The Paladin's "date"

"No thanks." He said. "I just tend to go through my food quickly without noticing." he held out his arms about 6 inches away from his side. "I used to be this big around. No surprise considering my eating habits. Good thing I am no longer contributing to the fat American stereotype. I don't like sumo wrestling." He then relaxed in his chair. "So tell me about your brother if you don't mind.

"Suit yourself." she said with a shrug, eating the shrimp herself. And she then couldn't help but laugh as Michael told her how large his stomach used to be. "Oh my. Well, to say you've clearly come a long way since then is quite an understatement."

When the question of her brother arose, Mariko thought for a moment before answering. "Hmm… Well, he's an energetic, fun-loving guy with a giant heart." she said with a chuckle. "He's… still got some improving to do in the ring. He's not awful. I mean, we work really well as a tag team. But he's clumsy, and he lacks technique. He's very strong for his size, but he needs someone to show him how to use that strength properly in a match."

"I can see why. There was a quote I liked from one of the CoD games. 'Sure it matters who's got the bigger stick, but it matters a helluva lot more who's swinging it.' The thing is I am not as strong as you'd expect from our fight. I just remember what I learned in High school physics.

But it does seem like I would like him. In fact, I think he may just be an unskilled version of me. The giant heart thing definitely fits. I definitely picked up the good stuff from the south and left the bad. Lots of southern hospitality and faith and no racism." He then realised something. She wasn't an American. She might not even know what the southern stereotype was, much less what the actual tendencies and culture was.

Mariko listened as Michael spoke, and couldn’t help but give a soft giggle as he talked about “the south” as if they were both American. She got the general gist of what he meant, though she wasn’t very familiar with the various regional cultures in America.

“Like you, huh?” she said, giggling again while taking another drink from her glass of wine. “You’re both good guys, but I’d say there’s plenty of differences too. For example, he’s usually more wound up and energetic, but you seem much more comfortable around women. And you actually have an understanding of physics and how to use it in matches, while Yamato-kun’s the type who just keeps hitting something as hard as he can until it finally falls down.” Not that there was anything wrong with either Yamato or Michael for those differences, of course. Those were just parts of what made them who they were.

"I see." he said. "Oh, it just dawned on me. Here I am talking about southern hospitality and all that as if you know a thing about American subculture. I should probably stop. But anyway, he seems like a nice guy. Must be nice to have a brother like that."

"You calling me uneducated or something?" she replied jokingly, giving another light chuckle. "But yeah, it is. Would never have made it to where I am today without him."

Her mind dwelled on her brother for a moment longer, until a different topic came to mind. "So what's America like, anyway? I've seen pictures, movies and things like that. But I've never actually been there before."

Mariko listened as Michael “educated” her about the United States. She knew it consisted of 50 states, thou she most likely couldn’t name many of them. Though he was right in guessing Texas was one of the few she knew. “I see. And what’s different between South Carolina and states from the other regions?”

"Well" Michael continued. He wasn't sure on how to explain it other than simply. "Short answer: Politics. Long answer: Each state defines its own laws within in its borders, so long as said laws to contradict the US constitution and the Federal government. In South Carolina, for example, would be able to prohibit alcohol within it's own borders, but it cannot make gay marriage illegal since it is recognised on a federal level as legal. There's a lot more to it, but that's the gist of it. Basically, the hierarchy of government goes Constitution to federal to state to county to city. Those 4 regions I told you about are more of a geographic and cultural thing."

"So basically, aside from differences in laws from state to state, they're pretty similar places then, right? Interesting." Mariko wasn’t interested at all in politics, but the idea that there were only minor differences among different places in such a large country was surprising to her.

She’d heard and seen numerous stereotypes about Americans, yet her first impression of every American she’d met had been at least. The man who defeated her in her debut had a rather noticeable accent, but other than that seemed much like any other normal person. That got her wondering how others viewed people in Japan, specifically herself. “Michael, what was your first impression of me when we first met in the ring? I don’t just mean as far as my appearance, and you don’t have to worry about offending me. I’m just curious.”