4 Conflict?

Plato went straight to dinner after he got back to Bruce Hall. Ideally, he had wanted to shower, but his body lacked the energy to walk up stairs. Since it was a Tuesday, the dinner was Asian in style. There was white rice and fried rice, red braised pork belly, and a vegetarian stew thing with mushrooms and tofu. For dessert, there was cheesecake and caramel slice.

Once again, Plato filled his plate to the brim and enjoyed it within less than a minute. Feeling that some of his energy had returned, he noticed that he was even more sleepy. The rest of the energy from his body had gone to his stomach and intestines to absorb the energy and nutrients coming in, commonly known as a food coma.

But no matter what, Plato had to replenish his nutrients and energy. He fought off the sleepiness and urged his body to move despite its lethargy. He filled his plate two more times, and got three servings of dessert. After finishing it all, he went upstairs to his room. This time, there was no sign of Basara, Iwatani or Nash.

The toilets and showers were shared, and were located in the pillar in the centre of the hallway. After taking his clothes off and wrapping his towel around his waist, Plato proceeded to the showers. There were no baths since SA5 was hastily built, so Plato had to be content with a simple shower.

The shower booth itself was tiny, and half of it was a dry place to wipe your body off and put your clothes. The students were required to bring their own shampoo and body wash, which made it mightily inconvenient for some people.

Plato took a quick shower, rinsing off the dirt and sweat on his body before applying shampoo and body wash.

After drying himself off with his towel, he rewrapped it around his waist and left the showers. Going to the adjacent toilets for a number 1, he returned to his room afterwards and plunked onto his bed. He fell alseep immediately.

*****

At the same time, Basara and Iwatani were doing training of their own. They had thought of inviting Naofumi for a drink at night, but they saw how exhausted he was. Like the good bros they were, they decided that he should have a good sleep first. They went to the bar on their own, "training" their alcohol tolerance.

Now that they were overseas and the surveillance and restrictions from their families had lessened, they were getting laxer with every passing day. When they first arrived, they were still dedicated to training at night. They had signed up as self-catered students so that they could control their caloric intake and tailor their own nutrients. However, lately, they were eating the catered food and going to parties and getting dead drunk.

There was one think that they never disclosed even if they were drunk, though; their identities. But even if they did, there were only a few people in the west who paid attention to these matters - and they were sure that there were none of these people in Australia.

The duo drank and drank like it was nobody's business. They were about to start their 20th round despite being on the verge of being knocked out, when they heard a commotion from a nearby table. With uncanny vigilance, the duo glanced at the table with none if the drunkness they had just displayed.

They recognized from the black leather vests that were lined with spikes that the offenders were in a biker gang. The "victim" was a young lad, most probably a student. The first thing that went through Iwatani's playful mind was imagining the sight of drunk bikers getting into a taxi in the dead of night. He almost sprayed his mouthful of beer over Basara as a result.

Basara, on the other hand, with his straightforward personality, was pondering on the best escape plan. If they were to be involved in a brawl, there would be no doubt that their families back home would catch wind of it. Once that happened, they could only wait for their punishment.

If they took them out in the dark without any witnesses and police involvement, there would be no problem. They might even get praised. Thus, the duo kept staring while in a daze, each thinking their own thing. However, their staring had obviously ticked off the bikers.

"Oi, you wankers! What are you staring at?"

A large, bearded man yelled out while in close proximity of Basara and Iwatani. His alcohol-laden breath had woken them up from their daydreams, and they immediately entered full alert.

"My friend, my friend, we were not looking at anything. We were just daydreaming."

"We were looking at you. What are you going to do about it?"

Two voices sounded out at the same time. They spoke in perfect English, unfitting with their Asian appearance. Basara's tone was slightly submissive, while Iwatani's was incredibly provocative. It was like he was itching for a beating.

In the slightly drunk bikers' minds, they only heard Iwatani's words, automatically removing Basara's. Their anger got riled up, and their blood was boiling. But when they were about to leave their current victim alone and beat the two of them to a pulp, they realized that the duo were fighting amongst themselves!

"Iwatani! Are you trying to get us killed? Why did you provoke them?! It's not like your skills require Aggro to use, right?!"

"Basara! Where is your dignity! How can you lower your head under these foreigners! Your ancestor was just a ronin, but mine was a vassal of the Tokugawa Shogunate! In situations like these, we can't back down no matter what!"

"How dare you talk about pride in front of me! You're just a dog of the Tokugawa's!"

Despite speaking in English, no-one present was able to decipher their words. After all, certain words were actually Japanese. The verbal fight soon evolved into a physical brawl between the two, and the bikers could not find a good chance to butt in.

After a while of harmless punches and kicks, the security of the bar kicked them out permanently. When the duo left the premises, the hostility all but vanished as they looked at each other with happy and friendly smiles.

"Haha, that was a good one! Your acting deserves an Oscar!"

"Hey, who said I was acting?"

The two conversed with some light-hearted banter, until they returned to Bruce Hall.

"I told you we should have gone to Moose. It's filled with students, so there's no way bikers would be able to get in. It's not like we can't fight them, but you know the consequences."

"Alright, alright, Sage Basara is all-knowing and wise. This lowly student shall follow your words."

"Who's a sage? At least call me a philosopher. Sage sounds so old."

When Iwatani heard this, he thought it was ridiculous. 'Aren't you focussing on the wrong thing here? You're supposed to be humble, but instead you pointed out an age problem!'

"Hoho, are you at the age where you are sensitive of your age? I never took you for one of those vain types."

"Vain? Who exactly is vain? Who's the one who steams their face every night and morning to detoxify their "beautiful" face? Who insists on having at least 9 hours of beauty sleep?"

"Pffft! Alright, please stop. What if someone heard you?! Where would my reputation go?!"

"You have a reputation? Besides, we are speaking in Japanese. It's perfectly safe."

Iwatani was feeling regretful right now. This was the last time he would agree to drink with Basara without Naofumi present. Whenever Basara got drunk, his usually peaceful personality would turn sharp as a blade, and his remarks would poke at a person's softest and most embarrassing parts.

"Whatever, man. What if Nao heard us? My ranking in the brotherhood would definitely drop!"

"You're already at the bottom, how can it drop further?"

"..."

Iwatani stopped speaking for the rest of the night. The more he spoke, he deeper the hole he was digging for himself. He would much rather spend the night in silence than listen to these roasts.