Papaya Island, Saturday, July 16th, Dawn
The sun rose in the distance, and as it did so it cast its morning light over the shadows of the waning night. On the edge of a bluff overlooking the shore, a young man sat beneath a nearby tree. He was facing the East, as if waiting to greet the rising sun. He was cross-legged, appearing to be in a meditative state. But just as the morning sunlight washed over him, he slowly began to write something down on a parchment. The note was short, and read thusly:
Night gives way to dawn
The Morning Sun warms the shore
We greet the new dayIt was a haiku, of all things. Composing them was said to be an effective way to ensure clarity of the mind, and it partnered well as a hobby alongside the art of meditation. The greater clarity a mind has, the more easily it can be at ease with itself. At least, that was what the young man was taught by his great-grandfather before the latter's passing. But soon the young man opened his eyes, sensing someone's arrival without any need to look in their direction, "Good. You're on time." he said, voice low and his tone sounding almost eerily peaceful.
The man who had approached was a bit older, and wore a business suit. He even carried a briefcase with him to complete the utterly stereotypical image. He looked somewhat annoyed, "You picked a strange time and place for a meeting like this, you know that?" his apparent irritation was reflected by his tone.
"There's no one here. It's quiet. It's peaceful. It's private. What more do you need?" the young man's response kept the same tone, appearing to indicate that he was not bothered by the other's manners, "You should try this yourself some time, you look like you need it."
The businessman huffed, taking another step forward and noticing the parchment with the haiku scripted onto it, "I'll pass. I've got too much on my plate to waste time sitting under trees and writing poems. But let's get to business." he opened the briefcase and retrieved a folder from it before handing it over to the younger man, "That's your target. Everything you need to know about him is included there."
The file appeared to be a dossier. The Target's name was included, as was his go-to alias: Niko Renzo, aka Eclipse. According to the dossier he was in armed services, as a sniper and stealth operations specialist. And evidently he was no slouch in martial arts combat either. The dossier went on to give accounts of Renzo's ops, painting a picture of a sniper that appeared to grow increasingly dissatisfied with a soldier's pay and thus turned to selling intelligence as something of a side gig. "Strange... isn't this the sort of thing the government is meant to deal with?"
The suit cleared his throat before answering, "That's classified. The point is, your target is guilty of treason. That falls well within your perimeter, does it not?"
The dossier snapped shut, "Death comes for everyone. Me? I'm just the messenger." he handed the folder back to the man and he stood from his position.
"...is that a yes?" the suit held out the briefcase, which he revealed contained a large amount of Zeni in it, "That's half, the other half comes upon completion, per your terms."
The younger man didn't say another word. Instead he silently took the briefcase from the older man and calmly began to walk away. The meeting, as far as he was concerned, was concluded. He had only one destination after this, and that was the Tournament Grounds. Hopefully he would make it in time to sign up. But even if he didn't, the plan was clear. The dossier directed him to this Tournament as the place where Niko Renzo would be. Of course, assassinating him there would be foolish, but if the target was competing then what better way to observe him and study his skill level than as a member of the spectating audience?
The World Martial Arts Tournament had reached its conclusion. The final bout was dangerously close to ending in a tie, but it seemed the girl had just managed to eke out a win over her opponent. Most of the matches early on were nothing special, in fact Han only truly became interested when it was narrowed down to the final 16. Of course, he'd been watching the matches of a certain someone more closely than others. That someone had made it all the way to the Semi-Finals before being eliminated by the girl who went on to become the Champion. A few of the unrelated matches piqued Han's interest. For instance, Angela's match against Ace, as while most of the viewing audience were shocked and awed by its conclusion Han remained seemingly unsurprised by it. From her stance to the way she moved, it was obvious to him that Ace was entirely self-taught, no formal instruction whatsoever. As for where that apparent strength of hers came from, he couldn't say. But her eventual concession seemed to him at least to be a sign that she very likely didn't have control over it in some fashion and may well have been afraid of seriously hurting someone.
Another fighter whose matches were interesting was the other finalist, Bakuto. His speed was clearly unmatched, as evidenced by the appearance of his Afterimages. In fact it was seeing that technique in action that made Han all the more disappointed that he missed the sign up deadline, because he was almost certain he could have countered that move fairly easily with his own technique. Oh well, there was no sense dwelling on it or obsessing over it. Perhaps it could happen at the next World Tournament? One could always hope, anyway.
And then there was Niko Renzo. This was the competitor whose matches Han watched the most closely. Early on it almost seemed like Niko was having to make a conscious effort to adjust his strikes so that they would be non-lethal. This made a lot of sense, given his background. Combat techniques in the military were designed first and foremost to stop opponents swiftly and efficiently, even if that meant potentially killing them. In fact, Han speculated that had he managed to sign up for this Tournament, he himself may have actually had a similar issue with toning down the lethality of his own techniques. But by the time Niko had made it to the Semi-Finals it became most clear to Han. His target was enjoying himself here, and doing so genuinely. And that fact struct Han as quite odd. If Niko was really after only money as the dossier claimed, then where was this sudden passion and sportsmanship coming from?
It seems I'm going to need to learn a bit more about you before I make a move. And in the world of martial arts there is only one way for a fighter to truly gauge who another is...Han had decided that as soon as an opportunity presented itself, he would present himself directly to Niko Renzo... and challenge him to a match.
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