Killer Instinct

Blossom sat in the middle of the practice ring in the Friction gym, decked out in her usual training gear - the tight, dark green shorts, the matching wrestling shoes, the Captain Crunch shirt that was a little worn down but fit too well for her to ever throw it away. As a trainer, It was a common sight to see her there, though she hadn’t come in today to train anyone. Not exactly.

She sat there, holding her hand to her mouth and puffing into it, making sure she’d sucked down enough Tic-Tacs, but not too many Tic-Tacs. She didn’t want her breath to smell bad, but she didn’t want to be so on the nose with it, either. She sniffed her armpits, too, ensuring that she’d gotten the proper deodorant under there, that she wouldn’t be going into this smelling foul. Her hair was cut, her skin was lotioned, her chap stick was fresh and Cherry-flavored.

Everything was perfect for Death Bunny.

Blossom stared at the doors to the gym, waiting for her...girlfriend? Lover? BFF? It was hard to be sure where she and Death Bunny stood, sometimes. They’d shared a night together - an awesome, amazing, sweaty, insane, exhausting, delicious night - but things had cooled down a bit since then, with Death Bunny going on her title hunt and doing a few not-good things. Blossom didn’t exactly approve, but she trusted her friend, and didn’t want to get in the way.

Now, though, things had changed. Blossom hadn’t planned on getting back into wrestling, but fate had other ideas. She had new enemies, and she needed to go at them in a way that didn’t result in embarrassing defeat.

She needed to be a better wrestler, and Death Bunny was the best she knew. Hands down.

So, there she sat, waiting and whistling. Any moment now, D.B. would come in, and they could get to work on catching up…

There weren't many things that could have pulled D.B. out of the hole she so comfortably found herself wallowing in. The bunny girl having disappeared not just from from her medical bed a mere hour after being carted in following her number one contender match. But also from television, the locker rooms, AFW's general vicinity, or any place where decent, law-abiding people could be found. For weeks on end she was effectively just a bunny eared shadow that crept along the walls of seedy bars and dingy underground fighting arenas. Wallowing away her time with beer bottles in paper bags always in her hand. Obsessively replaying everything in her head that had brought her to this exact moment.

There wasn't much that could have pulled D.B. out of that hole.

Save for one, single, solitary text message. From someone who, just from thinking about her again, brought a little clarity back to her senses. From someone who she has long since admitted having feelings for...and had been neglected to keep in touch with. Practically dodging her. And all she was asking for was something as simple as a training session. D.B. swallowed her wounded pride along with the last ounce of whatever beer she had on hand and took this at more than just face value. She needed help figuring things out...and she may have needed this training session more than Blossom did.

-------

Clad in her skin tight, black workout capris and a black tank top with a bedazzled bunny skull and crossbones on it, D.B. pushed open the one side door leading into AFW weight room. She spied Blossom from afar and began her grim march towards the ring she was lounging in. Though she kept her bunny-eared head low throughout her approach, reaffirming the tote bag she had slung over her shoulder with a roll of her arm. The closer she got to the ring the faster her heart started to race, remembering all the sensual delights from her one night with Blossom. How warm she felt under those bed covers, how their sweat intermingled from their embrace, the taste of her-

*cough*

D.B. coughed into her fist as an exaggerated way to keep her mind focused. She was already at the ring's edge now, a few seconds passing before finally looking up at the pint-sized grappler in the ring with her usual grimace.

"...I suppose...this is the part where you say I told you so." D.B. muttered out in reference to Blossom outright warning her last time about the dangers of going too far in her ambitious play for the world title. Though with D.B. addressing Blossom eye to eye with the fluorescent lights now illuminating all after tilting her head up, the black bruise under D.B.'s eye would be plain as day. A noticeable shiner that was larger than the scratches and smaller bruises on her arms. The bunny girl looking like she had been through a war, and was technically true for all intents and purposes.

Truth told, Blossom was just smidgen mad at Death Bunny. While they weren’t official girlfriend and girlfriend, they’d certainly shared something special that night when they finally got their feelings out in the open. Over two years of pent-up emotions and feelings all coming out in the most glorious six - maybe five, she lost track - hours of her life. The kind of thing that was so pure and amazing and genuine, rarely seen in the sundry mix of their lives…

And, after, DB had just kind of left.

She was busy, Blossom understood, and she didn’t want to begrudge her lover the career she was going for. But she could’ve done something. Called. Stopped by. Maybe…

But the moment Blossom saw Death Bunny come in through those doors, everything was instantly forgiven. She was here now. That was all that mattered.

Blossom popped to her feet and skipped over to the edge of the ring, hopping up on the bottom rope so she could lean over and look down on Death Bunny. The smile faded a bit when she caught sight of that tarnished, beautiful face of hers. Not too surprising, she’d been through the ringer, but seeing it up close like this was an entirely different thing.

”I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about.” There wasn’t any point in dwelling on who said what and when, as far as Blossom was concerned. She dropped down and sat on the middle rope while she pushed the top one up, opening the way for Death Bunny. ”It’s great to see you, DB. Come on in?”

"..."

D.B. offered Blossom a startled skip of her breath from a reaction she just...could not have predicted. The laundry list of mistakes the bunny girl had made stretched down to the floor below them. Ranging from saying "yes" to Kelly Conway's team-up proposal, to willingly separating herself from the only person who gave a damn about her in this entire federation. She justified her absence from Blossom's life by telling herself she needed the isolation to fully concentrate fully on her now failed title run...but their were other, deep-seated reasons as well.

She was ready to take the full brunt of whatever chastising, criticizing, lambasting lecture Blossom had for in store for her...but she received nothing of the sort. She saw through Blossom's faux-ignorance for what it was, a subtle message of "It's in the past, all's forgiven." D.B. pleasantly remembered how Blossom could always cut through her grim armor and make her smile...and just how much she missed her.

"Hmm...Two matches. Various backstage rendezvous. One slumber party. One hospital visit. One dinner date...and then one early morning breakfast. All this time we've known eachother, all we've been through..." D.B. calmly listed their history together while hopping up onto the ring apron, now close to the ring post farthest away from Blossom. "...and yet, you're still finding ways to surprise me." D.B. warmly uttered with an unbelievably rare heartfelt smile, pushing down on the top rope to nimbly hop over it. Entering the ring in her own, unassisted way.

"SO!!!..." D.B. loudly belted out in a booming and commanding way as a manner of clearing the air of lingering sentimentality and warm feelings. Hopefully getting things back to the matter at hand. "...congratulations. They say you're not a true AFW veteran until you've made you're first, true mortal enemy. Looks like you have a thing for us purple-haired girls, huh?" D.B. set herself to waltzing across the ring and placing her tote bag against one of the corner turnbuckles, than rotating her left arm as a brief warm-up while turning back to face Blossom in her obvious allusion to Samiya.

Forgiving Death Bunny was just about the easiest thing Blossom could do, and she was glad that it made her plushy paramour happy. Maybe going the way she did was a mistake, maybe it wasn't. Maybe she was right to get mixed up with the title craziness, maybe she should've kept it more low key.

Blossom didn't know and Blossom didn't care. Everyone made mistakes. Heck, she’d made more than her fair share, lately.

As Blossom recounted their history, Blossom’s eyes glazed for a bit, drifting off down memory lane. It was weird to think that she’d been in Japan for four years now, that they’d gone through so much in both their lives. It was hard to fathom a different kind of life now, or a world without Death Bunny in her thoughts. Frankly, she didn’t want to fathom that kind of life.

Blossom bounced about on the ropes - and nearly fell out - when Death Bunny hopped into the ring. She was quick to right herself, wanting to make sure she was at maximum coolness for the object of her affections.

”Well, yeah, I do like my violet vixens.” She grabbed a rope and leaned to the side, stretching out her arm. ”But she’s not nearly as tough, cool, and sweet as you. Certainly not as huggable. Plus, she doesn’t even have the ears.” Blossom shook her head. ”Noooooooo contest, trust me.”

Blossom’s ever-present smile faded a bit. Not gone totally, but she let some sadness mix in with it, as she switched to her other arm. ”Thanks for doing this with me. I know I can beat her, I just know it, but…” She sighed. ”I feel like I’m missing something. Like I’ve got the tools, but I’m not using them right.”

D.B. sported a grim smirk throughout Blossom's fan-girlish admiration, briefly reminiscing to a time when all that fawning adoration would have just been...horribly awkward and off-putting for her. To the point where socking Blossom in the jaw was her reptile-brained reaction to it all. The fact that she could just take it all normally now, and actually allow herself to receive affection again, was something she could solely attribute to Blossom...

...but D.B. could tell from the get-go that Blossom was putting on a strong front for what was truly troubling her. The bunny girl maybe finally being able to see through Blossom like she could always do to her. And once Blossom laid out what was on her mind, D.B. let out a deep breath herself. Her arms folded authoritatively as she towered over her flowery infatuation.

"You know...when you first told me you were satisfied with being a trainer, with staying out of the ring and tending to gym equipment...A part of me was kinda relieved, ya know? Knowing that you'd be back here stacking dumbbells instead of standing up to girls twice your size. I...wanted you to be happy. I did, but...I, uh...*sigh*...I guess I wanted you to be safe, even more." D.B. looked down and to the side while scratching the back of her head, a mediocre attempt at hiding the shade of red burgeoning across her cheeks. She didn't even know if what she was saying made any sense. Expressing her feelings was still far from her forte.

After an exaggerated cough into her fist to get herself back on track, D.B. crouched low into a squat and stared Blossom straight in the eye with grim sincerity. Making sure she took what D.B. was gonna say to heart.

"I know what's your problem, Blossom. And I can absolutely help you to overcome this issue of yours. But we're gonna need to go all in. So before we move forward from here, I need you to really ask yourself..."Is this what I truly want?" D.B. uttered with concrete conviction. "I know a thing or two about going down a road that seems like it's paved with gold, and having it only lead to ruination. Eventually, you come to a point of no return on that road, and I'd say you're looking straight at it right about now."

While Blossom was talking, she was also thinking, and she decided that really liked the way Death Bunny smiled.

It was a weird thing. A kind of half smile, a smirk really. It was a little dark, as were most things when it came to her lover, but there was a softness that Blossom felt you could only really see if you looked at it from the right angle. Not from the sides, not from above, but from below? Perfect. Seeing Death Bunny smile at all was a fairly rare thing, but that only made it better. Like finding a rare treasure. One that was just hers.

And they were both blushing now.

Death Bunny spoke and started to bring things back down, which was good - Blossom could’ve showered her with adorations for hours, if the mood struck her. It would’ve been a fun way for her to pass the time, sure, but it wouldn’t have gotten her any closer to being able to beat Samiya.

Her face hardened - as hard as it could get - as Death Bunny laid it all on the line, staring eye to eye with her. In a way, she didn’t need to say a thing. The look on her face told the whole story. She cared, that was never in question. This would be a hard thing for her, too, sending her out to face the woman who’d dismantled her so easily before. But she’d do it, because she trusted Blossom. Blossom was going to earn that trust.

With that thought, Blossom shut her eyes, leaned forward, and planted a kiss on Death Bunny’s lips, as if it was a silent pact. Also, because she hadn’t kissed her in way too long, and it would be easier to do this if she let out some steam.

After a moment, she pulled away and opened her eyes again, giving Death Bunny a solemn nod.

”All in.”

Twice in one day.

D.B. didn't know how Blossom managed to keep doing it, but catching the bunny girl off guard with tender, heart-warming responses just seemed to come natural to Blossom. D.B. initially tensing up with a flutter of her heart before gently reciprocating from the sudden kiss that was just as adorable as the person planting it on her. Her lips were just as soft as she remembered. D.B. taken aback with flashing images of that one night...remembering a lot of it in the brief span of time this moment lasted.

That previous blush on her cheeks now clear as day now that they were face to face, but seeing Blossom just as flustered made it slightly less embarrassing. That glossy and wide-eyed look on her face wouldn't ease up into that half-smile of hers until she took a calming breath, the bunny girl raising her hand to palm the side of Blossom's face. Just taking the time to see Blossom. Take her in.

"...*sigh*...Good Answer, like always. Cherry flavored too, I think." D.B. quipped while raising back to her feet. As much as she missed these tender moments with Blossom, this time, there was a part of her that almost regrets that it happened. It only made what was going to happen next that much more uncomfortable for her...

"That's exactly what I wanted to hear..." D.B.'s hand would gradually drift down from Blossom's soft cheek to her shoulder. "Because the main problem you have...the major setback that's keeping from realizing your true potential...is this. Right here!!" A strengthened tugging on Blossom's Captain Crunch t-shirt would yank her practically to her tip-toes, D.B.'s caring demeanor changing on a dime to one of visceral confrontation. D.B. viciously yanking the cereal t-shirt up and off of Blossom before flinging it out of the ring.

"There's been a pattern to your failures, ya know? Serona...Angel...Ursula...Samiya...Me...What did we ALL have in common, huh? IT'S RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU!!! WHAT DID WE ALL HAVE IN COMMON???!!!" D.B. hollered while listing all of Blossom's greatest defeats, each name getting a forceful shove to her shoulder to emphasis each humbling failure in the ring. The bunny girl advancing on her with a darkened and imposing aura, clenching her fist while quite literally cornering Blossom against the turnbuckle behind her. D.B. now ominously towering over Blossom with seemingly every intention of beating the answer out of her if she didn't speak up and offer one of her own. And fast.

Yes, Blossom was taking a wee bit of a risk pulling in for a kiss like this with Death Bunny. While she knew she didn’t have anything to fear from the fluffy terror, this whole thing was supposed to be a serious affair. Not about stealing kisses or making her lover blush, as enjoyable as those things might have been.

But, in her defense, it had been way too long since she’d tasted those lips. They were just sweet, and the little noises she made were great, and Death Bunny had this funny way on sucking on your lip as she pulled away that tickled her a bit, and her tongue, oh, her tongue, it was just so perfect, the way it moved around like it had a mind of its own, and-

Blossom was dragged out of her little fugue state when she felt Bunny’s hand on her shoulder. It was comforting at first, a warm loving embrace, that strengthening touch she'd come to expect...but it didn’t stay that way for long. She let out a quick shriek as the shirt was suddenly yanked off her, leaving her with nothing but the lime green sports bra underneath.  

”What? Hey!” She reached out for it, but before she had the chance, she was being shoved back. Harder, harder, harder, until her back was up against the turnbuckle. Death Bunny’s shadow loomed over Blossom, covered her all over, and the Grim Reaper of Fluffy Death suddenly looked so much taller. She was a massive hulk, dwarfing Blossom, giving her not a single inch to escape with.

”I, uh, I-” Blossom stammered at first, the mood whiplash taking her by surprise. ”Because, you’re bigger than me?” She shook her head, her short hairs whipping about. No, no, that wasn’t right, she and Samiya were the same height. Heck, Blossom might’ve been an inch taller. ”You’re stronger?”

Whether Blossom remembered this about her or not, but training fledgling wrestling amateurs was a private hobby of Bunny's for some time now. D.B. frequently took the time out of her day to volunteer at local gyms to school newbies about the subtle "nuances" of the profession. Her unique training methodology certainly not being for the weak of heart...but that was entirely the point. To weed out the weak-willed, until only the truly dedicated remained for the next day of training and further abuse.

D.B. assumed Blossom remembered this hobby of hers. Just another incentive to reach out to her of all people as a trainer. But putting it into practice against Blossom meant doing her level-headed best to briefly squash certain feelings and thoughts that made this difficult for her. The delicate softness of Blossom's lips...the way her heart raced when she flashed that smile of hers...

D.B. struggled to block it out, to push all of those impassioned feelings aside for now and remember why she was there that day. And remind Blossom too.

"...No, Blossom." D.B took a large breath and folded her arms across her chest, her grim tone now significantly more reserved. Less confrontational and more instructional. "None of them...none of us...walked into that ring with you...looking...to make friends. We weren't there intending to invite people to sleepovers. Or polish their toenails. Or have anything else on our minds except dismantling you and beating the ever loving shit out of you. Shaking our hand. Walking up to us smiling. When we see someone do that, you've already given us the advantage before the bell even rings. Because we know we're willing to go to any lengths to win. And now we know you aren't." D.B. would start to backpedal to the middle of the ring and limber her arms up while bending her neck from side to side to get the cricks out.  

"Now...you and I are gonna have a little spar. And I want you to keep what I said in mind. Because if there's one, single, solitary lesson you take from our time today...it's this. Vulnerability...is a liability...you got it?"