Description: Some time after his defeat at the hands of Ibuki, Rust makes a very early morning stop at some tea place to wake up and reminisce a bit. By pure chance, Zach sees him inside and decides to stop by and catch up... and show a bit of disapproval at what he's seeing before him.
It's very early in the morning. Mr. Rust's leg is back in its socket - actually, the medical costs of that were so much that he ended up /paying/ to take part in that particular Neo League battle with Ibuki. The one that didn't end so well in his favor. It... kind of goes without saying that he's a little bummed about it.
It's very early in the morning. There's plenty to do today, but for now, the teacher's decided to go wake up in a local part of town that serves decent tea at this hour. A place that's been giving him a small discount after he fixed - you guessed it - some benches for them that got destroyed in a recent bout.
Not that it makes up for the extra medical costs following his fight with Ibuki.
He's more or less going over the little tasks in his head for today as he takes in a gulp of tea every so often. He's not even sure what kind it is, but it's got a pretty bold smell and taste to it.
Struggle, Rust! Struggle against the benchocracy that keeps you down! One day you shall triumph over your hated foe!
Zach is up right around the time he normally is; discipline and as much routine as a fighter's schedule can allow have been staples since Zach had allowed himself to live among general population. Discipline has been an especially important facet to his life and character. It's what keeps things under control, and that is important for everyone around him.
Zach is jogging down the street, pausing at every crossing to do a little shadow boxing while he waits for the walk signal. He is almost past the tea shop when he realizes he had spotted Rust. He comes to a halt, jogging in place for a moment before jogging backwards. He peers in the window, then checks his watch. He's a little ahead of where he ought to be, he notes, and decides to come inside. He is wiping the sweat off his face with a towel as he walks through the door, waving to Rust as he does so. He doesn't order yet; he doesn't know the menu for this place.
The person behind the counter bows to Zach at his entry, eager to take his order, and all that jazz. Meanwhile, the shop teacher slash unsuccessful Kyokugen fighter slash workplace buttmonkey finishes up the latest cup of tea. It's not too bad. It's not too bad at all...
He turns his head to try and get a look at what's on TV anyway - just a replay of him and Ibuki. He still can't believe what happened with that uppercut.
More importantly, he catches a look at the short young man just a ways near the entrance, waving at him.
"Huh... Zach?" He asks, still a bit tired. "Didn't take you as, as much of a tea guy." To be fair, Howard himself is a coffee person.
"Not here for the tea," Zach says with a lopsided grin. "Spotted you as I was running by. Figured I'd say hello." He grabs a chair, and spins it around before sitting down in it. He looks at Rust curiously for a moment, but doesn't say anything quite yet.
Instead, he takes the menu that is handed to him and looks it over. If Rust wants to talk about whatever it is on his mind, then he will. Or he won't. Zach's not about to pry on what's little more than a hunch.
"Well, uh... hey, then!" He raises a hand, if maybe humorously, as he turns back in his seat. "Guess you watched the telly recently, my... y'know, match with the ninja girl."
He rolls one of his shoulders thinking about it. In case Zach needed positive ID as to whether or not this was Mr. Rust he's talking to, look no further - the arthritic pops are all there.
"While we're hre, uh... before I forget," he holds up a finger, "got us all, all signed up. For King of Fighters. You, me, Quon, Antoine... turns out, turns out Antoine's invite was delivered to, to wherever he lived in China."
This should give at least a little peace to know that everything is properly set up.
Zach blinks. He'd missed a match. Well, Lightning Week /was/ making it difficult to keep up with all of them. "It's on my DVR box," Zach says quickly. "There's a whole stack of fights I have to get through yet." He chuckles when word of Antoine's invitation comes up. "Sweet," he replies. "We got a team name yet? I mean, most teams have one and all."
"Ahh, team name?" He looks lost at the very idea, scratching at the side of his head with his left hand. He raises the other to signal the need for more tea.
"I, uh, y'know, I... don't think I ever thought 'bout that." There's so many other important things beyond name he's been concerning himself with, such as... travel fees, making sure everyone's immunizations and vaccines and such are up to date, trying to get everyone to get a physical and such... responsible adult things like that.
"I'll tell you though," he faces Zach, "I found a, a really good airline deal. They got a promotion goin' for King of Fighters participants... pretty good discount if we all fly together."
It's basically five percent off flying coach on an airline with a fairly spotty reputation, which is to say, not such a great deal after all. But when you're managing your finances - ten thousand dollars granted out of nowhere (ahem) or no - the man's willing to cut off whatever cost he's able.
Zach considers that. His medical costs are /generally/ pretty low unless he breaks a bone or something, and he generally makes enough off of fighting purses to keep himself comfortable. It helps that he took his first major prize and aggressively invested about eighty percent of it.
He considers for a bit, "Yeah, I'm drawing a blank on it too. We're a pretty... eclectic bunch when you think about it." He considers for another moment. "How's things going at that dojo of yours, anyway?"
Compare Zach's medical costs with Rust's - his medical insurance provider is set by his employers and let's not be mincing words here... it's bleeding him dry! Granted, the insurance plans and premiums tend to have the non-fighter population in mind. The very moment he declared himself a fighter for the Neo League over a year back was the moment he opened Pandora's Box in so far as premiums went.
Life can be very difficult at times.
"Kyokugen?" He says as he gets another cup of tea, with a nod of thanks to the server. "Ah... 's been tough, but, but I made yellow belt." He's wearing the uniform in his Ibuki match - there's nary a pipe or even a toolbelt to be seen in that one.
"Y'know, thought I had a chance in that fight," Zach probably doesn't know what he's talking about since he hasn't seen it yet, "but... but I got taken down pretty quick, moment she got in." He leans forward in his seat a bit, elbow on the table, holding up his head. His gut still feels a bit sore after that thing she did, exploding chi through it.
"Makes me wonder, y'know, sometimes... if I really do got it. Got what it takes, I mean. Y'know." A shrug.
"How 'bout you?" He turns his head. "I dunno, but... you just seem, uh, kinda... kinda confident today. Already awake, already... up and at 'em."
Zach considers for a moment. "Confidence and attitude are important things to any fighter. People like me it's almost more so. Mindset, and strength of will determine a /lot/ of what I can and can't do," he finally says.
"I mean, yeah, losing /sucks/. Especially in a close fight. But you really only have two choices at the end of the day when it comes to dealing with it. You can either let the doubts eat you up, or you learn what you can from the experience and do better the next time." He smirks at the thought; given his 'official' record, he's had to do a lot of the latter.
It's easier for someone younger to say that, Rust thinks a bit bitterly - although maybe he is taking this very first step back into the ring a little hard. He is a yellow belt in Kyokugen after all, that's just a single step up from the beginners and those who drop out soon after enrolling.
Perhaps the pressure of being /the/ potential King of Fighters is weighing heavily on him as much as his age is.
"Yeah," he replies a bit absent-mindedly to Zach, "I... I know the score." He clears his throat. "'scuse me... well, uh, how've things been for you? Ya feel ready for the, the big time?"
Zach frowns at this. Rust is usually a bit more attentive to conversations. It's one of the things Zach likes about the guy. He heaves a sigh and leans in towards Rust. He almost reaches over the pull Rust closer, but he's not ready to make this a physical thing yet. "Doubts are a natural part of what we do, Rust," Zach says levelly. "And it'll /destroy/ you faster than any punch, or any energy blast out there. If you're not sure about this," he says as he jabs a finger at Rust's chest, almost right at the jacket pocket where Rust carries his KoF invitation, "Then you need to consider bowing out."
This whole picture may make American audiences wonder, did this scene actually take place at night in the original Japanese version? Was the tea actually alcohol?!
...Moving on.
He knows the lecture about doubts and the like, a part of him just wants to brush the young man's talk off. He knows, he's heard it! Let me be grumpy about what happened, he wants to say out loud as he has another sip of the alcoh-- tea. (American censorship!!)
The finger jabs at his chest. Zach says some very magical, by which one means, very dangerous words, the very suggestion that he should consider bowing out.
The teacup is set down. He turns his head to Zach very slowly, one eyebrow quirked, left hand on the table.
"Y-You didn't just... say to me I need to, to consider givin' up the one goddamn thing I'd been waitin' all my, all my life for."
Zach's face, usually smiling or focused in concentration, is now a mask of stone. "If you don't think you're up for this, then yes. We're going to be facing some of the strongest fighters on the whole /planet/ in this tournament, Rust. It's going to take everything we have and then some if we're going to win this thing." In a lot of ways, he is simply repeating what Rose had said to him not all that long ago. He's managed to internalize it, however. He's driving on.
"If you want this so badly, Rust, then you really only have one option left to you."
Some of the very strongest fighters on the whole planet, of this, he's aware - but can he truly say he's among them? Do they just send out invites to whomever has ever shown up in some sort of mailing list or whatever? For all he knows, Mr. Marshall, that asshole back at work, probably has an invite too despite being a pencil-necked wuss.
It's pretty funny, if the two of them were high school /students/ it would've been a breeze for Howard to take him out and put him under his thumb. As they're both responsible adults, there's not really so much he can do about his brand of heckling.
"Zach. Zach." He holds up a hand. "Zach, I... I get what you're sayin', okay, in fact, it's like I spent the last... last three years having everyone tell me that." He's been here in Southtown for a good long while.
"I'll be, I'll be together, all right? Just... I get a lot of hard days, Zach. Been doing, doing a lot of preparation for this... workin' two jobs on campus, helping Quon out with his, his community service sentence... my dad's been, been in and out of the hospital. Almost all my paid leave days are, are gonna be spent after Kyokugen and this King of Fighters."
He just shakes his head. "Sometimes, y'know, I just, I just wonder... if I'm ever gonna have my day."
"Only if you reach out and take it, Rust, because there ain't /shit/ in this world that just comes to you," Zach replies firmly. "Dude, have you seen my record? Sixty-nine fights in the last three years. I've won twenty of them, tied seven of them. I've lost fourty-two matches." He considers for a moment. "Though I don't get why you're taking all of this on yourself. I'd be willing to help out with the kid, at least. I could do that much, at the very least." Zach's not really sure what to say about the rest of it, though. At least, not sure what to say that wouldn't sound completely trite.
It's one of the big challenges of being a guy who has to balance a career - a career with some very strict expectations - with what he's really wanted to do in life... and yet, for all the difficulties inherent, it's pretty clear he's not ready to give up said job entirely for it.
Can he have both? He muses this while he has himself another sip of that tea in front of him.
There ain't shit in this world that just comes to you, of course he knows that! He worked himself to the bone in his youth over that very fact, when he had to support both himself and his dad and, in some ways, he still has to. Zach recites his infamous losing record, a record that not even Saikyo maestro Dan Hibiki, red witch Naerose Delphine, or... that... other guy, with the moustache? A headband, those long trousers? Whatever his name is. Those records pale to Zach's by far.
"Do you still work for, for the YFCC?" He looks to Zach. "Reason I've been looking over Quon is... well, I'm authorized to write in and tell authorities that, that yeah, he's doin' community service." This is a boon of having a good reputation about town for getting things fixed for the community, even if half the time it's fixing what his students messed up on in community projects.
"I mean, I don't know, I don't know who else has that, but," he shrugs, "imagine if you're an, an esteemed counselor or some such..."
But, wasn't Zach just a handyman there?
Which, in a lot of ways, isn't very different than what Rust does when you think on it. The difference, really, is that Rust likely has a teaching degree. "Yeah. I tend to fix stuff, keep the place nice and tidy. I occassionally help with occassional spars. Holding back is still a challenge for me," he admits. "But the YFCC was started, and is run by fighters. So Alma and Rose, who run the place, they get the demands of a fighter's... lifestyle."
A teaching degree and working experience as a former construction worker. He's one of the best at what he does, though his hand injury has done a whole lot to temper the speed he used to be able to get some things done.
"I could see, I could see Towazu having that, that kind of sway," he means the influence and say to authorities that says yes, so-and-so has done this many hours of community service, "I mean... it's, it's really complicated, Zach, what's been goin' on... maybe if we get a chance to all, y'know, all sit down and figure it out..."
He clears his throat, shrugs his shoulders, and leans forward while he regards the possibility he might want to have another cup of tea.
"I'll be, I'll be okay for King of Fighters, I'm just... yeah." he shakes his head. "'s gonna be one of those days for the next... next week or so. Lotta stuff goin' on for me beyond just fighting, Zach, it's... it's just not easy."
He looks to him. "I'll, I'll keep in touch if something comes up." Arguably, Quon's situation /is/ something that has already come up, but, there's not much he can do until he knows whether or not Quon's still going to be going to college or what have you.
"That's fair," Zach admits. Admittedly, his life has become fairly simplified since he started fighting. "When we do this thing, let's not have any regrets about it," he says. "Let's do something at this tournament that we can look back and take pride in."
Log created on 07:26:54 01/16/2011 by Rust, and last modified on 09:22:58 01/16/2011.