Teiko's basketball III: Three's a charm

Responsibility

"Yeah, now we're worried about the score..." muttered Akira.

"Twenty to eighteen," said Yukiji helpfully.

"Thank you," said Sora.

"You know, you'd do better scraping this match. You're on the losing side anyway... Why don't we start again?" said Akira.

Sora gave her a dangerous smile. "Look around at your teammates. From their expression, tell me who is losing."

"Who even cares... Let's play," said Akira brushing it off. Akira saw that Sora looked past her shoulder and gestured to someone. She turned and saw that Mai had stopped running for a short while to discern what the commotion was all about. Sora was gesturing for her to continue practice. Somehow that lit up a fuse in Akira. "For God's sake, why do you never lay people off?" Sora's mouth twisted slightly in anger but before she could react, someone appeared on the scene.

It was coach. She seemed in a very foul mood which was intensified when she saw that the team had halted practice. "Just what is going on here?" she demanded.

"Umm... Team shuffling," said Mayu coming up with a cover story with lightning speed.

"Oh, is it?" said coach sarcastically. "But judging from all your faces, you seem to be dissatisfied with the new split ups. Is it that or.... perhaps something else?" The entire team squirmed in discomfort. Coach looked around and her eyes feel on Mai who was standing to the side.

"You... Just what are you doing?"

Mai stared helplessly, seemingly mesmerized by her anger. "I set her to do strengthening exercises, coach," said Sora stepping forward. Coach's eyes shifted from Mai to Sora and then back again. "How many times have you played matches till now?"

"Umm..." said Mai. Coach gave an irritated sound and looked at Sora. "None," said Sora swallowing slightly.

"Have you taught her shooting?"

"The basics..." said Sora.

Coach shifted her gaze between the two of them and then closed her eyes for a second. She seemed to make up her mind about something and then opened them. "I wish to speak to you, Himeji." Sora nodded and followed coach out of the room. Mai watched a bit anxiously as she left. "Did I tell tale on her?" she mused aloud.

"Don't worry kid," said Yukiji. "Sora did most of the talking. This one's not on you."

"But still... Mou! I don't know what to think. If only senpai had given me some excuse to save her. But no! What was she thinking about anyway... Coach would have found out in due time," said Mai.

Yukiji paused. "A word to the wise... Don't worry about Sora. She knows how to look after herself."

"Even in her worst moments, I do owe her a teeny bit of respect..." muttered Akira.

"Coach would have chewed her out by now, wouldn't she?" said Mai.

"That creature will probably have a plan, trust me," said Yukiji. "And all's well that ends well."

Meanwhile, Sora had accompanied coach to her office. She shared a joint office with Sanada sensei. All around her, there were several pictures of Teiko's previous lineups. She spotted two of their older pictures and a small smile lit up her face. The trophies that lined the wall reflected the waning sunlight from one of the windows causing small specks to appear in various places in the room. Sora was momentarily mesmerized by a speck on her wrist when coach cleared her throat securing her attention.

"I want to talk to you about Misaki Mai," said coach. Sora simply nodded and coach continued. "I assum that you've glanced over her resume."

Another nod.

"Then why haven't you made all possible attempts to create a strong player who could be made fit enough to stand in the starting lineup of the finals?" demanded coach.

Sora's voice temporarily abandoned her. She didn't have a concrete reason for her actions, at least not one that coach would respect. Her decisions till now had been based on her intuition and previous experience and she knew coach would probably scorn both in this situation. Her eyes chanced to fall on one of the pictures that lined the walls. It was the one which had been taken during her first year.

A 2D Honami smiled at her from the picture but for some reason, Sora could feel the warmth of her smile at that moment. Surely, senpai had been here at least a couple of times on their account. She found a rueful smile forming on her face. Indeed, it had been more than that. Even Chihaya-senpai had taken quite a few thrashings during her time. Suddenly, she found herself thinking about Nijimura and Akashi too. She could easily recollect a panic stricken Nijimura senpai running through the corridors and hunting down defaulters to give them what was due. Each had held up through everything and fought all odds on their team's behalf. True, it was the captain's job to bear the crosses of the team. Every single one.

Sora turned her attention back to coach who was now frowning slightly because of her prolonged silence. Sora took a deep breath. "Umm... Coach, I am not sure whether she is ready."

"What?" said coach irritated.

"Well, she still thinks like someone from the swim team. Also, I'm not sure whether she truly wants to play basketball."

"She practically begged me to get an entry," said coach. "'Thinks like someone from the swim team'? Can you even hear yourself? Pray tell me how someone who plays basketball should think?"

"It may be tough to explain," said Sora. "But introducing someone entirely new at this stage could completely upset the equilibrium at the wrong time. We'd have to chance tactics and begin from scratch. I've barely broken in this lineup and it would take weeks to reset it."

"The last part does make sense," said coach grudgingly.

"Sorry..." said Sora.

"Are you completely sure about this?"

"Yes."

Sora heard the door open and saw Sanada sensei walk in. She swallowed. She was in no mood to be brow beaten by the two of them. Sora knew that if they decided to join forces, she would undoubtedly cave in. But luckily for her, coach was done with her. "On your head be it. Go." Sora noticed that she had said the first sentence with special emphasis but she decided that she would go through with the risk.

"Thank you."

'And now it's on my head...' thought Sora ruefully as she turned the handle to leave the room.