underneath an erratic clothesline thrown by Reika. She quickly placed
her hands on Reika's stomach, and pushed her into the air. The force
of the strike and Reika's momentum sent her flying into the air, the 
arc carrying her over Manami's back.

Manami quickly turned around, ready to capitalize on her
opponent's weakness and finish the match. Reika wasn't laying
on the ground where Manami expected her to be though, instead she was
flying through the air with her feet extended for a dropkick.
Reika's feet connected hard with her face as she was unable to react
quickly enough to form a defense. The blow once again sent her
tumbling backwards, with Reika quickly moving into to finish her off.
Reika reveled in the cheers of the crowd as she moved forward, knowing
full well that end was near.

"Come on Manami-san," Keiko and Sora cheered togther. "You can
beat Reika!"

"Reika-san, you're still too cocky," Hiromi whispered. "It just
might cost you here..."

"Oww! What hit me?" Manami asked in a stutter as she stood up, the
world spinning all around her. The noise of the crowd was barely 
audible to her; the only noise she could hear was the loud thumping of 
Reika's feet as she moved in to end the match. 'I need time to rest,' 
Manami thought as she tried to recover her bearings. 'I just need a 
few seconds to...'

Reika didn't leave Manami much time to recover as she quickly
applied a headlock to her staggering foe. Her smirk grew as she
started to raise Manami's body from the canvas. "Let's see how you
like my finisher, the Reika-crusher, cream puff!" Reika taunted as she
held Manami's body high in the air, keeping it in a vertical position
for a few seconds to create a greater impact for the move.

The crowd once again came to life, chanting in unison as they
anticipated Reika's spectacular finishing move. "Mi-chan!!" Sora
cried, her concern for her friend showing on her face as tears
streamed down her cheek, "Fight on Mi-chan!!"

"Oh no," Hiromi whispered, "She wouldn't . . . It's a club
practice. Reika-san, stop this please!!"

Manami herself was feeling quite dizzy, the whole experience of
being upside down being quite unpleasant for her. But it had given her
enough time to recover from Reika's previous attack. Reika continued
to taunt and play to the cheering crowd, which only allowed Manami 
more time to recover.

A smirk appeared on her face as the cheering of the crowd
increased. "Now!" Manami cried as she kicked her feet forward, 
the motion sending her back towards the canvas. Pushing off 
with her arms she pulled herself free of Reika's headlock
as she descended to the mat.

"That's not possible," Reika cried in shock as Manami landed in
front of
her. "You can't do that! Nobody can do that!"

"Not bad for a cream puff, eh?" Manami taunted as she quickly
moved towards the stunned Reika. Placing her arms underneath Reika's 
chest before she could defend herself, Manami lifted her high into 
the air.

"Uranage slam!" Manami exclaimed as she quickly fell foward,
bringing Reika with her. The ring shook violently as Reika's back hit
the canvas hard, the echo from the blow traveling through the now 
silent gym.

Reika winced in pain as she rested on the mat, the wear and tear
of the club activities finally catching up to her. This match was
supposed to be easy, a cakewalk for one of her skill despite all the
other matches she had fought. But somehow this cream puff had taken
some of her best moves and was still able to keep going. It just
wasn't possible; only one person in this school could withstand her
assault during a match. Everyone else fell victim to it . . .

She gasped for breath as Manami leaned into to pick her up,
spotting the opening she needed. "Knee Strike!" Reika cried as she 
brought her knee up towards Manami's stomach. The impact was quick 
and had served to stun Manami, giving Reika the needed to time to 
recover her stamina.

"It ends now!" Reika screamed as she launched a series of rapid
fire kicks to Manami's kidneys. The crowd clapped along as she hit 
the right and left areas repeatdly, encouraging Reika to hit harder 
each time.

Manami could do nothing to defend against the kicks; they were
moving to fast for her to block. The impact of each blow was slowly 
sending her towards the ring corner, wearing out her strength slowly.

Reika smiled at this as she executed a quick side kick to 
Manami's head. The strike was met with no defence and connected 
cleanly, causing Manami to slump in the corner.

"Excellent!" Reika exclaimed as she once again locked Manami's
head in a headlock. Wasting little time, she jumped up to the top of
the ropes and dashed a few feet. She then quickly leaped back into 
the ring, twisting her body so she could drive Manami's head into 
the canvas.

"Tornado DDT!" the crowd exclaimed, "Reika-san did a Tornado DDT,
sugoi!" Reika ignored the cheers as they grew though, as she mustered
her remaining strength to lean over and cover Manami.

"1," the ref counted, the spectators going wild as the end of the
match seemed near. "2....2"

'2,' Reika thought, 'Wasn't three supposed to come after two?' But
before she could turn to question the ref she saw Manami hold up her
right shoulder.

Reika tried to push Manami's shoulder down again, but
was thrown off as Manami pushed back with all of her strength. She
watched on in shock as Manami started to stand up, wearing an iron 
mask of determination.

"No, you couldn't have kicked out!" Reika cried as she hit the
mat, "Nobody gets out of that move!'

"I'm not a nobody, I'm Manami Fujiwara!"

"You're just a cream puff," Reika screamed as she dashed
forward in a final suicide strike, hoping it would be enough to finish
off Manami for good. Her momentum was stopped though as Manami quickly
dodged the strike. "Stay still you loser!!!" Reika exclaimed as she
turned around, only to see the growing smile on Manami's face.

She didn't have enough time to raise her hands to block the quick
kick Manami unleashed, her foot landing straight underneath Reika's
chin. The force of the blow sent Reika flying over the ring ropes, her
body crashing to the hardwood gym floor.

"This . . . can't . . . be . . . " Reika wheezed as she landed,
the pain of the impact spreading all over body. She also found it hard
to breathe as well due to the kick, each breath being more difficult
than the last. Looking up she saw the ring lights shine down on her,
their soft glow filling her eyes. 'Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if I
lied here,' she thought as she rested on the ground. 'A nap would be
good.'

And as Reika nodded off, she could hear the referee speak silently
in the distance. She tried to listen in, but it was too soft for her
to hear and would take much too effort to listen to. She had to nap,
after all she had beaten all of her opponents today. Like she always 
did. Cause she was Reika Nakano, and no one could beat her. 
Especially some cream puff named . . .

Before she could finish the thought though sleep finally overcame
her, a content look appearing on her unconscious face.

****

"10," the referee counted in a surprised voice, the gym stunned
into silence. "The winner by count out is Manami Fujiwara." The ref
weakly raised Manami's hand for a few seconds before she let it fall.
She then quickly left the ring so she could check on Reika's prone
form.

"I did it," Manami whispered, exhausted from the match. "I won. .
. I beat . . . " But before she could finish the sentence she was 
locked in the iron grip of Sora, who was wearing a big smile on her 
face.

"Mi-chan, you were so awesome," she said in admiring tone. "I knew
you could beat her, Mi-chan. Sora-chan had no doubts you could beat
her with your impressive wrestling skills and moves, which were so
awesome. What a way to start your career Mi-chan, what a way . . . "

"Way to go Manami-san," Keiko said as she shook Manami's hand.
"You really showed your stuff in there."

"I can see it now, Mi-chan as the heavyweight champion, Mi-chan's
special brand of vitamins, Mi-chan's special Shinto prayers," Sora
continued to exclaim, though Keiko and Manami weren't paying
attention.

"Well, I did face her after she wrestled a match, so she was
tired..."

"Such violence, I don't see why people like it," Hiromi muttered
as she looked around the ring. The gym was now mostly empty except for
the few remaining wrestlers in the ring. "Still, you did a great job
today. You should be proud of yourself Manami-san."

"Well," Manami trailed off as she laughed nervously, a small sweat
drop appearing on her head as Sora started talking about the box set
of her greatest matches.

"Err, excuse me Manami-san," one of the remaining wrestlers asked
meekly as she walked up to Manami. "But I was wondering if . . . if .
. . "

"Go ahead, it's okay," Manami replied as she looked at the girl
speaking to her, the same girl Reika had in the arm bar. "I won't bite
, honest. "

"Well, I wanted to thank you for saving me and I wanted to know if
you could . . . if you could . . . "

"Help you train to be a better wrestler, right?" Hiromi
said before Manami could respond.

"Hai," she responded in a meek voice, joined in by the other girls
that surrounded her.

"Well . . . "

"It's okay with me Manami-san," Hiromi said in a reassuring tone.
"These girls want to wrestle but they can't do it in the clubs that
already exist here. So it might be for the best if we form a new
club for them, with you as their leader."

"But I don't know if I can lead them . . . "

"I think . . . you'll do a great job!" the girl in front of Manami
stammered in a quiet, but emphatic voice.

"And than we'll have the video game deal!" Sora exclaimed. "128
bit glory for Mi-chan!"

"But, but . . . "

"I know you'll do a good job Manami-san," Hiromi said in an
encouraging tone. "And I'm sure training others will help you to train
better yourself."

"Well I guess so," Manami trailed off as she looked at the girls
around her and saw people desperately wanting to train to be better
wrestlers, girls like her. She couldn't possibly refuse them. "Okay,
I'm in!!!"

"Thank you, sempai," The girl said as she bowed.

"No problem, err . . . I didn't catch your name?"

"My name . . . is Shiori . . . sempai."

"Well nice to meet you, Shiori-chan," Manami said with a huge
smile. "It'll be nice working with you!"

"The same sempai . . . Oh no, I have to go now . . . I'll see you
later," Shiori calmly waved as she left the gym, followed by the
others.

"Oh well, I guess I have some responsibilities to take care of
now," Manami laughed in the middle of the ring.

"I'm sure you'll do a good job Manami-san," Hiromi said as she
left the ring. "You seem to be good at this so."

"Hiromi-san is right, Manami," Keiko added in, "Plus those girls
like you and look up to you for saving Shiori. So things should work
out."

"I guess so," Manami replied, a fierce look of determination
appearing on her face. "If they trust me that much than I'll have to
do a good job."

"Yeah, bravo Manami-san," Keiko cheered as Manami blushed. "Don't
you agree Sora-chan? Sora-chan?"

"And then we can have the retirement tour, where I can speak about
when I knew Mi-chan," Sora cried, drawing sweat drops from everyone
left in the gym.

"Sora . . . "

End Part 1