We noticed that the bleacher I was sitting on was only for the silver team, and the other bleacher was for the gold team, so Ninezen was forced to leave the seat. We sat on the left side bleachers painted in silver while the others sat on the opposite side painted with gold. Everyone figured out that this is a match between private and public schools, so we separated. The color of the bleachers corresponds to the color of the pompoms.
Before leaving, Ninezen stood up and spoke, "I'm going to win this, just watch," he smirked. He ran to move to the other side of the bleacher where his gold team was.
'I'? not 'We'? This will be a team game, so he should say 'We'
"This is bad," I heard Third whisper to himself. He was sitting near my side.
"Why?" I asked him. He looks troubled.
"I-I don't play... basketball?"
"Pfft..." I chuckled.
"Okay, I know it's funny, but I'm not capable of doing any kind of sports. Not because I have poor health but because I am used to using more of my mind than my whole body." He rolled his eyes at me.
"That's not what I'm laughing at. 'I don't play basketball?' Why ask? Aren't you sure?"
"Shut up," I stopped poking fun at him just to make the mood lighter because he is tense.
I noticed Ninth sitting alone in the corner and just looking around the court. I went close to him so I could motivate him to win the game.
"Hey," I poked him.
He frowned. He turned to his left and saw my face. "Why?"
"Are you good?" I asked checking out on him if he was feeling okay because he isolates himself from the rest of us.
"What do you want?" I sighed. He's good-looking, I admit it, but he's arrogant. No wonder even the boys can't really approach him.
"Do you know how to play basketball?"
"Yeah," his short response to me.
"It's okay then," I brought my face close to his, close enough for me to whisper to his ear. He was a little surprised, and he jerked away, but I insisted. "Because Third doesn't know how. Fifth and Seventh know too, so that's good news for our team." And I raised my thumb as an okay sign.
I found out from Fourth that she remembered his twin brother was playing basketball. They are from different schools because his Fifth is a varsity player there, so he can't leave his career. Fourth, on the other hand, she cannot commute very far to catch up with her brother's school.
I went back to my original seat and talked to Third. I passed the information that I got from Ninth, and he felt relieved that at least there is one who's a basketball expert and 2 who play occasionally.
"Do you want us to win this game that badly?" he asked.
"Badly? As in desperate? I'm not sure. But of course, everyone wants to win, right?"
"By the way," he barely turned to me again, looking at his side view and not looking directly at me.
"Hm?" I leaned my head a little closer. It's getting noisy here, so I can't hear our conversation.
"What about First? Does he know how to play?"
I paused for a moment. I turned to my left and saw First on the far side of the bleacher, alone. He didn't even come up and talk to me.
"I don't know," That's all I answered.
***
Maybe we had been waiting for about ten minutes, sitting on the bleachers. Soon after the boys warmed up, Author appeared again in the middle of the court. The ten players gathered at the court.
"10 players, 2 teams, 5 players for each team. Jerseys, check. Basketball rings, check. Cheer dancers, check..."
Are we the cheer dancers Author is referring to? Geez.
"Everything, check!"
I noticed First that he is serious. Why didn't he approach us earlier? He never talked to any of us.
"Before the game starts, I'll explain first the special mechanics of this extraordinary basketball game."
Mechanics? Author already explained it earlier. Did it forget to say something? Why 'special' and 'extraordinary'?
"As you can see, this court looks like an ordinary basketball court that you often see on your ex-planet. But this game is not an ordinary basketball game. The ball that you are going to use is a special one. Neither made of rubber nor any other ordinary material…"
The ball caught my gaze, which is at the side of a basketball ring. Quite a distance, but I can see no difference from what we're used to. Orange in color with black lines and the texture looks rough and rubbery. "But it is made of human flesh."
My eyes widened, but I couldn't grasp the whole meaning of it. W-What?! Did I hear it right?
"When touched, dribbled, or shot, it feels like an ordinary ball. Inside a ball, there is an alive human organ, and that organ is interconnected to each random player."
Does it mean that a ball contains human insides? But why?
"When the ball is shot by your opponent in your team's ring, the ball that contains a certain organ will affect one of your team member's organ."
"What do you mean our teammates will be affected?" Thirtwen asked. He holds a grudge against Author not only because his three friends have passed away but also because of Author's insult.
"Unlike in an ordinary game, you will have 5 rounds to play and 5 minutes for each round, a total of 25 minutes. Only 1 minute will be the given time interval per round."
The Author has not yet answered Thirtwen's question which also bothers us all.
"The scoring will be based on what team would last and endure the agony of this amicable match... Good luck."
"D*mn it!" Thirtwen stomped his right foot.
Author's hologram disappeared from our sight. There are times that Author answers our questions and other times it leave us with no answer.
"What does he mean? He wants the boys to be hurt?" Fourth questioned in disbelief as she just stared at the pompoms she was holding.
I suddenly felt nervous. What kind of game is this?
"The h*ck is wrong with that hologram, huh?!" Fifzen yelled.
"Wants us dead," Sevenzen replied with a firm look while grooming his dreadlocks.
"Enough," Firstwen interrupted. "Make sure that everybody has stretched their limbs and drank plenty of water." He sighed. "Let us manage our mentality. Stay focused to the goal."
I gazed at Third, he's not saying anything. He must be really nervous. Good thing, Firstwen is present to back up the other leader to calm everyone.