Inside the gym…
Okuda walked into the gym, a crowd of fans following him and hopping into the stands. Marachii shook his head. "Does he have a fan club everywhere he goes?"
Okuda, along with Jeff, Jake, Junior, and John, headed over to where Dachii was standing, already in their white jerseys.
"Nice!" Okuda remarked. "You're already dressed up to lose. Who's lining up for you, Jones?"
Dachii pointed to Marachii, Luca, Akari, and Aoki, who were all in the same black jerseys and shorts as Dachii, who had on leg sleeves, arm sleeves, and a headband. Okuda nearly died of laughter.
"You've got little ole Marachii on your team, that crazy kid, and those two toxic chicks?" Okuda laughed. "Easy win."
"Okay," Dachii replied, his face flat and covered by his hair.
Okuda took his team to the other side of the gym, where they began taking practice shots, making one after another. Marachii gulped. "Clearly they're in their element, okay. This isn't good."
Aoki pulled at her shorts. "Why do we keep switching clothes, damn it?"
Akari analyzed her jersey. "Are these things supposed to be missing sleeves? Is this some human dress?"
Luca took a ball in his hand, watching Okuda's team shoot hoops. "That looks fun."
Marachii stood in front of the team. "Remember everything we went over?"
The three nodded.
"Make baskets," Luca said.
"Don't let the other team score," Akari stated.
"Move the ball?" Aoki questioned.
"Yes, yes, and how do you move the ball?" Marachii asked.
"By dribbling…and passing?" she answered.
Marachii clapped his hands. "Good job, Aoki! You've been paying attention this time!"
She glared at him.
"Just give me the ball…" Dachii ordered. "So we can win…"
A referee blew his whistle. "Everyone to the center! Team White has first possession! Game is to 40!"
"Great, no coin flip?" Marachii complained. "What, is the referee on Okuda's side too?"
Okuda's team stood around the half-court line, while the referee directed Dachii's team toward defense. "Ball in!"
"Wait!" Akari interrupted. "What does ball in mean—-?"
The referee gave the ball to Okuda, who passed the ball in to Jeff.
"That's what it means!" Marachii shouted. "Now play defense!"
Jeff dribbled past the half-court line, sprinting past the three and easily navigating through Dachii's team for a dunk, confusing Akari, Aoki, and Luca. The crowd cheered.
"What the hell did he just do?" Aoki wondered.
"He took the ball, blew past you all, and then dunked," Marachii explained.
"What's a dunk? You never said anything about a dunk!" Aoki pointed out.
"It's when you jump up and slam the ball through the hoop! Now we've gotta inbound the ball! I'll do that! Dachii, catch!"
Marachii inbounded the ball to Dachii, who caught it, dribbling it a few times. "That…feels about right."
From the sidelines, Hikari, Saori, Reika, and Noriko watched.
"Go, team!" Hikari cheered. "Go!"
"Do you have any idea what's going on?" Reika asked.
"Nope!" Hikari replied. "But I'm here to support my friends!"
"Me too!" Saori agreed. "Go team!"
Noriko pointed to the scoreboard, which had two points for Okuda's team. "I think they're losing…"
On the other side, Mihina, Haruta, Zentaruo, and Chiho watched from high in the stands.
"I haven't seen Dachii play ball in so long!" Zentaruo commented. "Man, this will be good! Hit him in the face with the ball, Dachii! Hit him in the face with the ball!"
Mihina hit his arm. "Don't sabotage him! He needs to win this game! Last thing we need is Okuda winning this and trying to flex his superiority to me!"
"Right, right…"
Okuda took the challenge of guarding Dachii, waiting for him at half-court. "Jones is mine! Everyone, cover the rest! Man to man!"
Everyone else on his team stuck close to the opponent, and John followed Aoki as she moved around the court, to her discomfort. "Hey, get back!"
"No can do," he replied. "I'm here to lock you down!"
"Guys," she called out. "I'm going to hit him!"
"That's just defense, Aoki!" Marachii shouted to her. "He's trying to stop you from scoring!"
"But I don't have the ball!" she pointed out.
"In case you do get it!"
Dachii dribbled past Okuda, who stuck with him, before doing a step-back and shooting the ball from behind the three-point line, scoring. The crowd gave another cheer.
Hikari clapped her hands. "I don't know what happened, but it's 3-2 now! We're winning!"
Okuda cracked his neck. "I see you've still got some moves. Okay then."
Jeff inbounded the ball to Okuda, who brought it up the court. Akari was on the right side, with both Junior and Jake standing in the corner.
"Guys!" she yelled. "What do I do? There's two of them over here!"
"Aoki!" Marachii ordered. "You've gotta help her! Not just camp in the paint!"
"Help how?" she shouted back.
"Go play defense on one of them! Hurry, before they—-!"
Junior went back door on Akari, running to the paint just as Okuda lobbed it up for him, and he slammed the ball on top of Aoki's head, getting a whistle. "And-1!"
"And-1? What the hell is And-1?" Aoki repeated.
The ref blew his whistle. "One shot!"
Junior went to the free throw line, confusing Akari, Aoki, and Luca.
"Look," Marachii said. "If you foul a player on defense, which means putting your hands or body on them while they're trying to shoot, they get to shoot a free shot. Two, if they didn't make their shot."
"What kind of sense does that make?" Aoki snapped. "I didn't even touch him!"
"…Ugh."
He guided her and the others onto the sides of the free throw line while Junior dribbled the ball a few times before shooting his free throw, making it.
"The score is 5-3," Marachii analyzed. "Still not too bad."
He inbounded the ball to Dachii again, who brought it up past half court. Okuda pressed him at half-court again. "Show me some moves, kid!"
Dachii crossed over before side-stepping, shooting another three-pointer that dropped cleanly into the net. Okuda nodded with approval. "Not bad!"
Mihina cheered him on from the side. "Great shot, Dachii!"
Okuda passed the ball down court to Jake, who pulled a three right in Luca's face, splashing it. "Swish!"
"Luca! You gotta put your hands up!" Marachii corrected. "Try to block it!"
"Hmm, okay," Luca obliged. "I see."
The scoreboard read 8-6. Marachii gave Dachii the ball once more, and Okuda called for help defense. "Screw the others! Let's triple him!"
John and Junior left Akari and Aoki, pressing Dachii at full court, forcing him to pass to Marachii.
"Yeah!" Okuda laughed. "Their scorer is locked down! Easy win!"
Jake ran up to guard Marachii, forcing him to pass to Luca, who felt the ball for a moment. "Yeah. This feels good."
Jeff ran to contest him, but Luca put the ball on the floor, using 3 powerful, quick dribbles to get to the rim and toss up a floater, making it.
"Whoa, Luca!" Marachii gasped. "You learn quick!"
"It's a talent," Luca shrugged.
Jeff gave him a brief nod of acknowledgment. "Solid move!"
"Yay, Luca!" Hikari cheered. "You show them!"
Okuda's team brought the ball down the floor, and all of them gathered around the three-point line. They kept swinging the ball, passing to each other repeatedly, and Junior and John threw the ball over Akari and Aoki's heads repeatedly, laughing.
"What are they doing?" Akari questioned.
"Jump up and steal it!" Marachii suggested.
Akari jumped for the ball, but John caught it before she could and blew right past her, slamming it home. As he got back on defense, he bumped into her, screaming in her face. "Yeah, girlie! You can't guard me!"
Akari's face turned red. "Okay, so you wanna run your filthy little mouth?"
Her eyes glowed white for a brief moment.
"Don't let him get in your head, Akari!" Marachii warned.
She scoffed. "Whatever."
Before Dachii could even get to the ball, Okuda, Junior, and John swarmed him, denying him the ball. Marachii shifted focus to Luca.
"Luca! Catch!"
He tossed the ball to Luca, who caught it and dribbled a few times. "Yeah. I LIKE this."
He took one pound dribble, getting closer to the three-point line, and shot, making it.
"10-11!" Marachii noticed. "Luca, you're on fire!"
Luca got back on defense, shrugging. "Guess I'm just that good."
"Okay, lockdown him too!" Okuda ordered. "Leave both the chicks!"
"Excuse you?" Akari replied.
"What are you trying to say?" Aoki demanded.
Okuda got the ball. "Guard me. Both of you."
"Don't fall for the bait—-!" Marachii shot down.
Despite that, Akari and Aoki both swarmed him.
"Fine!" Akari obliged.
"If that's what you want, idiot!" Aoki growled.
Okuda easily threw the ball between them, splitting their defense before pulling up for a mid-range shot and making it. "Too easy! They're both walking cones!"
Marachii slapped his forehead.
Akari and Aoki both turned red while Luca put his arms around them both. "Man. They're really bullying you guys, huh?"
"Shut up!" they both yelled.
Dachii tried to get around the defense, but four players were glued to him at all times. As soon as he got a chance to get the ball from Marachii, John, Jeff, Junior, and Okuda all trapped him.
"Rip him!" Okuda ordered.
Dachii managed to jump in the air and pass the ball to Luca, but Jake guarded him closely. "Yeah, no more buckets for you, buddy."
Luca did a crossover and swung the ball to Akari, who was standing in the corner. "Do I shoot this?"
"Yes!" Marachii clarified. "Shoot it!"
She steadied herself and shot the ball, which hit off the backboard and went in. "Did that count?"
Marachii gave her a thumbs-up. "Great work, Akari!"
Hikari and Saori cheered for her as Akari smiled and ran right up to John. "Look at that! You can't guard ME!"
"I wasn't even guarding you…" John pointed out.
"Oh. Well. Doesn't matter!"
John got the ball, getting into a triple threat position before doing a behind-the-back and getting past Akari, hitting a fadeaway. "That's how it's done!"
Akari rolled her eyes. "Show-off."
Marachii inbounded the ball to Dachii, who quickly ran down the court and pulled up from 30 feet, splashing over 3 defenders.
"14-15!"
Mihina was up out of her seat by now. "That's it! Fry him, Dachii! Bury that jerk!"
Okuda called for the ball back, performing a between-the-legs before pulling up for a three of his own, nailing it off the backboard. He looked at Mihina. "That one's for you!"
She waved him off, rolling her eyes.
By the time Dachii even got to half-court, he was surrounded by defenders. Marachii, Luca, and Akari swung the ball around, leading to Akari to swing it to Aoki, who was standing at the top of the key. "Here, do something with it!"
"Like what?"
"I don't know!"
As multiple defenders held him down, Dachii managed to utter one line to Aoki. "Dribble it to the cup…and body them…"
"Body? As in ram them?"
He nodded.
"Really? Okay!"
She dribbled the ball a few times to get a feel for it, and as Junior and Jeff left Dachii to guard the paint, she drove in, ramming them both with her shoulder and causing them to fall as she threw the ball up and scored. The ref blew his whistle.
"Blocking foul!" the ref declared. "One shot!"
"I scored…I actually scored!" Aoki realized.
She saw the two men on the ground. "That felt GOOD."
"How is that a foul?" Jeff argued. "She threw her elbow into me!"
"Your feet weren't set," the ref explained. "Blocking foul!"
Marachii patted Aoki on the back. "Now you get to shoot a free throw! Just stand at the line and throw it up without jumping!"
"Okay," Aoki replied. "Okay…"
She went to the line as the referee gave her the ball, and she shot the ball towards the rim. It bounced a few times before dropping. "It went in! Now what?"
"Now we get back on defense!" Marachii said.
From the benches, Zentaruo stared with his mouth wide open. "That girl's STRONG!"
"Maybe a little TOO strong," Mihina remarked.
After some more back and forth, including a stretch where Dachii and Okuda went on 15-point runs each, the score was eventually tied 38-38.
"Next basket wins!" the ref announced, handing Okuda the ball to inbound.
Okuda inbounded the ball to Junior, who gave it back. Luca sat in the paint, Dachii and Marachii guarded the corners, and Aoki stayed in front of Okuda. "Try and get past me! Try it!"
"Okay," Okuda agreed, hitting her with a double cross which momentarily confused her, before she regained herself and stayed with him. He gave her a bump before pulling up for a jump shot, which Akari got up to block.
"I hit it!" Akari announced. "Is that legal? Is it?"
Marachii nodded. "We gotta grab the rebound!"
As everyone hustled for the ball, Dachii ran and grabbed it, while Luca sprinted down the court, Junior and Okuda on his heels. Dachii dribbled down the court and only told Luca two words.
"Go high…"
Dachii lobbed the ball into the air, and Luca jumped up and caught it, slamming it down with one hand as he and the two defenders under him all tumbled to the ground. The ref blew the whistle. "That's game!"
Mihina and Hikari cheered from both sides, as did Zentaruo, Chiho, Haruta, Saori, and Reika. Noriko just gave a quiet clap.
"You guys did it!" Mihina cheered. "Way to handle him, Dachii!"
Okuda got up off the ground, stretching his back. "Damn, never would have expected I lost that match. But a deal is a deal, I guess."
He turned to Dachii. "Follow me. I'll show you where the band room is."
Akari and Aoki both got in his face, smiles on their faces.
"So, who's a cone now?" Akari questioned.
"How does it feel knowing I bodied your teammates?" Aoki asked.
Okuda folded his arms. "Or maybe I won't show you."
"Hey, a deal's a deal!" Marachii exclaimed.
"Yeah, yeah," Okuda rolled his eyes. "Come with me to the roof."
"Why the roof?" Marachii wondered.
"Because no one would ever think to look for music stuff on the roof. It's both the most remote and dangerous area of the school. So get ready."
—-