Description: Stopping by the Hibiki Dojo in search for a clue about where she can locate her friend, Blanka, Hotaru instead finds herself hefted up to the jungle raised fighter's spiffy loft. Apologies and promises made, one more weight is lifted from the troubled girl's shoulders as another close friendship is reconfirmed.
Never before has Hotaru had a reason to visit the famous Hibiki Dojo. Of course she knows of Dan Hibiki, master of Saikyo-ryu, inspiration to... well... some people at least. It's on a hunch that Hotaru approaches the unassuming structure, stepping into fenced in courtyard and walking up to the front door. Finding Blanka, one of the many friends she's felt she needs to visit after all that happened over the last few months, has been a bit tricky. Most of her friends she knows where to find - what school they attend, or what hours they're likely to be around the YFCC. But it occurred to her that while she has come to really enjoy the company of the jungle raised fighter, she really didn't know much about what he did when he wasn't fighting.
What DOES someone like Blanka do when there isn't fighting to be done, she had pondered. She did, however, have clues to follow up on. Her green skinned friend had told her whom some of his other friends and aquaintances her and she hadn't forgotten his mention of Dan. Thus it is the girl finally looked into where the Hibiki Dojo could be found and came to be here this afternoon.
Stepping up onto the porch outside of the front doors, she lifts her small hand and raps her knuckles on the frame, seeking to see if anyone is about that might be willing to tell her where Blanka can be found when he's around in Southtown.
In fact, there /are/ people in the Dojo, working and practicing. Dan doesn't usually have a lot of students, but there's probably one or two people there. Someone comes towards the door, intending to answer it, to greet the person, and explain that the 'Master' is away today, but available for messages and appointments in the future. However, they're set to be dissapointed, as when they open the door, there isn't anyone in front.
Too bad they don't look up. That's what Hotaru should have done, after all. Just before the door was opened, one giant green paw reached down behind her, and carefully, effortlessly hauled her up onto the roof. Blanka's Hangout Pad is the perfect place to laze about at, and he's more than willing to show it off to friends! Hefting her up, he catches her after and sets her down with a laugh and smile on his bestial face, before motioning to the small deck chairs that are laid out next to a small mound of melons and a makeshift table.
"Good to see Hotaroo. Going to challenge Blanka first in Neoleague?" He isn't really sure why she came to visit - and is mildly worried that she's come to see Dan and he just technically kidnapped her. Oops. Probably not - and if so, he can sneakily set her back down. Yup.
Blue eyes, half lidded in quiet contemplation, are suddenly widened the moment she gets hefted up and off the ground by powerful arms capable of easily carrying the featherweight fighter. A squeak of surprise escapes her lips - this isn't normally the way one expects to be greated at a dojo. Is the Hibiki dojo secretly full of NINJAS?! A quick flail of her arms is about all Hotaru accomplishes before she gets caught and placed on her feet, the gruff laughter accompanying the sequence clueing her in quickly as to who is responsible.
"Blanka!" Hotaru chirps, her voice raised a little due to the surprise hefting before she calms down, her voice lowering a little, "I mean, hello," the Kenpo artist remarks, clasping her hands behind her back, looking a little sheepish at the question posed to her. "I-... well... No, that wasn't why I came by actually," she continues, taking a step over to the indicated deck chairs, quickly realizing that this hangout seems to be about where Blanka lives!
"The thing is, I wanted to get a chance to thank you, for everything you said the last few times we fought. I was... going through something... it's hard to explain." Her smile weakens some, one edge of her mouth maintaining it nonetheless. "I said a lot of things I regret, a lot of things that I wouldn't have said normally. I wanted to make sure you knew that what you said and did... it made a real difference for me. It helped a lot."
"Mn." Blanka moves when Hotaru talks, taking a chair and flopping out in it, 'sitting' more letting his large bulk flop over the sides, knees and shoulders on either side. He flips a melon up into his mouth, a musk melon expertly opened up and set on the table, just in case the girl is hungry. Though he affects ease and relaxation, he's thoughtful, listening to all that Hotaru has to say. As the talk settles in, he changes his seating, slowly moving to a more 'normal' posture, the better to look back at Hotaru, gold eyes curious.
"Hotaroo going through lots. Blanka could tell, and Blanka not very good at understanding people. Blanka.. glad that Hotaroo better now. Blanka happier that Blanka help make Hotaru better. Can try to explain if Hotaroo want - Blanka always listen." He offers a toothy smile, then adds wistfully. "Blanka may not always /understand/, but noone perfect."
Blanka gets comfortable and after a moment, Hotaru sits down in the chair, making sure to face the table as he plops down the perfectly opened melon in front of her. She doesn't touch it at first, however, not wanting to distract herself from what she has to say. Best to blurt it all out before she gets feeling to awkward to speek clearly. Her hands rest in her lap as she listens to his reply.
He invites her to explain and she frowns a little, wondering if she wants to burden her normally carefree friend with something like this. Maybe he won't understand, or maybe it'll just unnecessarily weigh him down. But after everything she did, she probably owes him her best shot at explaining it. "Thank you," she replies as he mentions being willing to listen, but the girl falls quiet for a moment of further consideration.
"Early in the year I was having a lot of doubts about how I was doing with my pursuit of being a capable fighter. I.. well, there were some rough fights, I was getting frustrated a lot. There was a boy... Frei's brother, he attacked me one afternoon and while we were fighting, he kept saying these... nasty things to me. It was like he knew all of my weaknesses, everything I had doubts about, any insecurities..." Her cheeks flush a little, admitting to the targetable state she was in back then.
"From that time forward, I really felt like I needed to do anything to prove myself. I had learned that technique I-... I used on you, a long time before, but had never used it in a fight before because it was so awful. But I started to think it was my shortcut to being the fighter I felt I needed to be." She swallows a little, "But it wasn't who I should be, it wasn't me... it was a shortcut to power, at the cost of everything else important to me. It just took a long time for me to realize that."
She focues on the face of her friend, "I just wanted to let you know. I'm sorry to have dragged you into it."
Blanka's face falters briefly, but only briefly. Yes, he has an idea about the technique Hotaru's talking about. He's seen her use it, felt it's mark on his body - his hand rubs at his chest absently, as if remembering while she talks. He sets aside what's left of his melon, the taste having gone a bit ashy for some reason, his stomach not quite settled.
"Hotaroo not feeling.. strong enough? Hotaroo always stronger than Blanka - strong enough, Blanka says." Really, it's true. He's always thought she hit hard, and her techniques before the change were quite mighty enough. "Said that in fight - you hit harder when not angry - like Blanka does. Blanka get mad in fights... lose quick. Can't focus, make dumb mistakes. Lashing out not fightin'." Though really, she doesn't need him preaching things she probably already knows instinctively. Instead, he just smiles again, fangs glinting a little as he tries to offer what solace he can give. "Blanka been trying to prove self too - not doin' so well. Blanka always say 'fight for fun', cause if it's not fun, Blanka no want to do it. Need good reason to fight. Gettin' stronger is good - but 'being strongest' bad. Judge self, not compare to others. Easier to see improvement, then."
The small fighter is quiet as Blanka speaks, her expression somewhat torn between relief at being able to get some of this off her chest but also sad at the memories it dredges to the surface one more painful time. As he speaks about her being strong enough - perhaps even more than the powerful jungle raised beastman, her cheeks tint a little. "Yeah," she replies when he explains that she does better when she's not angry. It was a lesson she had been learning a lot during the prior summer, when fights she lost her cool in would rapidly spiral out of control. Anger was not compatible with her graceful, skillful Kenpo style in the slightest. "My mother always said that my martial art wouldn't serve me when I was angry... I know she was right."
Lashing out is not fighting. How true that is, she muses to herself silently for a moment. "Fighting should be fun. It was for me before. But these last few months? When I was so angry... I felt empty inside, even when I won. Nothing mattered to me anymore." She exhales softly, focusing back on Blanka, taking her eyes of the untouched melon, noticing that he had set his unfinished piece aside as well.
"Yeah. You're pretty wise, Blanka," she grins. The advice sounds like what she would have told anyone had they come to her with the same problem. Stop comparing yourself to everyone else. Just track your own progress. "I don't want to fight again unless it can be for fun like it was before." she states quietly.
"See? Hotaroo wise too. She learns and listens, but takes time when stuck in problem. Like in jungle! Stuck in quicksand, flailing doesn't help. Have to move slow, take time to understand situation, escape. People on outside help too." Usually with ropes and branches, but he's sure she gets the general gist. He gets to his feet, looking out over the skyline as she makes her admission, talking about how it didn't matter, how she just wanted to win, and nods.
"Doing what you love should always be fun, Hotaroo. Blanka want to help you have fun again, ok? Will look for fun with you, then help you do it." He nods seriously at this, then his giant grin breaks out like the sun out of an overcast sky. "Best friends help each other - Blanka got not many super-close friends - but thinks of you as one. Blanka even promise this time he not dress up as girl for fun, unless it make you laugh."
Blanka's jungle based comparison brings a grin back to Hotaru's face as she pictures exactly what he's talking about. Thrashing about merely sends one deeper into the quagmire, either literal or metephorically. Working one's way out of it calmly, and with the aid of others, however, can let one escape the worst situations if they are willing to try.
"Thank you, Blanka," the girl states in reply to his offer to help her, regarding his solemn expression as a very real intent to help the girl with the rough time she's had. As he openly admits to considering her a close friend, Hotaru looks a little touched, perhaps a bit surprised for a moment before the surprise passes. Even after she chewed him out during the trampoline match, he still considers her a super close friend, as he calls it. Rising back up to her feet, she takes a step closer, looking over the skyline along with him.
Bringing up the infamous Sailor Blanka match, Hotaru can't help but giggle, her hand coming up to rest over her mouth. "How can it not make me laugh?" she asks before shaking her head, "But no, that won't be necessary. I haven't been doing the sanctioned events for a while. Once I realized how I had lost my way... lost control, I felt I shouldn't anymore, until I could get to feeling right about it again. I'm not sure when I will be back to it."
Eventually, one giant paw is set upon Hotaru's shoulder, since she's standing and looking out with him towards the sky. He gives her arm a light squeeze, then just rests the heavy limb there. After all, she's stronger than Blanka is, in his opinion. He watches her laugh, and it's all good. Happy, even - something that will let him chuckle, voice deep and gruff.
"Hotaroo probably have to make this promise to lots of people already - not need to make it to Blanka too, unless she wants to." He takes a breath, then says, "When Hotaroo ready to start agan, Blanka be there - woud ike to help any way Blanka can. Always promise it fun fighting you, Hotaroo. Always learning something new. Like when to not put face in front of Hotaroo's feet." He gives her a wry grin - that run up their body kicking move is /quite/ effective!
When the paw comes to rest on her shoulder, Hotaru looks up at Blanka, grinning faintly at the friendly squeeze. "I have been talking to a lot of my friends, yes. I wish I could do more to make amends, but sometimes all I can do is just say what I can say and promise to do better. And I will. I'll never touch that technique again. I won't let myself be driven by jealousy or envy like I did back then..."
He offers to be there for her when she's ready to get back into the sanctioned fights and the girl nods her head slowly, "It's always a treat to see what you can do too, Blanka. You're really strong, you know." she remarks, remembering just how hard he can strike when he gets in close enough. He mentions not putting his face in front of her feet and she laughs lightly, "The feeling's mutual, Blanka. Believe me."
Quietly she breaths in then exhales softly, turning to face him directly, her hand coming up to rest on top of that heavy paw of his for a moment before the girl finally leans forward and attempts to give the jungle raised man a hug, wrapping her arms around his waist where he's a little more narrow. No way could she reach around his chest! "Thanks for everything, Blanka. I'm so glad I met you. You're such an inspiration for me. I'll fight with an attitude more like yours again when I start again. That much I know for certain."
Funny little-known fact! Blanka does not get many hugs! The last he got was from Drake, trying to bear-hug him. And that's not quite the same. The giant green jungle man is caught a little off-guard, but returns the squeeze with one of his own. Carefully, of course - it would be bad to squoosh the Hotaru into unrecognizableness against him. It's a nice contact, and he relishes that /and/ the words that come after. Both warm him inside, and nudge him towards being ever more pleased with how this meeting came around.
Eventually though, he steps back a little. "Is .. no problem, Hotaroo. You make Blanka really happy to know you too. Will do best to live up to being inspiration. Noone ever call Blanka that before - kind of like it." He gives the girl another goofy grin, and then slips his hands under her arms and heftsher up, gives her a spin around, before setting her back on the rooftop. "Sounds like a good plan! Blanka always very fond of acting like Blanka, other people should too!" It's a good reminder for him, as well, he thinks - he needs to stop dwelling on his /own/ losses, and find that humore and enjoyment he remembers in his fights!
The hugs are exchanged and then Blanka backs up from the young Kenpo artist and Hotaru lowers her hands to the side, looking up at the much taller fighter with a quiet smile. He towers over her, with a befanged expression that no doubt causes many to fear him upon first sight. But the girl has had plenty of chances to see the gentle person he really is. Fun loving, her precious friend is a treasure to the girl she doesn't take lightly.
He thanks her and promises to hold up to being called an inspiration, and Hotaru bows her head slightly toward him, a respectful, traditional gesture she's so often used toward those she holds in high regard. It is in the midst of the bow that she finds herself hefted up again, however, his paws slipping in under her arms and hoisting the girl up high, giving her a whole new perspective on the loft as he twirls the two of them around. The surprised laugh that escapes her lips is all the proof one would need to know that she's amused by the gesture. Raised in an austere home, antics like these were remarkably rare to her even as a young child.
Back down on her feet, Hotaru turns around to face him directly, grinning broadly. "Acting like Blanka is a good way to act." she remarks with a sharp nod, blue eyes glowing with appreciation for the friendship she finds in him. "Thank you, Blanka. For everything. For the things you said, for what you put up from me when I was troubled... For being a true friend. I should get going, but... when I'm ready, we'll fight again, and it won't be like the last times. It will be like it was before... At least... that is my hope."
Log created on 22:35:36 05/03/2008 by Hotaru, and last modified on 05:35:00 05/04/2008.