Post by Deleted on Jun 27, 2016 20:10:08 GMT -5
Text Key:
Dialogue, Makoto Nishiyama
Dialogue, supporting cast
Descriptive/Narrative
Chapter/Section title
Chapter 1: American Arrival Dialogue, Makoto Nishiyama
Dialogue, supporting cast
Descriptive/Narrative
Chapter/Section title
“Seriously?! Not even 3 minutes in the door and already a call?” This was the first thing to come out of Makoto Nishiyama's mouth after arriving at his hotel.
In all fairness it had been a long, long flight from Tokyo's Narita airport and the last thing on the young man's mind had been talking on the phone. Responding to the call, he precariously balanced his travel worn blue shoulder bag on his hip to free up access to the right front pocket of his jeans. As his hand fished around the tight confines of the denim interior he wondered who the hell would be calling him now. Before he'd gotten on the plane back in Japan a whole host of people had blown up his phone with calls and texts. Many were coworkers with well wishes and advice on working in America. A few from friends outside of the wrestling industry, and another couple from what family still bothered to stay in contact with him. One of those, namely, had been his mom. Just as he mentally added her to his review of people who'd called him just before departure, he managed to free his phone from the determined grip of his pocket. Before answering the incessantly cheerful rings he glanced at the display and noted that things had somehow come full circle.
“Hey mom,” his tone shifted from annoyed to pleasant as he tapped open the Skype app on his phone. Though he was a bit bedraggled in appearance, he'd never hear the end of it if he didn't answer her promptly.
She was wearing a gray t-shirt with what looked like a pink flower petal design just visible on the screen. There was a bit of exhaustion in her voice as she responded, “Hi Mako. Everything go well with your flight?”
Mako stared at the backdrop in front of which his mother sat – beige, pretty sterile overall with the corner of a colorful poster just off to the woman's left. Immediately he knew where she must be. Shrugging he told her, “Nothing weird happened, so it's all good. You're still at work? I thought you'd at least be headed home by now.”
He glanced over at the clock on the hotel room's nightstand. It read 3:30 A.M., which meant it was.. what, around mid-evening in Japan? Makoto needed a moment to calculate the time difference as his jet lag-riddled brain struggled with basic math. Finally he settled on it being about 16 hours difference, which made it 7:30 back home. Damn late-arriving flight really hadn't helped either. Only reason he'd gone for that option had been that it was in fact the cheapest option when he'd booked the flight online. Much as he'd been worn out by travel, his own woes weren't Makoto's primary concern for the time being. His mother staying late at work was, since it was out of character for her on a Friday night.
“Well, we've got a new kid who can only come in after school right now. Pretty raw around the edges but she's got a lot of potential,” the woman responded, expression lightening up as she explained, “She might just be the next big thing.”
“Really? But she's still in high school or something?” Mako asked, continuing to study his parent for any signs that she might be pushing herself too hard. When something big was on the horizon the woman had a tendency to ignore signals from her own body. A black strap was just barely visible from under her t-shirt's collar. That could mean a lot of things, but he was concerned it could be her back brace again.
She carried on regardless, “Yeah, she's gonna be graduating next spring. She's got a lot of personality, too – just hope she can pick up the skills to back it up.”
“Hey, I managed to get started in high school,” he responded half-jokingly; the woman got over-critical of little things when she thought someone had potential. It was her way of lovingly helping them fine-tune their performance. Momentarily he forgot her back brace and asked, “And I turned out fine, didn't I?”
“You had the opposite problem – too much skill, not enough personality. Not in the ring anyway, thank goodness Sousuke brought that out somehow. He says good luck, by the way.” Sousuke was the older wrestler who'd helped train Makoto when he was still a scrappy rookie fresh out of school.
That raised another question. Taking a seat on the edge of his motel room bed, Makoto asked, “How is he, anyway? I didn't get to see him before I left.”
It'd been a couple of months since he'd seen his mentor, what with the older wrestler being called back up onto a show for a premier organization. Though they'd been able to chat a couple of times both of them had shows to do. Unfortunately concerns over what costume to wear to the ring had taken precedence over checking in with the man more times than not. However, Sousuke Hirata was in unusually phenomenal shape for a man his age. Despite the fact that he liked to joke about starting each day with a glass of whiskey, the man somehow kept on ticking.
“You know Sousuke, he's out running a practice marathon before the rest of us are out of bed. He told me that he'll be doing a show in Osaka next week. Should be something you can get with our network subscription,” his mom laughed a little, then tried not to flinch in reaction to her body's catching up with her.
Concerned, Makoto asked, “Are you really okay, mom? You've got your back brace on, don't you? What happened?”
She tried to avoid the answer, “I'm fine. I've had worse.”
Raising a singular eyebrow, Mako sighed, “Don't mess with me, mom. Did you hurt yourself again?”
“Not too bad. Just had to show the new girl how to execute a diving splash,” came the answer.
“Mom, you've got to be more careful about that stuff. Take it easy, okay? See if you can maybe get Anko to show the new kid the moves,” Mako added, suggesting one of the gym's more experienced trainees in his mother's place.
“She's got her life, I got mine. But maybe I can lay off the kid a little for a couple days; she's earned that much,” the pain seemed to subside a little as she adjusted her posture.
Mako pressed home the issue, “Look, I worry about you.”
“Don't. I'll take care of what's goin' on here. You take care of making Yankee wrestling more beautiful,” his mother shook her head, taking a bit of a scolding tone toward him.
A smile replaced some of the concern in Mako's expression, “I'll do my best.” This was followed by a rather prolonged yawn on the part of Makoto. It really had been a long day.
“Hey Mako, I've got a train to catch home. You get some rest and let me know who you're wrestling for your first match. When will you know?” she asked, clearly trying to find a good stopping point for the conversation so he could rest.
That was a good question. Maybe they'd already sent him the details, or at least decided who he'd be working with for that first match with WFWF. Since he hadn't checked any of his messages since stepping off the plane, the best Makoto could offer was, “Whenever they tell me, I suppose.”
After shared farewells his mom hung up and Makoto Nishiyama was left to his own devices. He'd have to check in with her to ensure that she was actually going to take it easy. The consummate professional that she was, she probably planned on going full contact if that meant that she'd be able to get even a sliver more out of her student. Also he needed to look up the password for their shared network access account so that he could watch Sousuke's match over the weekend. Then there'd be the always fun process of figuring out when he could begin settling into his home away from home in the States. Another yeti-sized yawn told him that something else had to come first if he was going to do any of that stuff effectively. Letting his shoulder bag crash to the floor, Makoto lay down on his bed, closed his eyes and let his body answer the siren call of slumber.
Chapter 2: The Stage is Set
“Test.. test.. this is a test. Can everyone hear me?” Makoto Nishiyama found himself speaking into the microphone on his headset a few days later. He'd moved to a different hotel after the initial arrival (what with his new place not being ready quite yet) and decided now was the time to get reconnected with the world. Since his first night in the States, the announcement had been made of who he'd be getting in the ring with at Exodus. As such he had a lot of things to share, and a live stream Q & A seemed like a good way to do that.
Once he saw confirmation from the initially small group of streamers, Makoto smiled. Not a press conference, but it'd do to introduce the world to the innovator of Beautiful Strong Style. In slightly accented English he announced, “Hello everybody and welcome.. to the one and only Makoto Nishiyama Show! Of course I'm your elegant host, Makoto Nishiyama. Thanks for following, I appreciate the interest and support of each and every one of you.”
While the number of people following the stream continued to grow he added, “I know some of you probably don't follow Japanese wrestling – and shame on you for that! - so let me introduce myself. I'm from Kobe.. the city, not the basketball player or the beef. I've been wrestling since I was 17 and I've worked for a lot of different promotions all across Japan. This is my first time to visit America at all, so you'll have to give me some suggestions of places to go. My mom's a wrestler – her name's Aya, go look up her matches right now. I'll wait.”
Makoto leaned back in his chair, folded his arms across his chest and sat for just under a full minute. Then with a grin emerging from his mockingly serious face he went on, “Just kidding, but when you have time go watch her matches. I trained with Sousuke Hirata, who's the healthiest man I've ever met. And of course I am the prettiest wrestler in the world, so there's that. Now that you know a little about me I'm sure you've all got some questions. The Q&A is open, so don't hold back! Ask me anything and everything!”
Makoto let the people in on his stream start sending questions in, eyes following along the bottom of his screen before reading one aloud, “Someone wants to know why I say I'm the most beautiful man in the world. Well I didn't say that, I said prettiest wrestler. Of course I'll take most beautiful man too, my friend. What gives me that title? Well, I take care of my looks, I'm svelte, and it'll bring out the haters but I do can easily rock a skirt. When you can do that and also fight like a graceful bad ass, you're worthy of being called the prettiest wrestler in the world.”
Realizing he might be getting a little carried away with that answer, Makoto paused to scan for others he could answer without getting too sidetracked. His latest response had generated some hateful messages in the stream (questioning his sexuality no less), but he wasn't going to dwell on them. Of course he'd have to address them at some point – maybe if someone questioned him in a less inflammatory way. Better to get useful questions answered before he had a drop-the-mic moment.
“Okay, here's one: how come you speak English? That one's easy – I grew up around wrestling, and we always had like one or two foreigners in whatever promotion we worked with. It was always super interesting to talk to them about where they'd been, but it was also my sneaky way of getting help with English homework,” Makoto explained, laughing a bit at his past bending of the rules to get work done. Not unlike what he'd do in the ring if necessary – he'd rather win conventionally of course.
He read the next question, “Who are you looking forward to wrestling? Great question there. There are so many great talents in WFWF.. you know, even if a lot of them are scruffy looking. I think it'd be great to have a match with a veteran like Trace Demon or Dex.. I'd also like to work with one of the Thunderbirds sometime, I think that would be really fun match.”
This prompted more questions about particular wrestlers already under contract with WFWF, all over the board really. Although he hoped someday to be grappling with the likes of Drakz or Lucas Crowe, he had a long way to go before he was considered to be on that level. Since the people on his stream were in fact asking about who he'd wrestle, Makoto figured it was as good a time as any to reveal his debut match.
Smiling again as the questions rolled in from the admittedly modest following on his live stream, the wrestler added, “Come on guys, you know I won't be getting in the wrong with them just yet. Now then, I'm sure you're probably wondering just who I will be getting into that squared circle with. Well.. drumroll please..”
Makoto tapped his fingers on the tabletop next to his laptop before revealing, “It's a triple threat. And even though it's against a weird little hobgoblin that rides a donkey and an oddly bearded surfer, it'll be fine. Got to start somewhere! Of course I respect Brandon Bison, he's a tough competitor and he's going to test my abilities. Mantis Toboggan.. I don't even know what to say about him. You should know that Beautiful Strong Style is going to win in the end though. No matter what scruffy guys they throw at me, it only proves my point about American wrestling needing to be beautified.”
Which of course begged more explanation of that particular point. Since several people did in fact ask what the hell he was talking about, Makoto decided he needed to elaborate. Some of the more colorful language being used in the stream's comments caused him to raise a curious eyebrow before he explained, “What I meant was that there's this feel to American wrestling I've noticed. Just take a good, hard look around at the product. All you seem to see are guys who really need to shave, or who look like a back alley thug, or who look more like a weird uncle than a grappler. A lot of the look of American wrestling is just... ugly. Hate to say it, but it is.”
He paused in his explanation to respond to others in the stream, “I would like to take a second to say hi to Saz1820, poorusername, REALYuleCat, artie4802343, and everyone else who's just showing up in the stream to get name dropped. Let's see, BillsFanXXVI says it's their birthday – happy birthday to you, thanks for coming.”
“Ah, here's another good one – what do you want to do in WFWF?” Mako selected his next question to answer, “Two things. First, I want to make it a prettier place that's not quite as scruffy as it might be without me. That means proving I belong here, which means moving with grace, poise and a really stiff kick to the face. Second, I had a lot of fun in Japan but I never won a championship. So here in America I want to change that. If I became the first Japanese wrestler to win a WFWF Triple Crown, that would be even more awesome.”
Smiling at the comments which ranged from encouraging to incredulous, Makoto moved on to another question, “So you also want to know what I'm wearing to the ring for Exodus? Well that.. is a secret. Keep an eye out on my Twitter and WFWF.com for that announcement. The one thing I'll tell you is that it will definitely be cuter than any other entrance gear used at Exodus.”
Though he followed up his comment with a chuckle, those same questions he'd avoided answering earlier popped up again. Quickly he assumed a more serious expression, leaning toward the webcam a little as he considered his response. Finally he put on his best crap eating smirk and answered, “For those of you who ask if I am gay, I say: what does it matter? It's none of your business and it does.. not.. matter. If I am or if I am not, someone's still going to hear the End Theme at Exodus. And in the end, when my music hits, you'll wonder why you even bothered asking.”
Seeing the time and knowing he had other business to attend to, the eccentric Japanese wrestler lightened up. It would be best to end this on a high note so that he'd better maintain fan interest. His smile more genuine again Makoto concluded, “That is all the time we have today for the Makoto Nishiyama show. If you like what you see you can follow me on Twitter @makostyle, and I'll have a video series coming out after Exodus for all your Beautiful Strong Style needs. Thank you so much for coming today, and don't forget to watch WFWF Exodus!”
Makoto struck a pose with one hand pointing its index finger at the screen, the other above his head as if to strike down in a martial art chop. Holding the pose he concluded, “Until then.. Makoto Nishiyama... is out!”
Chapter 3: Know Thy Enemy
As the date of Exodus drew inexorably closer, training became an even more important focus for Makoto. He'd been getting in regular workouts since arriving in the United States but those had been a bit more general in their focus. Now he was working the a bit ring at a wrestling school not far outside of Minneapolis. Since Exodus would be held in the city it only made sense to Makoto to become acclimatized to the environment around it. In a lot of ways the city reminded him of Hokkaido; he'd done a show there once and its relative geographic location and climate felt similar to Minnesota. A friend who'd worked for indie promotions in the States had arranged the location for him, and was even letting Makoto crash at her place.
Though he appreciated her hospitality Makoto would be glad when he'd have a place of his own to occasionally crash at. Granted from everything he'd already experienced and what his friend had told him, going from hotel to hotel or couch to couch was typical of life on the road. There were a lot of cities to hit when you worked the square circle for a living. Getting to stay in Minneapolis for the last couple of weeks before his big debut really helped him focus in on the debut itself. No concerns over where he'd be sleeping or how much he could afford to spend on dinner from a local dive.
“Mako, remember that Toboggan's going to use any advantage he can get. He had to be warned by the ref after a low blow not that long ago,” his friend, a slightly older woman named JJ told him from her corner.
He rolled his eyes, “The guy's three times my age and might have a heart attack before he gets to the ring. Of course he's going to cheat. It's the only way he has a chance to win. I mean, if I have to I'll bend the rules but that's just a contingency."
“Still, be careful. He hasn't won a match yet and he's going to be hungry,” JJ warned, “Let's see that super kick of yours.”
“It's called the End Theme, and okay,” Makoto nodded, then obliged by going through his trademark super kick so she could evaluate his form. Even though there was no one else in the ring he could just imagine some American opponent getting a face full of his boot. He was confident that if the End Theme connected, the match would be over save for the three count.
JJ seemed satisfied herself, “Looks good. In fact I'd say you've added some extra extension to your End Theme since the last time I saw you wrestle in person. Wasn't that the Sanada match?”
Standing upright, Makoto thought about it for a moment. JJ had been in the US for a year or two, and with the amount of matches he'd had in the interim it took a bit to recall the occasion. Finally he nodded, “Yeah. Pretty wild one, wasn't it?”
The match in question had ended with a series of reversals on finishers that had ended only when Makoto slipped out of a fireman's carry to hit the End Theme. As one of his longer matches he'd been in, the match had left him aching for days afterward. After landing his kick he'd collapsed on top of Sanada to get the pinfall. Even though it'd only been two years previous the whole thing seemed as if it were ages ago. A lot had changed since that match before a few hundred people. Sanada had since gone on to some minor success in a major Japanese promotion and joined a faction with some foreign wrestlers. Makoto was now about to enter WFWF with a bang at the top of the Exodus card against two other men. Just as the thought crossed his mind, JJ brought the conversation back to the upcoming debut.
“You're right that Mantis Toboggan seems like less of a threat than Brandon Bison. He hasn't been as successful lately as he'd like to be either. With him in the match it's going to be even more unpredictable,” JJ stated, tilting her head slightly as she asked, “You've watched video on him right?”
“Of course. He's got the skills to be a lot more successful than that, but luck hasn't been with him. Not a fan of that beard though, it's.. well, it's weird. I guess it's some kind of American thing to look like a lumberjack,” Makoto remarked. Bison would definitely be the bigger threat in the triple threat, though an idea came to him after a moment of thought, “You know, if he gets distracted by Toboggan, that's something I'll take advantage of. No matter how chaotic it gets, the prettiest wrestler in the world will win though.”
“Hey, what about me?” JJ asked, somewhat jokingly, hands on her hips.
Makoto took a good look at her, as if trying to judge whether she could compete with him. It also let him try and read her body language to see if she was at all legitimately upset over the remark She was a couple of years his senior, well built for wrestling after all the time she'd put into intensive weightlifting and workouts. Given that she had a show that night, the brunette was wearing her black and red ring gear under a long t-shirt she'd had produced for sale at whatever venue she turned up at. Compared to her Makoto was taller and less ready for battle at the moment. For the workout he'd donned a pair of lightweight white MMA shorts, athletic shoes and a grey t-shirt with a pink sakura flower on it. In Japanese it read 'Sakura Joshi Gym' across the front; you got free stuff sometimes when you had relatives running a wrestling school.
Finally he shrugged, “Okay, you're pretty.. just not as pretty as me.”
JJ playfully punched him in the arm, “Boy, you sure now how to talk to a lady.”
“It's the truth,” Makoto replied, then noticed a large cardboard box sitting by the front door, “Hey, was that here before? Looks like you might have a delivery.”
“Huh? That's weird,” JJ responded, having not noticed herself.
One of the other wrestlers training at the school stopped by the box, glancing down at the label for a moment. Then he called over, “This here's for a Nishiyama.”
Eyes wide in surprise, JJ looked questioningly to the wrestler standing next to her. Actually Makoto had known there would be a delivery for him here at some point this week. Its arrival today was a little faster than he'd anticipated, of course, but he'd roll with it. To JJ he gave a wink that said they should go check it out, and the pair exited the ring to let a pair of others go through some sparring. Once they arrived at the box, Makoto gave it a familiar pat. This was the last piece he needed to help him be fully prepared for his big debut at Exodus. One last bit of gear that would truly make the innovator of Beautiful Strong Style stand out from his two American opponents. While his friend still looked confused, Makoto used a key to slice through the tape holding the box shut.
“JJ, as proof of that statement earlier, I give you.. my entrance gear,” he announced as he worked the key through the shipping label.
“Wait, you had it shipped here?” she asked, still slightly confused.
“Yeah, I thought it would be better than having it sent to a hotel or your apartment. Besides, you didn't give me your address in time for this to get there before Exodus. Don't worry, I paid for it,” Makoto assured her before opening the flaps and looking over to JJ. Ever so carefully he reached inside, as if the box contained some great secret treasure that might break if not handled properly. The suspense lasted only a few seconds before he pulled out.. a blonde wig in a bag.
With another grin he held it up to his head and asked, “It suits me, right?”
“Blonde? You sure that's a good look for you?” JJ asked, still dubious but willing to let Makoto be the final judge of his own entrance fashion.
“We'll see. I thought it'd be nice to try something new since I'm working for new people now,” Makoto answered, then sighed, “It's really happening. My debut is coming..”
JJ gave him a pat on the shoulder, “Hey, don't worry about it. If you've got the guts to wear that to the ring, nothing's gonna stop you.”
“Thanks,” Makoto told her, then set the wig back in the shipping box, “How about I work the bag and you can tell me about your show tonight?”
“Deal,” JJ agreed, and the pair went back to preparing for their big matches. One on the indies, the other on the biggest stage of his life.