Getting to Know You

"Pretty much exactly what I said the first time I didn't knock when I should've." Valley had a little chuckle as Kara went in, and she passed the next few moments practicing some of her kicks in the hall, idly passing the time. The Scar Queen returned just as she was coming down for a spinning roundhouse, and Valley deftly returned to her feet.

"But yeah," Valley started walking down the hallway once again, resuming the tour. She was starting to get a knack for this, though she didn't intend to make it a regular thing. "There's a lot of good competition here, but there's a lot of sex here, too. I'm not here for the hentai, I just wrestle normal, but it's impossible to completely avoid." She shrugged it off. "You get used to it."

On her way back, Kara catches a glimpse of Valley's spinning roundhouse. Or at least the very end of it. It solidified the notion that she's definitely more than meets the eye. "Nice kick," Kara remarks, following the veteran for the rest of the tour. Kara listens as Valley explains about the competition here, and how much of it is oriented around sex.

Sex. She heard that correctly. And it's impossible to completely avoid.

Kara's expression hardens a bit. The idea that she's unknowingly agreed to be fair game for perversion was a little frustrating. "Guess I should've seen that one coming," she remarked, figuring this would explain the warning she was given earlier, "Hope I don't have to run into that too often. Not sure how I feel about getting that way with another girl."

Thank you kindly." Valley put a little skip in her step, always happy to take a compliment about her bread and butter. "And I know how you feel. It was a big adjustment when I came from the States, very off-putting at first. They do some stuff in the ring that's just..." She threw her hand up and let the sentence finish itself.

"But I've had some good matches, here. The best of my career, maybe. Met my girlfriend, too. I don't regret it. Doubt you will." She also doubted that many of the nastier girls would be willing to try that sort of thing on someone who looked like she'd fought through a warzone, but Valley wisely kept that to herself.

She pointed off to the side as they rounded a corner. "Cafeteria. Don't recommend the food." Valley slowed up a bit so they could almost walk side by side, while Valley kept on leading. "So why'd you pick Friction? Japan has a ton of wrestling promotions that'd love a woman like you."

Well, Kara figured, if there was no way to get around it, better learn to get used to it as quickly as possible. Easier said that done, though. But it doesn't seem to be a total bust, since it seems the actual fights are good. That's what Kara's really looking forward to. All and all, she's going to have quite the adventure here, and for better or worse, she's okay with that.

Of course, this also means that she's going to have to figure out a good place to get eats, since the dome cafeteria is apparently garbage. "Is cafeteria food ever good?" Kara comments, chuckling a bit. Before she knew it, she found herself walking side by side with Valley, the conversation continuing with why she chose Friction out of every other wrestling promotions in Japan.

"Had to choose one of them, right? I chose this one," Kara responded, giving a little shrug, "Heard I'd meet more interesting opponents here than somewhere else. Guess that drew me in."

"You heard right." Valley leaned over and gave Kara a playful bump with her shoulder, then pointed over to the side. There was a wall there with some promotional posters on it, and Valley pointed to the one advertising last year's Avalanche. Her finger traced over every girl around the event's logo. "Taylor Parker, Akashi, Adrian Kytes, Kelly Conway, Angel, Silver Ace - my girl." She tapped Ace twice and gave Kara a knowing wink.

"Very strong wrestlers, all of them, and there's plenty more beneath them. You'll get all the challenges you want, trust me." She nodded and stepped back. 'And they're all pretty interesting."

Kara chuckled a bit as she was bumped, though she hadn't budged at all. She looks over as Valley pointed to a wall of promotional posters and listened as she listed them off. All of these fighters looked formidable in one way or the other, and that made her ecstatic. These are the kinds of opponents she'd be facing, resting assured that no match would be a boring match. At least, theoretically.

The last poster pointed out was a one Silver Ace, apparently the girlfriend that Valley had said to have met earlier. She was certainly pretty, she could see how anyone could fall for her. It sounds like wrestlers fall in love pretty frequently considering what she's gathered so far. Must make for good drama, Kara thought.

"They all look pretty interesting," Kara remarks with a grin, "Hopefully I get a shot at some of them in a ring."

Valley held up her hands with a wry smirk and backed a few steps away. "Well, be careful what you ask for. Never that simple." She moved over to a poster with the Friction title belts.

"See, we've got fIve belts." She pointed at them, one by one. "Hentai. That's for the sex, know you're not interested in that. Hardcore belt? Maybe? Not many people going after it, but that's a lot of pain. There's the Entropy Title, which is meant for newer people to go after. That's what I'd recommend to keep your eyes on for now. But that..."

She pointed at the highest, biggest, shiniest belt. "The World Title. That's the belt all those people are going after. But before you can go after that, you have to compete for one of the others. It's like a teir thing, kind of." She stepped back and looked at the whole picture. "You have to work your way up, and it's a slow climb. That's the way it's supposed to be."

She paused when her gaze came to the bottom belt, then groaned. "And there's the Kawaii and Softcore Belts, too. Not really worth talking about."

It was then Kara was introduced to the belts of the federation. The glorious trophies every wrestler aims to wear, and Valerie goes through each of them, explaining what they were. What caught her eye most, however, was the gloriously shiny top belt: the World Title belt. Now that's a belt that she wouldn't mind wearing, but realistically, she knew that wouldn't happen any time soon. Valley even reinforces that by explaining that the climb to the top of the ranks is long and arduous. It would take some time before she would even be remotely considered a contender for something like that, especially with a roster filled with such formidable fighters.

So far, she sees two "short-term" goals involving the belts. The Entropy belt was apparently there for newcomers to strive for first, and the Hardcore involves a lot of pain, according to Valley. These were belts she could confidently see herself wearing at some point, even if she never comes close to World Title. "Hardcore, huh?" Kara says, looking at that belt specifically with intrigue, "What kind of pain are we talking?"

Valley also mentioned something about Kawaii and Softcore belts, to which Kara glances to those belts just out of curiosity. She couldn't help but snicker at the idea that this place actually had a little league.

Valley rubbed the back of her neck, thinking for a moment on that question. She should've known that Kara would be attracted to that belt, out of all of the minor ones. After all, she hardly looked like she was a stranger to pain, and the hardcore belt promised a good amount of that.

"Broken bones,  cuts, bruises, burns, you name it. Anything goes." She walked over to the promotional poster once again. "It's not my style, so I can't tell you too much about it, but this woman, right here..." Her finger fell on Adrian Kytes. "She's the hardcore champion. She tougher than she looks. Smart, too. The good news? The hardcore division is pretty thin, so if you went after that belt, you could pretty much take a straight line to it. Up to you, though."

She started up against and motioned for Kara to follow close. "Any questions? You're really quiet for such a big lady."

Kara's suspicions were right; the Hardcore route was pretty brutal. Sounded more like street brawls than your typical wrestling match. That means she'd be right at home in fights like that. And if the division is as small as Valley describes, it won't be too hard to have a shot at being champion there. This Adrian Kytes was currently champion...she'd have to keep that name and face in mind. If Kara beats her, that's one belt down. She won't expect that to be that easy, though.

Valley started moving again, and Kara followed quickly to catch up. "Huh?" Kara said at Valley's question, "Oh...heh, guess I just don't talk much." She gives a shrug. "I used to be a bit of a loud mouth when I was longer, but I grew out of that after some...anger management courses." Kara hesitated to mention that, but she figured by now that it wouldn't be so harmful to mention it. So far, though, Kara didn't have very many questions. That's just how she was. Valley's done a pretty good job in covering things. Besides, the tour was just beginning, at least that's what she figured.