Grace, Sorority, Economy

"Y-You spoke to her!?"

Shinobu's eyes were wide but then for a moment, he sighed, almost in relief. "That's good." He said smiling. His eyes then widened a bit again. "N-not that she called you a thief! T-That you spoke to her and you're... still here."

Shinobu turned his head. "She doesn't approve of the women I date." He said, turning his head a bit. "I haven't been in many lengthy relationships and I fear that she may be the cause with many of them. I tried to explain it to her at first, but she's especially stubborn." Shinobu lowered his head. "Eventually, I just got used to avoiding telling her too much about my own personal life. It made it easier to date and..."

Shinobu looked back at Cassie. "Well, if she happened to find out, then..." Shinobu faltered. "I don't know, really." He frowned. "I'm sorry to put you in this spot, I just... I've loved being with you and I didn't want things to end between us. I don't want her to get in the way and I know that if we got serious, it'd be inevitable but...."

Shinobu lowered her head. "I can't apologize enough. I know that Shi-chan can be a bit... unwelcoming towards the women in my life but she's still my sister and I do love her dearly. I have been the only person in her life for nearly all of it. I've almost raised her more like a daughter than a sister. I know what the right thing to do is, but that doesn't make it easy to do..."

Cassie smiled and nodded along, and gave Shinobu a funny little reassuring pat on the belly. "It's okay," she said. "She's your sister, so you don't need to justify her to me. If anything, I have to justify myself to her... If things get serious."

She made a conscious effort not to over think that phrase when Shinobu uttered it.

"I mean, you know Bucky. You know how close I am with my family, so I'd never want to mess anything up for you with your sister. Shi...kusu? I... Well, I'd still like to meet her at some point. Not right away! Unless... you want that. Whatever you want to do is okay. I can beat her up for you too! Er... No. Maybe not that. I think if anything, she'd beat me up!" She forced a laugh.

Shinobu blushed. "Ahhh... Thank you, Cassie-chan." He said, turning his head a bit. "It shouldn't need to be like that. I'm a grown man, I shouldn't even have to listen to a word she says but, we're family and very close. I am certain deep down inside, she does want the best for me and for me to be happy but I think she's just afraid she might lose her only family." At least, he hoped.

"Shikusu." Shinobu repeated. "I've been calling her Shi-chan as long as I can remember though." He smiled again. "I do feel better, Cassie-chan. For now. I'll make sure and tell her that you're a part of my life now for the foreseeable future." He let himself wrap his arms around her and squeezed her tightly. "And, I'd like to keep it that way."

He smiled. "I don't think she could beat you in a fight at all but... I don't even want to think about that, really." Shinobu said, lowering his head and resting his lips upon the top of her head.

"Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm..."

Cassie tucked her chin down and peered up at Shinobu with bright eyes. "Wellll..." She said, with hints of mischief tugging at the corners of her mouth. "I guess we should worry less about how well Shikusu fights, and more about how well you fight."

She poked him in the belly three times.

"It'll be fun. We should go to the gym sometime and just roll and I can teach. If that's... not too weird for you. It's perfectly natural for me, but I guess that maybe rolling around on the floor with a girl might be a little..." She trailed off, and never found the word.

"Weird isn't the word I would use, Cassie-chan." Shinobu said but paused. "I don't think I did too bad with Takeuchi-san... but... there's a big difference between you and her..." Shinobu looked at Cassie and smiled, blushing deeply.

"I'm willing to give it a shot, though! If I can't, uhm... concentrate enough... perhaps we could call in Johnny-kun and you can coach?" Shinobu smiled. "Though... I hope it doesn't come to that... I would much prefer if it was you and I."

"Not Johnny!" She blurted out suddenly, and automatically put a hand over her mouth. She didn't need to roll with Johnny. No one needed that kind of pressure.

"Er, I mean... Oh, you can work with him while I coach, that's good too. But I'd be happy to just work with you myself. It'd be... fun." She stared at Shinobu for a moment, and felt her eyes slowly gravitating toward his mouth. She shook her head and grabbed his hand.

"How are you feeling, anyway? You're not hurt or anything, are you? Because... I could maybe show you what you could've done against Ami when she was, um... Winning. If you want. Um... But I don't have clothes to change into here, soooo... Hm."

Shinobu's eyes widened when Cassie so adamantly disapproved of bringing Johnny in. He was going to ask when she suddenly asked about him. Shinobu touched his face. "Ahhh... my pride... and maybe my Q-Rating are the only things that were damaged in the bout, Cassie-chan." Shinobu said with a deep bow. "Thank you though. Your cheers encouraged me, even though I squandered them with my inexperience."

He then lifted his head and smiled. "I'd like to see one of your matches in person soon but for now, let's go to the gym. It's ok if I changed. I can change back. We can just do whatever you feel comfortable with wearing your street clothes. I can always have Fujiko-san run and pick up some clothes for you, if you prefer, too?" He asked as he tugged her towards the gym, away from the lobby.

Fujiko had returned and Shinobu nodded his head. "Cassie-chan and I are going to spar, please pick up some gym clothes for her!"

Fujiko raised her eyebrow but said nothing and quickly eyed Cassie to take a snapshot of the girl's figure before sliding away.

"O-oh, I don't want to be a bother..." Cassie said sheepishly. She had never been doted on before. She wasn't much for doting. And given Fujiko's fashion sense, who knew what she'd come back with...

"We're not just going to spar," she said to Shinobu in her instructor's tone. "I'm going to teach. That's part of the problem with the wrestlers here is that they all just do weight training and run on a treadmill and spar. You need to learn and then apply."

She took a breath as the two walked into the gym, and told herself that this was just like any other jiu jitsu class. She was just going to teach jiu jitsu... to an incredibly cute boy who she liked a lot and who liked her a lot. She gulped.

She pulled off her Ugg boots, but her yellow cotton dress would make things... tricky. She adjusted her green headband with the flower on the side to tuck her short orange hair back, and then knelt down on a wrestling mat.

"Okay. We'll start with the basics..." She began to explain the basic principles of jiu jitsu and how to best apply them to a more no-holds-barred type of situation, like in pro wrestling. There was a lot to go over, but she was patient, and she loved to teach, and until Fujiko got there with gym clothes she probably wasn't going to let anything in between her legs, while she was still wearing a dress.

Shinobu was pretty surprised when their "training" began with them sitting on some mats and talking about the basics of jiu jitsu. He really had expected them to be sparring. He thought that it was sort of better, actually. He could listen to Cassie and absorb what he was saying rather than worry whether or not he might touch her inappropriately.

As he was really getting into the mood, Fujiko sauntered back with a bag in her hand. She set it down next to Cassie. "This should be in you size. Thy had some things in the gift shop. A nice pair of shorts and a t-shirt. I figured you might like kittens." She said with a shrug. She then looked at Shinobu.

"Fujiwara-san, I've got to go. I have a lot of work to do concerning your match but go ahead and do your thing. I'll call if I need something.' She smiled at them. "You two have fun now. Don't be too rough on him, Cassie-san!" She chirped and left with as much swagger and quickness as she had entered.

The bag she had left with Cassie had a nice pair of tight, low cut, blue gym shorts with white piping and a black T-shirt with a picture of an angry Killer King that said "THE MAD BEAST!" above it and "Are you ready to turn into a jobber?" underneath it.

"And always here," Cassie said, with her elbows tucked in together and arms close to her chest. "A lot of the time people will post up on an arm, to help move, but you don't want to just give someone your arm unless you've got a plan. That's the thing about jiu jitsu, is that once you learn the techniques, you learn how to set them up two, three, four steps in advance. Like poker or chess or-"

Fujiko's return cut off Cassie's lesson, and she jumped to her feet to take the bag. "Oh, thank you so much, Fujiko!" She said, and pulled out the shorts. They were cute! But then she held up the t-shirt, and her smile stalled...

"Thanks, I'll just go change."

On her way to the locker room, she quickly pulled the Killer King shirt inside out. She hurried and changed as quickly as she could so she could get to the... fun part. Of the lesson. The jiu jitsu lesson.