Toriko: Namu's Buffet.
Chapter 14: "Meeting Her Parents."
A taxi slowly pulled to a stop in front of a large field with a narrow dirt path that went farther than the eye can see.
"Thanks for the ride." Namu said, as he stepped out of the backseat.
"No problem." the driver replied, with a smile as he drove off.
Namu looked at the long path in front of him and sighed, "This must be it."
Hours later, Namu could finally make out a structure in the distance and started running towards it.
"Finally!" he said, in relief.
As he got closer, he realized how big the building truly was.
"Holy crap, that's big!" he yelled in shock.
Suddenly, a large, reptilian creature crawled out. It was a large dragon, with large fangs, dark scales and was covered in spikes. The creature snarled at Namu, leaving him paralyzed with fear. Whatever this was, it certainly wasn't from the Human World. Just as the monster was about to strike, a deep, booming voice made the beast stop.
"Hey! Knock it off!" the man yelled, "Get back in your house."
The man walked out from the shadows. He was a very tall and very, very muscular man, with tan skin covered in scars, yellow-ish, orange eyes and tall, spiky, pink hair. He wore baggy, light grey pants with a large, wine red cloth wrapped around his waist, and had a tribal-like necklace with a blue gem in the center, and matching bracelets and circlet on his forehead. Overall, he had a very intimidating appearance.
"Who the frick are you?" he asked Namu, who was almost too scared to answer.
"I-I'm N-Namu…a-and I-I-I'm her to s-see Tsubaki…" he stuttered.
"What's wrong with you, boy? Ain't 'cha ever seen a War Dragon before?"
"War Dragon?"
The man sighed, "A War Dragon? Capture Level 4120? Ring a bell? I'da thought Jiro's grandson woulda seen one by now."
"You know my grandpa?" Namu asked, surprised.
"Yeah, I know 'im, the ol' drunk." the man said, waving his hand, "But that's not important. What's important is what you want my little girl for."
"Oh!" Namu exclaimed, realizing who this man was, "You're Tsubaki's dad, aren't you?"
"O'course I am!" he said with pride, "The name's Tora."
"Nice to finally meet you." Namu said as he bowed in respect.
"You didn't answer my question. Why do you want to see my little princess?"
Namu began shaking once again. Suddenly, there was a sweet, gentle voice that spoke.
"Tora! Stop scarin' the boy! He could be your son-in-law one day!"
The woman made her way out of the shadows as well. She was tall and had a curvy figure, more so than Tsubaki. She also had golden-yellow hair and bright, sky-blue eyes. Aside from all that and a few wrinkles, she looked almost identical to Tsubaki.
"That must be her mom." Namu thought, "Thank Acacia."
"I ain't scarin' 'im, Hana. This is scarin' him." Tora grinned, before charging his energy and covering himself in a purple aura. Suddenly, a large, anthropomorphic purple tiger appeared behind him. It had four, piercing red eyes with one regular row, and one above them, seven tails, it also had five large fangs, with three on it's upper jaw, and two on it's lower one, and was covered in scars.
Namu was frozen in place. He had never felt this level of terror before. Suddenly, the purple tiger disappeared, and Tora stated to laugh, until another voice came out of the shadows. This time Namu knew it was Tsubaki.
"That's not funny, Dad!" Tsubaki said, as she ran towards Namu, "You could've killed him."
"I'm just tryin' to look out for ya, princess." Tora said.
"You don't have to give every boy that comes here a heart attack! Remember when the mailman had to go to therapy for two years?!" Tsubaki pouted.
"I'm sorry, sweetie. Can you find it in your heart to forgive your old man?" Tora said, as he dropped to one knee, yet still being taller than his daughter.
"Fine. Just stop scaring everyone."
Namu lightly sipped the tea Hana had made for everyone, his hands still shaking.
"So, you wanna take my daughter to the Wul Continent to do what again?" Tora asked.
"Oh, so we can try to find an Inferno Pepper."
"I see. A dangerous Ingredient, that one. How do ya plan on getting' there?"
"I thought I'd get the IGO to help us."
"You young Bishokuyas and your IGO." Tora threw his head back in annoyance, "You think Hana and I had that sorta thing when we were your age? No! We had to find Ingredients ourselves. Ain'tcha ever asked your grandpa how he used to go huntin'? I can guarantee he didn't have the IGO's help."
"Tora, honey. You're getting annoyed again." Hana said, as she calmly sipped her tea.
"Heh, sorry, babe." Tora said, scratching the back of his neck in embarrassment. "Look. If you're gonna go lookin' for Ingredients with my little angel, you better make sure she's taken care of, got it?" Tora said, clenching his fists.
"Y-Yes sir." Namu began shaking harder.
"Dad, you promised not to scare him again." Tsubaki said, with a scowl.
"I ain't scarin' 'im, I'm warnin' 'im. Tell ya what, boy. I'll let ya take my daughter with ya, but that's only because I don't think you'll come back here again."
"I'll be back, you can count on it." Namu thought to himself.
Namu and Tsubaki walked down the dirt path, away from her parents' house passing their "pets'" house.
"Goodbye Sweetpea. I'll be back soon." Tsubaki waved to the imposing dragon.
"You're family seems…nice." Namusaid, not able to think of a more accurate word.
"I know my dad's a little crazy at first, but he's really a teddy bear once you get to know him."
"He loves you, that's for sure. How does he know my grandpa, anyway?"
"My parents and your grandparents used to go on 'double-dates' together."
"Meaning they'd look for Ingredients together?"
"Yeah. That's why I freaked out when you told me you're their grandson."
"I see. So, what d'ya think? About the Inferno Pepper, I mean. Think we can put it on our Full Courses?"
Tsubaki was surprised. "You know about that?"
"Yeah. If it were anyone else, I'd have to change it. But that's not important right now. Right now, we find the Inferno Pepper!" Namu said, wrapping his arm around Tsubaki's shoulders and pointing to the sky.
Meanwhile, Tora watched Namu and Tsubaki with a pair of binoculars when Hana entered the room.
"That's creepy, honey. Even for you."
End of Chapter.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Well, that was longer than expected. Sorry, I just started writing about Tora and just couldn't stop. Anyway, Tora's name is the Japanese word for "tiger" and Hana's name means "flower". I'll get to the actual arc next time, I promise, and don't worry, this won't be the last time we see Tsubaki's parents. One thing I forgot to mention is Tora's design is a combination of Broly from DBZ and Natsu from Fairy tail, plus a little originality. Once again, credit for the Infeno Pepper goes to pokemonking0924. Thanks again, man. Until next time. JA NE!