Memories of life before The Prince
Oct 9, 2016 14:05:22 GMT -6
Spencer Adams, Bonnie Blue, and 4 more like this
Post by Kuno Kenji on Oct 9, 2016 14:05:22 GMT -6
Some time ago
Kuno Kenji is sitting in some damp, dirty back alley in Philadelphia, it’s near night and the rain is pouring down around him, only the small overhang overhead keeps him from being drenched, only a few blocks from where the family who agreed to pick him up for the last part of his hitchhiking trip to the city to help him get to J1-con, hoping that the gathering of anime fans will contain some willingness to offer some money for autographs or pictures. But after arriving one of the first people he met informed him, clearly having deduced from Kuno’s cat ears that he was going to the convention, that the Con had been canceled.
This left Kuno in a precarious position, with no money in his pockets and no opportunities to make some, leaving him in this place, sobbing next to a Philly dumpster, about as far away from his lifelong dream as he could get.
A rumble is heard, Kuno fears at first that he will be forced to find shelter from an incoming storm before realizing that the sound in question is coming from him, his stomach to be precise.
Standing up, feeling what little change he had left threaten to fall out of the holes in his pockets and raising the hood of his worn-out, threadbare, gray Tokyo Ghoul hoodie to hide his cat ears, wincing as the coarse material rubs against his near frozen ears, sending piercing pain into his entire head. He then proceeds to hide his tail inside his shirt, the motion well practiced after 2 years of hiding his “defects” in public.
Remembering that he saw a discount grocery store only a few blocks away, Kuno starts walking.
The streets are dark and wet, and Kuno finds the storefront of the grocery store to be no more inviting. It is in grave need of a wash, probably a repaint and an entire squad of exterminators too if the sounds that greet him as he entered are anything to go by; the cashier eyes him warily as Kuno enters, the baggy, ill-fitting hoodie alerting him that something was off about this newest customer.
In the far back of the shop he find some sandwiches which look edible, not fresh, but just about edible, he grabs the least soggy tuna sandwich he can find and makes his way back to the front, placing the sandwich in front of the rotund man behind the register.
‘One dollar’
The man’s voice sounds like how a pig would speak if given human vocal chords, Kuno is quick to start piling up his small change coin by coin, counting quietly under his breath.
‘Hope you’re running low on change, hehe’ he lets out a nervous giggle, hoping it’ll have some soothing effect on the man’s foul mood, from the look on his face he had no such luck.
He finally finishes his pile of coins and pushes it toward the cashier, the neat pile falls over and what he hoped would be a quick movement turn arduous and awkward as he is forced to push what is now 3 separate piles of coins to the other side.
The cashier grumbles something about “no good beggars” as he puts the money in the cash register, Kuno grabs his sandwich and nervously thanks the cashier and moves towards the door, his tail twitching slightly as he walks.
‘Hey, wait you fucker!’
The cashier stomps forward towards Kuno as he turn around, terrified and confused.
The cashier drags the hoodie up, hoping to find the food that must have been what caused the movement he saw underneath it, he sees some kind of color flash by so he grabs it and tries to rip it out from underneath the hoodie.
His face turns from rage to confusion as he notices that he is holding a tail in his hand, a tail that is both warm to the touch and twitching in pain, he looks down to Kuno’s face and sees contorted with distress. The shock is such that it causes him to loosen his grip, letting Kuno scramble away and out the door. He drops the sandwich in a puddle and hastily picks it up running back to the alley, tears streaming down his face, not only from the pain of his tail being grabbed so roughly.
He sits back down next to his dumpster, looking at the wet, soppy mess in his hand, swallowing hard he takes his first bite, doing his best to keep his gag reflex in check, after eating half he loses control and throws up all over his shoes. Looking down at the wasted food he finally loses control, he buries his face in his hands, and cries.
A few days before the London Overload
A door opens and Kuno enters his hotel room, not even taking the time to admire the beautiful spartan furniture before falling face first on the bed. His first ever plane ride had not been what he expected, having been seated between Luke and Professor Coach, he didn’t have much of an opportunity to witness the wonders of traveling by air, and since he had yet to make any major impact in UCI he had been given a seat in coach, far away from his stablemates in Otakuul. The Hentai Prince had offered to make some calls to get him seated up front with them, but Kuno had felt that he would rather not make any waves, he now considered if he didn’t regret that decision.
But all in all, his life had made a dramatic upswing, with the money he made as “Public ambassador” for UCI, and hopefully the bonus he would get from beating Johnny Rabid this weekend; he could afford to stay in nice hotels, eat tuna sandwiches not covered in mold and dirty rain water, and presumably he could also afford some clothes that weren’t 5 sizes too large, that’s what his new friends kept telling him anyway.
Speaking of his new friends, that too was a major addition to his life, Kuno couldn’t remember if he ever had any friends. His earliest memory was waking up in a weird dark robe about 2 blocks away from Anime Expo in Los Angeles. This had been 2 years ago and since then he had been living the same “street rat” lifestyle; although “Rat” might be a poor choice of words. So being approached by none other than “The Moe Stars” just a few weeks after being signed to UCI, and before his debut match, had been a huge shock, an even bigger shock had been when Prince-sama, Kuno refused to call him anything else, explained his vision of Otakuul to Kuno and Ryo Ishikawa, more commonly know as “The Bishōnen Brawler”, a group to take the world of professional wrestling, and the world, by storm, by bringing color and happiness to the lives of everyone they could reach.
The Moe Stars were of course also there, and even though it was not the first time they had met, they still responded with their trademark enthusiasm anytime they saw his ears perk up, or his tail twitch.
The Prince had seemed as happy and charismatic as always, but Kuno had sensed something different in him this time, a fire in his eyes that hadn’t always been there. This wasn’t just something he was doing for the fun of it, this was something new, something real; it was the reason Kuno had agreed so fast and enthusiastically, this was something that The great Hentai Prince burned for in such a way, he simply had to be in on it.
The Bishōnen Brawler seemed strange to Kuno, a little jumpy and nervous, he didn’t really seem used to stirring emotional speeches either, he looked like he didn’t quite know how to respond to the words that The Hentai Prince were saying, but Kuno had trusted Prince’s ability to find fitting members and Ryo had seemed genuinely interested in the ideas that The Prince presented, presumably he had also seen what a life devoid of happiness and friendship looked like, Kuno almost felt a connection between the two of them.
Kuno had been quick to accept, perhaps a little too quick as he interrupted The Hentai Prince in the middle of the climax of his stirring speech, although Adam had taken it in stride, managing to work it into his speech almost flawlessly, showing off that same charisma that had always drawn Kuno’s eyes to him whenever they shared a stage at a convention.
It hadn't only been The Prince's drive that made Kuno accept, the simple but beautiful philosophy of Otakuul had spoken to him, it had reminded him of the few happy memories of his life, the time spent in the middle of conventions all around the country, bringing joy and happiness to the people who came by, of making sure that whenever someone walked away they did so with a smile on their face and a new joy in their heart, The Price had offered him and opportunity to help a new group of people on an entirely unprecedented scale, to spread the same joy and happiness as before, but now to the hundreds of thousands of people who tuned in every week for overload.
Feeling a new conviction in his beliefs, a new drive to spread the message, Kuno gets back up from his bed, walking over to his the bag where he kept what little things he had had time to buy with his new income, he pulls out the his new camera and tripod, setting it up in his room and standing in front of it, just like how he used to do his old VLOGs from all the anime conventions, they usually didn't see many views, and most of the comments included the word “Faggot” or at least a synonym of it.
A small red light on the camera turn on and starts flashing, Kuno’s face lights up in much the same way into a heavily practiced smile.
‘Hey Rabid! And hello to the UCI Universe, My name is Kuno Kenji, i have also been know to go by “The Kawaii Housecat”, and i am here to tell you all, mostly you Johnny-san, about my match this Sunday, RIGHT HERE IN LONDON!’ An obviously edited in track of cheers is played, the sound of Andre Holmes entrance theme can still be heard in the background of the audio recording.
‘This match will be the most important in my career, and not just because it’ll be the only match in my career’ Kuno giggles lightly as the fake crowd laughs in a well mannered way.
‘No, it will also be for a spot in the dreaded Killing Floor match, where those who are shown to be worthy will compete for the most prestigious prize in all of Professional wrestling, The UCI World! Heavyweight! Championship!!!’ An explosion of cheers is played.
‘Winning that championship so soon after the formation of Otakuul, the most groundbreaking movement in the last several millennia, would validate all of the words and ideals that The Hentai Prince presented when he started it, it would show the world that with color, happiness and friendship in your life, you can achieve anything!’ What is clearly the same cheers track as in the beginning of the video is once again plays
Kuno’s voice grows softer, with a hint of sadness he says, ‘Just look at me, for as long as i can remember i have been living of the charity and fascination of other people, but not any more, with the guidance of Prince-sama and his ideas, I will be facing a real wrestler, for an opportunity at a real title, for a real company, it is all my dreams come true, ever since i read my first issue of “Tiger Mask” this has been my dream, to become a real professional wrestler!’
Kuno’s voice has been growing stronger and stronger, rising to a crescendo towards the end of his speech.
‘Now the only problem, is you, you Johnny “The Meany” Rabid, the man who is the epitome of everything that Otakuul stands against, everything that I stand against, everything the The Prince stands against!’
‘What you and your cronies did back in the #BeachKrew days was utterly disgusting, you bullied, you terrorized, you humiliated people into getting out of your way, just because you saw yourself as better, well guess what Johnny-san? I’m going to show you, and all the people like you, that that isn’t the only way to the top, I have seen the type of world your philosophy creates, a land where those with less integrity, lesser characters, pray on those who are true to the spirit of humanity, and i never want to go back, i don’t want anyone to be forced to grow up in that kind of world again, *that* is why i’m doing this, that is why i joined The Hentai Prince in the first place, but you!’
‘You’re a snob, you’ve never seen what I’ve seen, what many in the UCI universe have seen! You are the kind of man who will cheat blatantly, and then justify it by saying that anyone who dislikes you approach does so because they simply “have never wrestled”, using a piss-poor excuse to deflect the truth, well guess what?’
Kuno grows quiet and looks to the floor, someone at UCI headquarters clearly made the intelligent move to zoom the camera in in post-production, letting the viewers at home see the emotions play over Kuno’s face, disgust, sadness, rage.
‘Here’s the real truth, the truth that you don’t want to accept, people don’t need to have wrestled to recognize a bad egg, they know you by the *stench*, Rabid-san, the stench of a rotten soul, the stench of a soul….’
Kuno finally looks up, his usually gray eyes have turned an amber yellow, his pupils have contracted into cat-like slits
‘A soul that doesn’t deserve to be in the same building, no, the same city as The Prince!!!’
The video feed lingers on Kuno’s face, his near demonic features, for a short while more, letting the audience at home take in the startling change in complexion, before cutting out.
Kuno Kenji is sitting in some damp, dirty back alley in Philadelphia, it’s near night and the rain is pouring down around him, only the small overhang overhead keeps him from being drenched, only a few blocks from where the family who agreed to pick him up for the last part of his hitchhiking trip to the city to help him get to J1-con, hoping that the gathering of anime fans will contain some willingness to offer some money for autographs or pictures. But after arriving one of the first people he met informed him, clearly having deduced from Kuno’s cat ears that he was going to the convention, that the Con had been canceled.
This left Kuno in a precarious position, with no money in his pockets and no opportunities to make some, leaving him in this place, sobbing next to a Philly dumpster, about as far away from his lifelong dream as he could get.
A rumble is heard, Kuno fears at first that he will be forced to find shelter from an incoming storm before realizing that the sound in question is coming from him, his stomach to be precise.
Standing up, feeling what little change he had left threaten to fall out of the holes in his pockets and raising the hood of his worn-out, threadbare, gray Tokyo Ghoul hoodie to hide his cat ears, wincing as the coarse material rubs against his near frozen ears, sending piercing pain into his entire head. He then proceeds to hide his tail inside his shirt, the motion well practiced after 2 years of hiding his “defects” in public.
Remembering that he saw a discount grocery store only a few blocks away, Kuno starts walking.
The streets are dark and wet, and Kuno finds the storefront of the grocery store to be no more inviting. It is in grave need of a wash, probably a repaint and an entire squad of exterminators too if the sounds that greet him as he entered are anything to go by; the cashier eyes him warily as Kuno enters, the baggy, ill-fitting hoodie alerting him that something was off about this newest customer.
In the far back of the shop he find some sandwiches which look edible, not fresh, but just about edible, he grabs the least soggy tuna sandwich he can find and makes his way back to the front, placing the sandwich in front of the rotund man behind the register.
‘One dollar’
The man’s voice sounds like how a pig would speak if given human vocal chords, Kuno is quick to start piling up his small change coin by coin, counting quietly under his breath.
‘Hope you’re running low on change, hehe’ he lets out a nervous giggle, hoping it’ll have some soothing effect on the man’s foul mood, from the look on his face he had no such luck.
He finally finishes his pile of coins and pushes it toward the cashier, the neat pile falls over and what he hoped would be a quick movement turn arduous and awkward as he is forced to push what is now 3 separate piles of coins to the other side.
The cashier grumbles something about “no good beggars” as he puts the money in the cash register, Kuno grabs his sandwich and nervously thanks the cashier and moves towards the door, his tail twitching slightly as he walks.
‘Hey, wait you fucker!’
The cashier stomps forward towards Kuno as he turn around, terrified and confused.
The cashier drags the hoodie up, hoping to find the food that must have been what caused the movement he saw underneath it, he sees some kind of color flash by so he grabs it and tries to rip it out from underneath the hoodie.
His face turns from rage to confusion as he notices that he is holding a tail in his hand, a tail that is both warm to the touch and twitching in pain, he looks down to Kuno’s face and sees contorted with distress. The shock is such that it causes him to loosen his grip, letting Kuno scramble away and out the door. He drops the sandwich in a puddle and hastily picks it up running back to the alley, tears streaming down his face, not only from the pain of his tail being grabbed so roughly.
He sits back down next to his dumpster, looking at the wet, soppy mess in his hand, swallowing hard he takes his first bite, doing his best to keep his gag reflex in check, after eating half he loses control and throws up all over his shoes. Looking down at the wasted food he finally loses control, he buries his face in his hands, and cries.
A few days before the London Overload
A door opens and Kuno enters his hotel room, not even taking the time to admire the beautiful spartan furniture before falling face first on the bed. His first ever plane ride had not been what he expected, having been seated between Luke and Professor Coach, he didn’t have much of an opportunity to witness the wonders of traveling by air, and since he had yet to make any major impact in UCI he had been given a seat in coach, far away from his stablemates in Otakuul. The Hentai Prince had offered to make some calls to get him seated up front with them, but Kuno had felt that he would rather not make any waves, he now considered if he didn’t regret that decision.
But all in all, his life had made a dramatic upswing, with the money he made as “Public ambassador” for UCI, and hopefully the bonus he would get from beating Johnny Rabid this weekend; he could afford to stay in nice hotels, eat tuna sandwiches not covered in mold and dirty rain water, and presumably he could also afford some clothes that weren’t 5 sizes too large, that’s what his new friends kept telling him anyway.
Speaking of his new friends, that too was a major addition to his life, Kuno couldn’t remember if he ever had any friends. His earliest memory was waking up in a weird dark robe about 2 blocks away from Anime Expo in Los Angeles. This had been 2 years ago and since then he had been living the same “street rat” lifestyle; although “Rat” might be a poor choice of words. So being approached by none other than “The Moe Stars” just a few weeks after being signed to UCI, and before his debut match, had been a huge shock, an even bigger shock had been when Prince-sama, Kuno refused to call him anything else, explained his vision of Otakuul to Kuno and Ryo Ishikawa, more commonly know as “The Bishōnen Brawler”, a group to take the world of professional wrestling, and the world, by storm, by bringing color and happiness to the lives of everyone they could reach.
The Moe Stars were of course also there, and even though it was not the first time they had met, they still responded with their trademark enthusiasm anytime they saw his ears perk up, or his tail twitch.
The Prince had seemed as happy and charismatic as always, but Kuno had sensed something different in him this time, a fire in his eyes that hadn’t always been there. This wasn’t just something he was doing for the fun of it, this was something new, something real; it was the reason Kuno had agreed so fast and enthusiastically, this was something that The great Hentai Prince burned for in such a way, he simply had to be in on it.
The Bishōnen Brawler seemed strange to Kuno, a little jumpy and nervous, he didn’t really seem used to stirring emotional speeches either, he looked like he didn’t quite know how to respond to the words that The Hentai Prince were saying, but Kuno had trusted Prince’s ability to find fitting members and Ryo had seemed genuinely interested in the ideas that The Prince presented, presumably he had also seen what a life devoid of happiness and friendship looked like, Kuno almost felt a connection between the two of them.
Kuno had been quick to accept, perhaps a little too quick as he interrupted The Hentai Prince in the middle of the climax of his stirring speech, although Adam had taken it in stride, managing to work it into his speech almost flawlessly, showing off that same charisma that had always drawn Kuno’s eyes to him whenever they shared a stage at a convention.
It hadn't only been The Prince's drive that made Kuno accept, the simple but beautiful philosophy of Otakuul had spoken to him, it had reminded him of the few happy memories of his life, the time spent in the middle of conventions all around the country, bringing joy and happiness to the people who came by, of making sure that whenever someone walked away they did so with a smile on their face and a new joy in their heart, The Price had offered him and opportunity to help a new group of people on an entirely unprecedented scale, to spread the same joy and happiness as before, but now to the hundreds of thousands of people who tuned in every week for overload.
Feeling a new conviction in his beliefs, a new drive to spread the message, Kuno gets back up from his bed, walking over to his the bag where he kept what little things he had had time to buy with his new income, he pulls out the his new camera and tripod, setting it up in his room and standing in front of it, just like how he used to do his old VLOGs from all the anime conventions, they usually didn't see many views, and most of the comments included the word “Faggot” or at least a synonym of it.
A small red light on the camera turn on and starts flashing, Kuno’s face lights up in much the same way into a heavily practiced smile.
‘Hey Rabid! And hello to the UCI Universe, My name is Kuno Kenji, i have also been know to go by “The Kawaii Housecat”, and i am here to tell you all, mostly you Johnny-san, about my match this Sunday, RIGHT HERE IN LONDON!’ An obviously edited in track of cheers is played, the sound of Andre Holmes entrance theme can still be heard in the background of the audio recording.
‘This match will be the most important in my career, and not just because it’ll be the only match in my career’ Kuno giggles lightly as the fake crowd laughs in a well mannered way.
‘No, it will also be for a spot in the dreaded Killing Floor match, where those who are shown to be worthy will compete for the most prestigious prize in all of Professional wrestling, The UCI World! Heavyweight! Championship!!!’ An explosion of cheers is played.
‘Winning that championship so soon after the formation of Otakuul, the most groundbreaking movement in the last several millennia, would validate all of the words and ideals that The Hentai Prince presented when he started it, it would show the world that with color, happiness and friendship in your life, you can achieve anything!’ What is clearly the same cheers track as in the beginning of the video is once again plays
Kuno’s voice grows softer, with a hint of sadness he says, ‘Just look at me, for as long as i can remember i have been living of the charity and fascination of other people, but not any more, with the guidance of Prince-sama and his ideas, I will be facing a real wrestler, for an opportunity at a real title, for a real company, it is all my dreams come true, ever since i read my first issue of “Tiger Mask” this has been my dream, to become a real professional wrestler!’
Kuno’s voice has been growing stronger and stronger, rising to a crescendo towards the end of his speech.
‘Now the only problem, is you, you Johnny “The Meany” Rabid, the man who is the epitome of everything that Otakuul stands against, everything that I stand against, everything the The Prince stands against!’
‘What you and your cronies did back in the #BeachKrew days was utterly disgusting, you bullied, you terrorized, you humiliated people into getting out of your way, just because you saw yourself as better, well guess what Johnny-san? I’m going to show you, and all the people like you, that that isn’t the only way to the top, I have seen the type of world your philosophy creates, a land where those with less integrity, lesser characters, pray on those who are true to the spirit of humanity, and i never want to go back, i don’t want anyone to be forced to grow up in that kind of world again, *that* is why i’m doing this, that is why i joined The Hentai Prince in the first place, but you!’
‘You’re a snob, you’ve never seen what I’ve seen, what many in the UCI universe have seen! You are the kind of man who will cheat blatantly, and then justify it by saying that anyone who dislikes you approach does so because they simply “have never wrestled”, using a piss-poor excuse to deflect the truth, well guess what?’
Kuno grows quiet and looks to the floor, someone at UCI headquarters clearly made the intelligent move to zoom the camera in in post-production, letting the viewers at home see the emotions play over Kuno’s face, disgust, sadness, rage.
‘Here’s the real truth, the truth that you don’t want to accept, people don’t need to have wrestled to recognize a bad egg, they know you by the *stench*, Rabid-san, the stench of a rotten soul, the stench of a soul….’
Kuno finally looks up, his usually gray eyes have turned an amber yellow, his pupils have contracted into cat-like slits
‘A soul that doesn’t deserve to be in the same building, no, the same city as The Prince!!!’
The video feed lingers on Kuno’s face, his near demonic features, for a short while more, letting the audience at home take in the startling change in complexion, before cutting out.