Unexpected Help (For Cirno)

Heather was resting herself in a quite empty locker room, sitting down on the bench, her face in her hands as her elbows rested on her legs. She was wearing her attire she used in matches, her purple long coat with her black bikini top and black baggy pants. It was just a few days removed from her match with Karina and the girl's words at the end of the match were still ringing through her head.

"Kh..She got me way too much than she should have that match..Damnit!" Heather would let out, stomping her foot on the ground. In this time, everything counted. She was measuring herself up against the champion and she took quite a fall against Karina. Heather was able to get some good offense in near the end, but anyone could see that it was Karina that had the upperhand for the majority of their bout. It was that fact alone that was pissing Heather off on the inside.

"How...am I going to win at Avalanche if I get beaten THAT badly." Heather would let out, gritting her teeth as she would stand up. She would clench her fists, trying to think to herself before she would lose it. Pulling her fist back, she would slam it into the lockers, a loud sound reverberating through the room as she did. "Damnit..." She would let out, putting her head down and staying in that position as she did.

Unknown to Heather, a hooded girl was standing behind her, quietly listening to Heather and what she said about the match where she had suffered defeat against Karina. Just watching the girl made her believe that what she was about to do would be the right thing. After waiting a few more seconds to see if Heather was going to speak more, it was time for this girl to raise her voice and let her presence known.

" By training. " Once Heather would turn, she would only see a part of the girl's glasses and her lips, her furry hoodie shading away her eyes. " You're good, but far from the best." She wasn't here to insult the girl or taunt her into a fight, but she wasn't going to sugar coat the truth. " Without decent training, you won't get further then you are right now. " She would take a single step closer to Heather.

" And you need to stop whining after a loss. Rise up or stay down. Do you understand? " She crossed her arms against her chest, waiting for Heather's answer that would decide her current fate.

As Heather remained where she was, her fist planted on the locker, stinging from what she just did, she would suddenly hear someone else's voice behind her, causing her to quickly turn around and see who it was. She knew how things worked in AFW and she wasn't about to fall victim to another ambush. Heather was quite on her guard, though it seemed that the girl was actually there to talk with her.

Not being able to make out her facial features because of the hood, Heather would curl her eyebrow, staring at her. "And who the hell are you?" Heather would say before she would continue on. She would hear her say that she wasn't the best, causing Heather to click her tongue, clenching her fists a bit before she continued.

"Wh..Whining!?" She would let out, about to lunge out at her, but she would calm herself down. It was clear whoever this girl was, she wasn't here to start a fight, though Heather really wondered why she WAS here then. "Tch..Ok Yeah! So what!? Maybe you're right, Maybe Karina's right, maybe I DO need training. OK I GET IT!" Heather would yell out before letting a sigh escape her lips. "I could have sworn I was ready..I still can't believe I'm not...Kh..wh-who even are you getting me to say this??"

"How Bothersome.. " She would sigh out, lowering her head more so she could at the ground. " Can you tell me what ready means? It is an impossible feat to gain unless you know every attack your opponent is about to give you, every detail of your fighter, every possible outcome. You can NEVER be ready. " Yuriko knew that far too well, she was like this ones, yet she didn't consider herself to be better or weaker then Heather, however with the knowledge she had within her, she would have had every right to do say such words. She brought her hands up to her hoodie and began to remove it from her head to show her full features.



" I have seen your match against Karina, what is your excuse for that? That you weren't ready? " She brought her arms against her chest again and crossed it, her eyes narrowing as she looked straight into Heather's eyes. " I'm the person who is willing to train you. Not to be ready, but to be able to adapt. " She decided not to give her full name, it was best saved for anther time. For now, she had to wait for Heather, atleast giving her a name to work with. " My name is Yuriko. " She wasn't going to extend her hand, not because of the lack of respect she had for Heather, but because this wasn't the situation for formalities.

"What?? That's.." Heather would let out as Yuriko started to explain to her what ready truly meant. Heather would stand there, shaking her head a bit as the girl spoke. "But that's not..what I meant." Heather would let out, scratching her head but she wasn't sure what to say back to Yuriko's words, she seemed to definitely know what she was talking about. Finally though, she would remove the hood from her head, letting Heather see exactly what she did look like.

The girl was quite good looking in her features and hairstyle and Heather would put her hands on her hips as she looked at her. Soon though, the girl would begin talking again. "Kh..Well I.." Heather would let out, gritting her teeth a bit before she would say that she was going to train her. Heather would suddenly relax herself, blinking in surprise as she stared at the girl, not saying anything.

"Yuriko?...You're saying..you can train me? I don't even really know you, and you're offering to train me? What's the catch? And how am I supposed to know you're good?

" Attack me. " Yuriko would say rather bluntly, uncrossing her arms so she could bring them rather loosely to her sides, her eyes showing that she had lost interest in being polite or words, if Heather needed evidence of her intellect and strength, she would just have to present it. Yuriko had seen the match between Heather and Karina, she knew that Heather had alot of fancy, effective moves, but would it be that effective in such a close space? Heather might be the kind of girl that didn't want to get others hurt when the objects and the floor were much harder then that of a ring.

Though she decided not to make it too obvious, her loose stance was meant to catch her opponent off guard, to make them think that Yuriko was not in it to fight or not even knowing how to fight, yet the glare in her eyes remained the same, portraying only boredom that hid away the patience of an eagle.

She didn't bother to remove her glasses, just another sign that made it seem that Yuriko wasn't taking Heather seriously.

"A-attack you?" Heather would let out as it seemed the girl would just put her arms down by her sides. Heather would blink a few times, wondering if it was some kind of trap, though Heather couldn't see what the girl could really do with where she was so Heather would grit her teeth a bit, clenching her fists. "F..fine Just remember you asked for it.." Heather would let out as she glared at Yuriko, standing there glaring at her for a second.

It was clear the girl seemed quite confident that she was going to be able to take whatever Heather was about to dish out to her. She wouldn't even remove the glasses on her face, frustrating Heather a little.

Finally, Heather would kick off, charging towards the girl as she would try to grab her by the waist and tackle her down.

Reading Heather's body language, she was completely ignoring what Heather was saying to her, all that mattered was the attack that would come her way. The clenching of Heather's fists only indicated that they were going to be involved with the attack and Heather advanced at her with quite some speed, she knew what was going to happen..

She leant back, as if wanting to fall backwards by her own accord, her hands were open, ready to catch a fist, a leg, whatever would be send to her direction. She watched as the girl wanted to tackle her down, readjusting herself as those arms came around her waist and her own hands coming to the girl's shoulders. Before her feet would leave the ground, she would use them to twist herself and Heather around, their positions changing so that Heather would fall on her back with Yuriko ontop, who would then press her hands upon the girl's shoulders to pin them down, staring straight into Heather's eyes.

As Heather charged directly towards Yuriko, she had no idea that the girl seemed to be studying her movements and mannerisms. All she saw was that she was wide open for Heather to attack, and she figured with her speed it would be no problem, especially with how close they were. Unfortunately that didn't seem the case as Yuriko had readied herself.

As she charged towards the girl, looking for the tackle but instead would find Yuriko's hands coming to her shoulders, twisting the two of them around. Her eyes would widen in surprise before she suddenly would find herself on the ground, Yuriko on top of her as she pinned her shoulders down to the floor. Heather would stare up at the girl, blinking a few times before she would click her tongue, turning her head and blushing slightly. "O-ok..fine..you're good...Not like I have anything to lose anyways..."

" It's not about being good or bad. " She would remain ontop of Heather, removing one hand from the girl's shoulder to cup her chin and make her look into her eyes again. " It's about adapting. " She would then move up to straddle Heather's stomach, looking down at the girl while her hands came to rest upon the ground at either side of Heather.

" I believe you have the capability to do so, Heather. " She would then started to rise from Heather's body and step away from her body, lowering her hand to offer it to Heather and help her up onto her feet if she wanted that. " Fighting isn't about who's strongest. You're probably stronger then me, but that means nothing if you don't know how to use it. "