The real surprise Aoi had while she was waiting for her flight with Smith wasn't seeing her family, it was seeing Akira and his grandfather with them. Even more surprising was seeing him in something that wasn't his usual karate gi, instead seeing him in a plain white t-shirt and blue jeans. She had to do a double take to make sure it was actually him. Aoi herself was in a bright blue blouse and matching long skirt. She had to admit she was so use to wearing traditional clothing like her kimono and gi it felt awkward to dress normally. About as awkward as seeing Akira in casual wear.
"Aoi!"
"Akira!" Aoi ran to him smiling, and him smiling back at her. It had been months since she late saw him. Not since seeing and facing him in the tournament semi-finals did she get a chance to meet up with him. And now that he was here… Now! She threw a quick jab for his face once she was in range, which he easily dodged and tripped her, making her stumble forward before shoving her to the ground in a fluid motion. She rolled and immediately sprang back up, pivoting to face him. The two smiled at each other, both entering their fighting stances. As far as Aoi was concerned the only people in the airport were her and Akira. The only thing on her mind now was the rematch that she had been hoping to have, one more chance to see if she could beat her longtime friend and rival. The two started to slowly close the distance between them, ready to go for another exchange of blows before Aoi's father and Akira's grandfather stepped in between them.
"Enough you two! Are you both truly so childish?" Her father's harsh words snapped her back to reality and she backed away. She could hear mummers from onlookers of her and Akira's would-be bout, wondering if they were on a movie set or something along those lines. Her face turned bright red at the realization of her actions and she immediately bowed in apology, Akira soon following.
"Sorry father…"
"Yes, sorry grandfather, that was immature of us." The two men glared at them, but said nothing more and had the crowd turn their attention away, apologizing for the disturbance. Both of them sighed with relief. That could had been much worse. Thankfully we're in public, or who knows what they'd do to us. She turned to Akira, smiling playfully. "So, finally decided to hike down from the mountains to see me?" Akira gave a wry smile and jabbed Aoi's forehead with his finger.
"Funny Aoi. No, we called a taxi to pick us up from the dojo to meet your father here." Aoi rubbed her head, letting out a laugh.
"Oh my, Akira Yuki knows how a phone works. What is the world coming to?" She received another finger-jab from Akira.
"Not funny."
"It was a little funny." The two stared at each other, grinning before bursting into laughter. It was nice to finally catch up with Akira, it was almost impossible to get to him since he lived in the mountains where cell phone reception rarely existed, and getting to Yuki Budokan on a whim was just impossible with her work at her own dojo, college, and now the sponsored fighter deal.
"So this is the famous Akira Yuki?" The two turned to Smith as she spoke up.
"Ah, hello ma'am." Akira gave the woman a small bow. "I heard you took in Aoi as a fighter. I hope she lives up to your expectations."
"Oh she has Mr. Yuki, in more ways than one." Smith gave her typical salesman smile and pulled out her business card, handing it to Akira. "Feel free to give us a call if you're interested in joining her." She sounded that a little too inviting for Aoi to think it was just Smith taking advantage of the situation. "It'd be nice to have a champion of one of our tournament work for us." And that comment definitely stung Aoi's pride. She could feel her face growing hot with anger. Akira seemed to notice Aoi's annoyance as well going by the worried expression on his face.
"Thank you for the offer ma'am, but I'll have to decline." He sounded almost nervous, probably for good reason as Aoi's temper was quickly shortening.
"Aw, how unfortunate." Smith frowned slightly, clearly an act on her part. "The fame behind your name would make promoting you an ea-."
"Ahem," Aoi cleared her throat, rather loudly. Smith flinched slightly from the sudden noise. "Miss Smith, our flight?" Aoi wore a smile as she spoke, but her words were curt and dry. Smith quickly backed away from Akira and gave an almost innocent smile at Aoi, as if she was doing all of this to tease her.
"Right, our private jet should be here any minute. I'll get someone to take our luggage. Pardon me." Smith quickly left, leaving Akira and Aoi alone. Aoi scowled at Smith as she left, they'd definitely have to talk about that later.
"Anyway…" Akira spoke up. "How's your training coming along?"
"Great, I had a match with a karate fighter named Yuka Takeuichi, then a duel with Kuro, so things have been rather intense lately."
"Yuka… that rising karate champion?"
"Yes, she was pretty strong. I lost, but we'll have a rematch soon enough." They continued to talked, mostly about how they were doing, how they were training, promising to make time to spar with each other again at some point. It was always nice to talk to Akira like this. He was probably the only guy she could talk to about martial arts related topics. Most guys at her college just puffed up their chests and tried to talk tough whenever she brought up her training, going as far as to challenge her and usually end up losing (then avoiding her afterwards). With Akira they could just talk as equals and rivals, no bragging, no petty debates over who was stronger, just two fighters discussing fighting and other topics. Before long Smith came back to tell Aoi the private jet had arrived.
"Well, I'll be off now." Aoi stood up and patted Akira on the shoulder. "We really should have a rematch when I get back."
"You know where I'll be Aoi."
"Yeah, deep in the mountains relearning how to use a cell phone again." She received another finger-jab.
"Not funny."
"It was a little funny."
"If you two are done flirting…" Aoi turned to see Kuro and her father standing near, both looking rather impatient. Whoops… She gave her family a nervous smile and quickly said her goodbyes to Akira before turning her attention to them.
"Do your best when you get there now." Her father began. "You're representing our dojo as well as those you work under, so be respectful."
"Of course father."
"And don't lose either." Kuro added. "You beat me after all, so it'd look bad if you lost to anyone else." Aoi let out a small laugh.
"Don't worry Kuro, I'll make sure to win my match this time." Kuro only scoffed at Aoi's words, but said nothing else. In her own way Kuro did care for Aoi, even if she was a bit aggressive about showing it. "Well, I'm off now. Wish me luck." With that Aoi, quickly followed Smith to the jet. Next stop, South Korea.
"So, that was the famous Akira Yuki?" Smith spoke at last once the jet had taken off.
"Ah, yes. We're old friends."
"Interesting…"
"Interesting?" Aoi narrowed her eyes at Smith. "Miss Smith, it almost sounded like you were trying to trade me for Akira back at the airport." She did her best to keep her voice even, but remembering how insistence Smith was acting toward Akira made her think she was settling for sloppy seconds with Aoi.
"Oh, it's not that at all Miss Umenokoji, not at all." Smith dismissively waved her hand, trying cease Aoi's questioning. "It's just that we've tried several times to contact Mr. Yuki in the past, but he just seemed to drop off the face of the planet after every tournament." Aoi crossed her arms and frowned. She wasn't convinced, but she there was no point in continuing to press her manager, not yet anyway.
"He has a habit of doing a lot of secluded training back at his family dojo." Aoi stated. "Besides, he declined, so I hope you respect my friend's wish and leave him be." Smith frowned for only a moment before going back to her usual smile.
"Very well," Smith said nothing more after that for a while, leaving the two in awkward silence.
Aoi took a moment to look around the jet. She had heard private jets were a bit luxurious, but to actually see for herself how fancy they could be was eye-opening. The place was practically a small living room. There was a minibar, two beds, a couch, even a TV and DVD player. It was a lot to take in now that she had a chance to see everything. Thankfully the flight was only going to be about two hours, so it wasn't like she'd be using all these features yet. Sitting in silence and waiting to land was just fine by her. At least it was until Smith spoke up again.
"Actually, I wanted to show you something." Smith took out her briefcase and handed Aoi a few files within it. As Aoi glanced through them she recognized several of the pictures and names.
"These are-"
"Yup, I remember you saying you were in your college's Aikido club, so I took the liberty of reaching out to a few of the members." Smith puffed her chest out proudly. "We want to make the perfect crew for you and your future training, complete with personal trainers, a professional gym, tailored sparring partners, the works." Aoi continued looking through the files. They weren't just a list of her club members, Smith had files on trainers, fighters, and many other people that would be overall helpful to her goals. She even had a list of recommend diets. Wow… she really went all out. "Your thoughts?" Aoi found herself stunned. She almost felt bad for being so harsh with her before. Almost.
"I… well, it's a lot to take in." She admitted.
"We'll go slow, take it week by week after this match, alright?"
"Sure. Thank you for the opportunity Miss Smith." I guess she isn't as self-serving as I thought… She continued looking through the files, absorbing as much information as she could. Everything was looking good until...
"Miss Smith, mind if I ask you a question?"
"Sure Miss Umenokoji, ask away."
"What is this?" Aoi took out a few sheets from a file and showed it to Smith. The color immediately drained from Smith's face as she froze in place, staring at the sheets. The sheets in question were several sketches and photos of mannequins wearing many different types of outfits. From the sketches it was clear they were meant to be Aoi, and each sketch had Smith's signature on them, so either Smith drew them herself or commissioned them. Most of the outfits were fairly traditional, similar to Aoi's usually style, but some were clearly just meant to show off her curves. Several were clearly meant to show off her curves in fact. After glance through a few photos and pictures Aoi couldn't tell if they were for her or for a geisha.
"Um… gee, what are those?" Smith tried her hardest to give her best smile and innocent tone, but it quickly faltered under Aoi's harsh glare.
"Miss Smith…" Aoi gripped the sheets tightly. Smith was sweating under Aoi's intense gaze, shrinking further and further into her seat.
"Well Miss Umenokoji, they're just, um… we just wanted to make you look more appealing to audience, you know? Play up that traditional, Yamato Nadeshiko, Japanese Beauty angle!" Aoi's glare only sharpened as Smith spoke.
"Hmph." Aoi turned away and placed the photos and pictured back into the file, leaving one out and showing it to Smith. "This one." Smith stared at the picture in confusion. It was one of Smith's sketches, a black kimono top with only one sleeve on the right, leaving the top left side exposed save for sarashi around the chest area, the back of the outfit having J6's logo on it, and black hakama for the pants. It definitely had a traditional look about it that Aoi liked, and it show off enough of her body that she was willing to deal with. "I'll wear this one."
"O-Okay…" With unsteady hands Smith took the photo. "I'll have it commission right away…"
"You do that." The rest of the plane ride was in silence after that until they at last reached their landing site at the J6 South Korean headquarters.
After taking care of all their business and arrangements at the J6 headquarters, Smith led Aoi to where she'd be staying while in South Korea. They'd be in the J6 headquarters, but apparently Smith had prepared living arrangements for Aoi. That itself wasn't too surprising considering all the things they had already done for her, but she still was caught off guard by how easily the company could do all these things for her. It was almost scary when she thought about it.
"And here is you're your room!" Smith stopped once they reached the end of the hallway, a door in front of them. It looked like a normal apartment door, but once Smith opened it and showed Aoi her room she only stare, wide-eyed and speechless at what she saw. The room wasn't just nice, it was practically custom-made for her. It was traditional Japanese-style room, from the calligraphy on the walls, to the futon in the corner, to the small table in the center, right down to the tatami flooring. It was like a piece of her dojo was cut out and planted right inside the J6 headquarters. Aoi had to look back at the carpet floor behind them just to make sure they were in the same building.
"Miss Smith…"
"Oh? You like it?" Smith clapped her hands together, giving a satisfied smirked. "We redid the room just for you! Nothing's too much for our little warri-"
Aoi's head snapped in Smith's direction. She too wore a smile, but it held no warmth to it. "Please tell you didn't just assume I'd want a room like this because of my lifestyle?" For all the venom in her voice and all the murderous intent she was forcing onto her manager, Smith didn't falter, maintaining an innocent face. It seemed Aoi's last dose of venom had made Smith immune to her fouler side.
"Are you saying you don't like it?" Aoi's smile twitched at the question. In all honesty she did like it, it was familiar and made it easier to adjust to her new surroundings. And if she was being honest, she really couldn't sleep in anything but a futon anyway. But… but… the assumption that she'd want this without asking just felt overbearing! She wanted to scold Smith for this, but doing so would mean either going to a new room she didn't want, or having Smith bring up something about their contract. And worse of all, that damn smile on Smith's face wouldn't go away. She said nothing, but Aoi could tell that Smith was just gloating behind her kind smile, laughing at how Aoi couldn't say anything either some consequence coming up she didn't want. She had won this round.
"It's fine!" She turned her head away and let out a quiet sigh. It seemed she'd never beat Smith in a battle of words, so she took her shoes off and walked in with Smith following behind. "In any case, about my match…"
"Ah yes, the match." Smith made her way to a small table and sat down, Aoi following suit. "On your end it's very simple, just show up to the dojang in uniform and win!" Aoi raised an eye at that.
"That's… it?"
"For you at least. I still have to finish organizing things before the match. Get the camera crew, call Miss Lee and confirm the date of the fight. Just a lot of business stuff."
Aoi sighed, the lack of involvement she had bugged her, but she'd manage. "Very well then."
"Oh don't worry Miss Umenokoji, everything will be ready in three days, so just train hard until then and do your best during the match, your manager will take care of everything!"
"If you say so."
