Disclaimer: The only things that are not mine is Love Hina and the real person who you will find in this chapter.
Chapter 1: A Strange Event
"When?" These thoughts ran in Keitaro's mind ever since, well, recently. "When will it end? When will it all end?"
He was at his breaking point now. He contemplated suicide, but he hasn't the courage to do it.
He was officially lost.
As he was about to leave the park he was sitting in, he saw some people gather around a single spot. Not having anything better to do, he decides to investigate.
Then, as he got closer, he heard music. Foreign music. And foreign singing.
the people were gathered in a circle playing this foreign music. But what really grabbed Kei's attention was the two people inside the circle.
'They're...fighting! Or are they dancing?' Keitaro thought.
Actually, it's a combination of both. And, much to Kei's surprise, the combatants were having fun!
One man, clearly Japanese, was wearing loose, white baggy pants, was bare-chested and had short spikey hair. His "opponent" was clearly a black man(or was he?), with the same attire as the other guy, except he wore a yellow sash around his waist, and he had dreadlocks.
They were doing the most peculiar--and amazing--thing Kei has ever seen. They were doing flips, cartwheels, and throwing kicks at each other, intentionally missing except for a few times when they made light contact with controlled kicks. They were both moving in sync with the beat of the drums and the stringed instrument. It was all fast-paced.
The scene truly interested our hapless manager. The song was also intriguing:
"Paranaue, paranaue para na. Paranaue, paranaue para na."
Almost everyone in the circle was singing this song, and they were all happy.
'I could get into this' Keitaro thought happily to himself, but that happiness was overshadowed by his lack of confidence. 'On second thought, I don't think I'm cut out for it, whatever it is. I'm nowhere near graceful enough to walk without tripping over stuff, let alone do this.'
He continued to watch this strange event, then the colored man shook the other guy's hand, left the arena, and another "combatant", this time Asian, backflipped his way into the center and "faced off" with the Japanese dancer/fighter. They were doing pretty much the same thing Kei saw with the black guy.
This event caught the attention of many people in the park, even the average squatters(street punks, if you would)got curious.
The event lasted for fifteen minutes, then when it was over, everyone applauded, the viewers and the people in the circle.
Keitaro's curiosity got the better of him. "Um...excuse me, sir." he called out to the Japanese guy. He turned around.
"Hey, there. You liked the show, huh?" the man said with a grin on his face.
"Oh, yeah, that was impressive. I've never seen anything like it. What was that...dance thing you were doing? it looked like you were fighting those guys, but you were dancing and...err...having fun."
"Well, yeah. We were'nt really fighting, though. We were sparring."
"What is that style?" Keitaro finally asked. "I know it's not Asian."
"You're right. It's not Asian, it's Capoeira."
"Kappa-what???" Keitaro replied, scratching his head.
"Capoeira. It's a Brazilian martial art created by African slaves who were shipped off to South America during the 19th century." the Japanese man stated.
"I see. Interesting." Keitaro said, nodding his head. The Japanese Capoeira user had a thoughtful expression on his face for a second, then...
"If you're interested, you could come to my classes. Be a capoeirista; That's what we call students of the art."
"WHAT?!" Keitaro was taken aback by the offer he subconciously hoped for. "Me?? I couldn't possibly do that. I'm pretty useless, and clumsy to boot."
"Oh, please. Those problems can easily be fixed." the "black guy" said with a strong foreign accent, suddenly appearing behind the Japanese guy. 'He must be Afro-Brazilian' Kei thought. "This particluar man was no different when he started in my home counrty" the Brazilian man added, gesturing to the Japanese guy.
"Seriously, you should check it out. It's your call." the Japanese man said.
Keitaro, fed up with being weak and feeling pathetic, and being target practice back home, made his decision. "Alright. I accept."
"Great. I'm Mestre Takeshi Juego. I'm Brazilian on my mom's side. And this is the guy who taught me, Mestre Amen Santo. He's famous throughout the whole Capoeira industry."
Keitaro shook Amen's hand. "Nice to meet you."
"Likewise." Amen replied.
"Amen's only visiting my school for today, so chances are he won't be teaching anything for now. You will be learning from me." Mestre Takeshi said, then handed Keitaro a business card. "Come to this address this Saturday at 9 a.m., wear baggy pants, and be ready to ginga." Takeshi said.
"I'll be there."
"Good. I'll be expecting you, capoeirista." Takeshi said with a grin, shook Keitaro's hand, and walked away with Amen.
Keitaro walked out of the park with a good feeling. He was finally going to conquer his inferiority complex.
He was going to be a capoeirista.
A/N: Okay, that's chapter one, now I'll try to get episode 2 up in good time. Oh yeah, for the record, Amen Santo, unlike Takeshi(who is an OC), is a real Capoeira Mestre who had starred in two action movies; Kickboxer 4 and(my personal favorite) Only The Strong, the latter being the only Capoeira-centric movie to date. You probably knew this already grins