Maybe It's Better Off This Way
The Jerk Speaks: Recently, I got this mail that told me about how we are being kicked off because we respond to the feedback we get from the reviews. Well, I don't know how bad has gotten this biz', to be honest; but I mean, what's the point? (In kicking people off for such thing).
We use this space(that has given to us rightfully) to thank the readers for taking time out of their lives and read the fix we ellaborate. So i think the guys that manage over ff shoul at least respect that much. Ok, that's all there is in me for the ranting... let's get this thing going and... oh, yeah, disclaimer and such are at the bottom.
Chapter 01: I do not want this.
Hong Kong. Many Days Later
Even if its political situation is hard to explain, Hong Kong is a natural center for the biz'. Though densely populated, this is one of the places with most freedom in the whole world.
Anything a tourist, businessman, or even a warlord could ever dream of, can be found here… its part of the pride of being a Hong Kong citizen: To know that, with the right amount of cash, you can get pretty much anything.
(So crowded… maybe I shouldn't have come at this time of year).
Lost on his thoughts, a reddish-brown haired tourist seemed to ignore the sight that a junk ship gave to Hong Kong's bay.
"Oh, you enjoying yourself, young friend?" The Junk owner asked him in English with a heavy Cantonese accent. Even when he wasn't noticing his surrounds, Hoshi did his best to smile at the query.
"Quite, sir" Ryu answered in a perfect pronunciation.
"Oh, you from America?" Although his skin was a bit lighter than the usual Japanese, it wasn't really American-like.
"No. Japan"
"Ah, you speak very English"
" Thank You " Ryu answered to the compliment in perfect Cantonese.
" Ah! Such a smart young man. You also speak my language greatly "
(At least all that spare time paid off for something) He thought.
A good thinking Ryu had when he left his gi bagged. He didn't wanted to stand out. Not in this place. Half-hour of time consumed, the Junk Ship finally arrived to the coast. After paying up his travel fee, he finally put one foot on earth.
(Wish the situation didn't call for this visit).
A couple of Hours Later
Away from the urban chaos that represents being a peasant on Hong Kong, Ryu finally made it to his destination. Not a very crowded place… a graveyard.
On his left hand, Ryu was carrying a dozen of white roses, in a beautifully arranged bouquet. Many memories came back with his arrival to this place.
/--/
- You really think you can beat me, silly girl?
- For the sake of my father's memory, I WILL!
/--/
The Head-banded peasant suddenly reached for the lower back of his head, using his right fingers to ease the pain. He didn't had to rush things… he walked between the tombstones with a slow, almost lysergic pace.
Finally, he ceased his move right in front of a small tombstone. The surface looked quite dirty… seems that no one has given the proper cleansing to this grave. Ryu lay the bouquet in the resting axis of the tombstone. After doing so, he lowered his head a bit, while the usual sound of a clenched, crackling fist took place.
"If you had listened to me, things wouldn't be like this" Ryu closed his eyes, as he felt another living presence approaching him.
" Perhaps the loss of a loved one drives you to do such " The voice that interrupted Ryu's self-lecture was strong. Ryu opened his left eye to take a look at the newcomer.
" And, since when you can contact the dead? " Ryu closed his eye yet again.
" I really doubt you would really want to know the things I'm capable of… Fei-Long "
Dressed in a designer's black trench coat and wearing black sunglasses, Fei-Long stopped dead on his tracks, a bit amazed by the tone Ryu used.
"The only thing that still amazes me is to see that you have the nerve to show your face here" The world-famous movie star also knew his stuff on English matters. His tone showed that he had no fear for simple words.
"Don't worry… I'll be on my way. I just wanted to—"
"Pay your respects? Forgive me if I don't buy your façade right away" After the Chinese Dragon's remark, Ryu directed a fearful gaze towards him.
"Oh, already getting cranked up? I thought sifu-Gen had taught you better than that. No wonder things turned out the way they did"
"Take. It. Back" All signs of Ryu's normal voice were quickly fading, as his tone become more and more somber.
"Already getting sifted, aren't we?"
"I said— STOP IT!" Along with a strong voice, the projection of Ryu's ki came out. Fei-Long was paralyzed after witnessing a bit of Ryu's anger.
A few moments passed by, with a dead silence between both warriors. After taking his shades off, Fei-Long's eyes stayed wide open, watching how the man standing in front of him returned his breathing pattern slowly back to normal.
After finally getting calmed down, Ryu let out a long sigh.
"I can't blame you, really. But you have to believe me, the scars are real, and I don't mean the physical ones" After his statement, the Japanese warrior directed a melancholic look at the grave…
Fei-Long glared at him for a moment, before lowering his glare. Ryu was walking towards him but, instead of stopping to have a word with the famous martial arts movie star, he just passed right by him…
"I—I'm sorry. It's just hard for me to believe that it's been 6 months already" Now Ryu was the one frozen dead on his tracks.
"At the very least her death wasn't in vain"
"Yeah, the world has a psychotic megalomaniac less to worry about. Many, many more to go" The ironic tone used by Fei-Long didn't concealed the fact that he was indeed sad.
"She was something of a sibling to you, was it?" A tainted smile was marked across the movie star's face after hearing such question.
"Yeah, my brave wish-to-be little sister" Fei-Long headed towards the grave where Ryu had left his bouquet. After opening his trench coat, he revealed a very special arrangement of flowers. Almost with a contrast towards the white roses Ryu carried, the red roses seemed to summon a flare around the grave.
"You know… she had a thing for you" Ryu stood amazed after hearing Fei-Long saying those words.
"Y-y-you…?" Ryu looked aside. "I guess—it was that obvious, isn't it?"
"Of course; you weren't precisely Mr. Ladies man. Well, at the very least you took a hint"
Ryu lowered his head once again. He's been through this before. Even his long time friend had told him about this particular issue.
"Let's… not talk about it" Fei-Long chuckled ironically.
"You're right. All of us could use a closure"
Fei-Long finally stopped staring at the grave and, as he stood up, he closed his trench coat once again. Heading towards the spot Ryu was standing, he tapped the Japanese warrior on the shoulder, without looking at him.
"Was nice to see you…"
"Ditto—" Ryu cleared his throat for a second. "…Hope you make it big with that drama film"
Fei-Long turned back. He couldn't help but to chuckle mirthlessly. "The things they put out on TV these days…" He said in a playing tone.
"See you" He turned his head back on the road. A few moments later, Fei-Long was gone.
A strong wind blew Ryu's bangs off his face, revealing his left eye. He suddenly looked aside in awe. After a second, he returned to his cold mood.
"You give that old corpse too much credit" a hand appeared on his right shoulder. The hand looked quite delicate, with black manicure on every single fingernail. It looked like this hand has never been onto a real combat.
"Silence. We're in a resting place. The very least you can do to pay your respects is to keep that yapper of yours tight shut"
"Jeez, didn't know you could be such a prude little one"
(Why couldn't you just leave me alone? I'm paying my respects to someone I held dear).
His thoughts weren't that unknown actually. All he wanted to do is to beat the hell off this person. After a while, this mysterious person revealed its identity. It was that same woman of a few days earlier. She had that long, perfectly combed black hair.
"Oh, so you don't respect her anymore? That's good. I'm tired of people paying respects to a bunch of fucking corpses" Ryu wasn't surprised that she could read his mind.
"Take for instance all those famous wankers that passed on at a young age. They die, and a decade after, people keeps on moping about them. Talk about sad shit"
"Listen…uh…" Ryu didn't know the name of this woman.
"Bianchi… Sophie"
"Right. Listen Sophie; I really don't care about your 2 cents right now. Just leave me be for the moment… then I can go back and figure out that riddle you planted in my head"
Sophie smiled. Her skin was white as snow… her eyes were a mixture of blue and green, as if she was a siren, instead of an ordinary woman. She directed a look at the tombstone.
"Xiang Chun-Li rests here… How sad. No eulogy? Oh, right. She was some kind of a special op and shit, wasn't she?" Ryu shrugged between his both crossed arms after hearing that despising comment.
"Her name was Chun-Li. And she was an Interpol agent, which is more of what I can say about you right now"
"My, my. Fei-Long sure nailed it with that statement. You truly get worked up ea—" Suddenly, she was cut off on her obvious end for the noun. A strong hand was the main culprit for such.
"Gg-ui—plet—"
"Listen…" He wasn't letting go off her neck. Yet Ryu interrupted again, but instead of using his strength, he opted for the spoken option. "If you EVER pretend to stay around me, the very least you can do is try your best and pass unnoticed. I barely know who you are, don't force me to do away with you"
Even when she was being choked to unconsciousness by Ryu's tight grasp on her neck, she let one smiling grin to be noticed by the ankatsuken warrior. This of course disturbed him greatly.
"Oh really? You? The strong-willed poster boy for the council's scheme? Kill me? Just how pricelessly hilarious is that" If this was some kind of plot from her part, it was being played by just perfect, for Ryu's next action was…
SLAP!
Using his spare hand, the white head-banded warrior backslapped Sophie. She fell flat to the ground.
While cleaning the blood off her lower lip, she began smiling again, as she stood up.
"You can't even fight seriously against a stupid fan-girl who begs and begs for you to accept her as your pupil… and you expect to be able to go on and kill ME?" Ryu's eyelids were wide open. The ball's in her court once again.
"Oh, yes Ryu. I know about your dear fan, Kasugano Sakura. I also know that you weren't courageous enough to tell her to stay off your way… oh, but why's that?" Her hypocrite tone could be detected easily. Ryu could be a little naïve, but as Fei-Long said earlier: he's still able to take a hint.
"Oh, riiiiiiight! Because you have, up to this date, hidden feelings for her, isn't it?" Her fake smile towards him couldn't be more disgusted for his eyesight.
Ryu scoffed, and turned his back on her. He was about to leave the cemetery on the opposite direction that he first came in from.
"Awww, did po' widdle Demian's kiddo weels wad?" Even when she used a playful tone, her dialogue burned in Ryu's mind. He stopped his attempt to leave the cemetery.
(Demian? Who's that? Was he…?)
"Your father tried to avoid his destiny, and it didn't ended pretty for him. Why don't you just embrace it?" Her tone was dry. Now she's being honest… at least that's what Ryu wanted it to be like. After those lines, Ryu resumed on his path. However…
"Because we're the architects of our own destiny, Sophie. Regimes are just illusions created by people's own definition of both power and prowess, while using their abilities to control weak minds who allow such"
Sophie decided to follow him, as she was clearly surprised for that demonstration of logic.
"… Wow… I didn't expect that, I must say" Suddenly, she stopped from following him.
When he realized—
"Say, what's bothering you know?" He said, while turning back to stare back at Sophie.
"Remember when I said that, if you were strong enough, we may see each other again?"
"I recall that, yes…"
"… Well, let's say I wasn't supposed to come and meet you here" Ryu let out a sigh.
"You're something of a nuisance, did you knew that?" She shrugged, while taking both of her hands to her back.
"Well, now I do hope you're strong enough to survive and meet me again" After hearing her argument, Ryu rolled his eyes.
"Damn it—" Ryu took a quick look at his current dressing code. "--Ugh, I'm not even properly dressed for this"
"Um, sorry?" She smiled, trying to show a shadow of sympathy. With not much luck, really.
"Just go already, would you?" After that, Sophie started to walk towards the other gate of this otherwise silent place. While still walking away…
"Hey, I said I was sorry, OK?" She said in quite a loud voice, while she kept on running.
After witnessing Sophie disappear between the graves, he directed his gaze towards his back. A strange presence could be felt. As he reached for his left pocket. After finally getting his left hand off it, he started to adjust his red gloves into both hands.
He couldn't delay anymore. The presence was getting closer and closer with every passing second. Instead of looking concerned, Ryu seemed bored.
(This is…no, I can't come with a word that explains how ridiculously redundant this is) His thoughts would be audible, if it wasn't for the fact that a thick mist started to surround him.
Finally, a shadow could be sighted in front of the head-banded warrior. It was humongous.
(Oh, well--) Ryu pouted silently. It looks like it's about to become a large afternoon.
Disclaimer: I don't own Street Fighter or anything related to it. I'm glad for such thing--
Foot Notes: If you have any problem reading this thing, well you're a freaking a-- I mean, here's some guidelines:
Stuff written between these things> means that one character is using languages other than english and japanese.
(Stuff Written like this) means that the character is holding thoughts to her/himself.
/--/ Stuff written between these two thingies means a flashback is happening /--/
Well, cya'... and remember, say YES to keep responding to your feedback!