บท 203: Australia
[Yuito's POV]
The flashes of camera greeted us the moment we left the airport.
Komi, being the shy and anxious girl that she was, froze on the spot and became a statue until I held her hand and reassured her.
"Wha! Are the people in Australia this insensitive to visitors?" Marin asked as back in Japan, even the media were quite polite and didn't jump on people for photos like this.
"It's just the media." I said and gathered the girls behind me like a flock of sheep.
All of them were with me, Sumire, Marin, Komi, and even Kurumi in her wolf form. When I was sure they all got behind me, I faced the media.
"Get the fuck away." I said in English while blasting my killing intent.
The paparazzi all felt a chill running down their spine as they all stopped taking pictures and asking questions, they flee.
They knew I wouldn't kill them, they realized their rights as a human and media and the fact that the law protected them from being killed was at the back of their head. Yet they ran for their lives.
They stopped after a couple of feet from me, freaked out and wondering what just happened. They were just normal people, normal civilians who were not trained to resist the fear of death.
"What just happened?"
"Did you feel that too?"
"It felt like someone was pointing a gun at me."
"I felt my skin crawl!!"
They murmured to themselves, amazed and horrified at the sensation they just felt. But before they could come to us again, the bodyguards I hired finally came between us.
"So sorry dear client." A Korean middle-aged man bowed and apologized to us before multiple people who were all Korean surrounded us. Protecting us from the press.
"I was just wondering why I even bother hiring bodyguards when random paparazzi were jumping on us." I said while looking at the man from White Tiger.
He was strong I will give him that.
"I am extremely sorry. It won't happen again." He apologized yet again before he guided us towards the exit and towards a car.
Seeing the Paparazzi that followed us which were around 30, I thought maybe I shouldn't have taken the free flight the UFC provided and just fly here in secret.
I was definitely not relevant enough for people to swarm at me like that or paparazzi to follow me around. I was just a kid who blew up on the internet recently.
The only reason they were there was because UFC announced when and where I would be coming.
Damnit, I was already a millionaire, why am I so cheap? Damn my Asian mind which wanted to take advantage of everything that was free. It won't happen again.
I followed through with that decision and told the driver to go to another five-star hotel instead of the one pre-booked by the UFC.
The bodyguards I hired were not many, there were only six people. Half of them were the veterans of the White Tiger Job centre, they were the stronger ones but their appearance was mundane. They looked like normal middle-aged Koreans.
The other three were young men who looked to be in their physical prime and were big for Korean standards. I was sure they were stronger than the average people as they were from Korea and from White Tiger. More likely than not, they were new recruits.
It was the first time Komi had gone to another country so she took the spot near the window and watched the city with curious eyes.
Sumire sat at the front, beside the driver with Kurumi and Marin sat on the other side of the widow and I was switched by my two girlfriends in the middle.
I also peeked through the glass to Marin's side and watched the city as the car moved quickly toward our destination.
The people, the buildings, the weather, and everything you could see were quite different from Japan. The most notable one was the weather, while it was winter in Japan, it was Summer here in Australia.
We continued looking out through the journey to the hotel, I even earned a love slap from Marin when I stared at a girl wearing a bikini for too long.
After around 10 minutes, we reached the hotel.
We left the few pieces of luggage we brought for the bodyguards to handle as we entered the hotel and booked a suite. There were going to be some problems with the room already being booked but money fixed everything.
After that, we settled in our room and we decided to go around the city for the day.
As much as I should put my game face on and prepare for my upcoming fight, I wanted it to be a vocation for the girls so we enjoyed ourselves.
---__---__---__----__---__---__---__---
[9th February, 2018]
(UFC 221 Pre-press conference)
We were at the Perth Arena, Australia for a pre-press conference for UFC 221.
The main event and the co-main event fighters were invited to sit at the table of the press conference. This was done so that the fighters could promote their fights and build up hype and anticipation.
In the press conference, the journalist asks questions to the fighters and there may also be an argument between the fighters as it was allowed to build up the fight.
Fighters may end up ridiculing and trash-talking each other at this event.
It was a moment where the fighters were confronted with verbal attacks before the real fight. In some cases, fights may also break out and the fighters could actually make each other into enemies here.
I was at the backstage, waiting for my name to be called out so that I could finally go up to the platform and sit at my table.
The girls were at the hotel since they would be able to watch the press conference live from the TV anyways. I deemed it better and safer for them to be at the hotel when this place was filled with different journalists who were sniffing out any news or story to report.
But as I was minding my own business, standing backstage which was filled with camera crews and other workers, I felt my body react to an approaching threat.
A huge threat.
My muscles tensed and got ready to fight as my instincts warned me of the coming of a monster.
I looked back and there he was, the fighter for the main event of the match.
It was Yoel Romero.
'The Soldier of God'
He was big, nay. He was huge. But not in a way that you might imagine.
He only stood at 5'10 feet tall, yet he had a body that was more suited for bodybuilding. Huge webs of muscles coiled around his frame which was always shorter than his opponent.
His neck alone was a thing of wonder. The muscles were so big and obviously mutated that he did not move his head at all when he walked, hinting that he could no longer turn his neck in exchange for it's strength.
An animal came to mind as he made his way towards me with a friendly smile. A rhinoceros.
"Oh, hello there friend." He said with his thick Cuban accent and shook my hand.
"Nice to meet you." He said to me before turning to the other workers. He bowed and thanked them one by one for their hard work.
He was shorter than me yet he was going to fight at a weight class above me. His body was built like a stone and almost felt like metal.
I looked at my hand which he had shaken just now and I marveled at the strength of his grip. A curious and concerning thought came to my mind.
'Can I beat him?'
I took another look as he went around thanking the workers who were clearly uncomfortable at his enthusiastic greetings.
He exudes a superhuman aura that should immediately strike fear into lesser men when they are around him. You could feel the strength his solid stature hold and you were put in the middle of fear and disbelief.
He finished greeting all of the people around and he stood beside me. He had a smug and happy smile on his face that looked almost innocent, betraying his body which was bred for war.
We strayed quiet as he moved impatiently in his place, at one point he turned towards me and gave me a thumbs up.
"Good Luck." he said and turned away again as if he was satisfied with his own level of English and communication.
As I continued observing him as we idly stood side by side, I came to a conclusion.
.
.
He was stronger than Gun. At least the Gun I fought before.
And it was not just a case where he was slightly stronger as well. I think Yoel was stronger, by a lot.
I could feel it in my bones and every fiber of my being. Luckily, we were not enemies as there was another person who was going to bear the beast's aggression.
"Please Welcome, from Cuba!! Yoel Romero!!" The announcer finally said after a long introduction, prompting the man to give me a final wave before going up the stage.
I released a breath I did not know I was holding when he left.
{Crazy huh?}
'Yeah.' I replied, chuckling at the concerning encounter.
{How do you feel?}
"Emlightened." I replied. The brief encounter I had with Yoel finally gave me an idea of how strong the UFC fighters were in this world.
Yoel Romero was one of the top fighters in the UFC and I finally realized the true ceiling of power in this world.
I also felt relieved at the revelation. At least it was not as crazy as I thought it would be. Yoel was strong, sure. Stronger than the Gun I face, sure.
But he was beatable even with my current level of strength.
I was not scared, as a matter of fact, I was happy to finally have strong opponents again.
"Now, coming from Japan!! He is making his UFC debut and the world agrees upon the sheer potential this man holds. With talents that could walk through the UFC weight divisions and become UFC champion, welcome! Fujita 'The Prodigy' Yuito!!'"
I pushed aside my ideal thoughts and went towards the conference table.
Cameras flashed at my face and people who attended the conference applauded as I sat on my table, right beside the man Yoel Romero.
It was going be nerve wrecking. It was to be my first interaction with the press like this.
Hopefully, I don't mess up.
[Image]
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