Chapter Nine: So Long and Thanks For All the Fish
In the shadows, a certain masked figure in a dark cloak shifted, then merged back into the darkness. I see my little brother hasn't lost his touch...Mori's not going to get the girl anytime soon...[how about adding a muahaha here?]
plhu: Did you...did you see something at the back there? It looked like Kurei...
raydance: No. What, missing him too much after he disappeared last year?
plhu: But it sure looked like him...
Amidst the overchelming cheering of the crowd, Team Hokage leapt onto the stage to congratulate Recca. Yanagi leapt into Recca's arms. Once again, her ninja had not failed to protect her. Placing her hands on Recca's bruised skin, she started to heal her ninja.
Fuuko and Kaoru slapped Recca on the back. [care to describe somemore? i don't know what they'll do here.]
Mikagami put his hand to his forehead, remarking, "That's all very well, but we still have the finals to go. It's not time to celebrate yet."
"You're pleased too, aren't you, Mi-chan? So stop hiding it!" Fuuko violently embraced the long-haired swordmaster.
saturn: *runs up and plops herself down* So who's winning?
plhu and raydance stare at her.
plhu: Uhm...actually Team Hokage just won the semi-finals.
raydance: So you missed it. Too bad.
saturn acts violently. plhu and raydance huddle in a collapsible force field.
saturn: So, aren't you going back now?
raydance: We still have to finish watching and writing the fic.
At the Street Fighter side, no one spoke. The lively comaraderie of the Hokage members was painfully lacking over here.
After a while, Cammy stretched and announced, "Well, I'm off to protect Lord Bison. Bye." Hands behind her head, she strolled off nonchalantly.
By this time, Guile was too tired to really notice what was going on around him. Ryu and Chun Li were leaning on the walls pondering deeply. Even the normally bubbly Sakura was silent, for her beloved sensei had lost his match.
Looking at the sombre faces of the remaining members of Team Street Fighter, Vega decided to employ drastic methods to liven up the atmosphere. He got hold of Guile, bandages and all. Half dragging the bulky man, he arrived at the Hokage side. Though his mask still hid his face, there was no mistaking the wicked glints of light emitted through the eye-holes.
With mock solemnity, he said, "Well, since we lost to you, please accept our prize with our deepest congratulations."
He pushed Guile forward. Ryu, Chun Li and Sakura tried to maintain straight faces.
Big, big, BIG sweatdrops condensed on the heads of Team Hokage. "Really, there's no need for this; in all the earlier matches that we won, we didn't accept any prizes at all," smiled Fuuko charmingly.
"But, we INSIST. Do accept as a gesture of our good will," Vega's glint grew even brighter and his voice became dangerously smooth, while Sakura nodded devilishly..
"Hey!" Guile woke up from his stupor and roared. "I am a human being. I HAVE MY RIGHTS! I WANT A LAWYER!"
No one listened to him. This form of sophisticated bargaining went on for ten minutes before it was fully understood that team Hokage, under any circumstances, would not accept Guile the Abominable Prize.
"Your skills are very surprising. We must sit down and talk someday, like tomorrow. So, what will you do now?" Kagerou asked the members of the opponent team.
Chun Li smiled, seemingly in Mikagami's direction. That reminds me; I have unfinished business to attend to.
Vega examined his claws and announced that he was going to buy some polish. "I blame you, Koganei. Me, beaten by a kid...I'm either losing my edge or you're a child prodigy," he said with mock bitterness.
Ryu laughed heartily. "Of course we'll stay for your finals," he told the members of Team Hokage. "I want to watch you win, so that we can once again assure ourselves that we lost to strong opponents."
"And after that?" Yanagi pressed.
"I guess it's a case of 'See you again next year'," Ryu said warmly.
He waved, as did the other Street Fighters. Together, they walked off to the exit.
"It was...it was really comfortable fighting with those guys. I guess it's the feeling of kindred when we meet opponents that we can actually be friends with," Recca said as Team Hokage stared at the receding backs of the street fighters.
I wonder whether Chun Li will be able to assasinate Bison. Mikagami acted cool by checking for dead hairs on his suit.
"This Urabatou Satsujin is very different from the last one, isn't it?" Kaoru pondered. "Kurei's absence, opponents who fight successfully without madougu, the food..."
After lingering to chat with the referees, Team Hokage finally returned to the hostel.
While walking back to the hostel after dropping Guile off at the clinic, Vega asked of Ryu and Chun Li, "So, are you bitter about having lost?"
Chun Li smiled. "I wouldn't have felt any better if I had won."
Ryu nodded. Almost to himself, he said, "We came and fought for different reasons, but went away with one thing; strength of mind, heart and soul."
You Don't Have to Read This
plhu: We sure had a hard time deciding on what to write for this last chapter.
raydance: Yeah. "Fuuko" even suggested that we make Vega marry Yanagi.
plhu: *cringes* The two of us seem to make Vega out to be a really nice person.
raydance: Yeah. *hand on chin, pondering* It must be the mask.
plhu: And claws.
raydance: Basically it's because we don't know anything about him and are trying to play safe.
plhu: True.
raydance: You know, our writing styles are really different. Mine's more thought and emotion based, but yours...
plhu: ...is almost scientific.
raydance: Correct.
plhu: I can't help it.
raydance: And your Chapter Four about Guile was really cheating...what, "two fists. Collision. Bright flash of light." What a fantastic save on words.
plhu: *evil half-moon eyes* That's called style, okay? And about "one dragon can't beat eight dragons"?
raydance: I admit that was a little cheesy.
(BTW, raydance wrote all the chapters except for Four, Five, Nine, the prologue and the epilogue, which plhu wrote.)