Buster Brinn

Noel didn’t see Buster for the rest of their time at the department store. Nor did she see him for the rest of the day.

When she got back home, Azrath had asked her how her day had gone, but all she answered was, “Fine. It was fun.”

“Good, I’m glad.” He had said. “Well, we can continue your training whenever you’re ready.”

She didn’t feel like mentioning Buster to him. No need to worry him about it yet.

School was also business as usual, except for Mr. Tamayoshi, who kept giving her the occasional glance during homeroom. His eyes were filled with concern and curiosity, which made Noel want to squirm in her seat. She could almost see the questions buzzing around his head. But Noel ignored him and tried to focus on her work.

Eventually, however, he made his way to her and almost whispered, “Miss Mira, I need to speak with you after class.”

Noel swallowed but nodded. Now it was her friends’ turn to flash her concerned looks. She tried to assure them with a smile. Though she felt it was forced.

When the end of class rolled around, Mr. Tamayoshi gave her a pointed look and walked out of the room. Noel reluctantly followed.

“I wanted to talk to you about your friend, Busta,” he said as they walked together down the hall.”

“I figured,” said Noel. Her eyes watched the floor.

“Oh, it’s nothing bad, I assure you. I just wanted to let you know how everything went after you left.”

Noel looked up at his smiling face.

He adjusted his glasses as he said, “Security looked at the damage with the set builders and found several rusty bolts that had snapped. While Busta had shaken them loose, they determined that the builders were ultimately to blame for the accident, as their oversight almost ended in disaster. Though, Busta insisted he still take responsibility for it. He’s a good kid, if a little strange.”

“Don’t I know it,” said Noel with a small smile.

Mr. Tamayoshi nodded, “Yes, well. After a bit of back and forth, it was decided that your friend, Busta would work part-time with us to pay off the damages.”

Noel blinked. “Are you serious? What…would he be doing?” The more time Buster spent with them, the more they’d start to suspect he wasn’t in costume. She was less concerned for Buster than she was about her teacher linking everything back to her.

Mr. Tamayoshi shrugged, “Probably manual labor—set building and all that—though he did express interest in being on stage.” He chuckled.” He insisted on playing one of the heroes, but someone of his size would probably fit better as a villain. Not sure if any costume would fit him, though… He really is a strange one…his eyes were—"

“Uh… Mr. Tamayoshi,” said Noel hastily, “I was actually curious about something.”

Her teacher gave a start, then smiled at her, “Let me guess, you want to know why I was in a stage production at a department store.”

She nodded.

“Teachers have lives beyond our students, you know. Or did you think we just live at school?”

“Well, no. But of all the things to do on your days off….”

“I have fun with it,” he said with a shrug, “And besides, I get more looks of admiration and respect as Officer Red than I ever do as a teacher.”

“Well, I think you’re cooler as a teacher.”

Mr. Tamayoshi’s face flushed at that, “Oh. Well, thank you, Miss Mira.” He adjusted his glasses. “You’d be the first, then.”

Noel scratched at her chin, “And… sorry. For hitting you. And calling you…um… for being so rude.”

He waved away her apology, “No need for that. I understand why you did. I’m sorry for being so forceful.”

“I wouldn’t call it forceful,” said Noel, “More like you saved my life. I’d have probably done something stupid if you hadn’t been there to stop me.”

“Your brother’s doing well, then?”

“Yes, sir. Though…” Noel stopped and looked around. Mr. Tamayoshi stopped as well. She leaned forward and beckoned him to do the same. He did, with a grave look on his face. “…between you and me, he’s incredibly jealous that I have the one and only Officer Red as my teacher.”

Noel giggled. Mr. Tamayoshi looked at her for a second, then began to laugh. “That’s very good, Miss Mira. I’ll keep that in mind.” He struck a pose reminiscent of his stage persona. Then he deflated as he looked around the empty hallway. “Yes, well,” he said with yet another adjustment to his glasses, “how about we keep me being Officer Red on the down-low?”

“Yes, sir! We don’t want people to think you’re too cool.”

“No, I think it would have the opposite effect.”

Noel shot him a look of confusion, “Yes, I know. I was joking.” At his blank stare, Noel added. “It was sarcasm.”

“Saru-cas—Is that an American thing?”

“Let’s say yes.” Note to self. Stay away from sarcasm. She didn’t know if that was a Japanese thing or a Mr. Tamayoshi thing, but it was probably safer to stay away from it entirely, just in case. “Sorry. I won’t tell anyone, I promise.”

His smile returned. “Thank you, Miss Mira. Now, please go back to class. Sorry for taking so much of your time.” He turned to go, then stopped and turned back, “And if your friends ask, tell them I was praising you on your nearly perfect test score.”

“But wouldn’t that be a lie? That’s not something Officer Red should encourage.” She couldn’t help herself. Sarcasm was in her blood.

“You’re right.” Her teacher thought for a second. Then he gave her an enthusiastic thumbs up and said, in English: “Ghud-u Job-u!” He grinned at her. “Now, it’s not a lie.” Then he walked away.

Noel watched him go, a smirk plastered on her face.

When she got back to her seat, her friends were staring at her.

Mugi especially looked excited. “What did he want?”

“Oh, nothing,” said Noel as she pulled at her notes for the next class, “He was just showering me with praise over how well I did on my last test.” She didn’t mean to exaggerate, but that was before she noticed Ushio Kusinawa giving her the side-eye. Noel stuck out her tongue and pulled her bottom eyelid down with a finger so that the pink flesh beneath was exposed. Ushio sniffed and turned her head away. Noel grinned.

None of her friends seemed to notice or care. “Lucky!” said Ai, “I wish he would praise me like that.”

Yui shook her head, “He would if you’d do better on your tests.”

“Aw, but studying’s the worst!”

“And that’s why you’re in cram school.”

Ai pouted at that. “Only because my mom makes me.”

The rest of the school day passed uneventfully. It was on the walk home with Mugi and Yui that Buster finally appeared. He was leaning against a tree, still shirtless. His arms folded so that his muscles flared.

When he spotted Noel, he gave a small wave, “’Sup, Noel.”

Her friends gasped at the sight of Buster. They stood behind her, suddenly shy. “Who’s the big guy?” whispered Yui, clutching at her shoulder.

“Oh him.” Noel looked up at Buster, who grinned a dopey grin. “He’s just some weirdo I met yesterday.” Buster’s face fell at that.

“I ain’t no weirdo!”

“No? Then what do you call that get up?” She gestured to his bare upper torso and jeans. “That’s the worst costume I’ve ever seen. Wouldn’t you say, Mugi?”

“I guess so….” Mugi looked up from behind Noel’s shoulder. Then she whispered into her other ear. “Are those muscles real?”

Buster stood straight and flexed an arm. “100 percent.”

“Oh…”

Noel raised an eyebrow. This was taking a turn for the weird. Mugi looked close to drooling. She had to put a stop to this before things got weirder. “Okay, that’s enough.” Noel pulled herself out of her friends’ grips and pointed a finger at Buster. Her friends gasped with horrified looks, though Noel ignored them. “You. You owe me an explanation for yesterday.”

“Sure,” he said, putting his hands in his pockets. “That’s why I’m here in the first place. You see—”

“Not now,” interrupted Noel. She glanced back at her friends. “Sorry, I have to go deal with this guy. Thanks for walking with me this far.”

Yui looked concerned. “Do you want us to come with you, Haru?” She shot Noel a pointed look.

“Nah, I’ll be fine. He’s not that bad a guy.”

Mugi looked disappointed, “Are you sure?”

“Definitely. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Her friends nodded and began to walk back the way they came. Noel could swear she heard Mugi whisper, “I’m so jealous! Haru’s getting all the boys’ attention.”

That brought color to Noel’s cheeks. They didn’t understand! She wanted to shout after them but thought better of it. No need to inflate this guy’s ego any further.

“I don’t get it,” said Buster, “How come you keep sayin’ I’m wearin’ a costume?”

Noel turned to look at his dopey face, “I don’t know if you noticed, but you stand out a lot.”

“Oh. Yeah, that makes sense.”

“Does it?” This guy was slow on the uptake.

“It’s the eyes, ain’t it? I guess I could do somethin’ to stand out a little less.”

Noel raised an eyebrow, “Like what? What could you possibly do to blend in?”

“Something like this.” His face took on a look of intense concentration as he screwed his eyes shut. Buster placed his fingers over his eyes and carefully massaged them.

She just stared as the Ahngreel’s face went from grey to purple as his expression became more strained, like he was about to let the biggest rip of his life. After about a minute of watching him—beads of sweat even began to form on his forehead—Buster’s face relaxed. His hands fell away, and he opened his eyes.

Noel almost fell backward at the sight. Buster’s eyes were normal—or at least more human. They were still orange, but the center circle was now surrounded by pools of white, just like an iris.

“How did you—?”

Buster beamed, “I just changed the color of my eyes. But that’s nothin’. Every Ahngreel can do that.”

“W-what?!” Noel felt nauseous at the thought.

“Yeah, we’re all masters of our bodies, so we can change whatever we want about our appearance. See? Check it out.” He raised his hand again, fingers vertical, and pushed down on the tips with his other palm. There was a series of sharp cracks before Buster pulled his other hand away, revealing round, nailless fingertips. He wiggled them for emphasis. “Really cool, right?”

“More like really gross!” Noel had to look away. “Doesn’t that hurt?”

“Oh, a ton,” said Buster, “That’s why Ahngreel don’t do it unless they have to. That, and it takes a lot of work to get the finer details, but since I’m gonna be stickin’ around you for a while, it’s probably a good idea to—”

“What do you mean you’ll be sticking around me for a while?!” Noel’s glare was sharp.

Buster slapped his forehead with his gross human hand, “Oh, duh! I forgot to mention why I’m here in the first place.”

“Yeah, you did! Why were you at the department store yesterday?”

“Well…” Buster scratched his head, then looked at his rounded fingertips. “Humans… How can they stand these things?” He pulled at his fingers and, with another series of cracks, made them pointed once more. “Ah, that’s better. Now, where was I?”

Noel was on the verge of gagging. But she pushed past it and said, “Department store. Why?”

“’Cause I was followin’ you.”

Noel threw up her hands, “Oh, is that all?” He was a weirdo and a stalker. Wouldn’t be the first Ahngreel. Or probably the last.

“Pretty much. But the reason I did, was ‘cause I had to tell you that I’m your new training partner.”

It took Noel a second to register what Buster had just said, “You’re my what now?”

“Your training partner. The Hidaar was concerned about your progress, so he sent me to sharpen you up, so to speak.”

“And what could you possibly teach me?” She had no doubt about Buster’s strength, but there was no technique he could offer that would convince her that this was a good idea.

Buster became excited, “Oh, lots of things! My master, Oriander, showed me the ropes of fighting like a gentleman, so now, I’m gonna pass that knowledge on to you!”

“No thanks.” Noel pushed passed him and began her route back home. “I already have a teacher. And besides, don’t you have a part-time job to get to?”

Buster looked at her, “How did you know about that?”

“If I were you, I’d try to blend in more. Everybody thinks you’re weirder than I am. And that’s saying something.” She paused. “And put on a shirt! No one needs to see any of… that!”

Buster looked down at his chest before clomping after her. “C’mon, Noel. Boxin’ is the most honorable form of combat.”

That made Noel stop in her tracks. “Boxing? You want me to learn boxing? Seriously?!”

“Yeah! It’ll be great!”

She had seen a few boxing matches on TV with her dad. The local diner had pay-per-view and would show a few of the more exciting fights. They were nothing more than two sweaty men exchanging punches. Not something she’d consider very honorable.

Noel resumed walking. “Not gonna happen.”

Buster fell into step beside her, hands in pockets. “Your teacher must be pretty great if you’re that confident.”

The image of tiny Azrath popped into Noel’s head. “Yeah… He’s good.”

“What had he taught you so far? Footwork? Weaving? Proper punchin’ technique?” Buster’s voice grew more eager with every question.

“No.”

“Oh. Then how about blockin’? Or different types of punches?”

“Uh…” The more Buster probed into her training, the less confident she felt about her progress. “He taught me the concept of flow.”

Buster nodded slowly as he considered, “Flow’s a good start. It’s important to get a gauge of how people move, but did he also tell you about rhythm?”

Noel began to chew her lip. She had no idea what he meant by that. “We…haven’t got to that part yet.”

“Really? You should. It’s an essential part of the fundamentals. Rhythm and flow go together like Dempsey and Arcel.”

“Dempsey and who?”

Buster looked shocked at that and gave a small shake of his head, “I guess my point is if you want to improve your prowess as a fighter, you’ve gotta learn your natural rhythm.” He held his hands level to his chest, palms out. “Here, punch my hand.”

Noel looked at his palms, then back up at him. “Why would I do that?”

“I want to feel your rhythm for myself. C’mon, give me a few jabs.” He grinned, exposing a fang. “I won’t fight back, I promise.”

She considered for a second and almost balled her hands into fists, but then she thought better and relaxed them. “Nice try, but I won’t fall for your tricks so easily.”

“What tricks?” Buster looked genuinely confused. “I just wanna feel your rhythm.”

“I bet you want to feel more than that! Don’t think I forgot about yesterday’s hand comment.”

He furrowed his brow and lowered his arms. “Hand comment?”

“Yesterday. You said I have soft hands.”

“Was that a strange thing to say?” He pursed his lips slightly.

“Yes!” She turned her nose up at him.

Buster’s hands returned to his pockets as he continued to stare at her. “Why? I was just bein’ honest.”

“It’s because—!” Noel’s cheeks began to warm. “Uh…” She turned away to look at the ground.

She could feel Buster’s eyes on the back of her neck. Noel tightened her grip on her school bag. Then she gave a cough. “It’s just strange, okay?”

“O…kay.”

The two of them walked in silence to the end of the block.

By the time they crossed the street to the next block, Noel could barely stand the awkwardness. So, she said, “What kind of a name is Buster, anyway?” She glanced at him, plodding along beside her.

He shrugged, “It’s not really a name that suits an Ahngreel, I know. I was called Brinn most of my life, but after trainin’ under the tutelage of the former Ahngreel Champion, Oriander felt me worthy of the great Ahngreel hero, Buster Douglas! And so, he named me after him.”

Buster Douglas? Noel felt like she’d heard that name before. “Wait… wasn’t that the guy who beat Mike Tyson?” She had been a few months old when it happened, but her dad had talked about it often enough for it to stick in her head.

“42:1 odds against Douglas.” He had excitedly told her when she was ten. “But he kept on going and beat the unbeatable.” He punched the air. “BLAMMO! Tyson fell flat on his back! If that guy wasn’t a hero for all us underdogs that day, then no one was!”

Buster’s enthusiasm was palpable as he also punched the air a few times. “There was no moment greater than when he took him down! Or so Oriander says. I wish I could have been there to see it!”

“When you called Buster Douglas ‘Ahngreel. Does that mean…” Noel trailed off, but at Buster’s confused expression, she trailed right back in, “…that he was an Ahngreel in disguise?”

Buster smirked, “Nah. He was just a human. It’s what he did that made him Ahngreel.”

“I’m not sure what you mean.”

“I mean that someone doesn’t have to be born Ahngreel to do something Ahngreel.”

Noel thought for a second, “It sounds like you’re using Ahngreel as an adjective.”

“A what?”

“It’s like you’re calling him awesome or something like that.”

“Yeah, exactly! And no human is more Ahngreel than Douglas! Except for maybe the Hidaar. Or you.”

She was taken aback. “Me?”

Buster nodded, “Totally. I heard what you did to Hilqamaar, the diver,” he added with disdain. “Taking him down with his own Talent. Nothin’ short of Ahngreel.”

Uh… thanks?” Noel wasn’t sure if she should accept that as a compliment or not. Instead, she tried to change the subject. “How does Oriander even know about someone like Buster Douglas?” She couldn’t imagine any Ahgreel managing to fit into a crowd. Let alone hulking, mustachioed Oriander.

“You kiddin’? Oriander would have spent eternity in the lake than miss the greatest fight in all of boxin’! He was there for Ali and Foreman, Ali and Liston. He even saw Dempsey take down Willard with his unstoppable Roll. But none of those fights moved him like seeing Buster Douglas defy the odds. To be named after him is the highest honor he could bestow!”

Buster was practically bouncing with passion. It reminded her of his expression as he took down the fake Pig Dragon. It was a youthful fire that was almost infectious. She couldn’t help but smile as he danced between stances and rolled his upper body.

“All right, I get it. Calm down before you hurt yourself.” Or others. Buster relaxed, rubbing his neck sheepishly.

“My bad.”

They were nearing Noel’s house, and she briefly wondered how she could ditch him but was interrupted by an excited yell.

“It’s him! It’s him, Granny! Buuusteeeer Brinn!”

Noel looked to see her brother run up from the Kuboue’s porch and strike a pose. Granny and Mr. Kuboue walked behind him, their eyes fixed on Buster.

The Ahngreel was ginning at her little brother, “Hey there, little man. Long time no see!” He bent forward and tousled his hair. Danny grinned up at him and gave him a thumbs up.

Mr. Kuoboue seemed to be sizing the Ahngreel up. “Well, well, it’s the famous Buster Brinn. We heard you’re a bit of a superhero.”

“I try, sir. But it’s a bit trickier than I thought. Turns out people like to pretend to be bad guys for entertainment. So, beating them up is harder than I thought.”

“Uh…”

Buster kept going as if Mr. Kuboue wasn’t staring at him like he was insane. “They also dress up in these crazy costumes that are meant to scare children. Lucky that guy was okay after, though he was pretty mad, let me tell you. Got an earful about safety and self-restraint.”

Noel was indecisive about how to shut Buster up. Should she say something? Or elbow him in the side? She had to be quick, or he might say something that might land them in hot water. But just then, she felt a slight tickling on the back of her neck. It felt like someone was watching her.

She turned her head leftward toward her own house until her eyes settled on her bedroom window. Her heart sank.

Like a fluffy grey speck, Azrath’s small body was framed in the window, looking down on her with an almost comical severity. He pressed one of his talons to the window as his brown eyes seemed to quiver with outrage.

Uh-oh. That was going to be a pain to deal with.

“I hate to break up the conversation,” said Noel, “But I just remembered. I’ve…got a lot of homework to do. And Buster here needs to go to work. Right, Buster?”

Buster opened his mouth to say something stupid probably, but at the sight of Noel’s expression, he shut it and nodded.

Danny seemed to deflate. “Aw…”

The Ahngreel smiled at him. “Don’t worry, little guy. I’ll be around for a while.” He glanced at Noel. “Right?”

She looked between him, her brother, and her neighbors. Danny looked hopeful, and the Kuboues had a mix of concern and relief on their wrinkled faces.

Finally, she said, “We’ll see.”

Buster considered that. “Good enough for me. See you later then, Noel.”

And with that, he walked away, hands in his pockets.

They all watched him go until he turned right and disappeared.

Granny leaned in to whisper in her ear. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen a Yankii. Should we be worried about you?”

Yankii? Noel shook her head, “Nah, he’s not as scary as he looks.”

She exchanged glances with her husband. “Well… If you’re sure.”

Noel was certain they’d be watching over her like a hawk. Mr. Kuboue looked extra suspicious.

“If I were you, I’d stay away from those delinquent types. They’re bad influences.”

“I’ll keep that in mind, sir.” She looked down at her brother, who was sadly watching the spot Buster had left. She offered a hand. “C’mon, Danny. Let’s go home.”

He nodded and took her hand.

Together, they left the Kuboues and walked toward their house. Dealing with angry Azrath was going to suck. If Danny was with her, she could give him time to cool off.

“Do you think Police Hero Squad is on?”

Danny’s gloominess disappeared almost instantly. “Yeah! I think so. Can we watch it?”

She nodded. “I can even tell you what’s going on.”

“That’d be cool!”

Leaving Azrath to stew in his anger might have the opposite effect, but Noel thought the risk might be worth it.