Baki Hanma

You pace around your room, furiously biting your nails. You heard the girls at school teasing Kozue about confessing her feelings for Baki already and her laughing it off. The nerve, the audacity! As if you'd ever allow such nonsense to unfold. With your gaze fixated into the mirror, you notice the damage you've done to your fingers.

You've been Baki's best friend for the longest time, and you've been to every underground fight to support him. You understand his quest for revenge and do your best to motivate him everyday. You scoff again at the little conversation you've unwillingly witnessed. To talk about feelings when you don't even know the person fully. It's fine, you don't mind. Should you take care of her? No, she's a neighbor. Too obvious. You don't mind, anyways. You stare at the cooking knives before closing the kitchen drawer with a loud thud. You just have to confess first.

Baki is just really excited and surprised to have a girlfriend, especially if it's you. He's always found you attractive, but he wouldn't risk ruining the perfect friendship you have. And now you've just taken all of his worries away, in the most unexpected turn. You hug him and you can feel your shoulders droop, as if a massive weight has just been lifted. You can finally rest.

Yuujirou is the first one to congratulate his son for finding himself a proper woman. He'd been wondering if Baki was too much of an idiot, since he hadn't asked you out already. You have to hold the young boy back, whispering soft words to calm him down under the Ogre's resounding laugh. Though you can't help the grin that's creeping on your face. Damn right. No one else will love him as much as you do. You'll make sure of it.

In the Underground Arena, everything is permitted and there are no rules. This stands true outside the ring, so it's not uncommon for fighters to try for a rematch out of the audience's eyes. Baki has always been a bit disappointed by his rare ambushers. He would've liked a spontaneous fight every now and then. Unfortunately, you have your girlfriend duties. You can't let scoundrels potentially mess with his training. Baki might be honorable enough to only rely on his fists and strength, but you're not. And based on your count, you'd say you're pretty creative when it comes to weaponry.

Hanayama has witnessed your ruthlessness first hand (and had to help with the body disposal), so every now and then he'll pat Baki on the shoulder and remind him to be thankful for his woman and never upset her. Baki always responds with a clueless laugh. Of course he's grateful for his darling (Y/N). He couldn't ask for a sweeter girlfriend, and he finds it downright adorable how you stare down his opponents. He'll tell you to be careful, because the men here can be very dangerous. Your reassuring smile makes his heart melt.

Yuujirou Hanma

Not another crazy bitch; He's already had to deal with Emi Akezawa. This would most likely cross Yuujirou's mind if he actually knew about your unhealthy crush, but he doesn't. He doesn't know of your walls plastered with his photos, or the videos you've taken of his fights in order to memorize the smallest details in his technique. What he sees is your distracted, indifferent expression whenever you happen to cross paths in the underground arena.

In fact, he might even be slightly annoyed by your complete lack of interest. You seem to praise all the other fighters after their win, yet your compliments fail to reach the strongest of them all. He wouldn't mind, of course, if he knew you're just terrified of him (as most people are), but he can tell you lack any kind of nervousness towards him. What's up with you?

In a moment of anger he faces you and is about to deliver his signature devastating blow, against the gasps of protest from the passerby. His eyes widen in shock after realizing, however, that you easily dodged it. He didn't expect you to be this good of a fighter. And you aren't, really. He's just predictable. Maybe not to the average person out there, but you could guess with your eyes closed what his next move is going to be. Depending on his mood, the person he's facing, his facial expression, the slight tilt of the foot onto the pavement, the smallest contraction of his deltoid muscle that indicates the arm about to swing. You doubt you could win against the Ogre, but you certainly know his fighting style better that anyone else.

Once you start dating, Yuujirou becomes completely infatuated with you. The fact that you know him so well can only mean you've been watching him, and that pleases him greatly. Though he's maybe a little embarrassed to admit he was this concerned about you noticing him.

You mainly show your affection through acts of service. Yuujirou most definitely doesn't need you to protect him, but if small fry approach him you'd rather spare him the boring attempts to a challenge. You'll stand in front of him and announce that weaklings need to get past you first and no one should dare to waste your man's time otherwise. Yuujirou is very amused by this and his ego skyrockets. If the opponent is someone you can't handle, he'll gently move you out of the way and thank you. "It's alright, I haven't worked out in a while. This should only take a moment."

Sometimes he may catch a glimpse of your unhinged jealousy whenever another woman approaches him and he'll instantly be turned on by your bloodlust. He could have anyone else in the world, but why settle for just anyone when there's you?

Kaiou Retsu

You've been mesmerized by the martial artist ever since you've witnessed his fights in the Underground Tournament. After he lost to Baki, you couldn't help but wait for him at the exit and express your deepest admiration with a bow to the ground. Retsu was speechless but equally grateful for your kind words. A renewed sense of pride erupted from his chest, knowing he's won someone's appreciation for Chinese Kenpo.

Right...well, why not? You don't mind starting off as his biggest supporter. You're good at gathering information. To Retsu's excitement, you always meet him with a brand new question about a particular technique or historical fact check. He's eager to tell you all about his past and time spent at the temple. He's so lost in his stories that he doesn't notice your dark orbs that remain still in his direction, unperturbed by any movement or blinking.

Retsu's obliviousness is a running joke among the fighters. Katsumi finds great enjoyment placing bets on whether the Kenpo master will ever notice that the woman that's always by his side might be in love with him. You laugh along, not minding the humor. Where's the hurry? You like his innocence, among many other things. It's not like you have to worry about competition. You're rather confident you can get rid of anything that might serve as an obstacle.

Some days are harder than others, however, when it comes to hiding your feelings. Despite your repeated protests, Retsu insisted on fighting this recently revived prehistoric man. You felt yourself spiraling the moment you heard the wet gnawing sound of his lower limb detaching. Pickle had begun dragging him into the halls to continue his feeding routine. Your ears began to ring and before you could ponder the situation, you found yourself between the same walls. Pickle could only stare in amazement at your wild, rabid expression as you sank your teeth into his arm. For a brief moment he felt like he was gazing at his own reflection, the same ferocious eyes filled with nothing but instinct to act.

Retsu awakes groggily and spots you sitting stiff at the end of his bed. Your face looks slightly smudged, but he's still too dazed to tell. You fumble with the bloodied cloth in your lap and ask if he's feeling better. He's ashamed of his broken promise, confessing to you he might've not been prepared to die. Poor, honest Retsu. No matter his intended outcome, you would've never allowed it. You might be selfish for it, but your love for him comes before any kind of battle honor. You weave his long, silk hair through your fingers. Your teeth are still sore and you chuckle lightly. He really brings out the worst in you.

You hoped you wouldn't encounter Pickle again, but here you are in the empty audience seating, standing between Hanayama and Retsu and looking down towards the young Hanma. Pickle seems to study your form with a curious smirk. "Why is he looking at you like that? Did something happen during my... I hope you weren't-" Retsu's voice is choked by growing panic as he recalls the TV reporter. "It's nothing like that, Retsu-san. He's teasing me." You shyly hold onto his hand and he flinches at the sudden touch. What was this smug creature hinting at? Some sort of unspoken acknowledgement perhaps, from one predator to another.

Pickle

You don't watch TV and you don't care for the news. And yet it just so happened that at the time you were mindlessly browsing through channels, you landed on the latest announcement concerning the prehistoric human. Your watched as the poor reporter trashed around for help before the live was interrupted. You felt your eyes tearing up; you had forgotten to blink.

You can't focus on anything else. It can't be random coincidence, just some mere stochastic chance that you were made aware of this ancient individual. You dare to dream of the possible meanings and implications. Perhaps the best answer will be offered upon meeting the man himself, and you happen to have the right friends for it.

When Baki mentions to you, entertained, that a bunch of men managed to sneak into Pickle's enclosure, you can feel your jaw clenching and your teeth grating under the sudden pressure. You were supposed to meet him first. They don't deserve it. You impatiently begin planning your own forced entry, if needed.

Pickle lowers himself over Retsu's unconscious body, ready to devour him, but his ears pick up the rapid approach of another human. Could it be a new challenger? He quickly turns his head and locks his eyes with yours. You're panting and gasping, trying to refill your lungs with oxygen after sprinting all the way to the arena. You almost got tricked once again into missing your fateful encounter, given the secrecy of this fight. No matter, you're here now. A wide smile of pure adoration forms on your face. Pickle is taken aback, unsure of how to read your expression.

The Jurassic man is spellbound by the little human that's now following him around. You easily communicate with the other humans and even though he can't return the same speech, you seem to know what he wants or needs. The strange smelling chloroform clouds that would make him very sleepy have now vanished, together with the men holding the equally strange tools always pointed at him. He doesn't know what you've done, but he's very grateful to have a little peace. You're his bridge to this modern, confusing world.

They can't decide what's scarier between Pickle and (Y/N) in their overly protective anger. Pickle himself couldn't be more delighted. He finds it incredibly cute that despite your size, you always jump to his help. Sometimes he'll even pretend to be confused just to see your determined face as you do the task for him. He wonders if other people also have their own (Y/N) at home, though he suspects he's the only lucky one.