Prologue

She was either really brave, or really stupid.

If anyone saw Hotaru Nagasawa right at this very moment, then that's what they would think about her just from watching her talk with the her captain.

"But what I'm saying is true. You're not being a good captain." she calmly told her captain, Ayame, who was silently fuming in anger. You could tell just by looking at her that she was furious and irritated at her. Ayame's face was red from both anger and embarrassment and she clenched her teeth so that she wouldn't scream a million insults at Hotaru. Even her basketball uniform seemed slightly wrinkled rather than the usually straightened look, due to her clenching handfuls of her jersey from anger.

It was currently basketball practice at Kaijou High in the afternoon. You could hear the squeaking of sneakers, the ball being dribbled on the floor, and the swish of the net whenever someone make a shot. All of that stopped and became silent in the gym (if you didn't include the occasional whispers being exchanged), the happy air around them becoming tense once the slightly shorter girl stood up to her tyrant captain. She was practically being towered over in this state, yet she was acting very calm despite the situation she put herself in.

"And why do you think I'm not a good captain Nagasawa? Please enlighten me." Ayame said in a nonchalant tone, thinking whatever the second-year said was just pure nonsense. She was just angry by how cocky she was acting.

"Well, basketball is a team sport right? You're the captain and you should know that, yet you ball hog too much." Hotaru told her bluntly while some girls nodded their heads, meaning they knew of that fact already.

"So what? I'm the captain, I lead you guys through the game since the captain's the leader. I'm only helping us get the points so we won't lose." she gave a scoff at the her explanation. Ayame acted as if she was still confident in winning the argument, but she was getting a little nervous. Nearly everyone knew about how good Hotaru was in arguments and debates, and how she almost always won all of them. Well, specifically in debates because she couldn't exactly talk back and argue with a teacher.

"So you're saying that you don't trust us? That's another thing you need in basketball. I mean, look at Kise and Kasamatsu; Kise's the ace and Kasamatsu's their captain, and you don't see them ball hogging. They trust each other." the other girl protested, gesturing to the two male basketball players who only blinked in surprise at the mention of their names. Ayame opened her mouth to weakly argue back, only for Hotaru to continue her attack.

"You don't cooperate well with us either, and that's one of the most important things you need to have in basketball." Hotaru continued her argument while the older girl stayed silent, her eyes wide in shock from all of the things she explained thoroughly and clearly. She couldn't protest, because everything she was explaining was indeed true. Who could talk back with proof of something that is true anyways? People will see through her lies, so she kept silent.

"Alright, that's enough." Everyone turned to look at their coach, Genta Takeuchi, who was watching the scene from afar. He had a stern expression on his face as he looked back and forth at the two girls. "Kuramoto, it looks like I've overestimated you. Nagasawa, you're now captain of the girls' team. Kuramoto, you'll be replaced by Oshiro and won't play in games until you've learned more of how to play in a team."

No one went after Ayame when she stormed out of the gym while the girls exhaled a breath of air they happened to hold in during the argument. It was best to leave her be; the huge pride she held dear and protected was crushed when she was being replaced with a first year, of all people.

"Mm... I do feel a bit bad for her though." Hotaru mumbled under her breath, her gaze still at the door Ayame just stormed out of.

"Huh? Did you say something Hotaru-senpai?" A first-year girl asked her as she walked by. She shook her head and sighed, giving her a small smile.

"It's nothing Keiko-chan."

"I… Almost wish that… Kuramoto was still captain…!" Mayumi wheezed, gulping down as much water as she could due to her panting so hard. She wiped the sweat dripping down her forehead with a towel. Some others nodded, agreeing with her as they too looked sweaty and tired.

"Hey, Hotaru's doing a way better job than her!" Ryoko protested feebly through her gasping breaths for air, her head bent down as she attempted to drink a bit of water.

"Yeah, that's why I said almost, Ryoko-chan."

"By next week, you guys would have more stamina and strength Fuse-senpai." Hotaru told her, sitting down on the bench. She looked fairly tired, but didn't seem as tired as most of them. Mayumi only grumbled and leaned against the wall behind her, letting her muscles relax.

"Was I the only one who's fine with the practice?" Keiko asked everyone, panting heavily and drinking some water. She laughed nervously when the rest of the girls sent her death glares.

"That's because you're a super hard worker Oshiro-chan! Maybe even more hard-working than Hotaru-chan!" Ryoko, another second year, groaned out. She was the most tired out of them all, being the weakest in stamina. She was great in speed, but she can tire out easily. It was a huge weakness of hers, so Hotaru, being the oh-so "kind and understandable" captain she was focused more on Ryoko than the others.

"I guess…" she said, blushing from what she accepted as a compliment. She was the only first year after all, so she had to work hard to catch up to her seniors.

"It was torture. Absolute torture." Natsuko, a second year, said. She shook her head and sighed, drinking some water. She was the only one who seemed completely normal, if you ignored the fact that her forehead dripped of sweat.

"But you have the most stamina in the team…" Mayumi grumbled, rolling her eyes as she finished the rest of her water. The third-year took a glance at Hotaru, her eyes almost drifting away until she noticed an important detail. "Woah, you okay there Taru-chan?"

All at once, attention was diverted to the captain, who stood up with a water bottle in hand. Something that almost all of them missed was that her legs were shaking, looking like she was about to collapse any second.

"...What do you mean, Mayumi-senpai?" Hotaru ignored the fact that they saw what she hoped they wouldn't, slowly sitting down on the bench. She glared at the stubborn female captain, making a few others who watched flinch instinctively because of her strong gaze.

"Your knees. What happened?" She asked again in a more specific and forced tone, making the captain sigh.

"I just overworked my knees. Nothing a little rest can't do, right?"

Mayumi gave up on trying to get the truth out of their new captain, groaning as she drank some more water, almost forgetting about her tiredness all together.

"Alright, get back to practice!" Everyone immediately stood up from the benches and ran to the court from their coach's order. By the time they went home, they were be sore and tired from the practice. They were luckily almost done with practice, meaning a few more basketball drills and probably a scrimmage.

After what the girls described as torturous basketball drills, it was time for the scrimmage against the males' team, since they didn't have enough players for the girls to play against.

"Well, this is going to be fun." Hotaru smirked, an excited glint in her eyes as she glanced over at the boys' team. They were currently talking about their strategy and such, getting ready. Even if this was just a practice game, they didn't plan on losing.

"Okay, why don't we switch our usual strategy to that other one? You guys know what that is, right?" she asked them, while they all nodded.

"I'm up for it. I'd love to see the surprised looks on their faces when we go against them." Ryoko nodded, stretching so that she could be ready to play.

"Alright, then let's go for it!"