Square One

Alaina had a very interesting 2017. She started out in a post-title slump only to come roaring out and put together one nice winning streak. However, the tail end of 2017 and start of 2018 had proven to be a different story. She had a great match at Avalanche against a tough woman, and won a few more matches. however, she also found herself on the losing end of things more than she cared to admit.

Alaina was back at the gym trying to go hard like she was a rookie all over again. Her overconfidence against a young wrestler led to what she considered a choke on her part. She had the match won, but a foot on the rope led to Alaina being just one big move away from a true win for half the match, only to have Yuki come back from behind chipping away at Alaina until putting her down for 3. Alaina was using that as motivation to hit the gym today and many other days since.

Clad in black yoga pants and a form fitting pink tank top Alaina was finishing up in the squat rack, looking around at the leg press and leg extension machines figuring out what to do next before making her way over to the ring to run ropes and work on a few basics inside the ring.

Yukina had made it her routine to come to the gym to train. While she could tell that she was improving lately, she still had quite a long way to go. Still, her performance had improved quite dramatically, and some people had taken quite a liking for her new finisher, the simple yet deadly Snowmaker. It was something that she had come up after hours and hours of intense training. And with that particular finisher, she managed to defeat the Amazon herself, Alaina Sanders, though the match itself was a very close one.

Still, winning against a high-profile wrestler such as Alaina wasn't an excuse for her to stop training. In fact, the match had opened her eyes to many things, allowing her to see her shortcomings that she had to overcome. So, she came to the gym again, planning to do another work out to improve herself.

Wearing a baby blue sports bra and black tight shorts, Yukina had tied her long, cerulean hair into a neat ponytail. Coming into the gym, she was wondering on what to do after this.

As she tried to decide, she saw a familiar figure working out. She recognized it as Alaina Sanders herself. Thinking that it might be polite to come and say hello, Yukina approached her.

"Umm... hello?" Yukina said, her voice sounding timid and soft. She didn't want to come off as rude by distracting Alaina from her work out session.

Alaina was covered in sweat, having just finished a set. As she drank some water she heard a familiar voice. Alaina knew who it was immediately, recognizing her as the woman responsible for her redoubled effort and focus.

When Alaina saw Yuki her mind snapped immediately back to the match. It was not the fondest memory. Alaina didn't think Yuki was the type to trash talk or instigate anything but Alaina wasn't 100% sure.

"Oh hey. Here for a workout for your next match I take it?" Alaina asked, keeping the talk small and seeing where the conversation went from there. Would Yuki rub in the loss? Would she be as pleasant as she came across?

From what Yukina could see, Alaina didn't seem to show any sort of hostility despite her loss, which was good. She was actually looking forward to get to know her, and if possible, learn something from her. "W-well, I suppose you can say that, though I've been training hard lately, having matches or not..." she said.

She thought for a moment before she said, "A-also..." She bowed. "Thank you for the match. It was a very exciting match. Thanks to you, I got to learn something new about myself..." She looked back at Alaina. "I still have lots of rooms to improve, and I think I still have a very long way before I can stand next to you and many others as an equal," she said earnestly. Despite her victory over Alaina, Yukina was very much aware that the Amazon surpassed her in many aspects, and she needed to work hard in order to bring herself to the same level as her.

"Oh, anytime. You kept on going and took it to me so you earned the win and showed me a lot too." Alaina said as she wiped sweat from her forehead.

"So... what were you going to do today?
Weights, ring work or cardio?" Alaina asked, genuinely curious as to what Yuki was going to do.

Hearing Alaina's question, Yukina thought about it for a while. "Hmm... I was thinking of doing something about my poor stamina..." Yukina blushed a little, admitting about her rather terrible constitution despite her impressive strength. "You probably realized it during our match, but I'm not too good with endurance run..." she admitted.

Scratching her cheek, she added, "Well, while I have confidence in my strength, my body is always so frail and weak..." She sighed. "I was sickly when I was a child, so... I guess it gave me a poor constitution in my adulthood..."

Alaina chuckled a bit when Yuki mentioned her poor stamina. "Well, you took everything I threw at you and kicked out or had the presence of mind to get your foot on the rope. Then you fought back for a long time and caught me with a move I couldn't get up from so your stamina may not be as bad as you think." Alaina said as she rubbed her chin.

"But, if stamina and endurance are a concern, then running the ropes will tire ya out and build you up. It sounds simple but after you do it for a while it will tire you out something fierce." Alaina said, recalling some of her earlier training days that left her barely able to move. "So... do you want to join me and give it a try?"

Yukina listened to Alaina, nodding as she digested the things that Alaina was telling her. Upon hearing Alaina's suggestion, she gave it some thoughts before she nodded. "Alright, I'll give it a try..." she said.

Since Alaina was willing to help her out, then she would seize this opportunity to improve herself and be a better wrestler.

Alaina smiled and made her way over to a practice ring. She was going to show Yuki just what she meant by tiring...

"Okay, so running ropes is as simple as it sounds! Ya keep running back and forth, bouncing off the ropes. You get a feel for the ring and distance as a bonus.
However, you have to keep going as fast as you can for ad long as you can! Do ya feel up to it?" Alaina asked, standing opposite of Yuki, ready to run the ropes herself. Yuki likely was faster, but could she keep it up as long?

Yukina followed Alaina into the practice ring so that they could start this running ropes training. From Alaina's explanation, it sounded simple enough, but Yukina was aware that this practice was to test one's endurance as well as to help improve it.

Standing opposite to Alaina, Yukina nodded again after hearing her question. Of course she was up to it. She would wait for Alaina's signal to start running, and when Alaina started, Yukina would start as well. She would run over to the ropes, bouncing from them and going to the opposite ropes, bouncing back and forth. The first few rounds were easy for her, but she was certain that it would be much more difficult as she continued.