CHAPTER 12

Hayagashi and the twin growled, as the ball raced through the air, meeting the hand of the twin who gripped it tightly in his hands.

"Shoot!" Hayagashi jerked back, his mind in a flurry of decisions on which part of his body should be used to block the shot. The twin brandished a mischievous grin, prepared his throwing stance, with his eyes locked at Hayagashi.

"But-" He thought, his stare shifting to Ren in an instant. " I want you to myself." Within a second, the ball flew past Hayagashi's vision, he turned only to watch the impact against Ren's shoulder. The sound of his arm bones shattering were flushed by his screams of pain.

"Ren!" Hayagashi shifted his feet, wanting to dash for his friend's care.

"You idiot!" Ren's screams were replaced by insults pelted at his friend. "The ball-" He chanted. "Catch the ball." The screeching sound of friction between Hayagashi's shoes and the court floor deafened the crowd, as he came to an abrupt halt to calculate the dropping point of the ball.

"Alright." He nodded, the ball shooting down as he collected it in his injured hands. Silence was maintained after the act, as the crowd wondered why Hayagashi hasn't moved a step since catching the ball.

"Is he-"

"AAAAAHHH!" He yelled, his injured hands pulsing with their tint becoming a defined blood red. He bit his bottom lip to stop the screams, his hands shaking and aching to drop the ball.

"What now?!" The twin called, posing in a taunting manner. "Aren't you gonna throw it?" He teased, closing his eyes and resting on the floor, awaiting Hayagashi's next move.

"Damn you!" Hayagashi swore, attempting to hold the ball on one hand, but he was repelled by his own body. "Ren-" Hayagashi looked back at his friend, who was holding his broken shoulder for support.

"Ren!" He called. "Can you go on?"

He scoffed. "I don't think so." He forced a smile. "It's my throwing hand too."

"Can't you use the other hand?!"

"Even if I could, it'll take a one in a millionth chance to land a hit on him." He sighed, squinting upon rubbing his shoulder. "Hayagashi." He whispered.

"Hmm?"

"Drop the ball." He gritted his teeth.

"Oi." Hayagashi's face contorted. "What the heck are you saying?"

"I'll say it again." He took a deep breath. "DROP THE BALL!!" His voice made a quake in Hayagashi's body, sending his nerves and senses on edge. Hayagashi has heard Ren's loud and powerful orders, but it was different at that time. His voice didn't display the same power as it did, it had a resonance of sorrow in the delivery. Sorrow mixed with regret and the pain of having his shoulder broken to pieces.

"But-"

"Hayagashi." Ren shook his head. "We can't win." His voice shook.

"W-"

"I don't wanna hear it. Everything we've tried has failed, if we go any longer, he'll-" He stuttered, his tongue refusing to form the last word. It was true, that they were inevitably defeated, both injured to hospitalization and their opponent unscathed, itching to finish the exam with a final blow. Ren turned away from Hayagashi and began walking towards the benches.

"I know." Hayagashi smiled, a grin that displayed pure insanity. Ren's steps stopped, looking back at his friend.

"But-" Hayagashi held back a yelp from gripping the ball with his injured hands. "It's gonna be one heck of a story to tell someday." He threw the ball into the air, heads tilting as the crowd watched it descend and connect with his shin, shooting the ball from the half and missing the twin by the ends of his hair.

The crowd's eyes flew wide at the act of determination from the desperate boy. He threw his hands in the air and turned to the twin.

"I don't care how bad it hurts, nor if I lose." He forced his hands to form a fist. "I just wanna wipe that look off your face!" He gargled; the twin's previous cocky persona had devolved to that of intimidation.

"Are you crazy!?" He exclaimed. "You can't use your hands!" He urged Hayagashi to forfeit before he could sustain further injury, but the boy relented, adamant to defeat him.

"Don't give me your mercy." His pupils shrunk, as the next round began, followed by the launching of another ball. The twin stood still, his reflexes demanding him to move for the ball and proceed to victory, but his mind was filled with washed thoughts. He had never seen a child so enthralled in a battle he could lose; he had never even imagined such a sight. Though Hayagashi had given him another nightmare that would keep him awake for several nights.

Hayagashi was first to reach the ball, and kicked it at the twin, knocking him back as it connected.

"No." The twin held the ball as it dragged him to the border line. "I can't lose here!" He stopped at the near end of line, his body drowned in sweat and hands red from the force of the ball swerving against his palms.

"Your move." Hayagashi cupped his hands, preparing for the twin's strike.

The twin's teeth clenched, stomping the ground hard and sending shockwaves across the court-pulling Ren back into the playing field.

"Why won't you give up!!" The twin complained, crushing the caught ball in between his hands as drool ran down his chin.

"This kid's got some serious issues." Ren thought.

Hayagashi turned and held his hips. "So good of you to come back and help." He said in a tone that instilled guilt into Ren.

"Yeah." Ren scratched his head. "I guess it could be a pretty cool story." His attention shifted to the boy with splinter covering his hands. "That's if we survive." He continued.

Hayagashi rubbed his swollen hands together, attempting to numb them so he can take another throw from the twin.

"It won't work." Ren said.

"It'll be different this time."

"Explain."

Hayagashi pulled Ren closer and whispered into his ear, pointing at the twin whose veins and vessels were poking out his skin.

"He's frustrated, and angry." He explained. "Knowing this, he'll go for a throw that will use up most of his stamina."

"So, when I get the ball." Ren pinched his chin.

"He'll be too tired to dodge your throw." They said in unison, clashing heads and hands as they celebrated their genius plan.

"But-"

"Hmm?" Hayagashi tilted his head.

"Is he angry enough?"

"I don't know." Hayagashi shrugged. "But if we try to make him angry, he'll catch on to the plan."

"So, we're going with plan, from just a hunch." A skeptical Ren commented.

"A hunch that might cost our lives, but make us pass?" Hayagashi brandished a maniacal grin. "I'll stick with my odds." He ran back to the middle line and prepared for the next ball.

"He's in his element." Ren thought, cracking his neck and winding his healthy shoulder. "I better get in mine too."

The ball was shot once again, Hayagashi watching it as it bended towards him, begging to be picked or pelted into the twin and finish the match.

"No." He stopped himself from running for the ball. "I gotta stick to the plan." He stepped away from the line and let the twin take the ball. The twin's splinters dug into his hands, as blood trickled down the ball and onto the court-floor, yet he lacked the expression of pain and discomfort, only a blank stare that was fixed on his opponents.

"Jinan!" The twin's brother called from the bench. "Fix your injuries first, w-"

"Shut up." Jinan responded with an exhale. "I'm tired of you." He continued, his stare shifting to his brother.

"I'm tired of being the 2nd son." He ranted, to which his brother frowned.

"You're not the 2nd." His brother debated. "We're the same." He continued, to which Jinan clicked his tongue.

"Not to our parents." He added. "Jinan, be as smart as Ichiro. Jinan, be as kind as Ichiro. Jinan, be as hard-working as Ichiro." He went on and on, repeating the frustrations that his parents etched on him.

"I was told that I was slow, just because I was a minute behind your birth." He continued. "That since our parents did expect me, they wanted to throw me away." He clamped his head with his hand. "Because you're perfect."

Ichiro gasped.

"I wanna be perfect too." A smile grew on his face, his attention returning to the two boys. "Maybe after beating these two, mom and dad won't rip on me anymore."

"Jinan!" Ichiro called, to which he ignored. "I've always known that our parents loved me more, but-" He bit his lip. "THIS ISN'T THE WAY!!"

"Could you please shut up?" Jinan replied. "I won't ask you twice."

"You've killed someone!"

"She's probably not dead."

"It doesn't matter if she's dead." Ichiro growled. "Look what it's made you, do you really want to kill everyone that gets in your way, for people that don't love you back?"

Jinan's eyes widened, struck by the message his brother was sending him since they're argument had started. He had changed, for the better of his parents, but at the cost of losing himself, of losing Ichiro. His brother was the one who truly accepted who he was, but he was too blinded by jealousy to realize it. Taking his parents' insults to heart and forcing the brothers to compete for their love.

"Ichiro." Jinan called, a whistling noise coming from his back as his arm bulged and grew to twice its size. He glanced at his brother with a smile, before his eyes locked with those of Ren. Watching this, Hayagashi bolted into action, Ren frozen-imagining that he was to face the same fate as the earlier girl.

"What the heck's up with arm!" His thoughts screamed.

"Make it Hayagashi, please make it!" Hayagashi pushed the limits of his sprint, the backlash from kicking the ball holding him back.

"Thanks. I feel much better now." Jinan exhaled, the ball flying off his arms, the air separating to make way for the bullet that was targeted for Ren-him frozen in place, fear planting him still onto the court floor with eyes tracking every movement frame of the shock-speed ball.

"That was-" Raijin shot up from the bench.

"Reikatsu!!" The three teachers said in sync.

"Ren!!" Hayagashi called. Before Ren could respond, he was shoved away from the path of the ball, exposing Hayagashi to the projectile.

"Damn it." Raijin swore. He was able to save Hayagashi and stop the ball at the same time, but he feared that his speed whiplash could further injure, or kill the boy. He watched as the ball stuck Hayagashi's face, his face sinking into his skull, and the ball shattering upon contact. The impact flung Hayagashi off the court, breaking past the building walls and setting him in the field outside.

"Ouch!" He thought, he tried screaming out the pain he felt, but his mouth wouldn't move, nor could he feel it. Then the world was rid of scents, the flowers from the trees, the sweat from his body, he couldn't sense any of them. In crisis, he attempted to pull himself off the ground, to discover that his body was rejecting the order.

"HAYAGASHI!!" Ren burst through the hole, racing for Hayagashi. "You're gonna be fine." He shivered, making expressions that signified the extent of Hayagashi's injuries.

"Ren-" Hayagashi failed to speak, whimpers and moans were all he could muster. "I can't feel anything." He strained, tears scorching the cuts on his face. The crowd from the benches huddled around Hayagashi. Raijin pulling away from the children, and kneeling to look at the boy.

"He's alive." He sighed. "Barely." He thought, watching as Hayagashi's eyes began dropping to a close, sinking to the depths of their sockets.

"No,no,no,no." Raijin repeated, frantically calling Isamu and Roshi for help. The swarm of children spread away, averting their eyes from another sight of a child mortality.

"It's so cold, It's so quiet." Hayagashi's eyes closed, the voices from the crowd around flushed out as his hearing dissipated. He prayed that he would get better, denying that he was about to die and trying to force his body off the ground to prove it.

"I'm okay, I'm okay." He chanted, though the panicking Ren couldn't hear him, demanding his friend to wake up and finish the game.

"I can't, I can-" His breathing slowed to a pause.