What I'm Made Of
Chapter 1
…
(Yes, I'm serious)
"Two deep breaths Midi-dono…" Midori sat in the empty locker room, head leaned up against the wall, her feet splayed along the bench. Her PET lay next to the bench on the floor, her navi coxing her to try and relax.
"Remember it's only-"
"Crap Blade! You know how many times I've heard that one!" The operator moved from her position on the bench, picking the PET up off the ground so she could look into her navi's face.
"It's the final game of the season, sorry if I happen to be a little strung out." Midori sighed, her apology making her navi snicker.
"You say that about every game. Minus the final part." Midori rolled her eyes setting the PET on the bench as she got up to change.
"Honestly though, I don't know why the coach decided to place me on point guard for the second quarter." She said, pulling her shirt off, throwing her green (of all colors, really) team jersey on.
"Well you've improved recently," Blade said as she cataloged her operator's homework, "that and you seem to forget that you complained about not being given a fair chance."
Midori frowned, pulling her shorts on, unable to come up with an adequate response. No matter how much she hated to admit it, Blade was right. She had been the one that was complaining to a friend on the court about always being stuck on the post.
"Still, I don't want to be the reason we loose our undefeated title. I still think this is some sort of cruel joke." She said as she knotted her tennis shoes.
"Think what you want, but I still have the email on me." Blade commented as Midori headed over to the nearest sink.
"How 'bout I knock your PET into the sink when it's full?" Midori growled, whipping her black eyeliner off, and pulled her mousy brown hair up into a high ponytail. Her navi chuckled, returning to sorting her homework.
"Don't forget to get that English project in on Friday okay?" Blade said, adding an alarm reminder to the notice. She looked up through the PET's panel to see her operator biting her lip.
"You haven't started yet have you?"
Silence.
Her navi took in a breath to begin a long winded lecture, but thought the better of it, and let it out as an exasperated sigh. Her operator was worried enough as it was, but she wasn't just going to let it slide. They'd talk when they got home.
If the team won.
"Well time to head out." Midori said, grabbing Blade off of the sink, and heading out to the gym.
The gym was humming with excitement, most of the student body in the stands or standing around the entrance talking. Midori tried to swallow the growing lump in her throat, tightening her grip on Blade's PET.
"Remember, deep breaths." Midori nodded to herself, taking a breath in, heading for the benches to sit with the rest of her teammates. Facing off against Akihara school wasn't going to be easy. They had a pretty good team, but her school, Genkou Academy, had moved their practice up a notch.
"You ready Midori?" She nodded to her teammate, Shana, as she took a seat next to her, a nervous smile on her face.
"I'm just not to sure about this position swap." She admitted resting her elbows on her knees, her PET hanging in the air between her legs.
"Hey there Blade-chan." Shana said leaning closer to the screen of the PET, a cheery smile on her face.
"Same to you, Shana-sama." The navi replied, a respectfully small smile on her face. Shana giggled waggling a finger at the navi.
"No need to be so polite there, Blade," she said giving her a wink, "we're all friends." Blade fidgeted slightly, but nodded, rubbing the back of her head slightly embarrassed.
"MIDDDDOORRRIIIIIII-CHAN!" The young operator had barely a moment to react before someone side-tackled her.
"I-ita!" She groaned, looking down at the person who had their arms wrapped around her waist in a death grip.
"Hana-chan, you really don't need to do that." Midori sighed, struggling to un-stick her friend from her sides.
"I just wanted to come wish you good luck!" Her friend wailed, wrapping her arms tighter. Midori rolled her eyes, wedging her hands between her friend's arms.
"Well I can't do well dragging a deadweight body, now can I?" She stated teasingly, finally prying her friend off of her.
"Okay then, but I'll be cheering you on. And so will Blade, won't you?" The navi smiled, nodding.
"Un. Speaking of which, Midori, you should let her hold onto me while you're playing." Blade said, looking up at her operator.
Midori arched an eyebrow at the small character on the PET screen. "Trust her? I'd rather-"
"Akashi-san, time to warm up." The team coach said, grabbing the teams point guard, giving her little time to even toss her PET to Hana.
"Guddorakku, Midori-chan!" Hana cheered as she headed for the stands. "Good luck!"
"Okay teams, here's the toss up." The ref held the ball in the air at shoulder height, driving Midori crazy.
"Just toss the stupid thing already!" She thought grinding her teeth together. The girl across from her was giving her a strange look. Midori just kept her face straight and her legs bent, ready for the toss.
"And…Play Ball!" Leaping into the air a second before the other girl gave Midori the advantage, swiping the ball with the back of her hand, knocking it back to one of her teammates.
"Kari, pass it back here!" Midori shouted as the apposing team took their places guarding her teammates.
"Okay, good Midori! Now run circle!" Her coach yelled from the benches. Dribbling twice in place she called the play, taking off as each of her friends setting picks and exchanging places, confusing the girls guarding them.
A larger girl from the other came up beside her, arms waving in front of her, blocking the shot to the basket.
"Midori!" Out of the corner of her eye she caught sight of Kari, completely unguarded.
"Kari, go for the basket!" Midori yelled, passing the ball to her. Kari passed her with the ball going straight for the basket from the left side of the court.
"Oh, no you don't." Midori grunted as she set the pick on a player coming up behind Kari, blocking her just long enough to let Kari score.
The gym erupted in cheers. The game continued to go back and forth in this manner, both teams earning their fair share of points.
"Nice job so far Midori!" Her coach said patting her on the back at the third quarter. Midori nodded, panting heavily, taking a swig out of her water bottle.
"Thanks." She said, dropping into her seat with a quiet "oof." Shana gave her a high five and returned to tying her sneakers. She was going in for Midori while she took a quick break.
"Now, you've got two fouls so far, but nothing to bad." The coach said as he watched both the game and gave advice to Midori.
"Just make sure to watch when you're guarding their point guard. You can't stand straight while guarding or they'll call you for it— Stop the ball!" He turned his attention back to the game as Akihara stole the ball and were heading for the basket at an outrageous speed.
"Someone stop the redhead!" Midori yelled from her chair, watching the girl dribble straight down the middle of the court, Shana only a few steps behind. There was a clatter as the ball hit the backboard and rim, dancing around the edge.
A soft swish was the only sound Midori heard as she watched the ball go in, the buzzer signaling the end of the third quarter. The stands that housed the Akihara School erupted.
"Yatta! Nice job Mayl-chan!" One brunette from the stands yelled, cheering her on.
"You ready to go back in?" her coach looked over at Midori.
"Heck yes." She stood with the rest of her team, her face blank, but her mind running a million miles a minute. She caught glace of the scoreboard the overall score disturbing her.
Akihara: 28
Genkou: 26
"Green ball." The ref called, motioning down the court, tossing the ball to Midori. She bounced on the baseline evaluating the court quickly. Akihara seemed to figure out most of their better plays pretty quick, but all the players were so focused on their personal players, they left most of the middle court unguarded.
Taking a chance she dashed down the middle, dribbling low to the ground, although she wasn't ready for a severe collision.
The red head, Mayl dashed out in front of her in an attempt to block her shot, but Midori had too much velocity, making her move out of the way, but the red head's feet were a fraction of a second to slow.
"Kyaaahhh!" Midori let out a loud screech as her left foot was caught under Mayl's and twisted out to the left as she slipped. A loud pop echoed in her head and the audience gasped and fell silent.
Tears stinging her eyes she fought the pounding pain that emanated from her ankle, somehow getting to her feet.
"What happened?" One of the ref's asked, appearing next to her.
"She stepped on my foot, knocking me over." She gasped swallowing a sob, tears already running down her face.
"Ah! I'm so sorry!" Midori looked over to the Mayl, who had bowed her head in a deep apology.
"It's fine. I can still play." Midori shuddered, taking the ball from the ref. Taking a quick glance up at the clock she nearly choked. They only had a minute and a half left.
"Foul on white," the ref said motioning to the score keeper, "number 22. Here 11, take the free throw. 2 shots"
Midori caught the ball, wiping her face on the back of her hand. She took two calming breaths through her nose, bending low for the shot.
She lost contact of the ball, followed by a thud of the backboard, and gentle swish of the ball going through the net. She would have leapt for joy of making the shot, if it wasn't for the increasingly searing pain in her ankle.
The ref returned the ball to her and she tried to ignore the pain. Except this time, when she threw the ball she felt her fingers roll back in the release, already knowing it wouldn't make it in.
"Rebound Shana!"
As soon as the ball had bounced off the rim, Shana leapt into the air and grabbed it tossing it up. The ball arched over the basket, falling over the other side, into Kari's arms.
Midori tried her best to jog to the three point line without showing the excruciating pain shooting through her leg with every step.
"KARI! MAKE THE SHOT!"
Kari looked from the basket to Midori's panicked face. "TWO SECONDS!" Kari leapt into the air, doing her best to guide the ball to the basket…
The stands exploded.
Authors Notes: The suffix dono is a very polite term (more so than sama) rarely used in a lot of anime. The one where you'd hear it in a lot is Rurouni Kenshin, but that's beside the point. LOTS of basketball terminology in this prologue and I apologize about that. In upcoming chapters there'll be less and more canon characters will make better appearances. If you think it's a pain to read, try writing it… (Bangs head against desk). Holy crap, long prologue! (over 2,000 words) Please R&R and let me know what you think. Reviews make me happy and encourage me to write more.
Copyright Crap: I don't own anything except for my own characters. I'm not making profit by writing this, it's just for fun. Don't sue me please.
PS: Future chapters will probably be shorter, but only if you'd like them to be.