21 Kung-fu (1/2)

”Ah, you're back! Why didn't you go to 'party' this time?” Lonappan welcomed with a scoff.

”Haha, very funny—not! Look, that was just a mishap. It's not like that's ever gonna happen again!” Thankappan retorted.

”Mishap, it seems! Well, whatever. Go do whatever shit you wanna do. And here, take this.” Lonappan handed a lunch box to his junior.

”What is this?” He asked, looking around the package.

”My wife made this. Hope you like it.” Lonappan gave out a genuine smile.

”This looks small. This was supposed to be your lunch, wasn't it?” Thankappan put forth his suspicion.

”Well, I thought you guys might like it!” Lonappan replied with a sly laughter.

”Dude, you gotta stop lying to your wife about these stuff.” Thankappan sighed.

”It's the nature of our job, isn't it?” Lonappan asked.

”Yea, you do you, my man. By the way, if you heard loud noises from the house tonight, it's just the TV.” Thankappan spoke.

”It's your house and your television. Why would I care?” Lonappan asked.

”Well, that's true. However, I just wanted to give you a heads-up. Don't want our neighbours to complaint about the noise from here!” Thankappan replied.

”What's up with the sudden interest in television and stuff? Don't you have work tomorrow?” Lonappan asked.

”Not sure. Even if we do, Taro rarely sleeps so he'd manage.” Kunjan jumped into explain.

”Yea, I'm the one staying awake.” Taro nodded.

”Hmm. Your choice. I'mma scoot.” Lonappan spoke and walked back to his home.

#

Later that night, everyone had their pajamas on—except for Taro. His eyes brimmed with excitement.

”You ready?” Thankappan asked as he turned on the television.

”Yea, just tell me how to surf channels.” Taro spoke.

”Sure. This is the remote and this is the up and down buttons; this right here is volume and these are a whole bunch of other buttons.” Thankappan instructed while Taro carefully listened.

”That might be enough, I guess? Thanks, Thankappan.” Taro smiled.

”No worries. But look, there ain't gonna be many good shows or movies this time of the night.” Thankappan warned.

”Nah, that's alright. I can't determine what's good or bad in this planet's entertainment industry, after all.” Taro shrugged.

”You're right about that.” Thankappan chuckled. ”Enjoy your viewing then.”

Taro nodded as he indulged himself into the world of television. He actually didn't understand nothing of what was shown in the television. However, motion picture is not always about the dialogues but the actions. Although, most of them he surfed through were much more dialogue centric than action.

Taro was instantly hooked on this. Not only did the man felt nostalgic to him, but the way he moved deserved immense praise too. The moves was undoubtedly martial arts. Learning of the existence of this unique style, Taro had this immense desire to learn this art as soon as possible. Therefore, for the rest of the night, rather than enjoying the movie for its plot, he deeply studied the actor's moves and patterns.

By the time morning came by, Taro could merely copy a fragment of that man's moves. Although, his innate power and years of learning multiple martial arts might cover up this inability to do anything more than copy it, Taro was adamant about learning the real thing.

”So, how was it?” Thankappan, still in his morning blues, asked.

However, Taro didn't speak. Even though, the television currently broadcasted a telemarketing ad, Taro continued to stare at it attentively. This concerned Thankappan.

”Dude, you fine?” Thankappan vigorously shook Taro and yet there wasn't any response.

Taro, retracing the entire movie marathon scene by scene didn't even noticed Thankappan beside him until much later when the commotion grew louder and louder.

”Huh, what is it?” Taro asked, breaking out of his focussed state.

”Damn, why didn't you respond earlier?” Thankappan looked concerned as he asked.

”I didn't realise that you were calling. What were you talking about?” Taro asked instead.

”I asked how is it going?” Thankappan spoke.

”Ah, it was fucking awesome! So, I saw this guy doing these stuff and he was fucking amazing!” Taro looked excited.

”Hold on. Who exactly are you talking about?” Thankappan asked.

Unable to describe the guy he saw on the TV, Taro was in a pinch. He knew how the guy looked, however, he didn't know how to accurately describe a jumpsuit. Therefore, instead of describing his appearance, he decided to imitate the move set of that person that influenced him the most—a one-inch punch. Although, he did it, he made it sure to do the move in thin air.