First Impressions Are Everything - Lee Meets Shiro

Shiro Seiler cut through the endless, undulating crowd with an uncharacteristically inelegant lurch. His right hand dragged along a heavy black rolling suitcase. Tucked under his right arm was a thick string-bound portfolio of sheet music, many his own compositions and interpretations, some of which he had scribbled down in an epiphany on the plane ride. Slung around his left arm was a small, but no less burdensome, dark brown leather briefcase. His left hand tightly gripped the handle of the slipcover containing his critically important laptop. Lastly, his trusty emerald green boxing gloves, for which he could not find space in his luggage, was strung loosely around his neck.

I feel like a pack animal, he mused mournfully.

Dirty as one too, he added as an afterthought when reflecting on the long voyage from Vienna to Tokyo. He had been bumped off his direct flight as the result of an airline error and had no choice but to endure an eight hour layover in Paris, extending his journey to about 26 hours now and counting from the original 12. The greatest travesty was not just the duration but his inability to shower. Freshening up at the various public bathroom sinks did little to pierce the impervious, many layered cocoon of sweat and gunk in which he was entombed courtesy of the cramped, poorly filtered plane and subway rides, and now the unbearably humid Kanto region summer.

Well, I still look good! he brightly exclaimed to himself while turning his head to admire his image in the store window. Despite Shiro's dour mood and exaggerated depression concerning his cleanliness, his handsome form was readily discernible even from the wavy, opaque reflection in the glass. To the many passersby, there was nothing amiss with Shiro. He paused and shed his possessions onto the street to give some relief to his worn feet, which had been stuffed into a pair of uncomfortable black dress shoes that were beginning to lose their shine, and to rub out the wrinkles of his snug, dark grey suit, paying no attention to the silly shop boy who was scrambling to disguise his succession of rapid glances.

At least he's trying, Shiro sighed inwardly as he straightened his brilliant blue tie, specifically picked to match his clear, sapphire blue eyes. As usual, he had effortlessly drawn attention of a score of both men and women alike. More than a few made no effort at hiding their disgustingly lecherous leers. In this respect, Tokyo's just like home, he glowered as he made note of the sweat coming through his white dress shirt from his chest.

Shiro, now done taming his ruffled clothing, brushed from his right eye some stray strands of his fashionably messy, fire-red hair and offered his glassy doppelganger a smirk. This grew, involuntarily, into a radiant smile as he realized it made him look even prettier. He threw his reflective gaze past the shop boy who had by now abandoned all pretenses to stupidly gawk, his mouth slightly ajar. How nice it would be if there was another me.

Shiro paused to admonish himself for that errant thought. He had long resolved to root out this superficial, materialistic side of his nature. He had done well for a few years now, only slipping up on days like these when his mind was heavily besieged.

He shoved aside these troubles and checked the map on his phone which informed him, much to his delight, that he was only a few hundred feet away from his destination, the AFW main facility which was not yet visible from around the tall buildings that lined the densely packed boulevard. Shiro cheered. My salvation is at hand!

Shiro picked up his belongings choosing to resume his trek with his suit jacket now unbuttoned, mesmerized by the even beat of his dangling boxing gloves which swung back and forth against the area between his chest and abdomen.

He failed to notice the duo drawing near from along the directly opposite trajectory.

A nice stroll around the town turns out quite nice for Lee and Cathy after Lee had his long and tiring physical training in the gym for hours and Cathy had her last day on school before the summer's holidays. As some people around them can see ,Lee and Cathy are mentally and physically tired as well as people who had 26 hours total of flights but who cares. Tokyo is known as a city of individual ,no one ain't helping each other on the streets if something happens ,people will just keep looking at you over and over when something happened to you. Part of the town that Lee hates the most but the guy had no choice ,there's nothing left for him in Korea except for his childhood house.

Summer of the Kanto region is quite unbearable this year ,Lee sweats off his everlast white shirt he always wears after training in the gym thanks to the 42 Celcius degrees weather with no winds blowing or whatsoever. Fortunately ,Lee wears a green sweatpants which release some heat on his legs during the walks but there's a price to pay ,he feels awkward wearing sweatpants that doesn't match his shirt at all.

In the meantime ,Cathy Anderson ,Lee Dae Hyun's little sister who prefers to use her English name instead of her Korean name is wearing much thicker clothing to give a cover on her entire body. Cathy is known superbly shy ,it's not that she doesn't have a great body. She does have a great body but she is hates it when pervert males taking a good look at it and even trying to touch it ,she'll just immediately punch him right on the face and bloodied up that guy badly if that's necessary.

A cute school's outfit that always match perfectly on Cathy's sleek ,slim and well curved body. Quite tight on the chest but Cathy's bust increasing a size or two since the first time she arrived in Tokyo ,which is good ,adding to her sex appeal.

The two made several stops in the town. Chibi Neko cafe at first ,then the Arcade game center in the mall ,ice cream store and lastly ,a vending machine before they decided to head home.

Cathy takes a sip of her canned cold orange juice while Lee had his coke ,walking straight to the guy coming from the opposite trajectory without those two knowledge. The little chat between Lee and Cathy is getting fun until Cathy bumped into a tall guy ,spilling all the orange juice she had on the stranger's expensive attire before she falls onto the sidewalks with her back and looking straight up at the tall and strong looking guy.

"Hey....are you okay Cathy??" Lee drops to one knee ,looking at her little sister who might needs a hand. "I'm alright big oppa" She replied in rush to her brother before quickly rising to her feet and wiping the orange juice which is getting sticky on the expensive looking suit jacket with the right sleeve of her school outfit.

"i'm sorry ,i am really...really....really sorry" She apologized while keep trying to wipe it out from the guy's suit jacket and dangling boxing gloves. Wait...why is he carrying a pair of boxing gloves?? is he a boxer???" Cathy meant to ask him about the reason he carries that pair of emerald boxing gloves around the town like a hotshot but she's too afraid to do so and keep wiping although her effort shows no result at all.

Despite his exhaustion, Shiro began to hum a tune, almost bouncing towards his nearby destination, eyes closed, with a cheery step in his skip, or at least the best imitation he could manage with the crushing weight of his luggage. He's jolted out of his reverie when, what felt like, a face smashed into his chest. Although Shiro is barely budged from his position, it was enough to startle him into dropping his computer bag and portfolio. "Idiot," Shiro muttered. Without even a glance at the figure who he knows has fallen over, Shiro elects to examine his laptop and sheet music first in a conscious, pointed display of rude dismissal.

When done taking stock of his undamaged computer and reorganizing the loose stack of papers, Shiro cast an analytically cold gaze onto his intruder. Unexpectedly, he sees two figures whom he towers over, a male in a hideously mismatched workout ensemble and a girl in a student's uniform. It's very unbecoming of Shiro, who aspires to be a gentleman, but he's decided to suspend his vow to dump his frustrations onto these small, frumpy peasants.

On most any other day, Shiro would have acknowledged that he was, at least partially, responsible for this predicament but the spilled drink, which he had just noticed, compromised his ability to be rational. He wanted a bath, but not in sticky orange juice. The girl's attempt to wipe away the liquid only exacerbated the delicate situation as she pressed it deeper into the fabric now tightly clinging against his chest and abdomen. Most outrageously, he realized with horror, she was touching him incessantly!

Shiro roughly growled, "Stop pawing at me you clumsy, babbling fool!" silencing her in an instant. The soothing, dulcet tone of his rich voice sounded strange as it's rarely ever this harsh. Her right hand still hovered over his body so Shiro grabbed it and firmly returned it to her side.

Shiro dropped his bags to loom over the two in an impressive and imperious pose. The position of the sun made it appear as if he was glowing. Although he looked like a princely, storybook hero, his forthcoming tirade made him sound rather villainous.

"S-s-sorry?" Shiro mocked the girl's unsteady voice. "What a useless platitude! You nearly wrecked my computer and almost spilled your cheap drink on tens of thousands of hours of labor." Shiro gestured dramatically at his notebook. "You are fortunate that I was able to endure your elephantine stumbling. If you had trampled that small boy," Shiro spun around, pointing at a nearby toddler, "you would have killed him by running him into the streets."

"These walkways are too narrow for a monster such as you. Do the good citizens of this city a favor and please stagger your way back to your cage at the zoo, you graceless rhinoceros!"

Shiro smiled viciously, savoring the gratification of scapegoating his stress onto a tangible, compact package, even though, at the back of his head, he knew he was being intensely unfair.

Cathy is standing there ,taking every single mean word from Shiro in speechless mode ,stirring her emotion with anger ,sadness and even disappointment as Cathy thought the guy she ran into was a nice guy ,judging by his classy looks and fine tailored clothing but it's all 180 degrees from the cute girl's thought. The stranger is just so mean ,he doesn't yell but his words pierce straight through Cathy's heart. Terrible things to say to a girl ,Cathy was about to cry but she holds it very well which makes her eyes look glassy from the stranger's point of view.

"I...am...so....so...sorry" Cathy tries to apologize again even the guy hurts her feelings badly but Lee loses his patience and immediately stood for his little sister. He knows his little sister made a mistake but she apologized so why the stranger doesn't take it easy??

Hey!! take it easy you trash!! She apologized ,isn't that enough for you??? stop yelling at her!!!" Lee pushes the guy away from his little sister ,shoving the guy back in a menacing manner. The roaring sound of Lee constantly attracting passerby's attention ,some even stop to watch the argument between Lee and the tall redhead.

"Why you just have to be an asshole??!!! and called me a small boy?! You really think your tall body and that gloves have any use?? think again before i punch you in front of these crowds!" Lee spits out his anger ,thinking it's might be enough and time to head home.

"Come on Cathy ,it's no use to talk to this person and i don't want to be angry in front of these people ,it's kinda embarrassing" Lee turns his back to the tall guy ,talking to his little sister and decided to call it a day and leave the stranger alone ,all wet and all messed up.

Shiro grimaced, dissatisfied with the girl's passive façade. He was angling for a volatile response so that he would have an excuse to escalate. Although the girl's face disguised her inner turmoil well, her meek offering of another apology betrayed her hurt. Overrunning a defenseless opponent overwhelmed him with shame and in this moment of reevaluation, Shiro began to feel remorse and scrambled to determine the best way to mend relations.

However, his ambivalence perished with the sudden, loud intervention of the blue-headed spitfire.

"Trash?" Shiro sputtered with disbelief, as he stumbled backwards from the boy's surprisingly powerful shove. "I'm the one who has been wronged and you dare assault me?" He then drew himself tall and brought the brunt of his focus onto this new challenger, completely forgetting the spilled orange juice.

Shiro chuckled at his threat, "Fortune smiles upon you today for you are provoking someone who does not abuse tiny, delicate children." Shiro knew these two weren't much younger than he, and judging from the shove, the boy may very well be a formidable enemy, but he couldn't resist prodding his insecurity. Actually, Shiro hadn't yet insulted his size but his hasty, mistaken response and his fixation on Shiro's height advantage gave away this tantalizing weak point. On better days, Shiro practiced sensitivity but now, especially after being called trash, he was far too enticing a target.

"I am a professional at not only boxing, but a variety of other martial arts. While you need discipline, this task would be an embarrassing waste of my limitless skill." The boy began to leave but his tense posture suggested that he heard every word. Shiro tried once more to set him off. "I'm glad to see that you have at least the gumption to abandon a futile fight. Here," Shiro fished from his pants pocket a cherry cough drop and lobbed it at the back of Lee's head, "go find a lap to sit on and suck on it naughty boy."

The first one didn't work out so well ,the guy and his little sister began to walk away and leaving Shiro talking all by himself like a wacko but then Lee felt something hit the back of his head ,not enough hard to hurt him but enough to stir his emotion. His blood begins to boil ,his heart pumps faster as if it would explode and her rage is burning inside of him. It's kinda unstoppable for Lee to not to clench his fists and turns his body around to confront that annoying guy again. Cathy saw it and tried to stop it but apparently it's too late for her.

"No!! big oppa!! don't do it! let's just go home!" Cathy yelled out ,begging for her sibling to ignore it but Lee is too angry to ever listen to what her sister says. He is coming back to the tall guy but this time with clenched fists ,ready to punch him in the face in front of those watching crowds.

"What did you say?!!" Lee angrily grabbed the collar of his attire ,cocking her right arm back and ready to punch him on the face. "Boy?! you think you can beat me in a fight??!" Lee gave it a pause upon continuing "You said you're good at boxing?! how if we box?! asshole!" Lee runs out of patience ,challenging the guy to a brutal fist to fist combat which he is absolutely good at. He is fully aware of what is he doing and ready to take down this guy ,not here but in the ring.

"No big oppa!! just go home and leave him ,you're still not fully recovered yet since your last fight" said Cathy as she breaks the confrontation and taking Lee's fist away from that tall guy.

"It's alright ,i can't just stand when he said something bad about you" Lee softly pushed his sister away and keep looking at the other guy in the eyes.

Although Shiro sought confrontation, Lee's fast, violent explosion caught him off guard. For a moment, he felt as if he would be burned just by looking into Lee's smoldering eyes. Shiro gulped imperceptibly as Lee dragged him downwards by his collar; he had tried avoiding his advance but, remarkably, he was too slow. He hoped the blue-haired devil didn't notice his failure to evade his grip. Shiro blinked, bracing himself for Lee's coming blow before his sister held him back.

Don't be rattled, Shiro encouraged himself and smiled downwards at Lee's contorted face and whispered dangerously, "I know I would defeat you in a fight. Being paired against a shrimp is an extreme insult to my skill level, but very well, I accept your challenge. I will burn deep into your flesh a valuable lesson on respect and you will thank me for it."

Shiro's words were far more confident than his thought process. Although he had some experience, boxing wasn't his forte. It would have been wise but Shiro was too proud to name his own terms, determined to prove to this tiny runt that he was superior in every way possible, even in arenas not of his expertise.

The taller boy sneered, hoping to intimidate Lee into a bloodless retreat, "Your sister is smart, boy," Shiro pushed closer, "I'd hate to depress her even more by annihilating you in a fight. For your sister's sake, crawl home and cloak yourself in the protection of her skirt."

He then wrenched his collar from Lee's grasp and sighed dramatically to their growing, impromptu audience, "What is this world coming to? Children nowadays are indistinguishable from thugs!" The viewers nodded in sympathy, some giving Lee a disapproving glare. Whereas Lee had been loud and physically aggressive, Shiro had been collected and quiet; to any onlookers, Shiro seemed like the righteous victim even though he had instigated the entire affair.

Shiro smirked at Lee.

Everyone thinks Lee is the bad guy now while the tall guy is the good and the innocent guy and that what bothers Lee the most. He wished that he could explain the truth to the crowds but will the crowds believe him?? while Shiro keeps turning the fact upside down in a slick manner.

Without his sister help ,Lee might turns out punching that guy in the face ,probably ended up breaking his nose and making himself looks guilty to the crowds before the cops will bring him in and all sympathy goes to Shiro. Whether he likes it or not ,Lee had to calm himself down to deal with this kind a person who have unlimited skills in affecting people with his innocent looks and perfect speech.

"If you really have guts ,show yourself up at Mazaki gym first thing in the morning ,i'll be waiting for you and we'll see who is the real kid in the ring!" The moment he said that ,he couldn't wait to get his shirt off and show him what is he capable of. "I'll be seeing you in the ring ,don't be late ,7 a.m" He still keeps his frown on his face ,his eyebrows are almost joining up before he once again turns his body around and this time ,he won't be turning around again just to ever see the annoying guy anymore on this street.

"You must be insane big oppa!! you're nor well enough to step in the ring yet!!" Cathy half yelled to his brother for being so stupid to let his emotion take over his body.

"I have to Cathy ,have to" Lee replied shortly ,his eyes are mostly on his injured left arm which he got from his last illegal fight ,slowly disappear into the light of sun as they head home.

Shiro scowled as his sophistry failed to draw an easy surrender. He called after Lee's retreating back, "Whatever. I have done my due diligence. Know that I am absolved of all responsibility for your imminent tragedy."

The redhead put a hand on his hip and groaned, exasperated at the day's events. I am a filthy, worn out, jet lagged bully and I've entangled myself in a fight with a brand new archenemy.

After carelessly announcing his arrival to the AFW staff, Shiro found his nearby apartment and promptly collapsed onto the bed. Despite his complaints, he was too tired to shower or even shed his suit which he had ironically worn for the purposes of making a good first impression. He slept his first night in Japan in a positively sour mood.

The Next Morning

When Shiro awoke, all his acrimony had melted away, leaving him only with the disgrace he tried to bury during yesterday's altercation. The memory of the girl's crushed face and the depravity in the manner in which he had degraded Lee haunted his morning.

After a scalding shower that did nothing to cleanse his soul, Shiro slipped into his jockstrap and took a moment to admire his powerfully lithe frame in the mirror. He offered his counterpart a winning smile, delighting himself with the perfect rows of dazzling teeth. A specimen this magnificent can't be anything but a brilliant fellow! Successfully and necessarily resuscitating his arrogance for the match, Shiro donned his favored yellow striped green workout shirt, intentionally opening up the zipper to reveal a generous portion of his sculpted, lightly suntanned chest.

Shiro then put on his white silk boxing shorts and stuffed his hand wraps and gloves, among other things, into a small, worn canvas gym bag. I will set things right, he resolved to himself as he left for the short walk to the Mazaki Gym.

Being an early riser, Shiro arrived long before Lee and took the time to perform a self-diagnostic with the equipment of the well-stocked gym. Happily, he noted that despite not having a real boxing round in ages, his movements came naturally and were still fluid and precise.

He strode confidently to Lee and Cathy immediately noticing their entrance. Shiro chose to ignore Lee's venomous glare. "Good morning!" Shiro haltingly greeted the wary sister, his face slightly tinged pink with embarrassment, "I want to apologize for being so cruel. I had an explanation prepared but I understand that nothing can excuse my conduct." Extraordinarily, Shiro stuttered a few times, knowing that the girl had every right to rebuke him, "You probably can't forgive me right now but regardless, I beg it of you to allow me to make amends. I am Shiro Seiler; please know that I am a much better person than what yesterday's atrocious attitude implied." Shiro bowed deeply to Cathy.

His demeanor instantly hardened as he turned his attention to Lee, "That being said, shrimp boy," Shiro cracked a wolfish grin, "your ass is still mine." Shiro bounded back to his speed bag for a final warm-up, feeling accomplished, believing to have cleared his debt to the sister.

The argument continues at home. It was completely a bad night for all of them with loud voices yelling each other and unstoppable picker. It was suppose to be a nice brother and sister all out day but Shiro did a good job at ruining it. None of them talk to each other after the fight and they separately head to each other room ,turning off the lights and slumbering into the dream with unhappy moods.

A flashback of past events appears in his dream while the guy fell into a deep sleep. He is standing inside the ring ,looking around the ring and sees people chanting his name. He was one of the fighting club's favorites until a tall British guy steps into the ring. The guy exactly looks like the bad guy who fought IP Man in the IP Man movie ,tall ,strong ,well muscled and possesses a body of a heavyweight boxer.

His nightmare begins ,the tall british guy pounds him right from the start of the match. Lee had no chance to fight back ,all of his punches are ineffective against the solid muscles of the tall brit guy. Lee took one hell of a beating ,he was bleeding all over at the end of the first round. Her sister was yelling at her to stop it but he stubbornly continued the match.

Lee took more beating ,his body is begging him to stop but it's too late. There's no such thing as giving up in this fight club and "BAMMM!!" Lee ate a solid fist on his left cheek. It was hard ,hard enough to send the guy flying across the ring and ended up in a vacant corner.

Lee disgustingly bleeding all over his face ,his vision is narrowed by his puffy slit eyes and his brain keeps sending scrambled signals to his entire body. He doesn't know where the hell the brit guy is. He was barely standing in the corner ,he was actually hanging himself over the ropes before the brit guy's fist came flying straight to his face ,closer and closer ,seeking to destroy his face badly before he was fetch from his dream by his little sister.

His body is sweating all over ,only a white blanket made of thin material protects his member from being seen by his little sister.

"Wake up big oppa" Cathy said softly "I'm sorry for being rude yesterday big oppa ,please forgive me" Cathy gives his big oppa a hug before she frowns and pinching his nose as she moves away from his big oppa. "Awwww!! you're so smelly big oppa! Take a bath ,don't forget that you have a match today".

Cathy left his room ,Lee had his shower ,preparing all of his needs ,boxing gloves ,hand wraps and other stuff into his navy blue Converse training bag. Wearing his usual boxing trunks he wore since the high school and white A-shirt (stands for Athletic shirt) that shows quite nice upper portion of his chest while Cathy is wearing more casual outfit today ,a pink halter top and short but tight blue jeans which is popular in the 80's.

The two traveled to the Mazaki gym by using Lee's Vespa. It was quite old and noisy but helps them to reach their destination ,the Mazaki gym.

As soon as they get there ,they spot their enemy training with the equipments that the gym offered. He made his approach on Cathy ,trying to apologize to Cathy but cute Cathy is just like turning her face away from Shiro with a "Hmmmpphh!!" even the guy had sincerely asked for forgiveness.

His attention then turned to Lee ,speaking about things that fires up the blue demon before he left and doing his final warm-up.

"I can't wait to ruin that pretty face of yours soon!" The guy speaks to himself while finding a place to sit at and place his training bag. A nice comfortable bench on the ringside might be a good place and without thinking twice ,he sits on the bench along with his little sister ,peeling off his A-shirt from his body only to reveal his tanned and well sculpted body from hours and hours of training.

He wraps his fists with red hand wraps he took from his training bag and immediately doing sit-ups on the floor to warm up.