Description: A brief discussion in the YFCC between Hotaru Futaba and Hokuto Mizugami begins to shed some light on the similarities between the two...
The best place to find Hotaru at the YFCC is downstairs in one of the medium sized gymnasiums. When she's not here looking for Alma to see what the very busy male model and administrator of this facility is up to, she's typically teaching a class as part of her school related volunteer hours. It's been a fun side project from her normal class work, training at the dojo, cleaning up around the church property that she's maintained for some time as a personal side hobby...
But the students have run their blocking drills and completed the quick, simple, judo shoulder throw that Hotaru had taught them, and the time for teaching is just about up. "All right," Hotaru's voice is cheerful as she paces back and forth, her hands clasped behind her back most of the time except for the occasional pause where she stands next to a student and reiterates how they are supposed to grip their partner's hand just right in order to pull the other person over them to drop them to blue, tumbling mat covered floor. "That's the idea. Once you've done that to an attacker, most would be trouble makers will be slowed down enough for you to get away. Remember, this is just self-defense. I'm not teaching you how to win fights... How to get out of them might be the more accurate way to look at this."
A glance is cast toward the clock on the wall. It's time to let them out. "Well, that's it for this evening. Remember to practice up for Saturday's class. We'll pick up where we left off then." Her voice is patient, caring. The students that have attended during the entire summer have fome to know that the girl cares a lot about their well being, even if she has had to scold them about a number of little things over the weeks. Bidding Hotaru fond farewells, the class makes their way toward the exit to file on out of the gym.
All throughout the lesson--in fact, all throughout most of the day's lessons--someone has been watching. Out on the periphery of the classes, never interfering... but just watching. Her long brown hair perfectly straight, her cool brown eyes intense... Hokuto has been watching. And thinking.
The YFCC has become something of a 'regular' hangout for her as well--when she isn't scouring the newspapers, or going to see fights and touranments in hopes of catching her brother, she has been at the YFCC, sometimes talking to instructors, sometimes just watching.
Hotaru, if she talks to any of the other instructors, knows who Hokuto is--at least in the context of the YFCC. She brought the posters and flyers, silly as it may seem, that feature the image of a scarred man and 'Have You Seen This Man?' along with a phone number.
Mizugami-san--that is, Hokuto--is still 'new' to the fighting town of Southtown, but she already seems at ease, as she turns abruptly and, with smooth, flowing steps, starts approaching the younger Chinese Kenpoist.
Breathing in deeply, Hotaru exhales slowly, extending her arms out at her sides a little. The time is getting late but that just means she needs to snag one of the tables upstairs and crunch out some homework. Mustn't forget that, after all.
She's enough of a regular that she recognizes Hokuto as someone she's seen before, blue eyes coming to rest on the other girl as she approaches, her mouth slipping into a ready, easy smile, her head leaning to the side slightly. "Hello," the Kenpo artist replies. The posters were hard to miss, though in the daily bustle of activity about the place, it was never quite clear to her who had been setting them up all over.
The greeting is met with a similar one, of course, though where Hotaru might be more cheerful Hokuto is more reserved. But not unpleasant, oh no. Merely... reserved.
"Futaba-san, hello," is the actual greeting, Hokuto with a little smile on her lips. "You seem to be a natural teacher," she comments... more just for filler, though she means it. No need to lie, after all. And the kids really do love her.
... mm. How to broach the subject? One of the people she talked to, when she mentioned a missing man, mumbled something about Hotaru... but it's such an odd subject...
There is a somewhat sheepish look on the girl's face at the compliment about her teaching abilities. "I- Well... It's a basic self-defense class. Were you thinking of attending? I've noticed you hanging around a lot... They're free," she adds, in case concern about price might be the reason why the quiet girl has only watched rather than participated.
The hand behind her head lowers in order to join her other hand and clasp behind her back, smile widening a little. "I guess you already know my name. I think..." Her brow furrows as she seems to struggle with something, eyes averting a little, before she looks back at the brown haired girl. "I'm sorry, I'm afraid I don't know your name. It has been mentioned to me once before."
"Mizugami Hokuto," is the reply to the name inquiry, and... well, Hotaru asking about Hokuto joining the class actually gets a genuine smile out of the older girl. "Oh, no, not at all..." She doesn't -say- she's a master of the Mizugami style of kobujutsu, that'd just be boasting. But her attire certainly speaks to -some- fighting knowledge... or being a total poser.
Presumably she is not that. "I'm sure my name has been mentioned before," she agrees, nodding to a poster convieniently tacked up on the wall. "Those are mine," she says, by way of explanation. "If you've heard of a man named Kairi..." The particulars might start to sound pretty familiar to Hotaru... scarred man, one name... presumably a very good fighter...
Since she hasn't seen her participate in any competitions, there is somewhat the natural assumption that the girl might be dressing up to look the part of a fighter but lacking extensive training. Though odds are she's at least beyond the basics that Hotaru is teaching, the pig tailed girl realizes after giving it further contemplation.
As the portrait is gestured toward, Hotaru glances toward the corkboard bulletin display on the nearby wall. "Ah! Ah..." The first sound one of realization, the second one of, well, also realization, but of a different sort. Her clasped hands come forward then, arms hanging loosely at her side as she shuffles a bit on her feet.
"Y-yes, I've looked over the posters before. I'm afraid I don't have... well, much of anything to offer." She sounds apologetic, eyes focusing back on the girl in front of her. Thinking on the image on the poster, she hazards a guess, "Kairi... is he your brother?" Why does this sound so familiar?
"He's..." ... pause. Wow, that was amazingly accurate for a guess, but Hokuto doesn't let on with that. "He is important to me," she says, without elaboration, though the pause might give Hotaru a hint. So uh, yes, just to prove a point... Kairi -is- her brother.
"He probably doesn't remember me, but all the same..." Shaking her head, she muses, "Fighting is his life; this is why I came to Southtown, to find him. He's drawn to strong fighters... I feel as if, if I stay here... I should find him..." Perhaps Hotaru had some of the same thoughts? Or perhaps not. Unlike Hokuto, Hotaru has -found- her brother...
Hotaru is pretty good at reading people she's known for a while, but with a reserved stranger like this, it can be more difficult at picking up on the small tell-tale signs that might be exhibited. In fact, the hesitation has lead her to conclude that Hokuto is looking for perhaps a lover? It's hard to tell just how old the man in the picture is, for her. The scar makes it less clear than it should be.
"I see," she replies, brow furrowing as the brown haired girl goes on to mention he probably doesn't remember her... Okay, so maybe it's her /father/? And he left the family when she was really young? "If proving himself as a fighter is his passion, he's sure to turn up somewhere," the girl replies with a worried smile. Then again, Gato loves fighting and he hasn't actually made as many appearances as one might expect either. Perhaps he's sticking to more ruthless, brutal underground matches...
"It... it can be hard," the girl continues, her voice reluctant, laced with sympathy that can only be provided by one who understands from first hand experience. "How long has your-", hmn. Friend? Father? Erm. "-Kairi been missing?"
Oh, the man is young. In fact, he's younger than he should be--looks no more than late teens, and... well, he's smiling a little. Certainly, his expression is warm, even kind. Probably he doesn't look anything like, say, how Hotaru might've remembered Gato. Hokuto gives another long look to Hotaru, then... realizes that something about the girl--her expression, or her demeanor... something like that...
"... you were correct. The man is my brother. I haven't seen him... for years... and it's very important that I find him..." So -that- might sound -very- familiar to Hotaru. Hokuto's brown eyes cast down and away, as if she were embarrassed by her own emotionality.
Hotaru winces a little as her initial guess is confirmed. She glances back and forth, noticing that the two are alone in the gym room now. It'll be an hour before anyone else needs to use this room for anything. "Would you like to sit down?" the girl invites, gesturing toward the bleachers along the wall.
"I'd like to hear more about your search. It's... well, it's something I'm familiar with." She moves a couple steps over herself, slipping down to sit on the bleacher, her feet resting against the blue tumbling mat covered floor. "I had been looking for my own brother too in this area for a long time. But I-... well, my search for him is a little different now. He left when my mother died over four years ago."
The girl rests her hands in her lap, bowing her head slightly with thought before looking up again, "Anyway. I didn't mean to-... well, it's not really important about what happened to me. Maybe you wouldn't mind telling me what happened with your brother?"
She's calm--she's under control. Hokuto raises her head and her eyes are dry, and she nods to Hotaru before walking over to the bleachers, seating herself upon them, arranging her knees together and resting her hands atop them. Turning her body slightly towards Hotaru, wherever she sits, Hokuto nods once.
"Very well. If you wish to hear the story... such as it is..." Hokuto's brown eyes shift, gazing away from the girl with such a similar story. "Kairi--my brother--and I--are... were... the inheritors of... our family fighting style. But... my family, they..." No, wait. She can't reveal that. "Kairi always pushed himself, because... he wanted to prove himself. I told him he never really had to, but..."
Despite the obvious emotional content, Hokuto's voice is steady. "He went on a 'training mission'... and he never came back. We haven't--we don't know... my family doesn't want to find him. But I have to."
The story is listend to carefully. Sibling heirs to a family's style of combat seperated after some point. A search that has continued since their seperation... Hotaru knows these kinds of problems. But part of the account seems to bother her, her eyes narrowing a little, brow slightly furrowed. "Why would your family not want to find him? What's wrong?"
She leans forward a little, her attention becoming more intense, "What kind of training mission? Was this something he was told to do or something he took upon himself?" The questions for details come almost eagerly now. "Have you heard anything of him since then? What about the picture on your posters? How old is that?"
Hotaru blinks, sitting up straighter now, averting her eyes suddenly, "I-, I mean, sorry. I... It's just, I've been through a lot of what you're going through. But you've probably had to answer such questions a million times by now. I bet it gets tiresome... answers responded to... questions asked... posters scattered around... but no progress."
"I'm not allowed to say why," is the prompt response. And in truth, she doesn't want to say why either, herself. Her tone is firm, final, but gentle. "The reasons are... not important, anyway. Not to me." Hokuto turns to look at the teenaged girl and her eyes soften a little.
"He went to train in a remote area... it was something he took upon himself. He spent many summers going on these trips... sometimes alone, sometimes with friends..." Hokuto's reminisences stop, and she shakes her head. "The picture is old, maybe five years or more... I don't remember."
A smile, faintly. "It has been a long, long search. And... it will be even longer, I'm sure. But I will not stop... this is... my life's work, now. This and... someday, continuing my family's style..."
The prompt response to probably the strangest detail of Hokuto's story elicits a blink from Hotaru, but she isn't going to press. If it isn't important, then it would be impolite to pursue the topic. "I understand," she repeats back, accepting that just wanting to find her brother regardless of what others say is reason enough for it to not be important, as she claims.
"Nn," the girl continues regarding the age of the picture. For years she looked for Gato as she remembered him, until at long last she actually saw him on television before seeing him in person, allowing her to update her mental image of her brother. It's hard to search for those who might look quite different after so much time has gone by.
"Have you heard anything of him since... since he disappeared?" Does Hokuto even know if he's still alive? At least Hotaru had trace mentions of her brother to pursue. The idea that he had died was not a doubt she had to struggle with. But not hearing anything for five or more years would be quite the different kind of scenario, in her mind.
The thought of continuing her family's style brings a smile to Hotaru's mouth after having to deal with so much meloncholoy. "Then you plan to teach someday, yourself. You must be quite experienced. I feel kind of silly thinking that maybe you wanted to attend my classes here," Hotaru states with a nervous giggle.
"I wish I had something to say that would help with your search, but..." She shakes her head slowly then, an apologetic expression in her eyes. She has nothing to offer, alas, besides, "But with your kind of dedication, you will find him. Though..." She feels kind of uncomfortable voicing what comes to mind next, considering that the brown haired girl is most certainly older than she is by at least a few years, and thus probably in a better position to give her advice rather than visa-versa. "Well, it's just... I hope you aren't allowing the rest of life's opportunities to pass you by during your search." Even her own pursuit of Gato left her time to make friends, train, attend school... normal life things.
"I'm sure he doesn't look much different now. He was close to fully grown when that picture was taken, I can't imagine he looks that much different now..." One important difference is their ages--Hokuto was much older when Kairi disappeared... "... but perhaps you're right. Of course, I've heard hints... stories, legends. But so far nothing firm." Suddenly, Hokuto dusts her knees off and rises.
"My apologies... I've taken up too much of your time, I see you had homework to do." She was homeschooled, herself, but rigorously for sure. "I think... the only way I will find him is by fighting. So... in order to find him, I will fight, and I will train my skills as far as they will go. So when I do find him... when I finally return home... I will be ready to teach, yes."
Hokuto smiles. "Perhaps sometime soon I will challenge you, Futaba-san. I admit to being curious about your skills; I was told that you were one of the strongest fighters to teach at the YFCC." And with that, Hokuto is off.
"I will most certainly see you again..."
As Hokuto stands up, Hotaru remains seated, smiling weakly at the mention of homework. Ugh. That's not something she wanted to remember about at /all/! But forgetting about it doesn't make things better either. *sigh* "It's okay," the pig-tailed girl replies with a smile as Hokuto apologizes for taking up her time. Fighting, improving, getting better, proving herself to be worthy to find her brother, hoping to encounter him by mingling with other fighters... All goals Hotaru is quite familiar with.
"Okay," she offers in reply to the mention of perhaps challenging her to a fight some time. Her reaction to that is somewhat neutral. Lately such a reputation has seemed to get people coming out of the woodwork to come beat her up here and she isn't sure that's really representing the Community Center too well. But... ah, the cost of being recognized.
"I wish you well with your search. Just, I hope you remember what I said... There's more to life than just the search for a lost family member. Sometimes... sometimes you can miss out on too much if you keep to narrow of a focus." She falls quiet then, her faint smile returning. "Good luck. Until we meet again."
Log created on 22:57:11 09/03/2007 by Hokuto, and last modified on 02:14:01 11/04/2007.