Work Text:
It was the 6th of March 2022 and today, in Orlando, Florida, was the day Tsukasa was going to lose his first match.
His reputation of the Strongest Highschool Primate had served him well, brought in enough cash to keep Mirai in a good hospital with round the clock care, but the fees kept coming and if he could just get on top of them, just for a bit, it would make it all so much easier. That was why he had to lose today.
When WWE had approached him and offered him a contract – an honest to god contract with more money than he’d ever made boxing in Japan – he said a reluctant goodbye to Mirai and got on a plane to America. He remembered feeling anxious the entire journey. He didn’t like to be so far from the hospital – what if something went wrong when he was half a world away? What if she woke up, and he wasn’t there to see it happen?
Of course, nothing of the sort happened and Tsukasa had remained in the lonely state of limbo between grief and hope. So he had won matches, beating out a name for himself in the States. He had tolerated the cameras and the interviews and the eyes and he won, and kept winning.
Until he was told to stop.
Winning every time made for bad TV, the network informed him. People won’t root for you if they know you’re going to win anyway, they said. You’ve got your reputation, but people want to see you brought down a peg or two, so lose this match. The ‘and keep your job ’ was not said out loud, but Tsukasa still heard it.
He didn’t want to lose. He didn’t entirely trust the network not to damage his reputation beyond repair – and if he lost that he’d lose the money to keep Mirai in hospital. But the network had his contract and they dictated his storyline whilst he appeared in WWE. So on the 6th of March he stepped into the ring and prepared to lose his first fight.
Ryuusui had heard stories of the Strongest Highschool Primate, and he couldn’t deny he was intrigued. Tsukasa was wrestling over in the States now, and there was an opportunity for one of the public to fight him. A challenge had been issued and someone would be picked – chosen to face off against the unbeaten prodigy.
Ryuusui was determined that it would be him.
A few calls later, a few greased palms with well-placed investments and assurances, it was.
He wasn’t going to squander this opportunity, though. He studied up, hired a trainer, and spent the next few weeks until the scheduled match becoming a halfway decent wrestler.
His love of sailing gave him a natural full-bodied strength and a solid stance. It also came with the added bonus of a good understanding of his centre of gravity, which helped greatly as he covered the basics and moved onto the more advanced moves. His drive to experience everything to the fullest meant he could pin his teacher in a submission hold more often than not by the end of his training.
He was under no illusion that he’d be able to beat Tsukasa, but he was going to give it all he had to try.
It wasn’t often that Ryuusui met someone taller than him. Of course, a few of the wrestlers he had passed backstage were towering over him, but none had the sheer indomitable presence of Shishio Tsukasa.
Physical intimidation aside, he was really quite gorgeous. Taller than himself by a good few inches, broader too, w ith long brown hair that flowed past his shoulders like waves. His face was framed by two small braids pulled back behind his head to keep his vision clear during matches. Ryuusui wanted to tug on them, just to see what kind of reaction he’d get – probably a broken hand. He still wanted to tug on them though .
But he didn’t, and Tsukasa shook his hand instead of breaking it.
“You don’t look like much,” Tsukasa said by way of greeting.
“I bet you didn’t look like much, once upon a time,” Ryuusui shot back. Just because he’d probably lose later didn’t mean he wasn’t going to put up a fight until then, in all ways.
Tsukasa inclined his head and Ryuusui smirked. This was going to be fun.
-
Ryuusui was swept up in a whirlwind of pre-show preparations. Stylists swarmed around him and he just sat back and let it happen. He was no stranger to being pampered, though there was a sense of urgency and demand to this that was rather novel.
He hadn’t seen Tsukasa since the short conversation he’d had with him a few hours earlier. He’d hoped to at least spar a little, to get used to the way Tsukasa moved before going into the ring, but there just wasn’t time.
No matter, he’d get his chance soon – his match was scheduled next.
-
He barely heard the announcer call out his entrance. It was no matter; Francois was recording the whole thing. They’d picked his intro music as well as designed the graphics for the huge screens behind him. He didn’t stop to look at them as he walked towards the ring – it wouldn’t do to look like a novice, and he had every faith that Francois had done a wonderful job. Really, there was nothing they couldn’t do.
Tsukasa was already in the ring, barefoot to keep up the ‘primate’ part of his moniker. Ryuusui had opted for wrestling boots. He wanted to keep all of his toes unbroken if at all possible. Looking at Tsukasa now , it was clear he had no such concerns.
Ryuusui rolled his shoulders a few times, willing the tension in his muscles away, and stepped into the ring.
The crowd was making noise, surely. Whether it was good or bad he could not say. Distantly, the rational part of him knew he’d have to try and win them over if he wanted to make this a good match. The indulgent part of him, the part that he listened to far more frequently, did not care, and had eyes only for the man in front of him.
The two of them faced each other, held taught until–
DING DING DING
There was a growl from across the ring, and Tsukasa launched himself at Ryuusui with terrifying speed. Ryuusui barely managed to dodge in time, having to drop to his hands and knees and practically roll out of the way. He’d avoided the blow Tsukasa had sought to land and was up again quickly thanks to that.
He barely had time to consider his next move when he heard the thud of bare feet against the floor of the ring. It acted almost as a springboard, bouncing slightly with every step taken.
This time, he wasn’t quick enough.
Tsukasa’s fist collided with his side, a punch forceful enough to knock the air out of his lungs. He was not holding back, and if Ryuusui didn’t want to go down like a sack of rocks he’d have to start putting up his own offence, fast.
He feinted, pretended the blow had taken even more out of him than it had, and when Tsukasa went to grab him to put him in a headlock he twisted, weaselling his way out of Tsukasa’s grip to bring a knee up to Tsukasa’s sternum. There was a surprised ‘oof’ from above him. Ha ha! Bet he wasn’t expecting that!
His little victory didn’t last for long. Tsukasa recovered quickly, getting low and attempting to sweep Ryuusui’s legs out from under him. It would take more than that to unbalance him though, and Ryuusui recovered easily and spun around to face Tsukasa again. Somehow, he’d managed to get behind him in the few seconds it took for Ryuusui to right himself.
Tsukasa was fast.
Ryuusui tried to keep up. Despite the pain, the bruises that were bound to form tomorrow, and the ever building exhaustion, he was having fun. Tsukasa wasn’t going easy on him, and a part of him had been worried that he might. He was delighted that Tsukasa was making him work for every tiny victory in their match.
So far, he’d held out for a lot longer than the crowd had expected, and he could tell he was starting to gain their grudging respect. After all, who was he to them – a man who had bought his place in a title match? But here he was, holding his own against the Strongest Highschool Primate, and the crowd was hooked.
In a move that Ryuusui was quite honestly surprised that he was able to pull off, he managed to wrap his leg around one of Tsukasa’s as he tried to corner Ryuusui. Before he had time to think about how the hell he’d managed it, he acted on instinct and brought Tsukasa crashing to the ground with him
Without giving Tsukasa a chance to recover, Ryuusui then flippe d him and locked him in the best submission hold he could manage. Forearm around the neck, pulling back to extend and strain the muscles, his legs covering Tsukasa’s so he wouldn’t be able to kick out.
The ref was there, crouched low and waiting, watching to see if Tsukasa would tap out.
Ryuusui was so close he could see the sweat beading at Tsukasa’s hairline, soaking into those braids. He still had the urge to tug on them. He could feel Tsukasa’s throat straining against his arm, trying to get enough air in. It felt almost cruel, but more than that, it was exhilarating.
At least it was, until he realised Tsukasa wasn’t fighting it, not really. Sure, he looked like he was, but Ryuusui was under no false impressions about his physical strength. Tsukasa could get out of this hold if he wanted to – so why wasn’t he?
“Why aren’t you fighting back?” Ryuusui dared to whisper in Japanese. Wrestlers weren’t mic’d up in matches. All anyone would hear is a lot of panting and spluttering anyway, so he figured he’d be safe to ask this question and leave the crowd none the wiser.
Tsukasa grunted, but didn’t answer. Instead, he raised his hand feebly and tapped once, twice, three times.
The bell rung again. It was over.
Ryuusui released Tsukasa and rolled off of him, moving clumsily and ungracefully now that the adrenaline seemed to have deserted him all at once. He felt tired down to his bones. The ref grabbed his arm and raised it high to the cheers of the crowd, and Ryuusui grinned to the cameras for appearances sake.
This was no real victory.
The only thought that crossed Tsukasa’s mind when Hyoga ran him through was that he was glad the petrification beam crossed the world during the wrestling off season whilst he was back in Japan. He was glad because it meant he met Senku, it meant he got a chance to save Mirai and hear her laugh again.
She was crying now though, and he couldn’t stand it.
He and Senku dispatched Hyoga together, working as a team in a way that reminded him out of the blue of old tag-team matches he'd had. None of his partners had ever used batteries against their opponents. Senku was really something else.
For all his wonders, Senku wouldn't be able to save him – he knew that. There was hope, but it was the same kind of hope he’d had for Mirai before the stone era. He wasn’t expecting to wake up.
Until he did.
His first breaths through his newly healed lungs were beautifully simple. His last memory was of laborious, shuttered breathing and it took his brain a moment to tell his body it wasn’t slowly suffocating. It was not unlike when he awoke from the stone the first time around, after he fought those lions and had a chance to take stock of himself. He had found to his surprise that all of the longstanding injuries he’d sustained over his fighting career had just… gone.
Adjusting again wasn’t easy. He’d woken up to an even bigger population of Ishigami Village. Apparently, Senku and the others had found a whole society on a nearby island, and had revived even more people. The village was beginning to feel incredibly crowded, and Tsukasa wasn’t sure he liked it.
One of those revived was Nanami Ryuusui. Tsukasa could still clearly remember the one and only time he had met Ryuusui. It was the first and only time he’d lost a match. From what he’d heard, Minami had cautioned Senku about reviving Ryuusui, but Senku being Senku had gone and done it before she’d even finished making her case.
Ryuusui was bored. He had a lot to do, and it was interesting – up to a point. But it was all necessary work, none of it was pointless and fun for the sake of it. He was of the belief that one needed a healthy balance of stupid fun, and there was not nearly enough of anything of that sort happening in Ishigami Village at the moment.
Senku was a harsh master with hard deadlines, but that didn’t mean Ryuusui couldn’t carve out a little time for something interesting. Now he just had to think of something suitable he could do in the second stone age.
The answer came to him far sooner than he had expected, in the form of the three sisters Ruby, Garnet, and Sapphire. He heard them gossiping while they worked, discussing something called a Grand Bout, which piqued his interest immediately.
“It is a shame there won’t be another for a good few decades yet, I’d have loved to see anyone try and face down Tsukasa,” he heard Sapphire say. She was looking off into the far distance as if Tsukasa would saunter out of the woods at any moment .
“I think they should replace the Grand Bout with Iron Chef,” Ruby countered. “Nikki was telling me about it – it seems like a much more useful competition.”
“Francois would win though, no question,” Garnet waved her hand dismissively.
“They would, wouldn’t they?” Ruby said, a little wistfully. Ryuusui chuckled to himself and made a mental note to warn Francois of a new admirer.
“Hello, ladies!” He greeted them with a charming smile. “What a lovely day it is today, wouldn’t you say?” They all turned, a little surprised to see him, lost in their discussion as they were. Before they could respond he continued, “Now, what is this Grand Bout and why won’t there be another one?”
Sapphire sighed. “It’s a huge tournament that’s only held to determine who gets to marry the Priestess to be the next Chief, so who knows when the next one will be.”
“So it’s a fighting tournament?”
All three sisters nodded.
“You’ve got some experience with those, don’t you Ryuusui?” Gen asked, materialising at his side so suddenly that Ryuusui was half ready to punch him before he realised who it was.
The sisters focused on Ryuusui, intrigued.
“Ha ha! Yes I do,” he said, puffing up his chest just a touch. Bragging was good for the soul, after all .
“What tournament did you fight in?” Garnet asked.
Gen stepped in. “Ryuusui fought in a wrestling tournament in America and won against our very own Tsukasa!”
Ryuusui felt his grin slip for just a second. Did he really want to boast about this? Tsukasa had obviously never intended to win. Surely Gen knew that – he was a showman too, after all.
All three of the sisters were very interested now.
“Bullshit,” Ruby chided. “There’s no way you beat Tsukasa in a fight,”
Tsukasa, much to Ryuusui’s dismay, chose that very moment to appear.
“So how about it Tsukasa? Fancy a rematch with Ryuusui here?” Gen asked, with a playful tone and a glint in his eye.
Tsukasa looked to Ryuusui. He stared for a moment, but Ryuusui refused to wither under his gaze. He’d never felt so scrutinised, and he’d been in front of crowds thousands strong. Still, he was unable to gauge what Tsukasa was thinking.
Eventually, Tsukasa nodded.
Gen clapped his hands together in delight. He spun on his heel and headed further into the village, waving as he shouted over his shoulder. “Wonderful! I’ll spread the word.”
Ryuusui was about to lose his second ever wrestling match .
Strangely, Tsukasa found himself looking forward to his match with Ryuusui. Once he’d been signed by WWE, most of the matches were heavily scripted – including the outcomes – so even though he knew he most likely could have beaten his opponents, the victories had still felt hollow. None of that mattered anymore.
He spent a little time warming up. It had been a long time since he’d fought for the sake of it, and it was nice to fall back into his old routines.
It wasn’t long before Gen’s face popped around the doorframe of his hut to let him know that everything was ready. Not for the first time, the notion that Gen could move mountains if sufficiently motivated crossed Tsukasa’s mind.
“Taiju will be the ref,” Gen explained as he led Tsukasa to the hastily built but surprisingly sturdy ring. Kaiseki’s work, no doubt.
There was already a crowd forming, but Tsukasa took no notice. Instead he begun testing the tension of the ropes. They were woven, likely leftover pieces from Yuzuriha and her team, and fixed to padded wooden posts. They would not be nearly as strong as the metal fixtures he was used to, so he’d have to keep that in mind as he fought. At least if Ryuusui did manage to slam him into one of them it would be marginally less painful.
Minami was there with her camera, testing out shots and lighting and whatever else went into getting a decent shot.
“Is anyone commentating?” she asked absent-mindedly , still more focused on the composition of her shots.
“Not yet; would you care to Minami?” Gen asked.
Minami shook her head. “I don’t know the rules well enough. Taiju should commentate – his voice is loud enough to be heard over the crowd and Francois could referee instead. I’m sure they would know all the rules.” Minami paused and thought for a second. “Oh! I know, could I be the announcer?”
Gen clapped his hands in delight. “Absolutely. Go and let Taiju know, and I’ll find Francois.”
With nothing else to do , Tsukasa stepped into the ring and waited. He took stock of the crowd and was struck by how similar yet different this was to his pre-WWE days in underground boxing. The crowd was a similar size, but as he looked out at them he found he recognised every face. The ring was unchanged, but now he would be fighting under the open sky rather than in a dingy basement venue.
He caught Senku’s eye in the crowd, who smirked and gave him a double thumbs up. Tsukasa didn’t need to respond, Senku would know he had seen it.
Only a few minutes later the crowd parted to allow Ryuusui through and Minami’s voice rang out from a speaker Senku must have cobbled together at the last minute.
“In the ring, from the Fighter Team! The Strongest Highschool Primate, Shishiooooo Tsukasa!”
Minami paused, allowing time for the crowd to cheer.
“And facing him today, the man who wants to have it all, Nanami Ryuusui!”
Tsukasa watched her step out of the ring gracefully as Ryuusui jumped in, vaulting over the top rope with flair. Ryuusui grinned at him before settling into a defensive stance. That was his first mistake – it allowed Tsukasa to go on the offence straight away.
He saw from the corner of his eye little Suika next to the bell and he held himself back, waiting.
DING DING DING
Tsukasa dashed forward and threw a punch before Ryuusui could react. He stamped as he did in order to make the impact sound louder than it was. He didn’t need to, but old habits die hard – there was still a crowd watching after all.
To his credit, Ryuusui recovered quickly. Tsukasa had gone for his lower ribs – no sense in knocking him out on the first hit, not when everyone had gone to so much trouble. He might have become a wrestler out of necessity, but he couldn’t deny it was satisfying to test himself, push his limits.
Ryuusui stepped forward to get in Tsukasa’s space, but he telegraphed his punch so far in advance Tsukasa very nearly didn’t bother to block it – he could’ve dodged it just as easily. At the last moment Ryuusui pivoted, and his other fist came up from out of nowhere, and this Tsukasa had to work hard to dodge lest he wanted to acquaint his teeth with his tongue.
Ryuusui withdrew then, getting out of range before Tsukasa could land a hit in return. Smart, but Tsukasa wasn’t about to let him keep his advantage.
His opponent was across the ring now, waiting. Already Tsukasa could see Ryuusui’s chest rising and falling with heavy breaths. Now was the chance to strike.
Tsukasa pushed himself back into the ropes, though they weren’t rubber coated steel they still put up a lot of resistance , which was ideal. He used the tension in them to propel himself forward, slamming into Ryuusui with such force that he would’ve gone over the top rope if Ryuusui hadn’t been holding on to the ropes himself. As it was, Ryuusui took the hit and stayed standing.
He pulled Ryuusui away from the ropes, hefting him over his shoulder and bending backwards in an arc so that Ryuusui was slammed face first into the floor of the ring. If he was smart, he would tuck his head in and take the brunt of it on his shoulders.
Tsukasa got up quickly whilst Ryuusui was still down and disoriented. Francois was close by, keeping an eye for any signs of tapping out. He let the crowd filter back in and heard Taiju’s booming voice above it all.
“And that was Tsukasa with a– well I don’t know what that was, but it was cool! Ryuusui is down but not out! Remember, Tsukasa has to pin him for a three count or Ryuusui has to tap out himself – neither of which have happened yet!”
In those few moments Ryuusui had gotten back to his feet and he now looked much more dishevelled than when they had begun. It was not a bad look on him, a part of Tsukasa’s brain he didn’t often care to listen to pointed out. He dismissed the thought – those kinds of distractions could cost him the match.
Tsukasa pushed himself back into the ropes again and charged at his opponent, but Ryuusui was nimble and dashed to the side, climbing the ropes to perch on the corner post to his left. He wasn’t seriously going to try and tackle him from the air, was he? Surely he hadn’t had time to train for that.
Regardless, Tsukasa prepared to catch him so that he would be able to use Ryuusui’s momentum to his advantage, but Ryuusui slipped at the last moment and ended up crashing into him instead, bringing them both down. He couldn’t work out if it was an incredibly clever feint or a genuine mistake, and knowing Ryuusui it could have been both.
This time, Ryuusui was the one to recover first. He got Tsukasa in an arm lock that was surprisingly painful – he didn’t remember Ryuusui being this strong. He was dimly aware of Francois’s presence nearby, but tuned them out along with the crowd. His focus was Ryuusui, and nothing else.
He twisted sideways, felt the pull in his arm but it was worth it to break the hold. It was nothing he couldn’t shake off.
He recovered from the pin, but so did Ryuusui. Once again they faced each other just as they had before the bell rung, though this time significantly more out of breath.
Tsukasa was surprised and pleased at Ryuusui’s skill level. In their last match he hadn’t had time to properly appreciate it, focused as he was on making sure his own defeat was at least halfway believable. Ryuusui was fast – though not as fast as him – and he was nimble. There was a wiry strength to him too, no doubt from his sailing background.
He wouldn’t hold back anything now.
He charged again and felt a small thrill shoot through him as Ryuusui’s eyes widened. Ryuusui got over the shock fast enough to dodge him, and what’s more – to use his own momentum against him. Ryuusui neatly shot out of the way of his charge and pushed him forward, sending Tsukasa slamming into one of the ring posts. Tsukasa grunted. Even though they weren’t padded metal, they still bloody hurt.
The familiar ache of pain bloomed in his sternum but he couldn’t dwell on that. R yuusui grabbed him by the hair and thrust his body into the centre of the ring. He had definitely been paying attention to his trainer. It was no use pinning someone so close to the ropes – if they touched them you’d be forced to break the hold.
He wasn’t going to let Ryuusui keep him down though. As soon as he let go of his hair Tsukasa rolled onto his knees. Ryuusui was above him, hard to look at since the sun was directly behind him, giving him a somewhat ethereal quality. Tsukasa bit back a laugh – what a ridiculous notion.
But when Ryuusui lunged for him, knee hitting his already bruised sternum, knocking him back onto the floor of the ring, the burn of the fight in his chest dulled to embers. Ryuusui was once again above him, pinning him down, with a halo of sunlight behind him.
For the second time in his life, Tsukasa threw the match.
Ryuusui could tell the moment Tsukasa gave up.
Just like last time he accepted his win. Ryuusui bowed for the crowd and their cheers. Minami held his hand high and declared him the champion of Ishigami Village. An undeserved title.
It took longer than Ryuusui is willing to admit for him to notice Tsukasa had slipped away. For such a large and imposing man , he surely could move quietly when he wanted to. It probably helped that crowds tend ed to part when they saw him coming.
It took longer still for Ryuusui to untangle himself from the crowd as well. He wanted to find Tsukasa. He had to know why he’d thrown the match a second time. There was no reason for it – everyone knew he was the strongest here and unbeatable in a fair fight, so why? To soothe Ryuusui’s ego? There was no way in hell Tsukasa would concern himself with that, so the only way to find out for sure would be to ask him himself.
He wasn’t hard to find; Ishigami Village wasn’t that big, and Ryuusui found him in his hut sitting on the floor with his back to the door.
“You let me win,” Ryuusui stated, foregoing a greeting.
“You won, Ryuusui.”
“No, I didn’t. I was there, Tsukasa. I could tell when you gave up. I just want to know why,” Ryuusui tried not to let the frustration bleed into his voice. He hadn’t expected to win this match – and if he had won it, he had wanted it to be on his own merit.
“Put me in a submission hold,” Tsukasa demanded.
The entire conversation Tsukasa had not turned to look at Ryuusui. If he wanted a submission hold, he’d get a submission hold.
Ryuusui walked forward – here was no rush for this as his opponent was not trying to get away. With ease born of no resistance, he held Tsukasa’s wrist in a tight grip and pulled his arm taught behind his back. He bent Tsukasa forward, pulling the arm tighter and putting pressure on his chest.
“Keep me here,” Tsukasa instructed.
A moment ago, Tsukasa had been on his knees with Ryuusui behind him, holding him down. Now he was on his back – Ryuusui had flipped him over with ease and at on top of him, pinning him down again.
Ryuusui was once again hard to look at, backlit by the small lamps hanging from the rafters that Senku had designed for all the huts. He looked rather beautiful, sweaty and dishevelled as Tsukasa surely was as well.
“You won,” Tsukasa repeated.
This time, Ryuusui grinned .