#Taichi wears a lot of cardigans that's for sure | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

jay-fabe7712 · 7 years

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the invisible woman

Summary: location - weirdly dark club + supernatural element - demonic gathering + situation - making a deal with someone you shouldn’t have + quote - “i wonder if you taste as good as your fear smells.”

A/N: So, this is my contribution to the eleventh day of the 31 Little Wrestling Fics challenge! (Barely on time, mind you.) I have mixed feelings about how it turned out, but I’m super happy I got a chance to participate.

Also, I’d like to give a special shoutout to @fan-fiction-galore. Even though I’ve known her for about a month, the little interactions we’ve had has been a joy and I wish her all the best on her new journey!

When I looked into the eyes of Minoru Suzuki for the first time, fear was the furthest thing from my mind.

I would describe the feeling more along the lines of awe or wonder.

His eyes were wide at first, darting around to find his next victim. The next body to brutalize in an exorcism of his own frustrations. His smile spread slow as molasses and the glistening of his incisor through parted lips was barely visible before his gaze settled on me.

But all I could focus on were his eyes. Not the dark brown of the iris or the murderous intent they held, but how they were looking directly at me. Not past me. Not over my head. Not in my general direction. His gaze was locked tight with mine and I had his full attention. And it might sound a little preposterous, but no one had ever looked at me like that. And shit, if they ever had it was so long ago that it didn’t matter.

Because if there was one thing I was good at, it was being invisible. Which is why being a production assistant for New Japan Pro Wrestling was the perfect job for me. In fact, I liked the anonymity of it. Fading into the background and watching all the action unfold.

At least, I thought I did.

You see, people always looked past me. They forgot I was there. They forgot I existed. So even if Suzuki wanted to murder me in cold blood in front of a live audience, I couldn’t help but marvel at the fact that someone had seen through the invisibility cloak that seemed to shroud all of my daily interactions.

Then, I blinked and he was right in front of me. So close I could feel his heavy breaths jostling my eyelashes with each exhale. I could feel the heat radiating off of his body. I could see individual beads of sweat wind their way down his temple.

But again, I was distracted by his eyes. I could see them clouding with thought at the short, squatty being that was staring back at him. Wide-eyed and ripe for the killing.

The moment was broken when he let out a noise somewhere between a scoff and a grunt before turning abruptly on his heel and heading toward the back.

My eyes followed him until he was out of my line of vision; he never looked back. His stablemates, Desperado and Taichi, kept shooting glances my way as they trailed after him. Deperado’s mask gave away very little but his eyes were piercing and his arms were crossed tightly across his chest. Taichi smoothed his hair back and grinned so wide I almost looked away.

“Naomi.”

I felt a nudge to my shoulder and it was as if someone had just drenched me in cold water. I hadn’t even realized that I had spaced out until that moment. Suddenly, the din of the crowd warred against my eardrums, the bright lights illuminating the ring hurt my eyes and I clutched at my cardigan to stop my trembling even though it wasn’t cold at all.

"Are you okay?" My co-worker Ryou asked me.

"Yeah," I said, glancing up at him. But his eyes weren’t on me. Of course they weren’t. He was staring after Taichi and Desperado and I watched his Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed hard.

"Man, those guys," He shook his head. "Minoru especially. Always terrorizing the staff."

Believe it or not, it wasn’t until that moment that I realized I should be afraid. The most brutal wrestler on NJPW’s roster had quite literally breathed down my neck and I had barely batted an eye.

Fear started to unfurl in my stomach like a spider stretching its legs. I hope I hadn’t made myself even more of a target.

"Look who it is!"

I recognized Taka Michinoku’s game-show-host voice anywhere. "It’s the rope wrangler who stood toe-to-toe with the boss."

He shook his head with a lopsided smile. "Can’t fucking believe it."

He elbowed Kanemaru by his side who simply quirked a brow and studied me.

“I’d watch my back if I were you,” Taka continued. “The boss seemed pretty pissed last week.”

“Might even come to getcha.” Kanemaru was close enough for me to smell the alcohol on his breath and I took several steps back.

The two men traded glances and chuckled, obviously thinking I was scared. And frankly, I wished I was. I wished I had the common sense enough to be trembling in fear at the thought of Minoru Suzuki having some kind of vendetta against me. But what I felt was hopeful. Hoping that I could be under that laser-focused gaze of his again. Hoping to be seen.

In fact, the searching looks Taka and Kanemaru were giving me already transported me back to that day ringside. To no longer being invisible.

But before I could entertain the thought any further, I clutched the clipboard in my hand tight to my chest and muttered, “I’ve got work to do.” Then, I proceeded to scurry as far away from these men as I could possibly get.

Unfortunately, that did little to change what was already set in motion.

“And working ringside we’ve got-”

“I’ll do it!” I blurted, garnering several sideways glances from my co-workers.

“Who…” Our supervisor Ken looked around, skimming over my face several times before finally resting his gaze on my general area. “Naomi?”

Huh. Surprised he even remembered my name.

“Yeah.”

He cleared his throat. “I was going to say that Atsuko will be working ringside with-”

“Why don’t you let me do it?” I cut in again. More stares. “Atsuko doesn’t mind if I take her place, do you Atsu?”

The brown-haired woman sputtered a moment. “Uh, no. Sure, I don’t mind.”

“That settles it then, huh?”

By this time, everyone’s eyes were on me but they turned collectively to see Ken’s reaction.

I thought I saw a vein pop out in his forehead, but he responded with a stiff nod and said, “I guess it does.”

Once he was done with announcements, everyone dispersed to begin preparing for tonight’s show.

“Naomi!” Ken called to me as soon as most everyone else was gone. “Let me talk to you for a minute.”

“Sure.” I responded, even though he didn’t exactly ask me a question.

“What the hell was that?”

“What the hell was what?” I fired back.

Yep, that was definitely the vein in his forehead popping out. “You questioning my authority.”

“I was making a suggestion.” I responded, feeling my own anger spike. “A pretty logical one, I think.”

“How so?”

“Atsuko is too slow to assist with the camera cords. Someone always ends up tripping and she’s gonna block the camera at least five times during the-”

“Regardless, that’s my decision to make.”

“-show.” I finished my previous sentence in lieu of an actual response.

“Whatever you were doing, it better not happen again. Understood?”

“Mm-hm.” I could feel the anger radiating off him and if looks could kill, I would probably be dead.

But I didn’t care. In fact, the heady mixture had me feeling a strange sense of satisfaction. I didn’t know who this guy thought he was anyway.

Working in the behind-the-scenes production of NJPW actually had a pretty quick turnaround. Some people came in just to rub elbows with their favorite wrestlers and got a reality check real quick. Some people came in just to get a paycheck but ended up realizing how hard the work actually was. And some people just quit. I had been here for two years while Ken had only been here six months and already he was in a managerial position while I was in the exact same spot.

It was about time I got some respect. --- That night I couldn’t take my eyes off of them.

Every single bit of the vile chaos that ensued in their match, I couldn’t take my eyes off of it.

Kanemaru spraying his opponents faces with alcohol until the entirety of ringside stank of whiskey. Taichi driving the handle of the bell hammer into eye sockets and twisting it with glee. Minoru leaning casually into submissions as his victims screamed bloody murder at the pain of their wrenching muscles.

I had always garnered a strange sense of comfort from being around the carnage of pro wrestling. The dull thud of bodies hitting the canvas was so calming that I would sometimes queue up NJPW World on nights I had trouble sleeping.

But this was different.

I had never actually taken pleasure in people getting hurt. In fact, I’d always considered it my least favorite part of my job. Besides Ken, of course.

But now, as I watched the men of Suzuki-gun gather around the broken bodies and raise their pointer fingers up high, I was hit with a more unsettling realization.

I not only liked the violence. I wanted to be a part of it. --- There were a lot of moments in my life worthy of a great deal of shame, but this was probably one of the higher items on the list.

I followed them.

I overheard them talking about some club or the other they planned on visiting that night and…I decided I would show up. I would say this was strange behavior for me but quite frankly, strange behavior had become the norm for me lately.

The man at the door didn’t stop at me. In fact, he barely even looked at me.

I wasn’t a frequenter of the club scene, but I was pretty sure the man at the door didn’t fit the bill of what I would consider a “bouncer”.

He was average height with a shaved head, decked out in a navy blue sweater and similarly colored dress pants. Honestly, the most intimidating thing about him was the fact he was wearing sunglasses at about ten minutes until midnight. I paused at the door, clutching my wallet in my hand. When he didn’t react to my presence, I rifled through my wallet to find my ID and held it out to him.

“Are you just going to stand there or are you going to go in?” He didn’t move from his stationary position; he didn’t crane his head or lift up his glasses to examine my card, he barely even moved his lips when he spoke.

“Wha- Don’t you need to see my ID?”

“Guess you’re just going to stand there, then.”

I stared at him, speechless for a few seconds but he remained unresponsive. He was kinda starting to creep me out. Especially those damn glasses.

No matter how hard I stared, I couldn’t make out his eyes behind them. Just two sheens of depthless black. The longer I stared at them, the more confused I felt. I blinked and shook my head, breaking his unsettling gaze, which grew even more unsettling when I realized even though the building in front of me vibrated with music and voices, no one else was out front. There was no line, no smokers, no drunkards, no one.

Not wanting to dwell on the feeling, I brushed past the man and splayed my hand onto the door but he did nothing to stop me.

“Ow!” I exclaimed as I bumped hard into something (or someone) as soon as I stepped inside.

Unfortunately I couldn’t find the obstruction – I couldn’t really find anything the damn place was so dark. I stood still for a few moments waiting for my vision to adjust to the light. I was able to make out shapes and eventually objects. No wonder I had bumped into something, I had walked right into a wall. The front door led right into a hallway that extended to the left and right but the only thing in front of me was wall. I looked down either side of the hallway. I decided to go left.

During my entire trek, I didn’t run into a single person. Which was weird because the deeper I went into the place, the stronger the pulsing music and indiscernible voices grew.

I was considering going back the way I came when I heard the familiar sound of a deep, crisp voice.

Taka Michinoku.

“…is such a fucking prick now. I liked him better when he was Mr. Goody Two Shoes.”

Up ahead, thin cracks of dim light formed the shape of a door.

“Yeah, you can’t even really have fun with him anymore.” Taichi. “He’s either spitting on you or staring at you with those dead eyes.”

I pressed closer.

“Well, he knew what he wanted and he didn’t care what he had to do to get it.” That sounded like Suzuki.

“Come on, it’s a waste! All that just for the fans to give a shit about him.” Taichi scoffed. “Ridiculous.”

“You’re just saying that because they don’t give a shit about you.” Taka quipped. Laughter filled the room.

“Some people will do anything just for anyone to give a shit.” Minoru responded. That brought on silence.

Then, I thought I could hear their voices starting up again but lower this time. I pressed so hard to the door it felt like I was melding with the wood.

Suddenly, the door yanked open and I nearly fell into the room, to which Kanemaru responded by graciously moving out of the way to let me do just that.

“Look at that.” Taka chuckled. “Standing at attention. Just like you said, boss.”

“Mm-hm.” Minoru hummed, remaining seated for a moment longer before rising to take a few slow steps toward me.

“A- Are you going to kill me?”

“You guessed it.” Taichi smirked.

“I wonder if you taste as good as your fear smells.” Iizuka added.

My stomach dropped but the men in the room laughed collectively.

“Shut up.” Minoru growled out, but humor tugged at edges of his tone. Nonetheless, the men grew silent.

“We’re not in the business of killing-”

Taka cleared his throat.

“-at the moment.” Minoru finished. “We’re in the business of making deals.”

“Deals?”

“Don’t act dumb,” His eyes darkened. “It doesn’t suit you.”

I averted my gaze.

“I know you were listening long enough and hard enough today, and yesterday, and last week,” My eyes widened as he accurately listed off the days I had been snooping about them. “To piece together the basics of what’s going on here.”

“What are you?”

He scoffed and nodded his head. “Thought so. Unfortunately that one is above your paygrade. Next question.”

“How does this deal thing work?”

“That depends. What do you want?”

“What do you mean?”

If I didn’t know any better, I would say the smirk he gave me was almost pitying.

“People like you always want something,” He shook his head and laughed. “As soon as I saw you, I knew you did. Only a person with nothing to lose would look evil in the eyes with curiosity. After all,” He gestured to the dimly lit room. “You even came chasing after it.”

I blinked at the playful way he just called himself evil.

“But I’m still not quite sure what you want. So what is it?”

A pause. “I want to be one of you.” The words surprised even me.

In the corner of my eye I saw Desperado scoot forward in his seat, looking ready to jump up any second. The rest of the men in the room remained still.

Then, Suzuki threw his head back and laughed.

“I-I know you’re not human. I’m not sure what you are but…I want in.”

Minoru took a step forward. “Oh really?”

“Yeah really.”

He scratched his chin and shrugged. “Okay.”

“Okay?” I studied him. “It’s that easy?”

“I didn’t say that.” He shook his head. “I need you to bring me someone first.”

“Bring you something?”

He smirked and it made my stomach feel sour.

“Someone.”

“So do you want to go?” I smiled, hoping it made my offer seem more genuine.

“Let me get this straight,” Ken began, eyeing me in a way that made my neck grow hot with anger. “You.”

He pointed at me.

“Want to go out,”

Another unnecessarily dramatic pause.

“To a club,”

I nodded, wishing he would get to the point already.

“With me.”

“Yeaahh.” I said slowly. “You in?”

“You know this is unexpected and actually,” His eyes narrowed. “Borderline unprofessional.”

I fiddled with my fingers, wondering if I had just majorly fucked up. I mean, it was clear the guy already didn’t like me. Did I really think I could just ask him out and we’d become best-

“I like it!”

“Huh?”

“I said I like it. Guess you finally realized all that strong, silent shit isn’t going to get you anywhere around here.” He hooked an arm around my shoulders and I tried to hide the shiver that accompanied the contact. “You know, I was worried about I’d have to fire you eventually after you mouthed off in front of everybody last week.”

It took everything in me not to elbow him in the gut so he’d get his lanky arm off of my shoulder.

“But it looks like I won’t have to.” He grinned. “How about nine o’clock?”

“Actually-”

But he was on his way before I could get another word out.

“Damn idiot.” I mumbled turning around…and bumping right into someone else in the process.

"Oh! Um, sorry." I said, righting myself quickly.

Desperado hadn't stumbled at all and his only response was staring back at me with stark white irises.

After a few seconds, I asked, a little irritation in my voice, "Can I help you?"

He glanced over my shoulder at Ken who was still making his way down the hall.

"Is it him?"

"Is what him?"

Desperado crossed his arms over his chest and cocked his head in the Ken's direction.

"You know what I mean. Is it him?"

I averted my eyes. "Maybe." My stomach dropped. "What? Do you think - Is he not the right choice?"

Desperado's eyes narrowed. "No, he's actually perfect. The guys hate him and the boss has talked about ripping off his arm off on several occasions. Actually, they hate almost all of the staff here except…" He blinked at me and shook his head. "Is that really all you're concerned about right now?"

"What? Does he want more?"

Desperado regarded me for a few seconds, black-painted fingernails idly twirling the cross around his neck. "I thought maybe you..." He clenched the rosary in a fist. "I guess not."

He turned as if he was about to walk away and I stopped him.

"Wait, you thought what?"

"Doesn't matter. I was wrong." He kept walking.

I groaned. "Aren't you going to answer my question?"

"Yeah." He threw me a haphazard glance. "The boss always wants more."

“What was up with that guy at the door?”

“I don’t know.” I muttered, sick of Ken’s never-ending flow of chatter.

“I mean, what kind of douchebag wears sunglasses at night?”

“He’s always been that way.” I said, trying to the resist the urge to comment on the irony of him calling someone else a douchebag.

“Why is it so dark in here?” He complained. “I know we didn’t have to pay but they could at least have some lights in-”

“Do you ever stop talking?”

Ken and I both jumped at the voice and whirled around to find Taichi leaning against the wall we had just walked past.

“What the hell are you doing here?”

“Nope. Don’t think he does.” And now Kanemaru was standing a few feet in front of us.

“Naomi? What the hell is this?”

Taichi ran a hand through his hair before pushing himself of the wall and towards us. “I think it’s about time we shut you up.”

“Oh, I see.” Ken said, glancing between the two men. “You brought me here to have your creepy friends rough me up because of that shit at work.”

The two men grabbed on to each one of Ken’s shoulders and steered him back down the hallway. “You’re going to regret this!”

“Will you shut up?” Taichi shook him hard and he grew quiet.

I barely had the chance to entertain the thought of what they might do to him when a dark chuckle made me jump again. My reaction just made Suzuki laugh more.

“Geez. Do you guys make any noise when you walk or what?”

“I see you brought your boss.”

“So that’s it?”

Suzuki’s brow raised.

“That’s how the deal works?”

He laughed once more, but this time my stomach got that sour feeling again.

“Eh. That’s only half of it.”

“What?” I said, getting a bit pissed. “What more do you need?”

A heavy hand rested on my shoulder and I knew without looking that it was Iizuka.

“You.” --- The screeches from the audience announced Suzuki-gun's presence before the announcer ever could.

Desperado and Kanemaru were already halfway down the ramp, unconcerned with the melee taking place behind them.

Iizuka was terrorizing spectators as usual, but it was a little more alarming because it seemed as if no one was restraining him. That was until the man's head was jerked back just as he was an inch away from biting off a chunk of an older woman's nose.

A short woman with chin-length black hair bleached blonde at the ends wound his leash around her hand and yanked him again until he was out of the crowd and headed down the ramp.

Ryou looked on with the rest of the audience in wonder at this seemingly new addition to the terrifying stable.

As the four stablemates made their way into the ring, Ryou could've sworn there was something familiar about the woman touting the leash with an air of stony haughtiness.

And when her eyes scanned over ringside, stopping on him with a wicked smirk before disregarding him just as quickly, he felt almost sure he knew her from somewhere.

But no, he was sure that if a woman that striking and intimidating had ever been in his presence, he would remember.

He tried not to gawk at the woman while she was ringside, observing the action with a strangely serene expression. He had to much to do to spend too much time on it anyway. After all, being promoted to the position of supervisor had its perks, but it was a hefty job to handle.

No wonder Ken left.

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