Ashan 2 721
The rickety rackety sound of wheels clunked on the stone ground outside. Not just one, but dozens of wheels in procession made for a rude wake up call. Goku plugged both ears with his fingers though the damage had already been done. He woke up, on time on account of the noise, meaning he didn’t have to punish himself with any exercise. That was good news on account of his chest and triceps soreness. He had to do a hundred push ups the day prior which would give him some pain throughout the rest of the week. The only muscle he hadn’t hit thus far was his stomach which, to be quite honest, was a relief. He would need his core for what was to come later in the day.
“Good morning Goku!” called the flier boy as he jogged by. He flashed the older man a smile and handed him the morning advertisement for the day. Goku accepted it and fein looked it over. He had to try to care about the… cabinet advertisement to be polite. He turned to lock his door when the flier boy said, “were you not going to try for that bouncer job soon? When does that happen?” The boy carried the conversation while walking to the next house to give Goku time to catch up. Goku quickly locked his door and jogged to catch up.
Goku looked to the boy and said, “that is today actually. It is not so much a try out for a job. I am merely going to spar with some folks unarmed to try my hand at that. If things go well I could very well try out for a steady job. Till then though…” Goku didn’t even recall telling the boy about the jobs he was considering. Word must have gotten out around the neighborhood.
“Alls I know is my brother said you have been spending far too much time cooped up at home. He said you will never find a good wife if you have no career.” The flier boy, Charles was his name, walked to the next house.
“Oh? And I suppose he’ll find one just fine with his bountiful career? I would absolutely love to meet the woman who likes living in a home full of half tanned hides and a back yard full of unwanted meat.” Goku felt a bit sour to be judged by someone who was hardly doing well for himself.
“Don’t kill the messenger,” Charles said when he sensed Goku’s sour mood. He was an actual messenger so he always liked to make that joke.
“Sometimes I think you like pushing buttons just because you think that excuses your gossip,” Goku sneered back at Charles. Charles flashed a grin at him again and waved. They split at the intersection.
“Bastard,” Goku said under his breath when Charles was out of earshot. That boy’s whole family was always on his ass about something. They were nag machines, the lot of them. He still had a scowl on his face when he turned up at the meet up place for people who wanted to do some fist on fist combat. There were no rules other than a list of no no spots that nobody was to attempt to hit. Everyone was here to get better so there were not many situations out of a year where a fighter would be sent packing. Goku had only been to a few sessions over the years. Each time was a fresh reminder that he knew next to nothing about street fighting. By nature he hated anything unorthodox so when someone came at him with some fancy moves or really dirty play he got a sour taste in his mouth.
“Oh my what have we here?” asked an all too familiar woman named Liss. Human, about five feet tall, she was one of the more experienced of the fighters present. She recognized Goku in a heart beat. That hairstyle, those eyes, that awkward look of confusion. She had a crush on Goku. She threw an arm around Goku’s waist and guided him off to the side. “I have not seen your face in several months. Where have you been? You said you would come back the week after and poof, gone like magic. If I knew where you lived I would have pulled your sorry behind all the way back here.” Goku believed her.
“I got busy. Not everyone has every morning free to go play grabby hands. You think I want to put my hands all over men who want to wrestle me? I always feel like I’m being pinned and ready to get…” Liss had to cut Goku off with a jab with her elbow to his side. There were teenagers present that did not need to be exposed to such language.
Goku gave her an unapologetic look. “easy now! My middle is about the only area that does not hurt right now. I would like to keep it that way.” That only earned himself another jab to the side. Goku put his hand in the way that time so it did not hurt nearly as much. “Anyway, I’m here to spar. I want to get a little better so I can get taken up on jobs that require some muscle but are step above labor.”
Liss gave him those squinted eyes that examined his face closely. “Have you been doing your drills? Punches? Kicks?”
Goku looked off into the distance and said, “no. I’ve wrestled some kids around the neighborhood recently. Does that count? You know me, I do not go out of my way to seek conflict. I am an easy going guy who does not like to fight unless someone is being wronged.”
“Ah, I remember now,” Liss said. She pushed Goku away and tossed him some rags to wrap around his fists. “Let’s get this over with. You lasted a whole minute last time. Better than your record in bed, I’m sure but let us try to make it to two this time?” She bent over slightly while wrapping her own rags. Goku looked over and blushed at the view and looked away again. He knew she had done it on purpose and he knew she just wanted to make him unsettled for the fight to come.
“Your move!” called Liss. She had assumed a basic stance that was deceptively open. Goku took two strong and decided steps forward and punched with full power. He expected her to block or dodge it so he pulled his fist back mid strike and adjusted to Liss’s new position to try striking again. Liss had put a leg across from his own and bent out of the way so that she dodged the real strike with ease. As his fist passed over her head her hair was all he connected with. Liss then drove her palm right into Goku’s stomach and sent him staggering backwards. So much power in that small frame, how could he have forgotten?
Goku rolled on the ground but he remembered the last time they had fought. Liss had kicked him while he was down so he was quick to scramble up and dance on his feet. Liss quickly approached. She had a look of pure concentration aside from her playful eyes. She slid on the ground to try knocking Goku off his feet. Goku jumped into the air instinctively. He felt a touch on his foot and yanked it up some more. He had a feeling that had he not reacted he would have been pulled to the ground.
It was Goku’s turn to go on the offensive then. He turned around and kicked at Liss who had just gotten up. She spun around like the strikes were nothing. She held up her hands and blocked his kicks. She shouted to him “is that all you got? Give me more speed! More power! Give it to me!” Goku felt the testosterone pumping through his veins. He felt like a wild animal that was after his prey. He lashed out with his limbs over and over. Liss was a bursty type of fighter so she needed some time to catch her breath and so she had to take some hits. She blocked most every blow but at least this way Goku got some practice striking. Liss did not want to punish the weaker turn outs excessively.
Goku began to slow after a few minutes of striking Liss like she was a punching bag. His punches got even sloppier than they naturally were and Liss decided that it was time Goku took a break. She spun at in a blur and kicked Goku in his stomach again and sent him skidding onto the ground.
“Thanks Liss,” Goku said even as she walked past him to go greet some others who had shown up. “that’s enough sparring for today,” Goku said. He was not done training however. He practiced punching for at least an hour so that he could say he got some good work out out of this trip of his.
edit log: made Liss weaker, hopefully weak enough to be a flavor npc
