Oh look PunishmentFactor is back after almost a decade, no its not the long-awaited finale to Draw Game, it's Juri and some rando NPC from SF6.
For anyone confused, Miharu Abeno is the shrine maiden in Ryu's stage. Very minor spoilers for Ryu's world tour and some of Juri's.
This was a fun little romp to write, it's been sitting in my drafts for a minute. Thanks to ProblematicYuriAuthor for beta reading. The original fic features several strikethroughs where Juri is either in denial or ignoring her feelings, but ff dot net doesn't support that formatting, you can check it out on A03.
Juri strolled out of the convenience store, yawning. It was looking to be another tedious, dull, uneventful night. Juri's least favorite kind of night. She had wanted to take her bike out to the coastline and drift for a few hours, but after her last international job the local authorities were on high alert in case she turned up back in the country.
Which she had, of course (under a fake passport and itinerary). But this game was getting boring.
INTERPOL just couldn't leave her alone, even after Chun-Li's resignation. Her situation would have been much more fun if Chun-Li was involved, but now she just skirted from safe house to safe house, swapping out fake IDs like oil changes, and it was getting old.
So instead she was taking her bike to the local convenience store for batteries and instant noodles. Fucking lame. She fished her bike keys out of her pajama bottoms, gnawing a short fingernail.
Speaking of her bike…
Some chick was lurking near her bike, parked up front. Juri furrowed her brow, wondering why some rando was checking out her bike.
Juri looked her up and down, her left quickly eye scanning the girl rapidly from under her bangs. Maybe she was an INTERPOL officer in civilian clothes, or an assassin sent after her last job, a Shadaloo remnant tailing her, or-
Juri blinked, bemused. The scan from the Feng Shui Engine was reading normally. No chi, no hidden weapons. She was just some random girl in a convenience store parking lot.
She sauntered up to her bike. The girl was clearly Japanese, about Juri's age. Her hair was cropped in a short bob, and she was giving Juri's bike an appraising, curious look that reminded Juri of the way Chun-Li watched her students.
(Not that Juri ever creeped around to watch Chun-Li do this. Nope. Nu-uh.)
"Oh hey! Sorry!" the girl said, looking up suddenly, having clearly just noticed Juri. "Is this your bike?"
"Who's asking?" muttered Juri, narrowing her eyes.
The girl smiled. "It's a really nice bike. I've never seen a Honda here in Seoul," she said, brightly. "Everyone drives a Hyosung."
Juri stared at her, nonplussed. "You got a problem with that?" she snapped.
"Nah, just curious," said the girl. She had a slight Japanese accent. "Figured it must be an import. It's nice custom work too; the CBR600 doesn't come in that color. She's gorgeous."
Juri gaped at her, taken aback.
"Yeah? Well, she ain't for sale if that's what you're asking. Now scram," she said, quickly recovering from her bewilderment.
"Wow, I was complimenting your bike," said the girl, crossing her arms. "I've met Americans on Harleys with better manners than you."
Juri about dropped her bag of chips and batteries. She couldn't remember the last time someone had mouthed off to her.
"Yeah? Then why don't you go stateside and play on their monkey bars. Beat it."
Juri expected the girl to glower and take off, but instead she laughed. "Ha! So you call them 'monkey bars' over here too?" she giggled. "That's too funny."
Juri stared at her. Was she stupid?
She couldn't think of a biting comeback to get the girl to leave, and settled for awkwardly shoving her excuse for groceries (chips, noodles, batteries) into her backpack and kicking her bike into gear. She suddenly felt very deflated.
The girl was still standing there, undaunted…still looking at her bike. Apparently impressed by the bike, but not particularly impressed by Juri.
She wasn't bad looking, (Juri had to admit), with her feathered, short hair framing her face. She was wearing a pair of dark pants and a long sleeved cropped sweater. Juri found herself admiring her strong jaw and collarbone, accented by a thin black choker.
And for all the glitzy tourism ads and dreamy k-dramas, Seoul was not always a kind place to foreign women alone at night.
Juri sighed and brought her heel down back to the pavement, turning to face the girl.
"You, uh…wanna ride somewhere?"
"Your paintwork is so nice, I love the newer CBRs, but the blue and red colorway isn't really my jam. The LEDs are sweet too."
Her name was Miharu. She'd been in Seoul for about a month to study abroad for her Masters. She'd asked to go to the Myeongdong night market, gushing about wanting to try as much street food as she could while in Seoul.
Juri had told her she wasn't taking her to that tourist crap and instead took her to one of her favorite local haunts.
"So you uh, you know your bikes," said Juri, over a box of spicy rice cakes on skewers.
"Yeah, I had an old girlfriend in the States who had a Honda Shadow," said Miharu.
"Pfft…is that all? Bet it was nothing like my sweet ride."
"Wow, way to be the stereotype that everyone who mods their bike is a dick," said Miharu, rolling her eyes.
Juri dropped her rice cake.
"Whatever," Juri said, quickly shoving the rice cake in her mouth. She quickly tried to think of something nonchalant and impressive to say. "I uh, used to have a green touring bike too, but it got cut in half."
"I'm not gonna even ask," said Miharu with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh yeah, it was a Gordon. Had that imported too." said Juri, smirking, pleased she had something cool to talk about. "Traveled continents on that baby."
Miharu burst out laughing. "You had a Gordon?!"
"Yeah? What's your deal? Something funny?" Juri growled, defensive.
Miharu was still laughing. "Well like…it's a trike , isn't?" she said.
"Yeah?! So what?! It was badass!"
Miharu snorted. "I'm sorry, just…a t rike? !" She giggled into her takeout box. "Girl, it's a trike. You can't take them seriously. Nobody takes them seriously."
"Yeah well…uh…the people I ran over with it took it seriously!" snapped Juri, flushing pink. (Cammy had called it a trike too.)
Miharu giggled, apparently not taking this comment particularly seriously. "I should get going; it's getting pretty late," she said, taking a last bite of food. "Thanks for the ride. It was cool to meet you."
Juri shrugged, still flustered from Miharu teasing her about her…trike. "You're gutsy to get on a bike with a stranger," she said.
"I knew you weren't gonna hurt me or anything," said Miharu, smiling.
"Oh yeah? Why's that?" said Juri, puffing up. (Juri liked to think that she came across as someone who was very capable of hurting people).
"I don't know…" said Miharu, grinning. She pressed a finger to her lip. "Something about you rolling out of a convenience store in the middle of the night with chips and noodles, wearing pajama bottoms, getting on an overpriced custom bike…doesn't exactly make a threatening package."
"Hey, don't you fucking make fun of my pajamas," snapped Juri through a mouthful of rice cake. "Anyone tell you you've got a sassy mouth?"
"Yeah, my old girlfriend," smirked Miharu. "That's not the only thing she said about my mouth though."
Juri yawned and stretched. The evening hadn't been so boring after all. Pretty solid. A 7.5/10 probably. She'd killed some time, eaten some food, rode her bike with a cute girl, had a good night. It'd been nice to not have to break into her new batteries right away. She'd kick Miharu out and then figure out what she was eating for breakfast. Probably the chips and noodles from last night. Or maybe she'd have another serving of Miharu before kicking her out.
She rolled over, surprised. Miharu wasn't next to her.
Maybe she'd left already. Juri would've been fine with that, it saved her the awkwardness of pushing her out the door, her asking when they could hang out again, wanting to swap numbers and go on dates and the whole relationship bullshit, blah blah blah. Juri didn't do that crap. It just led to (people getting hurt) drama.
She sat up in bed suddenly. Something smelled sweet and fruity.
Juri looked around, perplexed. The kitchen of her studio apartment looked cleaner than it had in months. Her usual piles of old takeout bags were nowhere to be seen, and her collection of snacks had been tidied and organized. Not a single chip or crisp was on her countertop or floor.
"Oh hey! You're awake!"
Juri spun around to see Miharu with her short hair tied up, dusting her gaming consoles.
"What the hell?" said Juri, blearily.
"Good morning!" said Miharu brightly. "Your apartment is gross. I started cleaning."
"What the hell?" repeated Juri.
"It's cool, I do a lot of cleaning at my job back home," said Miharu. "Here, I made you pancakes."
She crossed to the kitchen and flipped a couple of round shapes off the stovetop onto a plate, handing them to Juri.
Juri stared at the plate of fluffy round things.
"The fuck is this?" she said. "These aren't pancakes."
"They're American pancakes," shrugged Miharu. "I learned how to make them that way in the States."
She plopped the plate on the bed in front of Juri and went back to the kitchen, rummaging through drawers. "Where do you keep your chopsticks and silverware? Man, you have a lot of credit cards."
Juri stared from Miharu to the pancakes to her clean kitchen, her dusted living room.
"What's your deal, huh?" said Juri. "You come in here and clean my shit and make food? You think I need a maid or something?"
"Wow, do you think everyone is out to get you or something?" said Miharu, looking up from the drawer.
Juri blanched. (Juri did, in fact, think this very often.)
"You looking for a fight?" she snapped.
"No, I'm looking for chopsticks," said Miharu. "Eat your pancakes, dumbass."
Their situationship became a convenient one for Juri.
Miharu was in Seoul for five months on a student visa, studying anthropology and world religions. She had studied abroad in the States, Europe, and understood the short-term hookup game. Juri was down for that. Juri didn't have to get too attached.
She knew about bikes. She played video games. She also did really great things with her tongue.
She also called Juri on her shit, which Juri wasn't particularly used to.
Juri also liked her because she was well-traveled. They could swap stories about their world adventures; Miharu sharing about historical sites, and Juri sharing about dingy underground fighting rings. They would sit up in Juri's apartment on the balcony, sharing drinks and stories and looking out over Seoul; Miharu snuggled up next to her and their clothes on the living room floor.
(And Juri reminded herself not to get too attached.)
"You know this would never work," Miharu would say, curled up next to Juri in bed, stroking the pink streaks in her hair. "I'd make you clean up your act. I can't be your mom."
"Feh..whatever. Not like I'm gonna miss you."
Miharu laughed softly. "Keep telling yourself that."
Juri wasn't about to get too attached.
Miharu didn't ask too many questions. She didn't ask Juri what she did for a living, and was satisfied with a vague answer like "taekwondo stuff." Her response was a titled head, curious smile and raised eyebrow. The look she had given Juri's bike (that reminded Juri a little too much of Chun-Li).
She didn't ask why Juri had multiple credit cards in different names, why the name on Juri's apartment wasn't the name on her ID, or why she had four phones.
She didn't ask why Juri would retreat to the bathroom and come back in an eyepatch before bed, or why she sometimes whimpered or twitched in her sleep.
Their relationship was one of simple pleasure, shared interests and convenience. Juri didn't have to get too attached.
"There's no way this would work, Juri-chan," Miharu said, using the Japanese honorific. "I'd make you do your laundry and stop living on takeout."
"You tryin' to domesticate me? You'd want me to clean up my act and get a day job, huh?"
"No, just clean your apartment once in a while."
At first when Miharu would say things like this, Juri thought Miharu was trying to convince herself. Juri smugly liked the idea that Miharu would miss her when she left Seoul.
Juri eventually realized Miharu wasn't trying to convince herself.
Don't get too attached.
"Juri, this is disgusting! When was the last time you washed this?!"
"You can't wash that! You'll fuck up the plushie spider on the back!"
"That's what the delicates cycle is for!"
"You callin' me delicate?! "
"Juri..do you even know how to use your washing machine?"
Don't get too attached.
"Juri, you have a giant spider in your bathroom."
"Yeah, she moved in two days ago."
"Oh my god that thing is huge, how the hell am I supposed to pee?"
"I SWEAR TO GOD IF YOU TOUCH HER-"
"How do you know it's a girl? Nope- I'm not gonna ask."
Don't get too attached.
"So why religious studies?" said Juri, one evening over a beer. "Sounds boring."
It was an unusually cool night and the two of them were on Juri's balcony as usual looking over Seoul; curled under a blanket after the night's activities and sharing a beer.
"Judgemental as usual, I see." chuckled Miharu. "I like seeing how people make sense of the world."
She looked out over the bright lights of the city. "Shared human experiences like loss, grief, tragedy…these are universal experiences, and yet every society, culture and religion has different ways of handling them. Or not handling them," she added.
"I don't believe in any of that crap," muttered Juri into her beer, inadvertently rubbing her left eye.
"Everyone believes in something," said Miharu. "Like not believing in something."
"Survival of the fittest," said Juri.
"Yeah, there you go. That's what they practice in Nayshall," said Miharu. "They worship a god of fighting there. I was supposed to be there for a week-long intensive, but they shut down unnecessary travel after the bombing."
There was a note of disappointment and also tension in her voice. "It's really scary stuff, I hope I can go back there one day when all this political stuff is cleared up."
Juri had a sudden, fleeting image of Miharu sitting in some dingy classroom in Nayshall, while Shadaloo decided to drop bombs outside. She shook her head.
"They got good food there," said Juri, rubbing her thumb against her beer bottle. "I was out there a few months ago. Got some local connections with all the fighting tournaments there. You know uh, taekwondo stuff."
"Uh-huh. 'Taekwondo stuff,'" said Miharu with the tiniest of smirks.
"If you uh…if you ever did get out to Nayshall, let me know. I'll uh, I'll go with you." She sidled slightly closer to Miharu.
"Really?"
"Yeah, I'd meet you there." ("And protect you.")
"I'd like that," said Miharu. "Truth be told though, I'm looking forward to getting back to my job. It'll be nice to get back into routine for a bit before my classes start back up in the fall."
"So what do you even do?" said Juri, looking out over the city. "With all this religious studies crap? You've been all over the place."
"Well in between classes I'm a shrine maiden at my family's shrine."
"Pffftttt a shrine maiden?" snorted Juri. "Do you have to wear the silly pants?"
"Juri, I have seen the things that you claim are pants ," deadpanned Miharu. "I don't wanna hear about 'silly pants.' And don't shit on my job, I can perform exorcisms you know."
"For real? Like in the movies and stuff?"
"I mean, I've never had to, but I'm trained to," said Miharu, giggling. "Mostly I do ceremonies, purification, keep the place clean, stuff like that. It's peaceful."
"So that's why you like cleaning so much," smirked Juri. "You know, I could just hire you to keep my place clean; give you a new job?"
"You know that would never work out," laughed Miharu.
"What, scared a spider like me is gonna keep you here in my web all to myself?" She slid an arm further around Miharu.
"No, I think you'd murder me because I'd extract that monster from your bathroom so I could take a shower in peace."
"That is my roommate," said Juri, very seriously. "You have no right to evict her."
"You know it's actually part of my job to make sure the temple doesn't have any spiders," said Miharu. "It's in my list of duties."
"Your job description has you taking out spiders?" said Juri. "So help me, Miharu, you better not-"
"Don't worry you dummy! I catch and release, I don't squish them."
"You better not."
"It's just a personal thing with the guy who lives there," said Miharu. "He doesn't like spiders, so I make sure the temple doesn't have any."
"He sounds like a pussy."
"Nah, he's a nice guy. He was a student of my grandfather," said Miharu. "My grandfather used to train martial artists at his dojo up in the mountains. My family all lived at the nearby temple; it's been in our family for generations.
"Uh-huh…"
"So this guy was one of his pupils; he's practically family," said Miharu. "He comes to our temple to meditate, and lots of people come to see him for guidance. I'm sort of like his assistant. You know, keep the place tidy, do all the purification rituals, keep the fridge stocked, and catch-and-release any spiders for Ryu."
Juri spit out her beer.
"WHAT?"
"Oh sorry, that's his name," said Miharu, waving a hand. "My grandfather's old pupil. He doesn't like spiders."
"THE DUDE AT WHO LIVES AT YOUR SHRINE IS NAMED RYU?"
Wow, indoor voice," said Miharu, cocking her head. "Yeah, he's a nice guy. He's a close friend and student of my grandfather; we practically adopted him into the family. When he's not traveling or at the dojo, he stays at the shrine and people visit him pretty often. It's good business for us. I greet visitors and do the purifications…you know, typical shrine maiden stuff."
Juri was becoming increasingly aware of an unpleasant tension in her core. Maybe she was wrong. There were lots of people named Ryu in Japan.
"So this uh, this Ryu guy…uh, what's he like?"
"He's very old-fashioned!" laughed Miharu. "Can't even use a cell phone! He's right out of a martial arts movie. Practically lives in the mountains, though he'lll stay at the shrine for periods of time. Well, I guess 'stay' at the shrine is subjective," she added. "Like, we always tell him he's welcome to come in. But no, he likes to sleep outside in a sleeping bag."
Shit.
"Can this uh…this Ryu guy," said Juri slowly. "Can he make like, blue fireballs?"
"Yeah! Have you heard of him?" said Miharu, smiling. "He's pretty famous. All the visitors always wanna see him do his fireball thing. Hadouken! Or something." Miharu jutted her hands palms out imitating the move that Juri knew all too well.
The feeling gnawing at the pit of her stomach was creeping up her spine.
"Yeah, uh... he sounds sort of familiar," said Juri, the hair on the back of her neck bristling. She was rapidly calculating even with her limited knowledge on Ryu's life, that this would make Gouken, Miharu's grandfather. Wasn't he supposed to be dead?
"So uhhh…is…is your family into martial arts or something?"
"It's mostly my grandfather," said Miharu. "He had the dojo, but he stopped taking in students after Ryu. He had some huge fight with a rival, so he mostly retired. He travels the world, still trains with Ryu, but that's about it."
The unpleasant feeling was gnawing its way up Juri's neck as she considered the implications of Ryu and Gouken's "rival."
"I barely see him to be honest, I'm not really into the whole martial arts thing, honestly" said Miharu, continuing. "To me, just being at the shrine is peaceful."
She gazed out over the city lights, smiling. "I like watching the foxes that live in the woods nearby, and seeing the cherry trees bloom. That's what I'm looking forward to about getting back."
Juri was struck by a sudden, intrusive image of a squad of Shadaloo remnants marching up the peaceful mountainside. She saw Ryu holding them off while the foxes bolted, trying to outrun the gunshots, the cherry trees on fire.
Those who sought Psycho-Power had always desired control of the Satsui-no-Hadou, to the point of sending agents after Ryu time and time again. Juri recalled the tactics C. Viper had stooped to while undercover at SIN; torturing Cammy mid-fight simply to trigger Ryu's rage. Cammy had ended up in the ICU. To Viper, she'd been nothing more than collateral damage to trigger him.
Cammy was a trained Delta Red agent. What the hell could a mere graduate student, part-time shrine maiden do against a squad of Shadaloo soldiers, paid assassins, or literal demons?
She saw some faceless agent holding Miharu in a stranglehold with a gun to her head, demanding Ryu come with them, while fatigue-clad operatives destroyed the shrine behind them.
She saw Akuma, his hulking mass of muscle swathed in dark purple aura. She saw the cherry trees in her mind tremble and crack as Akuma unleashed his demonic chi, tossing Miharu aside like a doll as he approached Ryu.
"You okay?" murmured Miharu, with that light smile and tilted head. "You look like you're on another planet." She put a warm hand on Juri's bare leg. It was all Juri could do to not grab her hand.
"Miharu," said Juri, slowly. "How long until you have to go back?"
"Two months. I have so many things I want to do!"
"Listen," said Juri. "I need you to buy some gym clothes."
Miharu blinked at her. "What?"
Minharu didn't need to know about Shadaloo, didn't need to know about the Satsui-no-Hadou, didn't need to know about the legacy behind the man at her temple. All she needed was to enjoy the foxes and the cherry trees.
And to be able to hold her own if someone came for her.
"I need you to buy yourself some gym clothes," Juri repeated.
"Why?"
"I'm gonna train you," said Juri.
"Train me to do what?" laughed Miharu. "Taekwondo stuff?" She mimicked air quotes above her head, giggling.
"Yes. Taekwondo stuff."
"Pfft, okay. When you clean your apartment."
"Done."
It was Miharu's turn to stare at her.
"For real?" said Miharu, tilting her head. "You must be tipsy. Since when do you train people?"
"Miharu look," said Juri, trying to keep the edge out of her voice. The terrible creep of anxiety was flashing every catastrophic outcome through her mind. She placed her hands on Miharu's shoulders.
"Miharu, I don't care if you're not into martial arts or the whole 'finding your strength' shit," said Juri. "Some people are about that, you like looking at foxes. Whatever. I don't fucking care what you wanna do. I just wanna make sure you're around to enjoy the foxes and your shrine as long as you want. You know, what uh...what if poachers come?" she added seriously.
Miharu stared at her with that look she gave Juri when she didn't ask questions. That appraising curiosity that also respected her boundaries. The look that understood when to not ask questions. The look that caught her attention the night they first bumped into each other. That curious, appraising smile. (That smile that reminded her of Chun-Li.)
Don't get too attached.
"You for real?" said Miharu quietly.
"I'm fucking serious," said Juri.
"Okay, okay," said Mihari, putting her hands up to Juri's. "So like, what are we doing? Hitting the elliptical? Going for a jog?"
"No, I'm teaching you to fight."
"Well, alright then. I'll come back tomorrow with some workout gear. This place better be clean," she added, grinning.
"It will be," said Juri. "Hell I'll even wash my pajama bottoms."
"Throw in your kigu, it's disgusting. That thing's practically a biohazard."
"Done. Then we're training."
There was a silence as the both of them looked out over Seoul. Half of Juri wanting to hold Miharu close to her, never send her back to that shrine, and the other half of Juri wanted to bury herself in Miharu's bare shoulders against the throb of everything racing through her mind.
She settled for chewing her shorn fingernails.
"Uh, if I uh…if I wanted to visit you…" said Juri slowly. "And uh, I'm not saying I can! I'm a pretty busy woman, you know. But like, if I got out there…at some point…maybe…could I crash with you?"
Miharu laughed. "You're ridiculous, of course you can," she said. "But you know this would never work, I can't have you leaving chips all over my shrine. And the foxes have a very strict diet, none of your junk food."
"Well you know, it might be good for me to come by and make sure you're keeping up on your training."
"You can say hi to Ryu too when you come!"
"Ohhh yeah, I'll definitely say hi to him," said Juri, putting her arm around her. "Yeah, you know what? I'll even bring him a present."
"Really?"
"Oh, yeah. I've got the perfect idea. I'll leave it in his sleeping bag. It'll be our little secret."
I promise I'll finish Draw Game one day...
My partner used to ride Honda Shadow 3 I don't know tons about bikes so I showed her Juri's and she helped me identify something comparable IRL. Seriously look up Gordon trikes, it's exactly what Juri rides in SFV, they're kinda ridiculous. Monkey bars are when the handle bars on Harleys are really stupid high and they look goofy. It's also kinda ridiculous.
I had to know why this random shrine maiden who's limited dialogue expressly states she doesn't know much about martial arts, suddenly whips out JURI's style, and is one of the very very few characters who will use Juri's style. Hope this was just cute and simple. Thanks for reading!