Chapter 5

It was a bright, sunny day with signs of spring turning into summer, school was out and Tomoki happily walked up the sidewalk, balancing on the curb with his arms stretched. He didn't have to worry about Project Frontier anymore, although he would miss being with Takuya and Izumi. They could get a new team member, one who was good at the game and wouldn't hold them back. The one downside was that the quickest route home from school came very close to the stadium.

Maybe I should take another way home, he thought as he saw the building's roof sticking out over the trees. I don't want to run into them.

And then his happy day came to an abrupt halt as they showed up.

"Well, aren't we in a good mood?"

No, no, no, not here! Not now!

Katsuharu Harada. Tomoki's neighbor and self-proclaimed "friend" grinned, a sly smile that promised all kinds of unpleasant things.

"We saw you playing Project Frontier the other day," another too-familiar voice drawled. Tomoki didn't have to turn around to identify the speaker: Teppei Kawano, Tomoki's other neighbor. "But you shouldn't be doing that, should you?"

"No, of course not," Katsuharu said. "You're way too young for it. In fact, I think it might be a good idea if you just stopped playing before you hurt yourself."

"Leave me alone, Katusharu." Tomoki somehow got the words out without tripping over them like he usually did when dealing with the two older boys.

"Aw, we can't do that. We're your friends. Aren't friends supposed to look out for each other?"

'Friends' wasn't the word Tomoki would have used. His neighbors had seemed friendly when the Himi family had first moved in just over six months ago, friendly enough that Tomoki had idolized Katsuharu and Teppei. But as the weeks had passed the older boys had changed. Now any "games" they played were always at Tomoki's expense, any jokes they made always had Tomoki as the punchline. They constantly took any prize Tomoki had won from the UFO catcher, and Katsuharu had a nasty habit of giving him "friendly" little punches to the stomach or shoulder.

Tomoki had cut the "friendship" off, but that hadn't been the end of it. Katsuharu and Teppei had started showing up to Tomoki's house under the pretense of wanting to play with him, and Tomoki's parents, seeing only that Tomoki had made "friends," let them in every single time. And if any of Tomoki's things went missing during those play dates, the older boys would just shrug and say Tomoki must have misplaced them. That had also been when the punching had increased in both frequency and force. The older boys didn't hurt him where his parents or anyone else could see it, of course, and there was always the threat of worse coming if he ever told anyone.

"You're not my friends," Tomoki snapped. "And I already gave up on Project Frontier."

"Now that's a lie," Katusharu smirked. "I saw you going in there just yesterday."

Tomoki flinched. He had seen the two boys heading into the stadium, and had taken the long way in the hopes that they would not see him. Katsuharu leaned over to grab Tomoki's shoulder.

"And you know what we do to liars, right?" He snarled as he dug his fingers in. Tomoki shrieked in pain.

"What are you doing?" The voice was not loud, but the silence that followed was somehow deafening.

"Minamoto!" Teppei hissed. Katsuharu's grip instantly became a friendly arm around Tomoki's shoulders. Tomoki turned his head to see Kouji Minamoto standing a few feet away, his blue eyes blazing at the two older boys from under the rim of a baseball cap.

"Sorry about that, Minamoto," Katsuharu said in his most charming voice. "I stepped on my friend's foot by accident. Hey, Tomoki, I didn't really hurt you, did I?"

Kouji's expression didn't change.

"That's a lie," he said in a deadly voice.

Katsuharu and Teppei both stiffened.

"I saw it. I saw everything," Kouji confirmed. "And you are going to leave him alone from now on. Right?"

The two boys shared an anxious glance before breaking and running off. Tomoki felt himself stagger back, warm wetness flowing down his cheeks at the pain in his shoulder.

"Are you okay?"

Tomoki didn't move. He couldn't move. It had happened again, and if Kouji hadn't shown up, Katsuharu wouldn't have let him go...

"You should sit down, I need to check that injury and make sure it isn't bad." Kouji's voice was full of warm concern, a far cry from the legendary fifth-grader who had a reputation as the school's "bad boy."

This is the guy who punched a sixth grader! Why is he being so kind to me?

"Tomoki...that's your name, isn't it? Why don't we sit down over here?"

Tomoki didn't resist as the older boy gently guided him to the curb and sat down with him.

"Can you show me where he grabbed you?"

Hesitantly, Tomoki pulled the collar of his shirt, exposing the marks from where Katsuharu had grabbed him. Kouji flinched in sympathy.

"It doesn't look like he broke the skin, that's something at least. But I think you're going to have bruises for the next few days." Kouji paused. "I have an idea."

Tomoki watched warily as the older boy got up again, walked over to a nearby vending machine, and dropped in some coins. He came back a moment later with a can dripping with condensation in each hand.

"It's not an ice pack," Kouji said as he sat back down, "But it's probably the next best thing. Put this on your shoulder over the clothes. It'll cut down on any swelling and make the pain better."

He handed Tomoki one of the cans.

"Thanks." Tomoki put the can on his injured shoulder, shivering a bit at the chill. For few moments, neither of them spoke.

"So, you play Project Frontier?" Kouji asked.

"N-not anymore. I couldn't...it was too violent for me."

"Oh." Kouji took off his hat, revealing that his black hair didn't quite reach down to his shoulders. Tomoki blinked in surprise.

I thought he had a long ponytail. Did he get a haircut?

Come to think of it, his clothing looked a bit different, too. The few times Tomoki had seen Kouji had given him the impression that the other boy's clothing was on the new side The blue jacket that he was currently wearing seemed to be slightly worn out, as was the faded green shirt underneath. And Tomoki had never seen him wearing a hat before, but he didn't know Kouji all that well, so perhaps this was just a change in clothing?

"Who were those guys?" Kouji asked.

"The—" It took Tomoki a moment to remember what had brought him into this situation. He was also somewhat surprised that Kouji didn't remember Teppei, but it fit all the rumors that had him as a completely anti-social loner.

"They're my neighbors. Katsuharu's in sixth grade, and Teppei's in fifth grade like you, but a different class. They keep telling me they want to be my friends, but they..."

"Twist your arm?" Kouji asked wryly as Tomoki's words failed him.

"Yeah, and I can't get away from them because they got my mom and dad thinking they're my friends. They're always dropping by for 'play dates.'"

"Ouch."

Tomoki didn't say anything more, but pulled the can off his shoulder and opened it.

"Feeling better?"

"A little." Tomoki started in on his drink.

"That's good news." Kouji took another sip of his drink. Tomoki shifted his eyes down to the sidewalk. While he knew Katsuharu and Teppei were unlikely to come back, there was still the matter of what would happen when he got home. The threat to tell Kouji and get him to beat up the older boys might work for a day or two, but it wouldn't stop anything in the long run.

I wish Kouji could stay with me, he thought.

"I've seen you going into the Project Frontier place," Kouji said. "You really looked like you enjoyed it."

"I did." Those words were out before Tomoki could stop himself. He hesitated, afraid that if he said anything then Katsuharu and Teppei would beat him up more. Then he realized that they were probably going to beat him up anyway.

I don't have anything to lose...

"I tried my first fight yesterday, but when someone hit me in the game, it...it was like Katsuharu hitting me all over again. I froze up and couldn't move. So I decided it would be easier for the others a-and for me if I quit."

Kouji looked sympathetic. "So you quit because you were afraid of getting hit?"

Tomoki shuffled uncomfortably. "Yeah."

"There's no shame in being afraid. I mean, I know it's going to be hard, but you won't get any better if you quit. I've seen you with your friend..."

"Takuya."

"Is that his name? He seems like a good guy and if you talk to him he'll definitely help you."

Tomoki tried to hide his guilt at walking out on Takuya the day before. He took another sip of his drink as he thought about all the things he'd seen the last few days, all the fun he'd had, and especially the friends he'd made. Takuya and Izumi probably felt bad about what had happened the day before, and he really did want to see Takuya again.

"I think you should give Project Frontier another try," Kouji continued. "I mean, it makes you happy. And as for those boys..."

"I can ask Takuya if I can play at his stadium instead of this one, but I'm more worried about them seeing me at home. They're my neighbors, remember?"

"Yeah, good point. " Kouji leaned back a bit. "They can't invite themselves into your home if you aren't there. So taking your time and staying where lots of people can see you is probably the best solution at this point. And don't take the same way home twice. If you take the same way home every day, they'll be able to get to you like what happened earlier."

Tomoki nodded.

"You know what, Kouji?" He finally said. "You...you're right. I'll keep playing Project Frontier. I mean, I didn't want to play at first because it looked scary and my brother never asked me if I wanted it. But it's more fun than I thought it would be, and I've made friends like Takuya. And maybe if I stay with it, I won't be afraid anymore and I'll even be able to keep up with you in the tournament."

Kouji blinked. "Huh?"

"You're on my team. In the tournament, I mean. I'm 123Touto."

The older boy hesitated, as if he hadn't expected that.

"You're such a good player and I want to learn from you," Tomoki continued. "Why don't you come to our team practices? Is there something we're doing wrong?"

Kouji took a long swig from his drink before answering.

"Tomoki," he began slowly as if choosing his words carefully. "You aren't doing anything wrong. I just prefer to practice alone."

"Oh."

"But I can tell you one thing," Kouji continued. "You're going to get better at Project Frontier. Who knows? Maybe we'll even win the tournament."

"Yeah!" Tomoki finished off the last of his drink. "Y'know, Kouji, the other kids at school keep saying you're not a friendly guy, and that you're kinda scary, but maybe they just don't know you. You're a lot nicer than they say you are."

"Thanks," Kouji said in a somewhat uncomfortable voice.

"No, I need to be thanking you. Not just because you helped me with Katsuharu and Teppei, but because I want to keep playing Project Frontier." Tomoki grinned. "Thank you so much! I'll see you around, Kouji!"

He practically ran the rest of the way to the stadium, his spirits uplifted by Kouji's words. He only paused long enough to drop the now-empty can into a nearby recycling container. Then he opened the stadium's door—

And everything came to a screeching halt.

Kouji Minamoto was walking out of a nearby bathroom. Ponytail intact, black shirt, scary glaring eyes, ever-present scowl.

But I just saw—

Then, who was...?

Two Koujis?!