Description: Lisa explains Seishirou's situation, offering a small carrot. (Originally recorded on January 7th, 2004)
Downtown
Without a shadow of a doubt the heart and soul of Southtown, the downtown
area occupies the largest single chunk of the peninsula. A completely urban
area where most of the city's population not only makes their home, but also
makes their living. Dotted with mid-height buildings, Downtown lacks the
elegance of the money-quenched business district...generally middle-class,
crime also happens to thrive here, making even the best parts of the area a
place where many would watch their backs in the thick of night. However,
thanks to the work of the vigilante students of nearby Gedo High School, the
area has become a far more comfortable place to live.
Seishirou
[Temporary]
5'8", small, light frame, looks around 15-18.
Black hair, nose-length bangs.
Wears long white headband with stacked alloy construct plate.
Plated fingerless fighting gloves on hands over wrapping.
Dark blue jacket over a loose, long turtleneck, secured with weighted sash.
Cargo pants, tucked into blue open-toed high-tops, worn with tabi.
[Temporary]
Lisa leans back in her chair, shoving a stack of files a little farther from
her face, although not far enough away for her comfort. She glances out
towards the door leading into her office, then glances at the time. Well, no
appointments for a while, at least. It's been a quiet day, and maybe she
should take a break. The office is empty, save for her desk, a pair of
chairs, and one grumpy manager. To her dismay, however, she's forced to
leave the door unlocked, just in case someone interesting shows up.
Well. Seishirou was certainly busy these past few days. He'd managed to
locate a small apartment for his own, got signed up into a local tournament,
and met up with his 'contact.' He'd been thinking on his issues and largely,
while he had a few ideas, they're still mostly half formed. So, when he went
back to the hospital to satisfy his debt, he was suprised to find a business
card. With clear directions.
It's probably something akin to curiosity that draws him to enter the
office--if there was a secretary, there may have been some warning of his
entrance. Regardless, he placed the name who he'd been summoned by. And he
felt that a stealthy entrance was ..not neccesary. Suspiciously, he looks
around. And then calls out. "....Hey." He's still carrying that backpack.
Lisa blinks as she hears the door open -- it may be a ninja opening it, but
that's her door. She sits up immediately, turning to face the entrant. ..
And our contestant is one loser ninja. Heh. She stands up casually,
affecting her business smile -- not entirely friendly -- and gestures
towards one of the chairs. "Why, hello. Mister Ryouhara, isn't it? Good to
see you here. If you'd like to take a seat...?" Her speech is smooth and
careful, but again lacks a certain something to make her seem pleasant.
At this point, Seishirou adjusts the sling of his backpack, looking at the
well dressed woman in front of him. "It is," he acknowledges, when asked of
his name. And obviously, he's not asking whether or not she's Lisa Nichols.
She's likely the only one who'd be expecting him. And would be sitting in
that office. While his voice isn't entirely cold, it isn't entirely
friendly, either. If Lisa was paying attention to the tapes, Seishirou
addressed Rock in the -exact- same tone of voice. So it's entirely possible
that he's always like that. Not that it'd matter much, probably; Lisa's
voice, while much more diplomatic, carried similar intonations. And that
didn't seem to bother him.
He walks forward, right towards one of the proffered chairs. Not much for
formalities, Seishirou instead states what is not immediately obvious; "I'll
stand." This said, he sets free hand onto the back of the chair, finishing
off, "....What do you need?"
This is about the most polite way of broaching the subject of what Lisa
wants that Seishirou is immediately capable of. Given his mood.
Lisa smirks slightly, then nods. "Suit yourself. This may not take long."
That said, she sits, and leans back in her chair, reclining just so
slightly, but not so relaxed as to be rude. Folding her lands in her lap,
she remarks, "You're new to town. Just got housing, I believe? Then
immediately sign up in my tournament." She unlaces her hands, gesturing to
Seishirou casually. "You're clearly used to travelling, but you've actually
set up residence.." She smiles again, looking up at Seishirou. "Am I wrong
yet?"
That's something new to him. Seishirou isn't quite used to the city, yet.
You see, the only paper trails he left in Leaf were the ones in the school
graduate list and maybe a few small trinkets in his former home. So, about
when Lisa finishes off her second statement, he blinks noticably--the first
time since he's entered. But that's about all the emotional response Lisa's
going to get. But instead of a nod or similar action, Seishirou simply
listens carefully, to find out what Lisa's willing to admit she knows about
him.
That smile was strange..
"You've done your work," he observes dourly, but ..mildly impressed.
Along the same line of logic as the response in the vague positive,
Seishirou makes a careful point not to mention a thing of his previous
residence. That would just be foolish. But instead of pressing the matter,
Seishirou continues to wait expectantly, for her to continue. Because she
might have more information on him, *if* her phrasing isn't just a
formality.
Lisa nods slightly, still smiling. "Frankly, I don't let people in my
tournaments more than once unless I learn something about them. Oddly
enough, I have not a damned thing about you prior to you setting up the
other day, and that puzzles me." She looks at Seishirou blandly for a
moment, noting in a dull tone, "I don't like puzzles." She then shrugs,
folding her hands again in her lap. "But, really, I don't care to worry
about it too much. If you've got a past, you've got a past. If you need me
to involve myself in it, then you'll let me know." She pauses and smirks.
"It looks like you've had a couple of surprises so far, and aren't yet used
to the world outside of.. Well, whatever village or castle or whatever you
came from."
She looks up to Seishirou with a serious expression, the smile replaced with
a faint smirk. "I'm here for business, you must know that. Your showing the
other day was.. not entirely without merit. You were surprised, and
unprepared, that was clear. Now, your task is to assure me that against
similar or greater force, you will continue to be 'not entirely without
merit'."
[OOC] Seishirou, completely deadpan. "I come from Candyland."
[OOC] You say, "'Well, bucko, you're standing in front of a slide, and my dice are loaded.'"
[OOC] Lisa, mixing games.
[OOC] Seishirou says, "It was a cool comeback. And that's what counts."
Don't talk to him about puzzles. Seishirou's gotten quite annoyed with them
over the past few days. So when she talks of his past, he doesn't nod
understandingly, or anything of the sort. Instead.. he frowns. Briefly. The
proper term might be 'making a face at nothing in particular.'
Regardless, he simply narrows his eyes. Frankly, he had the utmost belief
that not being prepared was tantamount to simply not being good enough. And
frankly, that bothered him to an unforeseen degree. As did Lisa's evaluation
of his abilities. "It was a mistake," he states. Calm. Level. _Cold._ To
form an interesting parallel, he returns, "I don't like making mistakes."
Then, he finishes off. "What are you going to do?" The implication is there,
if Lisa's feeling like picking up on it. 'Assurance' is not something that
Seishirou feels he could rightly give to Lisa in words. It was a very
difficult situation for him to deal with, losing.
But he knows it won't happen again.
Lisa smirks, actually seeming pleased with where the conversation is going,
nodding once. "Well, Mister Ryouhara, as you may recall you signed up for a
double-elimination tournament. Meaning you get another chance in this
tournament to proceed. What _I_ am going to do is select a more appropriate
opponent from one of the pending matches." She pauses to give Seishirou a
piercing glance. "Whether or not you agree with my decision is immaterial.
Whether or not you take offense at my view on the matter is your problem. As
I see it, a mistake doesn't result in getting blindsided more than once. You
have to prove me wrong." She looks back her desk, shuffles a couple of files
around, then places one on the empty portion of the desk before her. For
now, her hand covers the name. "Now, I'll be honest. If you lose again, that
doesn't preclude you from further tournaments; that's just bad business, and
in every tournament someone has to lose."
Lisa looks back up to Seishirou, still smirking. "But if you lose again,
it's going to adversely affect my opinion of matchups with you, and I
imagine you'd find that offensive."
He knows very well the circumstances of the tournament he joined. He read it
all very closely. But at the same time, there is something annoying about
having it restated to him. But as she begins to imply that Seishirou now has
something to prove to her, his eyes narrow very closely, meeting her
piercing gaze evenly. He notices the file on the desk, but as it's largely
in his periphery, he doesn't acknowledge it yet. Instead, he faces Lisa. It
takes him a moment to stop a very faint twitch in his left eye.
"Put me with whoever you want... If this were serious combat, I would have
been dead already. And my only judge would be death." He continues, "If you
place me with someone inferior, they'll lose." His voice is very firm and
simplistic, as if he had to state this to Lisa. And there is another very
important implication; Lisa, right now, is playing the role of that death.
Lisa remarks with an amused expression, "That's how I operate, Mister
Ryouhara. My job is to pair matches that are entertaining first, fair
second. That's how money is made, and understand that's where the priority
lies. I'm not a fan of fighting other than how it can affect the bottom line
for me and those I work with." She picks up the file, casually tapping it
against the palm of her hand, the name of the file still hidden. "The
problem I'm faced with, here, is that I don't have a good judge of your
ability. You got slapped around, showed a bit of promise, and couldn't quite
follow through in time. That makes my job harder. I haven't decided which of
the prospective losers would be the closest match for you yet, but I'm
leaning towards the softer side." She laughs softly for a moment. "And if I
judge too harshly and put you against someone too weak, it's easily
corrected in the next round. You'll get challenged, and from what I've seen
you probably can't win this tournament. Not yet." She leans forward, and
places the file on the edge of her desk farthest from her, placing it so
that the name of the file is clear to Seishirou. "Now, I'm sure you have
your own motivations, everyone that comes into this office does. But if you
impress me, I'll grant you free of charge the contents of that file." Lisa
leans forward, resting her elbows on the desk, cradling her chin in her
hands with a smirk.
The file's title: Howard, Rock -- Style and Tactics
To this end, Seishirou does not flinch. While he isn't very used to the
customs of the big city, he knows quite well what 'ulterior motives' means
and can spot them when he sees them. Thus, it's no great revelation to him.
Instead, he looks closely at her. Slapped around... he wasn't ready for
those hits. But he also was going to work to correct that. In the end,
though..the ultimate revelation that he would not win the tournament... was
accepted.
Silently and without rebuke.
He looks at Lisa. Softer side? .... He doesn't care. What he stated before
still stands. If they're weaker, he'll beat them. And he'll advance. Until
stopped. It's a very simple idea. If he is not the best... he'll become the
best. He won't stop until he is. But it wouldn't be to win tournaments. He
doesn't seem largely impressed by her laughter. At least... not until he's
presented with a significant reason to proceed. The cover of that file is
now looked at.
"/...../"
He looks back at Lisa, scanning her face for any malintent. His expression
largely unchanged, but a shift in -demeanor- immediately noticable from the
young ninja.
".... Then I'll have to impress you," he allows.
Lisa gives a smirk (a knowing one, this time), and leans back, crossing her
arms. "So. As it stands, I'm going to err on the side of rudeness, and give
you the weakest available opponent. A contrast the better to judge you from,
if you will. Winning that match alone will not be enough, however. I'm
expecting you to reach the second round in the alternate bracket, and do
well there. A victory may or may not be enough.." She pauses, and grins.
"Style is of the essence, and I don't mean a collection of techniques and
notions. /Impress/ me, and the audience." Her grin shifts to a faint smirk
at this point. "I won't be scheduling you against Rock again if I can help
it, not until you demonstrate that you've progressed a bit. It wouldn't
serve a point to put you against an opponent that is notably better in any
case, and any attempt at demonstrating your superiority against someone who
previously beat you would be wasted if too soon. So don't ask, I won't do
it." She leans forward, picking up the file to place back in its position in
the stack. "Do you have any questions, or issues you wish to address?"
The weakest available opponent? He stares at Lisa silently, as if sizing her
up. Because at the moment, he is not recognizing an ulterior motive.. but
someone who seemed to know exactly what'd get him to acknowledge her as
something beyond a mere figure of authority. It was, largely, a tempting
offer. And one she knew he would have a difficult time refusing, it occurs
to him. So, knocked to the bottom of the ranks... he'd have to work his way
up. To 'impress her.' And the crowds? She had made it clear that his only
option in the scheme of things and his mission was to acknowledge her
expectation as something worthy of meeting.
So he'd have to climb the ranks again. "That's fine," he acknowledges. "I
don't have any problems." Other than losing.
"Or anything else." It'd be largely immaterial anyway.
Lisa folds her hands in her lap as she reclines again, looking largely
pleased. "Good. If you do have concerns that relate to the tourament you
don't need to hesitate to let me know, I always listen. I just won't
guarantee I'll act on what I hear." She pulls open a drawer, fishes out a
square of paper with two fingers, shutting the drawer smoothly with a wrist.
Clearly practiced, as is the wrist-flick that sends the card towards
Seishirou's chest. "That's my other business card. If you have prompt
business needs involving a match or another fighter, that gets a more prompt
response than my main answering service. I hope to have a long-term
relationship with you, Mister Ryouhara. Don't disappoint me."
Snap. The business card is, in a flash, snapped out of the air with his free
hand, which hadn't moved from the chair's back up until that point.
Unflinchingly. "... I understand," he concedes again, giving it a precursory
once-over before he slides it into the inside of his jacket. Returning back
to her, he's largely looking at Lisa without a quarter of the amount of
coldness he was when he first came in. If one were adept at reading a face
that is almost always collected and serious, one might say he's even more..
thoughtful, now.
To this last, "....If I disappoint you, then I'll have failed."
He turns on a heel, and makes for the exit. ... Until he pauses, hand on the
door, as a thought occurs to him. "You know..." he says, "...you remind me
of someone I was once in contact with." He doesn't seem to be too intent on
saying just who as, unless stopped, he'll leave. But in the scheme of
things, Lisa's ability with mental persuasion reminded him of someone. Who?
His former sensei.
There's nothing more for Lisa to add at this point. She's gotten the desired
result. As Seishirou turns to leave, she leans back to the point of
lounging, stretching before resting her hands behind her head. At
Seishirou's parting comment, she just chuckles softly, not having a
response, nor caring to think of one.
She reaches back into the stack, pulling out the same file that was
presented to Seishirou, opening it. Maybe she'll cancel her one-o'clock.
After all, she's got an empty file to fill.
Log created by Lisa, and last modified on 15:59:44 09/19/2005.