"THROW THE GODDAMN BALL!" Black*Star's aggravated cry is a few tones higher than usual, letting slip the sorry fact that even at the tender old age of 19, his voice still hadn't dropped completely, if ever. "Or pass, or something, you… ball hog!"
Soul blows air out his nose in wry amusement, his hand bobbing up and down, pushing the basketball down when it comes back up; tossing it between his left and right hands, as the combined forces of Liz and Patty on wing defence flail their arms around and partake in other meaningless movements which fail to steal the ball from him.
He's almost bored with this game, it's so easy.
When Black Star had appeared at his door that morning, gym-clothed Tsubaki and a big orange basketball in tow, he hadn't expected it go down like this.
At first they'd played Soul and Maka versus Tsubaki and Black*Star, as they usually did. When an argument had broken out between Black Star and Maka after he'd taunted her about being rubbish at basketball one too many times, a fifty dollar bet had been placed.
Girls versus guys.
Simple enough, one supposes. Given Maka's athleticism and Tsubaki's height, it shouldn't have been too uneven of a split- but Soul and Black Star didn't spend at least four hours of free time sparring on the basketball court just for nothing.
The pair run circles around their female partners, Black Star emitting all sorts of strange chuckles and 'YAHOO's' as he dunks shot after shot straight into the basket with a satisfying swish. Soul's a good shooter, but he's not stupid, he knows that Black Star's better off with the glory and he's better off doing the hard grafting. Tackles, moves, passes.
Things only get more interesting when Patty, Liz and Kid show up after Tsubaki sends Liz a text letting them know where their friends are.
At first, Kid wants to keep the female vs male dynamic- after all, four to three was more symmetrical than two to five- but for the sake of their bet, Maka and Black Star convince him to join Maka's team with Liz and Patty in tow.
Admittedly, it had made the challenge a little more difficult. Soul and Black Star could beat any of the players on their own, but having five players tackling and dodging and passing and shooting around them? It was a different ball game, literally.
Soul figures out pretty sharpish that the key to out-tackling Patty or Liz is to keep on your toes and keep moving, either round in circles or just bouncing the ball wherever you can to keep it from them. They didn't take the game too seriously, and so wouldn't expend much effort to beat him.
Kid's a little more formidable; he jumps high and moves fast, but ultimately- he just wasn't as coordinated when he had the ball in his hands. He often forgot to dribble and ended up getting penalties for silly things like forgetting the rules or accidentally passing to the wrong team.
"Soul, if you aren't going to pass, then SHOOT!" Black Star screams, waving his hands to and fro on the opposite end of the court, begging Soul to make a move. His counterpart is biding his time, slowly and deliberately acting with a bored expression on his face.
Kid moves in quick and swipes the ball from Soul, almost too easily.
All part of the plan.
If only battles were as easy as basketball.
Almost immediately, Kid gets overexcited about having made an excellent tackle, and heads off running, ball clutched between his fingers.
"I got it, I got it!" he exclaims, lifting his arms in the air, about to toss the ball to Tsubaki who is standing patiently by the hoop, ready to score. Except, her expression indicates that she's not ready at all; her hands on her hips and her face sympathetic. "Wait, why is everybody looking at me like that?"
"Aaand, that's travelling." Soul walks up to Kid and plucks the ball straight out of his hands, to his immense despair.
Maka's palm flies into her face.
"Just concentrate on bouncing the ball, please, Kid!" she reprimands him, but remembers to do so politely. After all, he was still her boss. "Oh, screw it. Kid, you can be shooter." She storms up to the side of the pitch and faces her partner who stands arrogantly, spinning the basketball on one finger.
"Let's do this. Next point wins!" She says fiercely. "Time!"
He bounces around her, using the same movement tactics that he used on Liz and Patty. He's impressed when it seems it appears that she's actually a learnt a thing or two from their basketball sessions, because she's keeping up to his pace impressively.
"Star!" he shouts as his blue-haired teammate flies up seemingly out of nowhere and into the sky, catching the ball tossed his way immediately and pivoting round to face the hoop. He squints, the sun blocking his vision, and Tsubaki takes her chance to go in there, plucks the ball straight from his hands with a giggle.
"Sorry," she says good-naturedly
"Patty!" Maka shouts, signalling for Tsubaki to pass to the younger Thompson sibling. When Patty catches the ball, which is nothing short of a miracle, Maka shouts again. "To Liz!"
The ball sails across the air to her sister, despite Black Star's best efforts, who plucks it out the air and whips her body round to pass to Kid, who can score the point for them and win the match. Soul looks on with horror, running towards Kid to intercept the ball from him before he can make the shot-
"What the hell...?" he utters.
And crap, Kid's too far away from him to approach. Stupidly, Black Star had run to the same end of the pitch as he had at the beginning of Maka's little game, and now there was nobody to defend up the opposite end.
And he's right by the goal as well. Kid would have to be an idiot to miss that shot.
In a split second, Kid bounces the ball twice in unison, his perfectly symmetrical hands executing a perfectly symmetrical bounce, before he reaches up to make the shot- before-
Soul starts to laugh, a deep and throaty chuckle causing him to throw his head back. It's unexpected to say the least, and causes the other players to break from their game faces to stare him down in surprise.
"What on earth are you laughing at?" Tsubaki wonders, her brow knitting together. In a split second, Black Star twigs, and he too starts laughing, hard and fast, clutching his stomach and howling.
"What the hell?" Liz echoes.
Maka catches on too, to her credit. Her eyes close and her face burns with humiliation.
"And that's a double dribble." Soul grins sharkily through his chuckles.
"What does that mean?" Kid squints and frowns, frozen in place with the ball in both hands. "What's that?" he turns to Maka, who answers him.
"It means, when you bounce the ball, you can't do it with both hands. You have to do it with one at a time. Soul and Black Star have a free shot." She groans and for the second time that game, Soul plucks the ball from his friend and boss.
"But- that would be asymmetrical!"
"Sorry, man. The rules are the rules." He lifts his arms up and makes the shot before Black Star can pester him for the ball again. It sails through the air to the very opposite side of the court and makes an enjoyable wuft noise through the white netting.
"WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
The noise that comes from Black Star threatens to plague them all with tinnitus for the rest of their lives.
Soul and Black Star do their childish fist-bump thing as Maka chides her teammate. Well, the entire team chides their teammate.
"Kid, you had one job!" she groans. "Learn the damn rules of basketball!" she bemoans.
His hands fly up defensively.
"I'm not responsible for this stupid, asymmetrical garbage game! Whoever thought up the rules to this needs a death-cannon to the face!" he snarls as Liz and Patty come up behind him, putting their respective hands on his shoulders to cool him down.
"Oh, calm down, both of you." Liz rolls her eyes. "It's just a silly game. We put up a good fight- those two are just too good for us." She pauses. "Besides, we'll pay the hundred bucks, no problem."
Maka's scowl deepens.
"I don't care about the money!" she cries, gnashing her teeth together in dramatized anguish. "Soul and Black Star are never, ever going to shut up about this!"