Of Legacy And Legos

[Seito Risa]

A two bedroom suite. Well apportioned with furniture, a spacious kitchenette and a huge flat panel TV. There is a scratch at the door and it opens. Ichiro enters, carrying his own luggage and pulling two of Risa's behind him. He drops an overnight bag against the door, propping it open. He then makes it as far as the couch against the wall opposite of the TV and lets her bags go, turning and dropping his own to the floor as well, he drops onto the couch with a loud oof. Risa bounds in a few moments later, carrying a can of Coke, pulling a rolling duffel behind her, her purse slung from her shoulder. Her brown hair is pulled up into pigtails, making her look younger than her twenty three years. She enters the room with a bright smile on her face. She slides the overnight bag with her foot as she passes through the door, allowing it to close behind her. She walks sets her duffel on end and enters the kitchen. She turns and looks at the time on the microwave.

SR: "Ichisan, we have about three hours before our meeting. Do you want to take a quick nap while I un..."

The sound of Ichiro snoring from the couch causes her to stop and giggle softly. She puts the can of Coke into the otherwise empty fridge and gets busy unpacking and settling into the room.

==========Time Marches On...2 hours later==========

Ichiro's eyes open slowly. He is laying on the couch, the jacket of his suit and his tie carefully folded and laying on the table before him. He eyes this a moment before sitting upright in a panic. He looks at his watch and grouses.

I: "Still set to home."

He turns frantically, spotting the clock on the microwave. Seeing that it has only been about two hours since he remembers sitting down he flops back to his back and groans.

SR: "I see you are awake. Travel has always disrupted your patterns."

Ichiro rubs at his eyes and sits up.

I: "I do not understand how it doesn't have the same effect on you it does on...."

His sentence dies off as he turns his head and sees Risa. She is dressed in a light blue, form fitting dress with matching heels. A gold necklace with a Japanese flag charm dangling down onto her chest just below her collarbone. A turquoise bracelet is the only other adornment she has on. She notices his look change and steps back, smiling.

SR: "I clean up nicely, don't I?"

She giggles and offers him her hand.

SR: "Come on. I called and asked for a cab to be here in about forty-five minutes."

Ichiro is still a bit stunned that the sporty dressed girl he has known for years suddenly appears as a grown woman before him. He takes her hand and gets to his feet, giving her a polite bow of his head in return.

I: "I should get a shower and shave. Where did my bag go?"

Risa points to the closet.

SR: "The bag is in there. Your stuff is in your bathroom."

She points to the door on the opposite wall.

I: "I'm going to watch some American television while you get cleaned up."

Ichiro grabs his jacket and tie from the table, excuses himself politely and disappears into the other bedroom. Risa settles on the couch in a very lady-like position and picks the remote up from the table before and begins channel flipping. "Hey! Cool!" She stops the channel surfing, setting the remote down next to her on the couch, and leans back, enjoying a rerun of the old US Gameshow Family Feud...

==========Time Marches On==========

Risa and Ichiro, now dressed in a black suit with matching tie and wearing sunglasses, enter the lobby of the hotel side by side. His stride is a bit controlled so he doesn't outdistance her, the two whispering about something in their native language. They arrive at the counter.

SR: "Excuse me. I asked for a cab to be here waiting for us. Do you know if it is here?"

A leathery faced caucasian man stands up from a chair nearby, tossing his newspaper he is reading into the chair as he stands.

Cabby: "That'd be me. Wasn't expecting you for another few minutes, but if you are ready to go, I'm parked right outside."

I: "We are ready to go."

The cabby nods, waves to them and starts toward the door. Ichiro and Risa exchange looks.

SR: "It is still unnerving isn't it?"

Ichiro shrugs.

I: "A different culture. Imagine how he would feel back in Osaka."

Risa giggles to that as the pair head for the door. They settle into the back of the cab and the cab takes off.

Cabby: "Should take us less than twenty minutes to get there, traffic is a little light today."

I: "That will be fine. Thank you."

The cabby shakes his head and starts whistling something to himself, so out of tune it is impossible to guess if it is even a song.

I: "Your Grandfather has told me such stories of the cities of America. I must admit, I feel a bit overwhelmed. First Los Angeles, now Chicago."

Risa nods, her hands stacked in her lap.

SR: "This is where Grandfather's career ended. A place called Rosemont Horizon or something of the like. It is rather a good omen that this is where mine starts."

Ichrio nods and reaches into his jacket, pulling something from his inside pocket.

I: "Your Mother asked that I give this to you before we got to our meeting. A token of good luck."

Risa raises her left hand palm up and accepts the gift. It isn't much to look at, a small green plastic Lego brick, scratched from use. Risa smiles at it.

SR: "My old lucky Lego. I thought I lost this years ago."

Ichiro shrugs.

I: "Mothers have an uncanny ability to locate such things at the appropriate time."

Risa nods and drops the Lego into her clutch purse.

SR: "Thank you, Ichisan. For everything."

Ichiro nods, cracking a rare smile.

I: "I have sworn to watch out for you and help you in any way that I can."

SR: "I know. You worry too much about me. Despite the fact I have two college degrees, I just never lost my child like sense of fun and wonder."

Ichiro sighs.

I: "So I have seen, on many occasions."

Risa giggles again and the cab pulls off of a main street down a side street. After another series of left and right turns, he enters a parking garage and drives down from the 3rd level on which they entered to the first, two levels below ground. He pulls up to a double set of elevators and puts the cab in park.

Cabby: "Here we are. Not sure what you two have business with here but, it pays the bills and really is none of my business."

Ichiro considers the meter and pulls a bifold wallet from his inside jacket pocket and starts counting out cash. As he counts, Risa leans forward excitedly.

SR: "I am going to take on my Grandfather's legacy! The family business. You see, Grandfather was..."

Ichrio leans forward, carefully not bumping her out of his way, to hand a stack of bills to the cabby.

I: "This should over the fare and a good tip for an excellent drive. We will call and ask for you when we are ready to depart here."

The cabby nods, quickly folding the wad of cash and sticking it in his pocket.

Cabby: "I'll pick you up right here. They should be able to tell you how to get here."

Ichiro nods and shoos Risa out of the cab. They stand there watching him drive off.

SR: "What a nice man. Really needs a bath though."

Ichiro nods.

I: "The unfortunate side effect of being forced to drive public transportation for a living."

He turns to Risa, who adjusts her dress, flatting out any wrinkles that may have formed.

SR: "How do I look?"

Ichiro quirks an eyebrow over the rim of his sunglasses.

I: "Like you are ready to conduct business."

Risa nods to him, takes a deep breath and turns, walking toward the elevators, Ichiro a half step behind her and off to her right. She stops at the elevator and Ichiro reaches around, pressing the button.

SR: "Remember, proprieties for this meeting. Afterward we can relax with some dinner."

Ichiro says nothing but stands there stoic as the elevator pings. The door opens, revealing the back wall to be plastered with the UGWC logo.

SR: "Think we have the right elevator?"

She giggles as she enters, Ichiro following her in shaking his head.

I: "This is going to be a long meeting."

Ichiro mumbles, drawing another giggle from Risa as the elevator doors close slowly...

==========End==========

[The Crimson Ghost!]

I'm a Seito fan. BTW, is her first name Risa or Seito? I can't tell.

Anyway, welcome to the UGWC. Kick some ass next week!

[Seito Risa]

Proper Japanese names are always Familyname Individualname, so in this case her 'surname' is Seito, her 'first name' is Risa.

[The Crimson Ghost!]

I had a small feeling, but I wanted to be sure.