"Takeru, this is Yagami Taichi and Izumi Koushiro. It appears you already know Daisuke," Ishida Yamato gestured to the boys sitting in the living room.

Takaishi Takeru dragged his eyes away from Motomiya Daisuke to focus on the other two. Yagami Taichi appeared to be Yamato's age, but he was shorter with dark brown eyes and bushy brown hair. He was slight, but with an athletic build. Izumi Koushiro was shorter than them both and a little husky. His eyes were dark brown, but his short hair was a fiery red colour. They looked vaguely familiar, but then again, Takeru had a habit of thinking everyone was vaguely familiar.

The blonde nodded in acknowledgement to them both before turning back to Daisuke. "What are you doing here?"

Shoving the goggles off his eyes and up to his forehead, Daisuke gave him a placid look. "I should ask you the same thing. I'm here because I was invited."

"By who?"

"Yamato-san, obviously. Who else?" he shrugged, shifting in the chair and hanging one leg over the arm. "And what the hell are you doing here?"

"Yamato is my brother," Takeru answered coldly.

Daisuke made a face and laughed shortly, as if he didn't believe Takeru. After a moment, he blinked and studied Takeru's face closer. "You're serious, aren't you?" he tilted his head to the side.

Yamato was in the kitchen, but he pulled his head out of a cabinet to grin lopsidedly at the other room. "He's serious. He's my little brother. How do you guys know each other?"

"We go to school together," Takeru muttered icily, dropping himself into a chair and glowering across the room at Daisuke.

Folding his arms behind his head, Daisuke gave the blonde a smirk before turning to Koushiro. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. Interference and all."

Taichi shook his head and drummed his hands on the arm of the chair. "Ignore him, it doesn't matter. You've already got me interested, don't stop now."

"I'm really not certain if we should continue discussing this now," Koushiro cast a glance in the direction of Takeru and looked meaningfully at Taichi, who scowled in response.

"Anybody hungry?" Yamato interrupted the conversation.

"So, kid, how did practice go? Big game tomorrow, hmm?" Yamato asked Takeru over a bowl of noodles.

"Yeah," Takeru nodded. "I wish you'd stop calling me kid. I'm not a kid anymore. I'm 17 years old."

"You're still a kid, kid, and you always will be. You can be 89 years old and I'll be laying on my deathbed calling you kid."

The younger blonde rolled his eyes, then glanced over and Daisuke, who was involved in a conversation with the other two boys in low tones. "Who is this guy?" he wondered to himself.

"What do you mean who is he?" Yamato asked, and Takeru realized he'd wondered out loud. "I thought you knew him."

"I know of him. I mean I go to school with him and all, but I just met him today. I didn't get much out of him, anyway. I tried talking to him, but he kept snapping at me. All I know about him is that he's from Osaka."

"Osaka?" one eyebrow went up in amusement. "Is that so?"

"That's what Monuke-san said this morning."

"Monuke? Ew, God, the English teacher? I hate that guy! Is he still working there?"

"Yeah," Takeru answered mindlessly. He'd just said that was his teacher; obviously he still worked there. Takeru never quite understood why people would ask questions like that. It got to be annoying. "Anyway, I tried making conversation with him at lunch and he just told me he was busy and to go away." Yamato's amused grin only got wider. "What are you so giddy about? How do you know him, anyway?"

"Actually, I don't," the older boy leaned back on the couch. "Not that well, I mean. Koushiro knows him. They've been corresponding for a few months, apparently. About two weeks he moved over here and they met up. Koushiro introduced him to Taichi and myself last Tuesday. We've sort of been idly hanging out since then."

"Two weeks? Why did he only start school today, then?" Takeru wondered out loud again.

Yamato shrugged, then turned to the other group. "Daisuke, that plan is stupid as hell, don't even try it."

Daisuke lifted one shoulder and made a face. "I'm not that suicidal, I wasn't going to go through with it. That's just the only thing I was able to come up with. I'm not very good at plans."

"Well, that's where our buddy Koushiro-kun comes into play, eh?" Taichi grinned at the short redhead. "He's a genius at this sort of thing."

"Hope so, anyway. I don't know about this. Are you sure we should play this game, Daisuke? It seems a little... I don't know... Risky," Koushiro finished the sentence hesitantly.

"I know it does. You don't have to get messed up in it, but I'm already in too deep." The boy rubbed his nose thoughtfully. "That's the thing. If you don't want to dive in, you've got to stay in the kiddy pool. There's no middle ground here." Daisuke idly pulled the goggles down over his eyes again, running his hands through his hair and locking them in behind his head. "I'm dead either way."

"We'll get you out of this, Dais," Yamato stated firmly, then rose. "Takeru, help me with the dishes, okay?"

Takeru followed his brother into the kitchen, confused. Hearing the tail end of conversations was always something that annoyed him, because he never understood anything. More often than not, people never wanted to go back and recap what they'd been talking about. He had a feeling that he wasn't supposed to hear that much of the conversation anyway.

Takeru waited quietly for Yamato to say something as he dried the wet dishes that were handed to him. They were quickly running out of dishes. Takeru sighed, tired of waiting. "What were they talking about?"

"A gaming session," his brother answered a little too quickly, not looking up from the sink. He was lying.

Takeru sighed again, changing the subject. "When's dad coming home?"

"No clue. Late, probably. A little before midnight, most likely; that's when he shows up most nights." He glanced over at his little brother. "You have a curfew of ten, don't you?"

"Yeah."

"Daisuke lives near you, you know that?"

"He hardly said five words to me, how would I know? Sorry."

Yamato shrugged. "No big deal. He lives in Hanami Heights. That's only a few blocks from you."

Takeru tilted his head to the side. "Yeah, so?"

"So would you mind if you had to walk home with him instead of me driving you? I have things I have to do."

"Ugh." The younger boy made a face. Walk home with the bastard? "Let me guess, you have to do something involving the band?"

"Exactly, kid," Yamato dried his hands on a towel. "He's a nice guy, you know. Just don't let him get to you. He's like a dog, you know? If he senses fear, he attacks. So just play it cool when you're around him and he'll back off. I promise."

Takeru sighed once more. "It's better than walking home alone I guess."

"Thanks, Takeru."

He shrugged a bit, although mentally he was thinking about when the last time was that his brother had called him Takeru instead of kid.

Takeru shoved his hands in his pockets and walked a few steps away from Daisuke. The latter had headphones on and was singing under his breath. After a few blocks, he placed one earphone behind the ear. "Hey."

"What," Takeru responded flatly.

He jerked a thumb over to the other side of the street. "You hungry?"

Takeru glanced over in the direction Daisuke pointed at. "Ice cream? I'm up for it, I guess."

"I'm only this nice when I'm tired, so appreciate it." Daisuke trotted across the street. "I'll be just as much a fucker as I was today next time you see me."

"Good to know," Takeru mumbled under his breath.

"Does it always get this cold around here late at night?" Daisuke asked as they stood in line, the muted music echoing from his headphones.

"Yes. Do you always eat ice cream when you're cold?"

"Honestly? Yes. What do you want? I'll buy."

"I can get it, no big deal."

Daisuke shrugged and yawned. "Not gonna argue with you so I can spend my money."

"What's the weather like where you come from?" Takeru asked, making idle conversation.

"Very hot."

"Hot? Like all year round? I didn't know Osaka was that warm."

"Huh? Oh, Osaka, right. No, I didn't mean all year round. It's just pretty warm in the spring and summer, that's all."

Takeru glanced at Daisuke. Daisuke was looking back at him, straight in the eye. He was either telling the truth or he was a damn good liar.

"Hey, Dais, can I ask you something?"

"Don't call me Dais," the dark-haired boy growled around the straw of his milkshake.

"Why not?" Takeru protested. "Yamato did."

"Yamato's allowed to. You are not. Call me Daisuke like everyone else does. It's not that hard to pronounce, I promise. Say it with me. Daisuke."

"Okay, I get the point. I won't call you Dais. So, Daisuke, can I ask you something?"

"You can ask, but that doesn't mean I'll answer."

The blonde rolled his eyes. "Why wouldn't you talk to me at school today?"

"Because I get the feeling you're one of those preppy fuckers that thinks they can walk all over whoever they want." The words stopped Takeru cold, and he spun around to face Daisuke. Through the orange goggles, Daisuke's glare was hard and icy. "I'm used to people like you. Can't stand 'em. Play nice just so they can get close and knock you down. I've been burned too many times. I don't put up with that shit."

"So you just decided to guess on my personality instead of trying to find out what I really was?" Takeru asked, gritting his teeth. Yamato's words echoed in his mind. So just play it cool when you're around him and he'll back off. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I'm not like that."

"We'll see." Daisuke pointed behind his head at a tall sky rise building. "I'm home. Bye." He turned and trotted off towards the building.

Takeru sighed to himself. He'd meant to ask about the discussion they'd had at dinner – the "gaming" discussion – and he'd completely forgotten. Somehow, he'd have to make sure he had another chance to ask about it.

Takeru walked to school slowly on Monday. He was in no hurry to get to his first hour and sit down next to Daisuke. He had a feeling that he was in for a bit of hassling.

Outside on the quad, a group of seniors were all standing in a small circle, laughing. 'Probably picking on some little freshman boy again,' Takeru thought to himself. The idea made him feel annoyed. He was even more annoyed as he got closer and realized the victim wasn't a freshman, nor was it a boy. The guys were hassling a girl he'd recognized from some of his classes. They were trying to pick her up, apparently, because she kept trying to shove past and they'd grab her on the arm and slide out some words in a sleazy tone that left the other boys laughing. Takeru paused on the stairs and tried to come up with a way to make the seniors back off, but it would be like taking food away from a hungry animal.

"HEY." Something flew across the quad and slammed into the back of the head of one of the seniors; the senior who currently had his hands on the girls arm. All five seniors spun around to see who'd dared to cross paths with them. Takeru didn't even have to look. A quick glance at the object that had hit the senior already told him.

Orange and blue goggles lay on the grass, cracked from impact with the hard head of the senior boy.

Daisuke stood about two yards away from the seniors, a look of complete disgust on his face. "Why don't you leave her alone? She's not interested. Take a hint."

"Back off, kid, this is none of your business."

Daisuke stepped closer. "I just made it my business. Let her go."

"Look, kid." Apparently, 'kid' was the only thing they could come up with to call him. Vaguely, Takeru wondered why sometimes 'kid' could be an insult and yet sometimes, when someone like Yamato would use it, it could be affectionate. "Just go away. She doesn't need any help; she likes this. She's just playing hard to get, that's all."

"Are you kidding? She's obviously not even remotely interested in you. She's not going to give you any, she never will. So back off of her and go fuck your right hand."

"You little..." the senior dropped the girls arm and started towards Daisuke. The two stood with inches between them, glares of contempt mirrored on their faces.

"What is going on out here?" Standing at the top of the stairs was the dean of the school, hands on her hips. "You boys had better just be playing. I don't want to have to throw anyone out for fighting."

The senior looked up innocently. "Fighting? Oh, no, we were just introducing these two little kids to each other, that's all."

"Good. Now get to class," she snapped.

Slinking around Daisuke, the senior snarled under his breath, "This isn't finished. Freak."

Daisuke watched him go, the glare only slightly modified by a smirk of arrogance. After the seniors had gone, he held out his hand to the girl, who'd been shoved down in the anticipation of a fight. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine. Oof," she grunted as he hauled her to her feet, dusting herself off. "Thanks a lot. Those guys can't take a hint."

"No problem. I can't stand guys like them anyway." Folding his arms behind his head, Daisuke studied the girl. With short brown hair, tucked out of her deep brown eyes by pink barrettes, she was about four inches shorter than him and very slight. She busily brushed dirt and leaves off her clothes, then looked up to notice him watching her. "You look very familiar, but at the same time I'm almost certain I've never met you before. What's your name?"

"Yagami Hikari. Everyone calls me Hikari-chan. It's very annoying, I hate being short."

"Yagami? Wait, wait. Are you related to Yagami Taichi?"

Hikari tilted her head to the side. "Yeah, he's my older brother. Why? Do you know him?"

"Yeah, uh, slightly." Daisuke shifted the bag over his shoulder. "We should get to class."

"Yes, we should. How do you know my brother?" she asked as they headed up the stairs and into the school building.

"Friend of a friend. He wants me to join the soccer team."

"Oh, you play soccer?" she asked, genuinely interested.

"A bit. Used to play on the team back home, anyway. Not sure if I want to get into it again, though."

"You should join the team. My brother is the assistant coach, and he is excellent. Oh!" Hikari blinked. "I'm sorry, I never asked you for your name."

"Uh? Oh. Motomiya Daisuke. I'm that hot new kid," he tossed her a crooked grin.

Her brown eyes that looked so much like Taichi's widened. "Oh! Oh! My God, you're kidding! That's you? Well I guess I never have seen you around... Wow. You are pretty... uh, this is my class," she pointed over her shoulder. "I have to go."

Daisuke grinned a bit more at the light pink blush on her face. "Hey, do you have first or second lunch?"

"Umm, second."

"I'll find you during lunch today."

Grinning like a bit of an idiot, Hikari bobbed her head in agreement. "Uh-huh. Okay. No problem. Thanks!" she called after him as he walked down the hall. "Ohhhh Lord. He was hot. And he's eating lunch with me! Eee," she squealed quietly to herself, turning around and skipping into class.