Description: Team Captain Doctor Tran requests time to speak with one of the members of Team Malpractice. A face to face between Tran and Hotaru on the lake shore follows. That can't go well, can it?
It's a dark day in Strolheim, in a purely physical sense. Dark clouds hang low, casting a greyish pall over the landscape. It's perfect weather, assuming you need to brood. Dr. Tran does, and is, standing with one leg propped up on a bench as he stares out over the waters of lake Strolheim, at the imposing block of stone and masonry sitting in the center of it.
As for the reason he's brooding, it can be summed up simply: he's invited his own doom upon his dumb head, in a conveniently impersonal way. All it really took was a simple phone call to the castle, asking for a message to be left for one Hotaru Futaba. Not a long message, just a time, a place, and two words of instruction. Come here. Signed, Dr. Tran.
This is the place. Not this time, not quite yet, but soon. Tran resists the urge to check his watch. When Hotaru arrives, he needs to look calm, no matter how he's feeling. It's important.
Tran's timing proves to be remarkably perfect in this scenario. Between the rounds of the international Strolheim Master-Student tournament, Hotaru Futaba has spent almost no time at the castle at all, opting instead to fly back to Southtown each time. Finding everyone on her team either flat out hard to get along with or just a bit quirky, and also finding that most of the other fighters she would have been inclined to hang out with were eliminated earlier, she had little reason to linger in Germany. Or, rather, /a/ little reason. Kentou. She wasn't going to let the kid's training slack just because he was on the field trip of his life after all.
Due back for a trip to the castle, the message from Dr. Tran is forwarded on to the girl. It doesn't require much of a detour to comply. Maybe their illustrious team leader has decided another 'team building' shout fest. There might even be lung-removal involved. A taxi comes to a stop on the road a little ways off from the lake, depositing Hotaru there to continue the last bit on foot. Leaving instructions to get her luggage back to the castle via... whatever mechanism they use for that around here, she turns to complete the rest of the trip on foot.
Approaching the shore at a brisk but not overly rushed pace, the teenaged martial artist comes to a stop a few yards behind Tran. Her attention strays over the lake-centered castle but for only a moment before landing back on him. At least there's not going to be any Mignons this time. "Hey." She pauses, as of trying to think of the best way of addressing the man. She's long since been convinced that he can't possibly be a real doctor in anything. But on the other hand, that's what he's called. "Doctor Tran... So. No one else is here yet?" she asks, glancing back over her shoulder up to the road above. Maybe she just needs to listen harder for the sound of horse hooves or some bratty German boy screaming bloody murder every time he opens his mouth a little harder. Hm. Nah, maybe not.
Oh, Kentou. Tran barely knows you, but already you serve him well as a Double Student should. If Hotaru hadn't actually shown up...well. Truth be told, the doctor didn't even consider that, because it's Hotaru. Whatever her other faults may be, she seems decent enough to show up to a place when you ask her to. Plus he didn't realize she wasn't spending time in the castle, on account of how he's been spending as little time there as possible for the express purpose of avoiding her and the other crazies on their team.
"No one else is coming." At least, they had better not be, since he didn't tell them he'd be here. Although maybe he should have, for Luc at least. Based on his impressions, Tran doesn't know a better way to ensure the boy doesn't show up. But this is probably the best way. Probably. Assuming that it's not a terrible idea to begin with, a matter on which Tran has yet to fully make up his mind.
Silent as these thoughts run throgh his head, he doesn't turn around just yet. Checking the impulse to take a deep breath, showing a strong front or back as the case may be, Tran continues. "I called you here, specifically. Call it team training if you want, I don't care." Pushing off the bench and spinning about, Tran stares Hotaru down, arms hanging at his sides. He's got his game face on; not the drunk and belligerant one, the mostly impassive one with a touch of anger creeping through around the edges.
"I have a question for you, Hotaru." Here it comes; what bomb is the doctor about to drop? "What's your problem with me?"
He clarifies first off that she needn't worry about when the other two young men that constitute the remainder of Team Malpractice might show and Hotaru stares at his back in silent surprise. That means he actually just wants to talk to her. Well. Maybe 'wants' is the wrong word there. Needs to? No, that doens't seem likely either. By the time he steps off the bench to face her, she's recoverd her composure enough to hide the surprise.
He looks pretty serious. But then again, she think he's always looked serious. The man has never laughed, smiled, or looked anything other than borderline furious or way over the line furious whenever she's seen him. She's never considered that he might even have any other emotions beyond reckless defiance that she assumed strong drink was able to provide him.
He notes that he has a question and she stays quiet, one eyebrow quirked just slightly, eyes blinking twice. A question for her now? And then it comes; the question on his mind and the purpose for this little chat. At first she looks surprised again, even slightly taken aback. It's an instinctual reaction to try and buy time or maybe even deny the accusation all together. She doesn't get asked what her problem is with people because she gets along with everyone, right? Nice to a fault, a door mat, easily persuaded or pushed into things.
Evidently not, because Tran's asking her right now. She starts to shake her head, about to force a soft laugh, and deny it all together. It's just in his head. She doesn't have a problem with him. She thinks he's a great guy... an okay guy... a... non...detestable guy... She never gets that far, correcting the gut reaction to cover the whole thing up and hope it goes away. A soft sigh escapes her lips, hands raised, palms forward as in a token gesture of defeat. "All right..." She resists the temptation to ask him what he means.
"But," she clasps her hands together in front of her, "Before I answer your question, I want an answer of my own. I'd like to know why it matters to you. Outside of having to be around me for our tournament matches, is it worth the hassle to drag us both out here over?"
All things considered, this could be going worse. It could probably be going better, although Dr. Tran isn't entirely sure how. Maybe if she weren't asking questions. Considering the circumstances, though, Tran isn't sure he has much of a choice. At the very least, he has an obligation, no matter how unpleasant it may be.
That doesn't mean he has to like it, though. A light grimace appears on Tran's face, a brief flash of of his displeasure, before he masters it and brings his expression into line once more. "It's not for the tournament, I'll tell you that much right now." It's sort of like answering the question; close enough, hopefully, to buy Tran enough time to figure out what he's actually going to say. He continues, in any case, "If you haven't noticed, we're doing pretty well. Even if we weren't, I don't need to like someone to work with them." Convenient, considering his obvious feelings toward his team.
With a glance to the side and a slow exhalation, Tran adds, "But that's not what you asked, exactly. This is about..." Here he pauses, unsure despite the tough face he's putting on. Now that he thinks about it, it's a surprisingly tough question. "...well, let's go with the easy answer, first. Some jerk kid suggested I tell you what I think of you to your face, and it's not fair without giving you a shot to do the same." There's more to it than that, of course, but it'll work for now. Hopefully.
"Now, are you happy with that, or do you need me to talk all day long?" Just dragging that much out of him has left Tran noticeably more cranky than before, his brow creased with irritation.
She doesn't seem likely to budge without some kind of answer, a little bit of give and take here. If she's about to answer a question to Tran that she had never expected to answer for anyone, she has to know at least part of the reason why that my be. She can tell it bugs him, for her to demand this answer in return, and she also considers that this is likely to make him react even strong during this little face to face, but she doesn't regret insisting to know.
He states that it isn't for the tournament and perhaps oddly enough, she doesn't seem at all surprised. She has spent a little bit of time prior to this meeting pondering what the eccentric foreigner was even doing in the tournament. He seemed eager to get beat upon, eager to get out of each fight before it was even finished. The idea that he'd do something to help the team out as the final rounds await seems unlikely, especially if it involved having to /talk/ to them.
A slight nod of agreement as he points out they've done quite well. A harrowingly close round lead into a strong second round for the seemingly ill matched foursome though with the power of the remaining teams ahead, it was hard to say how likely they were going to be to get much further. She nods a second time as he says he doesn't need to like someone to work with them. She's occasionally been teamed up with people she didn't think highly of in various SNF matches, but got through them anyway, so she can understand.
He mentions some jerk kid and she blinks. The admission begs the obvious question: who? And she starts to open her mouth as if to ask that very thing, but her internal crankyometer for Tran is warning her that she's already pushed as far as maybe she should for right now. "No, that's fine." the girl murmurs. He set this meeting up, after all, and he did answer her question, albeit vaguely. Only far to reciprocate.
This means it's her chance to take her shot before he takes his. Very well. She's quiet for a moment, pondering where to begin. "You seem smart... no, you are smart. But you lord it over everyone as if you're the only one in the world that has any clue about how it works. I've never seen you say anything unless it seemed like it could make someone else miserable, feel bad about themselves, unhappy in some other way."
She tenses up, not really seeming to enjoy this conversation, even if it seems to be a shot to unload everything she's ever thought about him all at once. "You're a fighter with talent, but you seem to hate the sport of it. You won the SNF belt then just threw it away to the first challenger even though you were winning, as if you couldn't be troubled to take any of it seriously." She pauses for a breath.
"I've never forgotten you fighting for the side backing Shadaloo in the war in Thailand. I-... What you did there... kept me from going any further in over my head." she admits, her tone softened for a moment before she continues, "But that doesn't change the fact that I find who you chose to side with very suspect." She folds her arms in front of her, "I have a problem with you because you make everyone have a problem with you with the way you treat them."
It takes a moment for Dr. Tran to catch himself. He didn't fail to notice Hotaru's curiousity when he mentioned a kid, and while it's an interesting topic that he may yet touch upon, for now he needs to be focused. In the grand scheme of things, in the small scheme of Tran's, even, it's not terribly important. So for the moment he lets it slide.
As Hotaru begins to speak, Tran finds himself taken a little bit off-guard. He was expecting more...vehemence. More crazy. Less crazy than most other girls her age, but a fair amount regardless. He almost doesn't catch what she's saying, doesn't feel the impact of her words because of it. She's not trying to cut him with accusations, she's simply laying out what she genuinely feels. Once he begins to pay attention, though, there are valid points there.
Not that he's going to actually address any of them. Dr. Tran isn't here to defend himself. That's not really what this is about. He could, taking every things Hotaru says and trying to point out why she's wrong, except, well. Half of it hits closer to home than the doctor would like to admit. But he can take it, at least for now, especially since at least one thing he was expecting hasn't even been mentioned.
"Is that all?" When Tran finally speaks again, his voice doesn't have the same edge to it as it did before. The simmering anger that seemed to drive Tran, though not gone, has at least faded. "I'll admit, I was looking for more." Tran half turns, hands clasped behind his back as he starts to pace back and forth, unable to suppress his nervous energy. "You're a hell of a fighter, not the best, but closer than I'll probably ever be. I'm no match for you, at least." Pausing, letting it sink in that he's actually offering a compliment, Tran turns again before he continues.
"But here we are. Not only are you not leading a team, not only are you not working with someone who really is the best, but to drive the indignity home, you're stuck with me." More bitterness seeps through than even Tran seems to realize.
Her voice fades to a stop, leaving Tran to think about what she's had to say. He asked for this, after all. What he decides to do with it she really can't begin to guess. He asks if that's all, and Hotaru hesitates. If she's out of things to say, does this mean Tran gets to strike back with whatever's on his mind? Maybe she should come up with more just to stall the inevitable doom of having to hear the litany of reasons he can't possibly stand her.
But she says nothing at first, staying quiet when he says he was expecting more. He starts to pace but Hotaru stays still, watching him, looking curious now. Just what is on his mind? He actually compliments her ability to fight and but for his pacing, he'd probably notice the shock there. And then he brings up the team again. This time pointing out something that /has/ to have crossed her mind by now. The fact that not only is she not leading a team, but she's a 'student' to someone who she could trounce in a straight face off.
Her expression is tense, neither smiling nor looking upset, but she doesn't say anything for a long while either. Seconds pass before she at last exhales softly, shaking her head. "You think I resent you because I'm stuck on your team? That I feel like I should be the one in charge, that I should have students?" She frowns for a moment, one hand closed, knuckle resting against her lip as she bows her head. "While it's true that I would have loved to fight along some of the greats here - Chun-Li.. Ryu... Chizuru... I don't believe I'm fit to captain a team."
She glances up, staring across the lake toward the castle proper. "A team captain should be able to do more than just fight. They should be able to coach, encourage perhaps, and maybe offer insights or guidance to their students. Master Gen was very supportive of those two girls that fought along with him..." Looking back toward Tran, Hotaru shrugs slightly, "I don't resent you for being put on your team - having it called your team to lead. I believe this entire setup was part of that ninja Eiji Kisaragi's attempt to get at me. He must have seen to it that I end up on a team no one was going to take seriously..."
She lowers her arms following her shrug, her expression bearing a subtle hint of amusement, "But we're done with two rounds and still in the tournament. And Chun-Li's team, Principal Raizo's team... they're not in this tournament anymore. I'm sorry. I do believe that we were teamed up as part of someone's elaborate joke and I'm sorry that you got pulled into it in such a way. But we've made it this far in spite that. I don't know if it has anything to do with you being leader or not, but I can't say that it hasn't at least played a part in all this."
She looks away again, "When we fought on the bridge against that powerful trio, I didn't fail to notice how much of Master Gen's attention you managed to keep focused on you. If you had not done that, I would not have been able to be in any condition to fight him in the end. So make of it what you will. Somehow this team of ours has managed to work so far."
"Well, shit." There goes the last remnant of Dr. Tran's grand plan. Somehow, this hasn't at all worked out like he was hoping. It's not a hopeless situation by any stretch, but it's different. All of the doctor's time spent preparing, readying himself...time poorly spent.
Letting his pacing take him to his friend, the bench, Dr. Tran positions himself over it and lets himself fall roughly, right on his tuckus. "Go and steal my thunder, why don't you." He slumps forward, clenching his hands into one big fist and letting his head rest on it. Doesn't believe she's fit to captain a team...a part of Tran wants to argue the point, just to be contrary, but once again he manages to refrain from doing something dumb like that.
"Don't think it wouldn't be justified if you were, girl. Hell." Tran snorts, amused despite himself. "I'm on my team and I resent it." It's nice to have a reason for the situation, however cruel and incidental it may seem. It gives someone to blame, and with that, a sort of renewed purpose.
"Don't give me too much credit for the bridge, either, I don't want you making too much out of it. He kicked my ass about as hard as it's ever been kicked, and that's all there is to it." Tran stops talking, as if that were the end of it, although in his mind it's not at all. Except, well...there's really not much left to go over.
And then Tran's head perks up a bit, as something occurs to him. "Oh, right, almost forgot." Tran lifts his head and points a finger at Hotaru. "Don't think you're better than me just because you are." There's a moment of silence as Tran considers what he just said. "I mean, that...don't..." He sighs, burying his face in his hands. Tran's voice is muffled as he says, "Forget it."
Of all the responses she might have expected from Tran, the one she gets isn't one of them. Azure eyes follow as he swears then returns to the bench after another round of pacing. He sinks into position, resting his head against his clenched hands, and Hotaru stays quiet, clasping her hands behind her back. The weight of running a team of fighters had crossed her mind in the earlier rounds of the tournament. But compared to who else was in the event, it seemed to be an opportunity she would need to wait until some other year to possibly qualify. Team leaders have a team of people expecting them to know what's going on. She finds just having one student enough work!
She's quiet as he speaks of the match against Gen on the bridge, the girl's thoughts drifting back to that vicious final exchange with him. In two passes he almost finished her. So. Very. Close. Then again, he was pretty old. What else is someone his age going to do besides be ridiculously powerful?
She offers a somewhat crooked smile at Tran expressing resentment at being on his own team, as if really not sure how to respond to that, not sure if it was meant in jest or a fit of self-depricating humor or if it should be taken on face value, which would probably provoke less amusement and more something resembling pity.
When he lifts his head, however, she blinks, eyes focused on the pointing finger. Her eyes widen slightly, taking in the accusation with a start before glancing to the side even as Tran sinks his face back into his hands. She stares out over the lake for a long moment before exhaling softly, a tone of resignation in her voice, "No, you're right..." She turns away from the lake, looking toward Tran for only a fleeting moment before she takes a few more steps away from the bench all together.
"Upon finding out about the team breakdown, I blamed Eiji for this arrangement, which is why I didn't hold it against you. But in the end, I haven't been treating you with the respect due the captain of my team. Joke or not, it is what it is." She clenches her right hand, resting it in the flat of her left palm as she faces away from the lake to stare back up to the nearby road above. "It wasn't right of me. I would expect better than that from my student... I should hold myself to the same standard."
The teenaged martial artist sighs, shaking her head, before turning back around to face the bench-occupying Tran. "Anything else?"
As Tran waits, face cupped loosely in his hands, Hotaru responds to his latest accusation. Humble and pure-hearted, admitting her own faults like it's the easiest thing in the world. Maybe for her it is, maybe it isn't, but Tran sure can't tell just from listening. He's silent afterward, for long enough that it seems likely he didn't even hear Hotaru's final question.
He doesn't bother lifting his head when he eventually responds, talking through his fingers. "You..." There's a growing note of irritation in the doctor's voice. "You are an exceptionally difficult woman to hate." He doesn't sound terribly happy about it, but by now that should be par for the course.
With a sigh, Tran pushes himself up onto his feet. "It's probably not fair for you to fix this sort of thing faster. Hell, I'm...impressed that you manage to catch it at all. A little. Only a little." Raising a finger to wag warningly, Tran quickly adds, "But don't be getting a big head over it."
There's a small glance to the side as he tries to think of something else to add, something profound maybe, something to prove that he's justified in asking for the respect that Hotaru has just said she'd give him. Instead, he says, "And don't think this means I like you, either. I just...don't think you're as bad as some of the other guys around here." Tran gestures vaguely. "Y'know, like what's his face, Larsrich von Schoonervolt."
He shakes his head quickly, feeling that he's going off on a bit of a tangent. "Actually, nevermind, look." Tran points at Hotaru again, in part because he's just so used to doing so at this point, and finishes, "I should be asking you if there's anything else. If you've got anything else to ask, now's the time to ask it, because otherwise..." He trails off, looking pointedly toward a nearby pub, and shrugs.
In truth, she's not really sure how he would take her assertion that she'd do better. She finds him to be a difficult man to predict in general, and that's not even in situations this... delicate. Tran doesn't even DO delicate! The initial growl suggests that it's not going over too well. But when he finally speaks up, the girl quirks an eyebrow just slightly though it's almost as difficult to read her own expression to determine how she feels about that.
She focuses on his wavering finger, nodding when he tells her to not get a big head over it, but stays quiet as he seems to be trying to think of anything else to say. Quiet as he makes sure she doesn't get any false ideas about him think she's not terrible, just that she's less terrible as some /others/ he has to deal with, a twitch at the corner of her mouth hints almost at a smile.
Again he points, and again her eyes focus on his finger, half wondering if pointing so pointedly is part and parcel to being a /real/ Doctor. "So not as dispicable as some?" She hms thoughtfully, as if weighing it out in her mind. "Yeah, I can live with that." she decides, the smile hinted at previously slipping back into her expression with an accompanying nod.
He asks if she's got anything else to ask, and she falls quiet again. He's willing to answer another question. Maybe she should probably keep it to one, lest she slip right back into the more despised than others tier, and who wants that? Dozens of questions fill her mind as she thinks back on all the times she's ever seen Tran. Thailand. Blackjack, at Elle's side... SNF events, including a title FFA bout that he somehow managed to win against all her expectations...
But he's itching to get to that pub and she's not about to keep him from that for long. The repercussions might be disasterous. "Just two... before you go." she states, glancing toward his desired destination then back to him, holding up her hand, two fingers raised. "First of all... when you won the Challenger's belt in that Free For All, you went on to the next match and... even though you clearly won, you handed it off to Zach Glen uncontested. Why? Didn't you want to prove that you could hold onto it against challeners? That's half the point..."
She pauses for a heartbeat, lowering her middle finger, "And finally... who said you should talk to me about any of this in the first place..." She lowers her hand, joining her other to clasp in front of her, content to have those be her only two questions at this rare opportunity.
"You'd better live with it, it's all you're getting." A willingness to look at one's self and correct one's faults is pretty good and all, but it only goes so far with Dr. Tran. It begs the question of what it would take to get more, for lack of a better term, likeability from the doctor, but that is sadly a question that must go unanswered.
The other two questions that actually got asked are far more likely to get an answer, on account of how they've actually been asked. And, perhaps surprisingly, the answer to the first one comes out with nary a moment's hesitation from Tran, he actually even smiles. Just a tad. Almost like he's been asked this question before! "Easy. I wanted people to wonder why I'd do it. Think I'm enigmatic." Because of course, Dr. Tran is as straightfoward and simple as a person can get, so he needs the help. Right. "And, besides that..." And now he hesitates, wondering how much more to say.
"I'm not deluded. I know I can't hold it, not then and not now." Tran's face goes grim, any trace of emerging merriment gone. "I could maybe give it a shot, but even if I were better than I am, and I'm not, nobody wins forever. What's there to prove in a crapshoot? If I want to gamble, I'll gamble, if I want to see how I stack up against somebody, I'll find them and pick a fight."
Expression decidedly sour, Tran throws his arms up, and begins to walk. "And does it really matter? The rude little jerk didn't tell me to do anything, I just got the idea from him while he was telling me how bad you could beat the crap out of me." Tran shakes his head in disgust and shoves his hands in his pockets. "Like I need to be reminded."
She grins faintly as he tells her that's all she's getting, but her expression shifts into mild bewilderment as he quite honestly states that he gave up the title just to keep people wondering about him. Her eyes widen slightly, her right hand coming up to rest behind her head, "Well... it worked." she admits. It got her to wonder, it got her to ask. But he continues, indicating that there's more, and she leans her head to the side, lowering her arm.
He voices how views on holding the title and the inevitable futility of it, and she looks surprised again. But this time he explains it enough that she knows what he's getting at, even if she can't understand it entirely. "I see." she states, sounding like she /does/ on some level, but doesn't agree. About as good as it's likely to get, really. The two can't possibly eye to eye on too much after all. Still, it's one mystery that's always bothered her about Tran solved at last. Only a few dozen more to go.
He turns and throws his arms up, refusing her second question, and she quirks a faint smile, shrugging toward his back, "No... I don't suppose it does." Lowering her arms to her sides, Hotaru stares after the oft confusing, most definitely eccentric American. "Thanks for the chat... Doctor Tran." She turns to the side only to pause and check her wrist watch. Still enough time to get to Kentou's training on time!
Log created on 21:42:28 12/27/2008 by Hotaru, and last modified on 17:21:10 12/30/2008.