Chapter 8: A Special Gift

Kazuya wished that everyone would simply ignore him, but instead, they had avoided him which did little to curb the fact that they still paid close attention to him. There were always the rumors; Kazuya could do nothing to stop them from spreading. All of them were completely off target at least this is what Kazuya knew to be true from Benjamin who never missed a chance to inform him about it. Kazuya wouldn't be surprised if Benjamin had started them—he was just a little too excited about all the buzz. He eventually went off on his own whenever he really wanted to concentrate—sometimes he couldn't even tolerate Benjamin's presence. Usually it worked out when he climbed out to the roof, but not always. Apparently, other kids knew of this place as well. He would have a book and try his wit at reading it correctly.

On one certain day, Kazuya was doing just that, but he was unfortunately stuck on one word.

"It's 'sentence'," a girl's voice said aloud.

The first thing Kazuya noticed since he still looked down at his book was her tennis shoes—they were purple with a shiny finish on it. On the side was a chiefly red check mark with a threaded yellow outline.

"Nice shoes," Kazuya said finally as if completely disregarding her last statement.

"Thanks. You want them?" the girl said with a shrug.

"What? No, I'm busy."

"Well, I guess that's one rumor that's wrong. I've never heard of a person who doesn't like anything. I was going to ask you that question, but you made it pretty easy."

"Is that all? You can leave now."

"Well, alright, suit yourself," the girl shrugged and then walked away.

When she wasn't looking, he glanced back at her shoes, but then continued with his book. Of course, this was not the last he saw of her. He later knew her name to be Becky or at least it was her preferred name—her real name was Aiko, but for some reason she hated whenever anyone called her that. She would march up to him every once in a while and demand to know if this rumor or that rumor was true. Each time, she'd have a different pair of tennis shoes on all which were new and looked pleasing to Kazuya's eyes. He would always say something about them and she would then ask her question—then he'd tell her to buzz off. That was the extent of their relationship in the beginning, but neither of them grew tired of it.

At breakfast, lunch, and dinner, it was not uncommon to see Becky—who had quietly slipped away from her usual bunch of friends—Benjamin, and Kazuya sitting together. Kazuya never made it a point to sit with anyone but it was as if they were drawn to him and the reason for this was not apparent. On most occasions, Kazuya would simply listen to them talk back and forth only half interested with what they had to say. Becky, with her long dyed blonde, tied back hair would always make a point to smile whenever Kazuya was around. She was also a bit adventurous and managed to get in trouble at least once every week with her tendency to always be in the wrong place. Needless to say, she always had something to talk about to Benjamin.

"I've just thought of something cool we could all do together," Becky said aloud one day.

Kazuya had just finished his food—which always tasted crappy in his opinion—and looked at Becky wearily.

"We're gonna' steal some decent food from the grocery store," Becky explained excitedly.

"What brought this on?" Benjamin asked confused.

"Well, isn't it your birthday tomorrow?"

"Um…y-yeah—" Benjamin closed his mouth when he felt Kazuya's gaze on him.

Probably the only reason he hadn't jumped across the table and given him a nice hefty punch to the guts was because others were watching and he didn't want to draw attention.

"I-I m-mean…" Benjamin stopped himself again and took a deep breath, "Yes, it is."

"Well no one's going to celebrate it unless we do something about that. We have to get you a birthday cake and everything. What do you say, Kazuya? Do you want to help?"

"I'm in," Kazuya said simply, but Benjamin did not miss the not too subtle cracking of the knuckles. "I just want some better food. I think I've already thought of the perfect present for him."

Benjamin knew that Kazuya wasn't the kind of person to give presents so he could only wonder what he was talking about. He didn't like the sound of it, however.

That night, the three of them stole out of the orphanage. Benjamin and Becky were not very quiet, but the fact that Kazuya was with them probably convinced the other kids to say nothing at all about it. Neither of them knew where to go because they had hardly ever stepped outside of the orphanage before. Obviously, Becky had not thought things through. They wound up following Kazuya who had done this sort of things plenty of times before. Becky was clearly impressed.

"So this means you're from around here then?" Becky asked to Kazuya as they crossed another street.

"Not at all," Kazuya responded and he did not elaborate.

She was thoroughly mystified by this point. She didn't know what to make of him. Benjamin only gave her a knowing look. It didn't take them long to reach the grocery store. Instead of going through the front, Kazuya led them to the back where there was a door that could be easily unlocked. The two quietly watched as he used two thin strips of metal to pick at the lock. He wasn't a professional, but given enough time to jostle with the gears inside—and that took forever it seemed like—the door popped open.

"For a moment there, I thought we were stuck," Becky commented.

"They've changed the locks," Kazuya said gruffly, "which means it might not be so easy this time."

It was quite obvious to Becky then that he had done this plenty of times before.

"I don't like this at all, maybe we should turn back," Benjamin said.

"Then turn back. It'd be a complete waste for me to do the same," Kazuya answered.

Becky followed Kazuya in and after standing there watching their disappearing forms, Benjamin followed as well. Kazuya halted when they got to the first corner and peered around it—Becky tried to do the same, but she only managed to slip and fall.

"Hey, you kids shouldn't be here!" called a voice from all the way down the aisle.

"Crap! I'm sorry you guys!" Becky whispered frantically as she pulled herself back to her feet and ran back around the corner.

Kazuya could already hear the footsteps of the policeman. With a heavy sigh, he stood up and dashed around the corner.

"Hey, wait!" Becky shouted, but she found herself being held back by Benjamin. "Let go, he'll get himself in trouble."

"Let Kazuya do what he does best," Benjamin said in calming tones.

They grew quiet when they heard a heavy thump on the floor. It was then that they chanced a peek. There stood an unharmed Kazuya and an unconscious policeman.

"If this is the only protection this store has, they'll have to deal with a lot more stolen goods."

Becky stared wide-eyed, but Benjamin pulled her along and they followed Kazuya to the section where the cakes were stored at.

"Here we are," Kazuya said finally.

"Wow…I can't believe we actually did it!" Becky exclaimed.

Becky, though she was known for being adventurous, had never been on one that ended on a good note.

"Grab one already," Kazuya said impatiently, "People don't stay unconscious forever."

While Becky gushed over which one they should take, Kazuya slipped into other various aisles and took some food that he actually wanted to eat. The food at the orphanage was frankly disgusting. This time was different, though. Now he could read the label instead of depending on the picture or if something looked right. It brought a grin to his face. He could finally do it; he could finally read on his own.

"Good, so now we can get back to your training, slacker."

Kazuya flinched involuntarily when he heard Devil's voice again. Devil had been oddly silent for the last few weeks; Kazuya had naïvely begin to assume that perhaps he had become dormant and that he had won. Of course it wouldn't be so easy.

"I have to stay…just a little while longer," Kazuya said back. "Until I'm able to read even a book without pictures. After that…I'm sure I could manage on my own."

"Excuses, excuses," Devil muttered incessantly in Kazuya's mind.

"Um…Kazuya?"

Kazuya turned to Benjamin then who had seemed to sneak up behind him.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"I thought you were with Becky."

"Yeah, but she didn't want me to see which cake she got and the present so…"

"Right."

"Kazuya? Are you really okay?"

It wasn't a good sign that he was talking to himself once again; the incident from before remained vivid in his mind.

"Why do you always insist on bringing things up? It's annoying. I don't need a babysitter."

"I won't say anything else. Just that…if all you want to do is learn a few things, it won't happen if you wound up…well, you know…"

"I'm well aware," Kazuya said back. He had suddenly grown rather tense.

"Is that my present?" Benjamin said completely changing the subject as he pointed to all the food he had collected in one of the bags he held. It seemed packed with bags and bags of junk food.

"No, this is for me. I already have your present."

"Really?"

"You'll see."

Again, Benjamin didn't like the sound of this at all.

"Hey, guys, I'm ready!" Becky said loudly down the aisle.

Kazuya didn't like the fact that Becky was so loud, but he was glad that this whole venture was over. They went back out the same way they came in and smoothly made it back to the orphanage without further incident.

/

The next morning was noisier than usual and it was still quite early. Kazuya decided that he would ignore them as he usually did and catch some extra sleep. As one can probably recall, Kazuya was used to getting up extremely early, but it wasn't hard to fall into a less strenuous routine. There did seem to be a little bit too much laughing and joking about.

"Hey, Kazuya," Benjamin whispered frantically knowing that Kazuya was only pretending to be asleep. "You gotta' wake up. Becky's in trouble."

"So?" Kazuya said with a yawn, "No need to add to it."

Benjamin watched as the other pulled the pillow over his head in an attempt to block out the noise.

"You're really not gonna' do nothing?" Benjamin asked in disbelief—then again, he probably shouldn't have been so surprised.

Benjamin took a deep breath and gathered the same courage that had allowed him to keep visiting Kazuya despite being utterly afraid of him. He took ahold of the pillow and grabbed it from him. It didn't take long for Benjamin to feel the crushing blow of a fist aimed directly at his nose. He fell back onto the floor but he still held the pillow and his legs took the covers along with him.

"You jerk! Don't ever do something like that again!" Kazuya yelled infuriatingly at the nonresponsive Benjamin as he leaped to his feet.

Speaking of not trying to draw attention, the entire room became soundless when they heard his raised voice. He had never raised his voice in such a way in front of them before and Kazuya was acutely aware of the stares he was getting from afar. Finally, he stepped off the bed and made his way over to where all the noise had been coming from. There was a now silent mob of boys gathered around a tearful Becky. Kazuya looked from the half-eaten cake in their hands and then back to them. He hadn't even said a word, but he was promptly given the tray with which the cake was on. Perhaps the deathly look that Kazuya gave them could help explain their reaction. Becky, seeing Kazuya, ran behind him and the boys kept their distance. At first they were frozen, but then they simply walked off mumbling to themselves.

"You…you did it," Becky said with her still shaky voice from her previous tears, "Thank you."

"Here," he said handing her the tray.

"Oh," Becky managed as she took it up. Then she went to also take back the lid which had been forgotten on the floor somewhere. "Hey, where are you going?" she said as he took his leave.

"Get some extra sleep," he replied.

"Oh…alright."

Kazuya found both the blanket and the pillow all in a heap along with Benjamin. He took both of these things off of him and climbed into bed again. Benjamin was left with a bloody nose and as soon as he could—an hour or so later—he took off for the bathroom. He almost ran into Becky who had been keeping vigilance over him. Not to mention that since people kept their distance away from Kazuya, she didn't have to deal with the same boys from before.

"Benjamin, what happened?"

"That Kazuya…sometimes I wonder why I even bother."

"What? He did that to you?"

Benjamin gave her a look, "You're lucky you're a girl," he said as he then rushed passed her to get to the bathroom.

Becky sat on Benjamin's side of the bed waiting for either Benjamin to return or for Kazuya to wake up. Benjamin made it back first.

"Well, there's still some cake left. We might as well eat it now before we run into any more trouble."

She handed him the cake with a smile.

"Oh, th-thanks. I mean, thank you very much," Benjamin said correcting himself.

She giggled playfully as he did this. "It was supposed to be a cake with a smiley face bear on it, but now all there is is the ear."

"That's fine."

"At least my present is small enough to hide so I'll wait to give it to you later."

"Alright."

Becky took out three forks from her pocket and handed Benjamin one of them. "Just let me get Kazuya."

"Don't bother," Benjamin scoffed. When he saw the surprised look on her face, he thought of an excuse, "Um…that is, he really doesn't like cake."

"Oh, okay. Well that's fine. More for us then."

While they did all of this, Kazuya slipped out of bed and escaped their friendly laughter. There was always the roof he could go to where no one would bother him. When he got there, he realized that he had forgotten to bring a book. It didn't matter though as he sat down quietly as if he was waiting for something. And he continued to sit there.

"You slacker…You really don't want to do anything, do you? Learning to read? That was just an excuse for not training. Now I find you doing absolutely nothing."

"Shut-up! I don't want to hear from you anymore."

"You pitiful little…You've grown attached, haven't you?" Devil asked in a mockingly surprised voice.

Kazuya didn't even reward it with an answer.

"You don't belong here and you've known it since the day you decided to defy me and come here. Now you see for yourself. They don't understand you like I do."

"That's only because I purposely close myself off to others. Don't give yourself so much credit."

"They'll never accept you like I do."

"They don't accept you."

"They won't help you get stronger."

"Only I can do that. Just leave me alone."

"You know I can't do that. It's been so long since we've had this kind of quality time. Isn't that why you came up here so you could be alone with me?"

"Maybe. I don't know why I came here. I'll miss class, but I don't care anymore."

"Maybe you should be training. You never got tired of that when you were really focused on it."

"Training is the only thing I know how to do, but I don't…I don't even want to do it right now."

"You know what that means?"

"No."

"It means, you should have listened to me. You've become a slacker just as I knew would happen if you took off even one day. You've forgotten about the reason you're doing all this. Your father. Even now, your father is still living happily without you around. He got away with murder and he's never going to pay for his actions. He doesn't feel guilt or remorse—he only feels happiness. The very same happiness he felt on the day your mother died. I hope this is jogging your memory. Your training is of the utmost importance."

"I must train…" Kazuya said quietly.

"Yes, exactly."

"Maybe later."

"Later? Now."

"No, not now. I don't feel like it now."

"Now!"

"Later. And that's my final decision."

"Fine. As long as you do so."

Kazuya stood up then and looked to the sky. And he kept watching it. He watched as the sun slowly traversed across the sky past numerous puffy clouds and then as the blue sky began to darken. It was as if he was in a trance.

"So this is where you've been."

It took Kazuya a long moment to realize that someone had spoken to him. The silence had become so deafening that he had begun to ignore everything else. Kazuya only answered Benjamin with a glance.

"You missed class."

This time Kazuya did nothing besides look down.

"I've been looking for you all day."

"Hmph."

"Sorry about what happened back there. I…well…"

"Maybe I really don't like cake. It's not like I cared about that."

"You always act like you don't care, but I know the truth."

"This isn't usually the response one expects after giving someone a bloody nose. If you want to hate me, then go for it."

"Kazuya!" Benjamin said frustrated that he still didn't understand that he'd never stop being his friend, "Kazuya…is that really what you want?"

"I still haven't given you my present."

"Oh…yeah."

"Meet me in the back in five minutes," Kazuya said.

Mystified, all Benjamin could do was nod. Kazuya waited until the other left before he too did the same. However, he instead made it out of the orphanage and took off to his previous hideout which was the abandoned gym. When there, he went straight to the cabinets where he had stowed all the things he had not wanted to take with him. There they were—his red fingerless gloves. He had stolen them from a clothing store when it had caught his eye. They were cheap and probably would fall apart after using them too much, but it was part of the gift that he would give Benjamin. With these in hand, he ran off again back to the orphanage in record time. By the time he got to the designated spot, Benjamin was there.

"Almost thought you were just going to leave me hanging."

"Now that wouldn't make sense."

There was a lone light that showed as the black cement bordered with the grass.

"Is that it?" Benjamin asked looking at the red gloves.

"No," Kazuya said with a grin as he slipped them on carefully. "I think you should stand in the grass."

Benjamin soundlessly backed up into the grass. He was still looking at Kazuya, but now he was becoming weary.

"What exactly is this?" Benjamin asked, but Kazuya did not intend to answer back.

"Hold still."

Benjamin had never seen him look so focused before—not even when he was working on a worksheet. He watched as Kazuya moved into a strange stance and his muscles seemed far more tense than usual. Then his hands clenched into a solid fist. Benjamin stood in frozen wonderment. Suddenly, Kazuya charged at the other with surprising speed and his fist shot out and then up as it connected with the other's chin. The only thing Benjamin saw was the strange crackling of blue lightening and then it was lights out.

"There," Kazuya said with a grin, "That's the move that's gonna' kill my father."

Benjamin was knocked quite far in the air and he landed ungracefully in the grass. Kazuya took his time approaching him and sat down on the ground beside him. He woke only after a few hours and there was a thin line of blood which had crawled from the side of his mouth down to his ear.

"Kazuya…what the hell…?" Benjamin managed.

Kazuya noticed the blood on his teeth and watched as he turned slowly and spat out a wad of it—no doubt another broken tooth.

"Is it 'cus I had a slip up in front of Becky last time? Was it the cake?"

Kazuya shook his head; then he looked at him. "Congratulations, you're the first one to ever receive that attack—it's called Lightening Uppercut. Did you like it?"

"No," Benjamin said exasperatedly.

"You should feel honored. There will be countless other people who will find themselves on the receiving end of this attack, but none of them will be first one—that spot is reserved for you. Always."

"Well, when you put it that way…" Benjamin said with a sigh, "But you really suck at gifts, you know that?"

"It's not as if I put all my strength into it—I wasn't trying to kill you."

"That makes me feel so much better."

Kazuya stood up and for a moment Benjamin thought that he was simply going to be left behind. Then the unthinkable happened; Kazuya held his hand out to him. Surprised, Benjamin paused before he finally took his hand and he was lifted up quite easily. Just when Benjamin thought he could then walk on his own, he fell to his knees again.

"What's wrong?" Kazuya asked grudgingly.

"That lightening…really hurts. I would hate to see what that attack does to someone at full strength."

"Fine, I'll carry you."

"You'll what?"

"It is still your birthday, isn't it? Now grab hold before I change my mind," Kazuya said bending down.

Kazuya was slightly taller than the other so he was just tall enough to carry him on his back without it being too awkward. Since it was night, all the kids had gone to bed. It made Kazuya's trip to the bathroom that much easier without unwanted prying eyes. By then, Benjamin was able to walk on his own so he went to the sink to clean himself off and Kazuya waited quietly at the door.

"What did Becky give you?" Kazuya asked.

"She gave me shoe laces," Benjamin said with a short laugh, "To think there's actually someone out there who fails worse than her at gifts," he said shaking his head.

"At least it's memorable."

"Kazuya…you're still planning to leave, aren't you?"

Kazuya only nodded back.

"You know when?"

"Not now."

"Alright."

"But I wouldn't tell you, especially since you're not coming with me."

"You can't go all by yourself. You almost died last time, you know. There's no way you could survive out there without help."

Kazuya turned away from him.

"Stop being so stubborn."

"Let's just go to bed."

Soon the two of them crept quietly back into the room where their beds were. Benjamin who was used to sleeping with no covers was caught off guard when Kazuya allowed him some part of it—and Benjamin was quite grateful. Although also sharing the pillow was too much to ask…