Robin's Defeat

Robin gasped as the woman's arm came around his neck and she collapsed her full body weight onto his chest. He was still trying to concentrate on the fluorescent lighting above, which seemed to have multiplied into a few extra after the slam onto the mat he had taken.

"Ippon!" The call came from the referee, and Robin looked up at the young woman's exhilarated face. Miki was sweating heavily, but the smile on her face as she pressed her chest hard against him showed all the signs of exhilaration from a good match.

"Good one..." Robin breathed out heavily, feeling the ache in his hand and the relief of pressure in his neck as the thin featured girl released her hold. It hadn't been strictly necessary, come to think of it. Of course, that had been a pretty slow call, but ref probably knew what she was doing. The thin undershirt was very visible as she pulled back, and Robin couldn't help but notice that her nipples were hard as she leaned back, rising to her feet and tucking the heavier fabric of her gi about herself.

Robin clambered to his feet, really feeling the ache for the first time in a while. It wasn't a bad ache, but with the rush of blood through his body, the hickeys at his neck had become fairly visible. Not that anybody had said anything about it, but Robin had been extremely glad not to see certain disapproving mothers in the audience today. He tucked his Gi about himself, again pulling the knot tight with the practiced ease.

A few steps to position, turn. Robin acknowledged Miki's victory with the customary bow, then stepped back and off the mat. He stepped to the side, waiting, while the next pair of combatants were called up. Robin scanned the small room, and the chairs, and noticed that he wasn't getting the **** glare today by Miki's tiger mom. In fact, the woman was nowhere to be seen. He shrugged, turning his attention back to the matches, which went by quickly, with the standard cheers, and encouragement all around.

"So... why'd you let me win?" The voice at his side was easily recognizable. Miki's voice was one hundred percent born in the bay area, and the tight black shirt under her blue gi brought home her athletic figure. Which Robin had to remind himself, belonged to a girl young enough to be his daughter. His mind flashed to Viola and Lauren, and he imagined what they would say about the whole issue. The mental image of an amused chuckle and smile didn't help matters much.

"I didn't let you win." Robin replied watching the two young men struggle back and forth, each attempting to hook at the foot repeatedly, before one brought the other in close for an attempted hip throw. It did not go as intended, and the struggle continued as the two fell to the mat.

"Robin, you had me about four times, but stopped. What's up?" Miki commented, referring to their bout. Robin thought it over and remembered every time he had gotten Miki in position, and then had been extremely careful about making certain he did not touch her anywhere that could resemble a sexual contact. Miki had taken advantage of it each time, and countered the move that had now been completely telegraphed.

"I uh... your Mom not here?" Robin scanned the crowd, all three of them.

The sound of a slamming body, and another bow and cheer came up.

"Mom's at the foundation meeting tonight." Miki commented, adjusting her gi again, and fiddling with her belt as she stood next to Robin. Robin was familiar enough with signals to see what she was doing, and while it wasn't unwelcome, he was certain it was just a young gal flexing her flirtation muscles on a safe guy. The thought went through Robin's head that normally this gal didn't talk to him, or any guys for that matter. "So... the reason Sensei has me against you is so that I'll get better, right? So why are you making it easy?"

"Just... got things on my mind." Robin admitted honestly. His brain was still on his family, his daughter's troubles at school, and thinking about his sweet kitty. Last thing he needed to be doing was getting handsey with another woman. "Just trying to find a good grip, I guess."

"What you didn't want to put your hand on my ass accidentally?" Miki asked bluntly, bringing a snicker to a couple of the other female students who were conspicuously paying rapt attention to the match. "Thought you got over that six months ago."

"It's kinda different now that you... you know..." Robin tried to think of the simplest and easiest way to put this. He wished his daughters had come along to practice this evening, but Titania had begged off that she was still tired from PE at school, and Miranda had a gaming night. He was happy to see at least one of his daughters getting out, so hadn't made a big issue of it. Just another thing to put on the list of things to talk to Titania about, when she was willing to talk.

"What, that I'm legal?" Miki smirked at Robin, delighting in the blush that immediately leapt to his face. He was SO easy to get a rise out of.

"You're fun, Miki, and I'm sure you're going..." Robin began, trying to go with the old school "let her down easy" method of ending a flirtation. It required pretending that she wasn't doing what she was doing quite well, and pretending that it wasn't what you wanted. It was surprisingly harder than he thought it would be, as he found that the classes attention was called right as he was about to get to the "to have a great boyfriend someday, but I'm old enough to be your father, and you really should pick somebody a little closer to your age."

Which is why Miki never got that part of the memo as she kneeled on the mat, thinking about how much she had enjoyed her body pressed against his. She'd been doing this art for years, but for some reason, getting physical with Robin was more fun than she'd care to admit. Her mother had noticed, of course, and demanded that the Sensei keep a close watch on the man for any signs of what she was certain was a redneck psycho ****. Miki had asked at the time what a **** was, and her mother had quickly changed the subject to ensuring that she would be present at every single class.

The two small makeshift locker rooms in the back of the dojo were merely plywood and curtains, but they provided the modicum of privacy that people expected. The older students of course had priority, but Robin was surprised to see Miki handing him a broom after taking one herself, and beginning to sweep the mat.

"I thought you didn't have to sweep anymore." Robin commented, stepping forward and sweeping the pile of dirt from Miki's section into the section next to his.

"There's a bunch of boxes of stuff for the foundation raffle in the women's room." Miki shrugged, her eyes on Robin's body. She tried to catch a peek of the tattoo that she knew he wore, but always covered. It was pretty, she knew that much, and was of a naked woman. "Only enough room for a couple of us at a time."

"Well, thanks." Robin commented, sweeping again. It was just part of the experience. Of course, the standard joke was that this was the most valuable part of Judo training. When you have to run in shame after defeat, at least you will have a career. "Looking forward to crashing tonight."

Robin ran a hand through his hair and wiped the resulting mass of sweat off on the leg of his gi. This was exactly why the things went into the laundry at first opportunity, every opportunity.

"Oh yah, that's right, you ride the bus. Hey, uh... you know that it's really cold out there tonight." Miki gestured to the condensation covered front windows of the dojo before continuing to sweep another few steps.

The thought of possibly getting a warm ride home rather than the odoriferous comfort of city transit floated happily through Robin's mind, and his toes curled in anticipation of expected warmth. He'd been offered rides home before by other students, and had never turned it down. This was however, the first time Miki had offered. It wasn't unappreciated, because Lauren was at her place tonight, and Viola had already texted that she wanted to spend a little time out with some friends from work.