Akira watched the g.o.m casually chatting in the opposite bench and frowned. They were so annoying in times like this. Especially that aho. He had a towel on his head and supposedly was in a contemplative mood, thinking with his eyes closed. But Akira knew better and would bet every bit of change she had that he was sleeping. Even on their best days, the g.o.m rarely had any respect for other humans. Now that they were their opponent, the whole show just got crazier. Akira glanced at Sora and groaned. Sora was reading on the bench! Akira had heard her mention that the book was good, but talk of going to extremes!
"Oi, you idiot captain, shouldn't you be doing something?" said Yukiji, who was extremely suited for such situations. Sora held up one hand and quickly slammed the page shut. She rose to walk in front of the team and cleared her throat loudly. The team turned to listen to what she was going to say. "Yosh, listen up girls!"
Her voice seemed to ring loudly, causing a few heads to turn but Sora continued as if she didn't care. "Like every year, we are going to be pitted against the best. First string vs. first string. And let me tell you, I'm not harbouring any delusions. There's a good chance that we may lose. Badly--"
"Oi, I think you switched a funeral speech with a pep talk... Shouldn't you be saying this somewhere else?" muttered Mayu.
"—Nonetheless," continued Sora, "I want to wipe that horrible smirks out of their faces. Anyone who is with me can follow me to the court."
"True that..." said Akira.
"Payback time!" said Mayu pumping her fist.
"Miyu-chan, Satsuki-san, is there anything we ought to know?" said Sora.
Mayu and Satsuki exchanged a glance. "Actually, yeah," blurted out Satsuki, "I'm not sure if you'll be playing basketball." The team exchanged confused glances. "What do you mean?" said Mayu.
"Last year we had to play something like tag and basketball combined. It may be something like that," said Sora.
"Pretty much," said Satsuki, "I'd rather you be prepared."
"Both the coaches can be diabolical on occasions like this," supplied Miyu.
"I know right..." muttered Akira, "I feel like quitting already..."
"Don't worry. No one's going to ask you to slow dance with Aomine," said Sora with a small giggle. Akira choked. "Hell I will. Over my dead body!" she exclaimed shooting a glare at Aomine who chose to wake up just that instant. Aomine noticed and shot the rest a puzzled glance making the entire team laugh. "Hey, hey... You can't all imagine the same thing," groaned Akira.
"Let's go, team! It's time," said Sora.
All the ten players assembled at the center of the court. The coaches came up to them and Sora could see that coach Yatori was carrying a small white box. Sanada sensei had a basketball, so Sora still felt safe.
(A/N: Yatori Sayo is the girls' team coach for those who haven't read the previous books)
"Right, listen up!" said coach sharply, "Sanada sensei here tells me that the boys are now much more skilled than you and in your current state, you cannot beat them. I feel like I must agree--"
Sora felt Akira stiffen next to her and she sympathized with her. Even though the statement was true, she still felt hurt when coach put it that way. It was all part and parcel of being in Teiko's team. Eat or be eaten... The coaches were known to be openly partial to those who were good at the game. Sora knew that they were being slighted because the boys were better as of now. Even though the whole situation reminded her of Darwin's 'survival of the fittest', Sora vowed that the girls would do their best in whatever challenge coach would put forth.
"--Which is why you will not be playing in your respective teams," finished coach.
Sora gasped. All around her, she could hear people frantically whispering. A lot of tension had been built up over this match for the past few days. Now it would all be for naught. This was the most disappointing thing coach could have said. Akira groaned. "Coach—" she began.
"Quiet! If you have any questions, it will be after I've finished," said coach irritably. Akira swallowed her words. Sora couldn't blame her. No one wanted to run ten rounds after a match.
"Since the girls' has two members who joined this year and the line-up has gone through a lot of shuffling, we want you to learn how to coordinate with any team-mate you might have, even if you've played with them only for a while," said coach. I have all your names down in this box. Sanada sensei and I are going to randomly draw five names each. Those who are drawn by the same person will form a team."
"'The girls need to learn, huh?'" muttered Akira, "Damn and here I was waiting to beat your precious g.o.m... Another day, aho. Just you wait..."
"So we are playing basketball this time, huh," whispered Yukiji. Sora nodded and watched as both the coaches drew five chits from the box. This had to be the deciding moment.
"Akashi Seijuro, Tamotsu Akira, Hitomi Aoba, Chihiro Yukiji, Murasakibara Atsushi," read out Sanada.
"Kise Ryouta, Kouchizuki Mayumi, Midorima Shintaro, Himeji Sora, Aomine Daiki," said coach.
"Oh and there's probably one more catch," said Sanada.
"Sora-chan... They've put us on different teams," whined Akira.
"Ssh," said Sora straining her ears.
"We will be deciding the captain of both teams by another draw," said coach.
"Isn't that stupid?" whispered Yukiji.
"Who cares? Ours will probably be Akashi," said Akira with a shudder.
Coach returned her five chits to the box, shook it and drew a paper. Sanada sensei followed suit and did the same after which he passed his chit to coach. "Tamotsu Akira, you will be the captain of the first team and Kise Ryouta you will be the captain of the second. Switch over to your captain's side please."
Akira's jaw dropped. She immediately glanced at Akashi who looked daggers at her and gulped. This wasn't even her fault. "Forfeit your post. Now," he hissed as she stood in the line, next to her. Akira shook her head slowly. "At this point, I don't have a choice!"
"Yosh, both teams have ten minutes to discuss strategies. Head over to the benches," said Sanada. Both teams walked away in a daze.
"How did this happen?" moaned Akira, collapsing on the bench. Beside her, Yukiji was choking in laughter.
"Which is why I asked you to forfeit the post!" snarled Akashi.
"Do you really think coach will simply let me switch?" demanded Akira, "She would have asked me to write an essay on why I was such a loser!"
"Akira's—so—funny!" choked Yukiji and then abruptly burst into another fit of laughter. "Thank you for the encouragement," said Akira sarcastically.
"I'm not taking any orders from you, Tamotsu," said Akashi sitting down on the bench and crossing his legs.
"Aki-chin, I will listen to whatever you say. Just keep up your promise and buy me a double butterscotch, fruit and nut sundae," said Murasakibara with his eyes shining.
"I never said I would buy you anything!" exclaimed Akira.
"Hey, you're the captain. Shouldn't you be saying something?" said Aoba.
"Umm... Yeah. Right," said Akira clearly her throat. "Listen, team—"
Akashi just scoffed and stared off into the distance. Yukiji broke up into a fresh fit of giggles. "Don't—talk—I can't stop—laughing," she said.
"Are you going to do this every time I speak?" demanded Akira, "Mou, this is such a pain! Okay, Aa-kun, I will get you that sundae. Anything you want, as long as you cooperate."
"Okay..." said Murasakibara with a grin.
"Okay, now we'll decide who will mark who," said Akira.
"Sora," said Akashi.
"Oh what, you can hear me now?" said Akira sarcastically.
"Don't be an idiot, Tamotsu. People who play in similar positions usually tend to mark each other. Juding by that, we all have someone to mark now. So why don't we just do that and focus on planning something else."
"Hey, hey... Who's the captain?" demanded Akira. Akashi's eyes flashed. "Did you say anything?"
"Okay, who's the captain technically?" amended Akira, "Whatever! Scr*w this all! Let's just go and play."
"That is the vaguest and most general thing I've ever heard," said Akashi.
"Will you just quit mouthing?"
"Don't blame me if something goes wrong," said Akashi, "Either way, I will win. Just stay out of my way."
"Some team..." muttered Akira.
"I know right," said Aoba.
At the other bench, Kise was not faring much better. "Okay, first everyone try calling me captain-sama!" said Kise brightly.
"Just because Gemini is first, it doesn't mean you can do whatever the hell you want, nanodayo," said Midorima frostily, "The stars can be in favour of the most irritating human beings sometimes. Such is life."
"Shut up, Ryouta. You're giving me a head-ache," moaned Aomine.
"Mou, just say it!" whined Kise.
"How did I end up with this idiot?" cursed Mayu.
"Soracchi! You're the only one. Please say it and be an inspiration to the others," whined Kise.
"Oro? Kise-kun, there's something on your beautiful hair," said Sora.
"Say what?" exclaimed Kise raking his hands frantically through his hair.
"Just kidding," said Sora with a wink.
"You should have realized that no one would call your hair 'beautiful'," said Mayu.
"Mayucchi! Do you know how many girls are dying to touch my hair?"
"Oh yeah? Who?" demanded Mayu.
"Let's see..." said Kise, pausing to think.
"Calm down, Mayu-chan. Let's give him time to make up some names," said Sora with a chuckle.
"Mou! Why is everyone pushing me around?" pouted Kise.
"It's because we're annoyed that a dandelion like you became captain," said Aomine.
"What!" exclaimed Kise, "Minna... You don't want me? Fine, I'll go resign..."
(A/N: Minna – Everyone)
"Nah, idiot. You'll do fine," said Sora.
"Yeah, we need a scape-goat," agreed Mayu.
"If Gemini has the best luck, then I accept you as captain, nanodayo," said Midorima stiffly.
"I can't decide whether you guys want me or not..." said Kise scratching his head.
"Hey, hey, what are you guys doing?" demanded Aomine, "He was just going to do the right thing... Anyway, I'll kick your sorry-self later then, Ryouta. Right now, we have a game to play."
"Yosh, what are we going to do then?" said Kise.
"Hmm... The positions seem to be more or less even. There is one problem though. Murasakibara-kun's on the other side," said Sora, "Midorima-kun, we're going to have to rely on you. At least in the first quarter. With your angle, Murasakibara-kun might have a tough time blocking. Eitherway, Kise-kun, Aomine-kun, one of you need to support him."
"Okay," said Kise.
"Why don't I just score?" moaned Aomine.
"If that works, then that's no problem," agreed Sora, "But right now, the power is more or less even."
"There are three of us here and two of us on the opponent's side," pointed out Aomine, "What could possibly go wrong?"
"Are you scr*wing with us?" demanded Mayu.
"You shouldn't be taking our team lightly, Aomine-kun," said Sora stiffly.
"Aominecchi, why don't we try not to pick a fight with the girls?" said Kise nervously.
"I was just speaking the truth," said Aomine nonchalantly.
"But it was still rude, nanodayo," said Midorima.
"Whatever. Wake me up when we go in..." said Aomine.
"Anything else, Soracchi?" said Kise gently.
"Actually yes... But never mind," said Sora flipping her hair, "I still think that when push comes to shove, today's key is coordination. I can only say for sure after the first quarter."
"So we just go in?" said Kise.
"Finally, a good plan," said Aomine with a grin.