Not Such A Speedy Recovery (Open To All)

Kira had imagined that after being beaten to a pulp by Carmen he would be in hospital for a few days - Imagine the shock on his face when he was told it would be for a few weeks. He had taken repeated powerful punches to the face, which had not only caused his face to swell, cut and bruise but also cause cuts inside the mouth and somewhat severe concussion.

Kira didn't do hospitals however. He hated the places. At first he had been placed on a general ward full of old men. After hours of complaining and threatening to self discharge himself he had managed to get his own recovery room. Even here however he was not happy. The room was bland and boring, the same colour of magnolia mixed in with a bit of white to give it the illusion that it was shiny. That was the problem with this place, everything tried to look and shiny. It wouldn't be so bad if it could actually pull it off however it had been so poorly done it made the place look worse to a well trained eye.

Kira had some visitors, Both Kia and her friend Toshiko would visit and his mum would pop in every now and again; though mainly.it was to scorn him for not working hard enough to win against Carmen. It has been two days since anyone bad popped their head in. He had noticed some AFW fighters pass but he never shouted out to them. He caught a couple of the televised matches but for the most part had become bored and stagnate. He needed someone to talk to.

This wasn't the first time Carmen put someone in the hospital - her opponents often had little stays after their matches. Heck, she'd spent more than her fair share in them, too, even though she'd won them all, back in the day. Fractured jaw. Broken hands. Cracked ribs. A lovely little litany of injuries over a relatively short career.

But this did mark the first time she ever bothered to come and visit. Kira hadn't been her toughest opponent by any stretch of the imagination, but he had been one of the most stubborn, she had to give him credit there - most guys in his position would have thrown in the towel at the half way point, but he kept on going and left it all in the ring. For that, she figured he at least deserved a quick visit.

"Yo." She knocked on the side of the open door as she slid in. "Hey, chico."

Kira's day had not been going brilliant thus far. Earlier in the morning his mother had came in and given him yet another scolding session about how he was disgracing her name. Sure Kira wasn't a fighter in a family that was full of them but oh well, some people weren't. Kira let out a sigh when he saw who came through the door, it was hard to tell what emotion he was feeling by looking at his face, It was all still swollen and was now a black and blue tint rather than red.

"Come to gloat, well it wont work. You won. Well done but I don't plan to lose next time , and trust me i know there will be a next time. I already filed for a rematch in a few months... Well actually my mother did but that's just her doing what she thinks is best. I for one actually support her idea for once"

She raised an eyebrow. "Your...mother did?" That's some strange motherly love, right there. Carmen's Mom couldn't even bare to watch her fights, even though she had only ever lost one, much less make her get back in the ring.

She shook it off and stepped in, handing him. "Well - your funeral, I guess; you must really like the food in here." She walked over to him, reached into her jacket and...handed him a 'Get Well, Soon' card. "And no, I didn't come to gloat." She set the card on his table and turned around. "But if you're just going to be an ass, I'll see myself out, thanks."

Kira would let out a gasp when she put the card down. "I am sorry, still pretty pissed off about losing. I trained hard for that one. Harder than i ever trained, sure at first it might not looked like it but i was ok when i got my confidence back. My mother was a champion wrestler, she seems to think it runs in the family and essentially manages me. I am going to train the next 3 months, apparently however since you are the one being challenges you get to choose his the fight goes down. So you don't have to pick boxing, you could choose any type of match and setting you fancy"

She stopped at the door and turned around, leaning up against the frame. "I'll...fine, I'll think about. But I'll tell you right now - training isn't like in Rocky II, where you can just go hard at the last minute and hope to pull off some miracle. You'll be training, but I train, too. If there's a gap, it's going to move."

She pushed off the door and walked back his way, hands on hips, but serious. "You might want to tell your Mom - maybe the ring isn't for you. Not everyone is called to be a fighter; some got it, some don't."

He listened to what she said. She had a point "Like it or not i have to prove myself. Defeating you was supposed to be that turning point. But oh well, once i am fit i am going to start training with someone, not sure who though. I am hoping that i can close that gap slightly. I want to be able to say i knocked down a champion. I want to be able to know what it is like to win"

Kira would sigh once and get out of his bed, he could walk after all. It was just his face that hurt. He would walk upto her and stand right in front of her and put a hand on her shoulder "I am a fighter, and in a few months i will prove it to you. You are a champion, your a target, a barrier for me to aspire too. Sure you will hospitalise me many a times. But i wont stop"

She shook her head. "Not a champion, no. Mitchell is a champion. Angel is a champion. Akashi was a champion. So was Clyde. They'd do you just as I did, if not, worse."

She leaned over the bed. "If it's what you want, I won't stop you. Prove me wrong, sure. Just don't kill yourself over it - not worth it, man."

Kira would suddenly feel strange. As Carmen leaned above him he would pull her closer until their lips brushed against one another. His lips were swollen still but were still quite soft. Her would push his lips forward, turning the lip brushing into a kiss. He would hold it for a few seconds before he broke away, looking flustered and somewhat afraid of the consequences. "Sorry" he muttered.

Carmen punched him square in the face. No hesitation. No thought. Just a straight up punch, right in the face, on pure reflex. "What the fuck, man?" She spat to the side. "Seriously, what the actual fuck? What was that?"