Rui "Rook" Kawada (川田 流生)

121-169 lbs / 54.6-76.657 kg
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Ichi
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Rui "Rook" Kawada (川田 流生)

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R U I   K A W A D A
"It's gonna take a hell of a lot more than you to stop me!"

Profile
  Name: Rui Kawada
Romanized Name (Western Name Order Convention): Rui Kawada
Romanized Name (Japanese Name Order Convention): Kawada Rui
Kanji: 川田 流生
Hiragana: かわだ るい
This might not be correct.

IPA (Japanese Name Order Convention): /kaɯ̟ada ɾɯi/
This might not be correct.

Pronunciation (Japanese Name Order Convention): Kah-wah-dah Roo-ee

  Nickname: Rook
  Sex: Female
  Age: 20
  Birthday: March 27th, 20XX
As of the time of making this profile (August 2024), her birth date would be March 27th, 2004. However, since aging is not necessarily done in real-time on LAW, this birth date might be implicitly adjusted.

  Eyes: Blue
  Hair: Blue-black with a red highlight
  Height: 163 cm (~5'4")
  Weight: 55.5 kg (~122.4 lbs)
  Ethnicity: Japanese
  Nationality: American
  General Alignment: Chaotic Good/True Neutral
  Wrestling Alignment: Tweener
  LAW Manager: N/A
  Entrance Music:
Sanbika - Eir Aoi


NOTE: Start at 0:42 for replays.


  Faceclaim: Ryūko Matoi from Kill la Kill



Pictures
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NSFW Warning
A fair number of these images are slightly NSFW. Browse at your own risk, and make sure that no one is standing behind you.
Casual Wear
Typical
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Sailor Uniform
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Other
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Fighting/Wrestling Attire
Fighting/Wrestling Attire 1
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Fighting/Wrestling Attire 2
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Fighting/Wrestling Attire 3
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Formal/Business Attire
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Underwear
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Bikini
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Nude/Semi-Nude
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Costume
Bunny Suit
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Kamui
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Delinquent
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Other Costumes
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Headshots
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Other
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Dominance (Very NSFW)
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[Image Gallery Link]
The link above contains all of the images included in this section of the profile plus some additional images.


Personality
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     Rui can be aptly described as fiery and determined, with a streak of stubbornness. Her fighting spirit burns brightly, and during conflict, she can be abrasive and confrontational. She has a tendency to be impulsive, making rash decisions and jumping into situations with little thought. While she is fairly normal in most everyday interactions, there exists a fiery and intense temperament just underneath the surface, which is liable to manifest in difficult situations.
     However, there is more to Rui than what her brash exterior might suggest. Although not "ride or die" to the point of complete and pointless self-destruction, she can be quite loyal to those whom she is close to, even if it puts her in danger
This point is demonstrated in Rui's backstory, particularly in regards to her first friend group.
. She is capable of forming close bonds with others, even if she sometimes has a tendency to be a bit of a lone wolf and strike out on her own.
     Moreover, contrary to what her occasional brainless impulsivity might imply, Rui is more intelligent than she lets on. She is capable of strategic thinking and adjusting on the fly, although those skills are often used to get her out of the trouble that her recklessness gets her into. And, when she tries, Rui is quite adept at learning, being able to pick up new skills and learn new information fairly readily.
     As far as motivations go, Rui's motivations are fairly standard. She craves excitement in life, and has an intrinsic desire to excel in her chosen endeavors. Fame and riches are not strong motivators for Rui, although she would not mind having either of those. However, money is somewhat of an acquired motivation for Rui. She wishes to make enough money to live comfortably, and to pay off the massive amount of student debt she incurred from her failed college education. For that reason, she is willing to compromise on her dignity and put herself out of her comfort zone for money, a willingness which LAW is more than happy to exploit.


Combat Information
  General
    Strategy: Technical Brawler
    Fighting Style(s): MMA
    Preferred Attacks: Power strikes

  Martial Arts
    Primary:
Boxing, Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ)

    Secondary:
Wrestling, Kickboxing


  Match Preferences
    Preferred Matches: "I'll take anything they throw at me!"
    Attitude To Hentai: "Let's fuckin' go!"

Fighting Style Summary
     If one were to describe Rui's fighting style, one might use the phrase "switch-hitting technical brawler with the touch of death". Insane striking power capable of flatlining a person in one hit and bold aggression combine to make Rui a dangerous striker. However, these facets belie her considerable technical skill. While she is not a technician of the highest caliber, her striking tends to be aggressive yet technically sound. Her switch-hitting adds another layer of trickiness to her game, opening up new avenues for attack.
     However, even though Rui is a striker, she is no slouch when it comes to grappling. Getting her to the ground is difficult, and keeping her on the ground is also challenging. While Rui usually opts to get back to her feet instead of playing the ground game, when she grapples, her focus is usually on getting to a dominant position to apply vicious ground-and-pound or snatching up an opportunistic submission.
Statistics
Durability: 9.5/10
     Rui is extremely good at taking hits, perhaps too much so for her own good—however, her granite chin has not been cracked yet. Rui is the type of woman to continue fighting even if her body is battered to oblivion and her face swollen to where it is unrecognizable.
Stamina: 9/10
     Normally, having the "touch of death" implies explosiveness at the expense of stamina. However, Rui perplexingly does not have this problem, and can easily go many rounds without tiring.
Strength: 8.5/10
     Despite her frame, Rui is extremely strong.
Speed: 9/10
     Rui is fast and explosive, adept at cutting off the ring and launching swift barrages of heavy strikes.
Striking (Offense): 9.25/10
     At first glance, the most noteworthy aspect of Rui's striking is her immense striking power, followed by her unrelenting aggression. She uses these attributes to great effect, often overwhelming her opponents with thundering fusillades of heavy strikes. Unsurprisingly, Rui has a tendency to brawl, banking on her ability to quickly put away her opponents. Rui has the so-called "touch of death", and one strike from her is often enough to turn the tides of, if not outright end, a fight.
     However, Rui's power-striking brawling tendencies belie her considerable technical skills. Her striking can get wild and aggressive, but it usually retains a high level of technical soundness. Rui is good at using her footwork to corner her opponents, and her switch-hitting adds an extra layer of trickiness to her game. And she is surprisingly good at countering, being able to meet her opponents' strikes with devastating strikes of her own.
Striking (Defense): 8.75/10
     Although Rui usually like to be on the offensive, she nonetheless has excellent defensive skills. Her blocking and parrying is solid, making it difficult to land clean hits on Rui when she wants to defend. Head movement and footwork add another layer to Rui's defense, with Rui being able to utilize both to significant effect.
     However, Rui has a habit of sometimes throwing caution to the wind and abandoning some of her defense. Her guard is usually the first to go, with Rui falling back to her head movement and granite chin to keep herself in the fight. While risky, opponents generally have a hard time refuting this strategy, as Rui's aggressiveness makes it hard to capitalize on this weakness.
Grappling (Offense): 8/10
     Although she does not specialize in it, Rui is competent in grappling offense. She can play the submission grappling game fairly well, and has a general familiarity with it. However, Rui mainly focuses on MMA grappling, so she is sometimes less familiar with certain techniques and positions that rarely show up in MMA.
     When grappling offensively, Rui's focus is on getting to positions where she can land heavy ground-and-pound. She will also go for submissions when practical, but her submission usage is more opportunistic and pragmatic rather than an end goal to be forcibly pursued. Rui would rather have a better position than compromise her position to go for a submission.
Grappling (Defense): 8.5/10
     Rui generally likes to keep fights on the feet. As such, she has developed good takedown defense. Her reactions are fairly sharp, allowing her to react and defend against most takedown attempts. She also has a tendency to fight to stay on her feet, making it more difficult to take her down.
     Against strong grapplers, Rui will often keep her hands lower to help defend against takedowns. This somewhat compromises her defense, forcing her to rely more on footwork, head movement, and her granite chin to keep her safe. However, Rui is more than willing to fall back on those skills if it means that she can defend potential takedowns.
     But taking Rui down is only half the battle—keeping her down is the other half. Rui is quite skilled at scrambling back to her feet after getting taken down, meaning that one might take Rui down only for her to get back up an instant later. Even if an opponent manages to keep Rui down for longer, Rui has solid defense on the ground. Her submission awareness and defense makes it difficult to get submissions on her, and landing solid ground-and-point on her can be difficult. And Rui often looks for ways to get back to her feet, meaning that her opponents must be vigilant in order to keep her on the ground.
Moves and Combinations
Moves
Gazelle Punch
Description:
     Rui loads her weight onto her lead leg before exploding forward and throwing either a hook, jab, or uppercut. This strike allows Rui to both cover a lot of distance and deliver a devastating power punch.



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Smash Punch
Description:
     Rui drops her lead hand down low and squares up her shoulders, loading up for a powerful punch. From there, she can throw a linear punch, a hook, or an uppercut. However, while the strike is extremely powerful, it leaves Rui open to being countered as she has to drop her lead hand.



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Alekhine's Gun
Description:
     Rui fires off a cross while stepping forward at an angle. A subtle stance switch puts Rui in a position to fire off another cross, this time with her other hand. Rui fires off this second cross, thus doubling up on power strikes. Theoretically, Rui could continue with this pattern, throwing more crosses.
     This move/sequence is named after the chess formation known as Alekhine's gun, which is a battery of two rooks and a queen, with the rooks typically being in front of the queen. Rui's friend Saya Alekhine came up with the name upon seeing the move performed. The two crosses in succession are akin to the rooks being launched at a target one after the other.



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Combinations
Legend:
  • 1 - Jab
  • 2 - Cross
  • 3 - Lead hook
  • 4 - Rear hook
  • 5 - Lead uppercut
  • 6 - Rear uppercut
  • b - Indicates that strike is to the body

Combinations:
  • 1 →
    Hit down rear hand/glove of guarding opponent with rear hand
    → 3 | In a closed stance
  • 1 → 2 →
    Hit down lead hand/glove of guarding opponent with lead hand
    →4 | In a closed stance
  • Feint 1 → 3b (targeting the liver) → Rear knee | In a closed orthodox stance
  • Hit down lead hand/glove of guarding opponent with rear hand
    → 3b (targeting the liver)
    This can catch an opponent off-guard as one might normally expect a cross to come after the lead hand/glove is hit down.
    | In a closed orthodox stance
  • Slip outside the cross → 3b (targeting the liver) | In a closed orthodox stance
  • Slip outside a rear hand strike + throw 2 simultaneously → 3 | In a closed stance
  • 2 → 3 → 2
  • Feint rear low kick → Rear tomahawk elbow
  • 1 → 2 → 3 →Spinning backfist/spinning back elbow
    Whether Rui uses a spinning backfist or spinning back elbow depends on what range her opponent is at.
  • Rear knee → Rear elbow → 3
  • Switch knee feint (switch stances) → Rear up elbow
  • 1 → 2 → Switch kick (to head or body)
  • Feint double leg/single leg takedown → rear overhand
  • Feint rear overhand → double leg/single leg takedown
  • 1 (step in) → Rear roundhouse kick (to body) → 3 → 2
  • 4b → 3b → 4b → 3 | At close range
  • 1 → Sidestep to cut angle → 2 → 3 → 2 | In a closed stance
  • Et cetera
Additional Information
  • Rui is a switch-hitter
    In striking combat sports, a switch-hitter is a fighter who uses both the orthodox (left foot forward) and southpaw (right foot forward) stances.
    .
  • The glove that Rui sometimes wears on her left hand is not always just for show—she can modify it to have metal inserts, effectively turning them into something akin to brass knuckles. However, she rarely does this. Most of the time, the glove is purely for aesthetics and not a weapon itself.
  • Rui is adept at delivering debilitating left hooks to the liver.
     Since RP is not the best medium for describing technical MMA exchanges, not all the information described in this section will translate into RP. The more technical parts are mostly meant as "flavor text", meaning that they might not necessarily come up in RP.




History
Backstory Summary — Click to expand
     Rui had a rough start in life, being born in Tokyo, Japan to poor parents whose relationship was marred by infidelity and mutual resentment. Their relationship with Rui was not much better, with her father frequently being absent because of work and her mother resenting Rui. Thus, in her first years of life, Rui was left feeling alone and blaming herself for her troubles.
     This rendered Rui timid and unsociable, making her a prime target for bullying. The bullying started in Rui's first year of elementary school in Japan, and continued after moving to Miami, Florida when she was six years old. Unfortunately, the fact that Rui was a foreign girl who did not speak English and was placed two grades ahead because of a clerical error only worsened her situation.
     But all of that turned around when Rui finally snapped in a violent incident. After that point, Rui became the aggressor, antagonizing those who had once antagonized her. This landed Rui in constant trouble at school, but at least she was no longer being bullied.
     From there, Rui fell into delinquency. The crimes of Rui and her newfound group of delinquent friends ran the gamut from vandalism to stealing, and even to outright mugging. But somehow, Rui and her gang of fellow delinquents never faced serious consequences for their actions.
     That is, until one of them got fatally shot on the day of Rui's fourteenth birthday. A drug run gone bad resulted in one dead and three wounded, with Rui being among the wounded. That incident was the impetus for Rui to quit her delinquent lifestyle.
     But quitting that life left an enormous hole in Rui's life—a hole that Rui filled with MMA. She began training in MMA, and despite a rough start, she became quite good at it. And with that skill, Rui set her sights on becoming a professional mixed martial artist.
     Rui pursued this dream in lieu of college, something which her parents did not approve of. This pushed the already tenuous relationship to its breaking point, resulting in Rui moving out towards the end of her senior year in high school. After that, Rui lived with her same-aged friend, Minami Misaka.
     Unfortunately for Rui, she could not immediately pursue a professional MMA career after graduating high school. To compete in professional MMA in Florida, she needed to have at least five amateur MMA matches under her belt. And she needed to be at least eighteen years old to compete in amateur MMA—having skipped two grades early on, Rui was two years too young to compete.
     But that did not deter Rui. Using a contact from her delinquent days, Rui forged a false of-age identity, and she competed in amateur MMA matches under this identity. Everything eventually came crashing down, however, and Rui was caught. She was served with a five-year ban from amateur MMA in Florida for her troubles.
     With her MMA career effectively halted for the time being, Rui went to college. She spent a year at a community college before transferring to a four-year institution. Once at said institution, Rui got into partying, causing her first semester grades to be extremely lackluster. But after that point, Rui mostly shaped up, becoming more diligent—or rather, not abjectly neglectful—as a student.
     When Rui was nineteen and still attending university, she got into underground collegiate lesbian sexfighting to make money and have fun. With her MMA training, Rui dominated her competition. However, the college eventually caught wind of this unsanctioned activity, and Rui ended up getting expelled.
     This left Rui with a ton of student debt and no degree to show for it. In this dire situation, Rui needed money—and fast. But, as luck would have it, Rui had become aware of LAW through her sexfighting escapades. So Rui promptly joined LAW, figuring that it would be a good way to make a decent income with limited credentials and satisfy the slight urge for sexfighting that she had developed.
Full Backstory — Click to expand
     It was a story that had been told a million times: a marriage indelibly marred by repeated infidelity, and a child caught right in the middle. This story is universal—it knows no time period nor region, no culture nor religion. Like a textbook chess opening, this opening line has been explored countless times, variations and all. And this particular variation saw a shattered marriage held together for the reason of not giving a child a broken home, among other reasons.
     The game started in Tokyo, Japan. The players? A young couple who married too early and their daughter Rui Kawada (川田 流生)
The name 'Rui' (流生) was chosen because it starts with an 'R', like the name of Rui's faceclaim Ryūko Matoi from the anime 'Kill la Kill'. The character '流' means 'flow' or 'river', and the character '生' means 'life', 'to live', or 'pure'. Incidentally, the name 'Rui' (流生) shares the character '流' with 'Ryūko' (流子). Furthermore, the characters '流生' can be read as 'Ryūsei', but in the case of Rui's name, they are read as 'Rui'. The surname 'Kawada' (川田) was taken from the Japanese singer Mami Kawada. '川' and '田' mean 'river' and 'rice field' respectively.
. Rui's parents—a man named Ira Kawada (川田 苛)
The name 'Ira' (苛) was taken from the character Ira Gamagōri from the anime 'Kill la Kill', which is the same anime that Rui's faceclaim, Ryūko Matoi, originates from. '苛' means 'strict' or 'unforgiving' in kanji. The surname 'Kawada' (川田) was taken from the Japanese singer Mami Kawada. '川' and '田' mean 'river' and 'rice field' respectively.
and a woman named Mako Shimoda (霜田 マコ)
The name 'Mako' (マコ) was taken from the character Mako Mankanshoku from the anime 'Kill la Kill', which is the same anime that Rui's faceclaim, Ryūko Matoi, originates from. 'マコ' is written out in katakana, with 'マ' and 'コ' being the syllables 'ma' and 'ko' respectively. The surname 'Shimoda' (霜田) consists of the kanji '霜' and '田', which mean 'frost' and 'rice field' respectively
The surname 'Shimoda' (霜田) was chosen because it contains the character '霜', which means frost. This was inspired by Mako's coldness towards Rui.
. Incidentally, the character '田' appears in both Ira and Mako's surnames.
—had met in their first year in college, and by the end of that school year, Rui's mother was pregnant with a child.
     This unborn child, Rui, threatened to disrupt Mako's studies and ultimately upend her life. Proper support and resources might have enabled Mako to raise her child while still attending university, but Mako did not have such luxuries. The reality of a daughter pregnant out-of-wedlock had pushed an already strained relationship to its breaking point, resulting in Mako being disowned by her family. Without a family to support her child financially and take care of her child while she was away, keeping her child was not an option if she wanted to continue her studies. Yet, Mako could not bring herself to terminate her pregnancy or to give her child up for adoption. She was determined to be the mother she never had herself, to be better than her own mother.
     But for each child, there are not one, but two parents. And the wishes of said parents, regarding an unborn child, can differ, thus causing conflict. In this situation, however, both parents' desires aligned. Ira, though he had a prime chance to run away by discarding his pregnant girlfriend and continuing on with his life, stayed out of a sense of duty. There was no way that he could convince Mako to terminate her pregnancy, and the last thing he wanted to do was become a deadbeat dad like his father before him.
     So Ira and Mako ended their tenure as university students and dropped out. Soon thereafter, the young couple, who had only known each other for around one year, got married and found housing in Tokyo. Initially, the two started out on their journey with a sense of hope, excited to start their new life together with their yet-to-be-born daughter. They worked low-level jobs, diligently scraping together enough money to both support themselves and begin building their savings. It was a difficult time, but their grit and optimism carried them through.
     The birth of their daughter, Rui, marked a downturn. Mako took on almost all the childcare duties, quitting her job to look after Rui full time. Ira, on the other hand, worked harder and longer than ever to compensate for the loss of Mako's income. At first, Ira tried to help with housework and take care of Rui, but eventually, his oppressive and irregular work schedule weighed down on him. Soon, work and sleep encompassed Ira's entire life, leaving no time for himself, his wife, or his daughter.
     On top of that, Rui was not a calm baby, being extremely fussy and having a penchant for crying, more so than the average infant. The months droned on, and the constant sleep deprivation and fatigue wore on Mako. While she was initially understanding of Ira's lack of support with taking care of Rui, resentment slowly built in Mako's heart. She felt alone, as if all the responsibility of child rearing had been foisted onto her shoulders. But Mako never brought up her dissatisfaction, save for a single time in passing—and at that time, Mako's grievances were met only with dismissal, with Ira citing his oppressive work schedule as an excuse.
     Soon afterwards, Mako's resentment broadened in scope. She felt as though Ira and Rui had upended her life. Perhaps she could have had a case with Ira, as it was ambiguous who was at fault for the pregnancy. But Rui was blameless, and Mako knew that—so, while Mako resented Rui's existence, an amalgamation of motherly love and a desire to not needlessly harbor enmity against her daughter prevented Mako from blatantly manifesting her resentment towards Rui. And Mako would attempt to play the role of a mother as best as she could, despite her misgivings about Rui.
     Between the hardship and resentment, Ira and Mako's marriage never recovered, and Rui and Mako's relationship was partially hamstrung from the start. Even though Mako was superficially a decent enough mother, there was a subtle sense of restraint and distance—something that Rui picked up on. Mako grew increasingly cold towards Ira, and Ira withdrew further into his work. The marriage grew cold, leaving both parties wanting for companionship and affection—things that they could not get from each other.
     Mako was the first to falter. Ira's frequent absence left ample opportunities for infidelity, an opportunity that Mako took full advantage of. What began as a single encounter gone too far developed into a series of regular trysts with a secret lover.
     Ira also followed the path of infidelity, starting roughly one year after Mako had. After his wife went cold on him, Ira was left wanting. And to satisfy his desires, he turned to a female coworker at work, which had since become more of a home to him than his own. Under the cover of alleged work, the two would frequently meet, with Mako none the wiser.
     Rui, being as young as she was, was oblivious to her parents' infidelity. All she knew was that her dad often worked peculiar hours, and that her mom had a friend that she was not allowed to mention.
     The game of infidelity continued, mostly without a hitch, until Rui was four years old. But an errant comment by Rui sent the web of lies crashing down. The revelation that Mako had been consistently seeing a man while Ira was away set off a cascade of events that led to everything being revealed. On the night of the argument, the walls shook with rage, and the air echoed with screams of fury. Objects were thrown, clattering against the floor and walls. All the while, Rui stayed hidden, bearing horrified witness to the metaphorical conflagration she had ignited.
     After the dust had settled, the dynamic between Rui, Ira, and Mako had shifted yet again. Ira and Mako's relationship went from one of mutual coldness to one of open contempt, with next to no attempts being made to hide said strife from Rui. Meanwhile, Mako's disdain for Rui grew, with the former blaming the latter for supposedly ruining her marriage. Out of a sense of motherly duty, Mako did not outright abandon Rui—but the resentment from her mother was apparent to the young child. Ira was only marginally better, with him being mostly absent and acting cold towards Rui.
     Her parents' demeanor towards her was not lost on Rui. Being a young child, Rui had very little understanding as to what was actually going on. She blamed herself for her parents' constant fighting, and she believed that the undercurrent of hostility she experienced from her mother and the coldness she experienced from her father were her own fault and that there was something wrong with her. All of this wreaked havoc on Rui's psyche, rendering her timid and unsociable.
     Before starting elementary school, her shy tendencies rendered Rui somewhat of an outcast among the other children—the other children would mostly ignore Rui, not making much of an effort to include her. However, during her first half-year of elementary school in Japan, Rui experienced gradually escalating antagonism, with the bullying starting out mild at first and intensifying as the school year wore on
Because Rui's birthday fell on March 27th and the school year in Japan starts at the beginning of April, Rui was by far one of the youngest students in her class.
. Rui felt hurt and alone, and her situation was only getting worse.
     Just as Rui's situation at school was worsening, so was Ira and Mako's marriage. At that point, many couples could have split—but Ira and Mako both had their reasons for staying together. Mako could still feel the disdainful eyes of her family, even though they had since exited her life. While she had intrinsic reasons for not wanting a failed marriage, the bigger impetus for her was her desire to not prove her family right: after the unplanned pregnancy, Mako's family had scornfully predicted that her relationship would fail, and spectacularly at that. Additionally, not wanting Rui to grow up in a broken home was a secondary reason for Mako. As for Ira, his own family situation, or rather, the desire to avoid a repeat, kept him hitched—he would not be a spouse-abusing deadbeat dad like his father was, and he would not let his child grow up without both parents.
     Halfway through the school year, on a chilly December day, Rui was told to start packing, much to her surprise. She was told for the first time that she, along with her parents, would move to the United States. The thought of that terrified Rui, not because she would leave behind friends—of which she had none—but because she would leave the life she knew to start anew in a foreign county, one that spoke an entirely unfamiliar language.
     Unbeknownst to Rui, her parents had finished the long immigration process and they could now immigrate to the United States: the supposed land of opportunity, a place where they could escape poverty. Ira had relatives living in Miami, Florida, one of whom owned a Japanese restaurant named Mayonaka Maki (真夜中 巻)
"Mayonaka" (真夜中) roughly means "midnight" in Japanese. Its use in the restaurant's name alludes to how the restaurant is open late into the night.
. The plan was for Ira's uncle, the owner of the restaurant, to train Ira up to eventually take over the restaurant as its owner when he retired—doing so would allow the family business to continue, and would be Ira's ticket out of poverty.
     As poverty had forced Rui and her parents into an austere lifestyle, they did not have many possessions, thus making it easy to discard what they did not need. Within a week, they were packed and ready to vacate their apartment and emigrate. Their flight fell amidst the holiday rush, rendering the ordeal a hectic mess—but they made it through. Rui and her parents soon settled into their new apartment, a cheap and run-down living space in one of Miami Florida's poor neighborhoods.
     By January, Rui was back in school. However, there was one problem: a clerical error had Rui placed two grades above where she was supposed to be placed—that is, instead of being placed in first grade, Rui was placed in third grade because of an egregious clerical error. Yet, despite being misplaced, Rui did extremely well in math, art, and physical education. And, although she knew no English starting out, she learned surprisingly quickly.
     But not everything was well. Being two years younger than her classmates, Rui was markedly less mature than her peers. A more diligent teacher would have picked up on this, but Rui's teacher simply attributed Rui's social difficulties to her being an immigrant with limited English skills. Ultimately, Rui's teacher
Third grade teachers will often teach all subjects. Thus, Rui only had one teacher.
focused instead on Rui's outstanding academic performance, not understanding that Rui was arguably misplaced because of her age.
     Rui's lack of maturity, paired with her limited English skills and status as a foreign immigrant, made her a prime target for bullying. As a result, Rui would often come home bruised, scraped, and in tears. And on such days, Rui could expect to come home to an empty home, or on rare occasions, an absent father and a mother who only gave paltry consolation.
     At the beginning of second grade, Rui's school discovered the clerical error, revealing that Rui had been misplaced. While not uncommon for children to be placed into grades based on their age for fear of maturity mismatches, such did not occur for Rui. Academically, Rui had been more than a match for the schooling she received: on subjects not heavily reliant on English, Rui was grades ahead of her actual age, and Rui's English skills were firmly on-track to reach grade level. On top of that, Rui's third grade teacher understated Rui's social problems, and the school administration was reluctant to send Rui back to second grade as she had already completed third grade. The final nail in the coffin was a parental insistence that Rui be allowed in the fourth grade—although the circumstances behind Rui's birth had strained the connections between parents and child, Rui's parents were proud of Rui's academic performance. Thus, the school administration made the unorthodox decision to allow the then seven-year-old Rui to attend the fourth grade.
     Fourth grade was much the same for Rui. The other kids, remembering how they would antagonize Rui in the third grade, continued their bullying into the fourth. And, just as it had when she was attending school in Japan, the bullying only escalated. Rui tried to ask her teachers
In fourth grade, students may have multiple teachers, each for different subjects. Thus, Rui had multiple teachers in the fourth grade.
and parents for help, but their efforts to protect Rui were paltry and ineffectual. Now, more than ever, Rui felt alone. She felt worthless, as if this all was her fault. But at the same time, Rui felt anger: anger at her parents, teachers, classmates, and the world.
     On a frigid winter day, with the ground blanketed with snow and spotted with patches of ice, Rui snapped. During recess, a group of boys was roughing her up, even worse than usual. A panicked Rui shoved one of her attackers—the ringleader—back, sending him backpedaling. One step and then another crunched into the snow—but the third step was on slick ice. The boy slipped, his feet flying onto the air and head careening towards the ground. The thin flesh of the forehead was sandwiched between bone and ice, splitting open under the pressure and shear force. Blood flooded out of the ragged gash, painting the cloudy white ice a crimson red. Tears and wailing soon followed, and the other boys stood silently in shock.
     Rui was shocked too, but only for a split second. Seeing her prime tormentor lying vulnerable on the ground awakened Rui's killer instinct. An amalgam of rage, vengeance, and predatory malice welled up in Rui's chest, spurring her muscles to action. Rui pounced on the downed boy, slamming fists and elbows into his head. Under Rui's vicious and unmitigated assault, the gash on the boy's forehead was torn apart, going from two inches to six.
     However, by the time Rui had grabbed a fistful of the boy's hair and began repeatedly slamming his head into the unyielding ice, the rest of the boys had snapped out of their shock-induced torpor. One boy threw a wild haymaker at the back of Rui's head, putting all of his body weight behind it. Rui's vision flashed white as her head and neck jolted from the impact. But instead of going down, Rui turned to face her attacker, her teeth bared and lips curled into a snarl.
     That boy soon found himself on the ground, suffering the same vitriolic fusillade that his leader had suffered. The remaining boys assaulted Rui, striking her with punches and kicks, but she was solely focused on the boy beneath her. However, just as blood began to flow from the boy's nose, the teachers intervened and broke up the fight.
     Rui's violent outburst unleashed a torrent of emotions. The resentment and anger that Rui had previously kept dammed up now jetted out, the stream only slightly tempered by residual timidity. The fallout at home was massive, with Rui being suspended and forced to stay home alone while her parents worked—but while Rui's alone time was relatively peaceful, save for her internal turmoil, her time with her parents was like a massive conflagration. The thin walls of the run-down apartment shook with screams. Sometimes, it was two voices against one—a man and a woman against a child—but oftentimes, it was woman against child, mother against daughter. However, amidst all the conflict, Rui received something that she had been lacking yet desperately craved: attention.
     Attention was not the only prize for Rui's rage, though. Rui found she could rile her parents up to where their screams elicited a noise complaint—it was a paltry spoil, but it was one of Rui's only tastes of power in a long time.
     After returning from her suspension, Rui's situation did not return to the status quo—in fact, quite the opposite happened. The group of bullies, humiliated over what had happened and hungry to reassert control, came after Rui with a vengeance. The Friday after Rui returned, the group ambushed Rui as she walked home from school alone. Rui left the internecine conflict beaten, battered, and bloody—but in return, Rui had done her own damage to her attackers, making them pay for their victory.
     Following that incident, Rui would go on the offensive. Every time her bullies tried to antagonize her, they would be met with aggression from Rui that was incommensurate with the initial provocation. If one bully threw an eraser at Rui, he could expect a heavy textbook to come flying back. If he pulled Rui's hair, he would be met with a poke to the eye or a punch to the face. Fear and dread soon invaded the bullies' hearts, deterring them from further antagonism. Meanwhile, Rui gained a new sense of power and control.
     But Rui was not satisfied with merely deterring her bullies—she wanted to make them suffer. As such, after her bullies had stopped going after her, Rui began bullying them herself. Although her bullies had used both verbal and physical bullying against Rui, Rui's bullying was mainly physical as she was not completely comfortable with English at the time.
     Needless to say, all of the conflict that Rui found herself in resulted in disciplinary action. She frequently found herself sitting in detention and occasionally found herself suspended. This caused a fair amount of tension at home, with most of the conflict happening between Rui and her mother. Meanwhile, the school was too under-funded to provide an adequate intervention, with an ineffectual school counselor being the only service that the school could offer.
     As Rui was stirring up trouble, something else was stirring as well: her personality and sense of self. After her initial outburst on that winter day, Rui had put up a confident facade to make herself less of a target for bullying. She had acted tough, putting up a front of confidence and bravado, all in order to intimidate her bullies. By the end of fourth grade, Rui was a completely different person.
     Eventually, Rui's fourth grade year had gone by and summer arrived. Over the summer, with her parents absent because of work and hardly anything to do, Rui began roaming the neighborhood. And, as luck would have it, so were Rui's former bullies. It did not take long for Rui to run into them. With no school to interfere, Rui could rough up her former bullies even worse—superior numbers were no matter to Rui as her increased ferocity and the fear that she had established in her victims' hearts carried her to victory.
     Rui's former bullies, having had their desire to fight broken and unwilling to suffer any more beatings, tried to befriend Rui. Rui was wary, but she ultimately accepted the gesture—she hardly had any friends and figured that she could defend herself if betrayed. Initially, there was a sense of tension between the group and Rui. They all felt varying degrees of remorse over the bullying they had done and different levels of anger about what Rui had done to them. But most saliently, they were all afraid of Rui. On the flip side, Rui still resented her former bullies over how they had treated her.
     Although these feelings lingered for many months, it did not take long for Rui and her former bullies to become friends and act as such. Rui integrated into her new group relatively quickly, and Rui and her newfound friends started regularly hanging out and causing some minor trouble. They loitered, trespassed, vandalized, and caused basic mischief, albeit all to a minor degree. However, because of their ages—with Rui being eight and the rest being ten—and the lax law enforcement in their low-income, rough neighborhood, the group escaped serious trouble.
     Rui's experience in fifth grade was markedly different from her experiences in the previous two grades. She was bold and outgoing, and was no longer bullied. Her friendship with her former bullies continued, as did the less-than-legal antics while outside of school. Despite being comparatively more tame while in school, Rui still frequently misbehaved in school. This exasperated Rui's parents, but because of their work, they had little bandwidth to deal with Rui's behavior.
     At that time in Rui's life, her mother Mako was looking to make a career change. Mako had started a two-year associate’s degree in nursing while still working full time at her abysmally paying job. Her days were filled with work, her nights were spent at night classes, and any remaining free time was mostly either spent studying or sleeping. Little time was allocated towards Rui, with Mako's illicit affair with a fellow student being given equal, if not more, time.
     Rui's father Ira had a different situation. He worked as a restaurant supervisor at the family Japanese restaurant while simultaneously being trained to take over the role of restaurant manager and owner. Ira worked much more than the forty hours per week that is usual due to a mixture of factors: a feeling of duty, a desire to make enough to support his family, and an aversion towards the cold and sometimes hostile wife whom he could find at home. Since the restaurant was open late, Ira often worked late into the night, with his days spent sleeping. And some of those nights were extended longer than necessary, sometimes to complete additional tasks, and other times to have sexual relations with a particular waitress in one of the restaurant's backrooms or in a motel.
     Rui finished fifth grade, all while staying her delinquent course. Middle school—sixth through eighth grade—was more of the same, with Rui staying with her same group of friends. Surprisingly, despite her delinquency, Rui did quite well in school. From fifth grade onwards, Rui pulled A's and B's without putting in much effort.
     When Rui was in eighth grade, the looming oncoming of high school cast an ominous shadow. Rui was strong academically, but her friends were not. As such, Rui was almost certain to be placed in honors classes, apart from her friends. In order to avoid this, Rui intentionally underperformed on her high school placement exams. And the ploy worked—but not without fallout.
     Rui's parents were none too pleased with Rui's underperformance. They knew Rui was capable of better and correctly suspected that Rui had intentionally done worse on her placement exams. This infuriated Rui's parents, but they could prove nothing, nor were they able to force Rui into honors classes.
     Once in high school, Rui and her friends escalated their delinquent activities. Whereas the group's previous activities would have warranted misdemeanors at most, the group's activities in high school crossed into misdemeanor and felony territory. Their vandalism became more intense and costly, they began stealing, and they even engaged in robbery. It was not uncommon for Rui and the gang to mug people, both for fun and to make some money. However, rather than immediately use their numbers to gain the upper hand, the delinquent gang would often have one member face their mark alone, with the rest stepping in only if the member got in over their head. Moreover, the delinquent gang valued fighting, and muggings were far from the only fights they got into. Though, despite how much of a menace Rui and her gang were, they somehow escaped any major trouble, legal or otherwise.
     The summer before Rui's sophomore year of high school, Ira's uncle passed the torch to Ira, making Ira the owner of the Kawada family restaurant. After years of running the restaurant, Ira's uncle retired. Rui was thirteen at the time, which meant that she would ordinarily be one year too young to work. However, as Ira now owned the business, the situation changed: in Miami, Florida, children younger than fourteen can work in a parent's business, which meant that Rui could work. Ira immediately enlisted Rui's help at the restaurant—or, at least, he tried to. Rui resisted her father at every turn, often ditching work to hang out with her delinquent friends. On the days where Rui did work, she would do a shoddy job, not out of incompetence but out of noncompliance. She messed up as both a waitress and dishwasher, often causing a headache for her coworkers.
     During the fall of Rui's sophomore year, Rui and her delinquent gang's criminal activities escalated. They were approached by a local street gang and were enlisted to run illegal drugs: in return for transporting drugs, Rui and her friends were compensated with money, more money than any of them had come across before. Drawn in by a financial lure and a desire for excitement, the group began regularly engaging in drug running operators. The drug runs went off without a hitch all the way up to the end of March of that school year.
     On the day of Rui's fourteenth birthday, March 27th, Rui's group did yet another drug running operation. The plan was to complete the drug run, collect their reward, and use that money to celebrate Rui's birthday with a night out, driving around town and visiting various places. Rui's group was tasked with delivering drugs to an apartment. The street gang that enlisted Rui's group had a rival gang, and the apartment was in the rival gang's territory.
     The operation went as normal, at least at first. However, as they exited the apartment building, Rui noticed a suspicious truck parked across the street. She saw a man inside the truck holding what appeared to be a rifle. Rui immediately informed her group, and they agreed to make their escape in a different direction.
     Then, a hail of gunfire ripped through the air. For a moment, the entire group froze, and Rui watched as the boy in front of her, who was closest to the street, got gunned down, his body riddled with bullets. Then, right as the boy's body crumpled to the ground, Rui and the rest of her group dispersed, running off in all directions. Right as she was turning around to run, a full metal jacketed bullet from a 5.56×45mm round pierced her left biceps, boring a hole straight through her upper arm.
     Aside from the first boy hit, Rui and her group escaped, with Rui taking no additional shots and two other members taking non-fatal shots. Once Rui was out of danger, though, she remembered her friend who had been hit first. Even though her heart was pounding, filled to the brim with fear, she forced herself to go back for her friend. When she got to him, the coast was clear, with the gunmen nowhere in sight. He was barely clinging onto life, and Rui called an ambulance—unfortunately, he died before help could arrive.
     Rui got treated for her gunshot wounds, as did her friends. Although police tried to question those injured, all of them refused to say a word. They did not trust the police, and all the members of Rui's group had vowed to remain silent if they were ever questioned by police. As for what had actually happened, all those still alive knew what had happened: the rival gang, whose territory they were running drugs to, had decided to eliminate the intruders.
     Rui's group, shaken by what had transpired, unraveled shortly thereafter. One member, who was mostly undeterred by what had happened, wanted to continue running drugs and did exactly that. Another member, while he had reservations about running drugs and the danger it posed, continued running drugs with the first. A third member, while he refused to run drugs anymore, stuck with the previous two and joined them in their other, non-drug running delinquent activities. A fourth member cut ties to the group entirely, fearful that continuing down a crime-ridden path would eventually leave him imprisoned—or worse. As for the fifth male member of the group, he had died, thus cutting ties with the group in the most permanent way possible.
     As for Rui, she drifted away from the group. For as much as Rui tried to play off the incident as not a big deal, she took a harder blow than all the other members—save for the one who was dead, of course. After all, Rui had been the only one who saw one of her friends die in real time, and she had gotten shot in the arm to boot. Thus, following the incident, Rui outright refused to go on any more drug runs. And, as April wore on, Rui hung out with her group less and less until she nearly fell out of contact entirely. Rui was not enthusiastic about continuing down her then-present path, the fact that she could end up imprisoned or dead having become real to her.
     Having effectively abandoned her delinquency and distanced herself from her friend group, Rui found herself lacking stuff to do. She had school, a job at her family's restaurant that she inconsistently showed up to, and physical therapy for her damaged arm—along with a large helping of boredom. School and work had long since grown stale, and physical therapy was only mildly novel. At the very least, the outpatient physical therapy clinic was in a nice neighborhood, which was a pleasant change of scenery from what Rui was used to.
     But as it turns out, the physical therapy clinic was located in a fortuitous location, right next to an MMA gym: Limitless MMA. At the same time that Rui was undergoing her physical therapy, an MMA fighter and coach based out of Limitless MMA named Mikhail Alekhine was undergoing physical therapy at the clinic. He had sustained an injury training for ADCC, an elite grappling tournament. However, despite having been set to compete in ADCC, Mikhail himself was most known for being a noteworthy MMA prospect who was, at the time, meteorically climbing the ranks of a top-level MMA promotion.
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     Rui, having been an MMA fan for a number of years prior, recognized Mikhail as being a professional fighter. While Rui was not one to fawn over public figures, through proximity and a shared interest in MMA, the two eventually became acquainted through the physical therapy clinic. Eventually, Mikhail suggested Rui try out a week of free trial classes at Limitless MMA—Rui, being interested in both general fighting and MMA, as well as not having much else to do, took Mikhail's suggestion.
     Rui's first classes were interesting to say the least. Because Mikhail's injury had caused him to temporarily pivot towards teaching over competition training, he was the instructor for many of Rui's first classes. Some coaches were concerned about Rui's non-functional left arm, but Mikhail insisted that Rui be allowed to train—and, for classes that he taught, he simply allowed Rui to train one-armed.
     Moreover, it turned out that Rui had encountered two of the gym members, Minami Misaka and Yuri Alekhine, before. Back in her delinquent days, Rui and her group had made an incursion into a nicer part of Miami, and they ended up targeting Minami and Yuri as marks for mugging. Initially, it was just Rui versus Minami, with Minami ostensibly being alone and the rest of Rui's group watching. Rui had been outclassed all throughout the fight, and right as Rui was getting overwhelmed and her friends were about to intervene, Yuri showed up. The encounter then turned into a brawl, Rui and her group against Minami and Yuri, that ultimately ended inconclusively as the latter two quickly made their escape—six against two was terrible odds, and Minami and Yuri knew that even with their training, it was very unlikely that the situation would end well for them if they continued to fight.
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     Despite the dimly lit street lights doing little to beat back the night's darkness, Rui's face was burned into Minami and Yuri's minds—and the reverse was also true. This recognition led to two very different reactions from Minami and Yuri. Yuri's first reaction was one of coldness, with him initially giving a mild effort to avoid Rui in classes. When they did somehow get paired together for a drill, Yuri barely conversed with Rui. And when Yuri rolled
"Rolling" basically means "sparring" in the context of Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
with Rui, the concept of "let the beginner work" was completely lost on Yuri—although he did not go hard, he had no issues with submitting Rui at will
"[N]o issues" is meant two senses: that Yuri had the skill to submit Rui almost effortlessly, and that Yuri had no mental issues with doing so.
.
     In comparison, Minami's reaction was much more adversarial. Whereas Yuri's reaction was marked by guardedness, Minami bore no ill will over the attempted mugging and saw Rui as a means to entertain herself. Minami was like a cat toying with a cornered mouse, poking, prodding, and trolling the dramatically less skilled Rui. Somehow—definitely and absolutely NOT because Minami intentionally tried to partner with Rui
Minami absolutely intentionally partnered with Rui so she could have fun at Rui's expense during rolls and sparring.
—the two found themselves paired together during classes.
     To Minami's credit, she was actually extremely helpful during drills, giving Rui plenty of useful advice and practice. However, sparring and rolling were different. During rolls with Rui, rather than hitting endless chains of common submissions, Minami had the time of her life putting Rui into esoteric submissions: twisters, Boston crabs, and camel clutches abounded. Minami's sublime skill met Rui's raw strength head on, but ultimately, skill prevailed every time, albeit not without some minor difficulty
In real life (i.e. not necessarily in the LAW universe), against an opponent who is strong and resisting, those moves (i.e. twisters, Boston crabs, and camel clutches) would probably (?) not be the easiest to pull off.
.
     Rui was even easier pickings on the feet during sparring. Minami had no trouble dismantling Rui, pawing at her like a cat prodding its wounded prey—and wounded Rui was. With her left arm in a sling because of her gunshot wound, Rui was forced into an unwanted Philly shell, despite being as far from a Loid Fairweather
The name "Loyd Fairweather" is a parody of a real life boxer who is known, among other things, for utilizing the Philly shell.
as one could be. Rui, who would have stood no chance against Minami even with the use of her left arm, was even more helpless, like a hawk with a clipped wing.
     Yet, even an injured bird hanging on for dear life can still maim a predatory cat. Rui's counterplay was her monstrous striking power: strikes that, while unrefined and easy to avoid, still threatened to flatline Minami should they land. But skirting the razor's edge—however unlikely getting cut was—thrilled Minami, rendering Rui a more amusing toy than just a mere punching bag.
     It came as a surprise to absolutely no one, save for Coach Mikhail, when Rui stopped showing up to Limitless MMA after her free trial week had ended. Mikhail was censured for his handling of the situation—whereas the other coaches tried to reign Yuri and Minami in, Mikhail simply allowed situations to play out in his classes. Mikhail's behavior was seemingly senseless and ran contrary to the gym's culture: Limitless MMA was not a sink-or-swim, school of hard knocks gym.
     However, Mikhail Alekhine was playing a risky gambit line
Specifically, Mikhail played the "let-your-fiery-prospective-student-get-beaten-up-to-motivate-her-to-start-training" line of the "randomly-meet-and-recruit-a-fiery-MMA-fan-to-your-gym" variation of the "Alekhine's MMA Gym Recruitment" opening.
. It was not a gambit that Mikhail would normally play, but he had both the necessary read on Rui and the arrogance to believe that his scheme would work. He figured that, rather than completely discourage Rui, letting Yuri and Minami demolish her would light a fire within the naturally talented Rui.
     But Mikhail's gambit turned out to be a transient failure, which was summarily punished and nearly refuted. Rui's fighting skills, which had been a point of pride for her, failed to hold up under a proper trial, prompting Rui to hand up the gloves for good. The common MMA adage that "there are levels to this game" had never felt so poignant to Rui as it had then, considering how unambiguously said reality had been shoved in her face. They say pressure makes diamonds, but all this did was make Rui resign herself to the stale life she had before training.
     Such a life was maddening, however. It was a perpetual oscillation between high school classes that were all too easy for her, a job that bored her, and swaths of free time with no friends to help pass the time as Rui had left her old friend group. And, after cutting out MMA from her life, her life felt even emptier than before. The emptiness was pervasive, and it ate away at Rui—enough that she, to fill said emptiness, started consistently showing up to her job at her family's restaurant after only a week of monotony.
     Though, try as she might to drown herself in school and work, Rui could not forget how she had fallen short. Had it been a different activity, Rui could have accepted her deficiency. But Rui's pride would not let herself remain a terrible fighter. And during her long, tedious hours at work, Rui could not help but ruminate. She never wanted to face such humiliation again, but such aversion quickly turned to ash under Rui's inner fire. A spark of self-belief shined amidst the shards of her shattered pride. Regular people were no match for her, and, even though Minami shut down all of her offense, Rui still saw glints of hope. The nasty bruises she rendered onto Minami's arms and the few close calls gave Rui hope: hope that one day, she could have the skill to flatline Minami and pay her back.
     It ultimately took two weeks for Mikhail's gambit to be vindicated: Rui came trudging back to Limitless MMA, her face plastered with sheepish irritation. She headed straight towards the front desk, cash grasped tightly in her right hand, and firmly placed the money—which she had earned from her job—onto the counter with a soft thud. With that money, Rui paid her gym membership dues and formally joined Limitless MMA.
"It was an abjectly unsound gambit that somehow worked out—fitting, given his [Mikhail's] namesake." - Saya Alekhine
Saya Alekhine—relative of Mikhail Alekhine, younger sister of Yuri Alekhine, and a gym member of Limitless MMA—was remarking on Mikhail's strategy of letting Minami and Yuri somewhat antagonize Rui in order to light a fire within her. The latter part of the quote alludes to a certain "magician" chess player who played purportedly unsound sacrifices that often ended up working out.

     At the beginning of Rui's boxing class that day, Coach Mikhail suggested Rui try standing in the southpaw stance to adjust for her then non-functional left arm. The idea was that, while Rui was right-handed and would normally adopt an orthodox stance, standing southpaw for the time being would allow her to have a functioning lead arm. This turned out to be a brilliant—if not somewhat obvious—adjustment.
     Mikhail also took Rui's injury into account, subtly adjusting the lesson that day to better suit Rui. He specifically focused on combinations that involved doubling up on lead hand punches. Moreover, he paired Saya Alekhine—a relative of his and a member of the gym—with Rui, knowing that Saya would adjust the drills even further to better suit Rui.
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     Rui turned out to be a terror on the pads, battering them with powerful yet flawed technique. She unleashed fusillades of lead rights, targeting both the head and body. Sharp pops—the sound of gloves against pads—rang out like a series of firecrackers, turning heads throughout the gym.
"Did that girl blow out your shoulder?" - Yuri Alekhine, speaking incredulously to Saya Alekhine
Seeing Saya, his younger sister, icing her right shoulder
Since Rui was throwing punches with her right arm, simulated strikes to the head hit the pad held in Saya's right hand. Thus, Saya's right shoulder (as opposed to the left) took the brunt of the punishment. Holding for lead right body shots, which would land on the pad in the left hand, were not as problematic since Saya could brace her pad/hand against her body.
after class prompted Yuri to ask this. Yuri found it hard to believe that Saya, being relatively experienced with holding pads, still got mildly injured.

     After that boxing class, Rui approached fellow gym mate Minami Misaka, face scowling and holding something in her clenched right fist. The atmosphere was tense as Rui's intention was unclear—it almost seemed like Rui was about to either challenge Minami to a spar or outright pick a fight with her. Rui tried for several moments to speak, only for the words to get stuck in her throat. She then opened her hand, revealing $27.18
Incidentally, this dollar amount shares the first four digits with Euler's number.
in cash.
     It turned out that Rui wanted to pay Minami, who was practically the same age as her, to give her a private lesson. Rui then explained herself, stating that she wanted to get better but did not have enough money to pay a coach for private lessons. She also sheepishly acknowledged that Minami was an excellent teacher, remembering her trial week and how Minami was quite helpful during drills then.
     Silence pervaded for several moments, only for it to be broken by the sound of Minami's uproarious laughter. After toying with Rui during rolls and sparring, Rui asking for guidance from her was the last thing that Minami expected. But Minami agreed, figuring that it would at least be fun. Not only that, but Minami agreed to teach Rui for free, citing that she did not need the money. Minami was not lying when she said that, but she also had another reason for teaching pro bono: part of her worried she would fall short as a teacher and end up overcharging for the services she provided.
     Minami began regularly training Rui after classes. Between classes and Minami's training, Rui made sharp progress despite her initial physical handicap. Initially, Rui's development in striking was asymmetric because of her injury. Forced into an unnatural southpaw stance with her left arm held against her body in a sling, Rui had to rely on footwork and head movement to keep herself safe as her guard had a massive hole on her left side. She also had to develop a strong lead right hand as she only had her right arm available for punching.
     Grappling with one arm was more challenging. While Rui's progress in grappling was impressive, it was muted compared to her striking progress. This was frustrating for Rui, but she persevered.
     Rui and Minami became fast friends during this time, with the two regularly hanging out outside of training just one month after Minami started teaching Rui. They quickly settled into a habit of friendly multilingual (English and Japanese) banter, with them playfully ribbing one another regularly. However, underneath it all was a sense of mutual respect. Rui respected Minami for her skills and teaching ability, whereas Minami respected Rui for her natural aptitude and ability to learn quickly.
     Spending time with Minami also resulted in some of Minami's hobbies rubbing off on Rui. Minami's interest in music (violin, viola, piano) inspired Rui to teach herself guitar. Minami's interest in computer science also rubbed off on Rui, with Rui developing her own interest in the topic. Finally, Minami got Rui interested in anime, with the former introducing the latter to the medium via the anime Berserk.
     Aside from Minami, Rui developed good relationships with multiple members of the gym. From the start, Rui also had very little trouble getting along with Coach Mikhail Alekhine. While the normal boundaries between student and coach were present, the two had a friendly relationship. Moreover, Rui became relatively close to Saya Alekhine, who was roughly one year older than her. Saya, a chess prodigy whose progress in the chess world was stymied because of her family's poor financial situation
Chess is an activity that requires a lot of time and resources to pursue at the highest level. The coaching and travel necessary to make such a pursuit work are typically fairly expensive.
, even taught Rui the basics of chess. However, while Saya bonded with Rui relatively quickly, her brother Yuri Alekhine, who was roughly two years older than Rui, had a harder time accepting Rui because of her personality and the attempted mugging. Eventually, though, even Yuri warmed up to Rui, with the two becoming friends.
     As Rui was making progress with her relationships with her gym mates, she was also making progress with healing her arm. Complications slowed the healing process, preventing Rui from using her left arm in training until the start of October, roughly four months after she had started her membership at Limitless MMA
As in, four months after she first started paying for her membership, not when she did her week of free trial classes.
. However, after that point, Rui could begin using her left arm again, albeit initially in a more limited capacity. And by the start of December of that year, Rui's arm was up to full form, having regained its full strength and function. And, luckily for Rui, she suffered no psychological hesitation regarding her left arm, and could use it to its full potential.
     The moment that Rui was cleared to use her left arm again marked a drastic change. The beginning of October saw her rate of progress go from sharp to meteoric, with Rui's striking and grappling leveling up almost instantly. In striking, she began to practice her natural orthodox stance. However, she never abandoned the southpaw stance that she started with, turning her into a switch hitter. Much like her peer mentor Minami, Rui incorporated both stances into her fighting style, using them both to nearly equal effectiveness.
     By the time Rui had been training for roughly one year, she had become quite skilled in mixed martial arts. Her skills were at the level that she could have made an amateur MMA debut at that point, if not for her age—Rui, who was only fifteen at the time and had just finished up her junior year of high school, was not old enough to make an amateur MMA debut in Miami, Florida
One needs to be at least eighteen to make an amateur MMA debut in Miami, Florida.
. However, being at that level made Rui a good training partner for the various amateurs and professionals at Limitless MMA. And Rui's level was also such that her training relationship with Minami, which had previously been more of a student-teacher relationship, was now more akin to that of training partners.
     Going into her senior year of high school, Rui was forced to think about her future. Such is a daunting task at any age, but even more so at age fifteen. Similar to other high school seniors, Rui experienced pressure to go to college. She certainly had the aptitude to do so: while Rui took regular—as opposed to honors—classes, she pulled A's and B's without trying hard, often doing well even without doing much homework or studying. Her standardized test scores were also stellar. Thus, Rui's parents, peers, and teachers all expected Rui to go to college.
     Under this pressure, Rui went through the typical motions of applying to universities. However, her heart was not set on higher education. Instead, Rui wanted something more exciting—she wanted to become a professional MMA fighter. Thus, despite getting into multiple universities, college decision day came and went without Rui making a decision.
     Rui's college decision—or rather, lack thereof—came as a shock to her parents, who had not been apprised of Rui's plans. After the initial shock, they became livid: despite having a marginal role in Rui's life beforehand, they could not bear to see Rui pass up an opportunity that they themselves had missed out on. Neither of them were happy with their lives, and they both saw the early termination of their own college educations as a key reason for their current miseries. While their relationship with Rui had long since soured, they did not want Rui to suffer as they did, and certainly not while chasing some risky dream like fighting.
     After college decision day on May 1st, Rui's home life went from one permeated by indifference to one with a steady undercurrent of disdain. Conflict between herself and her parents was common, leading to Rui leaving her parents' house one week after college decision day to stay with her friend Minami Misaka. Initially, it was unclear how long Rui would be staying. But, as May turned to June and Rui graduated high school, it became clear that Rui might stay for longer than just a few weeks.
     Minami's mother Misuzu was against Minami harboring a vagrant (i.e. Rui) in her room. Seeing Rui as a bad influence, Misuzu wanted to summarily kick Rui out. But Minami's father Tabigake, Minami's oldest sister Mikoto, and Minami herself successfully convinced Misuzu to let Rui stay, under the condition that Rui pay rent. And, fortunately for Rui, this rent was markedly cheaper than elsewhere, affordable even though Rui's income from her job at her family's restaurant was rather limited.
     With her relationship with her parents in shambles, then sixteen-year-old Rui wasted little time moving to get emancipated from her parents, starting the process the June after she graduated high school. However, emancipation required proof of self-sufficiency, which Rui had. She had stable enough housing, living as Minami's roommate and paying rent. While her relationship with her father was strained, he allowed Rui to continue working at the family restaurant. And, as an extra, Rui had reliable transportation, having been gifted her great-uncle's old motorcycle for her sixteenth birthday. Ultimately, with everything in place to strike off on her own, Rui's emancipation was finalized by mid-October after she had graduated high school.
     At this point, the normal course of action would be for Rui to continue working and training, biding her time until her eighteenth birthday when she could make her amateur MMA debut
In Florida, one needs to be at least eighteen years old to make an amateur MMA debut.
. However, Rui did not want to wait until then. She resented that she had to wait to debut, considering that she was nearly an adult as far as the law was concerned.
     So Rui decided to make her amateur MMA debut early, even if doing so was less than legal. She used one of her old contacts from her delinquent days in order to forge documents. With these documents, Rui established a new identity: Ryūko Matoi, aged eighteen.
     Getting the fake documents was hard enough, but that was not the end of Rui's troubles. Since she was underage, Rui could not rely on her gym, Limitless MMA, to help her get fights. Instead, Rui had to act as an independent fighter, contacting promotions by herself.
     Fortunately for Rui, there were unethical promotions who would sign her up for fights, no questions asked. Her first amateur fight happened in November, roughly one month after her emancipation was finalized. That fight went about as well as it could, with Rui dominating the fight. Her opponent did not even make it out of the first round, being flatlined with a monstrous left hook in the last fifteen seconds of the first round. Rui's second amateur fight also ended in a knockout, with Rui knocking her opponent out in less than one minute. That opponent suffered a concussion and a fractured orbital bone.
     Rui's third amateur fight was more difficult than the previous two, with the fight nearly going the distance. Rui's opponent was a strong grappler, one who could defend against Rui's striking and take the fight to the ground. To her credit, Rui did a good job of defending against takedowns. But, whenever the fight got to the ground, it was a fight for survival, with Rui having to fight off submission attempts left and right. The fight made it to the third round, with Rui clearly behind on points with only fifteen seconds left in the round. Rui knew she needed a finish, so she made one last rush at her opponent, seemingly out of pure desperation. And Rui was desperate—but she had also made a critical read. Her opponent liked to shoot for takedowns whenever she was pressured. So, when history repeated itself, Rui was prepared: she threw a flying knee counter that knocked her opponent out and left her with fractured facial bones.
     Unfortunately for Rui, that highlight reel flying knee counter knockout led to her getting caught. Rui had taken special care to only compete in events that none of her gym mates were competing in, so as to avoid recognition. However, the viral clip of Rui's knockout reached members of Limitless MMA, leading to her getting reported for fighting while underaged. Rui ultimately received a ban from amateur MMA in Florida, effectively preventing her from "going pro" as in Florida, one needed five amateur MMA fights to do so. The only leniency that was afforded to Rui was that the ban was only for five years, as the commission felt that Rui had a future in the sport but still needed to be punished.
     The ban was finalized in April, just weeks after Rui's seventeenth birthday. Without the ability to formally compete in MMA for years to come, Rui was lost. Sure, Rui could still train MMA and continue working at her family's restaurant to support herself, but she could not feel that such a life would be stagnant, mired in mundane mediocrity. She wanted to be more than just a service worker who trained MMA on the side while barely scraping by financially.
     Moreover, while Rui could have theoretically moved to another state to avoid her ban, she had a number of reasons for not doing so. She did not have the resources to easily relocate states, and her attempts to find out-of-state employment and housing were fruitless. Rui also did not want to leave behind everyone she knew at Limitless MMA.
     So, the fall after her amateur MMA ban, Rui found herself enrolled at a local community college full time, intending to transfer to a four-year institution the following school year. All the while, Rui continued training MMA and working. Balancing everything was quite a task, but Rui managed, earning decent grades while she was at it.
     The following summer, Rui was prepared to enter the next chapter of her life: attending a four-year university. She attended a fairly selective university that was named for the city of Miami but was actually in Coral Gables, Florida, which was adjacent to Miami. Rui majored in computer science, having developed an interest in the subject earlier during her teen years and time in community college.
     It turned out that college move-in day came at a fortuitous time, falling in the middle of August. Conflict had since pervaded the Misaka household, stemming from Minami's choice to forego college to pursue a career in MMA. The household was divided along battle lines, with Minami's mother Misuzu on one side and Minami, her sister Mikoto, and her father Tabigake on the other side. As much as the family tried to keep Rui out of the conflict, Rui could not help but feel mixed up in the whole affair.
     Despite the turmoil in the Misaka household, Rui left on amicable terms with everyone in that household. Despite not being close to them, she got along with Minami's sister Mikoto and her father Tabigake. Minami and Rui's friendship had only strengthened while they lived together, and they promised to stay in touch with each other. Even Misuzu had since somewhat warmed up to Rui and was slightly sad to see her go. And come move-in day, the Misaka family put aside their divisions to help Rui move into university.
     Unfortunately for Rui, university was not cheap. Without her parents to help pay for her education, the financial responsibility fell solely on Rui. She took on even more loans, on top of the ones she took out to fund her time at community college. And, in order to give herself some income and help pay off her debts, Rui continued working during college. She replaced her job at her family's restaurant with an on-campus work-study job, wanting to have a more college-like experience by minimizing off-campus commuting.
     However, Rui arguably got a little too muchinto the college experience—more specifically, the social and partying side of it all. She seldom spent any time on the weekends working on schoolwork, and during the week, it was not too uncommon for Rui to show up to her mid-morning class still buzzed from the night before. Naturally, Rui's academics suffered. Her MMA training also suffered, with Rui showing up to Limitless MMA to train less frequently.
     Rui's newfound habits ended up catching up to her academically. Had her classes been the typical first-year classes, Rui might have been able to get away with her lax attitude towards studying. However, because of her year at community college, her classes were more akin to that of a second-year computer science student. As such, Rui could not coast through her classes, and she ended up barely pulling C's.
     Following the near-fiasco that was her first semester, Rui shaped up. While she still partied quite a lot, she was more diligent about her studies than before. Thus, for the rest of her college career, Rui would pull A's and B's in her classes.
     The rest of Rui's first year at her four-year university went relatively normally. However, during the fall of her second year, Rui picked up a new extracurricular activity: underground collegiate lesbian sexfighting
Rui was nineteen years old when she first got involved in underground collegiate lesbian sexfighting. This can be inferred from the backstory.
. It was not an activity that Rui would normally pick up, but there were cash prizes. And Rui, with her only source of income being her on-campus work-study job, needed money. Plus, while Rui did not see herself as a lesbian, she was not necessarily opposed to fooling around with other women.
     Within this extracurricular activity, Rui dominated. Even though Rui was not in peak form as she was not training as regularly as before, her MMA training gave her a decisive, dominating edge. It also helped that her competition was limited, meaning that Rui's skills were never put to the test. All of Rui's bouts were one-sided victories, so Rui never felt the pain of getting totally fucked.
     In the underground league, it was expected that the winner of each bout would sexually dominate the loser. Humiliation was also common as well. Initially, Rui was hesitant to exercise her right—or rather, obligation—as a victress, but since money was on the line, Rui felt like she had no choice. However, she eventually learned to embrace the thrill of victory, although she never crossed the line into explicitly humiliating or degrading her opponents.
     Everything came crashing down the spring after Rui started sexfighting, however. University authorities got wind of the unsanctioned extracurricular activities and promptly shut them down. The ringleader, a twenty-one-year-old woman and college senior, was pushed by the university into revealing the identities of those who took part in the underground sexfighting. In exchange for her cooperation, the university lightened her punishment. However, the ringleader only revealed a subset of names—enough to satisfy the university, but not enough to out everyone who took part.
     Luck was not on Rui's side, however: her name was one of the names given. And within less than a week of receiving her name, the university expelled Rui. Once again, Rui was left lost in life, this time with a ton of debt and no degree to show for it.
     After that latest disaster, Rui took a hard look at the cards that she had been dealt. She could not compete in amateur MMA for at least another couple of years, which precluded her from fighting in MMA professionally. She had no degree, so her job prospects were not as promising. Her prospects for attending a different institution were limited, as neither admitting the reason that she was expelled nor trying to lie about it were desirable. And she had a boatload of debt, which needed to be paid back.
     Rui needed to make money, and fast. Not only that, but she needed to make enough to pay off her debt. But, as luck would have it, Rui quickly found her answer: LAW, a professional wrestling promotion that she was made aware of during her time sexfighting in college. Competing in LAW would give Rui a chance to use her combat sports training and satisfy the slight taste for sexfighting that she had developed. It would also help her keep her fighting skills sharp for her eventual return to MMA. Plus which, the pay was surprisingly good.
     Rui was not without reservations, however. It was no secret that LAW often signed people just because they were attractive and would look good getting squashed or lewded. Egregious mismatches were not uncommon, and newer, less-experienced competitors were often given opponents way above their level. But Rui was confident—she knew that her training would make her more than a match for most of the LAW roster.
     So Rui decided to sign to relocate to Japan and sign to LAW. The process was surprisingly easy: LAW's main concerns were her looks and willingness to compete, both of which Rui had in spades. And LAW was more than willing to help Rui relocate from the United States to Japan.
     In fact, the hardest part of the process for Rui was deciding on a ring name. She, of course, had the option to compete without one, but Rui wanted to try her hand at thinking of one. Rui struggled to think of a name, but she eventually came up with an answer. Back then, while training at Limitless MMA, her chess prodigy gym mate Saya Alekhine had given her the nickname "rook". It was partly a play on Rui's name
Under Western naming conventions, Rui's name is "Rui Kawada", and her initials are "R.K.". "Rook" is a play on Rui's name as the beginning and endings letters of the word "rook" parallel Rui's initials.
, but it also had some deeper symbolism
     The rook conveys a sense of power. Like a battering ram, it careens down the ranks and files of the sixty-four squares, threatening to obliterate any pieces that stand in its path. Its movement, while not tricky and unpredictable like a knight, is direct and forceful, controlling sizable cuts of the board with its strength.
     Rui's fighting style parallels that of the rook, which is powerful yet has straightforward movement. Her absurd striking power allows her to exert immense pressure and control over a fight. This sort of power lends itself to straightforward strategies, ones that seek to forcefully beat down an opponent. And Rui is quite comfortable with this sort of style.
     But much like a rook, Rui can also use more advanced tactics. Rooks can skewer and pin, and Rui can use footwork and feints. One should not underestimate Rui and write her off as a one-dimensional brawler, lest she catch one with a clever and unexpected setup.
. While the nickname never made its way into regular use back then, it still stuck in Rui's mind.
     In the end, Rui signed to LAW as Rui "Rook" Kawada, ready to start the next chapter of her life. Standard, hardcore, hentai matches—Rui was open to all of these. So long as she had fun, and so long as she got paid, Rui told herself that she hardly cared what LAW gave her.


Relationships
  • Minami Misaka - Rui's best friend. The two are extremely close. They trained together quite a lot in the past at the MMA gym Limitless MMA. They also lived together for a while.
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  • Yuri Alekhine - One of Rui's friends. She primarily knows him through Minami and due to training with him at the same MMA gym, Limitless MMA. However, although the two of them are friends, they maintain a slight sense of distance from each other, due to Minami and Yuri being in a relationship.
    Image
  • Saya Alekhine - One of Rui's friends. The two met at Limitless MMA, and they trained together a fair amount in the past. Saya also taught Rui how to play chess.
    Image
  • Mikhail Alekhine - Mikhail was one of Rui's main coaches at Limitless MMA. Mikhail was the one who convinced Rui to start training MMA. Rui and Mikhail are fairly close, but they maintain some distance from each other due to Mikhail's role as a coach and their age difference.
    Image


Quick Facts
  • Rui will sometimes use "ore" instead of the more typical "watashi" or "atashi" when referring to herself
    In Japanese, "ore" can be used as the first-person pronoun. It is more casual, and can imply a sense of confidence or arrogance. "Watashi" and "atashi" are also used as first-person pronouns, with "atashi" being primarily used by women.
    .
  • Rui is bilingual, being fluent in both English and Japanese.
  • Rui's Name
    • The romanized Western version of Rui's name is 'Rui Kawada'.
    • Under the Japanese name order convention, Rui's name is romanized as 'Kawada Rui'.
    • Rui's name is pronounced 'Roo-ee Kah-wah-dah', using the Western name order convention, or 'Kah-wah-dah Roo-ee', using the Japanese name order convention.
    • The IPA representation of Rui's name (using Japanese name order convention) is /kaɯ̟ada ɾɯi/
      This might not be correct.
      .
    • Rui's name in kanji is 川田 流生. This is how she writes her name in Japan.
    • Rui's given name 流生 ('Rui') consists of two kanji. The character '流' means 'flow' or 'river', and the character '生' means 'life', 'to live', or 'pure'. Those characters can be read as 'Ryūsei', but in the case of Rui's name, they are read as 'Rui'.
    • Rui's surname 川田 ('Kawada') consists of two kanji: '川' and '田', which mean 'river' and 'rice field' respectively.
    • Rui' name in hiragana is かわだ るい
      This might not be correct.
      . She does not write her name this way, however.
    • Rui shares a surname with a certain famous Japanese pop singer and lyricist.
  • Yes, you are her little pogchamp.
    This is a reference to the Ryūko pogchamp meme video, a video where Rui's faceclaim Ryūko Matoi says "Ugh, fine, I guess you are my little pogchamp. C'mere!"
Secret
  • Rui's parents spoke Japanese at home all throughout Rui's life.
  • Rui is right-handed.
  • Rui owns a motorcycle, which she rides often.
  • Rui's LAW Ring Name
    • Rui's ring name in LAW is 'Rook'.
    • The nickname was given to her by her friend and former gym mate Saya Alekhine.
    • The nickname never went into regular use, but it still stuck in Rui's mind.
    • The nickname is most directly a reference to Rui's forceful power, which is akin to that of a rook in chess.
    • More subtly, it alludes to the fact that Rui's gameplan is usually quite simple—i.e. use her immense striking power and aggression to dominate her opponents—similar to how a rook's movement in chess is relatively straightforward. However, rooks can also use tactics like forks, pins, and skewers, which parallels how Rui, despite her seemingly straightforward fighting style, can be unexpectedly tactical at times.
  • Rui is surprisingly good at drawing—she is not at a professional level, but natural talent paired with years of doodling in school have rendered her drawing skills nothing to scoff at.
  • Rui is self-taught on the guitar and can play at a level that is considered "pretty good" for a hobbyist.
  • Rui owns a basic electric guitar and amplifier.
  • Chess
    • Rui was taught the basics of how to play chess by her MMA gym mate and friend/acquaintance Saya Alekhine.
    • Rui is by no means "good" or even "decent" at chess, although she is better at the game than most of the general population.
    • Whenever possible, Rui uses the Ruy López opening in chess
      The Ruy López is defined by the moves 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 in chess.
      for the sole reason that "Ruy" sounds similar to her given name "Rui".
    • Because of Rui's arbitrary and irrational
      "[A]rbitrary and irrational" insofar as she only likes the Ruy López opening because "Ruy" sounds similar to her given name "Rui", and not because of any merit of the Ruy López opening itself.
      preference for the Ruy López, she will use the Rossolimo Attack against Sicilian Defense lines starting with 1...c5 2...Nc6
      The Rossolimo Attack is defined by the moves 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5, which is almost the same sequence of moves as the Ruy López, which is defined by the moves 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5.
      . She feels an (questionable
      Questionable insofar as although white's first three half-moves in the Rossolimo Attack are the same as those in the Ruy López, the two openings are distinct entities with different ideas.
      ) sense of familiarity with the Rossolimo Attack as she gets to play the same three opening half-moves
      I.e. 1. e4 … 2. Nf3 … 3. Bb5.
      as her coveted Ruy López opening.
    • Rui, despite not being particularly knowledgeable about chess, actually knows the Ruy López and Rossolimo Attack openings by name.
  • Amateur MMA
    • Rui illegally competed in amateur MMA in Florida as a sixteen-year-old.
    • Rui competed under the false identity "Ryūko Matoi", who was purportedly eighteen to be old enough to compete in amateur MMA in Florida.
    • Rui had a 3-0-0 record in amateur MMA.
    • All of Rui's wins came by knockout.
    • Rui eventually got caught, and got served a four-year ban from amateur MMA in Florida.
  • Rui's family owns a Japanese restaurant in Florida named Mayonaka Maki (真夜中 巻). Its name roughly translates to "Midnight Maki", which alludes to its late night hours.
  • Rui can make sushi and California rolls quite well, having been informally taught by a chef at her family's restaurant.

  A special thanks to Malkavia for giving feedback that helped improve the character banner image at the top of this character profile.


Ichi's Killers (Roster) | Killer Requests (Requests) |
  • My username "Ichi" and the "killer" motif come from "Ichi the Killer", a manga/movie. I do not have an obsession with killing.
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