Chapter 18:
Eye of the storm
"I'm fed up!" declared Akira.
"Same here..." muttered Sora. The rest nodded too.
"So what are we going to do about it?" questioned Akira.
"Study until we get fed up of being fed up."
It was just twenty four hours before Teiko would face the fire. Everyone was in their own personal hell. The next day was the math test.
"Akira-san have you really finished?" asked Sora suspiciously.
"Yup!"
"How do you calculate the compound interest accumulated at the end of three and a half years if the rate of interest is 8% per annum and the sum deposited is ten thousand?"
"I'm not in the mood."
"Eh? You do realize..."
"Yeah. And who gives a damn if I fail?"
"Leave her off the hook. Shouldn't what we've learnt so far be enough?" said Aomine with a huge yawn.
Sora shook her head in disbelief and started to object when she was interupted by Kuroko. "Thirteen thousand ninety one, point three one yen. Interest alone."
"Yup!" said Sora with a smile.
"Speaking of studying... Has anyone seen Akashi-san, nanodayo?"
"Now that you mention it--" started Sora.
"He went to see sensei," said Murasakibara who was demolishing a packet of biscuits, "He'll probably be held up a bit--"
"Yosh!" said Aomine jumping up, "Time for a well deserved break! And no 'buts' and 'ifs' "
"Count me in!" chimed in Akira.
Just then Momoi, who had come in search of Aomine, joined in. "Jeez, I'm sick of studying too! I completed the portions last week itself! I'm in too!"
"What about your revision Satsuki-san?"
"Ah! Damn it..."
Sora sighed. "Fine. Do as you please... I've already finished revision so--"
"Basketball!"
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They split up into two teams. Aomine, Kuroko and Akira on one side and Satsuki, Midorima, Sora and Murasakibara on the other.
Murasakibara took the ball during tip off and passed it to Midorima. Midorima shoot the ball and scored. Next time it was Aomine who took the ball. He went for a formless shot but Murasakibara blocked it and passed it to Midorima again. But Kuroko intercepted the pass and passed it to Akira who was nearby. Akira went for the hoop but was blocked by Sora who took the ball. Aomine came to Akira's aid, so Sora passed to Satsuki. Kuroko immediately took the ball from her. He made a bounce pass to Aomine. But Sora who had expected that stood next to Aomine and took the ball after he received the pass. She dribbled the ball and took it next to Midorima and did a sort of short range pass so that Kuroko would be able to steal the pass. They scored again. But the next time, Akira managed to get the ball and made a shot. This was followed by another pass by the Kuroko-Aomine duo.
The next time, the ball went to Midorima. Akira accidentally fouled him in an effort to prevent him from scoring. This resulted in an all-out argument.
"You pushed!"
"No way in hell! Its called blocking."
"It's called a foul! We get a free throw."
"Not acceptable."
"What's really not acceptable is playing basketball before the math exam," said a voice behind them. All seven of them turned slowly.
"Uh-oh," whispered Sora. Apparently sensei had released him earlier than expected.
"I was planning to let you guys go early... But I guess that can't be done, eh--"
"No way!" everyone protested only to be quelled by his frown.
"No one is doing anything until you are through with all the formulae."
Akira looked at Sora. "What now?"
Sora shrugged. "I told you, I already finished." To Akashi, she said " Oka-san, I'll go first..."
( Note: Oka-san means mom in Japanese. Sora is using it in a sarcastic way because of his nagging.)