Teiko's basketball III: Three's a charm

Second half

Tip off!

Yukiji got the ball. She passed it to Mayu. Mayu was blocked by number 15(c) and she passed back to Sora. Sora was blocked by number 7(sf) and number 12(pg). She didn't have an opening to pass so she ran towards the hoop. When she was quite close to the hoop, she did an overhead pass to Akira. Akira passed number 8(pf) and scored.

"Eh... We expected to make senpai run a little more," said number 7(sf).

"As if!" scoffed Akira. "I'm not in a good mood today, so prepare yourself!"

The girls had quite a smooth run in the second quarter. They had gone quite ahead.

"As expected..." panted number 7(sf) as the whistle blew at the end of the second quarter. "Congrats, senpais. I guess we can't pull ahead."

"Oi, wait! My quarter is yet to come. You can't give up just yet!" exclaimed Aoba.

Number 7(sf) blinked. "Okay!"

"Did he just take that literally?" said Akira, amazed.

"I don't know. The thing is, I'm concerned about foosball now," said Sora. "I don't want them to get discouraged either..."

"You can't have it both ways," said Akira although she looked concerned.

Someone blew the whistle for a substitution.

"I hope you don't mind the interruption, Sora."

"Seijuro?" Sora blinked.

"Much as I am anxious that your plan must work, I can let my boys get beaten down without a say either. I will say this though, there's no need for handicaps anymore. 38 – 50, huh? Let's see if I can level the score."

"Did he just read your mind about the guys?" said Akira.

"Shut up! You were thinking the same thing, so it had to be quite obvious."

"But still!"

"More importantly," interrupted Miyu. "He just said something about leveling the score. Shouldn't we be worried about that?"

"I don't care!" said Akira.

"Absolutely," said Sora.

Akira cracked up. "Absolutely? Sora-chan!"

"It's just an expression! I'll deal with you later," said Sora grimly.

38 – 50.

Tip off!

Akira got the ball. She passed number 8(pf) but she was blocked by number 15(c) and number 7(sf). Number 7(sf) passed the ball back to Akashi. Sora blocked Akashi but he grinned and took a shot instead.

41 – 50.

The coach blew the whistle again. "Member change!"

Murasakibara walked into the court. "Murasakibara-san?" said Sora in amazement. She had never known him to voluntarily join a match. Murasakibara had an odd glint in his eye. "Aki-chin sent me a text during the break that the cafeteria was closed and so the probability of her buying a sandwich for me was as great as you people had of losing the match." Sora turned to look at Akashi who shrugged. "He was the one who dragged me here in the first place."

"Mu-kun, I'll get you whatever you want, so clear off!" said Akira. Murasakibara considered the proposal and then nodded.

"Not so fast!" said Sora. "Murasakibara-kun, there just one quarter left. Why don't you play?"

"Woah there!" exclaimed Mayu.

"I'll leave defense to you, Mayu-chan," said Sora sweetly.

"You had to send that text..." said Mayu bitterly.

"It's not all my fault..." pointed out Akira.

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"And.... That is the story of how we lost where we could have won," concluded Mayu.

"It's life, Mayu-chan. That's what makes it awesome. It's so unpredictable," said Sora.

"It's fate," added Yukiji.

"You and that four-eyes," said Akira, shaking her head.

"But it was one hell of a match," said Aoba with a smile.

"Yup," said Mayu.

"Congrats, senpai." It was number 4.

"Why is that, kouhai?" said Sora.

"You won. Technically."

"I see. So you say the g.o.m were responsible for your victory. But, it's not exactly like you gave us an easy time. On the contrary, you gave us quite a run!"

"Oh and hey, call foosball will you. I want a rematch," said Akira who was in the process of removing her shoes but thought better of it now.

"Okay!" number 4 turned to leave but paused. "Seijuro senpai wanted to talk."

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"You called?"

"Only to appreciate your tactics."

"I'm flattered..." said Sora suspiciously.

"This time there are no strings attached to the compliment, Sora," he said with a smile.

"Fine," said Sora.

"The thing is.... You've got quite a strong team. Perhaps the strongest I've seen as far as girls are concerned."

"I'll let the 'as far as girls are concerned' pass for now," said Sora carefully.

Akashi smiled but his tone became serious again. "Well, the thing is... Can you hold them together?"

"What?"

"You've seen the g.o.m haven't you? They're going far apart every day. That's a curse that comes with being good at what you do. Especially when you specialize. You simply can't connect when it crosses a particular level."

"That's what we're for, Seijuro," said Sora softly. "We're the gum in a large piece of art. Even if the more difficult aspects of our job are invisible, no one can deny its importance. We're the ones that should bring them together."

"The stronger and most independent personalities are the hardest. Even if I go to all out, sometimes it just doesn't have any impact," said Akashi. Sora knew that Akashi was well known for his rather extreme personality among those who were close to him after the shift. But still he sounded sad when he said that.

"You care for them, no?"

"Of course," he said immediately.

"And to care for someone is to have trust."

"If you say so."

"We'll both end up with winning teams anyway," said Sora with a shrug.

"Ah... Feeling confident today, are we?" said Akashi smirking.

"What? You don't think we will win?" demanded Sora.

"You can't let one match get to your head... Not to worry... Today's Friday. You practice with me remember."

"Uh oh..."

"Win against me and I'll personally guarantee that you will become the best in Japan overnight."

"Now you're the one who's overconfident. Anyway, I accept the challenge..."