Tenko walked toward the nearest mall, enough money to buy some snacks for himself and maybe play a few games at the arcade. He headed for the grocery store first, his mind turning to candy bars and other treats. He had just taken a few of his favorite candy bars and headed to the checkout. A blond, well muscled guy was in front of him was getting some fruits and snacks, which made Tenko audibly gag. He was still a bit on edge after his fight with Tesla, so Tenko, after purchasing his snacks, asked the young man in front of him, "Why are you buying all those disgusting fruits?" Gabe, for the guy was Gabe, looked at Tenko oddly as he replied,
"One of the members of my team likes fruit, so I thought i would buy some."
"Why waste your money on an inferior like that?" Tenko asked, as Gabe took a seat.
"It's part of being a leader. If you don't treat your subordinates correctly, then how can you expect them to be willing to follow and take orders from you?"
"I can just scare them, or threaten them. I don't see why I have to treat them as equals." Tenko said, sitting down sullenly next to Gabe.
"Think of it this way. Would you like to be given no chance to prove yourself or gain recognition because your leader thinks you to be inferior?"
"My brother told me I couldn't lead because I didn't know how. You seem to know a lot, can you tell me what my problem is?" Tenko asked, looking up at Gabe. Gabe looked at Tenko, leaning back comfortably.
"Being a leader doesn't mean that you have absolute power over your subordinates, in fact, you rely on your team as much as they rely on you. As a leader, you must be willing to grow, to find a goal to work towards. A leader must be the first to sound the charge and the last to give quarter. I can't tell you what your exact problem is, but from what you've told me, you lack upward growth."
"Upward growth?" Tenko asked curiously.
"Upward growth." Gabe said firmly. "A leader is never perfect, and must always improve in the best way they and their team can. If you lose an arcade game, do you get angry at the game because it wasn't making things fair or some bug inhibited you?" Gabe asked Tenko. Tenko said nothing because that had happened once. The arcade machine still had marks from where Tenko had decayed its outer shell. Gabe continued, "A leader must learn to take their losses and improve from them, to convert the sting of defeat into the confidence of just vengeance. If I were you, I would ask my brother and comrades how to improve, or what things need fixing." Gabe said, as he got up, groceries in hand. "I have to go, but I hope I answered your question." Gabe said as he walked toward the train he had taken.
"Improve, huh?" Tenko muttered as Gabe's tall and muscled figure disappeared from view. Tenko looked at the money he had taken with him, and purchased some cheap breakfast foods. He would improve, and prove his perfect brother wrong. He could lead, and he would do it better than Tesla ever would be able to.