Description: Zach takes a walk around SouthTown once again in need of a job, and comes across the YFCC. Zach and Hotaru discuss the matter, and agree to a 'job interview' later in the week. Hijinks are certain to ensue.
Ah, weekend at the YFCC. That's not a bad time to find Hotaru when she's around between scheduled appearances in Howard's Saturday Night Fight franchise. This afternoon is no different, as the girl managed to come out of her bout unscathed enough to be in fine condition for teaching the following the day. The same can't be said of /every/ week, of course. But Birdie took the burnt of the damage in this week's fight.
The girl is leaning over the counter at the front desk, talking with one of the girls behind it. The class she teaches isn't for a while and so she's got time to kill. Right now one of them is showing her something that's impossible to see from behind the height of the counter anyway. Hotaru's laughter suggests that it's something amusing all the same.
The laughter can be heard just outside the door, where a young man who is looking for a job can hear it. He stops, looks at the building for a moment.
Young Fighter' Community Center.
The young man wonders if this is anything like those Fight Clubs that Roy Bromwell wants to get started in Amercia. He grins, shrugs a bit before making his way through the door. He sees activity, and starts to head toward the center of it. It may take Hotaru a moment to recognize the wanderer; his hair is now shoulder length, thanks to Tenma. Zach's clothes are also in far better repair than Hotaru can ever remember seeing them.
"Yeah, well, that's what he likes to do," Hotaru remarks to the other girl before pushing back off the counter and turning around to notice the new arrival. Her expression sombers a little, becoming serious for a moment, before shifting into a friendly smile. She can guess as to why he's looking a bit more well off now than she last saw him.
"Hello Zach," the girl states, hands clasping behind her back as she leans her head to the side slightly. "Glad to see you're looking well. It was hard to keep track of everyone getting off that boat..." It was kind of a chaotic end to that whacky Ryouhara tournament. It's too bad the young man didn't win, she muses, remebering how broke he looked before. But that's in the past now. "What brings you this way?"
Zach grins a bit. Dealing with Hotaru almost always a nice thing, even when he is not expecting to see her. "Hello, Futaba-san," Zach comments with a slight nod. "I was just passing through, mostly." Zach gestures to the sign out front, "The sign reminded me of a conversation I had with a student from Pacific High before that whole thing started." Zach looks around with keen interest, blinking once as he realizes he lost track of Hotaru's conversation. "And yeah. It's good to see you got off the boat okay too. So tell me," Zach says in a tone that speaks of honest curiousity, "What goes on here?"
"Here at the Youth Center?" Hotaru replies with a bit of surprise. "Well," she remarks, taking some steps to get closer to Zach, maintaining a more conversational distance. "A lot of things. It's a place for teens to hang out for the most part. There's activities all the time. There's a quiet area to study and do homework," she gestures off to the side toward a collection of desks.
"A nurse's station for fighters to recover if their, ah, sparing gets a little rough." She waves her other hand toward another direction. "Often there's older students or even college students around to act as tutors for those needing help with their homework."
She turns around and waves her hand toward a pair of double doors leading to some stairs, "In the basement there's places for training and classes even."
Zach smiles at what all Hotaru says.
"Sounds like a lot of work," Zach comments as he glance around. He sticks his hands in his pockets, "I could get behind something like this," he says with a grin. "Do you guys need help around here at all?"
Hotaru leans her head to the side again, turning forward to face Zach as he poses the question. "Hmn," comes her first reply, sounding hesistant. It isn't that she's unaware of a couple things that need to be done around the place, but first off, they're not that glamorous, and secondly, well, he /has/ told her of the problems he has, and she's seen it in action even.
Maybe get the least uncomfortable of the two subject matters out of the way first. "There's some odds and ends work that needs to be done. Grounds keeping, cleaning up, um..." Well, he gets the gist of it. Janitorial stuff. He probably won't want to do that.
Zach frowns a bit. He knows that look. The one that has concerns. He glances around.
"Look, if =that= is what you are concerned about, I'm a lot better about it. Even more than the last time we talked about it. Plus, having a lot of people around will keep me focused on being better about it." Zach tilts his head and shrugs, "Plus, I can do all of that kind of stuff. I can also do cooking and simple first aid stuff if you need that."
Zach grins lopsidedly, "If you think the pay is going to keep me away, making the semi-finals of Ryouhara's tournament made sure I'd have enough of that. Hell, I invested most of it already."
The girl looks surprised as he brings up the issues with his power and whether or not he can control it well enough to be trusted around the center. She forces a smile, and almost tries to wave off his assertions as if she wasn't even thinking about that. But that would be a lie, and she isn't out to deceive, nor is she very good at it.
For now she says nothing on that matter. Instead she actually looks a little confused, "Well, the pay would be very little, the center runs on quite a tight budget," the girl states, "But... If you don't need the money then..." Why would he want to do that kind of job?
A job, especially one like this, would let Zach feel less of a freak. That can go a long way towards any effort.
"Money would be =nice,= but it ain't the be-all-end-all of a job, and it shouldn't be," Zach replies. "My dad's a school counselor, and my mom's the best vet in Lake County. This kind of work... it's in the blood, you could say. Besides, this could be training as well." Training for what, one will have to ask.
Hotaru is quiet for a long moment, considering his reply. If he wants an honest job then who is she to say no? Well, she isn't the one to be able to say yes, either. She doesn't have hiring power... but she's really really good friends with the one who does, so she could get Zach in almost certainly.
"Okay. And, well, as you guessed, I an concerned about... well, you know." she states, looking sheepish again. But there's no avoiding the issue. "I mean, it's the fact that there ARE a lot of people that makes me worry. You can understand..."
Zach nods at Hotaru's concern. "It =is= a concern," Zach admits. He's silent for a moment, "When you get a chance, you should see my semi-finals match against Arika." He glances to the side.
"It was really hard =not= to," Zach spots some of the kids still, "Keeping things managable was a challenge that fight," he admits quietly. "And I'll understand if it keeps me from getting the job." Looks like he's serious.
Hotaru is quiet as Zach replies. Watching his match against Arika might be a good idea, but is it enough? One fight of him struggling for control... Though in that case the circumstances were extreme and a lot was on the line. If he could keep it together then, then maybe it's okay to imagine that he'd keep it together with the low key work that needs to go on around here.
"Sometimes trouble brews up. Fighters come in, hostile, antagonistic..." He can probably imagine where she's going with that. "I think you might need to, well, agree to not fight within the building, unless it was a real emergency..."
Add to that beaten, bloodied, and confused to the list of status ailments Zach was facing in that fight, and the fact that he did =not= simply explode seems to be pretty amazing.
Zach grins with understanding at this, "Fair. My... style of fighting, or lack thereof anyway, ain't really suited for indoor work anyway." Even if Zach has plenty of in-close capabilities, his bigger moves tend to make messes of things. "No fighing inside, for me anyway."
Hotaru nods her head slowly, her expression somber for a moment before she lightens up, a faint smile crossing her lips as she considers Zach's situation, and how far he's come along. "I have a class to teach in a little while. However, before I can really recommend you to Alma for the job, I want a chance to see you in action for myself."
She leans her head to the side a little, "You fought me at the Kyokugen Dojo once before. Find me there this week and I can see for myself how far you've come. If that would be acceptable to you?"
Zach looks at Hotaru for a moment. He wonders where the catch is at. There is also (the entirely unknown) danger of Old Man Todoh catching Zach at the Kyokugen Dojo. It's unknown because Zach does not realize Todoh's claimed him for a student.
"Okay. I have a bit of energy I could stand to burn off anyway. Manageably, of course."
"Okay," the girl states, resting her hands at her hips. "That sounds like it will work out just fine. Just a spar, that's all." She of course knows nothing of the risks of Todoh showing up. That... that could be problematic. "But we'll fight some, I want to see your improvements for myself. Besides, it's good practice too, ne?"
She glances toward a clock mounted over the doors that lead to the stairs. "Well, I should get going. It's good to see you again, Zach. You did all right by yourself in that tournament." He may not have won, but he sure as heck got darn close. Without losing control. And that's something.
Most of the time, anyway. That match against Tiffany was a serious moment of weakness. However, oxygen cut-off is rarely pleasant.
Zach nods, "I look forward to it." He turns, and waves to everyone present, before heading out into the world again.
Log created on 20:13:30 11/18/2007 by Zach, and last modified on 22:47:59 11/18/2007.