Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon Frontier.
Summary: Focused on friendship as Kouichi worries about his brother and him. Junpei hopes to quell his worries. How about a game of Chess? Experiment with Jun/Kou relationship.
A stupid thing like Chess
He watched as Kouichi squirmed in his seat for the fourteenth time in a fifteen-minute period, shifting his weight from one side of his body to the other, then sitting still as his hands got comfortable in a different position; switching from being crossed loosely over his lap to laying by his sides. He had only begun to count after he'd been bored enough to notice his friend's shifty behavior; which was kinda odd for him because he was usually easily entertained, or the one to provide the entertainment. But really, the heated 'competitive' game that Kouji and Takuya were playing against each other over was his one vice that had once made him fall asleep. Chess.
Strategy games were not exactly his forte, and for that reason chess was just not the kind of thing Junpei could ever see himself playing. Kouichi yes, Kouji sure, Takuya? Not so much. But somehow, the longer-haired boy had brought it up and Takuya was the one to take it to his own level of competitiveness. It was a miracle that he hadn't started throwing pieces, as he was already frustrated with Kouji's deliberately slow strategy process that made the brunette want to rip his hair out. Takuya, that is. In fact, it seemed obvious to everyone but the goggle-head that he was destined to loose and that Kouji was just making fun of him.
They were sitting at the park benches together under the wood roof-like projection over them, rain draining away their ability to spend some nice time outdoors. Somehow, out of boredom, Takuya had discovered a trunk of random and odd games, escalating to a kind of fight between the goggle-boy and lone wolf. Junpei sat with his cheek leaning into his hand heavily, his eyes half-lidded in his boredom, checking his watch after watching Kouichi wring his hands.
He would have been happier had Izumi-chan been there to liven the dreariness around them a bit more, or even with Tomoki to engage with him in conversation or exchange with him bored looks in mutual agreement in their feelings. But his little buddy wasn't allowed out while it was raining at the moment, and Izumi-chan had her mind set in not getting wet, so she didn't come either. It was supposed to be their six-person-group's bi-weekly get-together, but it had all come down to just watching Kouji and Takuya lay back into their old competitive fighting passion. Through boring board games.
Kouichi, Junpei could tell by just a glance, was kinda nervous about all this. Every time Takuya gave a sudden loud outbirst in protest and rage, he'd wince and shift positions, eyes wandering to duck to the ground. Everytime the goggle-headed brunette would get a piece taken away and stand up suddenly in frustration, Kouichi would reel back a slight bit, arms raising from whatever position as if he was about to raise them into defense. Junpei couldn't blame him really, as Takuya had the habit of getting overly frustrated at little things and have little violent outbursts. Once he had actually thrown over a desk during class and was sent to stand out in the hall to skulk. But it didn't help that usually Kouji was the one to prompt him enough to get Takuya mad and competitive over a stupid thing like chess.
It might have been a little better had Kouichi been the conversational type, then maybe they could chat while their friend's dueled out the rain as if battling to see who was to blame for the mess in the first place. But he was the quiet one, of course Junpei had to be left there in his boredom with the only one who wouldn't want to do anything. Kouichi was the kind to rather read a book than go out and play in the sand.
The black-haired boy twitched again, his arms going to lay crossed over the wood table gingerly. Junpei started to maul over thoughts about why the elder twin was so shifty. Normally, Kouichi was content with most everything, always just hanging around in the background, rather to not be seen or noticed as if he would be perfectly fine if he was forgotten. Was it just because he was just shy? He really never was the one to draw attention to himself, but also, he wasn't really one to totally seclude himself away. He was still with them, there...
Kouichi suddenly jumped, the muscles in his body twitching all at once in a violent hitch. Startled by the sudden movement, Junpei jumped also, a bit more prominently and noisily as he bumped into the side of the bench in his surprise. Simultaneously, Kouji and Takuya looked over at him, and he gave a sheepish, awkward smile, rubbing his head and motioning for them to return to their game. The two looked at eachother and shrugged, then Kouji picked up a piece and moved it across the gold-and-black board to resume the game. Kouichi visibly twitched again, but not in a full-body jump as before, just a small, inconvenient move of the body, centered around one arm and his neck. Like a hiccup of a movement, small enough so the others didn't even notice between their game.
Eh... odd.
"Dammit, Minamoto!"
"Don't swear, Kanbara!"
"I'll swear whenever the hell I wanta!"
"Just shut up and GO, dimwit!"
Grumbling, and obviously loosing, Takuya sat back down on to the table, gripping a piece within his hand tightly before practically slamming down on the board, successfully making some of the pieces fall over.
"Now look what ya did, Kanbara!"
"That's what I was aiming to do!"
Takuya stood right back up, Kouji just after him, Kouichi scooting out of his brother's way with his hands pulled up to his chest in a very hesitant expression. Junpei just sighed to himself, picking at a spot in the wood of the table as he watched his friends move over out into the rain to start making fists at eachother and stomping around the ground as to try and not go into a fight. Kouichi's hands drifted into his hair in a sort of frustrated, distracted manner and Junpei couldn't help but watch the other boy curiously.
"Can I ask ya something, Kouichi?" He finally asked his friend, making the other boy look over to him in mild surprise.
"Uh, sure Junpei." He whispered, dropping his eyes down a bit to avoid looking over to where Kouji and Takuya were getting themselves in a scuffle.
Junpei didn't say anything for a moment, watching Kouichi shift in his spot as if uncomfortable with his stares. "Is something on your mind?" Junpei finally questioned, sitting up straight in his seat a bit better to watch the boy across from him.
"Er, what makes you think that?" Kouichi countered, eyes peeking out from his drooping bangs. Junpei nodded to himself, sure that his friend was bothered in some way.
"Well, I just noticed you being all shifty. You okay? I'm all ears, you know." Junpei offered a friendly smile to which Kouichi returned gently, nodding a bit and looking up at him better.
"It's nothing really... but I... I mean, I've just got things on my mind." The dark-haired boy replied easily, again avoiding a straight answer. The brunette sighed to himself, knowing that getting Kouichi to say anything was going to take a while. It seemed it always was hard to get information out of Kouichi, even though Kouji had it a bit easier. Even then, it seemed Kouichi was just reluctant to let anything out.
"C'mon, what's on your mind then?" Junpei almost felt obliged to poke his friend in the arm, but Kouichi retreated his hands underneath the table before the other boy could do anything. The elder twin shook his head a bit, and Junpei noticed that his eyes traveled over to where Kouji and Takuya were now laying on the muddied ground, panting. "Does it have something to do with Takky and Kouji?" Junpei guessed, making Kouichi look at him with a bit of confusion.
"Well, kinda... how'd you guess?" He asked in wonder, tilting his head a bit sweetly.
"Heh, it's kinda easy to tell." Junpei muttered, smiling as he leaned back a bit in the hard bench seat. It might be hard to get information out of Kouichi, but he was the worst at concealing something when it bothered him. So though the dark-haired boy may not ever say it, it was easy to guess what was on his mind.
The two friends lapsed into silence for a moment, which got on Junpei's nerves. The elder boy knew his friend probably didn't mind the quiet, but any kind of odd and awkward silence was enough to make Junpei jump out of his seat and scream just to get some noise in the air.
"So what about it, then?" Junpei nodded to the two rivals laying in the mud on their backs together, inviting the rain to wash their blank faces as they glared at the dark sky.
"Oh, it's nothing really." One of Kouichi's hands slithered back up to his mouth to rest hesitant fingers on his lips in a very gentle manner that just seemed very... feminine to Junpei. The brunette had to scratch his head as he thought of how to get Kouichi to say anything. If it really came down to it, he could try to play twenty questions with his friend to figure it out.
"Is it about your brother?" Junpei wondered, putting an elbow on the table in preparation to put his head on his cheek if it came down to it.
"...Y-yeah... kinda..." Kouichi mumbled, shaking his head.
Junpei 'hmmed' to himself, tapping fingers against the wood distractedly. "Hey, didja know that Kouji called me 'chief' once?" The brow-haired boy suddenly brightened, making Kouichi glance at him.
"Um... no." Kouichi looked down at the table, hesitantly watching his brother from the corner of his eye.
"Yep, it happened when we were in Sakkakumon, you remember?" After a moment of hesitance, Kouichi nodded lightly, frowning. Junpei suddenly felt bad when he remembered Kouichi had some bad memories of that place... "Anyway, I was starting to doubt my friendship with the rest of the the guys, and I fought my shadow and everything and in the end it was just all in my head!" Junpei noticed that Kouichi's head came up when he mentioned 'friendship' and the elder boy smiled to himself. "Do ya feel like your not close enough to your brother or something, Kou?"
Kouichi instantly turned away, ducking his eyes but it wasn't enough to conceal a small hint of an embarrassed sort of blush over his cheeks. "I-It's nothing..."
Junpei decided that Kouichi looked almost sad, his body language in a sort of submissive stance with his shoulders brought in toward himself and his chin almost touching his chest as he fidgeted in his seat.
"Aw, c'mon. You and Kouji are close as peanut butter and jelly! You go hand-in-hand you two. What can stand up against yin and yang, eh? Light and darkness; always together!" But Kouichi just seemed to bite his lip at that, eyes wavering a bit.
"Y-yeah..." There wasn't any confidence or hope in his voice and Junpei frowned deeply.
"What's troubling ya then? You can tell me, we're friends, c'mon." Kouichi lifted his head a bit and smiled slowly at him, putting his hands on top of the table to twiddle his thumbs together.
"I-I guess... it's stupid... but... I guess light and darkness just isn't as close as fire which gives light." Kouichi mumbled, a feint flush hovering back over his cheeks. "Those two... they're best of friends. I could never be like that with either of them..."
Junpei ran a hand through his hair, not sure what to say to his troubled friend, then watched as Kouji and Takuya suddenly sat up and headed over to the bike racks.
"Look guys, we're going home! It's just too rainy." Takuya called out to them, before mounting his bike and waiting for Kouji.
"Yeah, see ya later, Kouichi!" Kouji smiled at his brother, who gave a smile of his own back, waving a bit as if everything was okay. With a similar wave from Kouji, the younger twin was riding through the wet streets with Takuya next to him, the two of them instantly settling into a competitive race through the streets.
Junpei frowned when Kouichi's face fell and he settled his head on the bench sullenly.
"You really shouldn't worry Kouichi. Kouji and Takuya might be best of friends but you and Kouji are brothers. That will never change, you know." Junpei offered, watching Kouichi's back rise and fall with a loud sigh.
"...Yeah." A hand sitting next to his face started to pick at the loose ends of the wood silently, gaze seemingly impassive.
Junpei sighed himself, not sure what he could do to cheer his friend up on such a dreary evening, rubbing his temples lightly.
"Well... how about a game then? You wanna play?" Junpei held up a chess piece, watching Kouichi's eyes follow it like a bright red light. The younger boy curled out of his position slowly.
"...Okay. Sure." Kouichi relented, picking up discarded, thrown pieces and quietly placing them on the gold and black board for a game.
"On one condition, though." Junpei quickly added in, waving a piece in his friend's face before placing it on the board with the others.
"What's that?"
"If I win, you forget you're silly worry over your brother and enjoy the time you two spend together, got it?" Junpei smiled widely when Kouichi chuckled a little behind a Rook.
"Okay. What do I get if I win?" He smiled, placing his hands in his lap and awaiting the start of the chess game.
"What do you want?"
Kouichi's eyes widened a bit and he took on the look of a very concentrated pose. His eyes crinkled and his thumb found his chin before he smiled sweetly.
"Okay, if I win, I want to enjoy the rest of the afternoon with you, Jun."
Junpei was surprised, but laughed it away and nodded, grasping his friend's hand and shaking it. "Sure, sounds like a bet."
And then, the game began.
Owari
Interesting idea that has been sitting around just waiting for a finish. The ending is a little off because of the time-difference in writing this, and there is no set purpose or plot. Kouichi's just a worry-wart.