Kabuki Girls. 3
The moment I stepped into Gorilla Position, Sayuri seized both of my hands.
"You. You were several times better in the real match than you ever were in practice. You were truly incredible."
"You were amazing too, Sane-san. That final scream was so real."
"Really? I'm glad it came across that way. Anyway, it was a fantastic scenario. The TPA director and Jane Kim both praised it."
As she spoke, Sayuri glanced toward the director. He gave a thumbs-up, though his expression looked faintly bitter. I wanted to ask him about that look right away, but it seemed better to wait until my conversation with Sayuri was finished.
"The match between you and Asuna-unnie in two weeks is going to be fun too."
"You can stay at ringside that day if you want."
"I'd love to, but with the no-interference rule I'd probably get misunderstood. Besides, if I'm standing right there, unnie won't be able to focus either."
She had a point. Even though the ban only covered cross-brand interference, no one had been standing at ringside during the other matches either—not even Paulo Hackman.
"Talk it over with Asuna-san and do whatever feels comfortable."
"Yeah. Yeah. I'm gonna go wash up. I've already booked a night flight."
"Hurry and shower. I'll drive you to the airport."
"No, I can just take a taxi."
"It's fine. I'll take you."
"Alright then. Thanks."
I watched Sayuri leave Gorilla Position, then walked over to the director.
"Director, was there a problem with the match?"
"No, nothing like that."
"Then why the face…?"
"That bastard Bruce. Just thinking about him pisses me off. If that son of a bitch had just answered his damn phone properly…"
If Bruce Stevenson, TPA's CEO, had returned the calls, TPA never would have been absorbed by WWO. And if that had happened… would I even have become this big of a story? I probably would have just wasted time until I eventually made it to WWO. I couldn't say any of that out loud, so I simply dipped my head a little.
After exchanging greetings with the producers and the rest of the crew, I finally went to Jane and clasped her hand.
"You did great. Clean work. Just like Sayuri said—way better than the rehearsal."
"Thank you."
"There's something I want to talk about, but later. You go wash up first."
"Yes. See you later."
Once the show wrapped, I headed to the airport with Sayuri.
"You said there's no match on Monday. Why not just sleep over and leave tomorrow?"
"Being alone still feels strange. Even now… Anyway, it looks like the wrestlers are going to have to write their own scenarios again next time. Have you thought about how you want to work the match with Asuna-unnie?"
"Hmm. I don't know how much they'll cut the match time, but the way I'm thinking of it right now…"
I drove while explaining to Sayuri exactly how I planned to structure the match with Asuna.
"Huh?"
"Does it sound weird?"
She looked so surprised that I started second-guessing myself and asked again.
"No, no, it's fine. It's really good. Asuna-unnie will probably love losing that way. I already felt it when we were building our match, but you've got a sharp head on your shoulders."
"I've just watched a lot of matches over the years."
"Watching a lot of matches is one thing. Picking the good scenarios out of all of them is your talent. It's a really solid idea. When I see Asuna-unnie I'll run it by her and call you. That okay?"
"I'd be grateful. She's such a big senior that it's a little intimidating for me."
Before long we reached the airport. I waited until she boarded. Sayuri stepped through the gate and kept waving and smiling for a long time. I waved back, smiling the whole way, until her hand finally disappeared from sight.
The next morning I was in the middle of stretching when the phone rang.
— Ring ring, ring ring —
The name on the screen was Sayuri Sane.
"Hello?"
"Rina. Sleep well? I didn't wake you, did I?"
"I was stretching. Did you get in okay yesterday?"
"Yeah, of course. Got a minute to talk? Am I interrupting?"
"Yes, I can talk. Hang on a second—I'm just moving somewhere quieter."
I waved to Selma that I was stepping out, then hurried outside the TPA building and sat on a bench.
"Okay. Go ahead."
"Asuna-unnie wants to talk to you. That alright?"
"Yes, of course."
The moment I answered, there was a rustling sound and the voice on the other end changed.
"Hello?"
"Hello. This is Charina."
"Yeah. I'm Asuna. Watched your match yesterday—real fun. Scenario was real good."
Sayuri already spoke English with that distinctive Japanese accent, but Asuna's was even thicker. I'd heard that even when she spoke Japanese her Osaka dialect was so heavy that other Japanese people sometimes struggled to follow her. That was probably why.
"Thank you."
"And Sayuri told me the scenario for our match too. Real solid. I liked it. Don't know how much they'll cut the time, but five minutes, fifteen minutes—we can just run it as is."
"Yes."
"Only thing—I'm way more strike-based than Sayuri. You okay with that?"
Five years ago Asuna still used a lot of aerial moves. But once she hit around forty she dropped almost everything except dropkicks and splashes. She had never been much of a slam wrestler to begin with. Her flashy submission work was still there, and selling wouldn't be a problem, but her move set had narrowed considerably. A match with her would basically turn into something like mixed martial arts—punches, kicks, and joint locks.
"No problem. Even if it turns into a 'shoot,' I'm fine. Just don't hit me in the eyes."
"Puhahaha! Just like Sayuri said—straight shooter! Yoshi! Alright. Got it."
Asuna laughed like a man—loud and hearty.
"See you in Detroit. I'll buy you a good dinner."
"Understood. Looking forward to it."
Asuna handed the phone back to Sayuri. We talked a little longer, then hung up.
Whew. Second match against a Japanese wrestler, sorted. Starting today I needed to start working the heavy bag. For the receiving end, I'd ask Selma to kick me around a bit.
That afternoon Jane said she needed to talk, so I went to find her.
"You still have that mask?"
"Yes."
"Get it resized to fit your face properly. Or ask Hexa for the same one in a smaller size."
Mysterious luchadores had popped up in other matches before, but I hadn't expected to keep using the character.
"I thought that was a one-time thing. And isn't there a no-interference rule during the war?"
"During the war I'm still not sure. But later on I think we'll use that character every now and then. Get some gear ready for it—something bulkier, so you look bigger."
"Got it."
"And before you go to Law next week to face Asuna, we're going to film a scene of you stealing Hexa's mask."
She also asked how I planned to structure the match with Asuna, so I laid out the scenario I'd already worked out.
"Good idea. If Asuna already signed off, no problem. Do it that way. Anything else going on? Period management, that kind of thing?"
"No, nothing. My cramps were never that bad to begin with."
The cramps were probably muted because of something like a "Endurance" stat. I barely felt the pain.
"I mentioned this in passing before, but once you're in WWO, no matter what medication you take, you have to tell the team doctor or your assigned staff. Their drug policy is a lot tighter."
"Understood."
"And this is the most important part."
Jane straightened in her seat as she said it, so I sat up straighter too.
"You know the one-plus-one-year contract you signed with TPA is going to be assumed by WWO, right?"
"Of course."
"But my guess is WWO is going to come at you with an early extension offer. And it'll be a long-term deal…"
"A long-term deal? At most two-plus-one years, right?"
The words "long-term contract" genuinely shocked me. Jane wouldn't call a two- or three-year deal "long-term."
"No. Top-tier talent gets real long-term deals all the time. Charlotte Flair is on a seven-year. Vicky Lynch is on five. Roman Reigns signed for eight years. Even Chris Jacob, the guy you respect so much, had a seven-year deal with EAW. TPA just does short deals because of the way the company is built. A lot of our talent is hoping to jump to WWO or EAW anyway."
Wow. So the wrestling business had MLB-style contracts too. I'd always assumed everything was short-term because of injury and performance risk.
"So what should I do? How should I handle the contract?"
— Tap tap tap tap —
Jane drummed her pen on the desk, then set her face in a decisive expression.
"No. At the very least, don't sign any early extension until right before next April's WrestleMaster. Hold out. You're getting way more attention right now. The longer you wait, the higher your value climbs."
"How high are we talking?"
Jane roughly walked me through the salaries of Vicky Lynch, Charlotte, Lisa Raiple, and a few others, then told me I should be aiming for at least fifty percent of those numbers. Something about that still felt off to me.
"Wouldn't it be better to just wait until the first contract runs out in July?"
Jane shook her head.
"That would actually create bad blood. It starts looking like you're only in it for the money. Renegotiate around late February or March, and make a guaranteed WrestleMaster appearance one of the options—even if you lose, you still get a title match. Paul Levesque will give you whatever you ask for."
So: push and pull, but don't drag it out too long. And use that leverage to extract as much as possible.
"I understand completely. Thank you so much for looking out for me. You're coming over to WWO with me, right? You're not quitting?"
"Probably going together, yeah. Now get out of here."
"Yes. Get some rest."
Hmm. I was leaning on Jane for an awful lot. If she hadn't been there, I might have just signed whatever they put in front of me. I really needed to get her a proper gift. But what?
A few days later I bought a pair of decent-brand watches and handed them to Jane.
"What's this?"
"I feel like I've been taking too much help from you. They're couple watches."
Jane's sharp eyes went wide. She stared at me for a long moment before finally opening the packaging.
"For me and my husband to wear together? These must've cost a bit."
"They're not that expensive. Just something comfortable for everyday wear. You've given me so much advice and I've leaned on you for so many things. I'm sorry it took me this long."
Jane gazed at the watches for a long time. Light flickered across the metal surfaces, and for a brief second a subtle light flickered in her eyes as well. After a moment, still looking down at the watches, she spoke quietly.
"Turning them down would just look ridiculous, wouldn't it? Thank you. We'll wear them together."
"Yes."
Jane ran her fingertips slowly over the watch, almost stroking it. Then, so softly it was nearly a whisper, she said:
"If I'd had a daughter… she might have been a kid like you."
For an instant a smile touched the corners of her eyes—warm, and somehow a little bitter.
After hearing that, I couldn't say anything. I simply bowed my head, murmured a quiet "Thank you," and left her office.
Later that afternoon I passed Jane in the hallway. On her wrist, the watch I had given her was gleaming.