This was awesome. Dumb, but awesome. There was something about it all that really spoke to her. The little patterns, the way the guys in the ring played off each other and the crowd. The electricity in the air. The exertion, the excitement, it was contagious, unlike anything she'd experienced before!
"And he's tapping out to the dreaded figure-four leglock! This match is over!"
This was wrestling. Ryunosuke's brand spanking new hobby!
"Didja see that?" she breathlessly asked Ataru, too caught up in the match to notice little details like that they had been holding hands the entire match or that she was sitting with his face right near hers. That last really 'cause the crowd was so loud it was the only way they could hear each other, but there you go. "The way he used leverage to drive one leg right into the other. One leg tryin' ta go one way, the other leg gettin' pushed against it. Brutal and clever, both at once!"
"Glad to hear you approve." Ataru patted the back of her hand and beamed at her. "There's a lot of cleverness going on. Wrestling is kind of underappreciated for how much thought goes into it."
Before he could go any further, the announcer spoke up and music started playing over the arena speakers. "For our next exciting bout, we have the bitter end to a years-long feud. Both competitors have agreed this match shall be their final, decisive confrontation. The winner tonight is the superior wrestler, and will walk away as the Woman's Champion."
Woman's champion? Ryunosuke blinked. Women could do this too? Nah, couldn't be. Musta misheard him. Wouldn't be too hard with that weirdly catchy music playing.
"Introducing first, the challenger on her way to the ring: The lady with lethal legs, Sakura Deathblow!"
It turned out she'd heard right. A chick strolled outta the back wearing a leotard while sakura petals fell all around her. Ryunosuke blinked and tilted her head. She was kinda pretty. That didn't fit at all. Why would some pretty chick do fighting like that? Wasn't fighting a guy thing?
The music changed. Where before it was upbeat, fast-paced and strangely charming, this time it made the entire arena seem a shade darker without them having to dim the lights. "And now the Woman's Champion: Mistress of the suplex, Dark Delilah!"
Another chick stepped out behind the curtain wearing an all black skinsuit and what must have been a permanent scowl on an otherwise pretty face. This didn't feel right. Were these two really about to fight? The same way the guys had? No way. She couldn't buy that. Sure, she knew how to scrap but that was because her dumb old man wanted her to behave like a -
The bell rang while she was thinking that over, and Ryu's thoughts were interrupted by Sakura demonstrating why she had that nickname with a kick that would shatter concrete had it actually connected. Her opponent deftly ducked and rolled under, getting behind Sakura and hoisting her up for a picture-perfect German suplex that put every other move of the night to shame. Sakura staggered to her feet and walked right up to Delilah, grasping her around the waist and tossing her across the ring into a bridging northern lights suplex that should be framed and put in a museum for art lovers to study.
"Breathe, dear," Ataru whispered, causing Ryu to let out the air she didn't know she was holding. Ataru stroked the back of her hand, and without thinking about it she let her head flop over onto his shoulder in disbelief. What she was seeing was so... Intense! From chicks!
Sakura rolled out of the bridge but was grabbed again before she could get back to her feet. It seemed as though Delilah was deliberately keeping her off balance, but this time around Sakura was ready with a stiff-looking punch to the abdomen that stalled her opponent. Another one nearly lifted her off her feet, and then a roundhouse kick to the back sent her to the floor.
"Chicks can fight like this?" Ryunosuke asked.
"Of course they can," Ataru remarked. "Lots of girls do manly things. It doesn't stop them from being girls. Nor does it stop them being pretty."
R-Right. That made a strange sort of sense. There were all sorts of different chicks out there. Ataru stroked the back of her hand again, and this time Ryunosuke squirmed in her seat when this really weird but nice feeling shot through her spine. Yeah. Yeah! This whole wrestling thing was really cool, wasn't it? Especially with someone like Ataru right there to talk it through with her. Maybe the pervert wasn't so bad after all?
<hr>
Lum walked out of the cafe arm in arm with her Ataru, trying her best not to smile. She should not be enjoying herself. She should not start preferring this version of Darling to the original. She should definitely not be smiling!
"And then the dog said, that's not my wallet!"
Needless to say, he wasn't making this easy for her. She burst into laughter against her own will, finding herself being pulled closer to this copy of Darling's chest as she did so. Such a manly chest. Even under those clothes she could tell. Definitely merited greater examination later.
"I don't get it," Shinobu said.
"Me neither," added her Ataru. They both shrugged in unison, and then in unison remarked, "It must be an alien thing."
Both Lum and her Ataru rolled their eyes. Humans just didn't have a sense of humour! Honestly now, they took that whole tag race thing so seriously all because of Daddy's hilarious joke to an official. What a ridiculous species they could be sometimes, but anyway!
That train of thought had broken the spell that her sexy, interesting, interested in her Ataru had cast over her, making her legs feel wobbly and butterflies flutter about in her tummy. Grk! Stop that, concentrate! It was just like Shinobu had said earlier. They were supposed to be keeping these Ataru out of trouble, not kissing their enticing lips or running a tongue along their earlobe or -
"Tossin' 'em around like a ragdoll until they beg for release!"
Yes, that too. Lum blinked. That voice was familiar, but unexpected.
"Then she went for the top rope - Oh, hey, Miss Lum!" Ryunosuke yelled in her usual rough way. While holding hands with another Ataru, and earning some strange looks from passersby. Probably looked like two boys holding hands. "Hey, Shinobu... Ataru... and Ataru? Uh. The hell is going on here?"
"Teleporter hijinks!" Shinobu yelled before Lum could go into a more detailed explanation. "Just roll with it, and... Um, sorry, boys, can we have a word for a bit?"
"Tcha," Lum's Ataru went, extracting himself from around her shoulders. "Looks like you've been having fun. Hrm? Is that a wrestling program I see there?"
"Ugh, wrestling." Shinobu's Ataru rolled his eyes and sighed. "Such pointless violence. I'd much prefer a quiet night in. Relaxing, reading."
"Whatcha mean?" Ryu's Ataru protested. "Wrestling is great fun! The drama, the intrigue, the storytelling utilising such a unique medium! It's so much fun!"
Right. So, this was the part where the girls would stop staring at the bizarre sight of three Ataru Moroboshi's arguing over the merits of professional wrestling so they could catch up a little.
"So?" Shinobu asked. "Has yours done anything weird or out of the ordinary?"
"Nuh uh, not so's I can tell," Ryunosuke answered. "We just went to a wrestling show. Was kinda fun, hung out a bit. Never been to one before, was really interesting."
"You didn't kiss him or anything, didja?" Lum asked. Well. That was interesting. She had never seen the girl turn beet red like that before and - Ow, ow, ow!
"See this? This here's a hammerlock! Learned it from the show!"
"Hold on a moment!" Shinobu hushed. "She didn't mean it like that! Listen. We think there's something weird going on with these different Atarus. Didn't you notice how they were behaving differently earlier?"
Ryunosuke grunted and loosened the hold. "Huh? Yeah, I guess..."
Lum wrenched herself free and rubbed her wrist. "Well, Shinobu thinks they're imprinting on whoever they meet first, tcha. Turning themselves into a perfect mate. That's what we wanted to check with you, if your Ataru was having that effect on you?"
Now they got the experience of being stared at quite intensely by a girl who was almost impossible to believe was a girl the first time anyone met her. Ryunosuke folded her arms, tapped her feet and stared right through them, then back at the Atarus, then back at them.
"Ain't you his ex-girlfriend?" Ryunosuke asked. Shinobu nodded. "And you're his current fiancee?" Lum nodded with great enthusiasm. "There's your trouble. Man, you guys are reading into shit too much! The two of you were already attracted to him, so you're just seeing whatcha wanna see. Someone like me who ain't ever been into him ain't gonna have that trouble!"
"Yoo hoo, lady!" Ryu's Ataru yelled. "This other me says there's a boxing match at the theme park tonight! We oughta hurry get some tickets!"
"Damn skippy!" Ryu replied, waving at him in an extremely feminine way. Feminine. From Ryunosuke. Well, doesn't that just take the cake? "Be there in a second, hun!" Then she turned her attention back to the two of them and was all business once again. "Listen, we can't have a buncha Moroboshis running all around the place. One was bad enough! Probably best if we all keep an eye out for 'em and keep 'em outta trouble."
And then Lum and Shinobu watched the inexplicable sight of Ryunosuke taking her Ataru's hand and walking off with him. It was... Cute? No, that word didn't quite seem right somehow.
"We may have a problem," Lum conceded. "We should probably find the other Atarus and -"
"Darling, you seem so stressed all of a sudden." A pair of hands fell on her shoulders and started kneading. Lum's legs gave way, but luckily she can fly so that wasn't a problem at all. "Here, let me work that stress out for you."
Or they could hunt down the other Atarus after hers had gotten the stress out of her back. That was good too, she supposed!
- At the park, Ryu runs into Sakura trying to do an exorcism, fills her in on the situation as she understands it.
- Benten's sumo match takes an intense turn.
- The prank war escalates!
- Shutaro Mendo encounters several Atarus in quick succession, concludes he is in a nightmare.
- Something else
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