Description: Yuri Sakazaki, cheerful fighting dynamo! Perky and full of youth, Yuri runs through life with a smile despite the earlier hardships of her life when she wasn't capable of taking care of herself. She's perfectly happy with life, except for one thing. Her father has been hesitant to let her represent her family's martial art, something that might not change even with a new opportunity over the horizon. Yet, does an unassuming middle-aged man with a particularly bad combover have, coincidentally, an opportunity for her to be able to overcome this and truly come into her own as a fighter?
Another day in the Kyokugen Dojo, and it's a fairly active day today with students practicing whatever they choose. A few are leading their own improvised class, while several others are either practicing their own techniques or sparring with one another. All in all, it seems like another ordinary day in the Kyokugen Dojo. Except for one small thing.
One of the students is dressed slightly differently than most of the students there, and is actually looking a bit perky and playful as she practices on her own. To a newcomer it might seem like a black sheep in the Kyokugen style, but in actuality it's just Yuri Sakazaki, the daughter of the founder Takuma, and what one might easily call a girl who refuses to grow up. Despite being in her teens, Yuri still acts like a child with a playful attitude and big smile as she practices. Oddly, though, nobody seems to mind. In fact, a few students even stop to watch with smiles on their faces as they watch her unique style of fighting.
"Yeeeeeah!" Yuri shouts as she pulls off one of her favorite moves on an imaginary opponent. "I love days like this!" She comments before throwing a spinning kick into the air followed by a parry and a swift counter-punch. Whoever said practicing martial arts can't be fun never met Yuri!
One of the students, one forty-year-old Howard Rust, does not share that same amount of energy Yuri displays. Where she is full of youth and pep, he matches solely in grit and determination as he's not long before an examination for a belt test out of that white belt of an initiate. True, as a fighter, he could probably match the brown belts and maybe even several of the black belts (individually) with his own style.
As a Kyokugen practicioner, however, he is still firmly on one of the lower rungs. Many of the younger trainees can assuredly beat him out in raw speed and reflex, something he has a little trouble with. When Takuma oversees things, things are vicious. Nobody plays around. Kyokugen might is not something the faint of heart ever grasp. Today is, comparatively, a little easier with some of the more standard drills.
"Do it again!" Shouts a junior instructor - someone twenty years the older man's junior - as they stand with arms crossed.
"Ryuugekiken!" A gravelly voice slurs the words together inexpertly as a shoulder pops, thrusting an arm and palm forward into the air. Even as the air parts around the force of the thrust of a hand that suffers from an injury that won't ever fully recover a hundred percent, there is no complete satisfaction to either party. It is but a simple arm movement with none of the expected flashing lights coming out the end of it.
"Focus your spirit and do it again," the junior instructor says.
"I'm, I'm workin' on it," the older man says, though it's hard for him to focus with Yuri bouncing around everywhere almost effortlessly.
"Focus stance!" The junior instructor holds a tight stance, which his current student matches. "Ryuu Geki Ken!" With a forward arm thrust, the junior instructor gets off a ball of chi.
Some wonder why such a stout, somewhat stiff man is being instructed in the more limber and fluid variations Robert famously subscribes to. It's much easier to wonder when the arm thrust motion by the older man is made yet again, to no real avail.
"Ngh." He grunts at the empty air.
The sound of Howard Rust practicing is a voice that Yuri recognizes very well. As one of the newest students in the Kyokugen Dojo, Yuri has met him at least once (although the first time was not exactly the best introduction they had, due to a person named Gen.) She turns from her practice to face Rust and watches with folded arms and a big smile on her face as he practices with an instructor who is younger than he is, yet holds a lot more experience than Rust. It's a little funny to Yuri, but it's still worth her admiration since anyone who wants to take Kyokugen Karate is someone who is worthy of her admiration. The more Rust attempts that projectile attack, though, the more it seems like he's almost like an amateur out of his league.
"Wow, he's not too good at the moment, is he?" Yuri says to a passing student, a smirk on her face. "He's got the determination and the discipline, but he's got to work on focusing his spirit though! Otherwise he'll never be able to do it right!" Yuri means well, but the grin on her face indicates that she's being rather casual about it.
Maybe he can't quite get the chi to come out, but they've seen him kick. They've seen him take a punch from Yuri's dear old dad - even as pulled as it was. There's something there in that man who is on the brink of having the effects of time and age prevent him from mastering himself enough to be truly called a fighter.
"Ryuuge--en!" Something gets caught in the man's throat as he makes the motion yet again. In theory, the form is about perfect. The arm swing is right, the way he twists his body in spite of the complaints of his joints is exactly as directed. As a basic motion, he has it down.
It's just not producing the intended effect.
"Focus your spirit!" Says the junior instructor. Same poses, and everything. Yuri's comments are barely audible to the older man as he grits his teeth and clenches his fists best he's able, his left much tighter than his right as he squats down briefly to try and put his back into it.
"Ryuu Geki Ken!" The junior instructor once again shows a flawless demonstration of the fireball. While the junior instructor is certainly a dutiful student who is taking his role with all the responsibility and diligence it entails, he is becoming frustrated with this man.
"-yuugek--" the arm thrust again. Hell, the arm thrust alone might make a decent attack unto itself, but this man is just not getting it right. Maybe, on some fronts, his talents just do not lie here.
The motions are beginning to exhaust him. He's been shouting (and getting names wrong) for the better part of the lesson, doing the same motions back to back.
Perhaps it's time for Yuri to interject.
She may not be an instructor, but Yuri definitely agrees that this is a time to interject and help Rust out. "That's enough!" Yuri snaps at the junior instructor, whom she actually believes is being a little too harsh, oddly enough. It may be Kyokugen, but even that has its limitations on how strict teaching can be. "You, go assist the students over there!" She says sternly, gesturing to a group of students who are goofing off instead of practicing.
"And as for you," Yuri says as she turns to Rust with a big grin on her face, "I have to say I'm pleased to see you here. It's nice to see someone I know other than the students or staff actually!" She looks to the instructor and frowns a little. "Sorry about him, he just gets a bit too overzealous at times."
The junior instructor - as most people - are hesitant to challenge the thoughts and feelings of the beloved daughter of the Sakazaki family. There's a simple bow of acknowledgement as the junior instructor goes over to take care of some of the complete slackers among their number. (If he doesn't take care of them, Takuma likely will.)
"Ehh," the man grunts as he shakes his head, as if to say 'no problem' as he reaches down to pick up a water bottle for a brief chug. He already smells like he could - and should - be hitting the showers to get off the disgusting scent of MAN SWEAT. To say nothing as to how horrible it makes that combover look.
"I didn't, didn't come here expecting to be pampered," he says without paying Yuri much in the way of eye contact as he rolls his right shoulder to relieve the tension of doing the same motion over and over and over.
"The Kyokugen style isn't about being pampered, it's about being one of the most awesome practitioners of martial arts! Which means going as hard as you can to fight." Yuri does smile a little. "it's just that instructor is notorious for overdoing it sometimes." She shakes her head again. "At any rate, it's good to see you're getting into the style. I never thought you'd actually give it a try."
"Didn't really," the man speaks up after Yuri expresses her delight about him actually giving a try, coughing once, "'scuse me," with another momentary gulp of water as he turns to face her.
"Didn't really have... have much of a choice if I was gonna, if I was gonna get back into the swing of things," and it kind of shows. He looks a bit older than his forty years would suggest, a bit past the point where the reflexes of most men begin to fall off. Many professional athletes are retired by his age, at that, if not sooner! Most especially physical careers don't last past the thirties.
"'s hard work," he adds, "wouldn't... wouldn't expect much less."
"The swing of things? I like that reason!" Yuri says, still smiling cheerfully. "Everyone has their reasons for taking up Kyokugen Karate, but I prefer to do it because it's the most awesome style in the world!" She giggles a little and adopts a mock fighting stance before looking to Rust again. "At any rate, do you think you might actually consider working on becoming a renowned fighter like my father and my brother are?" She doesn't mention that she's one also, because she feels that she's renowned enough as it already is.
The way Yuri asks that question innocently isn't... well, it isn't offputting. It's the same sort of energy some of the students who go to his school display, as if the way to becoming a super-awesome legendary fighter isn't just easy - it's as if they are absolutely certain they are entitled to the thought.
Compare this to himself when, due to things not going as he'd have liked in life, he didn't exactly get what he wanted. Lots of things got in the way here and there, before and after coming to Southtown. The way Yuri suggests that this might be the first step, when for him this was just another step of many...
"I dunno 'bout... 'bout, like your dad or your older brother." He winces thinking about how he took that punch from said brother in the ribs some time back. That is one punch he is never going to let himself take again if he can help it. "Y'know, I'd like to think," he shakes his left hand as he points at her, "I'd like to think I'd... I'd be able to make my own name too."
"It's possible if you put your mind to it!" Yuri says grinning. "There are many opportunities, like the Neo League for one. And those Saturday Night Fights are a great way to get yourself known." She cracks her knuckles and rolls her neck a few times. "Of course, I got a lot of practice and renown in during the King of Fighters tournaments..." With that last part, though, she frowns. "But my father refused to let me join the last one or my brother. In fact, he insisted on going by himself with a couple of newcomers, thinking it would make for a great way to advertise our dojo."
Yuri scowls and stomps her foot angrily. "Instead, they were wiped out in the first round and laughed out. All while dad chewed out the newcomers for ruining everything, when it was his fault in actuality! I don't understand him really!"
The man nods along. He does in fact have a fairly short-lived Neo League career under his belt - two wins, two losses just as the invasion started. The injury to his right hand, which is easily visible to Yuri if she looks, is more or less his constant reminder of having survived that - and what he nearly lost in doing so.
While she's animated and livid, he's a bit calmer from collective tiredness and fatigue. It's not just Kyokugen, he has a day job too. Two of them! When she starts complaining about her dad, though, there is at least some form of sympathizing there.
"My dad," he starts as he holds out his water bottle for no readily apparent reason, waving a finger, "he got hurt pretty bad when he was, when he was younger... couldn't work. My parents, uh... let's just say when I was little I could tell it wasn't gonna work out." It's not happy memories, to put it lightly. "My mom was... she was a pretty violent person, y'know, really into fighting. Probably the only reason, the only reason my dad got custody of me even though he... well, I'll tell ya this, I had to work young."
He stretches out one of his legs a bit, "he... he really didn't want me to grow up to be like my mom, and, y'know, for what little... for what little I think he did when I was your age, he at least made sure that, that I didn't." He likes to think he didn't. Sure, his job(s) drive him absolutely nuts and there's as many lows as there are highs, but that he's holding them and not making a living mugging people, he thinks, is proof of that.
"I'm sure he, he had his reasons." He starts to rub his forehead with his free hand. "I don't think... I don't think any dad would want to see their kids get beat up. Fighting's not just, not just fun and tickles."
"That's terrible!" Yuri says as she hears about Rust's past. "Nobody should have to be like that!" A frown as Yuri shakes her head again. "I don't understand some people!" She then looks to Rust and says, "It's not because he didn't want to see me get beat up. It's because he wanted to train a pair of students who were slacking off by putting them up to extreme competition. But he only made us look stupid!"
Sure, there's some envy about things he didn't have growing up. The young Howard Rust always wanted an Atari, but they couldn't afford it and he didn't have any friends that had one in those parts. Yet, for something that had so very little in terms of material wealth, there's a number of things in there he wouldn't have traded off for a different path in life.
"Well... I'm not your dad," the man offers with at least a faint hint of apology in his voice, "so... so I can't read his mind," especially from well before he even met him, "but I don't think... I don't think he meant to make the school look stupid."
He's a man who cares far too much about his family's style to do such a thing, he has gathered from meeting him, being yelled at by him, and in at least one instance having his head hammered into nails by him.
Yuri sighs and stretches her arms over her head, shrugging. "Well, I guess dad will learn from his mistakes, but for now..." She does some side-twists idly, bouncing on her heels. "I have to wonder when the next tournament will be announced. I wonder if there will be any surprise guests."
"I mean... I can tell, you're... you're really into this, huh?" He asks, as if he /had/ to. He's seen her in person a couple times and fought her twice, he's seen her bounce about happily and make her art look like it was nothing. That she was ever so happy, ever so proud, to be a fighter. That's the sort of thing that's hard to miss.
Especially when she just came up smiling for a quick drink of water after he thought he got a bit carried away kicking at her, that's the sort of image that doesn't leave you easily. The older man stretches out again, a couple disturbing pops in his joints as he tries to loosen himself up a bit more for the next couple of exercises.
"I mean... you're young, but, hell, I think you could put some of the thugs out there in their place." He's hoping she's not taking this as a go-ahead to do such a thing! He's trying to illustrate an example.
"Wait, you mean it?" Yuri stops bouncing, sounding serious but looking genuinely surprised. She never thought she'd hear Howard Rust say such a thing to her. "Put thugs in their place?" She frowns a little. "That's not always something I'm looking to do really, as in knocking out goons and things like that. I'm just doing it because I'm the daughter of the Kyokugen founder."
She does want to be able to live up to the legacy her father's been working so incredibly hard to establish. A legacy of injured children and students of much too weak constitution and will to ever go far in an art that demands so much physically. Yet, the few who excel, the few who advance, they're some of the finest one will find.
"Well," he thinks about what he wants to say as he scratches the back of his head. He needs to see if Quon can get bailed out, or if he's going to be/is already sentenced to do time. If he is... they're going to need another member, but yet... should he really ask her? Especially with what she says of her father choosing for those other than herself to be in a tournament. Far as he recalls seeing, she's the only female Kyokugen user he's ever seen aside from hearing about some other small girl having had some lessons.
"Hrm, er... say," he holds up a finger after a pause, "there is somethin' coming up, uh, actually... that's one of the big reasons why, why I went with this. You heard 'bout the, the King of Fighters 2011, right?"
"The King of Fighters 2011?" Yuri looks at Rust eagerly, but she's not bouncing. She looks very serious for a change. "They've already announced it?" Yuri sounds enthralled by the prospect of a new tournament coming up soon. "W..wait, you mean to tell me you're thinking of joining the tournament?"
"Y-Yeah, they sound out invites a while back, and... and I got one," he says, something that still excites some lingering bit of youth in him today. It's been an obsession, in fact, reading that letter over and over and over again. The way Yuri speaks though, he wonders if it might be too late - chances are you can't participate if you don't get an invite yourself. There's also the very real possibility her family might have intercepted it from the mailman, but those are theories that don't come to his mind.
"I got, I got a whole team actually," he starts to count on his fingers even though people really shouldn't be counting to three with their fingers. Especially if you are an educator. "Zach Glen," the first finger, "small guy, but... he's got those huge, uh, energy blasts," he forgot what he called it already, "and... two students of a guy I met back in my twenties, Antoine Huang and Quon Chen," he puts out fingers two and three as he names them. "One's... one's gotten in trouble with the law lately, though. The other... I, I dunno if he ever received an invite." If he didn't, chances are he can't compete, which is a consideration for worry. Zach, as far as he knows, is fine and ready. But if Antoine doesn't have his invite, and Quon can't get taken back out of bars...
He's going to need another teammate, but should he ask her? The way she describes her father and his choices makes him wonder if he'd even consent to the idea, let alone the problem that this tournament's announcement appears to be news to her. This means she almost definitely didn't receive an invite.
"I... I'd like to think our chances are pretty good," this is kind of foolish optimism after Kyo Kusanagi, /the/ Kyo Kusanagi, showed him what a true top tier fighter's like.
"Your chances are pretty good?" Yuri asks, starting to sound a little concerned. "Wait, did you say someone's in trouble with the law?" She bites her lower lip a little. "That's not good..." Then Yuri remembers something. "Now I remember, I'd gotten contacted by someone telling me that the KoF might be sending invitations out, but they didn't specify when." She frowns a little.
"He's, he's not a bad kid," the older man tries to reassure Yuri as he finishes stretching himself out, "ah, what happened was... it was really complicated, I dunno what to say about it," he says with the shaking of his head as his bare feet walk across the hard lot where the various students - such as himself - train.
"Well... I already got mine, Zach got his... Quon got his... I dunno," he starts to think that maybe she isn't invited. That'd be something of a shame, given how he's seen her in action a few times over. Always a smile on her face even when doing that bits of grueling work and training, that's... not something that's easy to do with a straight face!
As Yuri watches Rust walk across the area, another student taps her on the shoulder. "Miss Sakazaki, you have a letter," He says as he holds out the envelope with a polite bow. Yuri accepts the envelope and returns the bow.
"Thank you very much," Yuri says as she takes the envlope and stares at it. There's no return address on it, just Yuri's name on it, and the way it's sealed... it looks very formal and elegant.
As Yuri opens the envelope and takes out the content, she goes wide-eyed. "It's... an invitation to the tournament!" She looks around, thinking it's some kind of a joke. After a moment, and nobody leaping out to say that it's a joke, Yuri looks to Rust and says, "I don't believe it... I just got my invitation!"
The teacher mostly keeps quiet when she's addressed by a student. Come to think of it, if he's seen standing around chatting it up with Yuri whenever Takuma or his son look back outside, he's... not sure he's going to like what they'd have in mind for him. It's training time, after all.
"I'm gonna, I'm gonna get back to traini--" he starts to bow his head just as Yuri says it's an invitation. Wait, really? He tries to peek over her shoulder to see, since he damn well knows what the letter looks like.
"Really?" He asks as he squints... that fine print, the phrasing, hell, it has her name on it. "That's, uh... wow." Right out of nowhere, almost on cue. As if someone or something above just had to deliver it there at the right place at the right time.
He looks up, thinking about the ramifications of this. The way Yuri said it, there's some good reasons he doesn't want his little girl in a tournament. "I'll... I'll talk it over with your dad next chance, next chance I get, but... but if he's good with it, I'll take you up on the team."
He suspects he won't be. He himself isn't a dad. Given he's still unmarried, the hopes of being one grow a bit slimmer every day (he's still a little sore over his girlfriend having been cheating on him all along). He can't hope to comprehend Takuma's feelings as a father, but he's sure he can comprehend Yuri's feelings as a youngster with dreams and enough promise to follow them up despite the circumstances.
Or so he thinks.
Log created on 13:40:51 12/16/2010 by Rust, and last modified on 16:39:56 12/16/2010.