Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Aguila ❯ Chapter Two ( Chapter 2 )

Chapter 2

Nah...Too young…Tuari thought to himself as he saw yet another person leave the bank. He was in the alleyway across from it and silently sized up potential victims. Every town he’d been in, if he needed money, he would pick a few pockets, and near a bank was always the best place to do it. People were so involved on getting out of the long lines that they wouldn’t even realize their money would be gone.

He seemed so unassuming with his messy indigo hair and young appearance. Anybody would assume that he was just a little boy who was waiting on his parents to get out of the bank to take him to school. He may have hated looking so young and cute, but here it was his greatest asset. Once, he had already taken money from a lady when she gave him extra change out of her purse. “You poor little dear,” she said, not knowing that she was to go home completely broke.

His mother taught him better, that stealing was wrong but Tuari had to survive. When it came to finding out the truth and vengeance, people stopped being people to him. They were the tools he used to get ahead. All he had left in the world was himself and no one else mattered.

Bingo. Tuari spotted a man coming out of the bank. The man was tall and somewhat heavyset, wearing sweatpants and a T-shirt. He was at least in his 50s with balding grey hair and a long beard and mustache. He was too busy trying to stuff his money in his pocket to notice Tuari crossing the street and stalking him. All Tuari needed to do was to “accidentally” bump into him, reach his hand in his pocket, and walk away while apologizing for being so “careless”. Too easy. Tuari thought deviously.

He walked behind the man and waited for the opportunity to put his plan in motion. The man was large and was hard to keep up with him. One stride for him equaled three steps for Tuari. At last, the man stopped to look at his watch and Tuari began. He ran into the man, knocking him off balance. He then stealthily reached for his pocket but instead of finding money, he found a large hand wrapped around his wrist instead. Before he could realize it, the man had hurled Tuari into a pile of garbage.

Tuari couldn’t believe it. That never happened to him before! He wiped a banana peel off his forehead and saw that the man was still there looking at him like a parent who was disappointed in their child. His own mother had that look when she was about to discipline him.

“So, you fancy yourself a thief?” the man asked, his brown eyes showing his disgust at the boy who was covered in trash. “If there’s something I hate more than anything, it’s a thief. That’s why I put you in the garbage. Just what were you going to accomplish by taking my money?”

Tuari got up. He was embarrassed by the man’s scolding and found himself growing more and more pissed off. Who was this man to act like his father? He bounded to his feet. He was ready for a fight. “Give me your money, or I’ll kick your ass, old man!”

The man looked at Tuari incredulously. It was hard to be intimidated by someone who looked like the closest thing they’ve gotten to a fight was a scuffle in the schoolyard over lunch money. “Son, I’m too old for an after school brawl. I ain’t a bully but if you want my money, you’re going to have to kill me first.”

Tuari was ready. He wanted to shut the old man up, regardless of whether or not he got the money. He thought he could beat him to a pulp and then take his entire wallet out of spite.

The man, however, was not impressed. He noted the sloppy way the boy stood. His guard was low and his reach was diminished by keeping his hands out at his side. When he saw that Tuari was not going to back down, he then positioned himself in the proper posture of putting his hands up and bending his knees. The man wanted to teach him a lesson. “If it’s a fight you want, it’s a fight you’ll get. Come at me if you got the balls, kid!”

Tuari charged at him and began with a volley of punches that the man easily blocked. “Is that all you got?” the man teased. Tuari got even angrier and tried to hit him wildly and became lost in blind fury. The man smiled and pushed on Tuari’s forehead. Tuari’s arms whipped around trying to punch him but could not reach him. “Come on, son, you can do better than that!” the man said coolly. He then looked into Tuari’s eyes and saw that his attack went deeper than just being humiliated. The man saw that the boy’s eyes that were normally blue began to flash an electric green light. Frightened, the man kicked out Tuari’s feet from under him and he fell onto the ground.

“Hmmm,” said the man, trying to conceal his moment of fear. “I got to admit, I respect that fire of yours. I bet your parents have a lot of their hands with you.”

“I have no parents,” Tuari said flatly, picking himself up again from the garbage. He was wondering why his former target who embarrassed him was now trying to be friendly. To him, the fight was not over.

However, the man refused to engage him. “I see, so you’re one of those kids. Angry at the world for taking something from you but don’t know how to fight it. You think that strength of yours could ever help you win. Life would whip your ass before you would even know it. There’s so much anger in you and you let it make your fighting careless.”

Tuari looked on stone-faced. Just who the hell did this guy think he was, his teacher? “I have been training for five years. How dare you tell me my fighting style is ‘careless’!”

The man shook his head in dismay. “At least you’re not completely arrogant. Okay, perhaps you and I got off on the wrong foot.” He then extended his hand. “I am Akira Mora, and I am the owner of the Rising Eagle Dojo not too far from here.”

Tuari did not shake his hand but turned to silently walk away.

“I have things I could teach you, kid!” Akira yelled after him. “In fact, it could help you on your journey!”

Tuari stopped. “How do you know about it?”

“When a young boy has so much anger, can fight like you, and is out picking pockets, he’s in preparation to do something to someone. Tell me, who are you trying to fight?”

“It is none of your business.” Tuari answered.

“I see, probably your parents then…no, it couldn’t be both. Your mother perhaps,” Akira mused. Tuari’s eyes widened and Akira knew he had hit a nerve. “Yes, it was your mother. Clearly, she is dead now; otherwise she’d be beating the shit out of you for stealing. Let’s see…but where’s that anger coming from? AHA! You’re trying to fight the person who killed your mother.”

Tuari seethed. “What do you care, old man?”

Akira smiled. “I like being right. Let’s just say, I have a soft spot for young boys like you.”

Tuari raised an eyebrow. “You some kind of pedophile?”

Akira laughed at the insult. “I have no cookies, candy, or a white van. However, you seem like the kind of student I would love to teach. What have you got to lose anyway? Your house? School? I can make you better and turn that anger of yours into a weapon.”

Tuari thought a bit. Akira may have been a source of humiliation and later creepiness, but he did know things that Tuari needed to learn. The fight that day only showed him that he was nowhere near ready to avenge his mother’s death. For him to make it to West City now would be suicide. He was like a wild animal, strong as nature intended but had no clue what to do with it and Akira could teach him how. And in any case, if it didn’t work out, he could simply take what he needed and hit the road.

“Old man, what do you have to teach me?” Tuari asked.

Akira nodded. “Many things that could take years to master but it may be worth it to get your goal. What is your name, son?”

“My name is Tuari,” he replied. “Tuari Rimasau.”

“’Rimasau’, eh? Now that sounds familiar…But, Tuari sounds like a type of fish. Where did you get that?”

“My mother,” he responded, slightly offended. “It means ‘young eagle’.”

“Well then that’s appropriate! A young eagle becoming a rising eagle all thanks to me!”

Akira laughed at his own joke. Tuari didn’t.

Akira then sniffed the air and turned up his nose. “First, you could use a bath, son. That time you spent in the garbage rubbed off on you.”

“And what else would there be? Let me guess, a muffin laced with roofies?” Tuari smirked.

“Jeez, what’s with you and all these ‘pedophile’ jokes, ya smart ass?” replied Akira.