a little note...
Transplant. The word can mean many things. Autografts, allografts, isografts, xenografts and xenotransplantation, split transplants, domino transplants.. but this specific one.. is a country to country transplant of a human being. Born in Japan, Minako Sasaki has run out of options. With the fall of pro wrestling, or puroresu, she had only one choice - look outside the country for work. It was during her search that famed manager Katashi Yamada contacted her, interested in working with her once she had found an acceptable company. She knew then that she had to be quick about it before someone else snatched up Yamada.It was then she found TEW. Informing Yamada of her choice, they set off immediately for America with Minako eager to see how things were done in another country. She has since studied copious amounts of American matches from a number of companies, some long gone from the ranks. She wasn't signed with the TEW for a day before she was booked into thier tournament to face off against Christian Drake. That's where we stand now.
Long Way From Home?
Inside the JW Marriott Hotel in Houston, people of all ages mill around the lobby and wings, dressed up as various characters and animals from assorted series'. Welcome one and all.. to Kamikazecon 3. Here at the behest of the higher ups in TEW for promotional reasons, Minako Sasaki and her associate Katashi Yamada stand near a table filled with TEW merchandise. She politely greets every person that comes up to the table with a smile before they race off to some unknown destination to meet their favorite voice actor or actress.Ironically, in that same hotel in Houston, Etienne "Twain" Valmont and Ixidor "Sage" Lykeion are walking around enjoying the sights. Well, at least Twain is. Sage seems more embarrassed by his partner's recent choice of wardrobe.
SAGE: Etienne, could you have at least possibly considered the expanded assortment of fictional characters to go around dressed like at this convention before deciding on that one?
TWAIN: What? I thought it was a good character.
SAGE: Rukia from Bleach, though, Etienne? There are at least five different characters from that show that--
TWAIN: BLEACH? (looks down at his costume) I'm cosplaying as Seto Kaiba, you twit! How did you get Rukia from the KC logo on my coat?
SAGE: I swear, I'm about to give up on civil conversation with you.
Sage turns away from Twain and happens to spot the TEW merchandise table. He looks almost insulted.
SAGE: Hey, how is it we weren't asked to do this?
TWAIN: Because they're looking for people that the fans don't hate.
SAGE: Hush...we at least need to see what's going on.
Seeing that two new visitors, or con-goers as they were commonly called, had walked up to the table, Minako politely bowed, smiled, and greeted them.
MINAKO: (translated) Good afternoon!
As a sign of his attempt to be cordial, Yamada does the same.
YAMADA: Good day, gentlemen.
Twain surprisingly bows to the two as he smiles, while Sage is a little taken aback by this.
SAGE: And a fine day to you as well. Did you two recently get TEW contracts?
MINAKO: (translated) Yes! Are you here on business?
YAMADA: She has, yes. She asked if you were here on business, but.. (Motions to Twain's cosplay outfit) ..I can plainly see that the answer is no. Might I ask who you two are?
As Sage was about to respond, Twain suddenly starts talking in Minako's language!
TWAIN: (translated) You would be surprised the reasons we are here. We are recent additions to TEW's roster ourselves. I am Etienne Valmont, but my friends call me Twain, and this is Sage Lykeion.
SAGE: Since when the hell could you speak Japanese?
TWAIN: How do you think I've been able to play those imported games on my PS2? I sure as hell didn't randomly guess the directions like you would, mister smarty pants.
Minako laughs politely at his comment towards his friend. She was barely able to speak English, but she could understand it quite well.
MINAKO: (translated) Nice to meet you!
YAMADA: Pleased to meet you, of course. You said there were many reasons why you are here. Are there any you could repeat in the company of others, perhaps? Including the many.. (He glanced around at the kids running amok with a frown) ..small children that seem to be in abundance?
SAGE: Well, with the TEW debut card begin later on this weekend, we figured it would be nice to get out and about. Drake's had us working a lot on...other tasks.
TWAIN: (Translated) That, and the prospect of meeting a beautiful woman such as yourself never hurts either. (kisses her hand respectfully) Might I enquire of your name, my dear?
SAGE: Tell me you didn't just..
TWAIN: I asked for her name, Ixidor. Tell you what, why don't you have your brainy chat with the translator while I keep the lady company?
SAGE: You think he's going to okay that?
TWAIN: It's not like I'm going to hurt her...what good would that do in our company?
SAGE: (sighs) Forgive me, sir, Twain's usually not this headstrong....even with an installation of Perfect World on his computer...
YAMADA: That's quite alright. I've noticed that many young men your age are like him. It isn't very easy to ignore, truthfully. Simply stepping into America got her practically mauled by disrepectful men.
MINAKO: (Laughs) (Translated) My name is Sasaki.
SAGE: Hey, now wait just a minute...Twain may be a little on the dense side at times, but it looks to me like he's being very sweet to her. There's no reason to be getting onto him for his clear interest in your client here.
TWAIN: Right? I just want to get to know Sasaki-chan. We're going to be in the same company, and it'd be nice for her to talk to someone who knows her language.
YAMADA: Yes, yes.. that's how it always begins. Always innocent, always polite.. then when they're sure they have what they want, they show who they really are. (Smirks) Did you think I've been in Japan my whole life? I've seen more than you think, believe me.
Surprised by her beloved manager's attitude towards the two, Minako's eyes go wide as she turns to him.
MINAKO: (translated) No! Stop this! They are only being polite! (sighs) Please, Yamada-san.. let me go with him. I don't like being stuck at this table!
YAMADA: (Sighs) Very well. Return here before we are to leave. You know exactly what your schedule is, so don't attempt to play me for a fool.
Sage turns to Twain with a look of seriousness.
SAGE: You cause us to get our asses kicked because of this, and I'm reporting this to Drake.
TWAIN: Dude, seriously, chillax.
Twain then turns to Minako and extends his hand warmly to her to help her out of the chair as Sage turns to Yamada, trying to figure him out. A lot of Drake resounds clearly in Yamada...and it's debatable whether that's a good thing or not.
SAGE: Let me ask you a question then, mister....
Sage has to pause, as he has yet to learn the man's name.
YAMADA: Yamada. Katashi Yamada.
He watches closely like a hawk does his prey as Minako leaves her seat to join Twain among the jam packed con-goers in the hallway. He truly didn't trust many Americans, if any at all, but he figured that if these two were in league with Drake Askari, this could get him in the door as far as Minako's contract went. He was always interested as far as money was involved.
SAGE: Then, Yamada-dono, might I enquire as to how you managed to get into contact with Drake? I mean, I knew the guy had contacts from both America and Egypt, but this is the fist I've heard of Drake having pull in the Japanese promotions...
YAMADA: As far as I'm aware, he does not. Minako was searching for another company to join after the fall of puroresu in Japan. She just so happened to find TEW. I offered to become her manager, and as a result, we are here. Drake had nothing to do with it as far as I am aware. It was a lady by the name of Charity that we spoke with. I am quite certain that if it were Drake that we had spoken to that she would be worth a lot more than she currently is.
Sage internally thought about it for a moment. It would be of great benefit to see about talking to Drake for Yamada, based on the information that was given. However, he knew Twain would never forgive him if that were to happen, and with everything Drake had on his plate...
SAGE: Tell you what--I happen to be in direct links with the guy. I can't promise anything extra, but I'm at least willing to talk to him about a possible renegotiation. His dealings with the women tend to be a bit...different than the men, but if it's money that Minako-chan is concerned about, Drake can get it figured out...for a price. Like I said, I can't give you any promises it'll help, but seeing as how Etienne's into her, I'll see what I can do.
YAMADA: (Nods simply, a smile that could be described only as wolfish gracing his lips) That would be most helpful, thank you. I can assure you that she is not in it for the money.. she simply enjoys it because it is her chosen profession. I, however.. (Shrugs) ..let's just say I am of a different mind than she is.
SAGE: I can't say I completely blame you. But Drake's got a bit of a habit of exploiting women, and there's a chance he might try to exploit Minako if given the right opportunity. I'm just letting you know in case it ever comes up, so you've got some warning ahead of time. (looks to Twain and Minako, who are having a blast walking and talking together) Last thing you want is her not able to perform so you don't get your money, right?
YAMADA: That would be most unfortunate, yes. Here is yet another good point, though.. if she does not complete, neither he nor I get anything. Why would he risk losing money for either side when this business is centered around nothing but money? It would be a fruitless effort.
SAGE: You might see it as all about money. But to Drake, everything is personal. The guy would sell his own mother to a prostitution ring if the right motivation was given to him, and there has yet to be a low which he hasn't considered. If I were you, if and when you get the meeting with Drake, if he does agree to renegotiate the contract...read it over and make sure of what's in there. He used to be a lawyer and will use any trick in the book to get what he wants regardless of what you get out of the deal.
YAMADA: (Nods again, this time more polite than usual) I will. It is very common for my eyes to search for the numbers straight away, but I will be sure to look it over more thoroughly due to your insistence.
He glances over to Minako, who is oh so politely stopping for photos with Twain at the request of nearly every fan. He had no intentions of doing any such thing like looking over a contract for anything, save for the amounts of money involved. True, if Minako came up pregnant such as that American girl had, he would lose money, but only as long as it took her to get an appointment at the local women's clinic. After that, it would be settled, and his client would be back to work. Simple as that.
Sage, however, was still a little leary of the issue, but decided to take the issue up with Twain later. He too, noticed how Twain and Minako seemed to get along.
SAGE: So Minako-chan is a hometown legend back in Japan, I take it?
YAMADA: No.. not even close. She was good, yes, but the companies closed before she could truly prove herself. I had heard she was still interested in working, no matter where it was. That meant money for whomever decided to be her guide, her manager. So I called her and she accepted just before she signed with Mister Askari's company.
SAGE: I see. The younger ones do need that cut-throat manager at the start to make sure they get noticed, I will grant you that.
The way Sage talked had Yamada starting to question whether Sage really was who he said he was. He spoke too eloquently to be a young gun, but at the same time still had a young man's frame.
SAGE: Wish we had something like that ourselves. But you've got your hands full with Minako-chan anyway, Yamada-dono.
Yamada had to give it to him--at least Sage was using the proper honorifics. He'd been lucky to even get that from most of the Americans he knew.
YAMADA: Your manager was the American girl who was removed from the upcoming card due to.. personal reasons, correct?
If he could simply arrange it so he was managing both Minako and this.. complete atrocity of a team, it meant double the money.. for awhile, at least. He simply had to get approval from them first.
YAMADA: I would be willing to take on another client for the same percentage I'm receiving from Minako, if you're interested.
He reached inside his suit pocket for a business card. Of course, it was written in complete Japanese, so Twain would be the one to translate it.
SAGE: Wow... domo arigato, Yamada-domo.
Sage takes the card graciously and smiles.
SAGE: I must say, I had come here thinking this was going to be a complete waste of time...but I'm glad we ran into you and Minako-chan today. I'll discuss this with Twain to see if he's interested, which if this means more time with Minako, he'll jump on it.
YAMADA: (He gave a stiff smile at the thought of the other one being around Minako constantly.) You're quite welcome. I'll be looking forward to doing business with you should you choose to accept my offer. I'm certain Minako will be elated to finally know someone here in America.
Almost as if on cue, Minako and Twain returned, all giddy as they approached. Sage and Yamada both gave each other a look of concern as they spotted the two holding hands.
TWAIN: (translated) Thank you for spending time with me today. I really enjoyed your company, Minako-chan.
She smiled and bowed politely, as it had become routine during the nearly two weeks she had been here.
MINAKO: (translated) Don't mention it! (Laughs, deciding to attempt English) You are.. very welcome.
YAMADA: Well.. it would seem that you do have a concept of timely arrivals, Minako. Good.. you'll need it. (Stands, straightening his coat) If you're done running around like a child, we'll be leaving now.
SAGE: Yeah, Twain and I need to get going ourselves. It was great meeting you all, though. Right Twain?
Twain just stands in happiness, looking into Minako's eyes after her success of using English. Sage starts snapping his fingers in Twain's face.
SAGE: Earth to Twain!
TWAIN: Sassafrass...I'm sorry, we should be going. I look forward to seeing you again.
Twain barely gets to kiss her hand again before Sage grabs his trenchcoat and tries to pull him away. He manages to do so, but only after Twain waves good-bye to Minako, Sage spouting off something about blowing a cover just outside of earshot.
Inside Minako's hotel room, Yamada is seen clearly expressing his displeasure with how Minako acted earlier. Apparently it is unbecoming of a young Japanese lady to go off with any man without proper supervision. Yamada is pacing the room, barking at her, as she kneels on the floor with her hands fisted in her lap in respect.
YAMADA: I can NOT believe how you acted, Minako! You acted as if you were a simple minded little child, begging to do what she wanted instead of what she had been TOLD to do! By those who sign her paychecks, no less! It was downright irresponsible and immature, and I WILL not have it happening again! DO you understand?!
Minako nods simply and silently, her head bowed in shame and respect.
YAMADA: I should certainly hope so! (Takes a breath to calm himself) NOW.. as far as these two American boys go.. the ones known as Sage and Twain. I have never seen a more unlikely and simple minded pair than those two. In fact, I can safely say that I have no desire to see them again, but since I offered to take them on as clients.. (Minako's head jerks up at this, her eyes wide.) ..I have no choice but to do so if they accept.
MINAKO: I.. can see him again?
YAMADA: Only if it's needed. I will not have him making a fool of you as he does himself on a daily basis. He will be a horrible influence on you - this I have no doubts about. His friend.. the one called Sage.. he, however, could be useful. He made very good points during our conversation, and much to my surprise, he knew the correct honorifics to use. (Muttering) There is a lot more to that boy than we see. He begs to be investigated, but we will have time for that later. (Turning back to Minako) Tomorrow night.. this is very important. It will be your first opportunity to show exactly what you can do, and I DO NOT want to be disappointed! Is that understood?!
MINAKO: Yes, Yamada-ue.
YAMADA: This.. Christian Drake person.. I have seen what he has to say, and I can tell you that he will be easy for you to overcome. He is as simple minded as the two we met today, and even more of a hentai than the men who greeted you at the airport. He is exactly the type I had in mind when I spoke of disrespectful American men, and it will be good to see you take him out tomorrow night. It is no less than he deserves, and I am quite sure even his manager would agree with me at this point. I want you to do no less than your very best in that ring, no matter who you face!
MINAKO: Yes, Yamada-ue.
YAMADA: Very well, then. Now get ready for bed and get some sleep. You'll need to be refreshed in order to win tomorrow.
MINAKO: Yes, Yamada-ue.
She gets to her feet and goes into her luggage for respectable nightwear before bowing to Yamada.
MINAKO: (translated) Goodnight, Yamada-ue.
YAMADA: Goodnight, Sasaki.
He leaves the room as she gathers her nightwear into her arms and heads into the restroom to take a shower just as the scene fades out.