Disclaimer: The characters are not mine, I have merely chosen to play with them for a short time.
Punch.
Dodge jab.
Counter.
Avoid kick.
Catch follow up punch.
Get feet swept out.
Get thrown into overhead support.
**Break**
Mark sighed as the simulator stood down from the active state. For as laid-back as he seemed most of the time, the forward was surprisingly stubborn about his current opponent.
"Alright, Takeshi, that's it," Mark called down to the pilot emerging from the simulator. "Time to call it a night"
"Eeh?" The pilot stared in disbelief at Mark and missed the next step on the ladder as he did so. "Aah-!"
Looking down, Mark barely suppressed a snicker as he watched the pilot reorient to his new position, flat on the ground.
"Come on, Mark. One more try, I almost had him this time." The voice of Takeshi Jin rose from amidst the machinery as Mark proceeded to power down the simulator.
'Just like the last five tries, I bet,' the mechanic idly thought. "That may be so, Takeshi," he said, "but it's getting late and I still need to do some maintenance on Liz's machine after today's test run." Leaning against the wall of the equipment room, he watched the characteristic droop of Takeshi's hair as the pilot tugged at a particularly stubborn boot. "I'm sure you can find time to go another round or two tomorrow," Mark mentioned as he scratched his chin.
"Yeah, I can, can't I?" Takeshi smiled as he gave a final tug and removed the boot, his hair curling up again. Standing up, Takeshi threw the offending boot into his locker and closed the door. "I'll see you tomorrow then, Mark." He waved and set off toward the front hall.
"Yeah, see you, Takeshi," Mark replied as he turned the opposite way toward the machine hanger.
Whistling absently, Takeshi wandered the building, still riding the adrenaline high from his run in the simulator. 'Man, this place is really different at night.' The lights were mostly on 'fire-safe' setting, so that firefighters could see if they needed to navigate through the building. Even Miss Satomi's office, which often could be seen lit until the early morning hours, was dark. As he climbed the stairs to the sixth floor, the faint sound of music floated on the air.
'Now where is that coming from?' Takeshi wondered. He stopped, swiveling his head in an attempt to locate the source of the music.
'Not here, maybe in the back?' Moving quietly so as to still hear the music, Takeshi made his way towards the back of the building. After rounding a corner, he saw a pool of light spilling from a doorway.
'Bingo!' thought Takeshi as he moved to the side of the doorway. 'Now who-'
**Break**
"No, no, NO! That does not work," Amy Stapleton growled, swinging down her violin from playing position and dropping it on a nearby desk. She grabbed the music in front of her and scribbled out her previous notes. She paused, before looking over the music again. "Maybe if I tried doing that." She scratched a few new notes and brought her instrument back up.
**Break**
Now this was new. Since when did Amy play violin? As far as Takeshi knew, she didn't have anything more than a listener's casual appreciation for music. Granted, there was a lot that he didn't know about either of his teammates outside of the team, but still one would think he would have at least heard that Amy played an instrument! Leaning around the edge to confirm, Takeshi set his hands on the door frame, fingers resting slightly against the open door, and leaned.
**Break**
Thud!
Starting, Amy turned to the door, pausing in the middle of her playing, and lifted the bow to silence her violin. Staring at the door, she tried to discern if anyone was there. "Hello?" she called softly. Catching a familiar glimpse of red, she tried again. "Takeshi?"
The red spot twitched, before moving into full view, becoming part of a jacket riding on the slumping shoulders of Takeshi.
"Um, hi?" he offered, scratching his head.
A small 'eep' escaped Amy as she hurriedly stashed the violin behind the desk and frantically covered the sheet music spread over the desktop. If she moved fast enough there was a small chance he hadn't heard anything and she could distract him.
"That was you playing, just now wasn't it?"
Amy froze. That statement had crushed the faint glimmer of hope that she had held. She briefly considered denying it, but Takeshi wasn't likely to buy it. Her shoulders slumped as she nodded.
"I didn't know you played violin. It, uh, sounded good; what did you play?" Takeshi asked, clearly trying to avoid the potential awkwardness that was creeping on the situation.
"My parents made my take lessons when I was younger," Amy admitted. "It's been awhile since I actually played a piece instead of just fiddling with it."
Takeshi nodded, accepting her answer. "And the song?"
Amy winced; she really wanted him to forget that part of the question. He wasn't supposed to know about this until it was finished.
"It's. . ." she paused, mentally scrambling for an excuse. "It's for a class." Blatant lie, but he didn't need to know that.
Takeshi nodded sagely, fully understanding the need to finish an assignment at the last hour.
"I came up here to have a quiet place where no one would hear me." Amy explained, trying to steer the conversation away from the song.
For once, Amy's hope was granted. Takeshi proceeded to straighten, bow, and apologize before claiming that his sister would be worried if he didn't return soon. Takeshi then beat a hasty retreat out of the room.
Amy sighed. She had wanted him gone, but didn't want to say it in such conceivably mean terms. Getting up and locking the door this time, to avoid any more interruptions, she returned to the song that she was working on.
**Break**
A few days later, Takeshi was lounging in his room playing Watch World when his sister barged into his room.
"Takeshi's got mail," Yuri grinned as she waved the envelope around in the doorway. She paused dramatically. "And it's from a girl."
Takeshi's initial confusion at Yuri's intrusion was quickly erased as she moved her fingers to open the letter.
"Oi, give me that!" Lunging for his sister, he grasped only thin air as she ducked out of the way.
"Bye," she smirked, dropping the letter on his head as he moved past, before taking off down the hallway.
"Stupid little sisters, taking your mail," he grumbled as he opened the envelope to reveal a thank you card from Amy for visiting her at hospital. As he read the card, a data card fell to the ground. Retrieving it, he slipped the card into his computer, automatically opening the lone audio file on the card.
As he listened, Takeshi smiled. It was obviously a homemade recording but the sound of a violin rose clear over the light background noise with a tauntingly familiar melody.
His expression then slid to one of confusion, then recognition, before settling on a satisfied grin as he exclaimed, "That's what she was practicing!" Looking back at the name of the file, he smirked. "The Prince to Kiss, eh. Well, I don't feel like kissing any princes anytime soon, but this is a cool song." Takeshi flopped back on the bed, letting the song play as he returned to his game.
Fini
Author's Note: The song is not real. If there is a song with that title, it is entirely by coincidence that mine matches. On the other hand, Amy's desire to practice in solitude is a trait she shares with me.
It seems that despite being slow in production, I can still produce a story if the urge bites hard enough. This bite takes inspiration from one of the 30 Kisses lists. I know myself well enough that I couldn't make the deadline for the full challenge, but the lists provide just enough teasing that you can pull a story from it.
Thank you for reading.