Post by Charlotte Shimizu on Sept 30, 2023 4:59:53 GMT
Charlotte trudged wearily out of the Tulsa International Airport’s baggage claim area, juggling her suitcase and carry-on so she could rub at her face. She idly wondered if this jetlag had been why she’d avoided coming home for so long, but shook that thought away. It’d been her own foolish and stubborn pride that had stopped her from leaving like her brother had, just like it had kept her working for the xenophobes at Neo Honshu for years after she’d realized that they would only give her the same roles as any other American, just with the added Native stereotype.
“Charlie!”
Charlotte looked up to see a slender wisp of a young woman waving eagerly at the passenger side of an idling Acura Integra. Charlotte raised an eyebrow at the sleek blue car and wondered who in her family could afford such a vehicle, but turned to meet the girl. The trunk of the car popped open as the woman came pelting at Charlotte. She sighed lightly. Same old imouto.
Despite the girl’s smaller build, Charlotte was nearly bowled over as they collided. “Take it easy on me, Hanners. I’m still on Sapporo time.”
Hanners, or Hannah, just laughed, her arms tightening around Charlotte in almost a vice before she practically bounced away, somehow managing to get the large rolling suitcase away from her and hauling it towards the waiting car. “C’mon! Davey won’t wait forever for us… He’s already threatened to leave me here twice!”
“Three times,” a male voice called from inside the car, making Charlotte smile for the first time in what felt like years. This was home, with all the bickering that came with it. The driver’s door opened and out stepped a tall, long-haired man with the same coppery skin and dark eyes as her own. “Welcome back Char. I’ll spare you the ‘I told you so’ if you just hurry up and get in the car.”
Charlotte grimaced then. David had tried to warn her about what she’d face in Japan as haafu, as had their father. But again, that arrogant pride got in the way, insisting it would be different for her. “I’m not on the list to refuse that sort of offer, Davey, and you know it. Hannah, stop please… I’m pretty sure someone will kill you if you keep trying to lift that bag and leave dents in the bumper.” Shoving her carry-on at her sister and taking the suitcase from her, Charlotte hoisted the luggage into the trunk in one motion that at least spared the car’s bumper further punishment if it wasn’t smooth. The case landed in the trunk with a thud, rocking the car and making David wince.
“Good grief, Char… What have you got in there? Mount Fuji?” her brother asked sarcastically.
“Lemme see you do better with seven years of your life when you finally crawl out from Mom and Dad’s basement,” Charlotte retorted dryly, taking the smaller carry-on bag from Hannah and placing it more gently into the trunk beside the suitcase.
“At least tell me you didn’t bring any of that stupid get-up they forced you into. I just had the car detailed and I don’t want to do it again.” The reference to the ridiculous stereotype she’d been pigeonholed into made Charlotte wince again.
“The outfit went in the temple fire right after I walked out… But the headdress is being sent along with my books. I figured I’d let Mom deal with it,” she explained. This gained her a nod of approval from her older brother, but Hannah looked almost panicked.
“All of it?” Hannah almost squeaked, her face pale and eyes wide. “Do you have any ring gear?”
Charlotte blinked at her sister’s easy usage of lingo from her career. “Well… I kept the boots… But I had to remove the ridiculous fringes, so the tops and ankles look kinda ratty right now,” she explained, almost reflexively. “Why does it matter? It’s going to take ages for me to get another job.” Charlotte asked, her brain finally catching up.
David groaned and smacked his forehead theatrically even as Hannah started going into a full panic, desperately scrolling on her phone. “Get in the car, you two. We’re not having this discussion where everyone and their brothers can hear us.”
Charlotte didn’t need telling twice, and closed the trunk quickly. She used Hannah’s distraction to quickly move to the front passenger door and got in before the youngest of the siblings could react. Charlotte heard the squeak of protest as she buckled herself into the seat, then the back door was pulled open and Hannah got in, scowling. It really was like old times.
Charlotte wasn’t sure what David did to get the car out of park, because the dashboard looked like the cockpit of a space shuttle, but he did and they were soon making their way out of the airport grounds, heading east. “So why is Hanners freaking out now?” Charlotte asked David, but was answered by a snarled growl from the back seat.
“I should know when my client is in need of new equipment!” Hannah snapped tersely.
“Wait… Client? What?” Charlotte stammered.
“Oh lordy… You didn’t even tell her that, Hanners?” David rubbed at his eyes briefly, but then returned his focus to the road and the cars around them.
“Tell me what?” Charlotte demanded now. While some of the familiar bickering was amusing, even oddly welcoming, the twenty-some hours she’d just spent on a plane were catching up with her, to say nothing of the stress from the last month of getting her affairs in Japan settled.
Hannah started swearing crossly. “Charlie, for the love of all things holy, don’t you remember I told you I’d be your manager once I finished college?”
Charlotte turned as much as she could in the bucket seat without taking off her seatbelt to look back at her younger sister. “Hanners… that was four years ago! I asked if you were volunteering as a joke!”
“Looks like the joke’s on you, Char,” David commented, unhelpfully, with an amused smirk. “She took it seriously enough to blitz through her Bachelors. She just graduated Magna Cum Laude from OSU with her Bachelors in Business Management.”
Charlotte blinked several times, uncertain how she should feel about this, and slowly sank back into her seat. On the one hand, it was nice that her sister took her so seriously. On the other hand, however, there was no way in Heaven or Earth that Hannah could’ve gotten her back into that ridiculous pleather loincloth and one-shoulder bra again.
“Look… Hannah… I appreciate whatever you might’ve lined up for me, but there was absolutely no way I was going to put that gear on again,” Charlotte said with a tired sigh. She privately thought that she might actually hurt the next person to reference any of the names she’d gotten in Japan.
“No you don’t understand, Charlie, I got you an actual contract and they want you in Vancouver next week! How do you think it’ll look if you go out there in ratty boots and the first decent outfit that’ll fit? Not happening. I’m calling in all my favors.”
Charlotte blinked again, baffled by the strange creature that was wearing her sister’s skin. “Favors?”
“She was tutoring half the theater department through their math prereqs, and the other half through their history and literature classes,” David explained flatly as Hannah frantically tapped out messages on her phone.
“And I hung out with the local circuit so I know what material you need, so don’t think you can protest on that score either.” Hannah shot, not even looking up from her phone.
Charlotte sighed and closed her eyes. Part of dealing with her siblings was knowing when to put up or shut up. The way her sister was acting, it was wiser to shut up. Besides, if there really was a show, she needed something that was actually her.
Charlotte’s eyes flew open in sudden realization and she flipped in her seat to gawk at Hannah. “Wait… Vancouver? As in Canada?! But that means-” She trailed off, her jaw hanging open as Hannah only looked at her with her classic ‘Well DUH’ expression as she shifted her hand slightly to reveal the branding on the phone case she had. Charlotte choked.
The vlog opens with a black screen.
“Hanners! Why is it only showing a black screen?!”
“Shit. Sorry Charlie. Lens cap.”
The screen suddenly lightens and a lightly tanned hand pulls the cap away, revealing Charlotte’s profile before she turns to face the camera, the small braids in her hair with bright beads swinging wildly in the turn. “So, here I am. The name’s Charlotte Shimizu. I’d tell you not to wear it out but -” Charlotte smiles slightly with a shrug. “- After everything I’ve put it through in my life, it’s already pretty beaten up.”
Charlotte leans back in her chair, showing the denim vest over a plain brown t-shirt.
“I just spent seven years in Japan, most of it with Neo Honshu. Some more die-hard wrestling fans might recognize me from there, but if I’m honest? I hated pretty much every moment of it. Neo Honshu is run by a bunch of racist pricks who wouldn’t even let me use my real name, forcing me to go by ‘Clearwater’ instead. Sure it means the same thing, but they tried to erase half of me, and didn’t even care what being Cherokee actually meant. They just heard ‘Native American’ and went straight to Hollywood.”
Charlotte stops herself, closes her eyes and takes a deep breath before slowly releasing it. After a long moment, her eyes open again, and though the anger has dimmed, there’s still a gold spark to her brown eyes.
“You might wonder why I stayed so long then, but the fact was? I was young and dumb, and didn’t have anyone to advocate for me that wasn’t in their back pocket. And I took it because, as much as they wanted to ignore it, I’m still Japanese. It’s just human to want approval from your family, and my brother and sister and I basically don’t exist to half of ours. But what does it say that basically the moment I’m back stateside, I’m signed up with the best promotion for wrestling on the planet? Sure they might be taking pity on me, but I prefer to think that it’s because they saw the one thing those xenophobes at Neo Honshu couldn’t take from me. Y’know what that is?”
Charlotte leans forward, her elbows resting on an unseen desk.
“I don’t go down easy. I never have, I never will. So… Mika Attano, and whoever else wants to test themselves against me? Bring your A-Game, because that’s what you’ll be going up against. Anything less not only isn’t fair? It’s dishonorable. See y’all in Vancouver.”
Charlotte turns back to profile, the sound of clicking still audible. Her brows furrow briefly before she sighs in frustration and just reaches for the camera.
The video goes black.
“Charlie!”
Charlotte looked up to see a slender wisp of a young woman waving eagerly at the passenger side of an idling Acura Integra. Charlotte raised an eyebrow at the sleek blue car and wondered who in her family could afford such a vehicle, but turned to meet the girl. The trunk of the car popped open as the woman came pelting at Charlotte. She sighed lightly. Same old imouto.
Despite the girl’s smaller build, Charlotte was nearly bowled over as they collided. “Take it easy on me, Hanners. I’m still on Sapporo time.”
Hanners, or Hannah, just laughed, her arms tightening around Charlotte in almost a vice before she practically bounced away, somehow managing to get the large rolling suitcase away from her and hauling it towards the waiting car. “C’mon! Davey won’t wait forever for us… He’s already threatened to leave me here twice!”
“Three times,” a male voice called from inside the car, making Charlotte smile for the first time in what felt like years. This was home, with all the bickering that came with it. The driver’s door opened and out stepped a tall, long-haired man with the same coppery skin and dark eyes as her own. “Welcome back Char. I’ll spare you the ‘I told you so’ if you just hurry up and get in the car.”
Charlotte grimaced then. David had tried to warn her about what she’d face in Japan as haafu, as had their father. But again, that arrogant pride got in the way, insisting it would be different for her. “I’m not on the list to refuse that sort of offer, Davey, and you know it. Hannah, stop please… I’m pretty sure someone will kill you if you keep trying to lift that bag and leave dents in the bumper.” Shoving her carry-on at her sister and taking the suitcase from her, Charlotte hoisted the luggage into the trunk in one motion that at least spared the car’s bumper further punishment if it wasn’t smooth. The case landed in the trunk with a thud, rocking the car and making David wince.
“Good grief, Char… What have you got in there? Mount Fuji?” her brother asked sarcastically.
“Lemme see you do better with seven years of your life when you finally crawl out from Mom and Dad’s basement,” Charlotte retorted dryly, taking the smaller carry-on bag from Hannah and placing it more gently into the trunk beside the suitcase.
“At least tell me you didn’t bring any of that stupid get-up they forced you into. I just had the car detailed and I don’t want to do it again.” The reference to the ridiculous stereotype she’d been pigeonholed into made Charlotte wince again.
“The outfit went in the temple fire right after I walked out… But the headdress is being sent along with my books. I figured I’d let Mom deal with it,” she explained. This gained her a nod of approval from her older brother, but Hannah looked almost panicked.
“All of it?” Hannah almost squeaked, her face pale and eyes wide. “Do you have any ring gear?”
Charlotte blinked at her sister’s easy usage of lingo from her career. “Well… I kept the boots… But I had to remove the ridiculous fringes, so the tops and ankles look kinda ratty right now,” she explained, almost reflexively. “Why does it matter? It’s going to take ages for me to get another job.” Charlotte asked, her brain finally catching up.
David groaned and smacked his forehead theatrically even as Hannah started going into a full panic, desperately scrolling on her phone. “Get in the car, you two. We’re not having this discussion where everyone and their brothers can hear us.”
Charlotte didn’t need telling twice, and closed the trunk quickly. She used Hannah’s distraction to quickly move to the front passenger door and got in before the youngest of the siblings could react. Charlotte heard the squeak of protest as she buckled herself into the seat, then the back door was pulled open and Hannah got in, scowling. It really was like old times.
Charlotte wasn’t sure what David did to get the car out of park, because the dashboard looked like the cockpit of a space shuttle, but he did and they were soon making their way out of the airport grounds, heading east. “So why is Hanners freaking out now?” Charlotte asked David, but was answered by a snarled growl from the back seat.
“I should know when my client is in need of new equipment!” Hannah snapped tersely.
“Wait… Client? What?” Charlotte stammered.
“Oh lordy… You didn’t even tell her that, Hanners?” David rubbed at his eyes briefly, but then returned his focus to the road and the cars around them.
“Tell me what?” Charlotte demanded now. While some of the familiar bickering was amusing, even oddly welcoming, the twenty-some hours she’d just spent on a plane were catching up with her, to say nothing of the stress from the last month of getting her affairs in Japan settled.
Hannah started swearing crossly. “Charlie, for the love of all things holy, don’t you remember I told you I’d be your manager once I finished college?”
Charlotte turned as much as she could in the bucket seat without taking off her seatbelt to look back at her younger sister. “Hanners… that was four years ago! I asked if you were volunteering as a joke!”
“Looks like the joke’s on you, Char,” David commented, unhelpfully, with an amused smirk. “She took it seriously enough to blitz through her Bachelors. She just graduated Magna Cum Laude from OSU with her Bachelors in Business Management.”
Charlotte blinked several times, uncertain how she should feel about this, and slowly sank back into her seat. On the one hand, it was nice that her sister took her so seriously. On the other hand, however, there was no way in Heaven or Earth that Hannah could’ve gotten her back into that ridiculous pleather loincloth and one-shoulder bra again.
“Look… Hannah… I appreciate whatever you might’ve lined up for me, but there was absolutely no way I was going to put that gear on again,” Charlotte said with a tired sigh. She privately thought that she might actually hurt the next person to reference any of the names she’d gotten in Japan.
“No you don’t understand, Charlie, I got you an actual contract and they want you in Vancouver next week! How do you think it’ll look if you go out there in ratty boots and the first decent outfit that’ll fit? Not happening. I’m calling in all my favors.”
Charlotte blinked again, baffled by the strange creature that was wearing her sister’s skin. “Favors?”
“She was tutoring half the theater department through their math prereqs, and the other half through their history and literature classes,” David explained flatly as Hannah frantically tapped out messages on her phone.
“And I hung out with the local circuit so I know what material you need, so don’t think you can protest on that score either.” Hannah shot, not even looking up from her phone.
Charlotte sighed and closed her eyes. Part of dealing with her siblings was knowing when to put up or shut up. The way her sister was acting, it was wiser to shut up. Besides, if there really was a show, she needed something that was actually her.
Charlotte’s eyes flew open in sudden realization and she flipped in her seat to gawk at Hannah. “Wait… Vancouver? As in Canada?! But that means-” She trailed off, her jaw hanging open as Hannah only looked at her with her classic ‘Well DUH’ expression as she shifted her hand slightly to reveal the branding on the phone case she had. Charlotte choked.
The vlog opens with a black screen.
“Hanners! Why is it only showing a black screen?!”
“Shit. Sorry Charlie. Lens cap.”
The screen suddenly lightens and a lightly tanned hand pulls the cap away, revealing Charlotte’s profile before she turns to face the camera, the small braids in her hair with bright beads swinging wildly in the turn. “So, here I am. The name’s Charlotte Shimizu. I’d tell you not to wear it out but -” Charlotte smiles slightly with a shrug. “- After everything I’ve put it through in my life, it’s already pretty beaten up.”
Charlotte leans back in her chair, showing the denim vest over a plain brown t-shirt.
“I just spent seven years in Japan, most of it with Neo Honshu. Some more die-hard wrestling fans might recognize me from there, but if I’m honest? I hated pretty much every moment of it. Neo Honshu is run by a bunch of racist pricks who wouldn’t even let me use my real name, forcing me to go by ‘Clearwater’ instead. Sure it means the same thing, but they tried to erase half of me, and didn’t even care what being Cherokee actually meant. They just heard ‘Native American’ and went straight to Hollywood.”
Charlotte stops herself, closes her eyes and takes a deep breath before slowly releasing it. After a long moment, her eyes open again, and though the anger has dimmed, there’s still a gold spark to her brown eyes.
“You might wonder why I stayed so long then, but the fact was? I was young and dumb, and didn’t have anyone to advocate for me that wasn’t in their back pocket. And I took it because, as much as they wanted to ignore it, I’m still Japanese. It’s just human to want approval from your family, and my brother and sister and I basically don’t exist to half of ours. But what does it say that basically the moment I’m back stateside, I’m signed up with the best promotion for wrestling on the planet? Sure they might be taking pity on me, but I prefer to think that it’s because they saw the one thing those xenophobes at Neo Honshu couldn’t take from me. Y’know what that is?”
Charlotte leans forward, her elbows resting on an unseen desk.
“I don’t go down easy. I never have, I never will. So… Mika Attano, and whoever else wants to test themselves against me? Bring your A-Game, because that’s what you’ll be going up against. Anything less not only isn’t fair? It’s dishonorable. See y’all in Vancouver.”
Charlotte turns back to profile, the sound of clicking still audible. Her brows furrow briefly before she sighs in frustration and just reaches for the camera.
The video goes black.
Well howdy there pardner.