Perfecting Procrastination [Raiden x Daniel]

Raiden didn't even turn when Daniel started talking to him. He of course heard the words and understood what Daniel was trying to do, but Raiden didn't react. He shot an orange into the trashcan and paused finally another ready to shoot.

"What else should I expect of a man whose only talent is procrastination?" He turned towards Daniel and shot without looking, making it easily into the trashcan. Another orange was soon in his hand and being throw up a short distance and caught, up and caught. Raiden turned towards the trashcan once more. He had several options. This guy was obviously too trusting. Here they were, alone, in the cafeteria. Raiden could easily kill him if he really wanted to, and yet this guy seemed relaxed. Raiden had to teach him somehow to not think like this in this situation. Daniel needed to learn. "You left before I could tell everyone, my name isn't Alexander Root." Daniel was one of the few who didn't hear his admission when he left because Daniel left pretty fast. For a procrastinator he didn't seem to stick around too long. "Raiden Yagami. Basketball Player."

Raiden didn't budge from his spot, and stared at the trashcan for a few moments. So many options. If he were anyone else, Daniel could be dead and they wouldn't have even lasted a full day. Raiden didn't want that. While he cared more about his own life, he would rather not have someone else die because he was too imperfect to teach them well enough to not be idiots. Of course, having found a knife in the kitchen which he picked up for protection, just in case, could provide a possible answer. Raiden held the orange with both hands, though it was slightly comical since the orange was a lot smaller than a basketball and holding with two hands seemed wasteful. He couldn't just tell Daniel to be more careful. Telling and showing were highly different and one of those stuck a lot easier.

Suddenly, a grin broke across Raiden's face. A grin that he almost never had. He threw the orange as hard as he could at Daniel and in one move, Raiden had turned to run at the procrastinator to tackle him down to the ground, and if he succeeded in this venture, he'd stab the knife next to Daniel's head. If he failed to tackle the boy, well then he'd really just threaten with the knife and then drop it. Then, he would walk away regardless if he failed the tackle or not, pick up his final orange, and shoot it into the trashcan. "If I was anyone else, you'd be dead." That was all he said on the matter at this second. And well, he hoped that was all he had to say to get his message through to the kid. Although, he figured the boy would have questions like 'what the fuck did I do to you?' and things of that nature and he was prepared to answer the procrastinator, but he would wait to see exactly what the guy needed to ask to answer him.

Raiden did not fall to the ground. Due to his cat-like reflexes necessary of a basketball player he was easily able to retain his balance. This was also due to the fact Raiden had a very good reaction time, meaning he reacted to things extremely quickly. One could say it was almost a super power how good he was at observing and reacting. While he was ever so slightly impressed by the procrastinators move he was highly disappointed in his reaction. Raiden shook his head and found himself in front of the procrastinator, towering over him, seeing as Raiden was much taller. He supposed that this guy was too stupid to learn from showing and had to learn by telling at the start.

"You don't understand what I was trying to do. I'll spell it out for you. I wasn't trying to hurt you. You may have a talent, but if I was trying to kill you I could have easily thrown the knife instead of the orange, or various other deadly ways. Instead I chose a way that wouldn't end with you dead, and with you still able to dodge the lethal part of the attack." Ha. And he still wondered why his team disliked him so much. His teaching skills could use some work, but he thought he was doing it perfectly. While he had overestimated this guy's intelligence (and it was a wonder how, since he already thought so lowly of Daniel's intelligence), he had underestimated the procrastinators 'talent'. However, everything that Daniel stood for, waiting until the last minute to do something was completely against his entire philosophy.

"You call it a talent, but it isn't. Waiting until the last second is nothing. Perfection takes time. Perfection takes practice. While you may be able to accomplish a goal at the last second you will always lack some quality. And that is why you need to snap out of your so called talent and actually try to succeed lest you will end up dead on this red, barren planet because you will be easy pickings." And regardless of his attitude or actions, Raiden didn't want that. Everyone had the potential of perfection. He just had to teach them how to become perfect and they would have to try to become perfect. And he would be damned if he didn't give everyone the chance to be perfect, if he didn't teach them, if he let any single idiot on this planet die before they could at least have a chance of reaching their full potential, if he let them die before they could have a chance of becoming perfect.

While Daniel was right on the surface, he refused to delve deeper. This guy didn't understand, he didn't try, he didn't struggle to hold on for as long as one could, like nature intended. If Raiden were to have killed Daniel just now, his biological instincts would make his brain fight to stay alive for longer, even if blood was pouring out of him, even if he wanted to die. How could this guy give up hope for everyone here? To get off this bloody rock and beat this bear at his own game. And finally, he didn't want to commit the perfect murder. Of course if he committed a murder, he would make it perfect, but he wasn't planning on doing any of that regardless.

As it turned out Daniel's problem was what Raiden had initially believed though he didn't realize it was this bad. His mental state was wrong. He needed to make Daniel care again, to make Daniel hope to get out of here, to make him want to live on and stop accepting that he could die here on this red planet away from all his family and friends. Didn't he care about anyone? How they would have to live on without him? Or was Daniel like him in the way that he had pretty much lost everyone. Though, Raiden tried not to place blame on himself for the whole basketball team thing, and he knew his parents weren't his fault… No, they were still living on, Raiden told himself, and he had to make them proud, and then everyone would love him again. He'd be the embodiment of perfection, and he would be finally happy again.

"It's not noble. I'm not grooming you to not be the first to die. I'm giving you the chance everyone deserves to have. The chance to be all you can be. You're not the only one here. I don't give a damn about what that bear says, everyone is getting off this planet if I have any say in the matter. No murder, no death, everyone will live. I can't let that bear win. I won't lose. Everyone here should have the chance to live, even idiots like you who have given up hope." This guy was grating on his nerves even more than he thought he would. When he first thought of Daniel being a hard case, he didn't imagine he'd be this messed up in these terms.

"I won't kill you, and I won't let anyone kill you either. I will win. I will not kill. I will be perfect. The perfect murder always has one flaw: murder is imperfect. It marks your soul, it weighs on you forever, and that's why I won't ever kill any one of you. Because it's the easy way out of here, and perfection takes hard work, something you probably never have had to do in your life."

This guy's head was so thick. It reminded him of one his team members back in middle school. However, in the end he managed to get through to the fellow player and forced him into working harder. Raiden was of course assuming Daniel couldn't work as hard as he did, not even close with such little time. Raiden felt that the little effort he put into things at the last second was less than the effort that he put in all the time. It was a good effort, but Raiden believed that he worked harder all the time so much so he was under extreme stress all the time and he didn't know it but it was just a matter of time before he cracked under the self-induced pressure.

"Alright then. If that is really how you feel, let's let everyone down. Everyone dies. Everyone kills each other and there is absolutely no meaning to life at all. Everyone you love they might as well be dead. Everyone you care about have to live on without you and it will hurt them and change their lives forever. Don't worry, I shall remember you and make sure the future remembers the boy who was weak and gave up."

Raiden paused for a moment. He needed to collect his thoughts and hopefully he could come up with the perfect way to speak. He had a hard time constructing the perfect argument which was one of the things he was working on.

"Perfection is something that takes time, and I know I have yet to reach it. Daniel." Raiden sighed and turned away from the procrastinator who was walking away. "I don't want to lose anyone else. I'm not perfect. Not yet at least. I need help if I'm going to try to beat this bear perfectly. To get us all out of here. I don't... Want that black mark on my soul if someone were to die. " Appealing to emotion. That was how it worked with his teammate. Said teammate which I forgot the name I put on the application, was so stubborn but pretending to open up to him (though in this case he was actually being genuine as he didn't trust his acting skills around Daniel and how last time he was discovered to have lied to that teammate).

"I have family, you have family, everyone has someone out there, whether they are family by blood or bond. Don't do it because you want to live because you obviously don't care, help save these people for those who have to live on.". He turned back around and followed Daniel for a little bit so the kid didn't get too far away. "Its the easy way out to kill or die here. The path the survivors have to take is harder and requires more work. The point isn't for yourself but for all those you've affected. You have to give them a reason to live so they don't end their lives as well."

Raiden stopped following Daniel and turned away again. He looked down at his fingers, the one imperfect finger with a scar from a time a ball hand bent it at the middle joint and the bone had broken through the skin. It was the reminder his body could t be perfect unless one learned how to remove scars. But then again, the memory of people worrying about him, caring about him, worried about whether his finger would be alright, it was just too... Nice and he didn't want to forget it when he played ball. He turned back to the cafe and started wrapping up his fingers in the tape he had been wearing before.

Ha! He got an apology. Of course emotionally, Raiden appreciated the apology, but he wouldn't let that part rule him. The fact of the matter was he had someone who agreed to work with him. He could keep Daniel close, and well, if his first impression of the boy was right, he could be behind this whole thing. Somehow. While he had underestimating him in some respects, he also knew how to better manipulate Daniel. The best way was to appeal to his emotions. If he needed to reassert his grip over his training into working towards perfection, he would just tell the sob story that was his life. He wouldn't lie about it, as he didn't really have to in order to make Daniel feel bad for him. While he didn't quite want people to know his true story, which is why he lied to his previous aforementioned team member, it would be worth it if he could keep Daniel on his side. After all the truth was something that couldn't be disproved. After breaking trust by giving a false name, he would build it back up from the ground, a stronger foundation, something strong enough to withstand this game. And he was just beginning. He would win this game, and he would use all the people around him to do it.

Then he would be on the road, closer to perfection than he had ever been before. Finally, he could make his parents proud of him.

Raiden swallowed and looked at Daniel's offered hand. He put on his toughest touched look he could, and closed his eyes for a moment. "Thank you, Daniel." He shook Daniel's hand with the hand he had taped up already, and opened his eyes again with a glint in his eyes of… could it really be, happiness? No, no, no, he couldn't be happy. Not truly happy. Of course he was glad that Daniel was on his side, but it'd been so long since he'd been actually truly happy before. Perhaps it was due to the fact he had told the truth, gotten it off his chest, or perhaps it was because he was relieved this guy wasn't going to just walk around and let people kill him. Perhaps he could avoid that black mark on his soul.

Then again…

No. He couldn't think about that. Never. He could never allow himself to think about that.

Now. What was the perfect response? How would he perfectly continue this conversation? What would be the perfect suggestion, or way to end this? Should he ask to eat breakfast? Should he just leave Daniel to think about it? Was it more important to find the others or was this bond he'd forged between them too shaky and would easily be broken if someone actually tried to kill Daniel? There were so many people he had to try to save… it was a bit overwhelming. Regardless, Raiden had to try and he would try as hard as he possibly could to force every other onto this same path he believed he started Daniel down.

"I won't let you or your family down." Raiden observed his perfect hand the one without the scar and started to retape his fingers on that hand. "If I did, well, I wouldn't have a chance at being perfect, would I?" Raiden grinned. "Now, I'm sure you're hungry. My little… ah, distraction prevented you from eating. I've already eaten, but I do still need to practice." Ah, only if there were basketballs around, then he could actually practice. As it turned out today's practice had proved… fruitful in more than just practicing, but also managing to get someone on his side. Hopefully this time the team he would build wouldn't be like the last time he did this. Hopefully he could do what he needed to before they did the same thing at least. He would have the power to keep people he cared about then. He'd have his perfection.