Brother of Brothers

by

The Analyzer

Chapter 3: Raining Bonds

Shinya gazed around, pings and electronic blips assaulting his ears. People up to their twenties were crouched around the machines muttering in elation or consternation depending upon their skill. Shinya didn't know what he was feeling as Tomoki guided him through the crowd. Shinya liked the Tomoki now, but wondered if meeting the boy's brother would be a bit much. He hardly got to know the siblings of his friends at school, since he understood that could be quite embarrassing. He befriended Tomoki in part as penance and because they did have a lot in common. A small part of Shinya did decide to go along because Shinya might embarrass Takuya in front of Tomoki with his insider brotherly knowledge. He was bemused to find Tomoki seemed to find no embarrassment in someone he knew meeting his far older brother and didn't know what purpose lay behind it.

"Does Ni-chan approve of this?" Shinya asked.

"Yeah." Tomoki said. "Takuya-onii-chan and I planned for this if both of you agreed."

"So my brother went to talk to your brother?"

"Basically. Don't worry, I'm sure he wouldn't badmouth you to Ni-chan."

"You don't know him well enough then." Shinya said. "Anyway what is this Yutaka like?"

"He goes to college." Tomoki explained. "He's kinda cool and aloof, but he was a good brother to me in retrospect. I acted pretty spoiled and thought he was just being mean until relatively recently."

"That's not right." Shinya scoffed. "Brothers should be kind and easy to manipulate."

Tomoki laughed. "That's not right! Ni-chan shows his concern through sternness and never appreciated me getting emotional when I was passionate about something. It meant I wanted to get something. I usually didn't mean to, though, it was something I did through instinct."

"It's a good instinct." Shinya said.

"Hey, being manipulative can be mean!"

Chuckling, Shinya and Tomoki eventually stopped around a pale green arcade machine near the stairs to the second floor. Pressed into the corner, no one seemed interested in the machine, so Shinya and Tomoki were free to lean against it, and wait.

"When are they supposed to come?" Shinya asked.

"Soon." Tomoki checked a nearby clock. "I told them to meet here. Takuya-onii-chan knows his way around, so he shouldn't get too lost."

"Is this brother of yours really into video games?" Shinya said.

"Not addicted to them." Tomoki said slowly. "He does go to the arcade to burn off some steam, once in a while. Though that tends to make him angrier by the time he goes home."

"He doesn't seem like a pleasant person." Shinya said.

"He is," Tomoki insisted, "even if he doesn't sound like it."

Shinya made a tolerant sound, but convinced. He hoped Tomoki was right, because otherwise he didn't want to deal with a surly college student who had better things to do than to entertain a bratty preteen.

Yutaka followed Takuya into the arcade, wondering not for the first time if he made a mistake. He was on good terms with the young boy, fiery as he was, but he wasn't sure if he should be friends with him. Yutaka was definitely dubious on befriending the even younger brother of Takuya. What he heard wasn't encouraging. He decided to fish for more details.

"What is this Shinya like?" Yutaka asked.

"Hmm? Well, he can be pretty difficult." Takuya replied. "He likes to play pranks on me and can get away with stuff with our parents that I can't. But he's sweet when he wants to be and he can be pretty fun to play with. He thought Tomoki was stealing me away from him, so we had to work on that."

"I see." Yutaka frowned. "That doesn't sound encouraging."

"He is a good brother." Takuya insisted. "If you had described Tomoki to me, I wouldn't have known that he was such a cool kid. Us brothers tend to not describe our siblings fondly."

"You're right there." Yutaka replied reluctantly. "Alright, where are they?"

"There is a green arcade machine near the stairs I used to play a lot." Takuya said. "But it's been a while since I've been here. It should be around somewhere."

Resigning himself to the possibility Takuya would lead them in circles, Yutaka fell silent. Takuya traced a smooth curve around the room, the sound of digitalized fighting and the scent of so many people in one crowded area making Yutaka claustrophobic. There was a reason Yutaka went to places like this when children were having school. Takuya seemed nervous as well, though maybe that was because he couldn't spot the green machine he mentioned.

"Do you need help?" Yutaka asked.

"I sure do." Takuya looked around, a bit sweaty. "I need to find the nearest restroom stat!"

Yutaka nearly toppled over in frustration. "Is that why you have led us in a circle?"

"Hey, when you have a bladder that's about to burst, are you talkative?" Takuya said.

"You are having no problem talking now." Yutaka pointed out.

"Just show me to the restrooms!"

Sighing, Yutaka quickly guided Takuya to those restrooms in question. Unfortunately, there was a thick crowd around them, so Takuya nearly wet his pants as he burst through the door. Yutaka leaned against the wall and crossed his arms, feeling this was going to be a long wait.

Tomoki craned his head. "Where is he?"

"Did your brother not agree?" Shinya asked.

"No, Takuya-onii-chan called before we went over, remember?" Tomoki frowned. "I've got to find him."

They had been waiting for almost half an hour. Tomoki and Shinya took turns playing on nearby arcade machines to pass the time, but they mostly lolled around the green one, scanning the crowd for the older brothers. Shinya's cautious interest was swiftly degenerating to boredom, and he wished he got himself a drink.

"You wouldn't mind staying here while I search for them, right?" Tomoki asked.

"Uh, no." Shinya said uncertainly. "You sure you won't get lost around here."

Tomoki shook his head. "No. I know how to get around tall people. You don't need to worry."

Tomoki dashed forward, squeezed himself between a pair of college students and vanished from view. Shinya blew out a breath and stood up, stretching his tired arms, and bending back his neck.

"I'm so bored."

Deciding to move his limbs a little, he circled the area, pausing every once in a while when spotting someone beat a particularly difficult game. After seeing a dude moan in defeat after his avatar got iced, he passed the bathroom, bumping into the leg of a young adult in the process.

"Please watch where you're going!" The young adult grumbled.

Shinya stopped what he was doing to gaze at the grumbler. He was a tall, surly dude, with scowling green eyes. Shinya scowled back.

"Well, it's crowded." Shinya retorted. "You can't help bumping into people."

"You could at least apologize."

"I would have if you didn't speak so rudely!"

Shinya glared and the young adult returned the look. Shinya hated guys like this, the type who started whole fights just because someone brushed against them. He had dealt with these people more than once, and it was only with the intervention of Takuya that such altercations didn't become violent. This guy didn't look like the violent type, but he was a person Shinya didn't want to get to know better.

The young man sighed, putting a hand over his face. "Alright, I shouldn't have snapped. Crowds like this don't do me any favors, if you know what I mean. You're just the unlucky one that brought my temper out."

Shinya looked away. "I guess I should have been more careful too, if you want to hear that."

There was silence. The young man looked Shinya up and down, as though judging his character.

"Why don't we play a game?"

Shinya stared. "What, you feel sorry for me?"

"It's an apology for being rude." The young man said impatiently. "Are you going to accept it?"

Shinya thought about it, and nodded. It couldn't hurt. He would play a quick game with this young man and get back to Tomoki to wait for Takuya and Yutaka. Though it was a bit strange to do this with someone Shinya barely knew. They accommodated both consoles of a violently scarlet arcade machine, and started up the game.

"So what are you doing here alone?" The young man said, his ninja avatar already on the attack.

"Hanging out." Shinya replied, jerking the controls so his muscular character would punch furiously.

"Don't you young people usually hang out in groups?"

"Hmph. Well, if you must know, I'm hanging out with a new friend I made."

"Oh?" The ninja avatar got in a few good licks before the young man continued. "What a coincidence. I'm here because of a new friend I was introduced to as well. What are the odds?"

"Yeah." Shinya's button mashing increased. "What are the odds I'm going to kick your wussie butt!"

A grunt of amusement. "I don't think so."

With a few smooth moves, the ninja avatar defeated Shinya's and the screen was filled with a jeering message toward the loser. Shinya slammed the controls box, groaning in frustration.

"I lost! You tricked me, you distracted me with talking."

The young man leaned into view, eyebrow raised. "I was being conversational. Don't you do that with people you play against?"

Shinya gazed down in embarrassment. "Sometimes…though I was distracted!"

"It's not just that…you're all punch and no strategy."

"What?"

"Well, you do have a strategy and that is beating the enemy in the quickest and most brutal manner possible. That might be able to work with average players, but experienced ones will be able to beat you easily."

Shinya glared. "And I suppose someone experienced like yourself can teach me to be better."

"If you cut the resentment nonsense."

Shinya remained silent. Probably expecting this as the answer, the young man moved to the other side and leaned over, pressing a button for single-player mode.

"Alright, start with a low attack." The young man said.

Shinya did so, low punching the ninja. "I don't understand how this is supposed to help. It's not giving him any damage."

"Is your life bar healthy?"

Shinya chanced a glimpse at the bar in the upper right corner. He was sustaining a bit of damage but it was far from the swift drop his duel with the young man produced. Shinya steadily ate away at the ninja's life bar. It was going too slow for Shinya's patience and he would have given up normally, but with the young man hanging over his shoulder, he kept punching until the screen lit up, congratulating his victory. Shinya felt a pat on his shoulder.

"That was good." The young man said. "You learn quickly."

"That's because you were leaning ominously over me." Shinya replied.

"Still, not bad for a first shot." The young man looked less severe than usual. "Do you want to go again?"

Shinya glanced at the clock and cringed. "I've got to go. This friend would need me soon."

The young man looked at the clock as well. "Me too. I assume my own friend is finished emptying his bladder."

"Too much information." Shinya hopped out of the seat. "Well, see ya!"

"Remember what I taught you!"

"Yeah, yeah, you'll miss me too."

Shinya heard the young man "hmpth!" and vanish from view. Shinya shook his head, and went out searching for that green arcade machine.

"Where was that again?" Shinya said.

Tomoki was passing the bathrooms when he nearly tripped over Takuya's feet. Takuya steadied him.

"Oop, hey there." Takuya said. "You looking for me? Sorry, I had to go."

"No problem!" Tomoki looked around. "Where's Ni-chan?"

"Uh…" Takuya looked at the wall Yutaka had leaned against, but no one was there. "Good question. Where did he go?"

Tomoki's eyebrows creased. "Shinya-san is probably getting bored as well. I better get to him before he gets lost here."

Before they could look for who they were escorting, Yutaka appeared, glancing at the clock.

"Sorry Takuya, Tomoki, I have to go." Yutaka said. "I promised a friend that I would go with her to some used textbook store."

"But Ni-chan-" Tomoki began.

"We can arrange this some other time." Yutaka laid a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Really. See you at dinner."

With that, Yutaka left. Takuya and Tomoki stood there awkwardly.

"So," Takuya said finally, "that was a bust."

"We really have to try it another time." Tomoki said. "Too bad Ni-chan didn't linger, we could have arranged a different date."

"You do that, and call me." Takuya replied. "I'll take care of my own brother now. Until then!"

"Bye!" Tomoki gave a brief wave.

Takuya waved back and disappeared into the crowd. Tomoki struggled through until he got to the fresh, less compact air of Shibuya streets. Well, compared to the inside of the arcade. Tomoki had the feeling he would feel less compacted if Yutaka and Shinya met each other, one way or another. He didn't like delaying something like this to another day now that many relationship issues have been patched up, but that can't be helped. Besides, Tomoki had the strange feeling that this day wasn't a complete waste for those two.

Later that night, Yutaka locked himself in his room. He was looking through his college syllabus again, to make sure he knew what was due when and that he wouldn't finish reading a textbook two weeks earlier than he needed to. Yutaka wanted to concentrate on that work but his mind wandered to the unfinished debt he had with Takuya and Tomoki. He thought he could sneak in that meeting with Shinya before going to the bookstore but the ensuing confusion put a stop to that. Now everyone needed to reschedule and try to repeat the process in the hopes something great would come out of it.

That annoyed Yutaka. From the sound of things, Shinya wasn't the sweetest of kids and he wanted to get it all over with. Even Tomoki at his brattiest had his charm and Yutaka could theoretically see why so many had been taken by him. But this Shinya sounded like the standard annoying little brother and even Takuya admitted how much of a pain he could be. Yutaka surmised this was part of his penance for being a pain to Tomoki and Takuya in turn but the annoyance was still present. He felt like it was going to be a waste of time.

*It'll be a pain for the both of us and then we'll leave and not think about each other again.* Yutaka thought. *I know this boy might be special in his own way but it doesn't seem likely I'll connect with him.*

At the very least, he won't have as interesting a time as he had with that boy in the arcade. He had been a bit insolent but not as irritating as Yutaka thought he would be. It had even been a bit amusing to play that game with him and correct his playing style. At least the boy expressed some appreciation for the lesson. Yutaka could only hope Shinya would have at least that level of courtesy. He wondered vaguely what the boy was up to know. Probably showing off his new skill to whatever sibling or friend he gamed with. The sibling or friend might be in for a surprise with the boy's sudden change in tactics.

The topic of video games made Yutaka suddenly aware of some interesting digitized sounds echoing outside his door. He left his room to find Tomoki playing on the living room television this time, shooting and dodging several enemy spacecrafts. The parents were sitting enjoying the show. The Himi's got a kick out of watching their sons play video games – it was like a movie, except their sons had a stake in the consequences of the fictional conflict. Yutaka got closer until he stood next to the sofa his parents occupied, observing how Tomoki coped with his fictional challengers.

"Doing okay over there?" Yutaka asked.

"Yep." Tomoki's tongue was flipped out as he worked the controls. "I decided to go for medium difficulty and it's been quite a challenge but I think I'm figuring it out."

"I see." Yutaka said. "Dodge around and feel them out. Charging in with no strategy is probably what they are programmed to want."

"Don't worry, Onii-chan. This is tougher AI but I've done enough fighting to be flexible in what I do– aha!"

Tomoki pumped a fist as his fire on the boss spacecraft led to a series of explosions and a cutscene of the player character and his allies speeding away while cheering in victory. Mr. and Mrs. Himi applauded.

"Excellent basting, Tomoki." Mrs. Himi said.

"Yeah, I probably wouldn't have been able to get through that fight." Mr. Himi said.

"Heh, thanks." Tomoki rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Though I heard the next mission is more challenging."

"You can work that out." Yutaka said. "Some people need more outside initiative than others."

Tomoki looked at Yutaka curiously. "How do you mean?"

"While you were looking for Takuya's brother, I ran into some kid a bit older than you whose play style wasn't very strategic. Granted, people learn at different rates but he was cocky and I had the sense that if he hadn't taken a beaten from me he wouldn't have considered my suggestions. He was a bit of a brat but…not entirely unlikeable."

"Huh." Tomoki said thoughtfully. "That does kind of reminds me of Takuya-onii-chan's brother. He can rude but…but sometimes in a funny way and he's nice when he wants to be. I don't know about his gaming style but from what Takuya-onii-chan said, he did have some way to go."

Yutaka gave Tomoki an odd look. "When are we going to do that meeting again?"

"Tomorrow, same time." Tomoki said. "That okay with your schedule?"

"Yep." Yutaka said. "I assume I'll know this Shinya boy when I see him?"

"He kind of looks like Takuya-onii-chan," Tomoki said, "but I admit, if I bumped into him on the street, I wouldn't think much more than that he looked vaguely familiar. I mean, do we look a lot alike?"

"Enough. I've had friends see you and immediately bring up the possibility that you're my brother enough times that it has got tiresome."

Tomoki laughed. "Sorry about that."

"It's fine." Yutaka waved dismissively. He gripped his chin. "Interesting though…"

Tomoki titled his head. "What's interesting?"

"Never mind. Just mumbling. Anyway, I'll see you at that date."

Yutaka walked back to his room. Tomoki gazed at him curiously but the younger brother eventually returned to his video game. Yutaka's own mind was elsewhere. Tomoki had innocently brought up an intriguing possibility. Yutaka brought up the mental image of the boy he encountered and compared it to Takuya.

*Hmm…I wonder.*

It was possible but Yutaka didn't have any evidence. There were many people who looked related but were complete strangers. Takuya had been far from the only boy with fiery eyes he met, after all. This was likely a coincidence and for all Yutaka knew, this Shinya could look even more unlike Takuya than was possible. But if Yutaka's suspicions were on the mark…

*Maybe this won't be a waste of time after all.* Yutaka thought wryly.

Takuya watched in consternation as a man was made to fall to his death. Not a real man, though. In order to make up to Shinya, he was playing a fighting game with him. Takuya told him straight out that he wouldn't go easy, and Shinya whined. But when Takuya started the game, it was he who was fighting for his game proxy's life. His avatar, wearing red skintight clothes with fiery designs, was sent screaming off the floating arena. Takuya observed the screen flashing a Game Over before he turned to his brother, who was aglow with victory.

"How did you do that?" Takuya asked.

"You'll find out if you beat me." Shinya said smugly.

"No, tell me."

Shinya elbowed his brother slyly. "Afraid that I'll kick your tail again, Ni-chan?"

Takuya growled. "Alright, now you have done it. Next round, start it up."

"Alright." Shinya smiled conspiratorially.

To Takuya's dismay, Shinya continued to prove a challenge. Whenever Takuya thought he got the upper hand, Shinya would come in with that ducking and punching until Takuya's avatar was defeated. After each victory, Shinya would give that annoying knowing smile, and Takuya would demand another round. It was only when Shinya apparently let his knowledge go to his head and Takuya changed tactics that the latter made any progress. On the seventh try, Takuya's avatar sent Shinya's screaming into the heavens, and it was Takuya's turn to smile all-knowingly.

"Well, do you want to say anything?"

Shinya put the controller down, looking disgruntled. Takuya thought Shinya was going to have a temper tantrum, but he sighed and lowered his head.

"I learned the technique from this college student at the arcade. I decided to move around in order to stretch my legs and encountered him. He played with me as an apology for being rude, and taught me to go the slow and steady route. He had to go, but it wasn't a few minutes later that I was picked up by you."

"Hmm." Takuya thought carefully, a hunch gnawing at him. "What did this guy look like?"

Shinya scrunched up his face to remember. "He was tall…kind of grumpy looking, with frumpy hair. He was also pale, like he spends too much time studying to go outside. Oh, and he also has green eyes. That's what I remember most. They were stern but not entirely unfriendly and…Ni-chan?"

"It's nothing, Shinya." Takuya found himself saying. "I'll be back in a minute. Just need to make a call."

Takuya got out his cell phone and his fingers hit the key automatically, his mind busy balking at the luck Shinya had. Well, Shinya and Yutaka meeting without knowing each other wasn't exactly impossible, but it was a strange twist of fate. To make sure, he would call Tomoki in order to inform him. When Tomoki answered, Takuya decided to start vague.

"So Tomoki," Takuya said casually, "anything interesting happen today."

"Um…" Tomoki said, bemused. "Why do you ask?"

"Just roll with it."

"Alright." Tomoki paused. "Now that you mention it, Onii-chan approached while I was gaming and talked about playstyle. That was strange, since Onii-chan doesn't usually do that, but I just thought your talk with him improved his mood. What are you thinking?"

"Was this game a fighting one?"

"Hmm. He told me dodge and feel out the enemy. Don't charge in with no strategy, and all that."

Takuya nodded to himself. "There's no mistaking it."

"What?" Tomoki said blankly. "What is it you aren't mistaken on? I want to know."

"I think that Yutaka and Shinya already met." Takuya whispered. "You see, Shinya got the same advice from a college-aged stranger at the arcade. I mean, are there any other surly-looking college-aged dudes with green eyes and messy hair?"

Tomoki giggled. "Maybe, but now that you mention it…he talked about meeting someone with a boy a bit older than me, and suddenly went on about family resemblance."

"Right! It's too much of a coincidence. After all, coincidences don't just happen in our lives."

"You got that right." Tomoki hummed thoughtfully. "So our brothers have met after all. What do we do?"

"I have a plan. Shinya, at least, appears to have had a nice impression of Yutaka, so this just might not be a wasted effort. We are going back to the arcade and once we get them there..."

Takuya talked on, and Tomoki made affirming noises right until the end.

Shinya was, needless to say, confused. Like two days ago, Tomoki had brought Shinya back to the arcade to meet Yutaka but this time carefully guided Shinya's every move. Tomoki even put his fingers over Shinya's eyes if the latter looked in the wrong direction. If this was Takuya, Shinya would have called this off at once, but with Tomoki's gentle direction, he reluctantly followed along.

"Are we there yet?" Shinya complained.

"Almost." Tomoki said soothingly.

"But this is annoying."

"Takuya-onii-chan and I want this to be a surprise, so put up with this a little longer."

Shinya groaned in frustration and allowed himself to be guided into the chair of an arcade machine. It was in the middle of a set of arcade machines, so it was almost impossible to see who was on the other side.

"What am I supposed to do here?" Shinya said.

"You're going to play against my brother." Tomoki said. "Neither of you are going to talk, since it's a secret here."

"Why does this have to be a secret anyway?" Shinya said. "We're going to meet your brother and see if the two of us can be friends. It looks pretty straightforward."

Tomoki smiled, and clapped his hands. "Just trust me. Be silent, and wait until you are finished playing."

Shinya put up with it. He heard his brother seating this Yutaka on the other side and speak soothingly to him. He didn't hear Yutaka say a word, which just made Shinya want to stand on the chair and peak over to see what all the fuss was about. Soon, everything was set up.

"Alright, start up you two!" Takuya's voice encouraged.

"Do your best." Tomoki said.

The game began. As Shinya saw, this was a fighting game and remembering the advice of that stranger, he went for the low blows first. Yutaka seemed to be intelligent, though, since he was able to counter those blows and inflict great damage on Shinya. Shinya reverted to his old ways of fighting, all offense and little defense. In retrospect, he shouldn't have been surprised when he lost that round.

"Good job, Yutaka." Takuya said.

"Too bad, Shinya-san." Tomoki said. "Maybe you can beat him in the next round."

Shinya nodded, trying to take deep calming breaths. He had to think clearly, calmly. This Yutaka was obviously familiar with this technique, so Shinya had to think of something that built up on that. He didn't have too long to think about it, though, so he supposed he had to wing it.

Shinya deciding to avoid energy punches of his opponent through jumping, getting closer and then jumping back. He was planning on confusing Yutaka on when he would come close to strike. After the second jump, Shinya went in to do some crouched blows and went off before his avatar could get hurt. Shinya felt like a coward for doing so, but if he wanted to win, he had to swallow some of his pride.

For the next few minutes, this was how the battle went. Shinya would play a game of keep away and then run in to strike a few crucial blows. This took even longer than before, and he had to quiet his breathing in order to not be heard. Shinya could faintly hear Yutaka's low mutters, and they tinkled slight familiarity in his head. Shinya didn't pay attention to that. His opponent's life bar was very low, but so was his. Shinya was very tired, and decided to go all out.

Ducking, his avatar did a series of rapid fire punches. Shinya watched with trepidation as his opponent raised a knife to stab him, knowing that one hit would make him the loser again. But then, Yutaka's avatar fell back and let out a death cry, and Shinya's eyes were assaulted with multicolored lights that smugly signaled he was the winner. Filled with glee, Shinya couldn't help jumping out of his seat.

"I won!" Shinya cheered.

"That's great, Shinya-san!" Tomoki said, clapping his shoulder. "That was a good game, Ni-chan."

"Nice, Shinya!" Takuya called out. "Sorry you couldn't win, Yutaka. But nice gaming nevertheless."

Yutaka only grunted in acknowledgement, and Shinya heard the rustle of someone getting out of a chair. Tomoki took Shinya's hand.

"C'mon, I want you to meet my brother."

They went around the line of arcade machines and to where Takuya stood. He was chatting with a young man Shinya found very familiar.

"Hey, it's you." Shinya greeted. "Nice to see you again, but I'm going to meet this Yutaka Tomoki is talking about. Maybe we can talk later."

The young man gave Shinya an appraising look. "So you are the Shinya my brother has talked about. You aren't as bad as I thought you were."

Shinya blinked. "Wait, now I'm confused. What are you talking about?"

Tomoki went to the side of the young man. "This is my brother, Yutaka."

Shinya looked between the pale green-eyed Tomoki and the pale green-eyed Yutaka. He balked. "Wha – what?"

"I should have known it was you then." Yutaka said. "You acted like how Takuya described, but a bit better than I expected."

"Um…you have exceeded my expectations too." Shinya stammered, still taking this revelation in. "I thought you were a grouchy guy who wouldn't know fun if it didn't come in a textbook."

Yutaka grimaced. "You got me for the wrong man. I'm good at studying, but I don't find it fun."

"Oh well." Shinya smiled, shoving his fingers into his pockets. "That teaches me to go on first impressions."

"That is apparently the lesson of the day." Yutaka relaxed. "Do you know I mistook your brother for a yakuza member?"

"No way! Were you drinking that day?" Shinya grinned. "You're probably legal with how old you are."

"I wasn't drunk. I was simply paranoid."

"You were drunk with paranoia, you were drunk with paranoia." Shinya sing-songed.

"I see you take your cheekiness from your brother." Yutaka said, annoyed.

"And I see why Tomoki has to be sweetness and light all the time, with a brother like you." Shinya replied.

The two glared at one another. Takuya glanced between them, and jumped in the middle.

"Hey, hey, don't fight now." Takuya said. "Geez, you two are like brothers yourselves."

"Yeah, it's really weird." Tomoki piped up. "You're kind of like brothers of brothers now."

"I didn't think about that." Takuya replied. "Good phrase, Tomoki."

Shinya and Yutaka glanced incredulously at Takuya and Tomoki.

"Are you kidding?" Shinya said. "That was weak!"

Yutaka shook his head. "I think you can come up with something better than that, brother."

Tomoki shrugged. "I guess you're right."

"What, do you think you can come up with better?" Takuya said, not backing down.

Shinya shared a glance with Yutaka. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Yeah, disturbingly enough." Yutaka replied.

"Then let's do it." Shinya said.

"What are you two on about?" Takuya said.

Before Takuya knew it, Shinya and Yutaka were on either side of him. They grabbed him by the arm and frog-marched him to the nearest fountain in the arcade. Yutaka nodded to Shinya, who only too gladly turned the fountain on. Takuya sputtered as his face was hit by a jet of cold water.

"Ack – stop – argh!" Takuya said.

The pair did stop and released Takuya.

"I thought he needed to cool down a little." Yutaka said.

"I was trying to do that a couple weeks back." Shinya said. "Now we're the Cool Brothers."

Yutaka grunted. "Still a weak name but the opportunity to do this was too much to pass us."

Panting and wet, Takuya glared ominously.

"Oh, now you've done it." Tomoki said. "You have awakened his fiery spirit."

"That doesn't sound good." Yutaka said dryly. "Thought that would be cooled off by our trick. Think we should run?"

Shinya, who had more to fear from his brother's wrath, nodded rapidly. "Yes!"

"Oh no, you don't!" Takuya exclaimed.

Shinya and Yutaka dodged a grab from Takuya, fleeing toward the stairs. Swearing under his breath, Takuya went after them with a laughing Tomoki behind him.

That day, these brothers elevated their bonds of friendship and all was well. Except for Takuya's hair.

The End