Old Friends Make Great Fights

Mamouru smiled and nodded at Cassie as she spoke. Saying she liked someone, well that was like saying the sky was blue. Mamouru wasn't sure if there was someone she couldn't like. Even with Dark Angel, it seemed like she was still hoping to get through to the girl. To find the kernel of good inside of her.

I think it's the perfect match for you right now, Cassie-san." Mamouru said. "You need a match like this so you can test how far you've come. There won't be any pressure and you know Tomomi will fight you hard and clean. She's not out of your league and you aren't out of hers. After this fight, I think we can definitely make a judgement of where you are in the league, where you are heading and how to get where you want to be.

I only have one thing to say about it, Cassie-san." Mamouru said and put a hand on her shoulder. He stopped her and took the other hand so he could swivel her enough so they were facing. He then pulled his hands away and stepped back. He bent himself in a bow so his head was lower than hers. His arms were straight and his body was rigid.

"Please let me be at ringside this time!" His fists clenched. She had not wanted him to come for the Dark Angel match. He understood why and knew it was a bad idea if he had. But this time, he felt like he needed to be there.

Cassie nodded earnestly. Mamouru was right about everything, as usual. Except...

"Are you sure I'm not out of her league?" She said. She was joking, of course, but if she was completely honest, she thought she was way better than Tomomi. It didn't seem right to say it though. It wouldn't be nice.

She stopped and faced Mamouru, her hands hanging limp at her sides while she stared back at him with a blankly inquisitive look. Then she screwed up her eyebrows and pursed her lips. She didn't like the idea one bit. She couldn't have all of her friends there at once. People would think she was afraid of losing. Which... she kind of was.

She looked hard at Mamouru and thought it over for a while before finally relenting. "Okay. You can be at ringside." She said, and then wagged her finger at him. "But you have to remember to cheer for Tomomi too. Okay? And... no touching."

She wasn't totally sure if she meant that she didn't want him to try to interfere, or if she maybe was referring to other sorts of touching that Mamouru was prone to. She quickly brushed the thought away.

When mamouru lifted up his head, he looked at Cassie with confusion. There was a smile on his lips, but he really wasn't sure about her words. "Cassie-san." He said and turned his head. "I'm not going to root for Watanabe-san. I don't want her to win." He then sighed. "And I don't want to be there because i think you need me there. You'll do fine against her and on the slim chance she pulls out a victory, I wouldn't do something like try and interrupt it. I want you to win with your own skills, not with interference."

Mamouru then looked at Cassie. "But, we are a team. I want to have the best seat int he house when you win. I want to support you closely and ...." Mamouru lowered his head a bit. There were other reason that he didn't want to tell Cassie. He pushed those thoughts aside. "This will be a big victory if you pull it off. From here on in, we're done with all the formal training. Any of the tips and tricks, you're past that. I want to be right there as you take your first step forward." He said and smiled.

Mamouru then turned to walk. "I could even come out waving a giant Canadian flag behind you, if you want. The idea seemed utterly ridiculous but he said it with such a straight tone that he wondered if Cassie would think he was serious or just think he was silly.

"Of course you can't ROOT for her!" Cassie exclaimed. How silly he was. There was a difference between supporting the efforts of the competitors and WANTING the other one to win.

She was stopped short by his next bit, though. They were a team. She drew her mouth to one side and sort of half-frowned. Of course he was right. "Yeah." She said. "I know..."

She looked at his with an impish smile, her short orange hair hanging over one eye. "What's all this if talk? Of course I'll-" She was cut short, and her eyes widened before she was plunged into the depths of a giggle fit.

She giggled delightedly, a light and contented little laugh. "Yes!" She exclaimed. "Do that! And you should wear a red suit with like a red maple leaf over the pocket and a top hat with "GO CANADA" written around the band in big letters." She turned and gave him a shove. "Do it!" Another shove. "DO IT!"

She paused and just looked at him. She did her best to narrow her eyes, though she couldn't quite stop smiling. "You better do it. Don't disappoint me, Higurashi Mamouru. I'll pose for the pictures like this." She propped her foot up on an imaginary waist-high rock and lifted her eyes and one hand melodramatically to the sky, in a ridiculous pantomime of something heroic and epic.

Mamouru's straight face turned into a big grin at Cassie's enthusiasm. What had he gotten himself into? He couldn't help but laugh. "I'll do it for you, Cassie-san." He said and shook his head. Now he couldn't tell if SHE was serious. The idea of being a little over the top WAS thrilling though. That's how his mother liked to be when she was managing Aunt Rosie.

"I'll even think about the suit, but I don't think I can promise the top hat. That might be too much. We wouldn't want my flashy outfit to out do you, now would we?" He said that as if the giant Canadian flag wouldn't have that possibility already.

Cassie giggle-cackled and fell over backwards and laid like a turtle on her back. "It wouldn't be funny if it wasn't you." She said in an abrupt break in her giggly-ness. She jumped back up to her feet and wiped a tear away from her eye, and then sobered up and faced Mamouru.

"But really, I just want you to be you. Don't go crazy for my sake, just be yourself. The match is a big deal for me, but it's also a big deal for you. You know, as a manager. Right? So... You do what you think is best." She said, and put a hand on his, and then turned to keep walking down the hallway.

"I'm hungry. Let's go eat." She said, swinging her arms and legs broadly with every step like a tin soldier marionette.