The Blue Dragon

As Toshie walked down the street with his crush, not knowing how crazy his life would become in just a few minutes.

“Toshie?” she pouted.

“Huh?” Toshie said, having been caught admiring Niko’s pretty face, framed by shoulder length dark hair, instead of listening to her words. His face grew hot as he looked away from her confused eyes, hidden behind her square framed glasses.

“I asked what’s your favourite manga?” she repeated after a shy giggle that made her look even more adorable to him.

“Well that’s a hard question,” he smiled nervously while rubbing the back of his head. “I like the new manga thing that the newspapers are doing, though.”

“What newspapers are those?”

“I can’t remember the name, my dad used to love reading it…” he looked around. “I know, follow me!”

They quickly walked through the city, which was lively even in the middle of the night. The artificial lights burned bright like a sea of stars. Commuters, cars, street vendors ensured that it was crowded. Toshie, slowly led them both away from bustling parts of the city to more remote areas.

“T-Toshie, are you sure this is okay?” Niko said, looking around the place in fear.

“Don’t worry, its safe with me.” He smiled reassuringly. “There!”

Along the dimly lit street, a vending machine hummed and glowed.

“A newspaper vending machine!” she said in amusement.

“There’s a vending machine for almost anything these days,” he said as he fed the machine coins he had fished out from his pocket. He selected one of the newspaper options.

There was a whirring and shifting of gears before a newspaper dropped into the compartment near the bottom.

She picked up the paper in awe. “The paper is warm! I love warm paper!” she pressed the roll of newspaper against her cheek, letting the warmth seep into her cheek. “Come! Come feel this!”

“I don’t know.” He said shyly. “I…”

“Come here!” she pulled him to her… or more specifically, to the newspaper.

He pressed his cheek against the newspaper, against her cheek. This was the closest he had been to her and his heart let him know it from how hard it was beating. They stayed like that for a moment, breathing the same paper scented breath until the warmth depleted.

“Ahh! Gone too soon.” She said removing the newspaper and almost causing him to fall into her cheek but he caught himself at the last moment.

“Ye-Yeah!” Toshie said, flipping through the paper.

Articles about a giant fire that burned down four warehouses; a scandalous affair involving a politician; a miracle pet rescue; fell away as the boy quested for the familiar page he knew was somewhere there.

“Here,” he said, handing her over the newspaper.

“Oh!” she said, looking at the black and white images containing flaming tennis balls and passionate looking characters. “It looks cool!”

“Well, you know…”

“Aha! I found you, you venomous vile villain!”

Both Toshie and Niko looked up. Before them was a man, pointing at them in what would have been a dramatic pose in fiction but in real life looked ridiculous. Made even more ridiculous was the man’s get-up. He wore blue leather pants, a black vest with a shiny, blue plastic breast plate adorned with a pattern resembled scales. His blue cowl exposed the area around her mouth, while at the top, it ended in little sharp points imitating horns.

“Excuse me, are you talking to us?” Toshie asked in confusion.

“Of course!” The man in blue said. “Today, I, the Blue Dragon, will stop you!”

“Stop me?” Toshie pointed at himself in sadness, all he was trying t do was get a girlfriend.

“No, not you,” The Blue Dragon said. “Her!”

“M-Me?” Niko said in equal confusion.

“Yes, don’t think you can trick me with your innocent girl act and Asian schoolgirl outfit!”

“Asian Schoolgirl outfit?” Toshie said, looking at her, her black pullover jersey with short sleeved white shirt and black tie with silver stripes. His eyes wandered down to the skin of her milky legs exposed between a grey skirt and white, knee high socks… his eyes spent a little too long on that section of the ‘Asian schoolgirl outfit’.

“Toshie!” she said, self-consciously pressing her skirt to her, while her face grew red.

“Uhm… Uhm…” Toshie wiped the blood from his nostrils while thinking of something, anything to say! “Wh-What do you mean by Asian schoolgirl outfit!” He pointed a finger accusingly. He would draw attention away from his perversion by shining a light on the other man’s. “Why is it not just a schoolgirl outfit? Why is it an Asian schoolgirl outfit!”

“Yeah!” Niko said.

“Oh you know,” The Blue Dragon said, shyly looking away.

“Actually we don’t!” Toshie said. “What about me? Am I wearing an Asian schoolboy outfit?” Toshie was wearing an identical school uniform other than the fact that he wore grey pants instead of a skirt and had no tie on, leaving his collar unbuttoned.

“Uh… I guess,” the man said. “But I don’t swing that way, so I don’t know.”

“Man, you’re such a pervert.” Toshie said.

“Enough of this distraction, henchman!” The Blue Dragon said.

“Henchman?” Toshie repeated.

“My goal is stop the evil one!” Dragon pointed at Niko once again.

“What did I do that was so bad that you have to… ‘stop’ me?” she asked.

“That!” The Dragon pointed at a headline poster , nailed on a street light.

“The Industrial Fires?” Toshie said. “I saw that, a few warehouses were burnt down but… you can’t seriously think Niko did that.”

“Uhm… Toshie, how about you not share my name with the crazy man.” Niko said.

“Oh, sorry Niko… I mean, innocent girl!” Toshie said.

Niko smacked her forehead.

“Ha, I already know your name, Niko! I’ve been watching you for a while now!” The Dragon said.

“No man should say stuff like that to a young school girl.” Toshie said. “It makes you sound like a pervert.”

Dragon nodded while rubbing his chin. “Yes, I see your point. But as I hero I need to be honest and the honest truth is that I have been spying on her… hard.”

“That makes you sound even worse!” Toshie said.

The Dragon thought for a bit more. “What I mean was, I was spying on her hard… for justice.”

“Yeah, that sounds better but minus the ‘hard’ part.”

“I was spying on her for justice!” Dragon repeated.

“Yeah, that sounds better,” Toshie nodded.

“Toshie, stop giving him advice!” Niko said.

“Oh sorry,” Toshie said. “Look, man, I think you’ve got the wrong person, so… go away.”

“She’s not the wrong person and I will stop her!” He reached behind him and pulled out… a blue disk. He ran three steps forward and threw the disk. “Dragon Disk!”

The disk travelled across the space between them, curving towards a Niko while spinning violently. Then it dropped with a plop halfway towards its target.

“Is that a frisbee?” Toshie said.

“It’s a Dragon Disk!” The Blue Dragon said.

“It’s a frisbee.” Niko confirmed.

“Yeah, I’m kinda new to Japan and I don’t have a job yet, so that was all I could afford. Okay!”

“Hmm… figures,” Toshie said. The man’s Japanese was a little off, with words being mispronounced and he spoke with a foreign accent.

“But if my low tech won’t be enough, then I’ll have to go hand-to-hand!” Dragon said before charging forward.

“Get behind me.” Toshie stepped in front of Niko, adopting into a fighting stance.

The Dragon’s first fist was pushed away by Toshie’s palm. The man in blue tried for a combo of fists, forcing Toshie to block with his forearms. Once the combo was done, Toshie retaliated with a punch to the man’s abdomen, which sent a web of cracks across the Dragon’s blue plastic vest from the point of impact.

“My vest!” Dragon cried breathlessly, as he stumbled back. The Blue Dragon regained his breath and glared at Toshie. “You’ll pay, henchman!”

The Dragon kicked Toshie but the teenager easily swatted the attack aside. He did not need to do anymore as The Dragon lost his balance from the kick and fell onto his butt.

“Wow, you’re really good, Toshie!” Niko excitedly clapped her hands.

“Oh yeah, I’ve been practicing martial arts at my father’s dojo since I could basically walk,” he said, rubbing the back of his head. “But to be honest, this guy seems pretty bad also. His form is off.” He said more to himself than her.

“Good will never be defeated!” Dragon shouted as sprang up and attacked!

Toshie once again blocked his punches and kicks much to Dragon’s frustration. At the last moment Dragon pulled his hands back and thrust his palms forward, with the wrists connected. “Haduken!”

Toshie was so taken off guard that he did not know how to block. The move connected with his chest and abdomen, sending him falling backward into Niko’s arms, which kept him from falling onto the ground.

Toshie looked at an equally surprised Dragon. It seems both did not expect it to be that effective.

“Are you okay?” Niko whispered in worry.

“Y-Yes,” he said, his face growing red at having her this close again.

“Ha! The good guys win!” Dragon smirked in confidence.

Toshie reluctantly detangled himself from Niko and faced The Blue Dragon. Now that he was this close, Toshie could see the colour of the chin beneath the blue mask. He was dark… darker than most Asian people he had seen and that’s when he realised that the man under the mask was most likely black.

Dragon pulled his hands back, preparing for another Haduken but before he got the chance, Toshie punched him in his face.

The Blue Dragon slowly rose up to, his mask sitting askew on his face. “Alright,” he said straightening his mask, “I was going to hold back because your still kids but now, no more. I shall now use my unstoppable super move!”

The Dragon began to hum as he took a stance, prompting Toshie to do the same, albeit Toshie’s looked more realistic while The Dragon’s looked more fantastical. The Dragon’s hum become a shout, growing in intensity as he pulled his fist back and cupped it with the palm of his other hand. With a roar, he ran forward.

“Ultra Unstoppable Super Dragon Punch!!” He thrust his fist out, imagining a roaring dragon travelling along with it.

Tak!

The Dragon’s eyes widened when he saw his attack stopped by Toshie. One of Toshie’s hand grabbed the end of The Dragon’s fist while the other held his forearm. “It-It can’t be! How can you stop my unstoppable dragon punch?!”

“Dude, you telegraphed that move so much that even a blind man could stop it.” Toshie said. “You pulled your fist back and then you shouted that you were going to punch me than you proceeded to punch me, so of course I stopped it. Where did you learn to fight? Who trained you?”

“I was trained by a few of the greatest mangas ever, one of them being The Blue Dragon Chronicles!” The Dragon proudly said.

“You’re some kind of Otaku cosplayer?” Toshie narrowed his own eyes. “You foreigners, you come here to indulge in your Otaku fantasies.”

“Yes, Japan is the true home of all Otaku’s. The Otaku Motherland.”

“No its not!” Toshie said.

“Then where must we take our Otaku habits?” Dragon shouted.

“I don’t know but we are a country overpopulated by Otakus, so we need no more.” Toshie stepped forward, twisting Dragon’s arm into an arm throw, “I suggest you go away and start a branch of Otakus in your own country!” He finished by completing the throw, sending Dragon tumbling away.

Toshie sighed in relief but then the Dragon slowly rose.

“Oh come on!” Toshie’s shoulders drooped.

“Hey you!” They all looked at two police officers running towards them. “You with the mask, come back here! Your under arrest for being a public nuisance.”

“Not these guys again!” Dragon said before he turned tail and ran. “I’ll be back for you! I’ll never stop taking down evil because I’m the hero that this city deserves but not the one it neeeeeds!” Dragon shouted as he ran away from the police officers.

“Sorry about that, Niko.” Toshie said.

“No problem,” Niko smiled sweetly. “You were so amazing! Does… Does Toshie want to come back to my place, I want to show you something.” She fidgeted nervously.

“R-Really?” Toshie’s heart quickened. “Yeah of course but wht about your parents?”

“I live alone.” She said in a quiet voice

“Oh! Okay!” He quickly agreed and resisted the urge to pump his fist in victory for he suspected that tonight was the night he would lose his virginity!