Track for this chapter:
Lake Erie Rainfall, from the album By Heart, by Jim Brickman
By the way, all the tracks I mention can probably be found on YouTube very easily.
Kenta sighed, sprawled across the foot of his bed. It was early morning, and the mail'd not run yet; he was still forbidden from the street corner.
Truly Metal City was a free city, but Kenta chose to listen to Les. He looked up to him, and not only because Les was tall, but because he was...well, he was right.
Then a flash of movement on the windowsill caught his eye, and he turned to find a small lizard flicking its tongue out at him across the branch it was perched on. He crossed over to the windowsill and held out a palm to it.
"Hey, there, little buddy. Don't be afraid, I won't hurt you."
The lizard adapted an almost pleased expression and flickered its tongue out again, scampering onto the sill of the open window, and he realised it was no ordinary lizard.
It had a frill round the highest par of its head, and long rabbit-like ears sprouting up. It crouched low, nearly as long as his forearm from nose to tail, and its fangs were sharp, its body scaly, and a tuft of fur ended its tail. Most shockingly of all, it was red.
It was a dragon.
Kenta gasped and jerked back; the dragon trilled softly and cocked its head.
"What are YOU doing on my windowsill? I know; I'm doing that thing where it's a dream, and it's not; it's okay."
The dragon scowled and shook its head irritably. You're not dreaming, you idiot, it seemed to say.
"What do you mean, NO? What would you know? Being a dream, you'd probably tell me I wasn't dreaming if I was."
The dragon seemed disgusted, and settled onto its belly, narrowing its eyes at Kenta.
"Well, since I've got nothing to do to pass the time, I guess I'll just talk to you."
The dragon puffed something softly, a ring of smoke settling onto Kenta's carpet and leaving a dusty trail in its wake.
"Are you a baby dragon or something?"
The dragon jerked its head up sharply, flicking its tongue out irritably.
"No? So I guess you're part of a different breed than the larger dragons."
He nodded, and at the mention of the larger dragons, his frill seemed to stand on end.
"Do you know where Ryuga is?"
The dragon brushed its tail across the windowsill, sitting up and rolling its eyes to the side as if it did not want to tell him, and then nodded, hesitantly. Kenta managed to keep calm. This was, after all, only a dream.
"Where is he?"
Now the dragon narrowed its eyes at him in annoyance. How was it supposed to tell him? It could only answer yes or no questions.
"I know, I know. Could you show me if I got a map?"
No.
"Is it not on the map?"
No.
"No it's not on the map, or no you just can't tell me?"
Yes.
"Both?"
The dragon squawked in irritation and stood up as if it were about to leave. Outside, Kenta could hear the mailman pulling up. He turned his head, and when he looked back, the dragon was gone.
He was still in bed, against the pillow, blinking tiredly; perhaps he really had dreamed the whole thing.
He raced down the stairs, pulling his shirt on as he ran, and grabbed the box eagerly from beside the mailbox, delivering it to Madoka.
"Goodness, Kenta, you're antsy this morning."
"I reeeeeally reeeeeally want my bey fixed so I'll be allowed to leave the block!"
"What? You're allowed to leave the block, Kenta. I don't understand." Madoka set down the bowl she was mixing and turned to him.
"Les said I'm not allowed to show my face at the street corner until I get it fixed."
"Les? That old Navy guy? Somebody needs to get him into a nursing home." Madoka shook her head and turned back to the pancake batter. "Why don't you put the fusion wheel back on yourself? It can't be that hard. Besides, you've had lots of practice helping me around the workshop lately."
Kenta hadn't thought of this, and after a hastily swallowed toast, he grabbed the attack/defence fusion wheel and screwed it back on top of Saggittario's spin track tightly. And with that fixed, Kenta was off.
Les was teaching Tekashi how to strum a guitar properly.
"Okay, son, now sing that lil' song ah taught ya an' try ta get the beat right this time, ya hear?"
Tekashi started out shakily, downbeating on the guitar and singing quietly at first. But when Osamu and Les joined him, he started to become louder.
"Take me back, take me back, to where I belong
Home on the range in a field of green.
Only alarm clock the birds and their song,
A trip home's just what I need...
Oh take me back, take me back, to the place I call home
Where my heart was ne'er lonely but free
I was only a boy in a world of my own
Oh give that freedom back to me please."
"There ya go! Ya got it, T'kashi! I taught ya well, nah, didn't ah."
"Yessir."
"Oh. Kenta, son, ya got yer bey fixed yet? Cos' ah recall tellin' ya that ya couldn't come ta here 'nless ya got it fixed..."
"Sure enough, good as new." Kenta proudly displayed his Flash Sagittario. "Les, I think i saw a dragon this morning."
"Didja now. Siddown and tell us 'bout it."
Kenta looked uneasily at Osamu and Tekashi, wondering if Les wanted to include them in his dragon-based wisdom. But Les gestured to him impatiently, so he took a seat on the warm pavement and relayed his tale.
Les hemmed and hawed awhile, tightening and loosening the pegs on his guitar quietly. At last he said, "Well, Kenta, ah reckon ya slept wit' that old fusion wheel 'round yer neck las' night, didn't ya?"
"Yes sir."
"That'll be what 'tracted 'em. Ya say this was only a littlun, nah?"
"Yeah, he was only about as long as my arm."
"That'll be one 'a tha landlocked harem. They don't got wings ta fly wit. Norm'ly if they're gonna visit ya, they talk ta ya a bit. Whaddee tell ya?"
"Well..." With one last reluctant glance at Tekashi and Osamu, Kenta told Les, "He said he knows where my friend is. You know, the one whose bey burned mine?"
This sent Les slapping his guitar again. "I told ya it weren't no FRIEND what burned yer bey! It were a dragon, real as REAL!"
"Okay. His dragon was the one."
"AND ANOT'R THING. NOBODY DON'T OWN NO DRAGON! THEY AIN'T CREATURES WHAT KIN BE OWNED! Reckon that's a-why he dis'pered first off! Cos he weren't respectin' their power an' he was a-usin' it fer his own wants, and that's a-why they come for him."
"Well, anyway. The little dragon said he knew where he was, but he wasn't allowed to tell me, nor was it visible on a map."
"Heh...that'll prob'ly be that they's a-keepin' him in one'a their hidin' places ta teach him a less'n. Or it may be ta protect 'im from the sky harem cos' they wanna punish him real bad fer messin' wit 'em. Jus' how much'd he b'lieve he had pow'r over em?"
"He said he was the Dragon Emperor."
"DRAGON EMP'ROR!" Les lay the guitar down and stood up, shouting loudly. "THAT'S THE MOST DUMBEST THING AH EVER HEARD IF THERE EVER WAS ONE! YA DON'T CALL YERSELF THA DRAGON EMP'ROR, NEVER! COS IF YA SAY YA RULES OVER 'EM, THEY'S GONNA BRING YA DOWN! NOW WONDER E'S DEAD!"
"Dead!?"
"Ah reck'n e's dead. Prob'ly even tha land harem wouldn'ta spared 'im. If that land harem dragon comes 'round ta yer window 'gain, ya better ask 'im if yer friend's still livin' 'fore ya talk ta him anymore."
"Hold on a second." Tekashi and Osamu were standing before Les and Kenta now. "Dragons don't really exist. I thought you were being metaphorical that first day, but now you're just crazy!"
Kenta stood too. "I've seen them, I swear", he said in a low voice. "We all saw them when Ryuga became possessed. Those creatures are very much real, and you know it."
"I refuse to believe it." Tekashi and Osamu sat back down as Tekashi proclaimed this. "You can go on all day about this, and I'll sit here and listen. But I won't believe you, not one bit."
"Suitcherself, sons. But ya better pay 'ttention. Cos' what wit all this activ'ty goin' on, dragons is gonna be here sooner'n later. Watcher back er yer gonna end up one of 'em."
"One of them?"
"That's how ya git punished fer treatin' em wrong. Ya get turned into one of 'em fer a time until ya learn ta appreciate ther ways. An' that's only fer tha lucky ones what git in bad wit tha land harem. Wit tha cloud harem er tha space harem er any o' tha other harems, ya git it REAL bad."
"So Ryuga could be a dragon right now?"
"Like ah said, that's only if 'e's still alive. If not, then prob'ly no."
Kenta looked up at the sky as Les sat down and started singing again. He wondered, if Ryuga was still alive, would he come back?
And did Ryuga miss him?