4th Strike: Moving On

Center Of Attention (Part 1)

Does it truly pay to be the Center of Attention?
The main attraction, gettin' all the action
People stoppin' the I.N.I. with question after question,
I spit a few replies, and keep to myself
And never been the weapon carrying type, but I'll incite
A riot organized, and never quiet."

- InI, "Center of Attention

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A half-hour later, Sean was back in his room, finishing up editing the rebuttal video. While he could've finished it in less than half that time, he couldn't help but keep looking over the CCTV footage his uncle had given him, specifically the Shoryuken he delivered to Ibuki. From what he could tell upon closer inspection, it was a perfect Shoryuken, similar to the techniques he saw Ryu use. What still escaped him was how he pulled it off. He was never taught that version of the move, and no matter how hard he tried to remember, his memories of the last half of the fight remained hazy, leaving Sean with more questions than answers, and a splitting headache.

Deciding he was wasting his time dwelling on it, Sean finished the last edit on the video, and began the exporting process. No sooner than the video began rendering, someone knocked on his door. Sean groaned inwardly, already knowing who it was by the rhythm of the knocks.

"It's open, Laura!" Sean called out reluctantly. He didn't want to deal with his sister at the moment, but decided he'd rather not be mean to her.

The door opened slightly, and Laura peeked her head through the gap. "Are you still working on the video?" she asked carefully. Last night's conversations still lingered in Laura's mind, and she didn't want to potentially get on Sean's bad side again.

Sean shook his head. "Nah, it's exporting right now," he replied, swivelling his chair around to face his sister. "'Sup?"

Laura took this as a signal that he was in a good mood, and walked into her brother's room. "I just wanted to see how you were doing. The last twelve hours have been wild, to say the least."

Sean nodded in agreement. "Yeah," he sighed. "Sometimes it feels like God hates me, with all the bullshit that comes my way." Sean rubbed his eyes tiredly. "I'm grateful for Sakura and Elena helping us out, but what's the point? I don't have the reach or influence Karin does, nobody's gonna hear my side."

"Not true," Laura replied, taking a seat on Sean's bed. "People will listen. Maybe we don't have her connections, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't set the record straight. Plus, people will listen when they see Sakura and Elena taking up for you in the video."

"We'll see," Sean said, clearly unconvinced. Laura, sensing the conversation was about to hit a dead end, decided to change the subject.

"Let's worry about the video later," Laura said, flipping her hair. "Have you figured out what you're gonna wear on your date later?"

Sean jolted upright in his seat, and looked at his sister as if she had lost her mind. "Date?!" he hollered. "Nobody said nothin' 'bout a date! The hell did you get that from?!"

Laura was tempted to tease her little brother like usual, but held back the urge. "I mean, it could be one if you and Enzo choose to play your cards right," she said easily. "Sakura and Elena are nice women, and you both already have some common ground with them, so why not shoot your shot?"

"You mean besides the fact that they're totally out of our league?" Sean replied sarcastically.

Laura rolled her eyes. "Come on, Sean."

"For real, I'm not even on my sad sack shit right now," Sean continued, waving his hands around. "Even if I put aside the fighting records and accomplishments, Elena is literally African royalty, and Sakura constantly has guys pushing up on her; plus she's almost six years older than both of us. Besides, they're doing this out of goodwill, not because they like us like that. Shit, Sakura only knows me from what Ken said about me, so who knows what she actually thinks of me!"