Teiko's basketball III: Three's a charm

The dance of the point guards

"What?" he demanded.

"You look horrible!" said Sora, who was struggling to stay coherent in spite of her laughter.

"Meeting. Unfortunately I have to attend. The first part is formal, which is even more unfortunate."

"At least let me fix your hair," said Sora, who was planning to mess it up again.

"Touch the hair and you die."

"Okay," said Sora, but she reached for his hair only to be thwarted.

"Why are you bothered anyway?" he said.

"It's not everyday I get to see you in a ridiculous suit," said Sora, "What are you even going to do there?"

"It's a meeting for my dad's business partners and their families. For the first couple of hours, my dad and his partners go in to discuss a few things. I'm thinking of accompanying them. I can't stand to sit outside."

"And then?" she said.

"A formal dance which is held just to annoy the kids and make them feel awkward," said Akashi with a scowl, "It lasts for about ten minutes. After which we all scurry to our seats hoping we didn't disgrace anyone."

Sora laughed at the tone in which he had described the scenario. "I can't imagine you dancing," she said.

"I just let my point guard instincts take over," admitted Akashi.

"Your what?"

"Imagine you are on the court," said Akashi taking both her hands and positioning them, "You are currently trying to get past with the ball in your hand and the opponent is too strong for you. What do you do?"

"Pass?" suggested Sora.

"Passes are not entertained. Also no time outs and even if the person steps on you or worse, no fouls," he said with a smile.

"Fine. You tell me..." said Sora.

"You try to buy time. You step back and forth, trying to inch your way towards the goal."

"You've memorised the entire sequence like this?" said Sora, in amazement.

"Yes," he said and then paused, "You could come, I guess. At least then I would have some sort of company."

"In a Teiko uniform with my hair like this?" said Sora, gesturing at her face.

Akashi sighed. "I guess not everyone would appreciate it," he admitted.

"What if you have to spin or something?" questioned Sora, suddenly.

"Eh? Just imagine a drive gone dreadfully wrong," he said with a grin, demonstrating it, "I could teach you one day..."

"This or basketball?"

"I'm already struggling to teach you one. Why not the other too?" he said with a shrug, "Speaking of which, how is your opponent for the quarter finals?"

"Lame. Wait! Don't tell my team that," said Sora.

"I think they've already worked that out," said Akashi drily, "Remember, overestimating your opponent is just as dangerous."

"You're right," said Sora, "What about your opponent?"

"We're going to crush them."

"Hmm..."

Sora then realized that Akashi was still absently leading her to dance and thought of something. "Nae... I have a tiny question for you."

"Hmm?"

"Since you took to the pain to get changed at school instead of going home, doesn't that mean you are pressed for time or something?" she said.

Akashi looking at her in horror. "Curse you witch!" he exclaimed, letting her go. He swung his bag over his shoulder and began to struggle with the bow tie at the same time.

"Hey, calm down!" protested Sora.

"I'm late!" he exclaimed running out of the classroom, with his hands shaking too much to be of use.

"Let me help," said Sora taking the bag from him. Akashi slowed down a bit, finished tying the bow, grabbed his bag and rushed out without another word.

It was then that it occurred to Sora that they were currently not on the best of terms. But still, Akashi looked like he was willing to let it slide for the moment and she wasn't too keen to bring up the subject either. Sora sighed and returned to class to fetch her bag. She met Aoba on the way out.

"Oro, you okay?" she said.

"Ah, nothing. It's just that I'm playing the first important match of the year and..." trailed off Aoba.

"Well, kouhai, you've been playing important matches all the time. We wouldn't have gotten to this point if it weren't for the previous matches," pointed out Sora.

"True," said Aoba, "How different are the last three?"

"The turn out is probably larger," said Sora, "There's nothing too different about the matches themselves."

"Hmm... We've come this far," said Aoba.

"And we'll fight till the last," said Sora firmly, "We're Teiko. The only option we have is to win."