First Steps; Shaky Beginnings:
"You were so cool!"
Gouten snorts, and rolls his eyes, but the ghost of a smile had yet to leave his face. Tiko's energy was infectious, and she had yet to stop talking about his performance against Coach Luke. In a way, it was endearing; seeing such child-like animation and glee.
"First you were like woosh, and then pow! And then you did," she hurriedly pulled her hair back and messed it up a bit. She held up a fist, "Perfect," she said, deepening her voice and trying to match his expression.
"Did I really look like that?" Gouten asked, a bit mortified. She looked... a bit euphoric and not at all fully there.
Bosch chuckles, "You did. Y'know, I thought you were actually on drugs for a moment there."
Gouten's eye twitches, "That's..- noted."
"You okay?" Tiko teases, "Looks like you got somethin' in your eye there."
Gouten turns and gives her a flat stare. Tiko fires finger guns at him.
"But really though, you surprised me! I haven't ever seen anyone hit Coach like that. You really rocked his clock."
"I'll admit," Bosch interjects, "I didn't do that well against him either." He frowns, "It was... humbling."
"I'll say. Coach is a bit of a beast under all of that goofiness." Tiko giggles when both men quietly agree. "Before we go much further, what do you guys know about Metro City?"
Gouten shrugs carelessly, "Nothin'."
Bosch makes a face. "You came to a place you know nothing about? I spent days researching the place before I signed up. What if they didn't speak English here?"
Another shrug. Bosch can hardly believe it.
"That aside, what'd you find out, Bosch? Y'know of the history of this place, yeah? 'Bout Mad Gear and Mayor Haggar."
"Yes, it was a city once run dominated by that Mad Gear gang, and infested with crime. But thanks to the staunch efforts of Mayor Haggar, peace and prosperity returned to the city."
Tiko snaps and gives him a finger gun, "Sounds like you read the brochure a few times," she lightly teases. Bosch coughs awkwardly into his fist. "That's about the gist of it. I'd take that with a grain of salt, though. From what I've seen, one thing on these streets is the same." She pauses, dramatically, and gives herself time to build up tension. Bosch listens, enraptured. Gouten doesn't seem to be paying attention at all. "The people who survived all of that are still as strong as ever! Anyway, uh, I have a bit of a confession to make. I'm - we're -"
"What?"
"We're kinda lost."
Bosch blinks and looks over to Gouten, who just sighs. "I thought you said you were here for a week."
"You think a week is enough to not get lost around here?" Tiko asks, giving Gouten an incredulous look.
Bosch clears his throat and looks away. Gouten has the grace to look a bit flustered.
"You both can't be serious! Haven't you ever been to a big city?"
"I'm from Nayshall," Bosch says slowly, a thoughtful expression on his face. "Not... really? My area wasn't so much of a city, per se. More of a settlement or village."
"Nayshall? I've heard about that place. Is that the place that guy, uh, what's his name? Johan somethin'. That's the place where that guy is developing, right?"
Something changes in Bosch then; subtle, but intense and passionate. His face falls into something serious, creases in his brow and his lips thinned into a line. The look in his eye changes too, if only for an instant. Gouten can feel it in the air, and apparently, so can Tiko. "Johan Petrovic." He corrects coldly. Bosch looks as though he wants to say more, that he has poison in his mouth at the mere utterance of the man's name, and that he can't spit it all out. But then he stops, and glares at nothing.
Tiko is visibly concerned that she misspoke, and tries to apologize. Gouten gives Bosch a side eye.
'You too, huh?'
"Got any family?" Gouten's question gets both people to turn their eyes to him, confused at the sudden shift. "I know Tiko here has her mob of cows, I'm just wondering if there's more to it."
"Firstly, it's called a herd of cows. And secondly, no. I'm an only child." She says, looking both relieved at the topic change, and concerned for Bosch's silence.
"…I have a sister. She's still a kid and she's back home but, you know, she's the reason I'm here now." A smile finds its way to his face, and the crease in his brow relaxes. He turns to Gouten with a raised brow, suspicious at his casual silence. "What about you? Got any family?"
"Nope," he drawls, "I just appeared like this a few days ago."
Bosch and Tiko both smirk at his expression, before their faces morphed.
"Are - are you serious?"
Gouten, faced schooled and unreadable, stares at them both, unamused.
Then a small grin tugs at the corner of his mouth, and he turns away.
"I actually don't have an answer to that," Gouten says coolly, not slowing down and forcing the other two to speed up to match his long, measured strides. He thinks back to Hawaii and his mother figure. Mother, he corrects. She was all he had for most of his life ever since that day, and calling her anything less than his family would be an insult. His mind drifts to the kids, young as they may be. They had only been in his a few years - a blink of the eye, really - but they somehow wormed their way over his walls and into his heart. "A straight answer, anyway."
"What do you mean?"
"By blood, no. Only my grandfather is still around and I haven't seen him in..." Gouten blinks, "... a while. But as far as ohana goes, yeah. My adoptive mother, and the rest of my siblings."
Bosch raises a brow. "Ohana? What does that mean?"
Gouten carelessly shrugs.
"Oh, uh," Tiko says, playing with her hands, "I didn't know you were adopted."
'Technically, I wasn't.' Gouten snorts. "We just met."
"Fair point. So, what'll we do about this whole...?" She trails off, gesturing vaguely to their surroundings.
Bosch makes a face, thinking deeply. Gouten continues to walk, unfettered.
"We should probably find a map," Bosch suggests. "Or ask someone for directions. Coach said to just show us around, right?"
"Yeah, but I can't show you a place I don't know!" Tiko says, feigning frustration with a smile. "Let me check my phone, I know a few good places."
'A few good places' really meant one place, but Gouten's never been a picky man. The walk to the small food stall is a little more than fifteen minutes, and during which, Gouten largely remains quiet while Tiko and Bosch continue their idle conversation. He keeps his eyes ahead and his hands in his pocket and only occasionally hums or speaks whenever he's directly spoken to, but for the most part, he's content to simply listen.
He learns more about them both; that Tiko's family lives on a farm and typically lives off of what they plant and their livestock. It's a small, honest living, but she always wanted more for her parents, hence why she's here, having joined Buckler for the pay. She seemed embarrassed to admit that, but her fears are dashed when both men understand.
He learns that Bosch has a chip on his shoulder the size of Metro City itself. There are subtle notes in his speech and body language that Gouten picks up on; the tightening of his jaw, the forced chuckles whenever Tiko presses the topic of a slew of light-hearted observations, the genuine mood shift whenever his sister comes up. His behavior reminds him of a lot of things, none of them pleasant.
"What about you, Gouten?" Tiko asks. "What did you do back home for fun?"
Gouten shrugs. "Listen to music and cooking, I guess. I know how to play guitar, but I haven't in a while."
"That's awesome! And it does absolutely nothing in helping us figure out where you're from!" Tiko says with a chortle. Bosch chuckles along with her when Gouten plays coy.
"Is this the place?" Gouten says suddenly, looking at the very loud, bright red food stall on the side of the road. Two women stand behind the counter, in matching vampire themed uniforms. Gouten gives Tiko a flat look. "It's September."
"Halloween Eve!" Tiko furiously corrects, grabbing both men by the wrist and dragging them over.
"Hello, welcome to Hemo-Gobblin'. Where our food is literally to die for." A taller woman with large, muscular arms greets with a light smile. "Need a menu or -..." she pauses, taking stock of the people in front of her. Her smile broadens. "Oh, Tiko. When you said you'd be back, I didn't think it would be so soon."
Tiko chuckled sheepishly and rubbed the back of her head. "Yeah, I know, Maggy. But hey, work told me to show these two around and this was the first place that came to mind."
Maggy clicks her tongue and gives the two men a once over. The shorter one with red highlights in his hair seemed polite in an awkward way, maintaining eye contact and trying to make small talk with her smaller, blonde coworker. The other one, though, catches her eye. He's not really paying attention to them, and instead has his eyes off to the side, face set in concentration. She follows his eyes and it lands on a group of men near an alleyway with boxes over their heads, hunched low and throwing a pair of dice. Those who weren't playing were returning his look, staring him down with a surprising amount of intensity on their poorly drawn faces.
"Hey, pretty boy. You just gonna stare, or are you gonna order?" She teases lightly, but the smile on her face is more strained.
Gouten stares a bit longer before turning, golden eyes half-lidded and distant. "Sorry about that. Something felt off, is all."
Maggy clicks her tongue. "I wouldn't worry about knuckleheads like that. They're just bad news. You new around here, ain'tcha? Word of advice, steer clear."
Gouten gives the group another glance. They seemed to notice his staring and a few more began staring back. A small spark of excitement makes his hand twitch, but he pushes down the feeling then turns back to the woman, lazily nodding. "Got it."
Maggy narrows her eyes ever so slightly, appraising him. When she sees nothing but bored, yet genuine curiosity at her menu, she lets her questions go. "Anyway, what'll it be?"
Thankfully, Tiko speaks first, and gives the men time to process the menu. "Oh! What I got the other day, please! Some gore-o's and a Frostbite."
Gouten and Bosch share a look of mutual confusion.
"...huh?"
Tiko covered her mouth when she laughed. "Gore-O's are just deep fried Oreos with red food coloring."
"And what's a Frostbite?"
She beams, as though she's been waiting her whole life for this question. "A snow cone. Get it? Snow? Vampire?"
Maggy, her co-worker and Bosch actually chuckle at that. Gouten looks bewildered.
"I'm glad someone appreciates my comedy."
"I do," Maggy agrees. "You get a discount. What about you two?"
"I'll have the, uh..." Bosch squints, brow furrowing as he reads the menu. "I'm sorry, but what's a neck-tarine smoothie?"
Gouten's dry look is almost enough in itself to earn them another discount.
"You sure you don't want anything?"
"Mhm. Wasn't in the mood for any dessert."
Tiko nods, taking a bite of her... gore-o. The inner chef inside of Gouten's mind was yelling and crying. "That's fair. You must be hungry after fightin' coach."
He was acutely aware of how hungry he was, but he wasn't about to admit that.
"What about you, Bosch?"
The man in question seems to be having a bit of a rough time. Sweat poured down his face, and his lips were red and slightly swollen. "This is really hot. Why didn't you tell me about this, Tiko?" He says, panting and strained.
"I did. You said, and I quote 'it's going to be fine, this is just another form of training'." Tiko says, lowering her voice a few octaves in a poor imitation.
Bosch looks betrayed. Gouten snorts.
"For as fun as it is watching Bosch suffer, -"
"Wait, what do you mean? What did I do to you?" Bosch tried to scowl, but the swollen lips and sweat made it look closer to a pathetic pout.
"You literally attacked me the first time you saw me."
"I - But - you...! You hold grudges."
Gouten's smirk is like wax. "'Course I do. Anyway, has Coach sent you guys anything? He said he would've."
"If I recall, he said actual hands-on experience in the streets? Beating up the bad guys around here should do the trick." He pauses and looks around. "Sorry, did the joke fly over your heads?"
"...there was a joke in there?"
Bosch clears his throat and swiftly moves on, "At any rate, I was told that this would point us toward our next step." He reaches into his pocket (?), pulling out his creamy-white smartphone and holding it sideways. As if on cue, his device pings. "Oh, hang on a minute. I'm getting a message from Coach. He says, 'there's an app on your device. Check it out.' You guys get anything?"
"Oh, yeah!" Tiko suddenly shouted. "I forgot about the app!"
Gouten gives her a stare so flat, it's impressive that Tiko's dessert didn't burst into flames. He opens his phone after she shoots him a painfully innocent look, and taps around a few times. His messenger app has a notification from Luke.
Luke: From here on out, I'll be sending your training exercises to the Missions App.
Luke: Check it out and follow any instructions that pop up there.
"It's basically a to-do list. The first thing we need to do is..." Tiko squints at her phone and then looks up. "Talk to that woman over there." The woman in question stands out like a beacon in the dark. She's sporting bright pink everything; pants, shirt, and hat with some of the brightest neon green shoes Gouten had ever seen. It oddly reminded him of Caesar.
"How do you know he means her?"
"He sent a selfie."
"Of course."
The trio don't waste any time walking towards the woman and when they get close, her head immediately snaps towards them.
"Why, hello there. I'm Alice. And you three must be..." she raises a red eyebrow and appraises them in silence for a few minutes. "A few rookies just 'looking to get stronger', I take it?"
"Right on the money," Bosch shamelessly admits. "How'd you know it was us?"
Alice playfully scoffs. "Seriously? It's practically written on your faces."
The trio all look between each other.
"Kidding, kidding. You're all Luke's students right? I know you are, girly. I've seen you around Buckler a time or two. But you two dudes are new. Luke asked me to assist you guys in your training. For starters," she punches her palm. "Your mission to come find and talk to me was a resounding success. Next up... how about we have ourselves a fight?"
Gouten had only been half-way paying attention up until that point, but the moment the woman mentioned a fight, he gave her a full look, no longer divided.
Tiko looks nervous, Bosch looks unsure, Gouten's intensity brings a smile to Alice's face.
"Don't hold back now. I'm much stronger than I look."
They take turns in fighting Alice, with Tiko choosing to go first. True to the woman's word, she is much stronger than she seemed to be, as she made quick work of Tiko in only a few strikes. Bosch goes next and does better, landing a few hard hits that didn't phase Alice nearly as much as it should've, and before long, he too met defeat when the woman ducked under a poorly thrown punch and punished him furiously with a kick to the temple.
Gouten's fight takes the longest by far. Luke had seemingly told her about him, since she moved in ways that were unnatural and different from the way she fought the others - like her moves were specifically done to counter his. It was annoying, and oddly flattering. Had Coach considered him so strong that he needed to give his fighters a warning? He couldn't think too deeply into it, not when Alice takes her stance and thrusts a palm forward and shoots a bright blue ball of energy at him. Gouten's eyes widened ever so slightly and he scowled, tilting to the side just enough to avoid the attack.
"I didn't think we were fighting wizards." He says dryly, holding his stance, even when Alice drops hers.
"Pftt, don't act like you can't do the same, dude. Your ki is insane. It's suffocating, almost."
"My what?"
Alice scowls, until she sees the genuine confusion in Gouten's golden eyes, and the slight tilt of his head. "...nothin'. Okie dokie, looks like you're all still getting your street-fighting legs." She says easily, looking between the three of them but letting her eyes linger on Gouten for longer. "As far as your next mission, how about you go fight someone else? You can challenge anyone you want, just don't come back until you beat at least two people. As for you," she points at Gouten. "You seem to be comfortable fightin' in the streets. Luke wasn't wrong about you being crazy strong."
Gouten internally winces. "I suppose he wasn't."
"What's wrong?" Alice challenges. "You're strong. You should be proud! Most people who join Buckler never get to the level you're at now."
"Nothin'." Gouten says cooly, watching Bosch and Tiko walk around the area in hopes of getting into a confrontation.
"You scared you're gonna leave them behind?" No, he wasn't, but his face seems to make Alice believe otherwise. "All good. I know most people think about that. Strength is loneliness, right? It's only as lonely at the top as you let it be."
"Does Luke only work with people who talk a lot?" He says teasingly.
"Only the best!"
Gouten snorts when his phone vibrates.
Luke: Sometimes you gotta talk to people on the streets and ask them for a fight
Luke: Think of it like saying "hi" but only with more punching.
Luke: And if all of that punching builds up an appetite
Luke: And believe me, it will
Luke: Go get yourself a bite to eat.
Luke: There's a killer food truck nearby. You'd never guess that, but they sell kick ass pizza. Grab a slice! You'll see.
'Is he just messing with me?' Gouten thinks to himself. 'Is eating food really a part of this training?' He doesn't dwell on it. He hadn't had a big breakfast, and today was much more tiring than he expected it to be, so a snack sounded like a very good idea. He looks over once more, confirming that Bosch and Tiko were still looking for confrontations. Bosch, more so than Tiko, seems frustrated, and Gouten isn't surprised when he swings on the next person to bump into him.
The food truck is the single most normal thing he's seen thus far, and he's thankful for that. No eccentricities, or holiday jokes that sail aimlessly over his head. Just a humble man with greasy hair and even greasier pizza.
It tastes better than he expects when he takes a bite, and he has half a mind to ask the man for the recipe. 'Maybe later.' Seeing that Tiko and Bosch had started yet another fight, Gouten puts on his headphones and drifts off into his own world. Is he dreaming? He still didn't know. Too many new things, too many people looking at him in unfamiliar ways. Too many buildings obscuring the beautiful clear skies that he'd grown used to. It was a strange mixture of being too cramped, yet having too much negative space.
I feel beaten, but I can't give up.
Then, suddenly his senses alert him to two people rapidly approaching. His body moves before his eyes do, slipping under a punch that would've knocked his headphones clean off. He scowls and moves out of the way of a second punch, countering with a strong fist to his attacker's stomach.
He slides back and heaves and Gouten finally gets a chance to look up. It's two men, one larger than him, the other stockier, with matching boxes on their heads with holes cut out for the eyes.
The one he had struck takes a while to recover, but when he does, he attempts another mad dash towards the man, but stops when he sees his expression. Ms. Felicia always - sometimes jokingly, sometimes seriously - likened him to a dragon in his demeanor. Ambitious, fearless, unfettered. But now, the grin he gives them is every bit as predatory and intimidating as the dragons of old that ruled the skies. It's not large by any means, but it comes with a malicious energy that makes the men take an unconscious step back.
He doesn't let them. He knows better than that.
Gouten takes a step forward and then blurs the rest of the distance, jabbing his elbow in the middle of a boxed face. The man's head snaps back and Gouten easily dispatches him with a strong straight to the chest.
He looks down at his fist and frowns. 'That wasn't a perfect.' He thinks bitterly. 'Not good enough.' The other man doesn't move and goes completely stiff when Gouten's eyes snapped to him. It happens so fast - too fast for the man to comprehend - but he blinks and suddenly the box is gone from his head and Gouten is standing several steps behind him. He turns slowly and grunts when a heavy hand grabs his collar.
"Who sent you?" Gouten askes, golden eyes glowing as power coursed through his veins.
"Wa - wait! Stop! Those are my brothers!" A voice shouts as something rams into Gouten's side. The man drops out of his grip and crawls back, eyes widened and sweat dripping down his face. "Geez, these are my brothers, Tracy and Ryan. Luke asked them to help you with training. Y'know, getting the whole family in on it."
Gouten blinks and has the grace to look ashamed. "Sorry... I just -"
"Don't worry about it. I told these two not to use the boxes. It's too easy to mistake them for actual criminals."
Tracy groans from his place on the floor, "But Alice, Luke asked us to imitate the local thugs. They hide their faces, just like that. They attack people just like that, too! You know that."
Alice sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose. "Yes, I know. Ugh, just - Ryan, make sure he's okay, please?"
"Can do."
"And as for you," Alice points at Gouten, "You passed for the day. I'll give Luke a good report. Just - just stay out of trouble. The last thing we need is another monster walking these streets."
She doesn't wait for a response, and Gouten has none to give.
An hour later, when the group meets up again, everyone is exhausted. Thankfully, they only have one more stop before Gouten can head to his new apartment.
"Coach said the last thing to do today was to grab some new clothes..." Bosch says with a frown. "Is this really training? Because if it is, I'm having a hard time seeing how we're going to get stronger from this."
Tiko tries to say something, but no justification comes to mind.
Gouten had yet to really say anything since they regrouped, so he settled for a shrug.
"Where is this place, anyway? 'Open Toad Shoes'? They spelt toed wrong. Unbelievable."
"Listen, Bosch. I know you're upset but -"
"But what, Tiko?" Bosch cuts off sharply. "Some of us have better things to do than this. I didn't come here to lollygag all day like this is a damn game."
With that, Bosch storms off and vanishes into the evening crowd. Tiko bristles when Gouten's heavy hand lands on the crowd of her head. She looked up as best she could to see Gouten looking in the direction Bosch had gone, face unreadable, but eyes betraying his agitation.
"Don't." He says softly. "Let him go."
"But he seemed really upset and I just wanna know what set him off. He was fine most of the day but -" Tiko tries to explain but Gouten ruffling her hair makes her pause. He still isn't looking at her.
"You care too much." He says, and she doesn't know if he means it as an insult or a compliment. "It's clear that whatever it is he's fighting for, he's taking it seriously. I can't say I don't understand the frustration. Wouldn't you be too if you were promised strength and all you got was an errand list?"
Tiko's eyes shift downwards. "I guess... But I'd like to check up on him, at least. Just to make sure he's okay. I wonder what he's fighting for that made him react that strongly."
Gouten finally moves his hand and shrugs. "Must be personal."
"Don't we all fight for something personal?" Tiko jokes, trying to lighten the mood.
Gouten snorts but doesn't answer. 'Do we?'
The person who runs Open Toad Shoes is nice, at least. They're wearing a frog costume - which Gouten cannot fathom as to why - and make a series of terrible frog puns as he and Tiko shop. They don't only sell shoes, which is nice.
"You look like you can't wait to leap out of those clothes. Can't disagree. Those pants are so bright, I almost had to call my hopthamologist."
Several bags of clothes and terrible frog puns later, Gouten and Tiko go their separate ways for the night and before long, Gouten finds himself in what'll be his new home. It was larger than he expected on the eighth floor of a highrise located a few blocks away from Metro Square. It's lengthy, but not excessively spacious; a nice modern loft residence with a singular kitchenette, bathroom, small living room and decently sized upstairs that doubled as his bedroom. It was nice, really. Homely. He fell in love with it almost immediately.
Thankfully, Buckler had grabbed his things from the hotel at some point today, and so, there were several boxes scattered around.
Boxes that will be tended to tomorrow.
For now, Gouten drops all of his bags at the foot of the stairs, takes one look out of the window to the bustling city and flicks on his headphones. He vaguely wonders about Bosch, about Tiko, about his family and about himself.
Am I dreaming?
He didn't think about it. He usually left the thinking to other people anyway.
