Part Six: Secret No Longer

Chapter Two: …and Battery

Thank fuck it was Friday. No, scratch that. Thank fuck it was Friday and that he only had one week left of high school, ever, Tai thought as he started packing away his things. While on Tuesday he had been spared the same whisperings and rumours chasing him throughout the school that Kari had suffered, it had caught up with him on Wednesday. He did not know how exactly, given that he and his girlfriend attended different schools, but he suspected that some of his peers had caught wind of it from siblings who went to Odaiba Middle School. That, or Matt had decided to fuck with him; he still did not know where he stood with the blonde-haired teen. Regardless, by the end of the day on Wednesday, the rumour mill was in overdrive and people had started to talk behind his back. Come Thursday morning and he'd received his first 'sisterfucker' note in class and had one brave soul yell it at him in the corridor. He'd grabbed the boy and pinned him to the wall, ready to punch him, before Sora and Mimi dragged him away. He'd sat with them plus Izzy at lunch and while the girls had been sympathetic, Izzy had taken more of a, what did you expect, stance. Thursday and today had been more of the same.

Tai sighed as he picked up his bag. He'd spoken to Kari every night, however, had the distinct impression that a) she was receiving a lot more shit than he was and b) she was not telling him everything. The small section of her hair that looked two inches shorter than the rest being the giveaway. He'd been forced to suppress his big brother side in order to not ask about it. Whatever had happened, she had clearly not wanted to talk about it. As he walked out of the room, he pondered whether he should race into town, catch Iowa before he closed and buy her a new CD. Except he was supposed to be grounded after Monday's escapade. He thought for a moment as he headed for the main exit. Yes, his mom would probably go nuclear at him for not coming straight home from school. But what else could she really do to him? While she could confiscate his phone and laptop, she couldn't exactly remove everything entertaining from his bedroom. And Kari could really use a pick-me-up. By the time he was halfway towards the bike racks, he'd made up his mind, his mom could yell at him all she wanted.

Tai had just located his bike and was about to unlock it, when a familiar voice called out to him, "hey, Tai."

He looked up and saw one of his soccer buddies run towards him. "Hey, Hiroshi," he said, giving the boy a relieved smile. He'd half expected it to be someone else about to chance calling him a sisterfucker. "What's up?"

The boy returned the smile, "can you do me a favour?"

Tai checked the time on his phone before replying, "sure if it's quick. I need to head into town."

"It'll just take two minutes, promise," Hiroshi said.

He rolled his eyes, "fine, but if it takes any longer, I'm gone, ok. Now, what is it."

The other boy headed off in the direction of the playing fields as he said, "I accidentally kicked a soccer ball into the roof of the equipment shed. I need someone to boost me up there so I can get it down before Coach finds out and skins me."

Tai shook his head. Every couple of weeks, one of the team did the same thing and had to have another help him onto the roof to retrieve it. In fact, so plausible was the story, that he did not stop to question why Hiroshi had been kicking a ball outside in the snow. They reached the equipment shed and without thinking, Tai followed the boy around to the back. Where his eyes immediately caught sight of three waiting figures; all from the soccer team.

"What the…" was all he managed to utter before two of them grabbed him and shoved him up against the cold, damp wall. Immediately he fought back against them and had managed to shake one of them off, only to receive a punch in the gut from one of the others. Momentarily winded, he struggled for breath as the boy whose grip he had shaken free of grabbed him once more.

"We'll keep this simple, Kamiya, are you fucking your sister?" Hiroshi said, the friendliness gone from his tone.

Anger raged inside Tai like an untampered fire. He was angry at himself for having fallen for the ruse, at Hiroshi and the others for having turned on him and at the fact he couldn't openly be with Kari without facing persecution. And while he remembered the agreement he and his girlfriend had come to regarding denying any and all rumours, his anger at the situation prevented him from doing so. Thus, instead of simply saying no and hoping that would bring an end to the matter he looked Hiroshi directly in the eyes and growled, "so what if I am?" It was the wrong answer. No sooner had the last word passed through his gritted teeth, he received a second punch in the gut. Apparently, defiance was an admission of guilt.

"You're fucking sick, Kamiya," the second boy yelled at him as he too threw a punch. This one caught him across the jaw and twisted his neck around.

Tai felt the taste of blood come from his lips and he quickly found the small rupture on the lower one with his tongue. He spat it out before saying, "I'd much rather sleep with my sister come girlfriend than either of yours, Toshi."

There, he'd fully admitted it. If they were going to beat the shit out of him, then at least he'd go down knowing that he had been true to Kari and to himself. He could see the rage spread across the boy whose sister and girlfriend he had just insulted and he braced himself for the impending next blow. Only before it came, a voice shouted out, "hey, leave him alone."

Tai could not believe his ears. He, along with the other four boys turned their heads to his right. It was Matt.

"This doesn't concern you, Ishida, now back off," Hiroshi said threateningly.

"Huh, you really think that guys that need a 4v1 situation to beat someone up scare me?" Matt snorted. "You guys make me sick. Now, why don't you let Tai go and we'll all forget this ever happened."

"No way, Ishida!"

A smirk formed on Matt's lips, "I hoped you were going to say that."

Next second Tai saw Matt dart forward and catch Hiroshi with a blow to the face. The boy staggered backwards and collided with his comrade. Instinctively, the two that held him released their respective grips in order to defend themselves from Matt's impending attack. And Tai was ready for them. The second he had his right arm free, he hooked the boy who had held his opposite side straight in the face. A flurry of fists quickly ensued, in which he took a blow to his chest, but dished out several to two of his opponents. However, soon Hiroshi saw he had bitten off more than he could chew and ran for it. The others, on seeing him go, quickly followed suit.

Cowards, Tai thought as he spat out another mouthful of blood. He finally met Matt's gaze. "Thanks," he said through a laboured breath and he winced.

"You're just lucky I was passing and despise a group ganging up on one person," Matt said indifferently. He gave Tai a roving look. "You hurt?"

"Nah, I'm g…" he took a step forward and winced again, "argh!" He grabbed at his side, staggered and thought he was about to fall over when his shoulder met with the other boy's hand. He managed to straighten himself.

"You always were a stubborn asshole," Matt said, removing his hand. Tai received another intense stare, before the blonde-haired teen added, "come on, I'll give you a ride home."

Tai took another step, grimaced, but kept himself on his feet of his own accord. His abdomen and ribs hurt like hell. The idea of accepting charity from Matt burned him inside. And that was after the boy had just saved him from a far more intense pounding. However, the thought of having to cycle home in his present condition was worse. Not to mention potentially dangerous. Should he move in a certain way, he might receive a spike of pain that could cause him to crash. A grudging expression covered his face when he said, "fine."

Matt snorted and Tai was surprised not to hear any smugness in his tone when he replied, "let's go then."

He followed the blonde-haired teen out from behind the equipment shed and was silently grateful that Matt kept a slow pace. Each step still hurting and causing him to wince; he'd possibly broken a rib. He'd probably need Kari to patch him up once he got home. When they passed the bike sheds, he glanced at his still parked bicycle. Leaving it would force him to walk on Monday morning, as being grounded would require him to ask his mom to be allowed to come and pick it up and that would require an explanation as to why he left it in the first place.

They reached the parking lot and Matt started up his moped. "Hop on," he said.

Tai climbed on behind him and took hold of side handles. If it was not for the fact that cycling contributed a good portion to his weekly workout, he wouldn't mind getting a moped of his own. It would certainly make getting around a lot quicker and he would be able to take Kari on the back. She'd probably enjoy it too. An image of his girlfriend in biker leathers filled his mind and he quickly found that focusing on it helped to dull the pain. He closed his eyes and let his imagination run wild for the duration of the trip.

##

"Ok, you can get off now… Yo, earth to Tai. You can get off."

Tai's eyes snapped open when Matt's slightly irate voice cut through his daydreams of Kari. He blinked a few times as he took in his surroundings. They were outside his apartment building. He audibly winced when he climbed off the back of the moped. The stairs were going to be an absolute bastard to climb by himself. However, he couldn't stomach the idea of asking Matt for any further help.

Fortunately, he did not have to as a voice from behind him called out, "Tai."

A smile formed on his slightly swollen lips as he turned around to see his girlfriend approach; Yolei walking beside her. "Hey, Kari," he replied.

The second she came close enough to properly make out her boyfriend's features, Kari knew something had happened. There was a bruise forming on one of his cheeks and his lip was burst. She looked him up and down. He was standing awkwardly too and she could see in his chocolate eyes that he was in some sort of pain. It seemed that things had come to a head at school for him too. She rushed towards him. "Tai, what happened," she asked, gently wrapping her arms around him.

Tai reciprocated the hug and said, "it's nothing, I just fell, that's all."

"Try got cornered by four of his soccer buddies who started to beat the crap out of him before I showed up," Matt said firmly.

Tai turned and scowled darkly at the blonde-haired teen. Damn him for telling Kari the truth! Now she would worry about him when she needed to be worrying about herself.

Kari glanced around her boyfriend's shoulder, only now properly registering that the fact that Matt was here and had clearly given Tai a lift home. "Thank you for helping him out and for bringing him home, Matt," she said gratefully, before glaring at her boyfriend. "Did you really expect me to believe that you fell?"

Tai quickly buckled under the intensity of Kari's stare. "I didn't want you to worry about me when you've had it far worse this week," he admitted, before adding, "besides, you didn't tell me what happened to your hair."

She sighed and released his gaze, "I suppose not."

"Make sure she tells you what happened today," Yolei then said to Tai. "However, just don't lose your shit over it. I've got a handle on the situation, so it won't happen again, I promise."

It was Kari's turn to scowl at her companion. Given that she had no visible sign from her ordeal, save the marker pen that was hidden underneath her blouse, she had hoped not to worry Tai with details of what had happened to her. Now it seemed like both of them had unpleasant stories to tell. She met her boyfriend's gaze once more. "We can talk inside while I patch you up."

Tai nodded, "ok," then laughed slightly. "I guess this should teach us not to keep secrets from one another."

"Yeah, well, if you guys are done learning life lessons, I'm out of here," Matt then said.

Tai turned and looked at his friend. While he still maintained a cold exterior, Matt had changed. It seemed that being with Teiko had tempered him somewhat and even though he was not openly admitting it, his disposition towards him had changed. Their two interactions at the end of last year had quickly become hostile, even when he had tried to be diplomatic, at least in the first instance. And Tai knew that neither he nor Matt would have been inclined to lift a finger to help the other at that point. Yet Matt had done just that. Maybe it was time he dropped his end of the bone.

Releasing his grip on Kari, Tai turned and stepped towards the moped and its rider. "Hey, Matt," he said calmly, "thanks for helping me out. I really appreciate it." He paused and felt the grip he had held on his anger towards the boy for eighteen months finally release. "I'm sorry for what happened between us, TK and Davis. And for being an ass towards you since."

Matt let out a snort of laughter, "yeah, you were an ass, but so was I. Like Davis said, Kari might have been the lit match, but we were all the barrels of gunpowder that allowed our fuses to be lit. I guess I'm sorry too."

Tai extended his hand and Matt took it in a firm grip.

"Listen, Tai, I've got to dash as I'm supposed to be picking Teiko up from work. But give me or her a text. She's been nagging me all week to ask you and Kari out on a double date."

Tai gave him a funny look. Not at the suggestion, as that sounded exactly like the sort of thing Teiko would do, but at the fact that Matt seemed willing to entertain it. "You're ok with me and Kari being a couple?"

"I wasn't at first," Matt admitted, "however, Teiko has a habit of helping you see things differently… or slowly gnawing at you until you cave."

He laughed, "that sounds like Teiko. "I suppose I'd better talk with her soon, otherwise she'll probably come and hunt me down."

It was Matt's turn to laugh, "she will." The blonde-haired teen then turned the ignition on his moped. "See you Monday," he said before turning to look at the two girls, "I'll see you guys later too." With that, he set off down the road.

Kari leaned her head in towards Yolei. She'd not heard the exchange between the two boys but had caught the gist of it. "I don't know about you, but I get the distinct impression that those two are friends again."

The lavender-haired girl laughed. "Took them long enough. At least something good has come out of you and Tai becoming public."

"I guess so," Kari admitted. All the while she wondered whether that meant Matt approved of her relationship or not.

"Listen, Kari," Yolei then said, "are you sure you're going to be ok?"

She looked at her best friend and nodded. "Yeah, I think I'll be alright. I just need to go for a long shower and scrub that stupid pen off my chest."

"You've no idea how sorry I am that I didn't just take you with me."

"It's ok, Yolei. You've done more than enough for me this week."

Kari pulled her best friend into a hug, just as Tai limped over to join them.

"I think I'm going to need your help to get up the stairs," he said to his girlfriend after she had broken off her hug.

Kari looked at him and nodded, "ok." She turned back to Yolei, "I'll see you on Monday."

"We'll be here to walk you to school," the lavender-haired girl said with a smile. "See you then, Kari." The girl turned to look at Tai, "later, Tai." She gave Kari one last quick hug and then walked away.

"What did she mean by, 'we'll be here to walk you to school'?" Tai asked his girlfriend.

Kari smiled at him, "I'll tell you inside. Now let's go, I'm freezing."

Tai put his arm over his girlfriend's shoulder and the with her support, they walked towards the apartment building. It had been a rough week for both of them and they were in serious need of the brief reprieve that the weekend would offer. If only it could last more than two days.