Match of the Millennium

Description: Actually, two of them started there. Either way, a (slightly drunken) team is formed...

[FUMIYO]
"So then I was like, wait, when you say hung," Fumiyo says to Mai, "are you talking like... in a Western movie, or...?"

Then she busts into laughter, even as she refills Mai's sake cup from a small ceramic bottle.

The two women are at the counter in a sushi restaurant in Kyoto, which they wandered into after showering from their SNF fight and deciding to continue to chat about... stuff. They have been here for approximately an hour and have already gotten a few thousand yen into the hole, though at the moment they seem to be between courses. Nobody much is complaining because having women in tight tops laughing and being a fuss at your counter is not gonna discourage people from coming in to eat, most of the time.

The place has a name but Fumiyo sure didn't learn it. "Ugh," she says afterwards, "now I'm startin' to feel it. How does that Bogard guy hit so hard, anyway? I wasn't expecting anything like that at all..."

[MAI]
Mai is full of laughter and booze at the moment, which makes her only slightly more cheery (and annoying) than usual. She drains the cup of sake once it's refilled.

"Oh, he fights /all the time/. He's basically just jumps from job to job and fights. He's done that ever since he was a teenager. His brother--that's Andy who I told you about--trained with my grandfather, but Terry trained with another man named Tung Fu Rue then kind of set off on his own. I think he just asks people on the street for a spar if they look tough." Mai basically rolls her eyes at that one.

"But it seems to work out for him. He's not tougher than my Andy though."

[CLAIRE]
"THERE you are!"

Claire wasn't there, not that long ago. Now she is, having just appeared (like magic!) as she walked up to the counter.

Well, that's not true. No magic was involved. There wasn't even any technology. She just didn't bother to call out until she was almost there, and both of the women seemed a little occupied to pay much attention to her before that, in Claire's estimation. And she's pretty quiet when she wants to be.

Claire is not wearing what Mai last saw her in. No, you only wear armour to fight, and she's not quite that gauche. Claire is instead wearing a pair of short shorts and a tube top, all in the black edged with red that she favours. Oh, and knee-high boots, and fingerless gloves with some bulk around the wrists, so maybe she didn't come completely unequipped.

She is also wearing a grin. "You're hard to find sometimes, but after a match I can just stroll around and ask where you went. Who's your friend?" Claire is addressing Mai at first, but she looks over at Fumiyo in a slightly thoughtful manner... which she ruins by, "And is that sake?"

[FUMIYO]
"So he's basically homeless, like, fighting homeless? I read about guys like that," Fumiyo mutters, scratching her side. When Claire comes in, she looks towards the arrival, brow furrowing and then giving Mai a sideways glance. "Oh, you know each other!"

("Do you owe her money?" Fumiyo asks Mai.)

Then she looks at Claire. "Oh~ You can call me Fumiyo, honey." It doesn't quite sound right coming from someone of her age. "You want to join in? I think the chef's gonna get another course ready in a few minutes..."

[MAI]
"Oh, he finds ways to make ends meet," Mai says, "he just doesn't work in one place too long." Mai tilts her head to look at Claire when she approaches. "Oh!" Mai puts her index finger to her forehead for a moment. "--Claire? Or are you Felicia? Sorry but it was a bit hectic right then."

("I fought her in a competition in a club.") Mai quietly asides to Fumiyo from behind her fan. She snaps it closed again as soon as she does.

"Oh, yes! Have a seat. Have you found a team yet?"

[CLAIRE]
"I've been told I'm pretty sweet, but 'honey' is new - except from some Americans, and you don't look or sound like one." Claire's grin never leaves. She's apparently pretty easy-going.

She also has damn sharp ears, and picks up on the money comment - enough of it to guess the rest, anyway - but decides not to bother following up. "Actually," she says, as she slides into a seat next to Fumiyo (and talking past her to Mai), "that's what I wanted to talk to you about that. And I'm Claire, Claire Renaud; the catgirl was Felicia." She says that matter-of-factly, though she does add: "Not the kind of implants I'm used to, but it looked natural enough..."

"Anyway! Like I said, that's what I wanted to talk to you about." Claire glances at Fumiyo. She heard the fighting homeless comment... "You two do fighting together?"

[FUMIYO]
"I watch a lot of movies," Fumiyo explains to Claire with a smile. Mai's statement gets noted, and then she straightens up as team-formation comes up.

She cackles momentarily after parsing the remark on Felicia.

"Well we just teamed up on her boyfriend's brother," Fumiyo explains to Claire. "I had to get the money or I was going to get scolded." Then she looks at the chef and seems to indicate - a third!? Yes, Claire's getting sushi.

[MAI]
"Yes," Mai says, "I was teamed up with Fumiyo this time instead of fighting two versus one!" She says, frowning when she remembers. "That hurt, you know. You two definitely didn't give me a break." Mai laughs, maybe a little awkwardly. She seems like she's a little drunk.

"Get scolded?" Mai turns to look at Fumiyo. "Grouchy roommates?"

[CLAIRE]
"Oh /really/." Claire laughs. "That might get a little awkward around the dinner table. Not that I blame you; I'd've gone for the win too. And of course I did! What, like I'd let you have it easy?"

Claire does not seem to have anything against sushi. She looks about as far from Japanese as you can get (she's so pale, even her hair is - it's platinum blonde) but she likes it well enough.

"Actually, I was thinking. Since I don't have a team yet, and I don't think you have a team yet, I thought I'd ask you if you were interested. Because, you know, /yes/ there were two of us, and yes we won, but you were solid. And it's not like they'll let me enter by myself..."

She glances over at Fumiyo. "Honestly, if you need money, you could do worse than join, too. Especially if Mai likes you, and thinks you're up to it. /I/ haven't seen you fight, after all!"

[FUMIYO]
Fumiyo's lips purse and she lets her eyes roll a full half-circle at Mai's question. "Sssssure, we'll go with that one."

SUSHI APPEARS. It is salmon-heavy. There was a good shipment apparently. "This is for King of Fighters, right?" Fumiyo says as she picks up a piece and pops it in her mouth. She purses her lips and looks left and right, then says, "I'm gonna call her and check right quick buuuut I think that is probably fine?"

[MAI]
"Well yeah," Mai says, looking away. She focues back on Claire after only a moment. "I got sloppy too. Certainly not my best showing, but if you hadn't gave it your all it might have turned out worse for you!" She sounds rather smug, but she also seems to genuinely believe it.

And then Mai takes a big piece of sushi and stick it in her mouth with chopsticks. She chews for several moments, then speaks up before her mouth is entirely empty.

"Yeah, the King of Fighters. There's some big prizes involved, so if money's and issue it should help you out."

[CLAIRE]
Claire picks up a piece of sushi in chopsticks. (Yes, she's adept. No, she hasn't taken her gloves off, which is only a little weird.) "Please tell me you don't have to check with your mom," Claire says, though she's smiling when she says it to take the bite out of it.

Claire gestures with the now-empty sticks. "The prizes are ridiculous. Fifty million and rights on that new technology for the winners - even if we just qualify it's twenty thousand, and that'll keep you in rent for months, presumably. I want a part of that." She has other reasons to enter, but those aren't the kinds of things she tells people out in public...

...and she doesn't need to, because the obvious reasons are enough for just about anybody. "Anyway, three's a good number. Two fighters every round, so if there's an injury, we can keep going, but you don't have to split it /too/ many ways. So what do you say? Are you in?" Pause. "Once you call, anyway."

[FUMIYO]
Fumiyo makes a face and rolls her eyes. "No," she answers Claire with a sigh. Then to herself, "/feels that way sometimes/," but then she's making a phone call.

Claire's explanation fills the air while it rings. After this Fumiyo raises it to her ear.

"Hey precious~" Fumiyo is now speaking in Japanese, in fact kind of courtly and formal Japanese, if with an obvious and somewhat inappropriate playful/childish tone. "Yeah... Yeah, I'm eating with her. Did you stream it? I hope you were cheering for me~."

Silence for a moment.

"Yeah, though, actually - it's King of Fighters - Shiranui knows someone - uh huh? Ummm, she's right here, she's like - /no/, I don't think it's one of them. /No/, there's like eight others, /Irina/, I -"

Silence.

"-- I'm sorry. No, I didn't - no - ah - ah, it's alright. I know. It's OK! Anyway -" More silence.

Then to Claire, she says, "Do you mind if I put on the video thing for a moment? Just like wave at the camera and -" Pause, lean in. "And touch your nose with your ring finger, she says. She's just being paranoid, just indulge her, please?"

The phone is turned towards Claire. Mai can kind of see the screen though it just seems to be a dark room. There's an impression of what might be a woman's face there but beyond that?

[MAI]
When Fumiyo starts talking to someone on the phone, Mai looks over at Claire for assistance. She seems to be puzzling over who it is, precisely, that she's talking to. Mai flips her fan open and puts it between herself and Fumiyo for a moment.

"Do you think it's a relative? Maybe it's her boyfriend?" Mai asks, dangling on the precipice of catty.

Mai kind of leans lazily out of the way to let the two converse, but that doesn't keep her from seeing the screen for a moment. She actually leans back a little dangerously, considering Mai's weight distribution. She seems to be OK with it, however. Or too drunk to know better.

[CLAIRE]
Claire doesn't look like she's listening in, because she has instead acquired some of the sake to go with the sushi. She wants a drink, too. (It's okay; she can chip in for her share.)

Irina, she thinks, which is not a name she recognizes in this context. Hmm. "Sounds like a girl," she replies to Mai, just as quietly. "So maybe a girlfriend?" Then she picks up another piece of sushi, puts it in her mouth.

But she's asked a question by Fumiyo. The timing is a little awkward; she has to swallow before she can speak. "Huh? Well, why not?" Claire says, looking into the screen. She has sharp eyes but that doesn't help her if the other camera isn't picking up very well. Claire wiggles her fingers up near her face in a wave as Fumiyo points it at her.

Then she very quickly taps her nose with her ring finger (right hand), as directed. "Most people just ask for a photo," she says, amused. "Sometimes it's signed. Do you want one of those too?"

[FUMIYO]
The phone answers, because Fumiyo must've put on FaceTime.

"No," says a woman's voice. Then, "I permit it." Then Fumiyo says, "Oh, she hung up."

Taking a deep breath she lets it out, resting her chin in one hand. To Mai, she looks, and seems to be considering what to say, before saying, "That's my seducer. I'm actually in middle school. Don't tell the cops."

After this she reaches for a piece of sushi, before continuing, "She just was worried you were someone she hates, Claire. We're good. This is my first big tournament though!"

[MAI]
Mai leans back forward with a bit of difficulty, sitting upright again. Someone across the bar is disappointed nothing spilled out. She sips her sake again, sideeyeing Fumiyo as she explains. At the explanation, Mai sputters and nearly chokes. She thumps her chest.

"Well I'm glad at least," Mai says, strained from sake going down the wrong pipe, "that I wasn't on that list."

[CLAIRE]
Claire still had her glove on, so perhaps her doing something with that hand doesn't /entirely/ prove whatever Irina wanted - but it's fingerless, so it at least shows she (presumably) has all her fingers.

She bursts out laughing at Fumiyo's explanation. "Looking pretty good for middle school," Claire says, and adds, "Especially the tattoos, those normally come along a little later." She shuts up long enough to let Mai recover, because she's not sure she can talk over that, then: "Me too, actually. I mostly do littler ones; I haven't been available for big ones for a year or two. Timing," she finishes, with a sigh.

"But!" Claire claps her hands together, once. "Looks like we've done it this time."

[FUMIYO]
"Do I need to fill out a form or something?" Fumiyo asks, around a bit of sushi. She glances at Mai with a certain smugness.

[CLAIRE]
"Nah, I got it," Claire says. "Just so long as you spell your name for me."

She pauses a moment, thoughtfully tapping her lip with the back end of one of the chopsticks. "Though the team needs a name, too..."

[MAI]
"I think so," Mai answers, more steady now. "I always fill one out for these events. I suppose they might need contact information and all that," Mai peers over at Claire.

"Oh, or Claire can get it. That's good. My English handwriting is meh." A pause. Team name?

"Claire, you aren't a ninja, right?"

[FUMIYO]
"I'll write out the characters for you, but it's Fu Mi Yo Ja Ta Ni," Fumiyo carefully sounds out. "That's /yo/, not /ko/. You know?"

She eats a piece of sushi and starts writing the characters on a napkin. She snorts at Mai's question, then mutters, "Names, names..."

[CLAIRE]
"I could pretend if it would help," Claire jokes, "but no, I'm not. Be honest, do I look anything like one?"

She pauses. "Though, I guess if I don't, that actually makes me more likely to be one, not less... But no, sorry! No ninjas here. I don't know if they come in French, anyhow..." Oh, /that's/ what the edge of her accent is.

Claire memorizes Fumiyo's name. "Yo, not ko, got it," she agrees, though honestly she probably wouldn't have mixed it up, if only because she doesn't know any Fumikos to confuse it with.

[MAI]
"Hmm, so Team Kunoichi is out, then," Mai frowns. "Hmmm. Perhaps the Beautiful Team?" she suggests, completely without irony. She is, after all, someone who refers to herself as Japan's Most Beautiful Woman with some frequency.

"I remember that cartoon," she says to no one in particular, tapping her chin with the tip of a collapsed fan. "What's your fighting style, anyway?" Mai looks at Claire.

[FUMIYO]
"Team Sexual Death?" Fumiyo says, finishing up her name characters and sliding them over. She's generally talking Japanese but 'Sexual Death' was in English.

[CLAIRE]
Claire points out, "You fought me, you should know," as she refills her sake. They're going to need more of that. Fortunately, she's buying.

After a sip: "I admit it; I'm a brawler. But I've got the powered gauntlets and boots you saw. Family backing," she adds, not going into detail - well, what are they going to do, push her for information? (It's a lie, anyway; she actually has cybernetics, but that isn't obvious. Though it is why she has boots on with those shorts.)

Claire bursts out laughing at Fumiyo's suggestion. She's going to need a moment.

[MAI]
Mai snorts. "That one might be a little too lewd," Mai says with a chortle. She flips open her fan and fans herself lightly.

"And I was wondering if it had a name, but that answers that. I just knew I didn't recognize it."

[FUMIYO]
Fumiyo nods at hte news about style, but seems to be thinking. Thinking... thinking...

"We could do something cute. The White Butterflies," Fumiyo suggests. "The Sandpipers."

[CLAIRE]
Claire eventually recovers from her laughing fit. "I kind of like it," she says, "but I'm /pretty/ sure they'll look at me funny if I hand /that/ one in... Oh. Nope, sorry, no name!" Claire smiles, broader. "I've never settled on a name for it, really. It's just... me!"

Fumiyo has a lot more ideas than Claire, honestly. Her suggestions were... well, there's a reason she's not saying them all right now. "Butterflies, huh," she says, "or birds," before tapping her fingers against the countertop. She's thinking, too.

"It's too bad cactuses don't have a pretty name," she says, and leaves it at that. "Part of me kind of likes the butterflies, but I don't know..."

[MAI]
Mai drinks more sake. Clearly it helps her think. "Butterflies are nice, but maybe not very intimidating. Then again," Mai considers for a moment. "Do we want to sound intimidating? That might be a good advantage in itself..."

"Just Not Peregrine Falcons. Isn't that one taken?"

[FUMIYO]
"Macaws. Camillas. Lilies - no," Fumiyo says, scratching her nose. "Ummhhhh. Mai, you're from around here ish, right? Could we be the Kyoto Team?"

[CLAIRE]
Claire objects, "/I'm/ not." She's never lived in Kyoto!

Claire thinks for about ten more seconds. Then: "Well, I have a proposal. We've got a few days to get everything all squared away, anyway. So why not have some more sake and see if something occurs to us? If nothing comes to mind we can claim the Beautiful Team or something, but I think I'm going to get more creative in about another couple cups."

[MAI]
"Yeah, I don't think the Kyoto Team would fly." Mai says with a frown. "There might be someone else taking it, even if Claire was from here."

"Sure, sure," Mai says, "I think right now I have to be careful, otherwise we'll be the sake team." She looks at Claire for a moment, then starts laughing.

Log created on 19:18:55 07/22/2017 by Claire, and last modified on 09:21:48 07/23/2017.