Post by Deleted on Feb 25, 2023 16:29:11 GMT
"You said we would be dominant... you said we would be a force to be reckoned with, Mr. Sakamochi-san, but we are not even booked on the first show. How are we supposed to make these people respect your vision-- respect us, if we are not even competing on the actual event?"
Mr. Sakamochi-san sits quietly in a chair next to the training ring in Bison Kojima's dojo. Kojima and her students have long since left but Tao Fujiyoshi continues to train, fueled by frustration and determination. There's a sound of flesh padding on concrete, frantic breathing. Kumiko Kiriyama crawls on all fours, saliva tinted red hanging off of her bottom lip. She looks up at Mr. Sakamochi-san, nothing resembling a sign of life behind her eyes.
"Huh."
She grumbles incoherently and reaches up, placing her hand on his knee, tilting her head as a confused animal might. He looks down at her, no emotion on his tired and weathered face. From the ring, Tao Fujiyoshi looks down at him, her upper lip curled in disgust.
"You said that this alliance with Bison Kojima would benefit us but I am seeing no benefits, sensei! And this idiot that you are making me team up with-- am I a joke to you?"
Mr. Sakamochi-san huffs and the corner of his mouth forms a smile. He reaches down and grabs Kiriyama by the wrist, removing her hand from his knee. He points at nothing in particular and his voice is heavy and gruff, the voice of a tired and weathered old man.
"Go play."
He removes a pocket knife from his track jacket and turns it over in his hand, fiddling with it idly. He doesn't look up at Fujiyoshi as he speaks, sounding almost uninterested in his own words.
"Would you like to hear a story, Fuji-chan?"
"I would like to show my skills to the world--"
"I asked if you like to hear a story."
Her shoulders slump. Her voice becomes lower and less antagonistic.
"Yes, sensei."
He fiddles with the knife a bit longer, flipping the blade outward and running his thumb along the edge. He continues speaking without looking at her.
"It is a good story. I think you will like it. It has a happy ending."
Several feet away, Kiriyama laughs at something that's a secret to everyone but her, a low and haunting sound like someone gargling gravel. Fujiyoshi folds her arms across her chest, listening.
"It is a story about a group of women, all of whom were filled with darkness... as all women are. Whether they wish to admit it or not, they are made of darkness and despair... a penchant for violence... hate, jealousy... why, you ask? Hmm. Perhaps they do not know a better way. What are they but human?"
His eye twitches involuntarily, still focused on the blade.
"They followed another woman... a woman who was very powerful in her younger years. Very bright, very colorful! She vowed to show them a land of promise... but she did not tell those who followed her what truly awaited them."
There's a crash and clattering of equipment in the far corner of the dojo as Kiriyama collides with a shelf and makes a mess. Neither Fujiyoshi or Sakamochi pay her any mind.
"Hnn."
"She did not warn them about the dangers which lie in front of them."
He pauses, letting that sink in for a moment.
"She did not warn them... because she, too, was consumed by darkness. Secretly, she was more consumed by darkness than any of them... but, still... they followed her."
Fujiyoshi listens intently, eyes narrowed.
"They followed her... to the edge of the known universe."
Mr. Sakamochi-san looks up, finally meeting her gaze.
"What they found when they arrived was not what they expected. Big surprise, huh. The women were deceived. Upon seeing the gate to the so-called promised land... and what lay behind it... they would not dare enter. They knew it would be their end. The women waited there at the gate for a very long time. They waited for a sign that it was safe to enter but that sign... it never came. It would never be safe for them to enter. Their doom would always await them beyond the gate... but there was no going back."
A smile creeps across Fujiyoshi's face.
"Because their path had vanished behind them."
He sighs and looks back down at the knife in his hands.
"So... with no more options, the women took their final step toward destruction."
He stops talking for what feels like forever. Fujiyoshi raises an eyebrow, confused. She speaks with impatience.
"What happened next, sensei?"
He smiles, directing his eyes back up toward her.
"And then we destroyed them all."
Fujiyoshi's smile grows even bigger as she scoffs.
"That's a stupid story."
"It does have... a happy ending, yes?"
Fujiyoshi shakes her head and goes back to training in the ring. Mr. Sakamochi-san folds the blade inside and tucks the knife back in his pocket. There's a scuffling sound on the floor as Kiriyama approaches Sakamochi again, placing her hand on his knee once more.
"Hggggh."
She rests her head on his thigh, almost like a gesture of affection, and he looks down at her, moving his hand to pat her head before she almost lazily bites him. He aggressively shoves her away and she falls back into a seated position, smiling up at him with cold black nothingness in her eyes. He looks down at his leg, running his fingers along the indention of a bite mark, wet with saliva on his knee.
"Hey, you asshole! That hurt!"