41.i The Drums of Heaven

Our spiritual cadre has exactly twenty four hours before the first trial begins. And no, the details of the final trial haven’t been announced yet. It would seem that the tournament really wants to keep the contestants on their toes for this one.

Our heroes decided to spend the rest of the evening at the Lunch Hero shack where Ritsu was pulling double shifts just days ago. It gave Ritsu a chance to formally step down from his place as head fry cook while giving the others a space to strategize for the upcoming trials.

Prior to this, Ham Song, Seven and Bodhi all agreed that they would keep their dirty cheating schemes just between the three of them and just let Ritsu focus on doing his best to overcome the odds on his own.

~

~ Ham Song ~

Ham Song knew that Ritsu was having a hard time when the sun clone barely touched his cheeseburger all throughout dinner.

“Kind monkey, please eat,” Ham Song urged, gently nudging the wax-wrapped burger closer to Ritsu.

Bodhi, who was attacking a naked burrito with a fork, said, “Listen to dear old Ham Song, Sun Ritsu. You’ll need your strength. If not for the tournament, then at least for when we train. I’m not going to tolerate all of this stupid sulking tomorrow.”

Seven slurped loudly through the straw of his second soft drink. He smacked his lips and said, “The first trial starts tomorrow. Exactly how much training do you think will be useful?”

Bodhi waved their fork with each point they made. “Last time I checked, Sun Ritsu has only held his staff in its natural state once. And that was with the help of a little peach soda pop. He can’t rely on his Radiant State tomorrow and I doubt they’ll let him get even a little buzzed on peach soda for the occasion. So that’s where I come in.”

While Seven and Bodhi worked out the semantics, Ham Song slid under the booth and crossed to the other side where Ritsu was sitting. The pig climbed beside the monkey and nudged his elbow.

“You didn’t look like you were having much fun during the opening ceremonies.”

Ritsu sighed and leaned back against the seat. “I don’t like this feeling, Ham Song.”

“What feeling are you talking about, benevolent–”

“This!” Ritsu snatched his wandering tail and shook it in Ham Song’s face as if it didn’t belong to him.

“This overwhelming need to… win. Greed is burrowing a home inside my stomach like a worm. It’s making me sick and I hate it.”

Seven and Bodhi fell silent at Ritsu’s outburst. Ham Song’s floppy ears flattened against his head. “Oh, Monkey… you have a competitive spirit. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

Bodhi called out to Sun Ritsu until he let go of his own tail and met their gaze. The monk put down their fork and said, “You shouldn’t confuse greed with the desire to be the very best at something. They’re not the same.”

Ham Song turned his head slowly, regarding the monk with a new sense of respect. “I think I’m beginning to like the sober you, monk.”

“Steady there, pig,” Bodhi said, picking up their fork again, “Don’t go falling in love with me just yet.”

Ham Song called Bodhi something so crude and indecent, it made Seven burst into laughter. The commotion was enough to draw in some curious Lunch Hero waitstaff.

Ritsu began apologizing to his old coworkers. “Sorry! We’ll promise to keep it down.”

“Sun Ritsu! We couldn’t help but overhear. Is it true? Are you really competing in the Sevenfold Peach this year? Is that why you’re leaving the restaurant?”

Ritsu took his tail up again between his hands, this time in an effort to steady his nerves. “Uh, yeah. You can have my shifts if you want them–”

“Who cares about that?” One of the servers squealed. “You’re practically going to be a celebrity around here!”

Another called out the waitstaff at the register. “Did you hear? Our very own Sun Ritsu’s going to compete in the Sevenfold Peach!”

“We should name something on the menu after him. And then do some kind of limited offer special. Wouldn’t that be cool?”

“Oh! Oh! Ritsu! Can you get Encyclopedia Chow’s autograph for me? I’ve been watching her do commentary ever since I was just a pup!”

Ritsu donned a friendly smile as he tried to answer all of their questions, but Ham Song knew better. Even with all of the attention and encouragement, Sun Ritsu looked far from happy.