So, How Did Cassie-chan Do?

Akashi stumbled down the hallway. She was dragging her feet as she made her way through the backstage areas of the AFW facility. She had one hand on her head as she tried to blink away the fuzziness that still lingered in her head. In her vision. The lingering sorrow of losing another chance at a title, of losing to the bunnies and of having to endure a defeat that she felt she really hadn't been a part of was drown out by the dizziness and fuzzy thoughts.

She felt like she should be mad. That she should be consumed by rage at the Bunnies and at Miss Spencer for costing her an opportunity. But she could honestly barely remember the match. She couldn't even remember anything that had happened before a few minutes ago and as she walked through the halls, she was even having trouble remembering where the infirmary was.

Avalanche was a motherfucker.

It was the most stressful fucking night of Taylor's entire life.

She had her share of bumps and bruises from her match with Aurelia, including but not limited to a nice, purple and black eye. She was actually a little proud of that, like a badge of courage.

But she nearly died watching Cassie go back and forth with Talia. Every time Talia got the upper hand, Taylor's heart leapt up into her throat, sweat beaded off her forehead, just thinking about what the loss would do to Cassie. What it would do to her. If Cassie really did end up going back to Canada for good...

She knew Cassie was safe. She had enough friends in the stands that if Talia tried to pull anything like in their first match, torturing her after the bell, Talia would have at least 4 people stomping on her face. That was a little comforting.

Then came Akashi's match. Taylor stood backstage watching it on a monitor on the wall, and partway through it she found herself standing on the balls of her feet, loading up her shoulders like she was in the match and ready to start throwing punches. By the end of it, she was red-faced and furious. She watched Akashi be double teamed by the world's most irritating Bunnies, taking a DDT on the outside that made her heart stop. By the time they finished her off she couldn't watch. She only looked up in time to see Spencer get powerbombed into next week.

She shook her head and scowled and paced around the room, her hands opening and closing into fists. She had half a mind to go out there right now and break both goddamn Bunnies in half. She had half a mind to break Spencer in half. If she was worth anything at all in the ring, Akashi wouldn't have had to carry the whole team, that wouldn't have happened to her, they wouldn't have lost, and Taylor's blood pressure wouldn't be through the roof.

She watched until she saw Akashi make it backstage, and then she bolted down the hallways to catch her.

"FFUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!" Her voice echoed down the halls. Her match was tough, but friendly enough. She had plenty left for the Bunnies. She found Akashi on her way to the infirmary.

"KASHI!" She called out, and skidded to a stop in front of her. "Hey." She put a hand on the sumo's chin and looked up at her eyes. She probably had a concussion. She'd be lucky if she didn't have brain damage.

"Hey," she said again. "Are you okay? How do you... Well, I probably know how you feel. Did they, um..." She shook her head. She slung Akashi's arm over her shoulder to try to help stabilize her. "Kashi, I'm really, really sorry. I fucked up."

"Hu?" Akashi said looking up to see Taylor running at her. She smiled weakly as Taylor skidded to a halt in front of her. "O-ohayo, Taylor-chan." She said smiling. She looked punch drunk. When Taylor pulled her arm over her shoulder, Akashi leaned her weight against Taylor.

"How did you fuck up, Taylor-chan?" She questioned in almost a sing-song tone. Akashi then groaned and rubbed her head "ugh." She then turned her head and looked at Taylor. "Hey, Taylor-chan... H-how did Cassie-chan do? Please tell me she's still with us!" She cried out in a worried tone.

"I should've... I shoulda..." Taylor shook her head. "Never mind. Later."

Akashi was heavy as hell, but she bore her weight down the hall like a good little soldier. She would rather her have put on another hundred pounds, though, than talk the way she was talking.

"Yeah, she's fine, she's-" Wait, Akashi was out there watching that whole match. "Jesus, Akashi, I should've been out there and not that stupid fucking history teacher. It should've been me, and I'm... I really fucked up," she muttered, shaking her head.

She was met at the doors of the infirmary by some AFW staff, some of whom she still recognized. In the early parts of her career, she was here so frequently that she was on a first name basis with many of the medics. "Ice!" She said, as she handed Akashi over to them and put a hand on the back of her neck to show them how to do it. "Make sure you get ice on her right away, she's got a concussion and..." A look and a smile from one of the staff cut her short. She looked down at the floor and blushed. Of course they had it under control.

"Kashi..." She found a perch out of the way where she could still be in sight. "I'm gonna go after the fucking Bunnies. It's officially open goddamn season right now, man. I'll fucking crack their heads open on the concrete. Fuck."

"Taylor-chan!" Akashi blurted out as she was taken by the infirmary staff. She groaned again as she was asked a series of questions and gave her an ice pack. Akashi furroeed her brow. "H-Hey! Taylor-chan. You... didn't do anything wrong! We'll kick those bunnies butts together. Just you wait! " Akashi grinned before wincing.

"B-But..." She said. "It's that sensei! I'm so done with her ugh! I don't know what else I could have done to put her in a position to win!" Akashi sighed and looked up at Taylor. "Taylor-chan! How did Cassie-chan do!? Is she still with us?!"

"Yes, Akashi, Cassie's fine, she won. Of course she won." A distinct note of irritation crept into Taylor's voice. She drew a deep breath and rested her face in her palm before saying very slowly "Why. The fuck. Were you in there with her?"

She stared at Akashi, her big sister. Maybe it was because they were so close that she was able to be so pissed off at her while she was so obviously hurt. Taylor couldn't help it. "We don't even need to talk about Talia, but now Miss Spencer? Really? How in the mother of fuck did you end up tagging with that skinny bitch? Akashi... I let you down. But you couldn't have expected anything from that bitch in the first place!"

She stood up, and her voice became a shout before she caught herself. "And look where it got you! Fuck Spencer! Fuck the stupid motherfucking Bunnies! Fuckin'... book me a match against all three, man, shit. I'm not done for the night, dude, I wanna get back out there for round two. Think I can still catch the Bunnies before they make it back to their hole?"

Akashi sighed when Taylor said Cassie won. When she got home, she would be sure to squeeze Cassie until she popped. She looked up at Taylor when she asked why she was in the match with Spencer. "Huh?" Akashi pushed away the nurse and stood up. She took a step, feeling dizzy still.

I don't know! I wanted you!" Akashi had to set herself down. "You were happy. I didn't want to butt into your life anymore. You were happy. I would have waited but that dumb contract! Ugh..."

Akashi looked up at Taylor. "Why the fuck was I teaming with that bitch sensei!? I fricken hate her!"

Akashi shook her head a bit, regretting it instantly. "No! Taylor-chan! If you go out there, I'm going too! We're in this together! WE are a team! We're Kamikaze and... and I'm ready for a suicide run right now too!"

Taylor looked down at her shoes. "Yeah, I..." She trailed off.

Until Akashi was on her feet. "HEY!" She barked, and shoved Akashi so that she fell back onto her cot. "You sit the fuck down and be a good little patient. You're not going anywhere until they tell me it's okay." She pointed at a bunch of AFW medical staff.

"And yeah, we're in this together, that's why I'm looking out for you. Akashi, you might be tank-sized and tank-shaped, but you're not a tank. You can get hurt just like the rest of us. If you care about me, you'll stop getting yourself hurt like this." She sighed heavily. This was probably not the time or place to have this discussion, but...

"Look, ever since Gatt, you've lost a step, man." Her face was grim and serious. "You're doing all this fuckin' hentai shit, and losing. You lost to Spencer , and the only people you beat this year were her and fuckin'... Tai. Jesus, Akashi, even beating Tai still makes you look stupid. I don't know where your head is lately, but this is bullshit. You've got to get your shit together."

Akashi growled at Taylor's words. She stood herself up and gave Taylor a hard shove, trying to look as intimidating as possible. She wasn't trying to push Taylor to the ground, just ... shove her. She really wasn't sure. "I haven't lost a fucking step!" She growled. "I beat that sensei bitch's ass twice." She said. "The match rules in the first match were stupid! If it had been a normal match, she would have definitely lost! And all my other matches have been damn close! Marisa knows she got lucky against me!" She said and snorted through her nose.

"And..." She said, holding her head. "I'm pretty damn sure I wasn't the one who lost us tonight's match!" Akashi had to sit back down as the dizziness overtook her again. "I guess I must be losing my shit... because I was only able to get my head slammed into the concrete TWICE and still get back up." Akashi threw her hands up in the air and let them flop back down to her sides. I guess you would have gotten up after four or five." She said.

Akashi sighed. She felt bad for yelling but her head hurt. "Ugh... How about... maybe waiting until the event is even over before you start ripping into my shit." She groaned, burying her head in her hands.

Of course she was right. Taylor's shoulders slumped.

"Sorry."

A couple years earlier, she wouldn't have been able to bring herself to say the word, and were it not for Akashi she still wouldn't. On the one hand, who was she to question Akashi's heart? On the other hand... she was her sister. Her big sister, but they were equals. Even if no one else had ever believed it, they were, and if there was ever anyone who would say those things, it was her.

Still, not right now. Not like this. She just couldn't bear to see Akashi like this.

She crawled up onto the cot and knelt behind Akashi. She began carefully kneading her shoulders with her strong hands. She watched the staff go about their business, checking Akashi's pupils, her vitals, the ice, something for the pain. She wondered what it meant, that in the ring winning meant beating the other person. In a close match, maybe very badly. And losing often meant coming to see the medics. But there were medics, and even in defeat, people were still cared for. Someone after an easy win wouldn't get to be cared for like this.

"I still look up to you, ya know," Taylor said quietly. "Big sister."