Michael ushered us in through the door, smiling all the while and telling us how excited he was that we came. The interior of his home was just as tastefully decorated as the outside, and it was obvious that he loved both his modernism and his tradition. The decorations were decidedly Japanese, although some French paintings and dry flower arrangements could be seen methodically placed around the house. Michael led us to a long hallway and stopped at what seemed like a dead end. He pulled a tassel on a nearby lamp and the wall slid open to reveal a staircase leading downward. Star and I exchanged looks, both of us a little suspicious, but we were soon relieved when we heard talking and laughing coming from the bottom of the stair case.
We followed our host down until we reached the end, and what I saw impressed me. A large room surround by mirrors housed a full sparring area complete with lines and boxes for various tournament style fighting. The floor was natural hardwood, bamboo from the looks of it, and even the ceiling had the look of a traditional Japanese dojo. At least three dozen people or so sat around the room, cracking jokes and stretching, preparing for a full night of betting and good healthy sport combat. I did not feel at all as intimidated as I thought I would be, and even Starway was relieved to see six women sitting off to the side chatting it up amongst themselves. I surveyed the people quickly, most of them were of some sort of Asian decent, but I did see two Caucasians and one, very tall black man that stood out among the others; mainly because of his height.
Michael raised his arms and spoke loudly, though not at all obnoxiously, "Everyone, if I could have your attention for a moment." All in the room stopped what they were doing and turned to him. I could tell right away that they all had a great deal of respect for him, and I considered myself privileged to even have my talent noticed by him.
Michael continued, "This is Trask and his wife Star, they will be joining us for tonight' s events. I would consider it a personal favor to me if they were treated with the same respect that all of you already show for each other, although Trask here is willing to earn it for the two of them. Please do show them our hospitality."
Everyone in the room nodded, although I did see a few of the men eying me suspiciously, apparently trying to size me up. I couldn't blame them, and I tried to look as cordial as possible as Michael walked us around the room and introduced us to a few people. There was plenty of food and drink for everyone as well, and I discovered how social Starway is. She had no trouble working her way into the table where the women were sitting, and it wasn't long before she was talking and laughing along with them. I asked her if she were okay where she was, she said yes, so I went over to a corner of the room and began stretching. A few minutes later, two of the men approached me with smiles on their faces, and I turned to see what they wanted. It was one of the Korean guys, Trick they called him, and the tall black man, whom they called Boost. They seemed friendly enough, and Michael had introduced me to them a few moments earlier, so I figured there wouldn't be any harm in talking with them.
Trick spoke first and nodded to me, his accent was heavy but his English was impeccable, "We just wanted to welcome you to our little shindig, its not very often we get newcomers. We're a pretty tight group, and this is the first time Kurasuma has ever sponsored anyone, so naturally we're itching to see what you're made of."
Boost laughed heartily and slapped Trick on the back, "Take it easy Trick, you're scaring the kid. Seriously, we just wanted to see what kind of person Michael would trust to place his money on, we're not gonna do anything rough, we just want to size up your personality a little."
I sighed in relief, "That's good to hear. Its a pleasure meeting you both, you both seem like excellent fighters."
They gave each other looks and Trick laughed, "You're a highborn, obviously; no one around here with manners like that. And as far as us being good fighters, well, you'll see. How would you know anyway?"
I narrowed my eyes, "Honestly, I haven't been in a lot of fights, but I have had a lot of training. Just the way a person carries himself can give away what kind of martial art they train in; and sometimes how good they are at it."
Trick grinned maliciously, "Alright kid, what kind of martial art do I practice?"
I thought about it for a moment, "Taekwondo... likely with a bit of either Filipino or Korean style wrestling. Your biceps are unusually large for someone who practices only Hapkido, so Taekwondo with wrestling makes more sense."
Trick frowned sourly and Boost grinned widely, showing his row of pearly white teeth, "Ha! I like you already kid, don't concern yourself with Trick, he's an asshole, but he's not as bad as he would have you believe. How about me? What do you think I do?"
It took me a little longer to figure it out with Boost, but after about a minute or so of evaluating, I came to a passable conclusion in my head, "I can't put my finger on the exact style of course, but definitely jujitsu. Your muscles are toned as hell, they weren't built with some two week body building program. It's a slow, deliberate process you go through to get muscles like that, all strength and endurance with no unnecessary bulk weighing you down. Because of your height, I would consider you an excellent kicker, but that's more of a gut feeling rather than a logical conclusion."
Boost nodded, still wearing his smile and obviously impressed, "Right on. I've been trying to develop a little more on karate and judo, but jujitsu is my bread and butter. I hope you do well in the first few matches, I'd love to spar with you. Are you going with weapons tonight or trying your luck at hand to hand?"
