"I think you need to introduce yourself right now. Besides, I said it was alright earlier. Now, let's get to know our new teammate, shall we?" Hyuga looked pointedly at me as the rest of the team gathered around so I was in the center.

I nodded, and took a deep breath in. "Okay. My name is Miyashiro Ren. I live with my adoptive family and my twin sister. I'm 15 years old." I thought I was done, but Hyuga didn't seem to think so.

"And?" He pressed me further. "What about your academic career?"

I gave him my 'go die' face at intensity level 3. Seriously? He's gonna make me bring up that?! I hate this guy already… I thought quietly to myself. I let out a sigh of compliance. "I started school a year late when I was little because my birthday is April 4th, but I managed to skip my first year of middle school anyways. I went to Teiko middle school for my second year, and then I went to a private school for my third." I took another deep breath in before continuing. "I went to a really good high school in Kyoto on a scholarship before I transferred here. I transferred to Seirin because they wouldn't let me join their basketball team. The Captain told me since you're a new school, my likelihood of being able to play on your team was higher. Am I done now?" I asked Hyuga to see if he was satisfied with my answer.

"Almost." He said. "These are your new teammates; You already know myself, Kuroko, and Kagami. These are the rest. Introduce yourselves!" Hyuga shouted at them.

A tall guy with brown hair stepped forward."I'm Kiyoshi Teppei, a second year. It's nice to meet you." He finished while smiling.

Next, a shorter guy with black hair and eagle-like eyes took a step forward. "My name is Izuki Shun. I'm also a second year."

The pair next to him also came closer, although one seemed more hyper than the other. The first one was taller and had longer black hair, the second one was shorter with spiky brown hair and looked like the human version of Nyan Cat. The first guy gave me a slight smile and a tiny nod, the other one "translated" for him.

At least that's what I think he did.

"He said; 'I'm Mitobe Rinnosuke. It's very nice to meet you, Miyashiro.'. And I'm Koganei Shinji, but you can call me Koga!" The guy with brown hair gave me a thumbs up and winked. "We're second years too!".

I felt my face change into an expression in between a smile and a grimace. "Thank you, Koga. Nice to meet you as well, Mitobe.".

The guy next to Koga gave me a small wave. "Hi! My name is Tsuchida Satoshi." He scratched his short spiky black hair with one finger. "It's nice to meet you.".

The next three guys that caught my attention looked the same age as me, Kagami, and Kuroko. The guy on the left started to say something."U-Um… H-Hi…" He mumbled so quietly, and I couldn't hear him.

"Huh? Whatcha say?" I leaned in closer so I could hear him better. But it totally backfired, cuz he freaked out and hid behind the other two. "Um, I'm not that intimidating…" I muttered, a bit of sweat rolling down my cheek.

The one who was in the middle started to laugh a little. "Ah, don't worry about it. That's just Furi's way of saying 'Hi'."

I cocked my head to the side. "Well, that's fine 'n all, but who are you three?" I asked.

"Oh, sorry." The laughing guy stopped, and took a deep breath. "Okay. I'm Kawahara Koichi. The guy next to me is Fukuda Hiroshi. And the guy hiding behind us is Furihata Koki, we like to call him Furi. Don't worry, he won't stay afraid of you forever."

Since we were done with the whole intro thing, Hyuga looked at me and pushed his glasses back up on his nose. "Get to know them well.".

"I'll try." I replied bowing my head to them. "It's a pleasure to know you all.". After I said that my phone rang.

Again.

Seriously, I need to put that thing on silent or something.

'She's a Bombshell Blonde, Wired up to detonate! I'm James Bond, Live to die another da-!' I got to it quicker this time. "Hello?"

"You hung up on me." I could feel waves of anger rolling off my phone. "O-Oh, h-hey Akashi~..." I forced myself to sound cheerful, even though I was shaking like a frightened rodent again. I exited the circle, and turned my back to the group so my conversation could be a tiny bit more private. "S-Sorry about that… I saw something that piqued my interest, and startled me at the same time. I didn't want to have to share attention between you and that thing. So I thought it would be better if you called me back, since I don't have your number…" I sensed the waves stopping but I thought I smelled fire.

"Something piqued your interest? Ren, when I call you, I expect that you pay attention." Akashi started berating me.

Ah, I knew I smelled fire.

The fire of his anger!

"Yes, I know, Akashi. That's why I told you to call me back, so I would be able to give you my full attention." I tried to soothe the savage beast. "That, and I don't have your number in my phone. Could you text it to me later?"

"Don't change the subject." He persisted. "I need to meet with you later about our arrangement. Atushi told me about your date, so I'll pick you up after that. Understood?".

I froze up. "Okay; 1) It's not a date. 2) How'd you find out? 3) It's really slutty to hang out with one guy just to go straight to another. And 4) It's not a friggin date. We didn't even confirm anything!".

"Atushi told me, no further details. And if you think it's slutty, I apologize but I really must speak with you. Also, the more you protest that it's not a date, the more suspicious it becomes."

"Akashi, I am not in the mood to deal with anyone's sass right now. Much less, yours. Which comes with a royal sting, I may add."

"No, you may not." Akashi was quiet for a minute before continuing. "By the way, when is your date with Atushi?"

"IT'S NOT A DATE, AKASHI!" I hollered at him, registering he asked me something as I yell that. "Oh. Um, I don't know. Should I?"

"Idiot." He sighed at me. "Weren't you supposed to call him?".

"How should I know?!"

"Didn't Tetsuya tell yo-? Oh."

"'Oh.' What?" I wanted to know.

"Nothing."

"Hold up. How'd you even know that?"

"… I have to go. Atushi will text me, don't worry about it. And as soon as I hang up I'll text your my number. Good bye, Ren."

I let out a puff of air. Even if his orders are absolute, he's still human, and he still has a heart. I thought fondly. I'm glad that part of him hasn't totally changed.

"Ren? Are you there?" Akashi wondered, since I didn't respond to his good bye.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm still here Akashi. But I'm going now, okay? Bye." I said before hanging up. When I turned around to look at everyone again, Hyuga looked angry.

"Look, you!" He raged, walking towards me. "I don't know how things worked at your old school, but here at Seirin we do not talk on our phones when we are speaking to our Seniors!" He grabbed me by my shoulders, shaking me. "Do you hear me?!".

I brushed his hands off and stared him defiantly in the eyes. "I get it. I'll go to the bathroom when I get a call." I walked past him, finishing my statement as I went. "And, you must've missed the memo." I narrowed my eyes, stopped, still not looking his way. "No one touches me. I don't care who it is. Other than that, we have no problems." I shifted a little to look at Hyuga. "You don't want to provoke it.".

He looked at me with his eyes shaking in disbelief.

He probably didn't think that I would go against the Captain's Will… Unfortunately, she couldn't care less.

"What don't I want to provoke?" Hyuga asked me, his voice dripping with hatred.

I answered with another evil smile gracing my arrogant face. "My game mode.". I shrugged it off. "But none of you need to worry about it. If we're lucky, you won't have to deal with her.".

"Guys! We're going to the indoor court!" Coach shouted at us, breaking up the commotion. "Chop Chop! Hustle it!" She started cycling her arm in a circle, signalling them to run. I was about to take off, when Coach called out to me. "Miyashiro.".

I looked at her over my shoulder. "Eh? What is it? Wasn't I supposed to rush off with 'em?" I asked, sauntering over to her.

"Take off your shirt." Riko looked serious when she said that.

I looked at her like she lit her own hair on fire. "You gotta be shitting me.". I felt daggers start to pierce my skin.

"Are you questioning your coach?!".

"Yes." I replied with a straight face.

Riko let out a huff of air, crossing her arms. "Just do it."

I let out a groan of misfortune, complying to do what she told me, complaining the whole time. "Fuck.. this shit… you bitch… ". After I finished stripping, I waited for her to tell me I could put my shirt back on. I felt her eyes investigating every visible part of my body, and I heard her breath hitch twice. I grit my teeth. "Are you some kind of perv, or something?". I asked, totally out of my comfort zone. "I mean, you're looking me over like I'm some piece of meat.".

"I'm checking your muscles to see how well you've trained them. Your forearm muscles and calf muscles are pretty well-trained compared to the rest of them.". Riko commented, still surveying.

"Now that's offensive! I have a four pack too! Look, see?" I pouted, pointing at my abs.

She rolled her eyes, looking over my muscles almost skeptically. After about 5 more minutes, she lifted her eyes back to mine. "Okay, get dressed again.". I breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's about time! ACHOO!" I suddenly sneezed. A vein grew on my forehead. "IF I CATCH A COLD, THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!".

"It was only one sneeze." Riko shrugged. "Someone was probably talking about you. C'mon, let's go inside."

~~~~~~~~~~~~At That Moment~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A pair of high school students were walking along the sidewalk in perfect sync, they were both pretty tall, one more-so than the other. The shorter one had his hands in the pockets of his jacket, while the taller one was holding a plastic grocery bag with one hand. He was digging in it with the other hand, muttering about not being able to find his Maiu-bo.

After a bit longer, he found the said snack, opened it, and took a bite out of it. A small sigh of dissatisfaction came from his mouth, like the soft hiss of carbonation slowly leaking from a pop bottle.

"Hm? What's wrong?" His friend asked him, head tilting in concern. "Don't like the flavor?".

"Mmm… No… It's not that…" The skyscraper shook his head.

"Well, then. What is it, Atushi?"

"It's just… Do you know why Shorty hasn't called me back?" The purple-haired giant asked his companion in a monotone voice.

"How should I know what goes on in your romantic relations, Atushi?" The companion responded, his long dark hair swaying slightly in the outside breeze. "Besides, I barely know her personality. It would be pretty hard for me to draw a conclusion.".

Murasakibara hummed in a slightly disappointed tone, taking another bite of the Maiu-bo. He stopped walking and stared up at the evening sky. His friend however, didn't take notice until he called out to him. "Oi, Muro?".

A few feet ahead, Himuro turned around to look at Murasakibara. "What is it this time?" He sighed in exasperation.

"Do you think it'll rain tonight?" Murasakibara asked, still looking up at the sky. Himuro looked up, to see the clouds start to become more condensed, turning slightly more gray than they were previously.

Himuro shrugged. "Meh. I dunno. It depends on whether the sun will show her pretty face or not.".

Bzzzt.

Bzzzt.

Bzzzt.

"Hm?" Himuro put his hand on the pocket of his jeans, feeling his cell through the fabric. "It's not my phone. Atushi, check your phone.".

"Kay…" Holding his Maiu-bo with his mouth like he was smoking, he grabbed his phone from the pocket of his jacket. Flipping open the phone, he saw he had a text from Ren. All of a sudden, Himuro was leaning on his shoulder.

"Oh? No wonder your reaction was so weird. You got a text from Little Miss Sunshine herself."

"Shut up." Murasakibara muttered, opening the text.

Sender: Miyashiro (Shorty) Ren

Subject: Hi!

'Hey, Muratu!

Sorry I wasn't able to get to you earlier. I was

joining Seirin's Basketball team. Isn't it funny?

I'm with Kuroko again! I really doubt that we

could beat your awesome D-FENCE(see

what I did there?;) ) though! Well, I can't sell

myself(or Kuroko for that matter) too short. I

AM the Queen of Ball Handling after all :D!

Anyways, the real reason I'm texting you is

Coach & Captain won't let me make calls

during practice. Boo :'( ! And we still have to

set a day and time for our "date"(that's what

Akashi called it, not me). Akashi's really

breathing down my back about this, cuz he

plans on talking with me as soon as we finish.

Oh Lord, this text is taking FOREVER! Kay,

gotta go! Call/Text me back! BYE~!'

"Okay, first of all." Himuro started. "Who the fuck is 'Muratu'?".

"Her nickname for me is 'Muratu'. She switches between that and 'Mura'.".

"Second of all; Aren't you going to answer back?".

"Not while you're here." Murasakibara drawled, closing his phone.

"Fine." Himuro replied, starting to walk again. "Let's go, Atushi.".

"Kay… Coming…" He said sluggishly, quickly catching up to Himuro with his long legs.