Frantic Meetings [James]

"This is a pain~" Judai grumbled as he totted a sign on the corner of a sidewalk. It had been a mistake on his part. He had been low on cash lately and the solution was obvious, even if it was one that he wanted to avoid. He needed more shifts at the dojo. Except his dad didn't need more help. Judai complained. His father had looked hard at him and decided that if Judai wanted to work, then he would put him to work.

So now Judai was standing on a sidewalk wearing a dojo T-shirt and holding up a large sign that advertised his father's dojo. He had been here for hours and his arms were really starting to cramp from holding his sign up.

"Why am I even advertising here?" Judai complained. He liked Little Tokyo, but there were a bunch of dojos here. Local ones that were well known in the area. He doubted anyone would go to the little sports based dojo that his dad ran. He was pretty sure his dad knew that advertising here was pointless, but he had sent Judai just to spite him for complaining. "I wonder if I can just leave. It's not like there are people watching me... right?" Judai glanced nervously around the street for any older Asian people watching him. His dad knew a bunch of the dojo owners in Little Tokyo and he wouldn't put it past his old man to ask a friend to watch Judai to see if he actually worked.

Maybe it was coincidence or maybe his paranoia was accurate and his dad was getting people to watch him, but Judai's eyes met a middle aged Asian man that he swore had walked down this street multiple times this hour. A middle aged Asian man that he faintly remembered seeing meeting his father. He was right! The jig was up! He needed to advertise! His wages were on the line! "Stardust Dojo! We offer a free first lesson and great deals on uniforms when you sign up." Judai called out frantically. He saw a kid around his age passing by and called out to him in a panic. "Hey, you, do you want to learn martial arts? We've got great deals especially if you've got a sibling or some friends that sign up with you!"

James looked over at the boy in the T-shirt, waving a sign about, hearing all the yelling he was doing, then he heard about the sibling discount, and that, THAT was a good idea! He could enroll himself and his little brother! Then his lil bro would be FAR safer when James was busy! YES! This was obviously a wonderful idea!  He walked over to the boy, and responded with... "Hmm... How much if me and my little brother sign up?" He asked, if it was cheap enough, he might as well do it.

Oh thank whatever deity that had heard him. He had a customer. Even if someone ratted him out on his terrible advertising, he could at least defend his actions with a sign up. Judai took a breathe to try to burn through the nervous energy from his little outburst and was partially successful.

"Right, sibling discount. It's a special program we offer and it really depends on the age of your brother as well as the type of class that you want." Judai bounced on his feet as he explained. His fingers tapped the handle of the sign rhythmically as he tilted his head. "If you want the standard class, which is more suited for younger kids, if I'm being honest, it's pretty cheap if you sign up together. The advanced class, is a bit pricier, but we're offering deals on uniforms and sparring equipment at the moment." Judai listed off some prices from memory. They were priced well.

"But yeah, prices can be tweaked if you're ever short." His dad was a sucker for helping the little guy. He hadn't been taken advantage of too badly yet, mostly due to Judai and his older brother keeping a close eye on any suspicious deals. "The important thing is why you want to learn."

Judai nodded in what he hoped was wise manner. Martial arts had a variety of benefits. He knew people that did it for fun, for keeping in shape, teaching kids some discipline. "We can tailor your training based on your desired results." Well, more like he could push him into a like minded class and leave his dad a note. But well, sales pitches were supposed to be a little misleading. It was all about sounding great. "So what about martial arts interests you Mr..." Judai trailed off meaningfully.

"James." James could afford the advanced classes, though he wouldn't have too large of an amount of spending money afterwords, but that would be fine, he would make sure his little brother knew how to defend himself, plus, after that... Incident... He... Still didn't know what to think... The chains... That... Thing that tried to kill him... The other thing he summoned... It was all weird. But he would learn to use that pole thing he summoned to be able to fight. "Self defense. Where's the classes take place?" James asked the individual, hoping he could take the class as soon as possible.

"Well then James, if you're looking for Self Defense, both classes work decently, though..." Judai bounced a bit and shifted his eyes left and right playfully before leaning in. "Just between the two of us, the Advanced Class is much better for actual fighting rather than just learning techniques."

The beginner and normal class was all about technique rather than substance. It was mainly for hobbyists and people doing it for the sport rather than actual fighting. The advanced class was more like the old school style. Mock fighting, techniques done on people eventually sped up to actual speed and other stuff. It was the way his dad was trained and it could be brutal at times. It was the norm for most dojos to offer up different classes like this, but if Judai was making it seem like a special deal, then hey, he was doing his job.

"I can't exactly be an example." Judai smirked. He was the son of the Master after all and he had been training all his life. Heck, he spend just as much time running between dojos to spar with other people as he did training at Stardust. "But you'll definitely learn some applicable stuff if you go to Stardust."

"Oh and as for where we are." Judai raised a hand and slapped the board of the sign he was holding. "It says right here. We're in Vista Square. We're up on one of the higher floors."

James nodded as he listened. "Wonderful. When can my brother and I show up for the first class?" James asked, wanting to get started as soon as he could with all of this. He would have to drag his little brother here, or bribe him, but he would make sure his lil bro showed up.