Post by Ishikawa Rini on Jun 10, 2024 6:57:41 GMT
Masao moved down the hallway, looking at the little card he held, it had taken a few calls the odd request to IWF HR And the promise he was simply looking to speak with his tag team partner for the upcoming event, having had no time to find her during the events of night of the immortals.
He checked the number, once, twice and knocked on the door.
Well, time to see if this wasn’t an elaborate joke.
The face of Natasha Walker peered out as Masao gave a smile speaking cordially.
“I’m here to speak with Miss Ishikawa, if she’s available.”
Natasha’s eyes widened for a moment as he smiled, and she lifted a finger responding in surprisingly good Japanese.
“One moment, I'll just go find her.”
Natasha turned away, but the door remained open just a crack, allowing the ensuing conversation to spill into the hallway.
“EEEEEHHHHHHH?! He’s here already?!”
“I give him points for promptness…”
Masao waited quietly, hands folding behind his back unaware of the panic bomb his arrival had set off. “Nat, you left the poor boy out in the hall?”
Charlotte Shimizu opened the door wide, looking exasperated.
“Come in, please. This could be a few minutes.”
Masao eased in nodding as he spoke.
“I appreciate that my arrival is unexpect..”
He paused as he caught the view of Osaka castle out the window, taking a moment to finish his thought and then back to Charlotte.
“Unexpected, that is…quite the view.”
Charlotte smiled broadly. “It is. But really, it’s no trouble. Rini’s just being her usual self.” Charlotte slipped away then to a room where sounds of frantic rummaging can be heard, sliding the door closed behind her, but even still her voice is clearly audible.
“Muun, relax! Here!” - A pause - “There, now get that on and get your ass out there!”
Masao couldn’t help but afford himself a chuckle as he examined the very nice hotel room, much nicer than the one he was using even as he mused aloud to himself.
“Perhaps I need a manager too…”
Masao found a water bottle and a USB drive pressed into his hands by the smallest of the women who was clearly not a wrestler herself. “I’d offer, but my hands are already full with this circus.”
Hannah’s accent was good, almost as good as Charlie’s. Living with somebody well three people who probably speak Japanese daily likely had an effect. He wasn't going to comment that’d be a stupid thing to do.
“Rini’ll likely forget these, so you should take them. The drive has the tapes for all her matches on it. I would recommend looking at the ones where she's been paired with Charlie and Nat. It'll at least give you an idea of what she does with partners who are bigger than her.”
He took the USB, pressing it into a jacket pocket even as he secured the water bottle, quickly catching up to the pace these people seem to work at even as he spoke.
“Thank you, Hannah, yes? I’ll keep that in mind. A pleasure to meet you.”
Oh, the boy had done his research, and well, process of elimination. ‘These people had a way of easing the formality out of you’ he mused to himself.
Hannah smiled slightly. “You’re welcome and it’s a pleasure to meet you as well. If you have any more questions, feel free to contact me directly. I’ll answer faster than Rini will.”
As it turns out, he didn’t have to wait too long.
Rini rushed out of the bedroom in a frilly pink workout top and pale blue gym leggings patterned with silver moons and stars.
“I am sorry, Akiyama-san! I was not expecting you so quickly! I am ready now.”
Masao managed a smile as he spoke with a chuckle.
“It’s alright, I just thought it prudent that we got to know each other given the coming work, I know a decent gym or two in Osaka, if you’re willing?”
Rini nodded, beaming a bright smile up at him.
“Of course!”
Girlish laughter cascaded through the room.
“You two be good now.”
“We expect her back for dinner, young man!”
He gave a bemused smile at the others and moved to the door with a small chuckle, allowing himself a rare joke.
“Which time zone?”
As more girlish giggles answered him, Hannah sighed.
“Well… At least I’ll have a respite from this when Nat goes off to find Allen…”
Cue a raspberry from Natasha as Masao shakes his head and nods, tone turning playful as he chuckles.
“Quickly, let us make our escape!”
Rini said nothing, instead looping her arm around his and pulling him from the room. She didn’t even wait for the door to close before hauling him down the hall towards the elevators.
Masao was at the beginning surprised, he was being hauled by this power house, he could have resisted but he was somewhere between amused and appreciative the output as she finally picked up his speed to keep up with her
“They said you were strong. They are right.”
Rini blushed. “It’s not something that’s come up much. Not since I left the Dojo.”
“You should make a point of it Ishikawa-san. I have learned, if anything, that you make your own luck.”
Rini seemed to go still, and sad. “I finally have what I wanted when I left, Akiyama-san. I am happy to be with my friends. There has not been much call for us to be a tag team yet, but I am sure there will be after the tournament.”
The momentary sadness made Masao wrinkle his nose as he spoke again evenly.
“Apologies, I didn’t mean to - It wasn’t my intention to upset you, or bring up bad memories. I am eager to work with you.”
Rini’s face immediately brightened. “I am too! Let’s hurry so we can figure out how to use our skills to their highest potential!”
She made almost a comical picture; fist clenched at her chest with an eager, almost fierce, expression on her face.
He managed a bright laugh and went on, this time he was pulling her, and ended on a simple handing over of that water bottle.
“Ah yes this is yours by the way. Shimizu-s… Hannah said you might forget it.”
Rini chuckled sheepishly and quickly shoved it into her bag.
Rini hummed a tune to herself as she browsed through the shops at Aeon Mall. It was both familiar and different after her time abroad. Charlie and Hannah had taken her to a number of malls in America - mostly to allow her to decorate Charlie’s house and add to her comic book collection - and Nat had tagged along once she’d joined their little cadre.
She had always enjoyed shopping. It had been one of the few things that her parents didn’t mind her doing… At least until her latest test scores came home. Now, however, in a mall filled with people she could blend in with instead of standing out, the feeling was nostalgic, like she was trying to recapture a good memory, only to find that it wasn’t as happy as she’d thought it had been.
Still, she had a mission. She only hoped she could find what she needed in time.
She smiled softly, remembering the afternoon spent over her favorite soda and snacks with Masao, talking. She understood part of his issue with promos. His humor was dry, more in line with Eastern sensibilities than Western. It didn’t come across well. Add in that most Japanese companies focused on storytelling within the ring rather than through promos, and it was a problem she’d seen Charlie struggle with until she seemed to find her stride heading into the Iron Maiden.
She frowned as she stopped in front of a costume shop. She wished she had time to discuss her idea with the girls. She knew Nat and Charlie were already thinking of how cute a couple she and Masao would be even as Hannah despaired of them all. She wasn’t sure she wanted to add fuel to that with the idea she had, but it was the best she could come up with, and it might help Masao.
What if this idea locked him into an act he couldn’t maintain?
“We have to try!” she declared to no one in particular, and strode into the store. Finding the sales clerk, she bowed and explained, “I need a cape!”
We open on a pair of figures in silhouette, shrouded in mystery before Rini Ishikawa steps into a light that seems to illuminate her to make her seem all the more real, posing in her usual bright way with that cheerful smile. She’s wearing new gear, white and pink with puffy off-shoulder straps and glittering with iridescent beads and jewels.
“The chance that has given us a partner in each other was nothing less than the hand of fate. Akiyama Masao is more than a mere man; he is a child of Oyamatsumi, strong as the mountains of his kin. It is nothing short of providence, divine in nature, to bring two so blessed by the gods together.”
As if to highlight her point, Masao steps into the light, standing just behind and over Rini and smiling just the same, a little over dramatic in doing so, but adding to the general vibe. His form is dressed formally in black, a tuxedo hugging his giant frame, comfortably so.
“Two lovers, both alike in fragility, in fair Osaka where we set our scene, where the moon and earth help make what could be an uneasy alliance so clean.”
A pause, posing in the light once again.
“Or words to that effect. We are set to face an established couple, who if nothing else know each other romantically and are legends in their own right. Legends that feel the world owes them more than their fair share, taking what comes to them more and more selfishly and asking why shouldn’t I? What has the world done for me? The behavior of a scavenger, greed feeding greed feeding greed.”
A small shake of his head sounding almost disappointed. Rini lightly steps forward, taking the lead again.
“Rodgers… Since you object so much to the nickname I gave you, I have given you another. Emeraude, you and your Dimando shall not prevail. You can follow him to the ends of the earth and erase yourself to win his approval, but he will only abandon you to your fate in the end.”
Masao’s features come into stark relief as he shifts in the light, almost dancing around Rini, with her as he moves, speaking into the camera.
“Cyrus Daniels, you are a man of strength and experience, but your arrogance knows no bounds, you might be strong but you use that strength to bully, coerce and control, you fight for the sake of the pain of it. In the end, you are a petty, jealous and controlling man, representative of all I was told was wrong. So…You see Cyrus, I am no footnote , I am not a disappointment and I will show just who it was that took Nick Knight to the edge… Twice, regardless of victory or defeat I hold my head high.”
“You have already done much, Emeraude. You have been a champion. You are only here because Dimando wants glory he could never achieve on his own. Your heart is not here. It is already moved on, but you dance to the strings of your masters.”
“I pity you, but that will not stay my hand. Your corruption spreads no further. You cannot stand against the power Akiyama-san and I have; the might of the moon and the mountains. These forces are primal and beyond your grasp to control and to understand."
The smile that has slowly formed on Masao’s face falters as he once again picks up his speaking.
“You think you are not troubled, you think us small, beyond your reach, under your heel, beyond notice. I have met your kind, I have been your kind in my younger days. We will show you better, we will show you wrong.”
Masao gives a sly smile, Rini standing in front of him now her intensity growing.
“The earth and moon move by our wills, not yours. Your stars have long since faded, while ours have risen to show the world how things can be done, how things should be done. Accept your coming defeat with grace and our opinion of you may improve.”
Masao nods in agreement, speaking as he moves with a dramatic sweep of his arm. Is he wearing a cape? You bet your ass he is.
Rini makes one more dramatic pose, a peace sign that frames her right eye in an almost salute
“In the name of the moon -”
“- By the strength of the earth -”
The pair of them pose for the camera, back to back and then point towards the camera together.
“We will defeat you!”
Well howdy there pardner.