Our Invincible Protagonist (4)

By the grace of Nakaba's generous alumni, there are an ever increasing number of facilities and amenities being built on campus every year to cater to every student's individual interests to the best of the school's ability. Of course, as students come and go many of the more specialised facilities fall into disuse fairly quickly. Most of them turn into hangouts for students who couldn't care less about their studies and come to school solely to socialize and hold gatherings...

One such gathering was being held at the school's long abandoned boxing ring. A group of young men sporting untidy uniforms and ridiculous hair were hanging around the area, smoking and drinking to their heart's content. All were most definitely the type of student one would avoid bumping into on the street, save for one.

There was one student among them whose uniform was neat and tidy, one whose neatly combed hair and dashing looks made him look severely out of place amongst the scowling, scarred faces of the crowd around him. He was seated in a comfortable-looking chair in the middle of the ring reading a magazine, in front of him knelt a blonde-haired delinquent.

"So what you are telling me is," the brown haired boy said, putting down the magazine he was reading, "You guys got your asses kicked by a pair of freshmen?"

"Yes sir," the blonde lowered his head in shame, "we were just going to rough up the new kid like you asked, but he had this really strong underling. It was some weirdo in a biker helmet. Took the guys out like they were nothing, he looked more like he was swatting flies than fighting seriously."

"I see…" his leader replied, "and your target?"

"Well, he just made threats really, kept talking till his underling showed up and then let him handle it." Said the blonde, scratching his head, "Still…the way he talked, and the look in his eyes. I don't think things would have turned out any differently if we had tried to take him on instead."

"Is that so?" the leader frowned, lifting his hand to his chin, "Keep an eye out for them both, we can't let an incident like this pass."

"Yes Sir!"

As his blonde underling scurried away the leader returned to reading his magazine, its contents exactly what one would expect from someone skipping class to hang with delinquents. He had simply wanted to get a new feel of some new talent, to see if he was worth investing in, but it seemed things had gotten a little more complicated than he thought.

There was no doubt as to the identity of the masked stranger that had come to Shuyaku's aid, and that man was nobody's underling. He was not sure what either of them was planning, but he was going to find out.

And he was going to teach both of them a lesson or his name wasn't Kazuki Toru, leader of the Firebirds.

SSS

There were not many places near enough to Nakaba High that a delinquent could go to without drawing too much attention. One of these places was a small, run-down sports centre tucked away into a hidden alley a few blocks from the school. It wasn't particularly well-known nor did it get much business, but it did have one regular visitor.

Said visitor was making use of the batting cages along with a newcomer he had dragged along with him. The two had been going at it for quite some time without much conversation, but as the regular got close to hitting his 50th homerun, the messy haired newcomer finally spoke:

"Onimaru…when you said you were taking me somewhere cool I don't know what I was expecting."Kotaka cried, narrowly dodging a speeding baseball, "But a batting centre?"

"I've been coming here ever since middle school. "Onimaru swung his bat, the ball hitting the target board squarely in the center, "It's cheap and the soba they make down the block is killer."

"Ah I see…"

"What's with this relaxed atmosphere?" Kotaka thought between swings. He had been completely so caught up in Onimaru's pace that he almost forgot the reason he followed the guy in the first place.

"Hey you," said Kotaka as he missed yet another fastball, "Why did you bring me here?"

"Huh?" came a confused reply, "Didn't I just tell you?"

"That's not what I meant!" Kotaka yelled, turning to Onimaru and dodging another ball in the process, "What do you want from me?"

"Oh…?" Onimaru replied, swinging his bat and adding another homerun to his count, "I just wanted someone to swing bats with."

'Argh this guy…' thought Kotaka, 'I really can't tell if he's serious or just messing with me.'

"Yosh," said Onimaru as the counter registered his 55th homerun, "Let's take a little break."

The two companions bought some drinks and took a seat beside the vending machine outside the batting cages. Kotaka was about to take a sip of his coffee when a thought popped into his head: Onimaru would have to take off his helmet to have a drink, this was his chance to see what he really looks like.

He turned to Onimaru, the latter setting down three cans of cola on the bench. He watched as Onimaru opened a can with a pop and saw him move his hand up toward his helmet. Onimaru reached behind his neck and Kotaka heard a soft 'click'. With a sharp hiss the material between the 'jaws' of Onimaru's helmet slid away, allowing Onimaru to chug his cola without obstruction.

"Of course." Thought Kotaka as he started on his coffee, "what else should I have expected to happen?"

"Say Boss," said Onimaru as he opened his second can of cola, "Got any stories about your old neighbourhood?"

"Hah?" Kotaka gasped, nearly choking on his coffee, "Wh…wh…why do you ask?" Kotaka asked nervously, barely managed to suppress his stutter.

"Just want to get to know my new batting partner a bit better", said Onimaru

Kotaka looked down at his coffee, eyes glazing over as memories came flooding back. The sooner Kotaka could forget about his time back in his old neighbourhood the better. Though honestly speaking, it wasn't getting beaten up by delinquents that he wanted to forget the most.

SSS

It was during his first year of middle school, he had been in plenty of fights before that but this particular one was the first in which he didn't get knocked out by the first punch.

He was on his way home when he chanced upon a group of troublemakers from his school. He couldn't remember what he did to offend them, but needless to say it quickly escalated into violence. They had dropped him to the ground pretty quickly and had started kicking him around.

He remembered being surprised that he was still conscious and starting to look around for someone, anyone to come to his aid, but no one came. All he saw were people turning away and shaking their heads as they walked past. He didn't understand why they didn't lift a finger to help him, and could only lie still until his tormenters left.

The day after the beating had gone back to school, and overheard his schoolmates in the hall, about how Shuyaku Kotaka from Class C got into a fight with some boys from another school.

"Ah, I knew it! He looks like he would be the delinquent type right?"

"I know! I'll be he was the one who started it!"

"We better avoid him if we don't want any trouble"

That was the reason no one had come to help him that day. In their eyes they didn't see a victim of bullying, or an innocent in need of help. They saw just another bad boy getting what was coming for him.

They had written him off as a lost cause without even giving him a chance.

SSS

From then on he gave up on asking others for assistance and tried his best to cope with his lot the best he could. He couldn't expect anyone to give a crap about his situation after all. Though come to think of it, Onimaru was probably the first person to ever try to lend him a hand.

However, Kotaka was far from interested in telling him so.

"It wasn't anything special," Kotaka mumbled, "Just a rotten place full of assholes looking to pick fights."

"…I see." Onimaru chuckled, "Sounds exciting."

"As if." Kotaka scoffed, "I got tired of that shit, just want some peace and quiet for once."

"I guess everyone wants a change of pace once in a while." laughed Onimaru as he opened another can of cola, "Though I wouldn't expect it to last mind you."

"What makes you say that?"

"Come on, a peaceful life?" Onimaru replied between gulps, "For guys like you and me?"

"What do you mean? 'Guys like you and me'" Kotaka was starting to get a bit uncomfortable, Onimaru's tone of voice seemed a bit more focused and serious than earlier.

"Well in case you haven't noticed," Said Onimaru, deathly serious, "I'm not really the kind of guy who meshes well with normal people."

"No shit." Kotaka sneered, "But how does that make me anything like…"

"You're an outcast too right?" Onimaru interrupted, "someone who normal people don't accept?"

Kotaka said nothing, struggling to think of how to respond. He wanted to deny it, but he couldn't. Not after remembering his past, after remembering how he was treated like a thug even though he never wanted to fight. Being forced to act tough and live in fear of being beaten, getting turned into an errand boy when he was found out to be weak. Not even being able to tell his parents, and not having a single other person willing to believe the truth...

"You know how it is," he continued in a low voice, "normal folks see someone that doesn't fit in with them and they shun us, treat us like we don't belong…treat us like freaks."

"It's not their fault though, there just isn't a place among normals for us." said Onimaru as he finished his last can of cola, "Well, not yet…"

"But I've got plans for that." He whispered as he reached behind his neck and sealed his helmet shut.

His last can finished, he nonchalantly crushed his now empty cans of cola into a ball and tossed them into the garbage, "Well then, let's get back to batting."

Kotaka quietly sipped his coffee as he watched Onimaru return to the batting cage. He wasn't sure, but it sounded like Onimaru was up to something. Not only that, he was planning on getting him involved too. Just what he needed…more trou…

Kotaka froze, his with a sudden realization. The way he was treating Onimaru…it was exactly like…

"You go on ahead," he whispered, "I've got to go to the bathroom."

"Huh? Well ok, but make it quick or you'll fall too far behind." Onimaru replied, too focused on the game to notice that Kotaka was already gone.

SSS