Chapter 6

Kouji Minamoto stepped out of the stadium's bathroom, scowling at anyone who dared look his way. Not that anyone was; the other kids were more interested in going to or from their cubicles or clustered around the TV watching a battle. Probably one of his, but it made no difference. They were just temporary.

They don't matter to me, he thought.

Of course, everyone was temporary. Friends, teachers, classmates, they all passed through his life like walking through mist.

He turned away from the enraptured audience and paused when he caught sight of a young boy with brown hair and an orange hat who had just walked in and was staring at him in shock.

"K-Kouji?"

Kouji gave the kid his best "leave me alone" glare. The boy did not move.

"But I just saw you—outside...! I was talking to you!"

"You probably just mistook another boy from me," Kouji retorted cooly.

"No, he looked just like you!" The boy (Kouji had a brief memory of seeing that boy at school, but couldn't recall his name) exclaimed. "He had the same face a-and the same color eyes! He looked just like you!"

"Don't be ridiculous," Kouji kept his voice calm, even though the other children were staring at them.

"Do you have a brother or something?"

He doesn't get it, does he?Kouji's scowl deepened. The younger boy took a step back, his eyes wide in fear instead of shock.

"I'm an only child. I don't know who you saw out there, but he was just some stranger who looked like me." Kouji turned away and headed for the nearest cubicle. Once inside, he closed the door on the world and all of its problems. He pulled on the gloves and helmet, waiting for the game to boot up.

[ Synchronizing complete.Welcome, Kouji Minamoto ]

As Strabimon, he drew in a quiet breath, then started warming up. First the karate moves he'd picked up when he was five, living in Shinagawa and still under the impression that friends were forever. That included the kizami-zuki that had given him his username. Then it was on to the jujutsu he'd learned when he was six in Kita. Bit by bit he began incorporating the other styles he'd picked up over the years: the aikido from when he was living in Setagaya, the tai chi from Chiyoda. He threw in the gymnastics he'd taken in Nagano: cartwheels, handstands, backflips, and he finally wound down by practicing some stances from the kendo he had taken a few months back.

He didn't need to do any of this, of course; the VR machine effectively placed the entire warm-up inside of his head, but the routine helped push any distracting thoughts aside. The boy from his school who had just claimed to see Kouji's doppelganger. The pushy boy from his team in the Project Frontier tournament the day before. His father and that woman...

Now warmed up and ready for a fight, Kouji activated his menu and pressed the "Seeking opponent" button.

[ Searching for opponent... ]

[ Opponent found ]

The arena around him vanished, leaving him in a huge, hollowed-out cavern. His opponent, a Spadamon, materialized. A tough-looking porcupine-like Digimon brandishing a single-edged sword. Kouji could see a college-aged guy within.

"You ready for this?" His opponent asked.

Kouji just smirked.

[ Match begins in 3...2...1... ]

[ Match Start! ]

...

A half-hour later, Kouji stepped out of the cubicle for a quick break. There was a convenience store a couple of blocks away, an excellent place to pick something up. As he left the stadium however, Kouji felt the hair on the back of his neck prickling.

It's just paranoia, he told himself. After what that kid said, you're just jumpy.

And yet, the feeling that someone was watching him persisted. Kouji's nerves were beginning to get the better of him.

Oh, for...

It was quickly becoming too strong to be ignored. He turned a nearby corner, then quickly ducked behind a parked car. At first, there was nothing but the prickly feeling, like having ants walking across the back of his neck, but Kouji's patience won out and he waited, telling himself that the it was just paranoia. Finally, there was the sound of footsteps. Kouji looked under the car to see a pair of battered sneakers walking slowly around the corner.

Probably someone from school.One of those girls who are always squealing over me.

Kouji stepped out from behind the car.

And came face to face with his mirror image.

Blue eyes—his eyes—stared in surprise from under a blue baseball cap, a face that was identical to his. The boy's hair under the hat was cropped short, not quite reaching his shoulders. That was the only difference between the two boys besides their clothing.

He looks...like me!

How is this possible?

The other boy reacted faster than Kouji could, he turned and ran off before Kouji's numbed mind could even process what he was seeing. And he was alone again with his jumbled thoughts.

What...who was that?!

It took a minute for Kouji to regain his composture and control of his thoughts.

That kid from earlier, he saw him too...

And that young boy might be Kouji's only lead on that mystery boy.

Is he still at the stadium? Kouji turned and started back the way he came. I can't go knocking on every cubicle looking for him.That would be a pain in the...

But that reminded Kouji of a similarly painful encouter the day before. The boy who claimed to be on his team in the tournament had been looking for a brown-haired second grader.

What are the odds that he's on my team, too? He thought ruefully. I thought that only happened in stories.

When Kouji got back to the stadium, there was no sign of the boy. Still shaking from his encounter, he stepped into a cubicle and put the gloves and helmet on. The boot-up process seemed to take twice as long as normal, then when he was finally on he opened the menu. Two of his team members were online, including one named 123Touto. Touto. "Little brother."

I hope that's him. Kouji pressed the button to send the invitation request.

After what felt like a long wait, he materialized in the training arena. He could see two other Digimon in the middle of what looked like target practice. One of them was a Tinkermon with the opacity turned up whom the HUD identified as "CrazyPunch." The other...

That's him!

The young boy in the Penmon blinked in surprise.

"Kouji, what...?"

"That boy you met earlier. Did he tell you his name?"

"I—no?"

Kouji closed his eyes in frustration. He was so close!

"Did you meet him?" Green eyes peered up at him through the Penmon's image.

"I saw him, but he ran before I could say anything. Tell me what you know about him."

The boy opened his mouth, then hesitated.

"I will, but on one condition."

"What?"

"Can you show up to practices? I mean, you don't have to go every day, but at least once a week? Because I think we need all the help we can get."

There was a long, tense pause as Kouji mulled it over. He didn't want anything to do with his teammates, but any lead on that boy would help.

And it's only temporary, he thought.

"Once a week. Just don't waste my time."

The boy looked over at his companion who shrugged.

"I have no idea what's going on, but I'm guessing you need some privacy," she said. "I'm just gonna meet up with some friends in-game. I'll see you tomorrow, Tomoki."

As the Tinkermon vanished, Kouji turned to the boy.

"Tell me everything."

Tomoki started his tale, describing how the bullies cornered him, then the mystery boy saved him, and their talk afterwards.

"...And he said that I'd get better at Project Frontier and maybe even win the tournament," he finished. "I knew there were some weird things about him, like his hair was different from yours. I thought you'd got a haircut. And his clothing was all worn out, and I'd never seen you wearing a hat. But he looked so much like you that I just thought he was you."

"You were probably too relieved at being rescued to think too deeply about it." Kouji sighed. "But that doesn't change anything. I still don't know who he was or why he was there."

"If I didn't know better I'd say he was following you around for some reason."

Kouji's eyes narrowed. Come to think of it, there were a couple of times in the last few days where he'd got that prickling feeling. He just hadn't thought about it until Tomoki had encountered the boy.

Great, he thought, I've got a stalker.

"Look," he finally said. "If that boy comes around again, could you tell me? Maybe get his name, or find out what he's doing here. I need to know."

"Of course." Tomoki paused. "Hey Kouji, I was wondering, could you teach me how to play better? I mean, you're the top scorer in this stadium and I just started."

Kouji snorted.

"Our Digimon are too different. Strabimon works for me because I can use physical punches and kicks. Penmon is more suited for swimming in the water and special attacks. Even if I tried to teach you martial arts, it wouldn't work."

Inside Penmon, Tomoki's lips slipped into a pout. "Isn't there anything you can do?"

Kouji glared at him, scowling. That kid had raised the act of making puppy-dog eyes into a fine art.

As long as it's only temporary...

"Activate advanced training course!" he barked. There was a shimmer in front of the two boys as a long, intricate obstacle course appeared. Kouji hopped on to the course's starting point.

"Show me what you can do," he said. "Try to knock me down."

...

When Takuya logged on after he finished his soccer practice, he was expecting to see Izumi on by herself. He was not expecting to see Tomoki's username in green on his menu.

Tomoki? Takuya froze in shock. He's back!But, what happened?

He pressed the invitation button requesting to play with Tomoki and got another surprise when he was accepted and materialized in to the other boy's training arena. The first thing he saw was Tomoki trying, and failing, to hit Kouji...Kouji?! With ice blasts as the anti-social loner maneuvered around the advanced training course. There was no sign of Izumi anywhere, but she was still online.

"Takuya!" Tomoki paused his attacks. "Hi!"

"Tomoki, you're back! Look, I wanted to apologize for yesterday..."

"Don't worry about it, Takuya." Tomoki's grin was almost cheeky. "Kouji talked me into staying."

The Strabimon player scowled irritably from where he stood balancing on one of the course's balance beams, but didn't say anything.

"Oh. What's going on?"

"Kouji was just teaching me how to hit a moving target. It's a lot harder than the training targets. Oh, by the way, can I play with you at your stadium from now on?"

"S-sure, but..what...? Never mind, where's Izumi?" Takuya asked, more to hide his astonishment at the multiple developments.

"Kouji wanted to talk to me privately, so she went to play with some friends of hers."

Takuya turned his gaze back to Kouji, who leveled back a death glare.

"It's none of your business."

"I didn't ask," Takuya replied stiffly. "Hey Tomoki, I was thinking that Saturday we could all get together in person and talk about what we need to do to improve before the competition starts.

"Eh? That sounds great, Takuya."

Takuya rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "We were originally going to talk about getting a new teammate if you really had quit, but since you didn't we might as well make use of the time."

"Count me out," Kouji said flatly.

"I didn't say you had to come, Kouji. I invited Junpei, and I was hoping I'd catch Izumi before she left."

"Don't worry about it, Takuya," Tomoki sounded optomistic about the idea. "You can just send her a PM."

"Right." Takuya looked at the obstacle course. "So...aiming practice?"

"Yeah. I'm practicing shooting at Kouji while he does the course."

The advanced course, huh? Takuya thought, looking the course over. I haven't run that in a while.

"You're welcome to take a turn on it when I'm done," Kouji said as if reading Takuya's mind.

"What? It's a big course. Two people can go on it at once."

"You'd get in the way."

Takuya bounced on to one of the beams facing Kouji.

"Are you saying I'm too slow?"

"I didn't say that, idiot..."

"Oh, you're calling me an idiot then? Well, I'm calling you out! I've had enough of your attitude!"

"Are you going to challenge me?" Kouji asked without batting an eye. Somethow, something in Kouji's nonchalant expression made Takuya even more irritated.

"I'm challenging you all right, but on my terms, not yours." Takuya pointed at the finishing point of the obstacle course. "I'll race you to the end. That is, if you think you're good enough."

Kouji blinked at him in surprise, then his face lit up in a feral grin.

"Takuya, are you sure this is a good idea?" Tomoki asked as the two boys jumped off the beams and passed him on the way to the starting point.

"I can do it! Project Frontier's all about muscle memory, right? I'm used to running drills at soccer practice." Takuya glanced over at Kouji. "Martial arts don't cover heavy running."

Kouji's only response was a loud "Hmph."

"Does this mean I shouldn't shoot you?" Tomoki asked hesitantly.

"Actually..." Takuya looked over at the Strabimon player. "Keep shooting. At both of us."

"I agree," Kouji said. "Make it harder. For him."

The boys glared at each other as they reached the course's starting line.

"Activate race mode, participants: Two," Takuya said.

"Wait, Project Frontier has a racing mode?" Tomoki asked as text appeared in front of them.

[ Race Mode activated.Players get set ]

"Only for the obstacle courses," Takuya told him.

[ Race begins in 3...2...1... ]

[ Race Start! ]

The instant those words flicked into his vision, Takuya was off and running the first sprint, leading into a hopscotch-like grid surrounded by targets.

Just like running drills in practice, he thought as he lobbed off Baby Salamander at the targets. One of the fireballs barely clipped the target and he had to throw another one off to actually destroy it, but he was still ahead of Kouji. He heard the sound of Tomoki's Ice Prism being shot and managed to vault over the large chunk of ice before it hit him.

Then it was on to the first major obstacle, the climbing nets. Takuya grabbed the bottom rung of the net, only to feel his palms buzzing as something hit him.

That wasn't Tomoki...

He looked up to see Kouji's Strabimon grab the net at a much higher level.

Did he just bounce off me?!

"Hey!" He squawked indignantly. Kouji merely smirked down at him. Then Kouji found himself dodging another attack from Tomoki. Takuya growled in annoyance as he started leaping up the net. By the time he got to the top, Kouji was still occupied with avoiding Tomoki's ice while shooting all of his targets. Oddly, the Strabimon user was not much of a quick shot, most likely because his Licht Nagel attack didn't seem to have much range. Kouji took the time to aim before firing. Takuya's aim was quicker, and as he shot the last target, the two boys were almost in a dead heat again.

The balance beams were next, and Takuya wasn't holding back. Rather than run over it as he normally did, he bounced over it, a tactic that left him open to Tomoki's fire, but he didn't care. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kouji taking a similar risk, but it was the large ice ball heading straight for him that caught his attention. Takuya used Salamander Upper to melt the ice, which worked but the fraction of a second that it took caused Kouji to narrowly pull ahead.

The final regular obstacle was a set of rope swings that users would ride to a lower platform. Takuya grabbed his rope and started swinging, but as he was close enough to jump to the platform, one of Tomoki's shots hit him square in the shoulder, sending him swirling off-course...

...

I did it! Tomoki realized as Takuya lost his balance and almost fell off the rope. He hadn't expected to hit either of the two older boys, in fact even when sliding on his ice, it was difficult for him to keep up with them.

I hope Takuya's not angry at me, he thought ruefully watching the Flamon user leaping from his rope and barely catching the edge of the platform with his fingertips. He glanced at the cooldown icon for Ice Prism, which would be ready in a couple of seconds.Maybe I can help him by attacking Kouji?

...

I need to work on aiming faster! Kouji gritted his teeth as he narrowly dodged another ice blast from Tomoki. The final row of targets was almost down, but the Penmon user's aim was improving. Finally, the last target exploded into a shower of pixels and it was one last sprint to the end for the win. It wasn't until he was around thirty feet from the goal that Kouji saw the red blur out of the corner of his eye.

Oh no, I can't lose, not to that idiot!

But Kouji was starting to feel a bit tired. Even in virtual reality, the adrenaline rush of battling or racing could wear someone out.

No, I'm too far ahead, I've got this!

Contrary to Kouji's thoughts, the other boy was gaining on him

Just a few more feet...!

He could see Takuya's arm reaching for the goal along with his own.

No, it can't be!

[ Winner: Kizamizuki! ]

For a moment, both boys stood there, the adrenaline making their chests heave as if they really had run the course.

Too close! Kouji thought. That was too close!

"Wow, that was close!" Takuya sounded oddly cheerful for all that he had lost. "Next time I'll get you for sure!"

He just lost, and he's fine with that?

"What makes you think there will be a next time?" Kouji demanded to cover his shock.

The Flamon user simply smiled.

"Because you don't seem like the type to just let things lie, Kouji, especially if I came close like that. I know I wouldn't. Besides, my dad says that competition is good. Having a rival means I won't just settle and I'll push myself even harder next time. You will, too."

For the second time that day, Kouji found himself completely slack-jawed. Takuya turned away to greet Tomoki, who had caught up with them, and praise him for his shooting ability. Kouji stared at the other boy's back as he laughed off the loss.

Rivals are good for you, huh? He thought. Maybe I should show up at practices more than once a week.

Author's note: I meant to make the race sequence longer, but the chapter was getting a little too long.