[center][h2][color=BFBFBF]Zenkichi Hasegawa[/color][/h2]
Esaka, The Tiered City
Lvl 9 [color=BFBFBF]Zenkichi[/color] (69/90) -> Lvl 9 (72/90) 
Word count: 1,894 words[/center]



While the group continued wandering around the city, Zenkichi had been keeping up his casual collection of vibes and intel. The general attitude he’d picked up hadn’t changed much, people were fighting in one way or another: either in tournaments or to keep a roof above their heads and food in their bellies. It was…remarkably similar to Japan in that aspect. Just working yourself to the bone and not worrying about one, two, five, ten years down the line. Maybe in the vague sense, like making savings, but never about how much their joints would hurt if they kept this pace up. How their eyes would strain to watch their favorite movies. How much of their daughter’s life they were missing.

He’d been a really terrible father, hadn’t he? Yes, Akane had her grandparents, and sure he had to make money to keep them fed and housed, but…he’d been caught in the rat race like everybody else, PubSec or no. And it wasn’t like he [i]enjoyed[/i] being away from her so long, but…

At some point, it had become easier. They fought a lot, so…they just avoided each other sometimes. Or, she avoided him and he tried not to anger her more. Or she avoided him because she got annoyed at something he’d done. 

At least they were trying to close that gap now, to some degree. Much like with the Phantom Thieves, developing a closer bond would improve things for them. It would take effort to bridge the gap that had grown between them, but he had faith they could make it work.

Coming back to his present surroundings, Zenkichi caught sight of InvestiGator Azuma, and pulled off from the group with a short warning. [color=BFBFBF]”Hey, guys, I’m gonna go see if Azuma’s got anything going on he needs a hand with. Maybe find something out or get some cash.”[/color] With that said, he approached their original tour guide. [color=BFBFBF]”Azuma! How are you? Just out on a patrol?”[/color] He greeted the alligator-man.

“Ah, Zenkichi! Good to see you again, not that it’s been very long since we last saw one another.” He replied, continuing on the path he’d been walking. “Something like that. Esaka is a rather high-strung place, with so many fighters gathered in one place. People can take losses in a fight rather hard, especially if somebody uses an unconventional tactic like our dojo is known for, or if a fight is a total shutout. The spirit of fair competition is vital in Esaka, even when not officially enforced by the Heavenly Principles.” He explained as they walked. 

Zenkichi thought back to some of the arguments he’d seen in arcades, nodding with a light chuckle. [color=BFBFBF]”Oh, I can imagine.”[/color] Zenkichi added. People could get pretty wild when sports were involved. [color=BFBFBF]”So just walking around, looking for problems to solve?”[/color] It was like what Big Band was doing, just good old community policing. A bit out of his usual work in Japan, but it was hard to forget the basics: do your best to be fair, to keep things from escalating into a fight (not that he was above throwing fools around), and to be [i]firm.[/i] 

As they walked around, chatting and swapping a few stories, Azuma brought up a current situation that he thought he might be able to use a second pair of eyes on, concerning a fight from a dojo challenge a few days prior. “We’ll head to a neutral third place to review the videos, again, and hopefully an outside perspective can give us some ideas on whether the fight was fought fairly. Fighters and the Yokai can get aggravated quickly if they feel like a strategy is too inescapable, or [i]especially[/i] if they think somebody is sandbagging. It’s a despicable practice. Some matchups are just plain bad for one fighter, though, and then [i]they[/i] get frustrated that they got hard-countered and throw out an accusation of sandbagging, which is a frustration all its own.” 

Zenkichi was trying to follow the conversation, and most of the lingo he caught, but that last one flew right over his head. [color=BFBFBF]”Hard countered?”[/color] Azuma nodded, probably reminding himself that Zenkichi was, in fact, an outsider despite his quick recovery and ability to adjust his fighting style against Kyanta.

“It’s when a fighter is so utterly incompatible against their opponent that it’s barely worth having the fight in the first place. If you stuck with that sword, I’d argue you could be easily hard-countered by a quicker fighter who could bleed you down with rapid attacks and back out of your range before you retaliate, but I saw that you can switch your fighting style up when necessary. Anybody who fought like you with a more rigid attachment to your sword might be less lucky, though [i]most[/i] fighters have one or two tricks up their sleeve that they can level the playing field with.” It was a bit of a long explanation, but it sufficed to give Zenkichi a good idea of what he meant.

[color=BFBFBF]”Gotcha. Man, the fighting scene here is a bit complicated. Might just be me, though. Old dogs and new tricks, as you know.”[/color] Azuma gave a commiserative chuckle as the two followed on to a small but nice-looking restaurant. They joined a
[url=https://imgur.com/a/WDHBiov]Luchador[/url] and a [url=https://imgur.com/a/30WPDTa]dark-skinned man in a pinstripe suit[/url] sitting around a table, along with one of the robots he’d seen earlier at the registration. 

“Gentlemen.” Azuma greeted, grabbing their attention and gesturing to Zenkichi. “This is Zenkichi Hasegawa, a colleague I’ve brought along to give a new perspective on your fight and to hopefully put this matter to a rest. Zenkichi, the gentleman in the mask is El Blaze, and this is Zack.”

The Luchador nodded, gesturing for the pair to take a seat. “I look forward to vindication.” Zack rolled his eyes, giving Zenkichi a look that screamed ‘get a load of this guy.’ 

“You lack wall game, to answer your question from when I beat you.” He replied, which earned a scoff, but Azuma cut them off.

“Gentlemen!” Waiting for the pair to cool off, he continued. “Zenkichi will be reviewing the video of your fight and we will discuss what happened, and what he thinks, if anything, should be done. Until then, let the man work.” The pair seemed a bit unimpressed, but Azuma countered their unspoken words. “You may not know him, but I’ve seen him fight, and he helped deal with a Seethe that broke out in a neighboring village. He has my trust.” Begrudgingly, the pair agreed to submit to Zenkichi’s ultimate judgment. The robot placed a tablet onto the table before them, Azuma hitting play on the video that was queued. 

As the video of the fight began, Zenkichi already found a bit of trouble following the action. Both fighters were very quick, with Zack taking the edge in range and El Blaze eking out a small advantage in being able to duck Zack’s attacks easier. The fight was fairly balanced for the first few seconds, before El Blaze managed to land a devastating grab and throw which he quickly combo’d into a series of hooks before finishing with a series of acrobatic kicks to knock Zack into the dojo’s wall. 

The larger fighter quickly sprung to his feet, blocked a punch, and grabbed El Blaze before slamming him into the wall, crashing his knee into the smaller man’s gut several times. As El blaze stood, Zack capitalized on his recovery time, launching a step kick into a low jab, which he brought into a rising uppercut which launched El Blaze into the air, defeated. 

“See? Robbery!” The Luchador pointed at the screen, “I had him on the ropes, I took control of the fight in a few seconds, but then he puts out that ridiculous grab and finish combo. I thought with our speed matchup it’d be a legitimate bout, but how is a person supposed to counter that?”

“By not putting me against a wall. Like I said, you lack wall game. You can ring out for days, El Blaze, but against me you just can’t let yourself get backed into a corner. Just because you got yourself caught in a knockout spiral, doesn’t mean my combos are ridiculous, [i]or[/i] that you got properly robbed. It was a matter of a strategic error is all. Whether you’d have kept the momentum without that mistake, I don’t know, but I [i]do[/i] know that I beat you fair and square.” Zack retorted. 

Rewinding the video and playing it back one more time, Zenkichi paused it right as Zack grabbed El Blaze. [color=BFBFBF]”Here.”[/color] he added, rewinding a second, and turning the tablet around so the others could look, before replaying in .25x slow-mo. [color=BFBFBF]”El Blaze, you had an opportunity to disengage and retake the fight on your terms, but you missed it. It was short, but based on your size and acrobatic style, you could have slipped around his kick and past his guard right…there.”[/color] He pointed to the moment, letting it slowly tick by as they watched Zack’s kick connect.

El Blaze watched, his face falling as he slumped. “I…I see it. I could have gotten that fight, if I had been just that little bit quicker.” Sighing, he buried his face in his hands. Zack, magnanimously, slapped his hand onto El Blaze’s shoulder and gave him a solemn nod. 

“El Blaze, my Luchador friend, let’s squash this beef, eh? What’s one bout between fighters? It’s not like you got shut out, either, you landed a pretty nasty combo on me to kick things off.” He reminded his former combatant, trying to bolster his spirits. 

Zenkichi nodded, rewinding back to show Zack getting launched by the acrobatic kick combo to accentuate the point. [color=BFBFBF]”And it’s clear neither of you were sandbagging. Just make sure to work on your evasion.”[/color] Pausing the video and handing the tablet back to the robot, Zenkichi stood up. [color=BFBFBF]”So, I think we can all agree now, there was no robbery here.Just a good combo.”[/color] Both fighters nodded, standing up with a handshake. 

Azuma gave them all a toothy smile, standing up with Zenkichi and giving him a slap on the back. “Excellent work there, Zenkichi! And good eye, I don’t think anybody else would have caught that so easily.” As the pair got up to leave the restaurant, he continued. “You and your friends are going to be a good thing for this city, I’m sure.” Zenkichi kept his poker face as best he could, thinking about the havoc left in the wake of the Seekers’ actions in Midgar. 

[color=BFBFBF]”No pressure, huh?”[/color] He laughed, a little nervously, before looking up to the Top Tier. [color=BFBFBF]”We’re definitely looking to make an impression, that’s for sure…”[/color] The underlying meaning of his message was missed by Azuma, who looked up with him. 

“Lofty goal for a bunch of newcomers, but that’s no reason to try and rain on your parade. I wish you all luck. I’m sure we’ll see each other more, but for now I’ll let you get back to your friends. It was a pleasure working with you.” He stopped, turning to offer his hand, which Zenkichi grabbed and gave a professional shake.

[color=BFBFBF]”Likewise, Azuma. It was nice to get a little work in. Let me know if you need a hand again.”[/color]