Description: Or not! Vega is attempting his SUPER SEKRIT DISGUISED. Time to test it around a former brainwashed flunky.
Sakura is not really all that religious... but she does see the value of meditation and devotion to less ephemeral causes. She stops by shrines when it's convenient and/or expected, and that's really about it.
Right now... it's convenient. Kinda. Talking with Hotaru made her think a lot about right versus wrong. She'd told Hotaru many bold assumptions -- she'd told her that what she was doing was 'evil'. But what =is= 'evil', really? How does she =know= this? How does she just inherently =know= what's wrong and what's right simply by their effects?
The truth is... Sakura doesn't have logic to back up her assertions -- she just knows. But the more she's thought about her reasoning, the more she'd begun to question herself. And she needs validation. What better place to become reacquainted with the path of the right... than at a shrine?
As always, this is something of a quiet shrine. Out of the way... and in many ways perfect for someone seeking to avoid the limelight, and simply -commune-. Sakura sits in the lotus position, just a little left of the courtyard's center. She has much to meditate on... and this is one of the more powerful locations in the city from which to do so.
Eventually, though - peace can be interrupted. She'd probably been able to sense him well before he spoke, most fighters seeming to have almost preturnatural awareness of people nearby - a useful skill when you can never know when someone will throw a punch, just to be the one that 'got a hit on' a powerful fighter. He's not here to do that - to cold-cock Sakura Kasugano with a punch from behind? So gauche.
It was ego that had brought him out - determined to prove to himself that his new plan could be effective - that he could pass for a generic, unknown fighter. Who better to test this against than his former brainwashed minion herself? He'd planned for this though - the care he put into this excursion is far and away more than he ever put into his bold plan for reshaping Thailand in his own image.
His eyes are dark, brown iris'd instead of the old white - his hair black, slicked back. He's not wearing the Shadaloo uniform that felt so comfortable to him, instead a simple black sweater and slacks. Now, he's actually one of the more casually dressed evil villain dictators in the world. His body is leaner than before, the 'reshaping' process something designed to give him a second chance, to emphasize new tactics, skills that he had picked up.
His voice is smooth, though it does not say anything for a long moment as he stares at the shrine, pointedly ignoring Sakura at first. After a moment or two longer, though - he can't help it. He has to test his new changes - and really, that's why he'd had her followed, and had her movements reported well enough to find her in a slightly remote locale.
"You're ... Kasugano Sakura, aren't you?"
Sakura can tell -someone- is around -- but that's not entirely unusual. The shrine is out of the way, sure, but Shintoism doesn't discriminate between an opulent shrine and a rundown one. But she's deep enough in meditation that the sensations of another person walking about are background noise, at best -- mere whispers compared to the deep thoughts in her mind.
Really, it's not until her name is called that she has any inkling that said person would actually want to talk to her. One eye cracks open, then the other, as she slowly reacquaints herself with the outside world.
Wait, what did he say again? ... oh. He's calling my name...
Sakura turns to face the voice, nodding slowly. "Y-yes... that's me..." she trails off, still looking quite detached. There seems to be no glimmer of recognition, no particular emotion attached -- just confusion as to why some random stranger is asking for her. "Uh... is there something I can help you with?"
Good enough - the lack of recognition, at least on it's face, is something Vega had hoped for. He'd allowed himself a hint of a smile, a minor relaxation in his focus. It's quickly washed over as he pushes it aside, as intent on this meeting, simple though it may be, as he would be for a battle. It's important to him, on a level he can't really express, not even to himself.
"Perhaps. It's hard not to recognize you, though. I saw your speech a few months back - it was very impressive." Smooth talking, his voice is toned down, quiet in the midday noises of life and business about the shrine. "I'd come out here for some enlightenment - what brought you?" With that, does he move to the 'annoying fan' or 'creepy man' side of the equasion? He's never been much for talking before - the art of conversation is not quite his strong point.
Sakura stands up, self-consciously smoothing her hands across her hoodie to eliminate the wrinkles. It's certainly not the first time her meditation's been interrupted -- but if she -really- wanted privacy, she would have went somewhere private. Smiling, she tilts her head to the side. "Y-yeah?" That speech was not one of her best moments, granted, so... she's wondering why -that- was called out and not her fighting career.
The question that follows seems simple enough though. "Uhh... Ditto! I actually kinda like this place, it's... it's quiet, out of the way, there's usually plenty of space."
She stuffs her hands into her pockets, grinning. "You come here often?"
Oh, there's a reason - the fighting career would come later, when he'd had a little more time to make his final decision. Whether or not he'd take the chance of fighting the girl, here and now. To risk spoiling his surprise for the world.. all for ego.
He looks away from the woman, towards the small building that makes up the shrine. His arms fold against his chest, distant at first, then refocusing his eyes on Sakura. "Often enough - though it changes every time I've been here. I suppose one of the other reasons to come here is that famous fighters of all sorts tend towards it. I'd hoped to find someone with your skills here today."
Sakura may be a professional fighter in just about every sense of the word, and she's been through situations under which most adults would just buckle under the stress. She possesses a great deal of experience... but under it all, she is a teenage girl who has a tendency to take people at face value until they give reason to believe otherwise. She has no such reason from this young man.
"... Yeah? Well, I guess you're in luck! You're into fighting and such?" She's normally used to making small talk, normally... but she's still trying to 'wake up' from her meditations.
"I'm learning how to fight." <<Again>> He thinks to himself, the transition a 'challenge' for Senoh, for Vega both. Instead of the phenomenal power he was infused with, death had taken some of that from him - and the reports were.. dissapointing, as he looked to recover it. So now, he needs to try and relearn, to stress and push himself to the limit. What better than a challenge against Sakura? But how to bring it up?
"I'd always found it as a good way to focus myself - to clear my mind. Is there a chance you'd be willing to ... show me something? I promise.. I don't break easily." After all, he /could/ just be some guy that wants to get hit once by Sakura Kasugano and then sue for every thing she has! Er, since she's just a college girl though, that may not be all that much money, huh?
"Oh? Cool!" Kasugano grins brightly at this -- being both a figher and a teacher-in-training, she's innately curious about other people wanting to learn how to fight. She's even taught a couple students before... though she wasn't able to help them much further along than they already were.
She was about to answer in the affirmative... sure, she could show him something. But then he said he didn't break easily -- which indicated he wanted to get punched. "... Well, sure, I can show you some things, b-but you're just getting started! It's usually not so good to just start throwing punches or whatnot, you gotta build up to that." Wincing, she adds, "I mean, maybe it'd be better for you to show -me- some things so I have a better idea of where you are?"
He'd overplayed his hand, just a bit - appealed to the teacher within her, instead of the warrior. The price of eagerness. His smile turns slightly thin, as she chides him on his eager attempt to 'fight'. As she challenges him to show her what he's capable of, he just nods. It's expected, a layer in the dance, just another step that he'll have to work through. "Of course." With that, he takes a step or two back from the woman, and focuses.
Fingers hitch at the legs of his slacks, just enough to let a kick lash out. He's deliberately holding back, but trying to give the impression of going all out and being slow. It's difficult to do, to hide what and who he is, but this is important over everything else. He's borrowing from the styles of those he's fought before, Ansetsuken, TKD - strong styles that show a direct, fierce approach - but not a hint of Le Drit, whatever that ghastly art he used before. There's a smoothness and a fluidity that he can't hide, much like an accomplished ice skater would have, going through a routine.
It's not a long demonstration either - a quick series of kicks, rechambers and swung from low to high in slow motion - a strong form of hand strikes that would be easy to visualize that the person before him would be unable to move from joint stabs/pokes - all done in the space of a minute or two. Then, he brushes fingers through slicked-back black hair, and just watches Kasugano. They say, after all, that the heart, the soul of a fighter is their style. He's not sure how deep his deception can go, there - and she's had intimate experience in who and what his fighting is. He's tense, radiating out from his shoulders and back, from his dark eyes as he waits.
Sakura nods, her expression turning a bit more neutral as the young man acknowledges her request. She'd noted his change of expression -- and thinsk to herself that she may have laid the teacherly aspects on just a bit thick. It's certainly better in the long run that she enforce -discipline-, since many beginning fighters lack it, but that doesn't make her statements any more or less polite.
Still... it seems she's glad that he asked him to demonstrate first -- in her estimation the man seems to have plenty of -talent-, and there are certainly aspects of many different styles employed. At any rate, she's smiling before long, pleased to see a worthy demonstration from an up-and-coming fighter.
Now, she bows her head. "Well, yeah! Looks like you know what you're talking about... so I guess it's my turn now!" She launches into a whirlwind kick to start things off, before dropping low and unleashing one of the latest katas she's been working on -- a concert of attacks designed to not only take out a great number of opponents, but also allow her to practice -- and showcase -- her best striking and grappling attacks. The sequence ends with a quick elbow strike to an unseen opponent behind her, before shifting her momentum forward for a rushing uppercut, which sends her leaping into the air -- the Shou'ou Ken. Though... for this simple demonstration, no shouting -- it's all an exercise in the rhythm of form.
"Well... was there something specific you'd want to see? Or, uh, do?"
She's poetry in motion - fluidity in it's essence, distilled down into explosive power. He knows how she moves, has studied countless times through fight tapes and personal experience - and it all comes back to him in a flood as she demonstrates that rushing uppercut. He stands back and watches, an eager smile slowly crawling into his features, changing his mind time and again as if he wished to push his luck, to force a fight on Kasugano. To throw himself headlong into danger - that was his old ego talking - and something that he could not bring himself to do now. When she turns to him and asks what he'd like to see, he does not challenge her again - no, to deflect the question, he makes a show of rubbing at his chin.
"You have a move - it looks like a back roundhouse, but I've never seen how you give it the power it has. How do you draw that kind of strength from the twist, there?" He demonstrates, moving through the spin and bringing his back leg around behind and out - smoothly done, but certainly without the power or techique of one Sakura Kasugano. He rechambers, and then adjusts his shirt, leaning forwards a bit as he examines her. "Where does the power come from in it?"
Kasugano smiles in reply, glad that the supposed student-in-training shows enough of an interest in her techniques to ask such a thoughtful question about them.
If you ask a random Sakura fan, the answer would be clear -- the power of the Flower Kick comes from its fanservice. But the truth is, there is something of an art to it. She demonstrates this art by lifting her foot for the start of the motion. "Well... the key thing, really, is momentum!" She advances herself, wobbling just a little as she raises her foot to its apex, hands splaying to either side for balance, while she looks back at the 'student' as best one can with one leg high in the air. "This right here is about as high as I lift my foot -- it's unbalanced, and if I lift it just a bit higher, it's unbalanced. It's strong... because it =has= to be or else I'll fall over, I'm putting all of my strength into making it last." She lowers her foot, hopping from one foot to the next with a faint grin. "It's like a rollercoaster -- there's a long climb to the top of the hill, but the trip down is amazing!"
"The other thing," Sakura continues, "is my arms -- I pretty much keep my elbows rotating at the same rate the whole time through the move. It's not just the =leg= moving, it's my hips, my shoulders, my whole =body= moving in one strike. You did it right there, yourself, but it's... well, when you're not all that =strong=, it's important for all your muscles to be doing their part!"
"If I just do the leg..." She demonstrates, raising her leg and executing with just the one improvement -- rather than being a single, fluid movement, there's a marked pause at the crest of the kick. "Just like that, there's plenty of power... but here..." She executes the kick a second time, though the air displaced whooshes just that much louder. "It's probably hard to tell the difference, but my muscles here, here, and here are all working for me." She indicates her abdominals, her shoulders, and her back, grinning faintly. "It takes some practice though!"
"I think I see." After all, he's no slouch - Vega isn't the skillful style-copier that Sakura is, but he's a powerful fighter in his own right. The question seems to have worked for distracting Sakura well enough - and it certainly gave him some insight into how that attack worked. Going forwards, he'll know when to properly step in and interrupt the building of momentum, to crippple it when it's used on him. In theory, at least - Sakura's style always seemed to Vega to be about little changes - what he learns today may never help him again. "I like the power in it. I'll try those changes." With that, well - he's pressed his luck far too much.
"Thank you for your time, Miss Kasugano. I'm sure that your advice will come in handy, some day in the future. It was a pleasure." Smoothly said, he takes a step or two away from the woman, giving her a formal bow. It's as good a way to start to exit, to extricate himself from this situation as possible. Now, he has a lot to think about - and possibly even to decide if 'hiding' is worthwhile or not. Hmn.
Sakura nods enthusiastically! Fighting discourse flows a lot more fluidly for her than it used to, mainly because she's put so much more emphasis on teaching than actual fighting. In a way, it's good for her development to be forced to justify and explain -- in doing so, she sets the reasoning more firmly in her mind. Now that Ryu has decided there's no more left to teach her, she's finally found a new way to teach herself.
Really, so -what- if it comes across as a bit egotistical? There's still value in the exercise. "Cool... glad I could help!" She bows in response to him as well, a bit bewildered as to the briefness of the meeting... but pleased just the same.
"I'll probably see you around in the fight leagues soon, huh?" she adds, with a quirky smile.
"I hope so." It's simply said, and with that, Vega's on his way. He doesn't offer too much more than that, head full of ideas and thoughts - and eager anticipation of the day where he didn't need to pretend and pussyfoot around - when he would rule over all. That day, however, was a long time coming - and until he was /certain/ of his powers, these sorts of excursions were far too risky to make.
Unless his ego was involved - after all, that had driven him to far riskier things - and would certainly do so again. He'll make his way down the path, mood lightened by the escapade, and the curious interaction will linger with him throughout the day. Hmn - perhaps he'd send Bison to say hello, later.
Log created on 15:25:48 03/30/2008 by Vega, and last modified on 19:22:42 03/30/2008.