Misery Loves Company

In the time she had been in Japan, Rachel had been to quite a few bars around the area. Hopping in here and there after the occasional match (that didn't put her in the hospital), or just a rough night, she'd learned the hot spots around the area pretty well. Her wrestling "career" even managed to warrant some attention in some establishments, though nothing a whole lot more celebrated than some turned heads and hushed whispers, or maybe the occasional autograph request. The places that she really liked to frequent, however, were the smaller spots, the pubs and dives that didn't bother her too much when she went to get a drink. The kinds of places that had a loud bartender who doubled as a chef, and at least one arcade machine in the back. She'd found a favorite one of these places on the south side of town, and while the last girl Rachel had fought seemed hell-bent on mangling her insides, Rachel herself figured she could always do with a bit of sake or bourbon to finish the job. Her best friend and roommate, Alex Withers, was usually up for a night out on the town, but lately she had been acting a bit paranoid, trying to stay out of public places for a while, and Rachel knew enough not to ask questions. Instead, she found a lonely stool by the bar, ordered a drink, and hoped no creeps would take the spot next to her before she was sufficiently sloshed.

They say drinking helps ease the pain. Although that actually applied to emotional pain, and Maddie's pain was a lot more on the physical end. For all intents and purposes, she shouldn't have been out of her apartment. After what Gail did to her, her poor pussy was still aching pretty bad, and it had been two whole days already! Well Alicia's beating had taken her almost five, all things considered, and this had been pretty comparable. At any rate, she couldn't stand laying around with an ice pack on her crotch all day and all night, so Maddie had dressed herself carefully and hobbled out of her room. Normally she wasn't one to wear a skirt, but considering her current condition, she felt tonight would be an exception, and thus wore a white blouse with a green jacket, and a short black skirt.

Not telling Akiko and Yukiko, who would doubtlessly try to keep her in bed, Maddie had made her way over to a nearby bar. Neither them nor her were drinkers by any means, and with her build it was almost guaranteed she was a total lightweight, but the petite, black-haired girl really needed to drown some of her sorrows.

It was a pretty small place, not too crowded, which was ideal since Maddie didn't want anyone recognizing her. A quick scan of the room didn't identify anyone she might have to be wary of, but... Wait a second... Now there was a face that brought back some very painful memories. Rachel, the girl she teamed up with in her debut match, a match Maddie sorely wished she could have erased from history, was sitting by herself right by the bar.

Had it been sooner, she would have been angry. Pissed off and blaming the girl for what happened. But that was a long time ago, and Maddie knew a lot better now. She had no idea how Rachel had been doing since, but something told Maddie it wasn't much better than her. Biting her lip, contemplating hard for a moment, the petite girl worked up the courage to walk, or kind of hobble actually, over to where Rachel was, gingerly sitting herself down on the stool next to her.

"So... Um... Hi. I don't... I don't suppose you remember me?" she stammered out, in the most socially awkward way possible.

Rachel was already partway lost in her drink when a gentle voice squeaked her way from the next stool over. A familiar voice, if only faintly so. But, as she turned to face the girl next to her, she did indeed remember who this was. Rachel was always good with faces, she could spot someone she met once at a party in crowded subway if it was important enough. Names... not so much, but even then this was different. When you're responsible for someone getting as beaten up as badly as this girl was, you make a point to remember their name. And while Rachel's responsibility in all that was debatable, it kept her up enough to make sure she remembered this girl, and keep an eye out. Still, it was going to take another shot before she could muster up the courage to speak.

"Maddie?" she asked after a slight pause as she brought her drink back down to the table. "Yeah, I remember you. How have you been?" It was a rhetorical question, of course, Rachel had watched several of this poor girl's matches since, and they had all gone... roughly the same, but she asked anyway for the sake of formality.

Maddie smiled weakly at the recognition, and was a bit relieved Rachel didn't seem angry with her somehow. The question, of course, made the girl squirm uncomfortably in her seat. "N-not... Not that great at all..." she sighed dejectedly, propping her arms up on the bar counter and burying her face in her hands. After a brief moment, she recovered though, and quickly turned back to Rachel. "S-sorry... What about you...?"

She instantly regretted that. Not only had she just brought a dark mood down upon them, but she asked the exact same question to a girl who probably didn't want to answer as much as she did. Stupid. Trying to hide her shame, she quickly motioned to the bartender. "Uhh... just get me something fruity. And not too strong, please." To which, of course, the man laughed, although very justifiably. This was becoming a wreck.

If there was one thing Rachel really had a knack for, it was reading people, and it didn't take a psychoanalyst to see Maddie was pretty beat up about things, both physically and emotionally. If she didn't have someone to comfort her outside of here, she needed it here, and she probably could do to vent a bit as well. Honestly, Rachel was feeling the same way, but it was in her nature to put others before herself, and she wanted to make sure this girl was at least going to be okay.

Scooting to the end of her seat, Rachel placed an arm over Maddie's shoulder and did her best to look the girl in the eyes. Sure, physical contact wasn't always a wanted thing, but people who don't like to be touched don't generally sign up for professional wrestling, and Maddie looked like she needed some comfort before she became a nervous wreck. "Hey, hey," Rachel responded softly, "it's okay. You don't have to be sorry. I get it. Really. I haven't... been so great myself, so I get you." She sat there for a few moments longer before backing up a little bit, her hand still on Maddie's back but not quite so close. "Look, I know you don't really know me all that well, but if you need to vent about shit... well, I'm a good listener. If not, that's fine, though, no pressure," she said as she finally scooted back fully into her own seat, giving Maddie her personal space once more.

Maddie was a bit taken aback as Rachel put her arm around her, turning her head to the side where their eyes would meet. She couldn't really tell what kind of expression she was wearing at that moment, but she was sure it looked pathetic. The sound of a drink being placed in front of her, caused a brief distraction, though when she looked up the bartender had already turned to leave.

Whatever it was, it was very blue. A kind of pretty blue, actually. It couldn't taste that bad, right? Picking up the small glass, Maddie took a cautious sip of the unknown concoction. It was definitely sweet and it went down easy, although she could still feel the alcoholic aftertaste a bit. Hopefully it wouldn't fuck her up too badly.

The petite girl let out another sigh, and took a more comfortable sip of her drink. It wasn't in her nature to vent. She didn't want to trouble Akiko and Yukiko with her problems, and strong fighters like them probably didn't even know what this was like. She did feel a bit of an odd camaraderie with Rachel though. Granted, they had gotten their asses thoroughly kicked together once. Maybe this girl and her could relate to each other, at least a little bit.

"Dammit... I just... I knew coming in to this thing I was probably gonna be a weakling. But I got to meet Akiko-senpai and Yukiko-senpai again, and if I tried hard I thought I could get stronger..." Maddie slumped her head lower, as her eyes started to sting a bit, and she absentmindedly placed her hand near her aching crotch. "But it feels like I haven't gotten stronger at all. Like I'm still nothing but a joke of a jobber whose just here to get cuntbusted to hell..."

Rachel frowned. She knew the feeling, getting her ass beat and being treated like a joke. Well, by some of the wrestlers, anyway. She was lucky enough to make friends like Amy and Hayasui, and she always had Alex by her side. And by the sound of it, Maddie had a few people she could count on too. But, aside from Alex, none of these people really knew what these two were going through.

"Yeah..." Rachel mused into her own drink, taking another sip as she did, "I'm really sick of it too. Of not being able to put up a fight, of not being able to defend myself. I'm sick and tired of all the belly-punching, and the baseball bats, and the, well..." Rachel drifted off before going with that last one. 'Cuntbusting' certainly was a word for it, especially given how vicious the libido of some of these wrestlers was.

'Cuntbusted' indeed was a bit of a strong term to use, but it was hard to describe her fight against Gail as anything but that. It could have just been empty words there, but Maddie felt for a moment that Rachel really did understand what she was going through. She took another, larger gulp of her drink. The alcoholic aftertaste was nearly unnoticeable already. In spite of that, and being only halfway done with the beverage, she could already feel that slight warmth in her little belly.

"Ghhhhhhh... I totally thought I caught a lucky break with that last one too, but..." Maddie winced noticeably as the pain briefly resurfaced, restraining herself from outright grabbing her crotch. She slumped with her elbows against the counter. "I know I can't really talk, but fuck some of these bitches are psychotic..."

"I know," Rachel mused after downing another drink, now getting into it, "like, it's a totally different world in there. The rules out here? None of them apply in that ring, and everyone acts like a fucking animal!" After a brief pause, Rachel thought to amend her statement. "Okay, I mean, of course the rules don't apply, we're getting paid to fight each other. But that still doesn't warrant driving a sledgehammer into another girl's stomach!"

Soon, she was resting her own head on her arms, on top of the counter as well. "And... they just don't know when to stop. There are too many huge women here that I think legitimately want to kill me, in that ring or out. It's... it's scary."

A sledgehammer to the stomach definitely sounded awful. There were many times where Maddie thought she'd go sterile or something, but she couldn't remember a time where she felt like her life was actually in danger!

Gulping down the last of her drink, she put down the glass and made a motion to the bartender for another. It might not end well, considering her tolerance level, but that kind of felt like the least of her worries right now.

"Th-that's rough..." she managed to pipe up after a long pause. "I don't think anyone's legit tried to kill me yet. Seriously injure, sexually abuse, or outright torture, I mean yeah... That's happened... But...