Description: Yuri has a chance encounter with someone who could become a potential new rival...
It's early evening on a Sunday, and the weather is rather nice - and thus it's rather busy in the Southtown business district.
Kazue is inside a jewelry store, slowly walking back and forth as she looks at the various rings on display. Her gaze is fixed on the little bands of valuable metal and stones as she walks back and forth, everything else has faded into the background for her. Her left hand is almost in knifehand, and has just the faintest glow of chi around it. One of the staffpeople is keeping an eye on her.
Yuri Sakazaki comes down the street, wearing her usual practice outfit, since she likes people to know that she's a representative of the style of Kyokugen Karate! She's not the type of person who likes to buy jewelry, but something gets her attention and she glances inside the store, getting a look at the mysterious girl inside. "Huh, I don't think I've seen her before. But that glow.... Maybe she's a fighter too?" Yuri eagerly walks into the store, grinning as she ponders how to introduce herself.
Kazue blinks, glancing down at her hand, and spreads her fingers, the slight glow disappating. She closes her eyes and lets out a slow breath, her shoulders slumping slightly, then turns away from the display and quickly starts to walk away. Of course, with Yuri coming the other direction, she almost bumps into her, her body veering towards the contact as her hand surreptitiously rises towards where Yuri's pocket would normally be, until she realizes she's wearing a karate gi, and takes a step back, raising her eyebrows. "Ah, excuse me."
At first, Yuri's looking forward to meeting this new girl, but when she reaches for where Yuri's pocket would be, almost immediately something changes. "Excuse you? Just what is that supposed to mean?! I wanted to come say hello to you, and you're reaching for me like you're looking for something!" Her smile is now a noticeable scowl. "What do you think you are, some kind of pickpocket or something?!"
Kazue blinks at that question, and raises her hands up, palms in front of her, her voice quiet. "No, I'm more of a break-in and escape artist. The pickpocketing is incidental...." She looks away. "...well, that's what I would have said. I'm not supposed to do that stuff anymore, really." She lowers her hands, and looks back to Yuri, tilting her head a bit to one side, watching her curiously. "Why would you say hello to me? I don't think we know each other."
"I wanted to see if you wanted to join the Kyokugen Karate school! It's the coolest fighting art ever. But why would I want to do that? You tried to steal from me!" Her eyes narrow even more as she then adds, "Break-in and escape? Wait, you're a criminal, aren't you! You can't fool me, you're saying you're not supposed to do that stuff anymore. You're a lousy liar!" Yuri clenches her fists angrily.
Kazue blinks, taking a step back. "If I was lying, why would I admit to bigger crimes?" She shakes her head. "...could you not call me a criminal that loudly? I'm kind of proud of my abilities - well, not the pickpocketing so much - but, someone is looking out for me since yesterday. So in return, I have to give up stealing. I don't want to reflect badly on them." She glances up to Yuri, meeting her gaze firmly, plainly expecting her to believe this story. "I haven't stolen anything today."
Yuri still scowls, stepping back a little. "Then why do I have a hard time believing that? Why would you try to pickpocket me if you've given it all up?" She shakes her head and still taps her foot impatiently. "Why don't you just be honest?"
"I wasn't really thinking about it. If someone I don't know is coming near me on the right path, pickpocket them. It's like a reflex." Kazue smiles proudly, and looks away. "But, I managed to catch myself...."
"Hey, don't you smile like that!" Yuri says, now really getting steamed as she steps towards Kazue. "You think you're all that because you stopped yourself, but you obviously haven't fully recovered yet. And what's with that glowing I saw on your hand as I came in? Are you a chi user too? Or do you use Psycho Power?!"
Kazue steps back and to one side, raising her eyebrows a bit and biting her lip. "Well, it's the first day. It's not that easy, to change your lifestyle." She pauses, considering these next questions. "I don't really know what Psycho Power is. But I can channel some sort of energy a little, so I guess maybe it's like the chi you fighters use." She scratches the back of her head. "Why are you so mad?"
"Why am I mad? Because you tried to steal from me, that's why!" Yuri says, but then she starts to soften a little. "Still, I suppose I could make an exception if you're really trying to change your ways." She still remains firm with Kazue as she watches her carefully. "However, I'm not entirely convinced that you know how to use your energy as good as I can!" A sudden shift as Yuri grins and razzes Kazue playfully.
Kazue smiles slightly at Yuri's words. "Good." She's silent, considering this statement for a long moment - is Yuri better at using her energy? She nods. "If you come from Kyukugen, you can probably use it better. The only really neat trick I picked up with it was cutting glass." Another pause. "I've never met someone from Kyokyugen before." She bows slightly. "I'm Kazue Yamada. Pleased to meet you."
"Yuri Sakazaki, daughter of the master Takuma Sakazaki," The girl replies, bowing as well. "So you've heard of us, huh? Might I ask, then, what your fighting style is?" It's funny how Yuri's temperament has changed from being angry to cheerful once again.
Kazue blinks, her eyes widening at Yuri's self-introduction. "Yes... you're sort of famous in Southtown." She shakes her head a bit at the question. "It's more of a 'stealing style', really." She furrows her eyebrows. "And it's self-taught, so I don't have a cool name for it. Some aspects of it can be applied to combat, though." She returns her gaze to Yuri. "Why do you do martial arts, Miss Sakazaki?"
"Because it's what my father taught me and my brother. But I thought the standard style was too boring so I added my own touches to the style to make it more fun!" Yuri giggles a little, not minding that Kazue's style is a bit darker than Yuri's. "I'll bet you anything you could learn to manipulate your energy as well if you knew how to work with it!"
"Martials arts being for fun? He was talking like that too... sort of. I don't really get it, though." Kazue's expression becomes a little calculating for a moment. "...I don't think I'm going to take that bet." She looks over Yuri's body with furrowed eyebrows. "It seems studying Kyokugen has some advantages."
Yuri pauses as she sees Kazue looking over her body. "What are you looking at? Is there something wrong with me? Is there something on my face?" Yuri doesn't seem angry, but she does seem confused.
Kazue returns her eyes to Yuri's face, briefly looking over it. "No, there isn't anything on your face, and there isn't anything wrong with you. I was looking at your body." She blinks, then turns a bit red, looking away. "No, not because... it's... to see the effects of Kyokugen style."
"The effects of Kyokugen? What do you mean by that?" Yuri now seems even more confused than before. "Are you suggesting that Kyokugen causes things to happen to people's bodies?"
Kazue raises an eyebrow. "All forms of physical training do. Compare a swimmer to a runner, or a gymnast to a weightlifter. Even my style has altered my body to a certain degree."
"So, what is it you see about my body?" Yuri asks, still confused, and starting to get a little bored. "I mean, I don't see much difference from many other martial artists. Unless there's something you're seeing that I'm not?"
Kazue furrows her eyebrows. "Well, I can tell that it's strong, I guess? When you look at people, it's like their bodies... pow." She gestures vaguely. "And then you're like... that guy could probably beat me up in a straight up fight, or whatever?" She shakes her head a bit. "It's not important, really...."
"I suppose you're right. At any rate, perhaps you'd like to come by my dojo and spar sometime?" Yuri asks, now eager once again. "I'd love to spar with you here, but I dunno if this is the place for something like this. It's in the center of Southtown, you can't miss it!"
Kazue tenses a little at the offer to spar, and stares into Yuri's eyes for a moment, as if trying to read her intention. Finally, she nods. "Sure... well, if we don't like... break arms or anything like that. I don't really want to do that stuff for no reason... or get it done to me."
Log created on 12:49:39 06/13/2011 by Yuri, and last modified on 14:50:19 06/13/2011.