Chapter 6: The Brother of My Friend Is My Enemy!

Cray looked up after taking one of the nachos for himself.

"You know, for my part, I'm glad at least one of us made it." the small boy said. "Don't worry about it too much."

What drove me to do that? I've never stood up for others before, especially not against odds as hopeless as those...

"Wish we had your luck, We were completely outmatched" John said as he recalled just how bad Leo, Amara and his fight with Nathan was. "Seemed like no matter what we did, Nathan was didn't even have to try to trash us" John added.

The hand Ivan was using to support his chin swung down and slammed into the table. The group looked at the out of character teen, as he stood up silently and quickly walked off.Their was a few seconds of silence. Amara frowned, getting up as well.

"I'm gonna..." she didn't finish,as she ran after him.

"What was that about?" Cray asked wondering what caused Ivan to leave so suddenly.

"In retrospect I probably shouldn't have brought him up" John started as Savannah and Cray turned to face him. Leo didn't really react, but it was clear he wasn't going to say anything either.

"The thing is, Nathan is Ivan's older brother; and Ivan seems to have some kind of powerful drive towards beating him" John said.

"Does he always get like that?" Cray asked wondering if a fit like that was going to be a regular thing.

"To be honest this is the first time I've seen him get that emotional about it" John said as he leaned back on his chair again. "I wonder what so different about today..." John asked himself.

Savannah straightened in her chair, "W....Why does he want to beat his brother?" Savannah softly spoke, "Does he have something to prove...?"


Leo thought a moment,

"My brother picked a good rival," Nathan had said. He brushed the thought looking further back.

Leo couldn't stop thinking about the events of the previous days, everything he'd anylized about the teachers, students, etc. The pressure that occurred, Leo knew somewhat of what it was, which reminded him that he needed to pay his father for being right.

"Well...yeah actually." John said, scratching his chin. He thought about it. "I guess you could say Ivan's not really what he seems..."

"What do you mean?" Cray asked. He couldn't imagine Ivan any different than his usual...self. Was laid back really the correct word? He realized he didn't really know...

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Amara went after Ivan, calling out to him at the end of the street. Ivan stopped in his tracks as Amara caught up.

"Amara, just-" Ivan began, but Amara cut him off, "Why do you keep letting this get to you!?" she stomped her feet, flustered.

"Cause i'm not good enough..." Ivan replied. He turned around, his expression full of sadness.

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"Deep down, he's just insecure. Never sure if he's strong enough to make it. That's why he learned to fight in the first place." John continued. Savannah slightly nodded.

"I wouldn't have believed..." Cray said. John shrugged. "And that's where the Nathan thing came up. It was news to me until today, but apparently Nathan is the one who trained Ivan. Which makes sense when I think about it..."

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"Why does it matter if you can fight him or not!? Why do you have to act like this whenever it doesn't work out." Amara raised her voice, than lowered it. "It's not like you..."

Ivan closed his eyes, and thought. His eyelids raised slightly, as he looked at the ground.

"I vowed I would beat him. Its not like its a dramatic goal. Its not like its an interesting character trait. It's not like it's even remotely possible! Its just what I decided that I would do even if it killed me!"

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"Ivan needed something to reach forward. Nathan let himself become his brothers ambition..."

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Amara immediatly stepped forward, slapping the boy across his face...

It was a bit awkward in the room now that Ivan had left in a small fit of emotional overload.

"Well, the best thing to do is just give him time to cool off" John said as he took a sip of his drink.

"How long will that take?" Cray asked. John leaned back on his chair again and put his hand to his chin again.

"hmm, not sure" he said plainly.

Ivan's eyes grew wide as Amara's arm stayed stretched out. Her head was down.

"Amara..." Ivan whispered. Her arm fell, and she looked up. Her pinks were pink slightly once again, an she appeared a little teary eyed.

"Stop being so stupid! I don't care if its what you want to do, its not important enough for you to..." Amara bit her lip, and closed her eyes. She stomped her foot on the ground one more time, yelling at him again. "It's not important enough for you to loose your cool like this!"

Ivans expression was of complete shock now, as Amara panted a bit. Finnaly, he turned around.

"Huh..." he said, putting his hands behind his head as he began to walk off. "You called me cool..." he laughed.

Amara's eyes grew wide, before closing them again in anger. "I didn't mean it like that you idiot! And where are you going!?"

Ivan brought one hand off his head to wave back, before putting it back on. She didn't follow him, she didn't need to...

Johns began to think to himself as he looked up seemingly staring into space until his expression changed.

"You know, I think I'm gonna head out too" John said as he finished his drink and began to walk away.

"How come?" Savannah asked wondering why John had the sudden urge to leave.

"Today was an eye opener to me" John said as he stopped but didn't turn to face the others. "Even students that were just a year above me were too strong for me to handle...it's time I turned my training up a notch" John said as he continued to walk and exited through the door.

John was walking at first as he thought to himself some more before he finally took off in a run.

"Ivan, I know how you must be feeling" John thought to himself "But if you let you're goal consume you then it will never come to pass" he finished as he pushed himself to run a little faster.

Cray leaned down, deep in thought.

Is it so unreasonable to set a goal that can actually be attained before high school ends? We're talking about an apparent difference in growth here... the short kid pondered. Ivan's got...I don't know if it can be considered a rivalry...with his own older brother. When he dwells on it...he turns into a completely different person than usual. I don't know if Leo really cares about anything. He didn't even seem to be phased by being trashed...

John...I don't know what his goal is, but I'd imagine it'd be more reasonable than trying to topple a senior... With Amara, is it just me, or does she only treat Ivan like crap most of the time? Savannah...she's probably the only one of all of us that's closest to normal...It wouldn't be fair of me to call myself normal, given I'm a freshman at age twelve...

The freshman looked up.

Still though, I'm probably the only one aside from Savannah that doesn't fight freely. he thought to himself. So then why did I do what I did earlier even though I knew I was going to get canned...

Cray blinked, and rubbed his eyes.

"Cray, are you alright?" Savannah asked.

"Just deep in thought..." he responded. "I need to do some...studying now. Guess I'd better get going..."

And with that, the short kid left, though not before taking one more nacho on the way out.

Ivan made it home, the sun already setting. He opened the door, to hear sounds of laughter. He immediatly knew what was going on, frowning. He walked past the kitchen, and looked in.

"Yay!" his brother yelled. Nathan holding onto him by the boys arms and spinning him. His sister, Anna was jumping up and down while laughing, wanting to do the same. Ivan rolled his eyes, and Nathan stopped. He stopped to look at his eldest younger brother. He smiled, closing his eyes.

"Hey bro, wanna play?" he laughed, but when he opened his eyes Ivan was already walking upstairs to his room.

Ivan opened his door to throw his backpack on his bed, than closed his door. He only got his jacket and shoes off before Nathan opened the door.

"Yo!" Nathan said, putting his head through the small gap he made as he opened the door. "You've grown so much sense I last saw you!"

Their was a silence, to which neither of them moved for several seconds. "Reverse lateral..." Ivan murmured, throwing a kick backwards. His foot struck the door, pushing it into Nathans throat. The senior began to cough and struggle, his face turning red.

It was silence for a bit, aside from the people in the background. Savannah looked at Leo. She opened her mouth as if to speak, and even though his eyes were closed, Leo spoke first.

"It's alright...." He said, holding back the urge to cringe, "All that matters is that you didn't get hurt..."


Savannah tried to hold back from blushing, "B...But I feel guilty....I know I would have been thrown in one of the trashcans, but I should have done something to help....."

A bit more silence.

"I felt the same way....that day..." she continued.
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He had dirty blond hair. As he backed away the silver headed boy recognized his pattern of movement.

"Leo!" the girl shouted throwing her hands over her mouth.

Blood started to drip from his arm. Leo, with his unscathed arm, grabbed the knife. He pulled it out, throwing it aside.

The blond kid's eyes widened, "What the...?" he questioned in an enraged tone.

"Run..." Leo whispered to the girl, who quickly headed the command. She ran off quickly, however the blond boy grabbed her arm.

"Where do you---" He started, but in a flash he was sent back into the wall. Footsteps quickened and faded.
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Leo slightly nodded, "At least you were able to get awa---"

"But what about you?!" Savannah exclaimed, "You ended up in the hospital for a few days...."

"I..."

"Do you know how I felt? I had to know that I did nothing..."

Leo cringed, he rose from his chair. He pushed the chair under the table and turned around.

"L...Leo..?" She whispered. It was hardly visible, but she thought she saw a tear fall to the ground as Leo walked out of the building.

Ivan took his foot off the door, and Nathan quickly stammered to recover. He had his head down for a moment, hair in his eyes. He than lifted it, smiling with a thumbs up

"Good kick!"

"Screw off..." Ivan replied immediatly. A sweat drop went down Nathans still smiling complection. "Guess what...?" Nathan continued, stepping into the room fully. He had a plastic bag. Ivan remained silent. He took a step forward, but Nathan appeared in front of him, bending over somewhat to be eye level. He pulled a manga out of the bag.

"Hunter X Hunter, Volume 14!" Nathan declared. Ivan calmly stared at the manga volume, his expression not changing. Immediatly large amounts of sweat began leaking from his pores. His eye began to twitch. "It's pretty rare...and expensive. But I thought it would be a good going into High School gift for my little bro!"

Ivan slowly lifted his hand and took the book. He threw it backwards, without looking. It slide perfectly into his manga shelf, albeit a loud thud. After that, their was another silence, before Nathan broke it.

"So...I talked to Joey..." he said, sitting on Ivan bed. His expression turned serious. A wave of pressure struck Ivan and almost made him loose his balance. His eyes stayed widened even after the pressure ceased. Nathans expression went back to normal, and he smiled.

"So how 'bout it?" he challenged happily. Ivan had thought about this on the way home. After fighting Joey..did he really think he had any chance.

"A Freshmen could never defeat a Senior..." he had said...

"It's not important enough for you to loose your cool like this!" she was almost to tears. Her words meant more...and she was right.

"No...not yet." Ivan declared, looking at Nathan back in his normal expression."Oh?" Nathan asked. He smiled even more, almost proudly.

"I'd really have to be an idiot to think I could beat someone like you right now..." Ivan said, thinking of Amara. "Your a Senior...i'm a Freshmen."

"And you don't think you can overcome the gap...?" Nathan asked. Ivan nodded.

"No ordinary Freshmen can overcome a Senior...and that's exactly what I have to overcome..." Ivan said, and he brought his hand up to point his thumb at his chest." An ordinary Freshmen can't beat a Senior. That's why I have to be greater than the average...."

"A strength beyond the ordinary!" Ivan declared loudly. Nathan looked up to his brother, his eyes proud. He stood up, and walked up to him. The Senior put his hand on the top of the Freshmen's head, and tussled his hair.

"A strength beyond the extraordinary..." he corrected, and just like that he left. Ivan inhaled, and exhaled. He took a few steps back, and than fell over onto his bed.

"Why does he make it so hard to stay mad at him..."

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Later that night, Ivan walked into his homes garage. He flipped the light switch and scanned the room. He hadn't used allot of the training equipment in awhile. Weights, different assortments of shoes, a treadmill, down to a couple cannonballs being suspended on chains. In the center of a room was a sandbag, shaped like the human body. Ivan walked over to it and rested his knuckles on its chest thinking.

After a few seconds he pulled out his phone and sent a text, and than returned his attention to the sandbag.

"Beyond the extraordinary..." Ivan said. A smile at last spread across his face. "Better get started..."

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Cray was absorbed into his gaming session. It wasn't until he completed the level of Splash Kangaroo to perfection, that he took a look at his phone for the time. He realized he had a text message.

Gr8 wrk vs Joey!

"...Don't know what I did exactly that was so great. I didn't do any better than he did, but best not pursue it..." he thought. He immediatly texted his reply.

No problem.