Attending the Tokyo Sports Puroresu Awards ceremony was supposed to be the easiest thing in the world. Exactly which part of the routine wasn’t easy to follow? Show up in a nice little suit, get into some conversations with your fellow wrestlers as if they mean something to you; then some photos for the press and at the end of the show, just accept your award and go home with increased prestige to your name. Simple as. You’d think that it would be nothing but a night of relaxation and validation of a year filled with grueling fights. No stakes, no action, zero chance of tomfoolery, right? Right?
Oh boy, was he wrong. The levels of fuckery that’d been reached were truly unprecedented.
Locked inside the janitor’s closet and handcuffed to someone else: It sounded like a new and badly written Hangover movie plot. Except this was no movie. He was perfectly sober and he assumed the same about the woman on the other side of the cuffs ... who stared at him and smiled like it was her birthday and Christmas at the same time.
Or maybe she was not sober at all. No sober woman would drag someone into a closet and handcuff herself to them. Then again, the execution was flawless. He had to give it to her, he was impressed. And it wasn’t like his current predicament was inescapable either. His desire to go for the obvious measures just happened to wane in comparison to his curiosity.
Stay put, The Foreigner told himself silently. Stay put and let her cook.
The road he’d followed so far came with its fair share of bumps and twists and turns before. He’d even gotten himself a trio of dumb idol slaves from the last time someone tried to throw a wrench in his plans. Surprise wasn’t exactly at the top of his list of emotions when it came to the events that were unfolding at the moment. As his harem grew, so did his actual wrestling career. More and more eyes were on him. He wouldn’t have been here in the first place if he wasn’t able to take the bad with the good.
Normally, he wouldn’t even consider a situation like this bad. But it was just so fucking annoying that Utami Hayashishita decided to pull this stunt during a national award ceremony. At least Mina had the common sense to arrange an empty warehouse beforehand.
“People must be looking for us,” he tried to reason with the Red Queen.
“That’s exactly why you should hurry, my hypno-lord,” Utami giggled, booping him on the nose as she teased him. “I don’t plan on uncuffing you with my free will still intact so you know what to do.”
The Foreigner found himself cringing at the nickname she’d used for him. He had his slaves call him plenty of things, ‘hypno-lord’ was not one of them and would never be one of them. Honestly, that was enough reason to enslave her right there and then but that would be playing right into her hands and he wasn’t sure what was her endgame here, so he refrained.
“Why?” he asked back, not an ounce of bafflement had left his voice.
“Ah, don’t panic. We should still have some time before they present the trophies,” Utami said in a cheerful tone. “That also means I can tell you all about ‘why’ if that means it will encourage you to do what you should’ve done already.”
“Fuck it, why not?” he said after a frustrated sigh escaped his lips. His body shifted a bit in the place as he tried to make himself comfortable in the claustrophobic room, as much as he could anyway. “Go on, please tell me what prompted you to do all of this.”
Utami gave him a look of pleasant surprise before letting out a giddy little giggle. She closed her eyes and turned her back, inadvertently causing the chain that bound the cuffs to yank on his wrist.
Then she started to recall and recount.
“It all started during my childhood. I come from a family of twelve and we all starred in a reality show about our big family, headlined by my father, ‘Big Daddy’ Kiyoshi Hayashishita. I always had to scratch and claw my way amongst my siblings to get my parents attention, even more so with the show going on. That made me quite the fighter an-”
“Hayashishita, what the fuck are you rambling about? Do you want me to be your hypnotist or your therapist? I can’t be both,” The Foreigner groaned. If Utami was going to tell all her life story then they’d be here for hours. “I already know about your family, anyone can go and read your biography. I’m more interested in the bits that actually are relevant to ... well, our situation.”
“Jeez, what a spoilsport,” the red-head pouted before conceding the point. “But okay, I’ll skip some parts, just for you, my sweet hunky ‘tist.”
The feeling of cringe did not dissipate, yet he still responded with a small nod anyway while Utami looked ready to abandon the dramatics and get on with the tale he wanted her to tell.
“The first time I saw you was after I had that time limit draw with Syuri…”
Everything hurt. Bones, muscles, tendons, everything. Sixty minutes. A full fucking hour. Utami was in the ring for an hour, wrestling relentlessly in every single second of it. It would be unbelievable in any other circumstances but the pain and the soreness worked together to make sure she believed all of it. She carried the receipts all over her body. Today, she made history. She stood in the squared circle, faced one of the nastiest fighters to ever grace a wrestling ring, a former UFC alumna nonetheless. And she refused to go down. She didn’t fall, she didn’t lose. Utami Hayashishita was still the top dog in STARDOM. Still the world champion. Syuri couldn’t take that away from her.
Yet, Utami wasn’t happy in the slightest. Even though she entered the ring a champion and left a legend, she still wasn’t happy. Syuri couldn’t beat Utami, that much was true, but it also held up vice-versa. Utami didn’t lose … but she didn’t win either. That flimsy little detail was enough to tug at her after what should normally be a star-making performance. Apparently, this bother was noticeable enough for her to get called out for it.
“Utami, you’re so competitive.” Her ears picked up on the words of her best friend Saya Kamitani, appropriately nicknamed as Tall Saya.
Her length helped Utami greatly as she leaned on her for support after everything she had put her body through today.
“That competitiveness is what got you to the top,” Saya elaborated.
“Just don’t let this bring you down, okay?. You were amazing today. The old hag might’ve not gone down tonight, but she’s on the last limbs of her career anyway. She probably left everything she had in the ring today. But you’re in your prime, you have years of fuel left in the tank. Next time, you’re going to crush her and we’re going to laugh together at how needlessly sad you were when she managed to get a lucky draw against you.”
The Red Queen appreciated her kind words and she didn’t especially disagree with them either. Saya was a good friend but Utami was aware of Kamitani’s crush on her. It was a crush Saya utterly failed at hiding. It was also a crush that Utami wasn’t really sure she reciprociated. She even felt guilty at times for it, thinking that she was leading Saya on. However, the fighting prowess of the tall woman nearly matched hers and their chemistry in the ring was top notch. Saya was definitely the perfect tag team partner for The Red Queen. Her friendship was something she desperately wanted not to ruin. It was definitely not a conversation she looked forward to having; she wasn’t sure she would ever be ready to have.
“We can go and grab some drinks if you want to. We can definitely use some unwinding after such a long night, I mean. Even if you still want to sulk about your match, we can at least celebrate my tournament victory! What better way to celebrate than doing it together!” Saya offered with perky excitement in her tone.
Right, Saya had won her tournament today, right. That was actually a pretty big deal but Utami had completely forgotten about her friend’s victory until she brought it up a second ago.
“My father attended today’s show, actually. He’s going to come and pick me up, but thanks for the offer anyway, Saya. I’d love to do it later.” Utami answered that inquiry with a slight smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.
Saya responded with a frown that made Utami feel even worse. The frown didn't last long before it abdicated its place to a smile again.
“Oh, Big Daddy Hayashishita is here?” Saya asked, clearly intrigued by the prospect, though she easily let it go. “You must be very tired after wrestling for a freaking hour! Go get your rest, queen.”
After the tall girl helped Utami to the parking lot, she dropped her off, gently laying Utami’s bags next to her before taking her leave. With Kamitani gone, Utami Hayashishita found herself completely alone. Alone at the top, alone at the parking lot. It was in the middle of June but she felt chilly somehow.
She wished she hadn’t made up the lie about her father attending the show. Looking around, she looked for ways to go back to her hotel. Kamitani wasn’t the only friend Utami had from her wrestling group called Queen’s Quest, though she didn’t have a diversity of choices ready either. AZM was too young to drive, so she was out of the question immediately. Maybe Momo was still around? She was perfectly reliable when it came to things like this. Not to mention how she was probably the only acceptable option now that Utami had driven Saya away with a totally unnecessary lie. Her eyes continued to scan the area, occasionally interrupted by some people passing by her to congratulate her or whatever. In Utami’s eyes there was nothing to congratulate. She couldn’t find Momo, but she saw someone more interesting.
It was that bastard Syuri. She felt her blood boil again, as if staring at her face for a full hour wasn’t enough for a single day.
Leaning on a grey Hyundai, her rival was fully engaged in a conversation with a man. At first, Utami only focused on Syuri, who was smiling and laughing along. Needless to say, this only served to rejuvenate the anger Utami felt.
Such blatant disrespect. The older woman didn’t exactly have time on her side and this was probably one of the last shots she had at true greatness. Syuri couldn’t beat Utami, couldn’t get the job done, couldn’t win the championship belt that currently decorated Utami’s shoulders. Yet, instead of focusing or reflecting on her failure, she was freely flirting with a man as if none of that happened nor mattered to her? How dared she? Who gave her the right to act like that?
As angry as she felt, Utami ultimately decided against causing a scene by walking up to her and confronting her. She wasn’t that miserable. But still, it didn’t stop her from staying put and seething silently.
Eventually, Syuri’s fling opened the door to the grey Hyundai and the gleeful woman entered the car. The man closed the door behind the former UFC fighter. Then, his face turned and his gaze met Utami’s. His gaze was sharp, cutting, as if she was staring into Utami’s very soul. His stare only lasted a second before the man gave the redhead a knowing smile before cutting eye contact, turning back and entering the vehicle himself.
What had just happened? Utami didn’t know, but she could hear her own heartbeat as if it was the only sound in the crowded parking lot.
Loud, thumping, just as confused as she was.
“Nothing was ever the same for me after that…” Utami concluded, her cheeks approaching shades of red that resembled the color of her dyed hair. It must’ve been a very powerful memory for her, The Foreigner concluded.
Who was he kidding? Of course it was, he wouldn’t be in this situation if she didn’t feel this strongly. The lack of oxygen in the closet must’ve been getting to him.
“So, you saw me smiling at you and felt weird about it, am I getting this right? Have you ever been attracted to people before? I’m not talking about love at first sight but something close to that maybe…”
He didn’t expect Utami to let out another giggle.
“Now, I thought you didn’t want to be my therapist,” she said, a finger reaching to boop him on the nose again.
“I haven’t hypnotized you yet so that choice is still up in the air.”
“If you don’t make the right choice then there’s no way we’re getting out of here before it’s too late, I’m afraid.”
In his mind, he was still trying to make sense of this game. It would be easy of him to say ‘fuck it’, coax Utami’s hot body and that devious little mind of hers with his aura, get her to happily free him and continue this evening as if nothing had happened. But the feeling that he was missing something continued to loom over, or maybe it was still nothing more than simple curiosity and he was trying to make it more complicated than it was. Either way, he needed more context, he needed to know more. For that, he had to keep listening to Utami’s stories.
There were worse ways to spend time, The Foreigner supposed.
“So, how did you end up getting back to your hotel that day? Did you call a taxi?” he asked, redirecting Utami to get back on topic.
Utami’s pleasant smile vanished after hearing that question. He probably knew why.
“No, I eventually rode back with her…” Utami answered, though it almost came like a whisper. The name was spit with poison.
The cold steel of the folded chair met her flesh again. Utami lost count after ten. She could ask all the questions. God knew she had lots of those questions. How long had Momo been planning this? How hard was it for that Starlight brat and the rest of the Oedo Tai scum to convince her to do this? Why? Why? Why?
Starlight Kid had been provoking Momo for a while, trying to get into her head about the leadership of Queen’s Quest. She continuously taunted Momo about how she wasn’t the best anymore, how she wasn’t even the leader of Queen’s Quest like her predecessor wanted her to be. As if the leadership meant anything in a group that always strived to be the best version of themselves, as if.
Did Momo simply fall for those words?
Maybe she was feeling inferior for quite a while. Momo Watanabe was there before all of them, before AZM, before Saya, before Utami. Momo was supposed to be the future ace, yet she couldn’t live up to her full potential. Her shortcomings were never really discussed in the group and maybe it was their negligence that caused Momo to explode like that. In the worst way possible.
Did she hate them? Utami, Saya or even AZM, who was her best friend? Did Momo hate all of them? Did she grow too resentful due to feeling left behind?
Utami wanted to ask, she wanted to scream.
But she did none of that. She knew asking wouldn’t change anything. She would only get laughed at and eat another chairshot to the head for her troubles.
And truth be told, it didn’t really matter anyway. Whatever reason Momo might’ve had, it hurt all the same.
Her unresponsive body was dragged into the corner, near Saya and AZM. They were stacked up like a pile of trash, in the background as Momo celebrated her actions with her new group. Her new friends.
Momo Watanabe hadn’t been Utami’s best friend, but she was a good one. She was reliable, resourceful, a mentor to her when she first entered Queen’s Quest. If it wasn’t for her help, Utami would’ve never become who she was today. Now, she was gone. A friend turned into a foe. A traitor.
Mourning for a friend was honestly more painful than the combined sting of all those chair shots. She laid there, so did what remained of her group. Her head fell to the side, her eyes met Saya’s and then they shifted to AZM’s crying ones.
Did Utami really have any guarantees that they wouldn’t do the same to her once conflicts between them started appearing? Could she trust them to not turn their backs on her when jealousy reared its ugly head? Just how easy would it be for her enemies to manipulate the people Utami considered friends after Momo just proved that doing so wouldn’t be the hardest thing in the world? How co-
She stopped. She took a deep breath.
Utami felt shitty for thinking that way. This was a collective trauma they were going through. Her thoughts shouldn’t have been flocking around the notions of growing some distance away from the friends she still had and building a wall around her emotions. In fact, they should’ve gone the opposite direction. AZM and Saya needed her more than ever. She was the world champion, the ace of STARDOM, the ace of Queen’s Quest. She would endure. She had to endure.
When Oedo Tai left the ring, it was Utami who got up first, helping Saya and AZM to get back. The audience applauded them as they made their way back to their locker room, trying to console the betrayed trio. Not surprisingly, the cheers and the applause accomplished absolutely nothing.
Not a single noise emerged from the trio of women as they sat together in their locker room. AZM’s tears had dried up, Saya’s head was in between her hands. As for Utami, she eventually grew tired of the silence and the TV remote nearby was the solution to that little problem. The small television hung in the corner of the room has opened and on the feed … Utami saw Donna Del Mondo. The trio of Maika, Himeka and Natsupoi, to be more specific. She had seen them win another match early in the day, not to mention Syuri dismantling three opponents one-by-one in under ten minutes.
What did the Donnas have that Queen’s Quest didn’t? The hierarchy in their ranks was definitely more definitive than Queen’s Quest’s … yet everything was going all sunshine and rainbows with them. They had all the reasons for conflicts, for frictions, for jealousy, for defections, yet fucking 'Kumbaya' was all they sang. Their leader Giulia was clearly being outshined on a regular basis by Syuri. Natsupoi was basically a Cosmic Angels member in a DDM coat of paint. With all those glaring issues, what did they have that kept them together?
While AZM and Saya kept their focus on grieving over Momo’s betrayal, Utami’s eyes remained fixated on the scene.
DDM won their match. Because of course they fucking did.
Her mind reverted back to that time she saw Syuri with the man in the parking lot. Utami later found him out to be one of the New Japan guys. Truth be told, she’d been kinda intrigued by him ever since that day. She’d been doing her research, watching his matches, closely following his media appearances. He was close with Syuri, close with the whole Donna Del Mondo, actually. She didn’t even know why she was so fixated on him. Surely his good looks and promising portfolio of wrestling matches didn’t warrant borderline stalker-ish behaviour from her, did they?
She didn’t answer her own question as she felt a set of arms around her, disrupting her inner monologue. Saya was hugging her. AZM followed suit. Tension in her body released as she released another deep breath. It was clear. They needed her.
But Utami needed something too. She just wasn’t sure what … or who.
“I’m guessing you’d found it, otherwise we wouldn’t really be here together, would we?” The Foreigner asked, fully aware that he was probably asking the most rhetorical question in the history of rhetorical questions. Well, unless Utami planned to pull a legendary plot twist, that is.
An overly sweet nod accompanying an overly sweet smile was the overly sweet redhead’s answer. The master hypnotist used his non-cuffed hand to wipe small drops of sweat from his forehead.
“Are you ready to claim me now?” Utami asked, lightly wiggling in her place in anticipation. “I promise to make your wait worthwhile, Master.”
At least she'd dropped the embarrassing pet names. He looked at Utami’s cute little face before grabbing the chain that bound their cuffs together. She was cuffed to him as much as he was cuffed to her and The Foreigner used that fact to yank the chain, pulling Utami towards him. They were real close now.
A cool smirk was on his face now, his smooth lips just inches away from Utami’s quivering ones. She was prepared from the start to give herself to him. Was the man who owned not one but two whole groups in Utami’s workplace finally ready to start worming his way up into a third one?
He saw Utami close her eyes, her lips slowly pushing forward, ready for the kiss of her life.
“Continue the story,” he said before gently pushing her away from that intimate position. He didn’t put much of his aura into the command, almost next to none, but Utami already had the obedience part covered even without him pushing for it.
“Though I probably know what comes next.” he continued, there was an event involving Utami very close in date to Momo Watanabe’s betrayal of Queen’s Quest. He remembered it well, for multiple reasons.
Utami had recovered from the shock by that point and continued the story as he wished.
The curtains that separated the backstage area and the entrance ramp parted in the middle and out emerged The Red Queen. She was in front of her subjects now and the champion of STARDOM was ready to carry her symbol of excellence into the future and beyond. It’d barely passed the mark of one week after the Momo incident but Utami had no time to dwell on that. The pyrotechnics went off behind her, amplifying the greatness of her already-grandiose entrance, hyping the fans even more for the arrival of the greatest professional wrestler in the world. Utami Hayashishita had beaten many opponents, defended her title against many pretenders. This time was going to be no different, no matter the circumstances.
She was the fucking Red Queen. It had to be her, it couldn’t be anyone else.
Utami subconsciously continued to swirl her signature rose in her hand while her eyes met her opponent from a distance. A very familiar opponent.
The old hag stared back. Syuri was still in the game, stronger than ever after winning the biggest tournament of the year, granting her another shot at Utami and her world championship belt. Their last meeting ended with much frustration for Utami. Now was the time to make up for that misstep.
Instead of entering the ring directly and starting the match immediately, Utami took her sweet-ass time, circling around the ring instead. Normally, she would’ve given her rose to a random member of the audience by now, preferably someone sitting close to the ramp instead of someone from the sections around the ring. One of the commentators was fair game too, but they also failed to receive her rose today. Utami had her target plain in sight.
DDM’s secret prince was in the audience, perfectly unaware of how he drove Utami crazy. But it was all okay, Utami was never handed anything in life, she always fought for it. Today, he would see first-hand just how much of a fluke the first match was on Syuri's behalf. His existence was giving the DDM girls extra confidence and resolve, that was the conclusion Utami had come to as the result of her research. How else could Syuri win the biggest tournament of the year?
But it was all okay, if Syuri was going to go hard because of his presence, then Utami would have to go extra hard to compensate for that. She never backed down from a challenge.
Her forbidden fruit would have to watch her destroy his beloved Syuri. But Utami already had plans to make it up to him. In fact, she stopped circling around the ring like a vulture, finally standing in front of a section of fans. Giving Syuri one last glance, she turned around and extended her arm. The old hag wanted to steal her title, her crown from her. She could try. Turnabout was always fair play. Utami was going to steal her man’s heart in return.
Her heart started pounding as she offered her rose to him, praying that he would take it. Three thousand people were watching her in the arena with even more people watching it online. She didn’t care. Only for that moment, nobody else existed in the arena. Not even Syuri. Just Utami and him. To her absolute joy, he accepted her rose after offering back the same assuring and warm smile he gave her in the parking lot. That’s how Utami knew that everything was going to be alright. She turned back, climbed the steel steps and was in the ring immediately after that.
Last time, they went over 60 minutes, with no winners. But this time, there was no time limit in the match, meaning that there had to be a winner. Utami was going to win it. The ‘no time limit’ stipulation be damned, she wasn’t even going to let it go to 60 minutes this time.
And she didn’t, because it only took 36 minutes.
She lost. Utami had lost. When she opened her eyes again, Syuri was already given the championship belt that used to be hers.
The former champion tried to raise her head, her eyes looking for him. He was watching with a proud smile as Syuri celebrated with the title she took from her.
She closed her eyes again, waiting for it to be just a bad dream. She would open her eyes again and wake up again. Maybe the belt would still be with her. Maybe Momo would still be with them. Maybe. Just maybe.
But when she opened her eyes back again, the reality didn’t change. She had lost and she had to live with that now.
The Foreigner didn’t know which was sweeter, reminiscing about Syuri's big victory or seeing Utami pout at his amusement of said reminiscence. If Utami knew the full details of what happened after the show, then there would be no way she could blame him for letting a big dumb smirk decorate his face.
Giulia, Maika, Himeka and ‘Poi all worshipping Syuri’s body with their hands and their mouths. The all-conquering champion was handed the privilege to command her friends for that day like her Master did every single day. The expensive royal suite, the heavenly king-sized bed. The greatest orgy ever. The world championship belt. God. And after god, The Foreigner.
“For what it’s worth…” he said, laying smugly in his place. “...I did keep the rose.”
“Y-you did?” Utami asked, blushing like a maiden.
“Why wouldn’t I? The world champion of the time had specifically given me a rose, not many men can claim the same thing.” he shrugged, using simple logic.
“Sure, the world champion of the time didn’t remain that for long after that, but still…” he then teased, dealing another blow to Utami after she had to recall that experience.
“You’re right, I don’t give my roses to many men.” Utami responded, finding herself some flat object to sit on. It was a miracle how nobody had interrupted them yet, honestly. “But you’re not ‘many men’.”
“Oh, on that much we agree.” He was pretty bold with his words. He had all the reasons to be.
Not many men got roses from a beautiful champion like Utami. Not many men had two different wrestling factions bound to his will and worshipping him like obedient slaves. Not many men at all. There was much to be proud of in being unique.
“And giving you the rose wasn’t the only thing I did to appease you.”
“Do you remember the interview you gave to the Tokyo Sports magazine back in February?” Utami asked, her uncuffed hand running through her hair.
“We’re finally here!” Saya squealed as they stopped in front of the hairdresser shop.
Utami was glad she was finally getting to do something nice for Saya. She’d promised to take the taller girl to her hairdresser and having the week off meant that the plan could finally come to fruition.
Tall Saya pushed the glass door and the two ladies entered the shop. Utami’s hairstylist was busy with a customer at the moment but she still took the moment to greet the former champion and her best friend.
“Let’s sit down.” Utami offered as it became apparent that her hairdresser wouldn’t have her hands free for quite some time.
Some magazines laid on the table as they always did. Fashion, home architecture, music and Tokyo Sports. Saya took the last one and gave it a quizzical look, which didn’t escape Utami’s eye.
“I’m a regular here so the owner puts Tokyo Sports on the table in case I show up.” she explained to Saya, who had opened the magazine and was in the process of going through some pages arbitrarily.
Utami let her do that while she didn’t particularly try to pass time with magazines. Her mind was already occupied enough. Quite frankly, the storms that brewed within her head were the primary reason she was having this relaxing outing with Kamitani anyway. It was a shame her stylist still had some work to do with her current customer, prompting The Red Queen to wait until the owner of the shop gave her the perfect opportunity to dispel those thoughts.
“So … “ Saya dragged the word out. “What are you going to do with your hair today?”
“I don’t know, really. Maybe refresh the colour? I’m not planning drastic changes, we’re here more for you than me, honestly,” Utami replied.
“Oh, good to know,” her friend smiled back. “Your hair is lovely like this, Utami! I think long red locks suit you perfectly. I don’t think you should change it at all.”
A nervous giggle also escaped Kamitani’s lips. It was an awkward enough sound to push her face back to her magazine and shut up for a minute. Utami found it endearing, however, despite not feeling any more ready to talk about Saya’s ongoing crush on her.
“That’s just great…” Utami heard her break her silence. Saya was rolling her eyes as well while gently slapping the page she had been reading to indicate her displeasure with it.
“Another article about Syuri’s championship reign. If those journalists love her soooo much then they should just marry her and be done with it.”
Utami really wanted to ‘thank’ Saya for not making it easy to stop thinking about her recent shortcomings but she elected not to. She was better than that. Hayashishita just closed her eyes instead and let out a deep breath. Maybe the magazines weren’t such a bad idea…
“Oh, they also have an interview with that New Japan guy you just don’t shut up about.”
“Give me!” Utami said instantly, hand reaching for the magazine.
And now Saya was giving her a weird look.
“... for the Syuri article … !” Utami was the least convincing person in the world right now. “I-I want to ridicule it, I swear! She s-sucks, yeah, Syuri sucks! Totally!”
Saya handed her the magazine anyway, though not without rolling her eyes again with greater vitriol this time. Then, her hands hastily grabbed another magazine. As her friend did that, Utami realized something. Talking about him annoyed Saya a lot more than talking about Syuri. Which was pretty telling of how Utami talked about him, she supposed. Even though she tried to keep the secret nature of her feelings to a minimum, like always talking about his match quality or whatnot, she guessed Saya was smart enough to get all the necessary hints from her tone and all that.
But reading the interview with him took precedence over trying to reassure her friend. Kamitani was quick to flare and her anger was quick to die down. She would forget about it soon and the issue wasn’t even serious anyway. Certainly not serious enough to bother her reading time.
He just looked so ravishing in his photo that covered both the pages like a poster. She licked her lips on pure instinct before hoping Saya didn’t see it.
He had such a way with words. He gave such eloquent answers describing his thought process on staging a coup against his former group leader, resulting in him taking over as the new leader of the pack. His primary goal was to win the world championship on his own promotion. Such noble desires, she always took him for a man who had no problems just taking what he wanted. As far as she had watched him, he hadn’t proved her wrong. The girls of Donna Del Mondo had a weird relationship with him, a relationship apparently nobody but her really noticed. She didn’t make it a big fuss out of it by talking about it to others either. Utami was sure he’d appreciate his privacy.
Tokyo Sports usually asked off-topic questions to the athletes they interviewed as well with him being no exception to the rule. Her eyes became glued to the pages of the magazine as she read a question about his taste in women.
‘I don’t know how cliche I can get with this but I do like confident and strong girls. Why wouldn’t I? I’ll also admit that I have a soft spot for short hair on women, I don’t mean buzzcut or anything but something around the neck-length would be ideal.’
His answer did not elaborate more than that and after a few more passages, Utami had finished reading the article. She laid the Tokyo Sports magazine back on the table, in front of Kamitani in case she wanted to pick up from where she was left off. She raised her head again after that, only to see that the customer that kept her hairdresser busy was preparing to leave. Now available, the hairdresser soon walked up to them, ready to take them away from the magazines and the unspoken crush dramas.
“Alright, Utami, I will have you first.” she asked her first, prompting Utami to get up. “So, what do you want me to do with your hair today?”
As she approached the chair, Utami had a smile on her face and crystal clarity in her voice.
“I want to try something new today.”
“We had a big fight because of that haircut, you know? Saya didn’t talk to me for a month after that day,” revealed Utami. Even though she tried to cover it with chuckles, The Foreigner did end up sensing the tiniest hint of bitterness in his stalker’s voice.
“And I don’t think our friendship really recovered from that. Sure, we still joke around. We still tag sometimes. But she’s nowhere near as close to me as she used to be.”
His response didn’t vocalize immediately. Instead, he wiggled his way an inch or so closer to Utami, catching her by total surprise as his hand reached out to brush some of her crimson hair behind her ear. It would be pretty redundant to mention the intense blush making its return on her cheeks. Both her hands closed around his almost on instinct. They felt so soft, her grip was almost non-existent. It was easy for him to draw his hand back. From her hands, at least, the cuffs were still on.
“I think short hair looks perfect on you, Utami.” the compliment was accompanied with a charming smile. He had grown way too comfortable with playing the role of the dashing prince.
“T-thank you.” she said, no, squealed was a better term for it. “Then I’d say the haircut was totally worth it.”
It was too bad he couldn’t find any suitable watch to match with the suit. He had no idea how much time had passed since Utami dragged him here. Well, the story hadn’t reached its conclusion yet, so he figured some more time would be spent as well.
“You cut your hair and suddenly we are here, is that it?” He questioned. “Feels like you still haven’t told me the most important bits.”
“Yes,” Utami nodded as she slowly lowered her hands back. They had hung too long in the air after the warmth of his hand departed from her skin.
“My feelings for you were hard to put into words, honestly. I’d never felt anything like that before,” she admitted. “I did find some clarity eventually, even though it was from the most strange of sources.”
Stalking came in different shapes and purposes. Utami wasn’t proud to admit that her portfolio on that subject was quite diverse. She was already adept at stalking the prime object of her burning desire. She had been collecting tapes, magazines, memorabilia and all sorts of things. Everything that she could own or decipher to figure him out and make her way into his heart would help. But that was all for love. The goal was about something she could share with him.
As the former world champion slithered her way out of the locker room, she reminded herself that this was for her and her only. She didn’t sneak her way into the only female-only gym in the city at goddamn 4 AM without telling anyone for no reason.
The Red Queen wanted her crown back. If that meant she would have to resort to some extreme methods like stalking Syuri then she would be a fool to think even twice about it. The current world champion had recently expressed in an interview that her routine before title matches included working out dead in the night where she would have a whole gym by herself. Utami was going to stalk, no, scout Syuri from a distance. She would take note of every little detail in Syuri’s workout so that she could use them against her rival and take her world title back.
The plan seemed foolproof until Utami realized that Syuri wasn’t there alone. Old hag didn’t mention a sparring partner in her interview. Weirder was the fact that the woman near her was a part of the STARDOM roster and she wasn’t even from DDM. What exactly was Unagi Sayaka of Cosmic Angels doing in the dead of the night with Syuri?
Before Utami’s mind could jump to all sorts of conclusions, the unlikely duo continued whatever conversation they’d had before. Even with the distance, Utami could hear them perfectly.
“You can’t do this to me!.” whined the Cosmic Angel, her arms crossed. “Being up this late seriously messes with my own routine! Do you know how much extra beauty sleep I will need to get after this?”
Syuri didn’t seem to care at all, her smirk was borderline predatory as she eyed Unagi up. This clarified absolutely nothing for Utami.
“Why didn’t you ask someone from your own team to help you train?” Unagi asked. That was one of the questions in Utami’s mind as well. One of many, in fact.
“Because I wanted to play with you instead.” Syuri answered casually. “And because I know you will obey me completely unlike them.”
Utami’s mind had to do a double take after that answer. Was she hearing Syuri correctly? O-obey? What was Syuri talking about? Were they in a relationship?
Was Syuri cheating on the man Utami spent months obsessing about … with Unagi? The world had gone insane, Utami was sure of it, nothing made sense in her life anymore.
The list of questions only expanded when she heard Syuri utter a nonsensical phrase and Unagi’s body went stiff for a moment before relaxing completely. The Cosmic Angel had a blank expression on her face, her head tilted slightly to her side. She totally looked like she was in a trance. Her eyes were blankly staring into the distance. Her arms were slack to the point of slightly oscillating from side to side. Utami was sure that the mindless looking woman would fall down with a single poke. Syuri’s gaze grew even more hungry, her hands immediately grabbing the straps of Sayaka’s sports bra before roughly pulling them down.
And it only escalated from there.
Watching them kiss and fuck over the gym equipment. Gazing upon their glorious naked bodies. Hearing Syuri be called ‘Mistress’ by the woman who was being treated, quite frankly, like a sex slave.
Utami didn’t exactly know how she managed to not touch herself and make her presence known to the two lovers(?), but she knew it was quite the miraculous task. Maybe it was her devotion to him that repelled her from pleasuring herself to the possible sight of him getting cheated on. Maybe it was a backlog of battles and hatred she shared with Syuri. But ‘maybe’s were irrelevant.
This was fishy. Utami had massive doubts that this was just some kinky roleplay sex. Unagi might’ve been more proficient at the acting side of wrestling than she was at wrestling side, but no actress in the world had the acting chops to act as if she’d suddenly gone into a deep trance without breaking the character for a single second as every inch of their bodies were used sexually.
The redhead silently uttered the gibberish phrase Syuri used to initiate Unagi’s ‘trance’ to make sure if she still remembered it. She had to get to the bottom of this. As she repeated the phrase once more, Utami realized that she had the means to do so.
“The very next show, I caught Unagi backstage alone. She was surprised to see me approach her. Before she could say anything however, I put her under by using her trigger phrase,” Utami explained. Her heart was beating faster and faster with each second, utterly unable to get a read on him. “I ordered her to tell me everything.”
“And she did,” he realized. His focus departed away from Utami as he pressed his fingertips together. He looked thoughtful.
His periods of silence usually meant that he wanted Utami to continue the story, but that was all there was to it. Utami was taken by his charms and after months of (not so) secretly and (not so) silently obsessing over him, she had grown to find that he could literally charm people to the point of brainwashing them. Everything had led her to this moment.
The moment was at hand for Utami. She had him where she wanted him. It would reflect badly on him in the eyes of the public if he were to not make it in time to humbly accept the award graciously bestowed upon him. Sure, that wouldn’t be the biggest scandal in the world, not even close. However, his career was still young and that meant even the smallest controversy would cause a big headache for the man she wanted more than anything else in the world.
She had accepted him completely. She had accepted his ‘abilities’. She had accepted his desires. She had even accepted the fact that she was going to share him with so many others including her biggest rival. Would she be asking for too much if she just wanted him to accept her love in return?
The silence really unnerved Utami. He should’ve jumped her by now.
“People must be looking for us,” she said, calling back to what he’d said before. Calling him to act as soon as possible. Calling him to claim her.
His head finally turned back to her again. He had a wide grin on his beautiful face, his piercing gaze sizing her up like a full course meal. Utami smiled back. A hopeful warmth had filled her body. Did this mean that he started to work his magic?
His free hand grabbed the chain binding them together and tugged on it, yanking her wrist with it in a rather harsh manner. He did it again and it hurt. Yet, Utami was happier than ever because his message was clear. He wanted her but he wasn’t going to go out his way to jump her. No, he wanted her to come to him instead. So, she did. On her hands and knees. Crawling to him to awaken further desire within the loins that claimed many of her colleagues.
When she got close enough, his arms reached and hugged her. Accepting her love. Utami let out a soft moan as she melted into his embrace. He smelled like a bouquet of roses. It felt so soft, so comfortable. So right.
She never wanted this to end and that made it way all too painful when he suddenly broke the hug. Before Utami could comprehend what was going on, his hands swiftly grabbed her by both shoulders. He turned her around and embraced her again from the back this time. His cuffed arm went around her and the long chain holding the cuffs together was now wrapped around Utami’s triceps, severely restricting the movement of both her upper arms.
Utami was confused and worried. Now it was him who had her dead to rights. As if the space he comfortably occupied in her head wasn’t enough, he had her physically restrained too with the help of the very same handcuffs she used against him. It felt humiliating … It felt hot. So hot. She’d been dealing with arousal the entire time they’d been locked together but this compromising position just turned that up to eleven. It was bad to the point where she had just realized that she’d been rubbing her ass on his crotch since the moment he turned her backwards.
This earned a chuckle from him … and an erection that pressed up against her behind. To know that she aroused him back only served to amplify her excitement.
“I think it’s time I tell you a little story of my own, Utami,” he said in a low tone, but it didn’t matter. His mouth was just an inch or two away from her ear. She could feel his breath on her skin, giving it pleasant little tingles.
She nodded, pretty much all she could do in her position. Her heart was going berserk inside her ribcage. She could barely take it anymore. The Red Queen was turned into a blushing and gushing little maiden in his hands.
“I’m really surprised though!” he said in an amused tone. “I thought you would’ve figured it all out after everything Unagi told you. Suppose not.”
Figure it out? Utami tried to turn her head backwards and try to look at his face, but a soft push from one of his palms blocked that. She was too weak to even attempt to fight. Despite her upper arms having very restricted mobility, the rest of her arms were free to move. He took advantage of that. Grabbing Utami’s free wrist with his own free hand, he gently guided the hand under her kimono … under her panties.
“Rub,” he commanded. Utami let out a squeal before immediately going to work. God, she needed this so bad. She needed him so bad.
“You’ve been hooked on me since the moment our eyes met at the parking lot.” he said with a laugh. “I was trying to charm you. It was the best I could do in that short time period and from that distance.”
He wanted her from the very beginning. It made sense. It made so much sense. He wanted her to want him. He planted the small seeds of desire and obsession within her and with time, they only grew and grew. This revelation only made her strokes more furious as the frequency of her moans increased.
“I really wanted to take my time with this one as well, my sweet Red Queen,” he teased. She leaned her head back to him. The ethereal sensation of his embrace slowly came back to her. He was doing it, he was turning his aura up. Utami heard enough details from Unagi to know that this was basically him ‘claiming’ his girls, making them his slaves. She kept on rubbing and rubbing. Her eyes rolled back into the head. She was close, so close…
No. He ordered. His voice had the conviction of a god. His power over her was so strong that it beat out her aching need for release. A gasping sound left her mouth as she shivered from stopping so abruptly.
Then, she nodded, acknowledging that she had and would obey an order. If this didn’t mean that she was properly being claimed, then Utami didn’t know what would. He was taking her, he was enslaving her. Her imagination was already running wild on what her new life as his slave would entail.
“You are not allowed to cum until I finish my story, understand?” he asked and she immediately nodded. “Good. Keep on edging for me, Utami.”
Yet another nod. Her hand found her needy pussy once more. She got to work once more.
“After that epic match you had with Syuri, everything kept going downhill for you, didn’t it?” he continued with the story. Her nods were almost automatic at this point. But she also couldn’t deny that he was right.
“You still think it was Starlight Kid who whispered all those sweet nothings into Momo’s ear? The girl was fiercely loyal to Queen’s Quest. Her change of mind was far from natural, if you know what I mean.”
Her eyes opened wide and her rubbing stopped for a second as she faced that realization. But then the warmth filled her again, as if a hand was pulling her back to the clouds. Softening her, surrounding her. Utami imagined him physically whispering into Momo’s ear as the traitor smiled and nodded, her mushy brain taking his words as heavenly gospel.
“How do you think Syuri won the tournament? How do you think she handed your ass to you and took your title? I trained her, I encouraged her, I made sure that beating you meant everything to her. You stood no chance against her, nobody could’ve beaten her on that night.”
She rubbed, she rubbed, she rubbed. She took everything in like a sponge and she rubbed. Fantasies continued to fill Utami’s dirty little mind. Him having Syuri work out naked in a gym, ordering her to do squats on his cock, promising to drown her in much love and affection if she were to beat Utami like yesterday’s trash. She rubbed and she stopped. She continued to rub again.
“What about poor little Saya Kamitani, the girl was your biggest simp, wasn’t she? And nowadays she barely even talks to you. Do I need to say why at this point?”
Oh fuck. Saya was in on it too. Her cute little face, devoid of any emotion but pure ecstasy, denouncing Utami in front of him as he gave Utami’s best friend all the pleasant sensations in the world before he made any move on Utami herself. The girl was in love with Utami, but his power was strong enough to turn her burning love into nothing but cold apathy. Fuck. She rubbed. She stopped. It was a real close call. She started again.
“Oh, and of course. The finale. You didn’t think it would be easy to notice another person in an empty gym at those hours? Syuri knew you were there from the very beginning. She texted me asking what she should do about it. I told her to trance Unagi and put on a show for you. I wanted them to let you in on the secret. I wanted to see what you would do with the information. You didn’t disappoint, making your way to me eventually.”
All his words, all these revelations, they were all dripped with honey, driving Utami crazier and crazier. Rub. Stop. Rub. Stop. Edge. Edge. Edge. She remembered all the details of their debauchery. She imagined how happy Syuri must’ve felt after getting permission from him to use Unagi as a sex doll just to bait Utami. Poor, helpless Sayaka probably had no clue what was going on. Then again, Utami’s been just as helpless and clueless as her all this time.
“Utami Hayashishita, you had everything. But I took it all from you and replaced them with nothing but me. Your title, Momo, Saya, everything. And now it’s time I take you too.”
“Yes. Yes. Yes,” she repeated, her voice hoarse. ”Please take me, please.”
He whispered into her ear.
The orgasm shook Utami to her very core. For a moment, she forgot everything. For a moment, the world was nothing but blinding white. What followed was what felt like visions from the future. Her life as her Master’s obedient slave. Worshipping his divine body. Wearing a collar and a leash to signify her place as his pet. Fiercely making out with Syuri at his request, acting submissive to her fiercest rival because he wanted her to. Following his plans and using her own charms to gather more slaves for him. Being part of something greater.
When the afterglow of her orgasm has passed and she came back to her senses, she looked at him with the biggest smile one could ever muster.
“I am yours, Master. What can your humble slave do for you?”
Utami reached under her kimono once again. Instead of reaching down to touch herself once more, her hand snuck inside her bra. When it was back out again, she was holding a key. She used the key to uncuff her Master as he requested.
He rubbed his wrist for a moment before giving his new slave a kiss on the forehead. Utami giggled into the kiss, completely overjoyed by the events that had unfolded in this tiny janitor’s closet. He soon reached for the door.
“Can’t stay here forever, have an award to accept. And if I remember it right, you have one too. So, I wouldn’t be very late if I were you.”
Then, he was out of the room, leaving Utami alone in the closet. Alone with her own thoughts, the very same thoughts he owned.
Once upon a time, Utami Hayashishita had everything she could’ve ever wanted.
Then she lost them all and was left with nothing.
But now, she had everything once more.
”Fuck, that was so hot,” were the first words that left Giulia’s mouth once her Master had finished recalling the story of how he recruited the mighty Utami Hayashishita as her newest slave-sister.
“I know you’re quite fond of using your influence on other people to enslave a certain target…” she recalled. He’d done the exact same thing to Giulia too. Maika, Syuri, Himeka, Natsupoi. They were all brainwashed by Master before her and they all worked together to bring Giulia under. She cherished the memories dearly.
“But did you really do all of that? Seems a bit excessive.” she said as she playfully snugged to him in the bed they shared. She’d won the bed privileges by winning her last match and she was going to use it to full extent. “How come I haven't seen Watanabe or Kamitani with you? I feel like you would’ve told us if you snatched those two, and well, you would've used them alongside us. I mean, is someone really hypnotized by you if I hadn't been ordered to eat them out?”
Giulia didn’t expect Master to let out a hearty chuckle to that, but his joy was her joy, so she laughed as well.
“Nah, I totally made the whole master plan thing up on the spot.”
Now Giulia understood why he seemed so amused.
“Look, it doesn’t matter if I actually orchestrated all those events and enslaved her friends or not. The precious Red Queen believes that I did, and that’s all that matters. She believes that everything she’s lost is because of me and that means she can’t get them back without my approval. In her mind, everything loops back to me. I am all there is for my dearest Utami.”
“Master, that’s horrible!” Giulia said before another laugh. A playful jab landed on his chest. “And so hot.”
“Yes, it is,” he confirmed. “But Giulia, I thought you knew better than that..”
Giulia’s genuine smile turned into an awkward one. She rubbed the back of her head. Did she displease her Master somehow?
“I’d rather have you sucking my cock than trying to poke holes in my fabricated master plans.”
She nodded profusely as she swiftly moved to give him another blowjob. He caressed her platinum locks as she did so.
“Such a good girl,” he purred. “And if you feel disappointed that I didn’t end up enslaving Momo or Saya, well … all in due time.”
“All in due time," he repeated.
Then he closed his eyes and let pleasure overtake him once more. There would be only one way to go from here: Upwards.
