Unfair is Fair

Land one hit. That phrase echoed through my mind as I lay on the floor next to the vending machine. I would have walked up the stairs, but my body was too tired. I was too hungry. I could only gaze at the dining room doors until I could land a hit on Takeda.

“That’s impossible!”

“What? That you couldn’t land a hit on Taku?” I gripped my heart when I heard someone around me. I looked around to see who it was, and it was Satori. They were leaning on the vending machine with a plate of chicken in their hand. I was going to look at their eyes as we spoke, but the chicken already grabbed my attention, and Satori noticed this.

“Oh? What’s this? Would you like a bit, Shin?”

“N-No…” I tried to turn my head, but my eyes didn’t want to be pulled away from the beautiful orange-breasted chicken on their plate. Eventually, my nostrils were filled with the fragrance of the rosemary used to cook it. “I don’t want it. I need to learn how to fight.”

“You sure? I’ll just eat it myself then.” I was going to refuse Satori again, but in this moment, my stomach betrayed me. As my belly released a growl that could have been mistaken for a yokai, Satori’s grin grew. “Shin, how about this? I’ll give you a bite to eat, and I’ll train you.”

“What’s the catch?” I hesitantly stared at the chicken in Satori’s hand, but I knew it didn’t come free. If they were anything like Takeda, the chicken probably had some hidden price to it.

“Let’s call it an I owe you. So, in exchange for training and feeding you, you’ll owe me a favor. Does that sound fair to you?”

My stomach didn’t let me respond before it growled again, causing me to agree to Satori’s terms and conditions begrudgingly.

“Good, good. Now, here you go.” Satori handed me the plate of chicken, and I could nearly cry. With every bite, I could feel the chicken melt down my throat. This is too delicious.

In a matter of seconds, I looked back at the plate, and the food was gone. Immediately after, I felt a lump form in my throat.

I began to cough to try to get it out, but it wasn’t working. Instead, I felt my throat tightening, closing in on itself. I reached out my hand toward Satori while the only word I managed to say was “W-W-Water.”

Satori burst into laughter as they bought water from the water machine. I began to feel light-headed, and my vision began to fade before they handed me the clear nectar from the vending machine. I snatched the bottle out of their hand when they offered it to me, gulping it down with every sip.

“Shin, you’re a riot. Did you know that?” Satori held their sides as they continued to laugh at me, nearly choking. “How dumb are you to choke like that on chicken?”

“Shut up!” After I lowered the mostly empty water bottle from my lips, I zipped up my jacket. However, when I did, Satori looked at me as if I were the odd one.

“Where are you going?”

“Outside. Didn’t you say you were going to train me?”

“Yeah, I am. But why are you going outside?”

“We’re not going outside? What are we going to do, fight in here?”

Satori began to laugh yet again. “No, we’re not fighting at all.”

“Then how are you going to teach me?”

“By teaching you one thing: In a fight, the unfair is fair.”

“What does that even mean?”

“You have to do everything in your power to win. Whether you’re fighting to the death or sparring with someone else…” Satori took a seat next to me as their eyes gleamed. “You have to be desperate enough to use everything at your disposal. That’s the mentality you have to have when you’re fighting. Understand?”

No, not really… How does one get that desperate to fight?

“From your silence, I can tell you don’t. So let’s think about it like this…” Satori raised their finger in my face as they continued speaking. “What did you want a minute ago?”

“Food. I was hungry.”

“Precisely. You were desperate enough for food that you accepted owing me a favor that you don’t even know. But…” Satori sprang up beside me and climbed on top of the vending machine like a monkey. “That same level of desperation is needed when you’re fighting. You won’t understand it now since you think you’re safe, but when your life is on the line, you’ll be desperate to live.”

Satori’s words carried an unusual seriousness. I couldn’t help but stare into their spiral-patterned eyes as I asked, “So, I have to be desperate enough to live through a fight?”

“Yup, that’s one way to put it. But you’re not right now because you’re not using everything you have to win.”

“Of course, I am! I’m trying to fight Takeda to the best of my abilities.”

“No, you’re not. You didn’t even use the Kishin once.”

“U-Use it?” When Satori said that, a distinct feeling ran across my body. It was weird, but it didn’t feel foreign. It only felt suffocating until Satori spoke up once more.

“Yeah, the Kishin is like your special ability, try using it for yourself.”

“How do I even begin to do that? What if it doesn’t want to be used?”

“Don’t worry about all the ifs or whats, just talk to it. You have before, haven’t you?”

When Satori asked that question, my eyes darted to theirs. How did you know that?

“With my special ability, of course! If I look at a person, I can see right through them. If I stare, I might be able to read their mind too. And right now, I can see that Kishin inside of you, trying to call out to you. So, just try talking to it.”

“Okay, I’ll try to.” I looked at the inside of my hand before whispering, “H-Hey, Kishin, can you hear me?” However, there was no response to my question. The only thing I could hear was Satori’s laughter.

“What was that? H-Hey Kishin? You’re hilarious!”

I looked at them furiously as my face burned from embarrassment. “How am I supposed to talk to it?”

“Not like that! First, close your eyes. Don’t think of anything else, not even the sound of my voice. Only try to imagine the Kishin inside of you.”