One of the most underrated characters in Time Stranger Kyoko is Momoto Karen. She's a very nice girl, and fights with a sense of confidence. I decided to put this AU fic just to show how much cool this flower girl is. Basketball and dancing Hanazoku-style can go hand in hand...can it?
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Oh Carolina
Chapter 1:
What Did I Just Get Myself Into?
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Dear Diary-chan,
I'm a bit shy to say this to all of you, especially Kyoko-chan, but now I have a fetish for basketball. Yeah, all of you can ask me, "What the hell, Karen? You're a flower dancer, the leader of the Hanazoku, and you're supposed to be helping out your folks over there." I say, I may be the leader of the Hanazoku, but I also have a life of my own! *giggle* Anyway, I came to tryouts one day, and I notice how many of my peers are yelled at by the coach, Futara Keiko-san.
So, what happened was, Coach Futara came to me and said, "Well, well, well, if isn't Momoto Karen-san. How are you, young lady?"
I said, "Eh...not bad yourself, Coach-san."
She said, "Would you like to try out for the team?"
Now I was basically not in my normal uniform, but I was wearing my gym outfit. I replied, with a hint of hesitation, "Sure, I'll...give it a try." And so, my then-small affinity for hoopla began to grow.
First, we had to do some sprints, from one part of the court to the other. There was a cutoff point, if I wasn't mistaken: If I didn't finish running from one part to the other in 9.00 seconds, I would be cut. One by one, each of the hopefuls did the sprint. When it was my turn, I ran faster than I would imagine; must have been all that dancing I was practicing. About 30 of the 70 or so hopefuls were cut off.
Next, the Coach gave us shooting drills. A bit of a side note: All of the girls were slightly taller than me, though not much tall. I was 150 cm, the rest were 160-70. Anyway, Coach Futara told all of us to try making 6 shots from beyond this arc on the frontcourt. She said that, "If you shoot behind this arc, you will get three points." So, all of the girls shot "3-pointers" Some made 3 or 4, many below 2 of them. Disappointed, Coach Futara turned to me, and asked if I could shoot a three-pointer or two.
I said, "Yes, I'll give it a try, so please you." Holding the ball in my hand, it was like a huge boulder, but not as heavy as I thought it would be. I didn't shoot basketballs when I was a little kid, probably because I was busy practicing my dance moves for my Hana folks, you know. Anyway, I jumped, and heaved the ball as far as I could. As thought it were an Act of Kami-sama, it went in.
Some of them dropped their jaws. "How in the world did she shoot that?" one asked to her friend. When I was about to do the second shot, the Coach told me to not force the ball into the basket, but to hold the ball and shoot it a certain way. In a way, it reminded me again of my dancing. So I followed her advice, and I made the next five, all in the nylon. Coach Futara was amazed.
And then, I had to do some dribbling, passing and defense. I watched this team called the "Los Angeles Lakers" play, and another team called the "Harlem Globetrotters" on film at tryouts, and Coach asked if they could, well, follow the technique. When I watched the film, every move they made, especially the Globetrotters' moves, was of grace and skill. Little by little, inch by inch, I noticed that they paralleled the Hanazoku's dance steps, since both use skill, grace, and execution. When I did the drills, they were still stunned by what I did. I passed, dribbled, and how I played defense. I did all this as if I was preparing for Kyoko-chan's birthday, which would be later. It didn't take long after that for them to find out that I was a Kirito from the Hanazoku. Okay, the petals that trailed off my move gave it away even more easily. The custodian had to clean it up afterwards.
When tryouts concluded, Coach Futara said to everyone, "Okay, girls. I can only accept 15, but these are the people who made it. Shimagosa Mayuko. Utada Junko. Kireishi Keiko. Kizuka Sana. Hayashi Mari. Sou Chikara. Watanabe Rei. Masano Nanako. Akiyoshi Mitsuki. Nagai Haruko. Majiwara Yuri. Irai Miyako. Komatsuzaki Aki. Momoto Karen." When she said my name, I was at a loss for words.
She continued, "And finally, Sato Rika. Those who names were not mentioned, I congratulate you for trying out for the team, but there is always next year, since all of you will return next April. Those who I did mention, I officially welcome you to the team. I along with Mori-san and Ruka-san, will rely on all of you to execute, play with intelligence, discipline, and heart, and most importantly, bring home the Earth Kingdom Championship. Practice will be 5:00 p.m., and you must be punctual, or at least early. This will be a tough year for all of you, but everyone of you, especially the girl with the pink hair..." I blushed, "...made a commitment to come here, and do your best. Our first practice is next Monday, our first game will follow a week later. Good job ladies. Let's do a huddle." All of us did, and she then said, "On the count of three, we yell 'GAME START.' All right? One, two, three..."
"GAME START!" yelled all of us, as we packed up and left our separate ways. In the name of all Kiritos, I muttered to myself lightly, what in the blazes have I gotten myself into? And having to meet with some guys soon after...I hate my allergy...I wished someone would help me with this... *sweatdrop*
Well, I have to meet with Toba-kun. He'll take me home. We love each other so much. I want to give my first kiss to him, but there's that what if again...Kyoko-chan's gonna kill me when she finds out, as well as Mizuno-chan, of course...
Love,
Momoto Karen *heart*
6 April 2001
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End Chapter 1/Prologue
Give me your feedback.
********
Oh Carolina
Chapter 1:
What Did I Just Get Myself Into?
********
Dear Diary-chan,
I'm a bit shy to say this to all of you, especially Kyoko-chan, but now I have a fetish for basketball. Yeah, all of you can ask me, "What the hell, Karen? You're a flower dancer, the leader of the Hanazoku, and you're supposed to be helping out your folks over there." I say, I may be the leader of the Hanazoku, but I also have a life of my own! *giggle* Anyway, I came to tryouts one day, and I notice how many of my peers are yelled at by the coach, Futara Keiko-san.
So, what happened was, Coach Futara came to me and said, "Well, well, well, if isn't Momoto Karen-san. How are you, young lady?"
I said, "Eh...not bad yourself, Coach-san."
She said, "Would you like to try out for the team?"
Now I was basically not in my normal uniform, but I was wearing my gym outfit. I replied, with a hint of hesitation, "Sure, I'll...give it a try." And so, my then-small affinity for hoopla began to grow.
First, we had to do some sprints, from one part of the court to the other. There was a cutoff point, if I wasn't mistaken: If I didn't finish running from one part to the other in 9.00 seconds, I would be cut. One by one, each of the hopefuls did the sprint. When it was my turn, I ran faster than I would imagine; must have been all that dancing I was practicing. About 30 of the 70 or so hopefuls were cut off.
Next, the Coach gave us shooting drills. A bit of a side note: All of the girls were slightly taller than me, though not much tall. I was 150 cm, the rest were 160-70. Anyway, Coach Futara told all of us to try making 6 shots from beyond this arc on the frontcourt. She said that, "If you shoot behind this arc, you will get three points." So, all of the girls shot "3-pointers" Some made 3 or 4, many below 2 of them. Disappointed, Coach Futara turned to me, and asked if I could shoot a three-pointer or two.
I said, "Yes, I'll give it a try, so please you." Holding the ball in my hand, it was like a huge boulder, but not as heavy as I thought it would be. I didn't shoot basketballs when I was a little kid, probably because I was busy practicing my dance moves for my Hana folks, you know. Anyway, I jumped, and heaved the ball as far as I could. As thought it were an Act of Kami-sama, it went in.
Some of them dropped their jaws. "How in the world did she shoot that?" one asked to her friend. When I was about to do the second shot, the Coach told me to not force the ball into the basket, but to hold the ball and shoot it a certain way. In a way, it reminded me again of my dancing. So I followed her advice, and I made the next five, all in the nylon. Coach Futara was amazed.
And then, I had to do some dribbling, passing and defense. I watched this team called the "Los Angeles Lakers" play, and another team called the "Harlem Globetrotters" on film at tryouts, and Coach asked if they could, well, follow the technique. When I watched the film, every move they made, especially the Globetrotters' moves, was of grace and skill. Little by little, inch by inch, I noticed that they paralleled the Hanazoku's dance steps, since both use skill, grace, and execution. When I did the drills, they were still stunned by what I did. I passed, dribbled, and how I played defense. I did all this as if I was preparing for Kyoko-chan's birthday, which would be later. It didn't take long after that for them to find out that I was a Kirito from the Hanazoku. Okay, the petals that trailed off my move gave it away even more easily. The custodian had to clean it up afterwards.
When tryouts concluded, Coach Futara said to everyone, "Okay, girls. I can only accept 15, but these are the people who made it. Shimagosa Mayuko. Utada Junko. Kireishi Keiko. Kizuka Sana. Hayashi Mari. Sou Chikara. Watanabe Rei. Masano Nanako. Akiyoshi Mitsuki. Nagai Haruko. Majiwara Yuri. Irai Miyako. Komatsuzaki Aki. Momoto Karen." When she said my name, I was at a loss for words.
She continued, "And finally, Sato Rika. Those who names were not mentioned, I congratulate you for trying out for the team, but there is always next year, since all of you will return next April. Those who I did mention, I officially welcome you to the team. I along with Mori-san and Ruka-san, will rely on all of you to execute, play with intelligence, discipline, and heart, and most importantly, bring home the Earth Kingdom Championship. Practice will be 5:00 p.m., and you must be punctual, or at least early. This will be a tough year for all of you, but everyone of you, especially the girl with the pink hair..." I blushed, "...made a commitment to come here, and do your best. Our first practice is next Monday, our first game will follow a week later. Good job ladies. Let's do a huddle." All of us did, and she then said, "On the count of three, we yell 'GAME START.' All right? One, two, three..."
"GAME START!" yelled all of us, as we packed up and left our separate ways. In the name of all Kiritos, I muttered to myself lightly, what in the blazes have I gotten myself into? And having to meet with some guys soon after...I hate my allergy...I wished someone would help me with this... *sweatdrop*
Well, I have to meet with Toba-kun. He'll take me home. We love each other so much. I want to give my first kiss to him, but there's that what if again...Kyoko-chan's gonna kill me when she finds out, as well as Mizuno-chan, of course...
Love,
Momoto Karen *heart*
6 April 2001
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End Chapter 1/Prologue
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