Yamato Nadeshiko let out an impressed whistle as she bore witness to the interior of the Kanzuki Estate for the very first time. "Wow," she said as she placed her hands onto her hips and let out an amused chuckle, "you weren't lying when you said that this place was big. I mean," she shrugged, "I could tell that this place was going to be big just by looking at it from the outside, but on the inside?" She winced as she shook her head. "Makes you really wonder just how small you are in the grand scheme of things, you know?"
Her best friend, Rainbow Mika, let out an amused and sympathetic chuckle. "Yeah, that's kind of what I thought the first time I came here too. But then again, Miss Kanzuki's kind of the same way, so the estate being as big as it is makes sense, once you really think about it."
Nadeshiko let out an uneasy laugh. "Thanks! No pressure or anything!"
"Aw, come on!" Mika reassured with a confident grin on her face. "Don't be like that! You're a great wrestler, and Miss Kanzuki is actually really nice! I'm sure that you're going to get the sponsorship! I just know it!"
Nadeshiko chuckled as she scratched the side of her face bashfully. "Well, when you put it like that," she clenched her fists and cried, "sponsorship, here I come!"
Mika nodded. "Yeah, that's the spirit!"
"Hey!" Ibuki cried as she approached them with her hands over her ears. "Would you two mind keeping it down?! What are you guys even trying to do anyway? Break every window in the entire estate with all of your mindless yelling?"
"Hey, what are you calling, 'mindless yelling'?" Mika asked defensively. She then grinned as she flexed her arm. "This is how pro wrestlers like us psych ourselves up!"
Nadeshiko let out a laugh as she followed suit. "Yeah! If you can't take the heat, then stay out of the kitchen!"
"Oh, great," Ibuki muttered under her breath as she gave both Mika and Nadeshiko an exasperated look. "There's two of them now."
Mika let out an awkward laugh as she sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck. "Well, not exactly. Or at least, not yet anyway."
Ibuki gave her a look of surprise. "Huh?"
"Oye!" Birdie cried from behind Mika and Nadeshiko, causing them to turn around and Ibuki to look past them in surprise. Birdie pointed an accusing finger at Mika's tag team partner. "Who the 'ell are you supposed to be?! Intruders ain't allowed in here!" He then took to his fighting stance with the obvious intent of kicking her out of the estate himself.
Ibuki let out another exasperated sigh. "Here we go again," she muttered. She then turned to Nadeshiko and gave her an apologetic look. "Sorry about this. We'll get things straightened out with him as soon as possible."
Much to her surprise, Nadeshiko looked at her with a wild grin on her face. "No offense, but could you not?"
"What?!" Ibuki cried with an incredulous look on her face. "Why?!"
Nadeshiko looked towards Birdie and began to crack her knuckles. "Well," she explained, "if what Mika told me about Miss Kanzuki is true, then I'm going to need a good warm-up!"
"What?! You can't be serious!"
"Yeah!" Mika cheered as Nadeshiko made her way to challenge Birdie. "Go kick his ass, Nadeshiko! And remember everything I told you about Muscle Spirit!"
Nadeshiko nodded. "Yeah!"
Ibuki couldn't help but gape at the two women. "Just how crazy are the two of you?!"
"Tap!" Nadeshiko demanded as she applied Birdie into one of her many patented submission maneuvers. "Go on! Tap!"
Birdie struggled a bit before realizing that it was no use and crying out, "All right, all right! I give! Now let go of me, will ya'?"
Nadeshiko grinned proudly before releasing him from the hold, chuckling, indicating towards herself, giving him a playful wink, and saying, "It's a shame that you lost, but now you can tell everyone that you tapped out to the perfect woman!"
Birdie dusted himself off before arguing, "Please! There ain't nothing 'perfect' about you!"
"Perhaps," Karin Kanzuki said as she slowly approached them, with her steward, Shibasaki, following close and dutifully behind, "but even you must admit that she has potential." She turned to face Nadeshiko. "You must be the wrestler Mika was talking so highly about." She nonchalantly indicated towards Birdie. "Forgive him. He has a habit of being ill-informed of the happenings of this estate."
"Yeah, yeah," Birdie mumbled. "You don't gots to rub it in."
Nadeshiko gave Karin a respectful bow. "Thank you for taking the time to see me, Miss Kanzuki."
Karin smiled. "Please, the pleasure is all mine. You seem to be well-versed in the art of submission wrestling. An interesting fighting style to say the least. You will make for an interesting opponent. But I must warn you," Karin took to her fighting stance, "a Kanzuki submits to no one!"
Nadeshiko grinned before shifting to hers. "Then I'll just have to be the first!"
Karin chuckled as she gave Nadeshiko an amused smile. "Yes, that's the spirit!"
"Sponsorship, here I come!" Nadeshiko cried before advancing towards Karin.
"Is EVERYONE here crazy?!" Ibuki cried as Mika once again cheered her friend on as Birdie and Shibasaki watched.
"I've got her on the ropes!" Nadeshiko thought as she finally saw a clear opening to finish the match. "I've got this!"
"You're mine!" she cried, throwing caution to the wind as she made a mad dash towards Karin in an attempt to capitalize on her one chance to seal the deal.
Much to her surprise, Karin calmly stopped where she stood, closed her eyes, grinned confidently, and crossed her arms, which somehow managed to knocked Nadeshiko back and off of her feet. Ibuki pointed at Karin in shock as everyone looked on in awe. "W-W-What was that?!" she cried.
Shibasaki wiped her brow with a handkerchief and answered in a hush tone, "It is the legendary Kanzuki technique, the 'Ruler's Staying Hand'! To think that she would use it for something such as this!"
"W-What is she?" Nadeshiko thought in terror as she instinctively inched back in fear on the ground. "To be able to do something as incredible as this... Do I even stand a chance?"
"Come on, Nadeshiko!" Mika cried. "Don't give up! Keep going! Give it everything you've got!"
Nadeshiko stared at Mika in awe for a moment. "Mika," she said under her breath, wondering how Mika could possibly think that she still had a chance after what she had just witnessed.
Karin looked earnestly between the two women for a moment before clapping her hands, gaining everyone's attention in the process. "Alright. That will be all for now."
Nadeshiko turned her head towards her, a shocked expression coverin her face. "W-Wait, that's it?" she asked incredulously.
She gave Nadeshiko a warm smile. "Yes, it is. I must say, that was a very entertaining bout. To think that submission wrestling had such potential... you have proven to me that I must study a bit harder in that regard."
Nadeshiko let out a shocked and flatters gasp. "T-Thank you, miss. Coming from you, it's a real honor."
Karin hummed in agreement. "I'm flattered that you think so highly of me." She then frowned. "Which is why I regret to inform you that I have chosen to not become your sponsor." Everyone let out a gasp of surprise. "I'm terribly sorry," Karin added.
"B-But," Mika said, stepping forward to make a case for her best friend, "she impressed you! You said it yourself!"
"Indeed, I did," Karin gently admitted. "But Kanzukis never settle for less than the very best, and while Nadeshiko's showing was certainly impressive, she overall lacks the most essential component to achieving such greatness. I am sorry, Mika, but knowing that I couldn't possibly sponsor your friend. At least, not in good conscience." She then turned to Nadeshiko. "I hope that you can understand."
Nadeshiko nodded her head dejectedly. "Yeah... I guess I just missed the mark."
"Nadeshiko," Ibuki muttered sympathetically. Failure was always hard to accept, and considering how important this sponsorship was to her, Ibuki figured that she must've felt terrible right about now.
"Well, that's great, isn't it?" Mika asked, surprising everybody except Karin as she placed her hands onto her hips. She smiled at Nadeshiko reassuringly. "I mean, if you JUST missed the mark, then that means all you have to do is train a little bit harder and eventually you'll make it and get that sponsorship, right?"
Nadeshiko stared at Mika in awe before shaking her head and saying, "I guess, but I wouldn't even know where to start with that."
Mika chucked before indicating to herself and saying, "Then I'll train you then! I'll teach you everything my trainer taught me and teach you everything Master Zangief taught me about Muscle Spirit! If we do that, then you're sure to make the mark for the sponsorship in no time! So what do you say, Nadeshiko? Are you ready to take yourself to the next level?!"
Nadeshiko let out a tiny gasp of surprise before thinking over Mika's offer and saying, "You know what?! Yeah! I am ready! With your help, I'll train harder than I've ever trained before and then I'll come back, kicked Miss Kanzuki's ass, and get me that sponsorship!"
Mika laughed. "That's the spirit!"
"Muscle Spirit!"
"Yeah, Muscle Spirt!"
Ibuki silently tiptoed towards Karin and whispered, "Um... are they going to be alright?"
Karin smiled at the sight of them. "I believe that they are going to be just fine."
Author's Note: A story for Rainbow Mika and her friend, Yamato Nadeshiko. These two characters are so much fun. I was disappointed that neither of them did more in Street Fighter V/5's story mode, so I made something to sort of explain why Nadeshiko wasn't there (in-canon). My headcannon for Nadeshiko has been that she isthe submission and grapple specialist to Rainbow Mika's was the high-flyer and strength based style. Hope you all liked it!
