Chapter 14: Asuka Kazama... The Cook?
The loud bubbling of boiling water is heard... and behind a seemingly large rice cooker, something was slowly raising the head above the top, and that something, was no other than Asuka Kazama... and judging by all the sweat dripping down from her cheeks and the almost comical cramped facial expression on her face, her nervousness was all too real, while she desperately looked back and forth. First at the rice cooker and then at the cooking guide in her right hand, while holding a wooden spoon in the other one. However, her movements were a little slower and much more thoughtful than usual, as a few days ago, Ishi has beaten her nearly to unconsciousness and she was left with a few blue spots everywhere, especially on her hip and her head has been half-way bandaged, because of a bleeding wound on her forehead and it looked like a sweat-band around her head...
"Oh man... why does my brain tell me... that I am doing something completely wrong here...?! I couldn't possibly be THIS bad at cooking...!"
When all four hearths came into vision, it became clear... it was a mess. The red, spicy Thai sauce from the pot on the top left was literally almost leaving the pot and some has already dripped down from the edges and gets disintegrated in thick smoke. The boiling broccoli doesn't have it as rosy as well. When Asuka picked one of them up with a fork, she already felt how soggy it was and before long, it slipped out of the fork's ends with little to no problem, with the floor being its destination and since it was still hot, it also landed on Asuka's, unfortunately, bare foot, which immediately caused her to groan loudly in pain, while clutching her burning foot, jumping up and down in the most hilarious fashion, before then turning around in a really angry way to growl at all the materials before her.
"I won't let this simply sit on me! This WILL be delicious and NOBODY will tell Asuka Kazama otherwise! ...although, at this point I doubt it... but I WON'T fail! Beating the shit out of punks is my specialty and so should be cooking! ...although... no, NO 'although'! No, I will make it! All I need, is to stay calm and see what I can still fix..."
First, she checked on the red Thai sauce, that was at the brink of completely leaving the boiling-hot pot and she did so, by tasting the sauce... however, it wasn't an easy task, since the sauce has become so chunky, the spoon couldn't pick the sauce properly up anymore.
"Shit, now it's all lumpy! That's the limit!"
She took a long, suspicious sniff to smell the sauce, without even noticing, that her dark-blue hoodie, at about her sacred chest-area, has become dangerously close to the now open pot of the boiling water with the broccoli, with her having forgotten to put the pot lid back on... but she doesn't notice anything, until...
"Hmmm... the sauce smells like dirty, wet wool... and what heat in here..."
...she NOW notices the burning in her chest and she quickly pulled away, while clutching her breasts together and cooing loudly in agony.
"Ow, ow, ow, ow... what a moron I am..."
She then quickly brought out two little ice-packs, turned off all the hearths, including the rice cooker and pressed the two cooling packages against her most sensitive area with her almost crying at how much it hurt her... and when she looked at all this mess, she shook her head in disappointment, finally accepting her failure...
"Heh... look at this... my first time cooking... and now it looks like on the battlefield here... that's just fantastic... not. I only hope... this won't be too bad in taste. Looks gross, but... looks aren't everything... right?"
After having calmed down a little, she prepared everything, ready to be brought to the table. Just like she expected, both her parents and her new "partner in crime", Hwoarang, were all waiting for her, really excited for the results of her cooking... their anticipating looks, that just literally scream for the stuff that she made, made her heart pump completely out of control...
"Please, please, please... don't be bad, don't be bad, don't be bad, don't be bad..."
When the plates were on the table, everyone on the table starts getting doubts of this tasting good, from the first looks alone... and Hwoarang is the first to notice it.
"Don't know about you guys, but... doesn't this stuff smell burnt?"
"Now that you mention it... it kind of does, I can't deny..."
Asuka heard everything and her nervousness grew all the more intense, the more she listened to them show slight complains... and since she was sitting right next to Hwoarang, she was also feeling awful for having failed at cooking something tasty. Since he saved her bacon a few days ago, her hostility towards the Korean has slightly vanished and she knew, she had to thank him dearly for having protected her, even though she was planning on declining his support, because as usual, she fights by herself... and to show her gratitude to him, she made the vow, that in a few days, she shall take the cooking-crown and take the lead for the dinner this time... she always wanted to try cooking, as she knew, it was slowly time to finally learn how to cook... but since this meal is SURE to be a massive failure, due to a few mistakes she made, she felt like she let him and her family down... and Hwoarang noticed it.
"Hey, what is it, Asuka? You're so silent, that's totally unlike you... come on, cheer up!"
"Shut up... you WILL hate me for this afterwards, trust me...!"
"Oh please, why all so gloomy? I mean, sure, it doesn't look this appetizing, but it could be way worse. After the days of my training with Baek, THIS is nothing. Anyways, time to eat! Time to celebrate our victory over the Homokoro gang!"
"I agree!"
"Asuka, dear, me and your father were really glad you made it! I know, it's your duty, but we were still worried about you and Hwoarang, so today, let us move on from this conflict and enjoy the dinner, with which you took your time to cook for us!"
"..."
The female Japanese couldn't do anything to prevent them from putting the toxic stuff in their mouths... and then... it all ends with their faces turning painfully red and with them screaming in agony.
"OH MY GOD, WHAT IS THAT IN MY MOUTH?!"
"ASUKA, WHAT DID YOU DO?!"
Then all three quickly grabbed for their glasses full of water and drank up everything, until there wasn't any drop of water left in their glasses. Hwoarang then angrily turned his attention to Asuka, who also couldn't help but growl at her, because he thinks, she might have tried to let him suffer.
"What kind of food is this?! Are you trying to kill me, or what?!"
"I am sorry, please don't yell at me! This was my first time, alright?! It was never my intention to let it turn out like this!"
"Hwoarang... behave yourself... please..."
"Give me a good reason why!"
"It's enough! Let us all take a deep breath... and then calm ourselves, please... yelling at my daughter won't do anything..."
"Fine..."
They all then did, what Mitsuko requested them all to do... and after that, she asks Asuka to follow her into the kitchen to have a conversation between four eyes and once there, she began to speak again, this time in a soothing way, as she could clearly sense her daughter feeling awful for having failed this one meal and that she was close of throwing a temper tantrum...
"Asuka... listen to me. Don't be sad, that you messed up this one meal, OK? It's completely normal to make mistakes like these, especially for those, that don't do cooking on a daily basis, so... trust me, I was feeling just as bad as you, when I cooked for the very first time in my younger days, but since it's in the very nature of all of us to learn from our bad, first experiences, I don't see a reason to be harsh to yourself. I know, you are a perfectionist, but even THESE people make mistakes sometimes, because you can't be born with abilities, right taken off the bat, otherwise, you'd rather be called god... which luckily, you aren't..."
"And what if I WANT to be perfect and forget all my flaws? Otherwise others would simply look and laugh at me at the same time?"
"NOBODY ever said, you HAVE to take responsibility for everything and I am sure, everyone will understand."
These last three words made the girl a little bit angry, since she had to think of what Ishi did to her, and how unforgiving she was to her, while having beat the crap out of her, so she folded her arms together in a rejecting manner, while letting out a significantly loud, sarcastic-filled scoff.
"Yeah, much like Ishi understood me, when I didn't follow my own strict guidelines for protection of the innocent and simply let her beat me to bits, because of me not having been there for her son, when he desperately needed me? Yup, that's EXACTLY what you probably meant by that with "understanding me"..."
"Don't be ridiculous, it was just ONE person, and you simply let yourself get worked up, all because for ONE mistake that you made? Like I said, NOBODY is perfect ...why won't you believe me and finally realize, what me and Hwoarang, tried to tell you?"
The young Kazama looked away in shame and bit her lower lip, as she tried to hide her coming tears... she didn't take this beating, that she received from that one woman, in who she could kind of see herself and relate to in many ways than one, very lightly, as she was right... she was everything, that Ishi mentioned... most specifically, a hypocrite... she wants to help people, yet at the same time, she harms other people, all for the sake of "safety", without realizing, that all she does, is simply making everything worse... and even though, the situation might have calmed down between her and the Homokoro gang, it won't be the last time, they will have met one another... with all this in mind, Asuka responded to her mother's question, with a soft and somewhat hurt voice.
"Mum... I am trying my hardest to believe both you and Red Hawk, but... in the current situation I am in... you kinda give me a REAL difficult time... I appreciate your help, I really do... but..."
She then looks up and shook her head, trying to choke back a sob.
"I-I need some time alone... p-please let me go..."
But Mitsuko understood her daughter's dilemma, as she heard everything of what happened between Asuka and Ishi through Hwoarang... and since she hates to see her own off-spring this upset and discouraged, she let her go, before leaving a kiss on her cheek.
"Take all the time you need, my dear... you have all the time in the world."
"Thanks mum..."
And with that, Asuka slowly headed for her room to remain there for the rest of the night... and when she reached her bed, she collapsed on her fluffy pillow and looks into nothingness with her blank eyes... until she began to reminisce of Ishi's words again, to the point of utter agony and desperate attempts to shake it all off... to no avail.
"YOU ARE NOTHING, ASUKA KAZAMA! You don't help anyone, but yourself with your own interpretation of "judgement" and to do that, you simply stick your nose in situations, that aren't even supposed to be part of your own concerns!"
Asuka's breathing became heavier, to the point, where she began sweating... she wanted to deny all these claims, just trying to call Ishi's words complete nonsense, but whatever she did, she couldn't help, but sense some correctness in her own quotes... her confusion, both emotionally and in deciding, of what she should do next, with her courage to keep on fighting for what she thinks is right, now being completely crushed to pieces, simply knew no bounds anymore. First Hwoarang and now Ishi... their voices rang through her mind, as she remembered how she lost to these two and what the cause was for her failure... but in the end, it didn't help anything... but she still couldn't accept her two losses... in act of rage, she looks at her balled, right fist and starts growling in a loud and frustrated way, as the mere thought of having lost two times in a row and having failed to be there for someone, drove her beyond the edge and instead of breaking down in tears, tears of rage ran down her cheeks, as she then suddenly starts punching her cramped-together blanket...
"Why, why, why, why, why?! WHY DID I LOSE?! I gave everything, I've got! And yet-"
She then throws her teddybear against the door with all force, before going over to punch her own teddy instead, while still crying at the same time.
"I FAILED! You've really got to be the biggest failure of life, IF YOU CAN'T EVEN BEAT TWO EVERY-DAY DELINQUENTS, EVEN THOUGH I'VE BEEN BEATING GUYS LIKE THEIR KIND BEFORE BREAKFAST! WHY! DID! I! LOSE?!"
She then throws one final punch against the teddybear's head, before then breaking down onto the floor, starting to sob loudly, while clutching on her teddybear for dear life... never before, has she felt so alone, so while facing the truth, right into the eye...
"Just... what shall I do... what is wrong with me...? Am I really... that much of a failure...? It can't be true... I love my city... and I love the inhabitants... as much as I love my family... was it all... for nothing...? Did I only waste time...?"
It was in that moment, when she heard someone knocking at the door and when the voice came in, she realized, it was Hwoarang... and she could clearly hear the slight hint of concern in his voice, aside from the otherwise always sarcastic tone in his way of speech.
"Hey, Mrs. Protector-of-the-Innocent, are you there?"
But since she couldn't forget her humiliating defeat against "Red Hawk", she put all the blame on him for all of her problems and her hostility became all too real, once she stood up, abruptly opening the door to find a Hwoarang, who has his arms folded together, while keeping a serious look to his face, despite Asuka's constant yelling, which she targeted all on him and even when she brutally pushed him three times in a desperate way, in order to finally make him leave, Hwoarang resisted and defended himself against it, before pushing her away from himself, which she didn't bother countering, because her powers left her and there she was, on her knees, covering her tear-soaked face with one hand and with the other touching the cold wall next to her... and even this didn't break Hwoarang emotionally.
"LEAVE ME ALONE! Get lost... I don't want to see your stupid face...! GO AWAY! If it hadn't been for you, my life would have probably stayed normal! If it hadn't been for you, Ishi might have NEVER gotten the idea of messing with me a second time! I... I... I HATE YOU! Go away...!"
But despite seeing her in this miserable state, Hwoarang remained deadly serious, because he most likely didn't feel like crying with her and watching her like that, a girl that used to nearly beat him and being always fired up for more, made him cringe... now all he sees before himself is a weak and pathetic cry-baby... but at the same time, he knew, insulting her wouldn't do anything... so he kept it to himself and instead decided to go a little distant from her.
"...let me guess, you still didn't get over the fact, that you lost against me, am I right?"
Silence. But Hwo remained resistant and kept on going to speak some sense into her in hopes of taming her anger... in the back of his mind, he felt terribly sorry for Asuka and watching her carry this heavy burden of protecting the entire city all by herself, was way too painful for him to simply not paying attention to it, but he remained cold, as he hates to be too much of a softy to women in general...
"OK then... then it must be your loss against Ishi, or probably both? In any case... let me just give you one quick piece of advice for the future..."
He took a deep breath and then starts to speak, trying to sound as serious as possible to make it more impacting.
"You won't ever succeed in this world, if you simply deny the facts and wish to forever live in the safety of your own shell... sooner or later, you will have to leave that shell and once you do... it will already be too late for you... good luck with it."
And with that, he left, leaving Asuka with that message, to which she remembered every single word, just to be safe... and before she knew it, she quickly wiped her eyes dry and went, completely emotionally numb, to bed to sleep, as she had school tomorrow... for some reason, after having listened to Hwoarang's short speech... her sleep was somewhat peaceful that night... the reason might be, that Hwoarang must have cleared something up for her... but this still wasn't enough to convince her... for a start however, it wasn't TOO much in vain at least... and it should only get uphill from here.
The next day after school...
After having seen her test-results, which all of them turned out to be majorly average, except for maths, which she hated in general and was below-average in terms of score in the grades, she was immediately on her way home... by foot... but on the way there, she heard someone yelling out curse words and it didn't quite sound like someone from here.
"Hm, I think, this might be the best excuse for me today to not come home earlier..."
She quickly took out her phone to type to their parents, that someone seemed to need her help at something and that she might need a little bit longer to come home and as soon as she typed the message, she ran to the place, from where she heard that yelling... and in the meantime over there, a bearded, chinese-looking man was yelling at a group of troublemakers, that dared to attack him, because they wanted to sabotage the area behind the man, that seems to look like a chinese restaurant... and the people inside were completely terrified to watch these three men causing trouble to the owner of this restaurant... who turns out to be the infamous martial artist and owner of the branch 'Marshall-China', which just got restarted from scratch again after a success at the 7th Iron Fist tournament... Marshall Law.
"Who do you think you are, demolishing my property and scaring away my beloved customers?! What do you even want from me?"
"All we want is your money, now hand it over pal, or..."
Then suddenly, he grabs a nearby woman around her throat and pulls a knife out of his pocket to press the edge against her Adam's apple, ready to cut through. Law could only watch in shock.
"Leave this woman alone! She hasn't done anything!"
"Do I look like a give a shit? Give me your money, or SHE will have to die... by too much bloodloss!"
"You really are desperate! Let her go, or else-"
"Or else what?"
And everyone involved suddenly froze, when they heard a female voice behind the troublemakers...
"It will be ME, who is going to kick your sorry ass."
And the men found himself getting kicked in the head from behind, thus letting go of the poor woman and the knife and his two men followed shortly after and when Asuka looked over to see, who the men were threatening, she became curious, because the man looked like, she has seen him before...
"Hey... do I know you from somewhere?"
And to her surprise, Law was just as puzzled, because he also had the same feeling about Asuka...
"I could ask you the same question... haven't I seen you, back in the Iron Fist tournaments?"
But Asuka saw one of the criminals swinging back at her, so she quickly dodged it and kicked the same man, that just assaulted her, away.
"You know what? Save the chit-chat for later and lend me a hand here already!"
The Chinese shrugged, while slowly approaching her and the thugs.
"Whatever has happened to the magic word 'Please'..."
He then screams his trademark battle-cry, before throwing a flying kick at one of the criminals, that really sent him flying, which shocked Asuka, as that kick could have also taken her along, since he only passed by, mere inches away from her face... and it brushed her skin like the sharp, booming wind, with his opponent flying away from the two.
"That will teach you a thing or two on how to have proper manners in a restaurant!"
Asuka was amazed at how much force he put into that one kick and he could see the one criminal lifting himself back up for more, as he ran back to attack Law.
"Was that all! WAS THAT ALL?!"
"So you've ordered another beating, sir? Well, then let me be so nice and give it to you for free this time!"
He keeps on taunting the thug, by doing a 'Fake Step' back, waiting for his enemy to come closer and once he punched pass Law, as he stepped one more step back, he finds himself getting sent flying with Law's 'Dragon Knuckle', that lands a massive hit against his gut.
"Presto!"
Asuka was amazed at how swift and unexpected that one punch with the knuckle looked like, even though it only happened so fast, because the thug let himself get distracted by his 'Fake Step'.
"Awesome... he packed one massive punch there..."
The thug, who has landed many feet away from the party, now made a run for it without looking back.
"You haven't seen the last of me!"
Law scoffs and then turns his attention towards the other two thugs, that are standing close to Asuka... and both of them froze at his ice-cold and sharp look, as he slowly approached the three, including the young Kazama.
"You should know... I hate bad table manners... but what I despise even MORE... are punks, who don't know how to be proper with their behaviour..."
He then starts cracking his knuckles.
"And because of this..."
And then... he brutally punches the two thugs away, with Asuka ducking, thus avoiding the devastating punch, all the while staring at Law's enraged look.
"...YOU THREE ARE BANNED FROM GETTING ANYWHERE NEAR MY RESTAURANT!"
That one punch was strong enough to let the two criminals eat brick, as they broke through a brick wall behind Asuka, which really made her jaw drop this time.
"AMAZING!"
And after letting his stiff neck crack, he goes back inside his restaurant and he is greeted by soft, yet firm-sounding applause and clapping by his customers, as they were glad, it's finally over with these dudes bothering their meal and their time off. Law didn't actually expect them to salute him, but he took it all with a smile to show, that he was grateful, however on the inside, he didn't feel comfortable with it, since he actually hated to harm others like that... Asuka then realized, after awaking from a her frozen trance, that he owned this restaurant... and then she felt her empty stomach growl, as she took the wonderful smell of fried noodles into her air-intake with utter delight...
"Am I in heaven? This smell... it's so good... well, while I am here, a little plate of fried noodles wouldn't hurt."
As soon as she sat down on one of the stools, she has already ordered fried rice with plenty of pork meat and it got delivered to her, just on time, warm and fresh. The scent was so alluring to her, it didn't even take longer than two seconds for her to finally begin sipping the noodles up into her mouth... it had a spicy aftertaste, but she didn't mind that, as it was just too good for her... Law watched her, eating his food with pride, knowing he did it right... so he left his kitchen to go and look for her. He sat down next to her and began to speak, as he leans his head against the palm of his hand.
"I see, you love my style of cooking, huh?"
"Huh, oh yeah! I do! It's so good, I could literally shovel this stuff into me, until I am round like a gummy-ball!"
"Hahaha, I am glad to hear that..."
"By the way... you were just so cool back there! You kicked these assholes off and ripped them a new one! You, my friend, already have a place in my book 'Honourable People'."
Law wished, he could take this compliment with joy, but unfortunately, as he reminisces of his own criminal past, as of how he constantly tried to illegally get the money he needed so badly to get what he wanted, he kind of lost his good mood a little, as his smile disappeared...
"Ah..."
"Hm? D-Did I insult you or anything?"
"Not really, it's just... before you think, I am cool and hip, just because I beat some punks... if I want to be honest, and before you ask, no, I am not really proud of this... I only did this, because I had to, that's it. I bet, you would have done the same, if somebody should have dared to attack you in any way, shape or form..."
"Oh..."
Asuka didn't expect Law to be so held-back, when he isn't in action... in the tournaments, she always saw him being all fired up for the next opponent and whenever the odds were against him, he always seemed to have managed... his spirits inspired her, they motivated her... but seeing this side of him, was really new and surprising to her, she was almost stunned... however, since she didn't want to get that much into detail about this right now, as she didn't feel like thinking about what her close ones told her about accepting defeat and becoming a better one, at the moment. Then... she got an idea... since she really needed a few cooking-lessons to improve at her own cooking, and this stuff here was actually really delicious... she proceeded with asking the question:
"Hey, um... I know, this might be a little too much to ask... and I bet, you might disapprove of this, since you fear about your own brand... and you might even think I am a weirdo for requesting something like that completely out of the blue... but... could you teach me on how to cook, asian-style?"
And as Asuka suspected, this request did Law almost make him fall off his stool, with his eyes shooting wide open.
"What? You want me to teach you in the arts on how to cook properly? And why if I may ask?"
"Let's just stick with the fact: I am cooking like shit. So bad in fact, one of my fellows almost had to be sent to the hospital, so... I was wondering, if you had any tips that you could give me, on how to do this and that properly, without letting it end up miserably... and causing casualties afterwards."
"Is it really THAT bad? You must be bluffing."
"If I ever make jokes about something like that, ever again, you can call me the next Gordon James Ramsey."
"Hmmmmm..."
Law was silent for a few moments, until he then began to speak his mind out again.
"So you want me to teach you on how to cook, right?"
"Yes."
"You know... I could do that for you... IF you accept MY personal request to you. Two requests actually... the first being: Don't tell anyone of my secret ingredients, otherwise, my own business might go down the shitter, as everybody might imitate my style and then I will be screwed."
Asuka presses her knuckle against her chest as a sign of promise.
"You have my word on that..."
"I know, we won't work with my ingredients, but since I am the owner here... safety goes first. And... my second request is... I want to see, how strong YOU really are..."
"In other words... is that an invitation to a one-on-one match?"
"Indeed. And you may now ask, why would I ask you out on a match like that... the answer is as simple as it possibly could be... I need a training-partner to measure my strength, just to make sure, I didn't slack on anything... because it has been a while, ever since I seriously trained, so yes... my answer is: I am in search for a training-partner. My son could be the one... but sadly, he isn't here..."
"You have a son?"
"Yes, but he is still in New York. But he will come to visit me once..."
"Can I see him once?"
"If you want... anyways, as I was saying, I am in need for someone to spar with, so that I can keep my own training-schedule up... are you fine with that?"
This gave a lot for Asuka to think... since for one thing, she felt exhausted, because it wasn't long ever since she left her class and if she wanted to get cooking-lessons from him, she would need her parents' approval... but then Law had to mention something.
"But just as a reminder... I won't always have the time to train you in cooking, because I am a really busy man, but... since you seem to make the impression, that you could put up a good fight... in your case, let's make an exception... as long as your family is fine with it, unless they already know about this..."
"No, no, they don't... I better ask them first... even though, I hate doing that..."
"That's good... should they allow you to get under my wing for schooling in asian-style cooking..."
He looked around for a piece of paper and a pen, until he immediately went inside to get to his office and take the needed materials away from there... and so, he returned to the young Kazama and begins writing down an address on said paper... and as soon as he was done, he shows it to her...
"...meet me at this following address. It's a small temple, that goes by the name ShitennÅ-ji. Let's meet up there, as soon as you get your parents' approval. And before you do, call me under that following number. It's written down there, underneath the address. Well... are we cool?"
Asuka had to admit... she felt a little better, with a familiar-looking martial artist giving her a chance... and so she responded with a very light grin on her lips.
"Yes... yes, I am! You have my thanks. And thanks for the meal."
"It was my pleasure."
And with that being said, Asuka jumps off the stool and waved Law goodbye.
"Well... see you around."
"Good day, my dear."
And when Asuka was outside, she took a good long look at the piece of paper in her hands... she was sunk in her own thoughts... and she had to think of Law's words... but one thing IS for sure... she felt a little better for some reason... this one encounter lightened up her mood a little more, even if it isn't much... it was certainly a step forward. And so... she had to smile to herself...
"Maybe... only maybe... this might be MY chance to shine once again... but let's see... I sure as hell look forward to get toe-to-toe with this guy...!"
But when she looked up, she realized, the sky was getting darker and she comically jumped a little.
"What? Already so late?! Oh man, dad's gonna kill me!"
And with that she sped off in a hilarious manner... but with her mood having improved... she kind of felt... something interesting is going to happen, once she finds herself in the ring with this man...
TO BE CONTINUED...