With eyes still closed, he’s eventually distracted by a game of Pong on his iNet screen against some anonymous player in his apartment building.
The mystery opponent defeats him in no time, and he finishes his shower and towels off.
Ryuk changes into a pair of black jeans, dark gray shirt and his favorite black sweater, which he bought a few months back at a Uniqlo boutique. He was with Tamana at the time; Hajime wasn’t yet part of his entourage, but he had others outside the store keeping an eye on him.
“Is it too cold?” Hajime asks as Ryuk enters the dining area and sits.
“No.”
“I can turn the heat on.”
“I’m fine; I like the sweater.”
Hajime places a clay bowl of miso soup in front of him. “Careful, it is hot.”
After he sets the temaki rolls down, Ryuk goes to town. As he eats, Hajime begins rearranging things in the living room.
“I would like you to turn off your iNet feed for the next hour,” the humandroid tells him. “We will start your training as soon as you finish breakfast.”
“Isn’t that kind of a bad idea?” Ryuk asks. “I mean, for my stomach.”
“Have you turned it off yet?”
Ryuk checks the Tritania player boards once more, checks to see if he has a message from anyone – he doesn’t. A prompt appears asking him if he is sure he’d like to log off and he selects ‘yes’. None of this requires any physical action; his life chip is the neural lace that allows him to do any number of things through the symbiosis between brain and technology.
A small power icon now glows in the bottom right hand quadrant of his pane of vision, reminding him that he can log back on anytime.
“It’s off.”
“Good. Now remove your food from your placemat and look beneath it.”
Ryuk does as instructed. Beneath his placemat he finds a card that reads: Emphasize differences.
“What’s this supposed to mean?” he asks.
“It’s your oblique card for the day.”
“I see … ” Ryuk finishes his soup. He gets the sudden urge to check iNet but a quick look at Hajime stops him. The humandroid pulls his hair back into a tiny ponytail; he rolls his head on his shoulders for a moment to loosen up.
After a quick glance around the room, he moves the glass coffee table clear to the far wall. “Are you finished yet?” he asks without looking at Ryuk.
“Finished.”
“Good. I want you to come over to me now. Stand directly in front of me.” Once Ryuk is standing in front of Hajime, the humandroid calmly places his arms at his sides. “Now, I want you to hit me.”
“Do what?” Ryuk can hardly believe his words.
“I want you to hit me, strike me, as if I were your brother and he had just punched you in the face. Come at me! hit me!”
Ryuk takes a step back.
“Hit me!” Hajime says again, louder this time. “Hit me!”
Ryuk takes his swing and at the very last second, Hajime steps aside. Ryuk tumbles forward and narrowly avoids colliding with the wall.
Hajime claps his hands together and gets into position. “Again.”
“I don’t see the point in this.”
“Again!”
Ryuk tries to lay Hajime out with a running swing. Hajime ducks just in time, almost as if he is slowly bending forward to bow.
“If you want me to hit you, stop moving!” Ryuk runs at Hajime again. He misgauges his step and Hajime catches him almost as an afterthought.
Ryuk pushes Hajime away. “I don’t want to learn Aikido.”
“I’m not teaching you Aikido; I’m teaching you about differences and how to emphasize them.”
He exhales forcibly. “This is stupid. You’re a humandroid; I’m sure you know my trajectory before I even start to swing.”
“I’ve turned off all my predictive capabilities when it comes to combat. In fact, I haven’t used them in nearly a year.”
“Really? Isn’t that … ” Ryuk thinks of the word. “Against protocol or something?”
“Try to attack me again, surprise me this time.”
Ryuk turns away from Hajime. “I need to log in.”
“Attack me!”
Ryuk pivots and brings his fist around; Hajime sweeps his legs out from beneath him.
Ryuk lands on his back and with a loud umph, the trauma forces his iNet system on. It scans his vitals, notes the changes in heart rate and body chemistry, and a flashing prompt asks him if he needs medical attention. It reminds him that he must give an answer or medical help will be sent to his location.
“Why did you do that?” Ryuk curls to his side as his stomach clenches and his inner ear shifts. He puts all of his focus on not upchucking right there in the living room.
“What are our differences?” he asks. “Have you ascertained the meaning of this morning’s oblique card?”
A few deep breaths in but Ryuk still feels nauseated, and the anger and frustration aren’t helping any – getting his ass handed to him in his own living room is not how he planned to start the day.
“I don’t know,” he grits, “this is stupid.”
Hajime helps him to his feet and in the same motion tosses him over his shoulder.
Whoof! Whatever air was in his body is gone again. Ryuk’s pulse pounds in his temples; his head feels like it’s about to explode. He moans, and again his gorge rises in his throat. He rolls to his knees and crawls to the bathroom.
Hajime follows close behind him, light on his feet as a helium cat in wool socks. “Have you figured it out yet?”
“Fuck you!” He kicks the bathroom door shut behind him. He goes for the toilet and makes unproductive gagging noises; he feels even more frustrated with himself for being so weak. Seething with anger now, he pulls himself up to the sink. He takes a good long look at himself in the mirror and …
Laughs.
His hair is a mess and still a little wet too, his skin is now blotchy, his pupils are tiny dots.He’s never actually seen himself in such an enraged state.
Sure, he’s seen himself depressed, mopey, tired, but never this angry. His laughter ends when he recalls why he’s in the bathroom – to vomit – and the fact that Hajime seems hell-bent on either beating the shit out of him or annoying him to death with his little oblique kōan.
He opens the door to give Hajime a piece of his mind only to find the humandroid in full headstand. “Do you think you can punch me now?”
Ryuk clenches his fist, looks down at it, and slowly lowers it to his side. “What’s the actual point of this?” he asks. “Just get to the point, Hajime, I need to log in soon and I’d like not to have a concussion when I do.”
“Were you laughing in there?” Hajime remains straight as a board, his hands clasped behind his head to create a perfect base.
Ryuk clears his throat. “Briefly.”
“Why?”
“Because I looked stupid when I’m angry.”
The humandroid’s legs remain perfectly straight, his feet angled so the tips of his big toes are touching. “I haven’t met a human yet who doesn’t look stupid when they are angry.”
“Good, so I was angry and I’m not now – still a little frustrated, but that will pass.” He shakes his head at the upside-down humandroid. “You may have given me a migraine, and you’re lucky I didn’t vomit.”
“No, you are lucky you didn’t vomit; I’m lucky I don’t have to cook more food for you.” Hajime arcs his legs backwards and brings himself back to his feet. He turns to Ryuk and offers him a peaceful grin. “I must know: You had an opening just a moment ago while I was in a headstand. It would have been hard for me to block you in that position, even with my physical advantage.”
Ryuk shrugs him off. “Look, Hajime, I really don’t understand what you’re trying to prove here.”