Runnin' Down a Dream

In the early morning hours of the day, as the sun was just beginning to rise above the far-off horizon, a solitary figure jogged along the empty streets of Tokyo. She was alone, as she always was during her morning jogs, but she didn't mind it. She preferred being alone during her workouts, especially during her early morning runs. It gave her time to think about things, and let her keep her mind focused on what she was doing. It was usually her favorite time of day, especially when the streets were so empty and the sun was just starting to rise.

Angel had missed this, during her recent trip back home. As nice as it was to get back to Mexico and spend some time with her family, she had missed these early morning moments. She had still kept up her working out while she was back home, but she had missed the big city. There was something about the atmosphere of Tokyo at this time of day that she loved, something about the way the sun's slowly breaking rise crept through the skyscrapers and the buildings, something about it all that hit her just the right way.

She ran, moving swiftly along the streets of the city, and kept running even as the early morning commuters began to make their way out of bed and into the city streets. There were a few cars starting to head down the city streets, and a bus here and there, and a few people starting to walk along the sidewalks as well. Angel paid them no mind, other then to make sure not to run into anyone, and they kept out of her way. No one recognized her, either, which didn't bother the Latina any. She didn't want to be recognized while she was out jogging. She was wearing her usual grey sweatpants and grey hoodie, with the hood pulled up over her head, the outfit she always wore while she was running the city's streets.

Eventually, Angel began to slow, approaching a convenience store, the same store she always ran by in the mornings. She came to a stop and pushed her hood off of her head (it was the polite thing to do, after all), and stepped into the store. She gave the cashier a nod and and a smile as she entered, and he returned a friendly nod to her. She had been coming here for years, and the two of them never really said much to each other. There was really no need. They were on friendly enough terms, as far as the customer/clerk relationship went, and there wasn't much need to take things further then that.

She headed to the fridge in the back of the store, and grabbed a bottle of water, pulling it out and unscrewing the top. She took a quick drink from the bottle as she turned to leave again, and as she passed the clerk she dropped the exact change to pay for it on the counter in front of him. It was their usual ritual, and as she dropped the money her gave her another nod, before going back to his newspaper.

It felt so good to be back into her usual routine, it really did.

Once she neared the exit, the Latina pulled her hood up over her head and pushed through the door and out of the store, breaking into a jog as soon as she stepped out of the building, going right back into her workout, her bottle clenched tight in one hand as she took off again.

Just like most every other day Natasha was up and moving by the time the sun had just risen over the skyline of Tokyo, a sight she never grew tired of viewing from her bedroom window. After a quick morning shower to wake herself up Natasha checked her calendar to see what would be taking up her time that day. Besides the usual time spent in the gym or down at the AFW training center for practice Natasha typically had various meetings to attend all over the city, having grown busier since winning her hentai title with all the interviews and promotional work the company required of its champions. There was just one event scheduled for the day and it was a short one, a fifteen minute interview on a local radio station in a few hours.

Since it wasn't going to be filmed Natasha had a bit more freedom in what she would wear, ending up going with a blue skirt that went down to her ankle but had a slit cut up nearly to the top on the left side and a white top that left her shoulders and upper back bare. Natasha then pulled on a short sleeve jacket to cover her shoulders but left it open in the front. Once she was pleased with her clothes Natasha slipped into a pair of running shoes, she had a lot of walking to do that day after all, and went downstairs for breakfast. She ate simply that morning, just a few eggs and apple slices, and once she was finished got into her car and drove downtown.

Natasha parked in a garage near the radio station but with a couple of hours remaining until the interview she had plenty of time to walk around and visit the small stores and cafes in that area. Her first stop was at a family owned cafe where she had become hooked on their iced coffee, stepping inside where she chatted up the young woman behind the counter who was a few years younger than Natasha was and yet already ran the cafe in the mornings before school. They talked for a time about nothing of any importance before Natasha finished her coffee and bid her adieu, stepping outside without a real idea of where she wanted to go next.

Angel jogged through the streets of the city, her thoughts growing idle and sparse as she dashed along the sidewalks. By this point in her morning excursions she was usually running on autopilot, her body moving on it's own as she finished up her final lap and began the race back towards her apartment.

She knew this part of the city quite well, and knew exactly where to move and where to dodge to stay out of people's way. The Japanese were strict on their schedules, and she had been doing this for so long that she had most of the schedules for the regulars in this district memorized. Even if she didn't know them by name, she could remember their faces, and remembered exactly which way to turn and move to keep her pace without disturbing anyone.

Arcade on the left, owner will be sweeping the sidewalk, move to the right. Two businessmen at the newspaper stand on the right, go around the back. It had all became routine to her, and it was a routine she enjoyed, something she could always count on to be a steady constant in her life.

Cafe around the corner. Just opening right about now, no customers at this time of the morning, she thought to herself, picking up her speed a little bit as she approached the corner in question. It seemed like a nice place, though she had never been there herself, but it seemed nice enough.

She reached the corner and quickly turned along the sidewalk, racing straight ahead in front of the building, paying no mind to what was directly ahead of her, the Latina assuming that the sidewalk would be clear there, just as it was every morning.

It had been over two years since Natasha had moved to Tokyo to chase her dream of wrestling professionally and even after all that time the city found ways to surprise her, always some new place she hadn't seen before that everyone insisted she visit. So when she found herself downtown with nowhere to be, a rare occurrence especially during these last few months, Natasha liked to just walk around and search for the next gem hiding somewhere out there waiting for her to discover it. Natasha had stumbled upon the cafe on one such stroll through the city streets and now she visited at least once a week. She couldn't wait to see what she ran across today.

"See you next week Hiori!" Natasha called out to the woman behind the counter, not looking where she was going as she waved farewell and stepped outside, right into the path of an oncoming runner. There was a loud thud as another body crashed into her, their foreheads banging together as Natasha was flung down onto the pavement. The cup of iced coffee in her hand exploded in the landing showering her with some of its contents though most spilled out onto the sidewalk, Natasha flat on her back staring up at the sky as one thought raced through her head.

Did someone get the number of that bus?

Natasha brought a hand up to her head to check for blood but thankfully she had come out with little more than a headache and some minor scrapes along her arms. "Well...that was unpleasant." She groaned out while forcing herself to sit upright, shaking her head to clear her vision of the birds flying around her head.

"Wait, Angel?" She said in clear disbelief, not believing what she was looking at with her own eyes. She wouldn't have recognized her in those clothes but the woman's hood had slipped down in the collision.

Angel turned the corner, and ran straight into Natasha, not even realizing what had happened until she had already ran into the bluenette, sending the two of them to the sidewalk in a large, messy heap.

She let out a sharp, startled cry as she banged into Natasha, feeling a surge of pain rush through her head from the impact. When they hit the ground she found herself lying atop of the woman, but the close encounter only lasted an instant, Angel quickly rolling off of her and sitting up, rubbing her head with one hand to try and ease out some of the pain.

She didn't even bother getting a good look at the woman, paying her little mind until she heard her name being called out. Once she did, she turned to look towards her, confusion spreading across her face as she tried to chase off her own cobwebs, trying to piece together everything that had just happened in the last few seconds.

"...Natasha?" she finally asked, after a few seconds worth of staring at the girl and trying to remember her name. "What are you doing out here so early, chica?"

Natasha's vision had been little more than a blur after getting run over otherwise she would have recognized Angel right away when they were on the ground with the Latina laying on top of her, their faces only inches apart and the rest of their bodies much closer than that. It would have been quite the enjoyable experience, Angel's body pressing down against her own, but the stabbing pain in her head and back kept her from thinking of anything else for the moment. Within seconds the moment was over however as Angel was quick to roll off of Natasha, neither woman realizing who they had just run smack into for several seconds with Natasha the first to make the connection.

Angel was every bit as surprised to see the Frenchwoman as Natasha was to see her, neither of them having met since their exhibition match nearly a year ago. Natasha suddenly recalled how much she had hated losing that match even if Angel had been champion at the time.

"I would ask you the same question but I guess I already know the answer, experienced it first hand even." Natasha replied as she started making her way back to her feet, groaning softly as her spine made its disapproval known in the form of a new pain shooting through it. "Well I was just having a cup of coffee inside and thought I'd talk a walk, explore a bit, didn't think I'd find you though."

If she made it back to her feet first Natasha would reach out, offering to give Angel a helping hand up.

Angel took Natasha's hand, letting the woman give her a hand up. She rose back up to her feet, and looked downwards, glancing over herself carefully. A bit of dust and dirt on her clothes. No biggie. She reached down and started to brush herself off, stealing a glance back up at Natasha at the same time.

"Didn't think I'd find you either." A pause, as Angel twisted her neck around, trying to look at the back of her pants, reaching around to brush off any stray dust that was there, too. "How have you been? I haven't seen you since...well, you know. She grinned, and flashed Natasha a quick wink. "Since I beat you down last summer, yeah?"

Natasha half expected Angel to ignore the offered hand and rise up under her own power but the woman surprised her by taking her hand almost immediately, not too proud to accept a helping hand it seemed. Seeing Angel dusting herself off reminded Natasha she likely needed to do the same, a quick glance over her clothing discovering she had little dust on her front but looking over her shoulder she could see her back had dirt in a few places. She brushed away what dirt she could while keeping her eyes on Angel, not wanting to be rude while the woman replied to her, though she couldn't help but roll her eyes when she mentioned their match.

"I seem to recall a mutual beat down for most of that match Angel, but yes you did get the better of me, no use denying the past after all." She said with a shrug of her shoulders, a broad smile on her lips. "Well after that I had a run of good matches, even captured the hentai title at Avalanche last year much to the displeasure of our honorable German manager." Natasha said the word "honorable" with as much sarcasm as she could manage.

Angel rolled her eyes at Natasha's last few words. "Let's not talk about her. I'm having a good day so far and don't want to ruin my mood, chica."

She watched the bluenette trying to dust herself off, and with a playful sigh, the Latina stepped over behind her. "Here. Let me give you a hand," she offered,  lifting her hand to brush off the dirt in the spots that were too hard for Natasha to reach. Once she was finished, she paused, unsure of what else to say, but feeling like it would be rude to take off running again and leave her behind on the street.

"So...hentai title, huh? How's that going for you?"

"You won't get any argument from me." Natasha said while raising her hands, palms open and facing up as she shrugged her shoulders. "She is like a dark cloud that hangs over everything, but no need to let her ruin this bright morning."

Natasha was having a bit of trouble knocking all of the dirt and dust from her previously prestine clothing, but much to her surprise Angel stepped in to give her a helping hand, Natasha giving the woman a brief puzzled look but quickly smiling in appreciation. "Why thank you mademoiselle, though I suppose you were the one who got me dirty in the first place." She said with a soft and teasing laugh, glancing back over her shoulder to see she looked no worse for wear.

Turning back to face Angel she was a bit surprised the woman didn't bid her adieu and return to her morning run, Natasha was even more shocked to hear her asking about her title. After blinking a few times Natasha smiled and said, "Well finding a challenger has been more work than I thought it would be, but I'm sure one will be announced any day now. Besides that I've quite enjoyed my time as champion so far, it was surreal winning it, holding something I had fought for so long to obtain in my hands and hearing that it was truly mine. I'll never forget it you know?"