I am dismantled, I am repaired.

"I'm just going through a rough spot. I know it's not easy for me, but I promise I'm going to be right here for you," she promised. The girl that he knew as Destiny had long been out of Shinji's life the past few months save for the occasional text message or brief visit. She had been hanging out with a new guy, another local wrestler. Seeing her, however, brought a smile to Shinji's face. Maybe it was nostalgia, and the familiar feeling of being near her washed over him as the two of them were on the couch, her head in Shinji's lap to the dismay of Tom, Shinji's best friend and roommate.

"I miss you, Shinji. I think about you a lot," she told him as she curled up a little more, his hand running through her hair. "He's not like you. He's really distant and he doesn't call when he's on the road. I really should leave him someday," she mumbled, reveling in the affection and kindness the man nicknamed "The Golden Sentinel" by his friends had given him. He just nodded, listening to her words.

"Yo, Shinji, I think Shozo's been callin' for you," Tom said, pointing up at the post it note that Tom had just slapped by the phone, leaving Shinji to give his friend a dirty look.

"Please excuse me," he said to Destiny as Shinji got up, walking out of the room to follow his friend. "What are you doing?" he asked him, looking irritated at Tom. "She just needs some affection and someone to care about her!"

"Yeah, well she needs to either devote her time to you or to him, dawg," Tom said, looking at his much bigger friend and poking him in the chest. "This is a game to her, man! She keeps coming back because you keep giving and giving! Sooner or later, she's gonna take it all. Whatever happened to that waitress ho?" Tom asked, Shinji instinctively slapping his friend for the rude remark. "OW!"

"Sorry!" Shinji said, his instant reaction having hurt his best friend. "Sorry, Jade is...I do not think Jade sees me in this light. She is not waitress, she is caterer. She is nice girl, but I do not think she has feelings for me like Destiny."

"Yeah, well Destiny ain't got much feelings for you either," Tom snorted, eliciting another slap from Shinji. "I DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING RUDE THAT TIME!" Tom shouted in Japanese.

"Sorry...habit," Shinji said, a little smile on his face before he walked back out to see Destiny, who was getting up.

"Sorry...Dean called. I've gotta go. He wants to go out tonight to this club his friend runs, wants me there," she said to Shinji as she patted his face. "Love ya, doll," she added with a kiss to the cheek before Shinji reached for her hand.

"What kind of place?" he asked.

"Oh, it's just some place. Girls dance, it's like a trashier hostess club," she said with a giggle.

"That is no place for a man to take someone who he says he cares for," he said, concern on his face for her.

"Shinji, he just wants to be with me. He's been working Portland for a couple weeks in promotions up there, he just came home. He wants to see me," she told Shinji before her smile faded. "It's okay, he loves me. He's gonna give me a chance to be his valet soon, and maybe we'll work the same shows."

"But are you happy?" he asked her. Her own smile faded.

"I'm working on it," she promised.

"When are you happy?" he asked her.

There was a long pause. It was this weird, uncomfortable silence, proverbial gray clouds hovering over the two after the sun had just been shining on them.

"That night we all had the hookah over here. Christmas with you. That night before you were beaten up in that locker room. I look back at those moments and that's when I'm happy. I'm happy when I'm with you."

"So why not stay?" he asked.

There was another long pause.

"I'll be back soon," she said with a grin, giving him a wave before Destiny walked out of the room and once more out of Shinji's life, leaving him standing there speechless, Tom coming to stand next to him.

"Okay...I see why you like her. She got the ass!" Tom said.

Shinji punched him.



The morning after those events, Shinji Uchikawa sat in silence. In front of him was his future. He knew his time in the United States was growing shorter. A year had almost passed since he had been given the opportunity to head here and learn his trade. In that year, he had found himself the messenger of a mad man that had lost his way in Ryuji Kamigawa. When he bailed out, he became the apprentice of a man who was trying to find redemption. He had been in his share of wars and had learned a great deal. Now Shinji was a man who was in the process of getting himself together for more than just a professional wrestling career. It was time to step up and figure out if he was going to be the great star that people had predicted him to be, or a washout like so many before him. The loss on the last (R)Evolution Pro show had affected him greatly. Something about Brando Martial did not sit well with the man. His charm and charisma had won over several people already, but it seemed like the only person with the same suspicions as him was another student of Jonathan Collins, the newest Marauder, Payton James. However, she too was preoccupied with her own matters, including how to heal herself from a situation that he could not possibly comprehend.

The silence was broken when the door swung open, Tom barging back into the house after a day out with friends.

"AY YO, SHINJI! HOW'S MAH BOY DOING?" he screamed, Shinji bristling at his boisterous friend's shouting.

"I'm fine. Just thinking quietly," he said.

"I found someone downstairs for you!" he said with a grin, opening the door again and beckoning her in. Jade Summers slowly stepped in, her puppy Dexter with her as he smiled over at Shinji.

"Hey stranger, haven't heard from you in a day or two," she said as she came to sat with him. Naturally, Shinji was just in track pants and a t-shirt, nodding and giving her a handshake she quickly turned into a hug.

"I am sorry, I am just...my head is full of much ideas and thoughts," he told her. "Lots to think about," he told her as his smile faded.

"I hope it's not bad things." she smiled a little bit, offering him some comfort.

"It is...the situation has my mind very...heavy? Is that the word?" he asked, kind of peering down for a moment to see if he was using the right words. "I am sorry if I am not using the right words."

"It might help if you talk about it, maybe?" she asked, glancing at him.

"I feel as if I am...at war. Like I have two things going on inside of me," he said softly, thinking as he moved to sit down, motioning for her to come with him.

"Aren't we always at war with ourselves?" she offers a slight smile before shrugging her shoulders. "Though some personal wars are more difficult than others."

"I feel as if...I make someone very happy. Yet they do not stay. They return to things that seem to not complete them," he said quietly. "Why do people return to what does not fulfill them?" he asked her, seemingly uncomfortable approaching this topic when it wasn't even about her.

"It's hard to say sometimes... people do funny things for a lot of different reasons unfortunately," she replied.

"But...I too have something that makes me happy. I have another part where I feel like I am wanted, truly adored. I feel like while someone wants part, someone else wants all. And for this, I am conflicted," he sighed. "I feel as if I am denying myself happiness." It was with that statement that Shinji sighed and leaned his head back against the couch, feeling as if he was allowing himself to open up to a stranger that had no idea what they were getting into with this conflicted man.

"Only you know what will make you happiest. You shouldn't ever deny yourself that."

"Do you deny yourself happiness?" he asked, turning his head from looking up at the ceiling to glance at her.

She smiled in a friendly manner. "I try my best not to."

"What makes you happiest?" he asked her, curious as he glanced at her, slowly turning to shift his focus more on her than anything else.

"Surrounding myself with the people I care about, of course," she answered, turning her head to him.

"May I ask you a question?" he asked her, fidgeting a little.

She nodded her head as she cuddled Dexter closer to her in her arms. "Of course you can."

"Do you visit me because it makes you happy?" he asked, his voice nearly a whisper.

"It makes me very happy actually," she responded.

"There is someone. I have known her a long time, almost since I moved to America. She finds me, but she does not remain in place. She is...at war, I believe. She never stays. She says she cares, but she says she is broken," he fretted. "I feel as if she does not believe I am the answer. With you, it is different," he said, tilting his head to look at her closer. "You are not broken, but you wish to see me often. You treat our time as if it is a gift, not like it is shrinking."

"I'm only doing what a friend does... it's really the same thing you do for me, that's what friendship is about," she responded.

"Oh. See, my friend Tom," he started, pointing off to the other room, where loud and annoying rap music was being played. "He believes that you desire me, if that is the term."

"Desire you? What makes him say that?" almost laughing at it.

"He says it is the way you look at me. He says it is like you wish to see me often, like you cherish every second you get," Shinji replied, looking at her. "He says you look at me the way I once looked at someone else."

"Well, isn't he very clever?" she joked.

"No, he is very much...I believe the word Americans use is an idiot," he laughed.

She laughed as well before she reached out with one hand to touch his arm. "I only want what's best for you."

Glancing at her curiously, he couldn't help but ask. "Do you believe you are what is best for me?"

"Only if you decide that's what you want," she responded.

"But I am asking what you think," he whispered.

"I think I would do you a lot of good, yes... I don't ever want to do anything to hurt you," she answered.

"I do trust you. I am sorry I am so conflicted," he said, almost saddened.

"You'll figure it out. I know you will," she told him.

He hoped she was right.



Devan Whitmore is not a woman to be trifled with.

Aries Reed is not a man to be taken lightly either.

What I see across from Shozo and myself in a few days is a challenge. This is our first time teaming together, and I am excited for this opportunity. Shozo is one of my very good friends, and I have long wished for us to team together in the hopes we could achieve greatness side by side. What better place to do it in (R)Evolution Wrestling? This is the most prestigious training camp in all of professional wrestling. Not everyone can last here when you have trainers like ours. I do not judge those that walk away, but I know that I will not be one of those. I will stay here and fight all comers in my attempt to be the best.

Devan, Aries, know that what comes next is a fight that I wish to win. I will do my very best to come out on top, and with the combined ability of myself and Shozo, we will be unstoppable! SHINJI, ICHIBAN!