Description: It's about time to embark for King of Fighters, and Howard Rust would rather like this 'being billed for an extra ticket' thing resolved, only to find out that a certain someone has done some sneaky things in order to ensure that they get to do their part for the pride of their family and fighting style... and he is left to consider if there is some part of himself he's almost left behind in what could be a fatal mistake.
It's just about time to head on out for King of Fighters, to glory, to riches, to battle! For the very strongest come together and see who is the strongest, with much accolade and pride for the winner.
The problem is, getting to these events is, in itself really tricky. There's a lot of fussing to be done here and there. Money for travel, lodging, sponsorships, that sort of thing. Speaking of the first...
"Yes, I read the deal, ma'am," says one Howard Rust, who was hastily dressed for the occasion and for some reason forgot to remove Ol' Rusty from his toolbelt before coming here, "and, and I got four people on my team, but... but you guys charged me for five."
"There is no mistake, sir," says the receptionist who has been dealing with this man for the better part of half an hour, "you were charged accordingly for how many declared members were on your team."
"Cripes, lady!" Mr. Rust's just about ready to tear his hear out. "I'm tellin' ya, there's, there's only four!"
But, is there really?
Apparently, Mr. Rust didn't realize that one of the people he attempted to recruit managed to join, despite what her father said. There's no stopping Yuri Sakazaki in getting what she wants, especially when it comes to the King of Fighters tournament. She'll give anything and everything to make it into the tournament, and so help her if anyone gets in her way, they'll be receiving a Yuri Chou Upper! from her! And that's just the tip of the iceberg for what she's capable of...
Carrying a somewhat large backpack (apparently Yuri doesn't need much but has the essentials packed into one container for her,) the brown-haired brown-eyed Kyokugen fighter comes rushing up to Howard Rust and skids to a halt. Almost immediately she starts panting heavily as she catches her breath. "Oh... Mr. Rust... I'm sorry but I managed to sneak out... So I can join you!"
"I'm sorry, sir, but you're holding up the li--"
"You're robbin' me blind!" Mr. Rust yells, arms raised, when all of a sudden there's one Yuri Sakazaki skidding up right next to him. "H-Hey, sorry, I, uh--" He stops and blinks a couple of times. It's Yuri, huh, didn't know she was planning to go anywhere. She shares her reasons why she's here in a jiffy. "Y-Yeah, that's great, one moment, I gotta debate being charged for, for five tick--"
Wait.
He blinks again and turns around to face her, his mouth open. "What? Join me?"
"Mr. Rust, you were the one who asked me to join your team, right?" Yuri asks, folding her arms with a slight look of disbelief. "Don't tell me you're reneging on our deal! Just because my father says no doesn't mean I have to listen to him! In fact, he favors my brother over me, he's a sexist!" Yuri stomps her foot in anger at that last remark. "But honestly, I don't care about him right now!"
But then Yuri smiles again. "So anyway, I sneaked out of the house last night while dad and Ryo were asleep. It's easy to do since dad's a heavy snorer. All the while, I had my pack ready to go, and so I snuck to a small motel near here where I spent the night. Then I came here... and it looks like I arrived just in time!" She looks to the receptionist and then asks, "How did you know there were five of us?"
"Uh... y-yeah, but," he starts to respond to Yuri's earnest (and honest) question - he did invite her, but he has not forgotten what her father said. He doesn't want to disrespect his own master's wishes, let alone a father's, and it shows on his face as she calls him out on potentially reneging on the deal. Yuri might not care about Takuma, but /Howard/ here sure does.
When she relays the story as to how she snuck out, he looks a bit incredulous at the whole idea, sweeping his arms in front of himself and outward. "Whoa. Yuri, whoa. Whoa. Whoa." He crosses his arms out again. "Whoa. Y'know, y'know what your dad's gonna do to me if he finds out about this?!"
"I repeat, sir, there was no error on our part. You signed the contract laid out for the promotion, and we are not accepting refunds--"
"Lady, please!" Mr. Rust calls back to her, holding a finger up to Yuri. "L-Look, the fifth ticket's a billing mistak--"
"No, you're charged for five because you received five."
"And I'm tryin' to give one of them back!" Mr. Rust shouts.
"No refunds. Sir, please step out of line so I can help other people." The lady's patience starts to run thin, as the older man ambles off, turning his head towards Yuri.
"I'm, I'm being honest with you, Yuri, I, I don't have anything against you participating, but--"
"Don't worry, Mr. Rust," Yuri says in a stern voice. "If anything happens between dad and I, I'll take full responsibility for it. I swear I will...
"Don't worry, Mr. Rust," Yuri says in a stern voice. "If anything happens between dad and I, I'll take full responsibility for it. I swear I will..." Yuri grits her teeth and looks down with clenched fists. "Seriously, this is all about me, not you. You're the one who's the leader of the team, I'm just the teammate who snuck out despite her father's wishes. It's me who's at fault here, not you!"
Yuri looks back up and cracks her knuckles. "Seriously, Mr. Rust, there's no turning back now. When dad finds out, I'm sure he's gonna be mad, but he should be mad at me, not you!" Tears start to well up in Yuri's eyes but she doesn't cry out.
He holds up a hand as she cuts him off, as if trying to cut her off - but Yuri is fervent, determined. The way she insists she'll take responsibility, even though in his eyes this whole matter seems completely irresponsible.
"Yuri, look, look. Look." He tries to speak up, clearing his throat, "'scuse me." His face is already wearing the stresses of having to deal with so much of this right before it's time at last to head on out and make whatever mark his team will in the King of Fighters.
"Sometimes, sometimes... things don't work out the way they should. Maybe, maybe he should get angry at you, but, but he'll also get angry at /me/, Yuri. And... and trust me, he's someone I respect, and," he phrases this next bit carefully, "you're someone I respect, I... I understand you want to, you want to do your family's style proud, I mean... I can understand that, really, I can, I'm not saying this just to, just to make you upset, or... or trying to, but--"
"No buts, Mr. Rust! It's all been set and finalized. I know you're not trying to make me cry or anything, but this is a time where we have to put consequences on hold. Besides, how do we know my dad's going to get upset?" Yuri seems to be getting stern again. "We can't stand here arguing about this! The King of Fighters tournament is starting, I've been made part of the tournament, there's nothing we can do but accept what happens."
"I... I think I would be if, if I was your dad," the shop teacher tries to protest. Oh, he knows Takuma is going to be upset, he knows he's going to completely wreck him if he finds out that Yuri's gone and run away with him, although... uh, he thought they were proposing to marry or something? He's not quite sure he followed what exactly went on when he was present for that argument.
"You've been made... what?" The man's jaw goes agape. "You didn't just... you didn't just, just walk up to the organizers and... and sign yourself up on my team, did you? Is /that/ why I have five tickets?!"
"You recruited me, and so I spoke to the organizers. They claimed that I was legally allowed to enter on my behalf, since apparently their minimum age isn't exactly 18." Yuri smiles a little. "I'm sorry that this is so sudden, but it appears that the organizers have approved it."
Ain't that the truth! Turns out the entire Pacific Resistance decided to get in on King of Fighters, and they're all minors themselves. But for an older man like Howard Rust, who is used to rules and regulations and more importantly, age limits before anything involving responsibility is imparted, this is an absolute nightmare.
The older man slaps himself with his left hand and grunts, head sinking in his hand. "Cripes, Yuri, you're... you're somethin' else." He's not so convinced that any of this is a great idea, but it's official apparently - she has been officially signed up to his team, without explicit notice by the tourney organizers, just by having her say he recruited her. What is the world coming to?
He can't just stay here and keep arguing, or else he's going to miss the flight in question and he's sure Zach, Antoine, and Quon are wondering why the hell he's taking so long at that desk trying to debate the ticket issue. "'s such a big part of you that, that you'd do anything to see it happen, huh, Yuri?" He asks in a quiet tone of voice, hard to hear among the hustle and bustle of the airport.
"Yeah, you might say that," Yuri says, still smiling. "Now I think we should get moving, because the others are most likely waiting for us!" She hefts her pack on her back once again. "And don't worry, I'll help deal with dad for whatever happens afterward."
Yuri might be all smiles and happy to skip along, while the older man is going to be plodding behind. He doesn't have much to say about Yuri's deal from here on out, other than casting another glance at that woman behind the counter. Looks like she's not the one he should've been angry at! He'll have pointed words for the people overseeing this tournament /later/.
As he starts to walk off after her, he thinks about what he just asked her - how it's all such a big part of her that she's so willing to go to these lengths.
He stops to think about how he accidentally brought Ol' Rusty along anyway, previously certain that, maybe, his days with pipes were over. There it is, on his toolbelt pocket on his hip. There is absolutely no way he's going to get that through security, unless he fills out a declaration form and gets a permit within an hour's notice.
He stops to think about this, rubbing his thumb atop the makeshift hilt. With a slow nod, he heads to another counter to make one last (very last-minute) preparation.
Looks like there'll be two more for the ride for King of Fighters 2011.
Log created on 19:42:16 02/03/2011 by Rust, and last modified on 21:18:17 02/05/2011.