chap5

Next day, when I arrived school, I saw Howard in bandage on his leg, and walking with a stick. What happened to him?

"What happened to you?" I asked.
"Nothing. Got injured." Howard replied, somewhat uncomfortable.
"Did you get hurt, when…" I got close to him and whispered. "…playing DDR?"

Howard was surprised with my words and in a sudden, he swung his stick and tried to hit me. I dodged the attack and stood clear of him.

"You know that I have the DDR dancepad at home. But I swear, I DID NOT hurt myself when playing DDR."

Class started and when the teacher asked Howard how did he got hurt, Howard said he got hurt when playing basketball. I suspected that he is lying, so when classes ended, I dragged him to a plaza next to our school and questioned him.

"What do you want, Kenny?" Howard asked me, and tried to run sway. However, since he had to walk with a stick, he could not run fast.
"You are not going anywhere." I said.
"Just let me go! My DDR career is over!" Howard screamed.

I let his hands loose and said. "What happened?"
"I am not lying, I actually got hurt when playing basketball."
"I thought you broke your leg when playing songs like PARANOiA." I said. PARANOiA is one of the toughest songs in DDR.
"I can't pass that song, and look at you, you can't even pass Butterfly."

Without notice, Howard swung his stick on me again. This time, I cannot dodge it and was hit on my arm.

"Ouch! Why did you hit me?" I asked.
"Because you laughed at me!" Howard yelled and tried to hit me again.
I tried to stay clear from him, and for that moment, I am safe from his attack. "Now tell me, why did you get hurt? I will not take basketball as the answer." I demanded.
"How many times have I have to tell you. I got hurt when playing basketball!" Howard exclaimed.
I paused for a second. "Ok, I believe you. You got hurt when playing basketball and not DDR."

At this time Emi sneaked upon us and hugged me. "Who got hurt while playing DDR?"
"Don't do that on me. I have a girlfriend and Rage will kill me." I lied. I did not have a girlfriend.
A burst of laughter came out from the alley. "Ha, you are taking things too serious, Kenny." Rage said while walking out from the alley.
"Damn it! You heard everything from us!" I exclaimed.
"Not all, but most of it. Kenny, if I were you, I will tell the teacher that I hurt myself when playing basketball even the cause of injury is playing DDR." Everyone laughed.
"Emi, Rage, why are you here." Howard asked.
"I'm buying something there." Rage said, pointing to the ValueMart store.

"Sigh, you know what. My DDR career is finished." Howard said.
"Don't say that. You'll recover." Emi said.
"Yeah. I always get hurt while break-dancing…" Rage told us. "You know, Matrix Walk, back flip, something like that."
"We don't know that you break-dance."
"That was supposed to be a secret."
"But," Howard said quietly. "My leg injury."
Emi patted Howard's shoulder. "Don't worry, man. I swear that if Howard does not discover or I'll leave Rage."
"No, you are not going to leave me, are you?" Rage said this while hugging Emi, and everyone smiled.
"Maybe I should invite everyone to my house and dance."
":Yeah, find a date and we all go to your house." I said.

"I'll call you guys when I recover." Howard shouted when he is heading home.