Interlude: Secret Agent...Man?

Over the last three months, one mystery has plagued the world of wrestling: who were those secret agents having a secret meeting in Tokyo? Savannah Scandal had her theories, but everyone knows what a liar she is.

At last, it’s time for the truth to come out.

January 6, 2024.

It was a perfectly ordinary Friday morning in Tokyo, where nothing even slightly conspicuous was going on. How could it? As stated, the morning was perfectly ordinary. No room for shenanigans or goings-on.

For example, this bench in Hibiya Park, overlooking a large fountain. Nothing strange there. Just a normal bench, in front of a normal fountain, occupied by a normal spy.

Wait a minute.

A woman, dressed in a trench coat over top of a white dress shirt and pencil skirt, fedora on her head and dark sunglasses over her eyes, partook in a newspaper. Though her attire could be construed as quite conspicuous, the act of reading a paper on a bench could be considered quite mundane… even if she was holding the paper upside-down.

A man approached, taking great care not to look at her as he did so. He was dressed in similar attire–trench coat over a black suit, black fedora, and dark sunglasses. He quietly walked past, looked around, then doubled back. He sat at the opposite end of the bench, and placed a black bag on the ground near his feet.

They couldn’t have been more obvious if they’d sat under a neon sign that said “CLANDESTINE SPY MEETING HERE.”

“The train was running slow today,” he said, a little too loud and deliberate. Nothing to see here, folks, just two regular citizens having a regular conversation.

“It's a zoo out there.” The woman responded, monotone but also with a volume that was unnecessary with the man sitting on the same bench.

The man nodded, as if the response had been some kind of code phrase instead of a normal part of a regular conversation, which this clearly was. He picked up the bag, unzipped it, and set it between himself and the woman.

Inside was the prize she had hoped for–a stuffed pig, fuzzy and pink with big glass eyes and an adorable snout. It was threadbare in places, patched and stitched in others, signs of a treasured toy treated for years with love, if maybe not much care.

Was the pig also wearing a trenchcoat, fedora, and sunglasses? Of course it was.

Though the woman's eyes were concealed behind the glasses, the enormous grin that occupied her face said everything.

“OH. MY. GOD!!!” The lady squealed, pulling the little pig against her body in short order. She held the hug, time seeming to slow in just that moment. The woman finally released the piggy from her embrace, holding it at arm's length.

The man grinned, in spite of the fact that she’d probably blown their cover. “Worth the wait, then?”

Her huge smile faded into a more gentle one. “Yeah… Thank you.”

She took great care in placing the pig tenderly back in the bag. She craned her head left, then to the right. It was clear it didn't occur to her that the earlier outburst destroyed any semblance of secrecy.

“I'm sorry… about all the stuff that's going on with Jabber.” The woman softly said. Her gaze had shifted forward and down, the ground receiving her ocular attention.

“You’re good,” he said, turning to face her. He’d given up the pretense of secrecy, which…let’s face it, had been pretty silly to begin with. “Sometimes they get ideas in their heads about other people, and just can’t seem to let it go.”

“Yeah… Miss Ria can get a bit out of control. I know she means well, but…” The woman trailed off. She lifted her head to look at the man. “I think you handle it about as well as one can. I respect it.”

“I’ve had some practice. Probably the only reason I can still show my face in public. Speaking of which…” The man removed his sunglasses and hat, revealing–

Holy shit, that’s PRIME superstar Nate Colton!

He shook his head as he folded the glasses and placed them inside the hat. “I’m really sorry about all this. The whole ‘secret agent’ bit, I mean.”

Kohime Mori (Yes, it's her! Whoda guessed it?) couldn't help but giggle, a grin still on her face.

“No, it's fun!” Kohime assured him, removing her own glasses and hat. “That was one of my childhood fantasies! Being all super secret and undercover, discovering a terrible truth and running for my life while I expose everything!”

She paused, taking in the words that just spilled out of her mouth like water.

“Um, I guess I wouldn't wanna have to run for my life… But all the other stuff, for sure!”

Nate chuckled. “When you put it that way…yeah, I guess it is kinda fun. It’s just…well, I’ve had this guy since I was real little. But then I got older, and people said boys shouldn’t have baby toys like that…I guess I got ashamed of him. I know it’s stupid to feel like that, ‘cause who cares, right? But sometimes that stuff just sticks with you.”

Kohime turned her head forward, her smile slowly morphing until it was no longer an expression of joy. The Japanese woman sighed heavily, her gaze shifting back to Nate.

“I got called fat a lot as a child.” She started. “I also got called a crybaby, a dreamer, someone that wouldn't grow up and accomplish anything. I guess in a way, those kids were right. I'm still heavy. I'm still a crybaby. I'm still a dreamer. There's also times where I feel like I haven't accomplished anything.”

Mori paused for just a moment as she tilted her head.

“But I'm starting to realize those don't have to be bad things. I'm not fat, I'm buff! I'm not a crybaby, I'm a caring person! I haven't accomplished much, but I've got a long life ahead of me! And I'm definitely still a dreamer! Keeping Oinkers around doesn't make you a baby… It makes you sentimental.”

Nate smiled back at Kohime. “That’s a great way to look at it. Sucks that you had to go through it in the first place, but taking the words they used to hurt you and finding the good in it…that’s awesome. And…it’s the other reason why I wanted to set this up, I think.”

Kohime swung her legs a bit as she looked forward.

“I definitely have problems, but I've been told that I'm pleasant to be around. So yeah, I could see why you'd wanna meet.”

“It’s true; you’re pretty great.” The smile, which seemed to shine brighter the longer he looked at Kohime, suddenly fell as he looked away. “But it’s more than that. I hate what happened to you in PRIME last year. First with Tony Gamble and his pack of assholes, then Arthur Pleasant taking liberties and laughing about it…you deserve better.”

Kohime couldn't stop the blush from sneaking its way ever so slightly onto her cheeks. She gave her shoulders a light shrug.

“It's okay… Wrestling is tough. All that stuff that happened led me to start hitting the gym a bit more seriously. Miss Ria and I have gotten closer. I dunno, I guess things are looking up.”

She glanced over at him, brushing a stand of hair behind her ear. Nate idly scratched the back of his neck as he met her eyes for a moment, then looked away again.

“That’s great. Y’know, so many people think being ‘tough’ just means acting like an asshole. But the way you can be…yourself, in spite of everything that’s happened…that’s tougher than anything I’ve ever done.”

The little pink that took residence on her cheeks deepened and spread. She twirled her foot on the ground, trying to hide her nervousness.

“People like you make it easy to be myself…”

Whatever response Nate hoped to make died in his throat. What could he even say? Every instinct urged him to be strong for her, to shoulder her burdens and shield her from the slings and arrows. But at the center of Kohime’s admission was a kernel of something rare in their world: a willingness to be open, vulnerable.

He grasped his left hand tightly with his right as he struggled with his thoughts. The sun continued its ascent into the morning sky; its light dulled briefly as it crossed paths with a cloud. Nate kept his eyes on Kohime while the shadows passed; each second brought new depths, new perspectives.

Lending his own strength served no purpose here. He needed to borrow hers.

“I haven’t…really opened up to anyone in a long time. Not like…well, not like this. Not since last year, and you know how that ended. Hell, the whole world knows.” The corners of his mouth curled down, and he shook his head like he was trying to dislodge the memories that had just been stirred up. “And I still don’t know if I’m ready…but I’d like to spend more time together, if you want. I get the feeling it’ll be worth it.”

She could feel it… her heart beating rapidly. Mori took a moment, not wanting to say the wrong thing, not wanting to ruin this opportunity. She looked over at the Next Diamond, eyes sparkling.

“I'd really like that…” Kohime softly said. “I don't wanna pressure you or make you feel like things are moving too fast. But you're really nice, your family is really nice and I enjoy talking to you… I like being around you.”

The Moé Monster’s eyes quickly darted to the ground. There, she said it. She opened up and was honest. At this point, what was the worst that could happen? Sometimes, you have to take a chance. Red as a tomato, Kohime felt like she was ready.

“Well…we’re heading to Yokohama tonight. Do you wanna get together for breakfast in the morning?” Nate threw the question out.

Mori craned her head back his way. A beaming smile flashed onto her face, the blush still covering it. “I'd love to!”

“Awesome.” he answered, matching Kohime’s joyful expression with one of his own. “I can’t wait to get to know you, Kohime Mori.”

“I'm looking forward to getting to know you too, Nate… I can promise you this much; If I'm lucky enough to someday be trusted with your heart in my hands, I'll cherish it… God, that's too much, isn't it? Sorry, I'm just really happy and really nervous and I have a bad habit of babbling when I'm like that so I just kinda brain dump everything and I dunno how to stop myself…” Kohime took a deep breath in.

“Hey, it’s all good. I’m pretty happy right now too. Well…not right now, because I think I have to cut this short.” Nate grabbed the bag from the ground and stood up. “I don’t like leaving Benny unsupervised in a strange place. Is there any other secret spy business before I go?”

Mori couldn't suppress a giggle escaping from her throat. She shook her head, huge grin still plastered on her mug.

“Nope, I think our secrety secret business has been handled. See you tomorrow morning… I can't wait!”

“Neither can I, agent,” Nate replied with a smirk, and returned his hat and sunglasses to their proper positions. Once more committing to the bit, he held out his hand to Kohime. “Until our next assignment.”

Mori couldn't help herself, bypassing the handshake and wrapping Colton up in a tight hug.Nate let out a wheezing cough; he half-expected the embrace but wasn’t prepared for how strong it was. He was barely able to get his own arms to return her gesture of affection. After a few moments, Kohime released the embrace.

“Er, sorry… Forget my own strength sometimes!” Mori chuckled nervously while rubbing the back of her head.

“Don’t worry about it,” he answered, still a little short of breath. “I think you just saved me a trip to the chiropractor.”

Kohime took Nate's hands in her own for a moment, staring up at him. She sometimes forgot how tall he was. She smiled bashfully before releasing his hands from her grip.

“I should probably let you go.” Mori said, not doing a good job of hiding the disappointment in her voice. She brushed a stand of hair behind her ear once more.

“Yeah,” Nate answered, his own words carrying a similar air of dejection. “But I’ll see you soon.”

The two started on their separate ways. Almost as if by design, each stopped and turned around, both exchanging a shy wave before their bittersweet disengagement.