Chance Encounters

Chapter 1 – In The Darkness

He wasn't certain why he'd decided to take the long route home from the shop. Maybe it was the clear, cool night sky that had the stars out in their thousands. Even the street lamps couldn't overpower all of them.

Or maybe he just wanted to stay out of the house as long as possible.

Yuu kicked at a pebble. It wasn't fair. If he'd been just a little bit bigger, he could have gone with Gingka and the others to the theme park that day, but no. He and Kenta were just a couple of centimetres below the height barrier, so they would have only been able to go on the kiddie rides that were about as scary as Osamu. So the two of them had been left at home.

Of course, Tsubasa had teased him mercilessly about it, putting particular emphasis on "little boy"; Tsubasa, the tallest of the group by a good inch and a half since he hit another growth-spurt just after the end of Battle Bladers.

Huh.

He kicked the pebble again. It wasn't as if he wasn't brave enough to go on the big rides, even the brand new Crystal Mountain ride. Madoka had apparently refused to go on it at all, and Benkei had turned green at the idea of going on it again. Yuu was certain that if he'd been allowed to go, he'd have gone on at least ten times. Maybe more! And Kenshi would have too.

"Too short," Yuu muttered to himself, giving the stone a particularly savage kick. "I wasn't too short to battle in Battle Bladers, so why am I too short to go on some stupid ride? This is so stinky."

There was a loud clunk and Yuu looked up. His stone had flown further than he had thought. It had gone over the fence, into the garden of the house he was outside and had...

Oh no. It had taken the head off the ceramic gnome that had been fishing in the pond. And the curtains in the front window of the house the gnome belonged to were twitching slightly.

Yuu took off at a flat-out sprint, not caring which turnings he took as long as they were away from the decapitated gnome and its surely-furious owner. Five minutes later, he skidded to a halt in what he thought was the road next to B-Pit. But when he turned the corner, he instead came face to face with a row of small shops he had never seen before. Frowning, he backtracked a bit, and it was about then that he realised he'd forgotten which turning he'd first come out of.

He was totally lost.

But that was okay, because he had Libra with him. Libra could... well, he wasn't quite sure what Libra could do, but at least he felt a bit better having the sharp-tipped bey in his pocket. Yuu squared his shoulders and drew himself up to his full height of four feet. Okay, three foot eleven inches. But it was nearly four, and that was what counted, unless you wanted to go to the theme park.

Most of the shops on the road were already closed; it was nearly eight o'clock. The only one that still had a light in the window was a takeaway shop and a tiny laundrette. Figuring that the laundrette would be less likely to have lots of strangers in it, Yuu headed there, determined to get himself out of the mess he was in without too many people noticing.

The bell over the door chimed wearily as Yuu pushed it open, looking around to see if he could see the owner or at least an assistant. There was no-one behind the till, though, and Yuu suddenly realised that only the light closest to the door was actually on. The rest of them were off, leaving most of the room cloaked in thick shadow.

"Hello?" he called cautiously, ready to swallow his pride and head over to the takeaway shop if he had to. But then something – or rather, someone – in the shadows moved.

The figure was very tall, much taller than Yuu, and appeared to be leaning against the only running washing machine. From what the faint light showed, it was wearing dark trousers and a long black coat that came almost to its knees, and had its hands shoved deep into the pockets. Its shoulders were hunched forward into the turned-up collar, as if the person wearing the heavy coat was still cold, even though the laundrette was anything but.

Yuu took a step forwards. "Umm, I'm sorry if I'm bothering you, but..." He trailed off as the figure straightened very suddenly, turning to look at him properly. White teeth flashed a lop-sided grin in the dim light.

"Yuu." said the figure quietly, and Yuu froze.

He knew that voice.