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The Fight

The first period of the day was gym, which was the only one of two periods the four seventh graders were all together in, besides Language Arts.

Kouji had just come out of the locker room, wearing the school's gym uniform - a pale grey top with Shibuya Junior High stretched across the front and slate grey shorts labeled 'Minamoto'.

Takuya came bursting out after him, dashing over to the side of the gym with the usual soccer game being played. Izumi was with some other girls in the bleachers, laughing and talking. Kouichi had forgotten his gym shoes (again) and had had to retrieve them from his locker.

So Kouji waited by the doors, keeping a look out for Kouichi. After he got dressed, they would probably do what they usually did: either walk around aimlessly or join Takuya's soccer game.

However, today he noticed that he seemed to be catching the looks of many of his classmates that walked by. Kouji knew exactly why, but couldn't decide whether it was because of the painful bruise on his face or of what had just happened to him.

Kouichi suddenly burst through the gym doors, now wearing his gyms shoes, but also carrying his gym clothes.

"Turns out I forgot to bring these, too!" Kouichi explained breathlessly.

Kouji sighed at his brothers lack of intelligence that day, and watched him scramble to the locker rooms. Since he had come out of his coma, he had been a bit forgetful at times.

"Hey, Minamoto."

Kouji turned his gaze away from the doors to see who was addressing him. It was a tall, muscular boy with silvery eyes and sandy blond hair that Kouji recognized as Scott Jefferson. Behind him stood some shorter kids that he could not identify, but nevertheless they looked threatening.

"Read about you in the paper, Minamoto," Scott hissed. "Heard your old lady ran off with her boyfriend. Is that right, Minamoto?"

Kouji noticed that not only was nearly everyone surrounding him was taller than him, but that there were more people crowding around him. They formed a small half circle around them, and Kouji could see that there wasn't an easy way out.

When Kouji did not answer, Scott lashed out his fist against Kouji's face, making contact where his bruise was. Kouji inhaled sharply, nearly choking him, and knelt down involuntarily toward the floor. Scott seized his collar and pinned his against the brick wall, a murderous gaze in his eyes.

"Answer me, Minamoto!"

"Well, if you read it in the paper," Kouji leaked out, suffocating as the cloth dug into his neck. "I guess it would be true."

Scott hit him again, and Kouji cried out again. He tumbled to the floor, panting, his face throbbing. He heard some of the other seventh graders snicker, some, burst out laughing, and several of them whispering to one another. He heard Scott murmur something to his posse, and then felt a sharp tug as Scott yanked a long strand of hair.

"Meet me at the blacktop ten minutes after ninth period bell. Come or your empty-headed brother will be the victim instead." he whispered icily in his ear. He let go of Kouji and started laughing loudly to his friends as the crowd slowly disbanded.

When Kouji was sure they had gone, he looked up. Takuya was still playing his soccer game, looking as hot-headed as ever. He stood up shakily and noticed that Izumi was still chatting away to her friends, except watching the game. He heard the locker room door creak as Kouichi exited the locker room.

"I can't believe how forgetful I'm getting...I mean seriously, I..." Kouichi stopped ranting abruptly in the middle of his rant. "Hey...your face is kinda red on one side. What happened?"

"Someone...someone threw a basketball at my face." Kouji lied quickly. He didn't want his brother to worry pointlessly about him.

"Oh...well you should stop standing in a daze all of the time. Then there'd be a few less basketballs knocking you around,"

Kouji could tell that he was trying to lighten the mood, but not of the lie he had told.

Obviously, he'd known that his father had struck him the previous night from one glance at his face.

Gym came and went, and Kouji followed his usual schedule, but didn't really know what he was doing half the day. All he knew was that second period he went with Takuya, third period with Kouichi and Izumi, fourth and fifth period with Izumi, lunch and recess in silence with the whole gang, eighth period with Kouichi, and ninth period with everyone. He merely trailed behind them into the classrooms, and seemed to be in another world the rest of the time.

Except ninth period, which Kouji blankly remembered as Language Arts. He was in Mrs. Jones class that period, with everyone else.

"Okay, kiddos, I know it's Monday, and that we have only have a week until Spring Break, so I decided..." Mrs. Jones began to rant.

Kouji sat in the corner, in front of a window and next to a door to another classroom, where a clock was hung over the door. Takuya was silently cheering about everything Mrs. Jones was telling them, from across the room, and Izumi seemed just as please from a few rows down from him. Kouichi was almost exactly inbetween Izumi and Kouji, but he was one row closer to Kouji, and seemed to be quite relieved about whatever the teacher was going on about.

Kouji glanced at the clock: 3: 18. Two minutes until the bell rang and ten until he had to be on the blacktop.

Before he knew it, a shrill bell went off in the classroom, and all the students scurried off and away for the day.

"Bye, Kouji."

"See you tomorrow, Kouji-kun!"

"Later, Ji-san!"

With the exception of Takuya's comment (which took up two minutes of the ten he had to get to his destination), he barely acknowledged his friends. He was too busy thinking about what would happen to him in the next eight minutes.

Kouji dashed to his locker (which was a ways down from the seventh grade hall), and quickly tossed his binder and lunch box into his backpack. He threw on his windbreaker and boots, throwing in his gym shoes with the remaining items in his locker. He slung his load over his shoulder and calmed down considerably when he saw that he still had five minutes to get to the blacktop.

Kouji turned the corner of the building, making his way through a path of slush and melted snow, trying to be careful enough not to get his long pants wet. Satomi would kill him -

Wait.

What the hell am I talking about? The bitch ditched us and ran off with some bum and a brat.

God...I've been so uptight about Gym that I haven't thought of anything else.

"So, you showed up, Minamoto."

Kouji froze, so suddenly that he staggered into a deep puddle of slush water. He shivered as the freezing cold water went through to his skin. He looked up to see Scott and four others standing at the corner of the Junior High building that Kouji was about to turn.

Before Kouji could think, something hard and cold slammed into his face, blinding him as ice water stung his eyes. He felt somebody yank his backpack out of his hands, and two others grab both of his arms. When he managed to open his eyes, he cried out as he was whacked in the face, again.

"Bet it was your fault."

Another slap in the face.

"Bet she couldn't handle that old drunk and a brat like you, huh, Minamoto?"

A stunningly painful hit on the bruise.

"Isn't that right, Minamoto? Answer me!"

A hard kick in the stomach made Kouji wheeze, and another punch in the jaw resulted in blood streaming out of his mouth.

"I want to hear you say it was your fault, Minamoto! I want you to scream it out!"

Kouji could hardly keep track of what was happening. He felt warm blood drip from his mouth, and from his bruise, and people hitting him, over and over again...

He couldn't take it.

"STOP!" he screamed. "Leave me the hell alone!"

Kouji thrashed his sore legs, and with every successful kick he heard an angry shout. He could feel nothing but pain as he wildly attacked Scott and his gang, with a new bruise forming every time he turned.

Eventually, he knelt down, breathing heavily, waiting for them to finish him off.

"Eh...this guy's will squeal us out if we keep going. He learned his lesson."

Kouji looked up, confused. As he spoke, he felt his dry lips crack and bleed.

"What...lesson?" he wheezed.

Scott kicked him, hard, in the hip, causing Kouji to topple over into a puddle. Soaked and freezing, he heard Scott roar with laughter.

"Heh...always answer Scott Jefferson, bitch."

He and his pack laughed like a pack of overgrown hyenas, leaving Kouji in the muck. Injured and bleeding, Kouji shakily stood up and limped over to his backpack, and pulled it out of the snow daintily. He swung it over his shoulder, and began to slowly continue his long journey home.

Just because I didn't answer that jerk right away I got beat up?! Ugh...I'm such a moron.

-o-o-o-

Kouji opened the door to his house as quietly as he could, watching for his father as he came in. He slowly took off his jacket, now bloodstained and wet, and took off all his stained clothing, dumping them into the washing machine. He dressed in different clothing and was starting up the washing machine when his father caught him.

"Where the hell have you been?" Kousei muttered darkly. He had just come in from the living room, no doubt watching some sport on television.

"Got beat up." There was no lie getting past Kousei. At least, not when he was bleeding and washing his bloody clothes in the washing machine.

"Heh," scoffed Kousei. "You deserve it anyway...it was your fault Satomi left, so why shouldn't they punish you?"

Kouji whirled.

"It wasn't my fault, you drunk!"

Slap.

Kouji flinched sharply, instinctively putting his hand up to his burning cheek. His head was spinning by now.

"Don't you talk back to me!" Kousei bellowed."It was your fault, dammit...you hated her when she was just trying to be your friend!"

"Shut up!" Kouji yelled back. "You were trying to replace Mom...who you said was dead all my life!"

Kousei growled and brought his hand back. Before Kouji could react, his father's hand had curled into a fist and slammed into Kouji's jaw.

Kouji's neck snapped to the side, and nearly fell with out the support of the washing machine. He groaned, feeling blood form in his mouth. He slumped down onto the cold tile floor of the laundry room.

"I'm damn sick of you, boy," hissed Kousei. "For that, you are not ever visiting your precious mother again!"

"Just die," whispered Kouji. "Just die and burn in hell..."

Kousei laughed maniacally.

"You wish, boy...oh, you wish..."

Wow, that was long. What will happen next:O

Well, PLEASE review!

WingsOfSilverSorrow