A few moments earlier...

Because of a Good Samaritan, Clara was able to get to the basketball courts without a fuss and by the looks of things she was able to get there before the first match even started. Clara sighed in relief as she looked up at a bulletin board and noticed there were sixteen teams, so that means there were eight matches in the first round, than four in the second and so on. So Clara just found an open spot near court one and two. She notice that there were four courts of course two were right in front of her side by side and the other two were several yards away, she could barely make out the players but she would move whenever she finds which team Murasakibara and Tatsuya were on. As Clara watched on she noticed Tatsuya making his way over to her.

"Inari! There you are!" Tatsuya sighed in relief. "Sorry, I guess Atsushi and I lost you back there…"

"No, it's my fault for getting ahead of myself, I forgot you two were in a hurry… I didn't cause you any trouble did I?" Clara was concerned that she caused more problems

Tatsuya smiled as he shook his head. "Of course not, Inari to tell you the truth I don't think you could cause trouble even if you tried."

Clara laughed as she shook her head. "Ohh Tatsuya… you're still getting to know me."

Both teenagers started to chuckle as Clara looked back out on the courts, the referees seemed to be getting ready for the first game while someone was brining over a score boards for both courts.

"So what team are you on Tatsuya? I see there are eight teams." Clara pointed at the bulletin board as Tatsuya nodded.

"Yes, there are only eight teams, from what I have heard from Akashi, the reason there are not many teams this year is because they're holding the tournament around where most of the seniors in high school are studying for colleges, so the numbers dropped, there are still junior tournaments that happened early this morning but for the high school, the numbers dropped but that is fine, more chances for my team to win." Clara chuckled along side Tatsuya. "Now for your question on which team I am on, I do not know yet." Tatsuya than pointed in a certain direction which Clara's eyes followed and she suddenly noticed Murasakibara with his back turned away from them.

"Oh! I see Murasakibara!" Clara said quickly.

"Yeah, you see Atsushi's old captain from middle school formed this whole get together, so we were able to round up twenty people to play BUT we didn't decide on who is going to be on whose team until today." Clara looked a little surprise.

"I assume you know everyone over there besides, you know, Murasakibara."

"Of course, I actually played against a few of them so it will be interesting who I get to play with and play against, you never know, you might see Atsushi and I against each other." Clara made an excited looking face as Tatsuya continued to explain. "So now that we have everyone together Akashi will be able to call out our teams."

"And I assume this Akashi is the old captain?" Tatsuya nodded to Clara's question. "Well that sounds like fun, almost wish I could join." She chuckled jokingly… well half jokingly, truth be told, sense Clara couldn't join the volleyball team she has had this pent up energy that she could not shake off and it was driving her nuts, that's why she had to buy a new volleyball that morning because her old one worn down and now because she got a basketball she hoped that would also help quench her sudden activity spurt.

"Actually you probably could, this is a co-ed. One or two of the other teams have a girl on their team." Tatsuya said matter of fact.

"Oh wow! That's exciting but..." Clara was about to say something further when she looked over to where Murasakibara was and noticed that a rather buff looking guy with blonde hair was fighting over something with another teen with a darker skin tone with dark navy blue hair, was he a ganguro? Anyways, Clara looked concerned as she looked to Tatsuya. "Uh oh, is something going on?"

Tatsuya looked over in the direction of his friends and laughed. "Oh… uh, your treats are actually a big hit over there, as soon as I put the box down everyone was eager to try some and it seemed that once they started they couldn't stop."

Clara gasped. "Are they liking the Honey Lemon slices?" Clara tried to see if she could spot the container but she didn't have the chance to look when she noticed that the two teenagers stopped fighting, they were kneeling down looking proper; did someone stop their bickering? Clara shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know, I came over before they brought it out… what?" Tatsuya noticed that Clara had quite an evil look on her face.

"By the look on Murasakibara's face, I say they're enjoying them too much?" Clara chuckled. "That's what happens when you lie to me…"

"Yeesh… remind me not to get on your bad side." Tatsuya chuckled than he gasped lightly. "Ah I have to get back it seems, Atsushi is waving me over." Clara looked over to see Murasakibara waving lightly, Clara also waved to show she found her way and she saw Murasakibara wave a little longer.

"I will be cheering for you guys!" Clara called out to Tatsuya's retreating form as he cut across the courts.

Clara noticed there was an open spot in the front row of the bleachers, so she took her chance and sat down, she waited in anticipation and sure enough, she saw Tatsuya and four other high school students break away from their crowd and walked over to the court that was in front of Clara.

Clara smiles brightly, "Oh lucky!" She chuckled as she looked at each one of Tatsuya's teammates. The first one she took notice was a guy that was well over six feet tall, he had a scary face but whenever he smiled he brought a warmth that even made Clara burst into a smile, he kind of reminded her of Tatsuya in a small way. Sure enough Clara notice there was a small bond between Tatsuya and the red hair giant because they were mostly passing their practice ball at each other. Clara than noticed that one of the teammates broke away like he had been called over to Murasakibara and the rest, Clara noticed he was pretty tall as well, probably six foot also? She couldn't believe how many tall guys there was around in Murasakibara's group and this guy looked like he could be a professional model, his blonde hair was shiny yet delicate in the sunlight, he had a nice figure and a killer booty. Clara's eyes widen as she shook her perverted thoughts aside.

Clara turned her attention back over to where the blonde was and started to laugh when he looked a little upset, he looked like a child who was rejected from getting his candy and tried to find comfort in a light blue hair friend but the same darker skin tone teen pushed the guy away, he looked a little pissed, well both looked pissed and by the way things were going they might fight but thankfully Clara heard Tatsuya in front of her.

"Kise! Get over here, our match is starting!" Sure enough the two teams where in positions for the tip off and it looked like Tatsuya's dark red hair friend was going to do the task.

Clara turned back to the game and jumped slightly when she noticed a guy staring at her, his black eyes were sharp, he had a cute yet serious look on his face and suddenly… his face broke out in a… lovey dovey look? Clara blinked when he started talking to himself and points right towards Clara, who in turned looked around her and saw that there were several other cute girls in the audience, Clara sighed in relief, he must be pointing to his girlfriend but he soon got back into position when Kise finally came back over to the group.

Another blonde Clara noticed on Tatsuya's team looked like he was bugging the red head because he kept pointing at the other team. "What do you think Kagami? Think they're strong enough? Huh, huh? I am kind of excited."

"Ahhh, would you shut it already." This Kagami guy growled as he face down the opponent with a sharp glare but that glare really wasn't meant for him as much as it was for the blonde, who suddenly turned a little animalistic, he almost reminded her of a beast, in fact most of the guys on Tatsuya's team is beastly, except…

The only black hair teen looked like his focus was back on the stands, again he was talking to himself and trying to get the attention some someone until Kise came up to him to knock them back to reality.

Tip off commenced on the first game of the tournament.

~!~

As the ball flew straight into the air, Kagami and his opponent both shot straight up as well to meet with the ball but because of Kagami's powerful leg he was able to get the ball from his opponent and smack it towards Tatsuya. Tatsuya took hold of the basketball as his teammates jogged past him but he, himself slowly took his time while also keeping mind of the time he had with the ball. He wanted to make sure his teammates got into their positions and he wasn't surprised when they already were. Tatsuya shifted his focus between his teammates; right now their opponent was going into a zone defense. But he knew that wasn't going to work because the other team left a lot of holes and it only confirmed this when Kotaro from Rakuzan screened for Kagami. Tatsuya took that chance and passed it to his childhood friend to make a lovely lay up to the basket. The crowd applauded as the offense soon became the defense. The team gave each other high fives and fist bumps as they got into position.

"Whoooo! Go Tatsuya!"

Tatsuya felt his ear perk up at the mention of his name and looked over at Clara cheering and waving. He chuckled and waved back at her. Kise popped behind Tatsuya and looked over toward Clara.

"Ohhh, she's cute, who is she Himuro?" Kise asked with a smile as he waved at Clara as well, Tatsuya saw Clara looking confused for a second but she smiled and waved back, that was like her being friendly... Tatsuya thought he would have to keep an eye on her when Murasakibara wasn't around.

"She is a classmate of Atsushi and I, in fact she is the one who made all those treats for us." Tatsuya said calmly.

"What? You serious?" Kotaro popped up on the other side of Tatsuya and stared at Clara as well, she started to wave again. "Your snacks are freaking awesome!"

Tatsuya flinched from the loud voice near his ear but he noticed Clara's blush all the way from here and she gave them the thumbs up.

"Go all the way you Beasts!" She shouted causing the three who stood there to gap at their new team name.

Kagami shouted. "Oi! Am I the only one who is going to play?!"

That snapped the three out of their stupor and got back into the game.

"I kind of like Beasts, maybe Wild Beasts?" Kise laughed as he jogged into his defensive position and Kise actually proved his point as he charged forward in attempt to steal the ball but he missed by a second but was it planned? Because Kagami came from behind for both teens to corner the player with the ball and because of the huge amount of pressure he made a half ass attempt to pass and it was stolen by Kotaro who ran all the way down to make a lay up but at the last second he passed it to Moriyama when his chance of a lay up was blocked by the center of the other team.

Moriyama easily made a 2 pointer shot, making the Wild Beasts ahead by four in the first 20 seconds of the game and soon the score started to widen in the second 30 seconds, in the first minute and half the score was 16 to 3 and the point difference started to scare the opponent into making mistakes.

~!~

Clara noticed the change of Tatsuya's opponents, even though the game just started they began to crack down, there passes became more desperate and sloppy, they were able to get another few points in but the Wild Beasts were able to widen the gap further. Clara knew Tatsuya was good but to be this good almost seemed inhumane towards the other players but even so Clara couldn't help the excitement that she feels, she wanted to play, badly. Even though basketball isn't really her sport, just feeling the itch to play something nearly drove her onto the court to play against Tatsuya and his teammates.

Clara jumped when she felt someone bump into her slightly, she looked to her right to apologize but when she didn't see anyone eye level with her she looked down and saw two small children sit right next to her, they're both beaming with smiles as they waved their small flags about, it seemed they were cheering for Tatsuya's team as they pointed to each other players and started to talk about them. Clara could' t help the smile that formed on her face as she closely watched the children for another moment, the little boy seemed to want to play just as much as Clara did, actually Clara noticed a small medal around his neck, did he play in the junior tournament that happened earlier that morning? The little girl that Clara assumed was his sister was eyeing the golden medal with sparkles in her eyes.

Clara turned her attention back to the game as she heard the buzzer for the end of the first quarter, because it was a tournament instead of the usual ten minutes per quarter it was now five minutes because if it was full time like during an actual game, this tournament would go straight into the night, so each team had only two timeouts per game and only twenty minutes to win and the point difference was getting wider and wider by the second and it really drove the losing team bonkers.

Clara saw that Tatsuya's team was now on the defense and they were already into position, Clara noticed that they just started to break a sweat, which seemed to piss off the other team more. Clara hissed slightly because she knew that this team needed to calm down otherwise they will just keep losing more points to the Wild Beasts.

The opponent point guard started to jog down the small court with the ball, with some decent skill he was able to shuffle the ball between his legs and move to the right to avoid Moriyama and without so much as a warning he chucked the ball to the side toward his teammate but intended target didn't see it until it was too late, even Kotaro who was defending the guy didn't notice because he was busy keeping up with his own defense. The ball whizzed past the players who tried desperately to catch the ball but failed as the ball headed straight out of bounds and made a bee line towards Clara and the children to her right.

"Inari!"

Clara could barely hear Tatsuya as he shouted in her direction, she figured at the angle he was in it seemed she would get beamed with the leather ball but Clara knew the ball would hit the children before it even hit her. Clara's trained eye from volleyball narrowed into focus and out of pure instinct, her reflexes kicked in as she held out her hand, her hand jolt back ever so slightly when the ball made contact with her hand, making a nice noise between leather and flesh, Clara than used her other hand to full catch the ball in her grip and pull it to her chest, she let out a breath of air as she felt her adrenaline soar and it felt good. Clara blinked when she thought she felt stars hitting her in the face, she looked down and saw the two children stare up at her with admiration.

"WHOOOAAAA!" Clara laughed when she almost got knocked over by the two tots. "That was cool!" The little boy said with a slight lisp, while the little girl beamed with stars in her eyes.

~!~

Tatsuya's felt the color drain from his face when he saw that basketball fly at Clara with such strength and speed. Kotaro who was the closet wasn't going to make it and that made Tatsuya dash towards the sideline in hope he could reach it but it was no use as he saw the ball mere inches away.

SMACK!

Tatsuya closed his eyes waiting to hear a cry in the audience instead he heard children cheering, he looked up and saw Clara had the ball in her hands and the children staring up at her with lit up eyes, he sighed in relief when he saw Clara didn't get hit, he felt a tap on his shoulder as Kagami looked down at his friend.

"You missed a hell of a catch, does she play?"

Tatsuya shook his head. "Volleyball."

"Damn, those reflexes were nuts." Kagami turned to get into position for a sideline pass but before Tatsuya could get into position himself, his felt a chill run down his spine, over by the group, Tatsuya saw Atsushi and he looked pissed as he made his way over to Clara on the sidelines.

"Oh boy…"

"Tatsuya?" Tatsuya jumped slightly as he looked down as he saw Clara next to him with the basketball, she smiled gently at him. "You guys are creaming them, keep it up." She tossed him the ball skillfully before sitting back down with the children who in turn leaned in close to Clara, cheering for his team as well.

Tatsuya soon went back to the game with Kagami and the others and by the time he looked back over to where Clara was, she was gone, which caused his eyes to look to find Murasakibara and there standing next to him was Clara and she looked a little shocked about something. "What is going on?"

"Tatsuya!"

Tatsuya snapped out of it and sunk in a three point shot.

~!~

"What did you say?" Clara was left speechless from Murasakibara sudden statement and she had to question herself if she really did hear him correctly. He's joking right? RIGHT? Clara felt a wave of nerves make there way to her knees, causing them to shake.

"You will join the tournament." Murasakibara repeated with a dull tone but there was a twinkle in his eye, making Clara even more nervous. "Will there be a problem Aka-chin?"

Akashi shook his head. "Actually it wouldn't be but I don't want her to join if the others have a problem with it."

"If they do have a problem she can join our…" Clara thought she saw Murasakibara's lip curl into a smirk but that changed quickly back into a frown.

"No…" Akashi cuts off Murasakibara, it seemed to tick the taller teen off but Akashi held out a hand to stop his friend's anger. "My reason is because we really can't switch out because we already gave the roster to the officials and because they know Nebuya isn't well, so we can afford to replace him with Inari here."

Murasakibara looked stuck now, was it his intention of getting Clara on their team in the first place? But why? Why would he want Clara on their team? Either way Clara waved her hands about as she tried to get the others attention.

"But shouldn't you ask me for sure if I want to play? I mean have you tried everyone you know if they could come here to help?" Clara looked between the two. "I am sure I would just get in the way more than help, so I don't…"

"If Atsushi is able to speak highly of you than you must have some kind of talent." Akashi cuts Clara off as well causing the girl to feel her heart quicken as she looked up at Murasakibara than she moved her attention back to Akashi. "Besides, we have tried to call everyone we know, but no one is answering and those who would have been able to help wouldn't be able to make it on time."

"Uh… than what about..." Clara couldn't think of any more excuses, she couldn't even use her clothing as an excuse because she changed into knee length shorts and a regular shirt before she and Murasakibara left her apartment to come back to the shopping district, so she shrugged her shoulders, still looking worried. "I will join as long as everyone else on the team is okay with it! But I..."

"Inari?!"

Clara jumped when she heard her name in an excited tone; she looked over her shoulder and gasped at what she saw. Coming towards her and the others were none other than the two guys she met that very morning. "Ahh! Takao? Midorima?" Clara spun on her heel to face the two; she smiled brightly as she looked back to Murasakibara and Akashi to make introductions. "I met these two this morning when I was out shopping, this is…"

"Inari, we know these two, they're actually part of the tournament as well, Midorima is on team three while Takao is part of team four… which by the way, are you not starting?" Akashi turned with a stern eye to the darker hair student, his blue eyes lit up in both realization and fear as he spun on his heel.

"That's right! Sorry, Inari! I will talk to you later!" He smiles as he started to run off towards court he would be playing at but before he got too far ahead he turned while waving. "By the way your snacks are freaking amazing! Even Midorima was pigging out!"

"You talk too much Takao!" Midorima shouted at Takao's retreating form as he blushed madly but than he saw Clara staring at him with a smile. "They're not bad…" He grumbled as he adjusted his glasses causing Clara to smile more brightly at the hidden praise.

Clara felt a shiver run down her spine; she looked up at Murasakibara and saw him twitched slightly when he saw the interaction between Clara and Midorima. She could almost feel his anger rising and it seemed to intensify when it looked like he remembered something even more unpleasant as he looked to Clara. "You met this morning?" The violet hair teen looked to Midorima and noticed something, Clara turned to see what her classmate was seeing and she gasped, the green hair player had bandages on his fingertips, but before she could check to see if he was okay, Murasakibara's voice became low and dangerous. It sent an even bigger chill run down her spine. "How… did you exactly meet?"

Clara looked concerned as she stepped a little closer to her classmate. "Murasakibara?"

Midorima didn't flinch at Murasakibara's sudden mood swing as he explained the events of that morning. "I was almost hit by a bike this morning and Inari here actually went out of her way and helped me…" Midorima looked to Clara with a soft expression, "But because of that help she got hurt in the process, but either way I am grateful for her, other wise you guys will be seeing me in a hospital bed right now."

Clara blushed heavily as she waved her hands about. "It wasn't… I mean to say is…" Clara stuttered but the look on Midorima's face really showed his gratitude and so all Clara could do at that moment was smile and accept it. "You're welcome… I just… did it out of instinct."

For a second Clara thought she saw Akashi's expression change ever so slightly, before he looked at her with uncertainty, like he knew she wouldn't be much use in a game but now, he looked at, no he was observing her as he listened in on to the story. Or was it something else, either way she felt his attitude toward her has changed, but Clara pushed that aside as she and Midorima continued to talk.

Clara gently took the other teen's hand in her and frowns lightly. "You did get hurt huh?" Clara felt a feeling of helplessness wash over her as she looked up at him with sad eyes.

A blush slowly crept to Midorima's cheeks as he snapped his hand back, "This is nothing, I normally wrap my left hand fingers."

Clara felt a wave of relief. "Oh good."

~!~

Murasakibara continued to watch Clara and Midorima interact with each other and it kind of pissed him off. His fists were clenched, knuckles turning white and this painful jab he felt in his chest would not go way, no matter how hard he tried to push the emotion down. Murasakibara wanted to yell at Midorima, he wanted to tell him he should have man up and took the bike head on or at least watch his damn surroundings. But when Murasakibara looked to Clara, she didn't seem concerned at all that she has gotten hurt from helping him, she was more concerned if Midorima was hurt and after it happened, Clara didn't look like she even cared when her hand was beat red and probably stinging from catching that stray basketball. Murasakibara knew in the pit of his stomach that Clara would probably break her own leg to make sure someone else didn't get hurt and some reason… he liked that about her… even if it did piss it him off that she would go out of her way to do things like that. Murasakibara sighed as he went up to Midorima and pointed at him with a glare causing the other former Teiko student to glare back.

~!~

"Next time I won't be so forgiving, Mido-chin..." Murasakibara growled out as he turned to stomp off like a child going into timeout, leaving Clara blinking in slight confusion at what he said but she turned her attention back to Midorima who was growling towards the treating teenager but he soon snapped out his anger as he looked towards Clara with his own confused expression.

"By the way, what are you doing here Inari?" Midorima turned to wait for her answer.

Clara chuckled nervously as she looked to Akashi as he answered for her. "She is planning on taking Nebuya's place on your team."

"Are you sure about this Akashi?" Midorima looked slightly shocked by Akashi's decision of having Clara on his team, Clara saw Midorima stole a glance at her. Clara still looked nervous about the whole thing, however memories of that morning flashed in Midorima's mind, he remembered her reflexes where even greater than his at that moment in time because usually he would have been able to avoid things like that oncoming bike easily but was it because he lost his lucky item that was the reason he reacted slowly? Or was it truly because Clara would bring him luck because of her Aries horoscope? Or did Clara just have some kind of hidden talent? Either way he was curious, especially if Akashi sees something in her. "In the end, I don't see a problem with it…"

Midorima saw Clara's mouth opened wide for a moment but she recovered quickly as she nervously looked up at him and just stared with concern on her face. "But are you sure? I don't want to be in the way…"

"You won't be…" Midorima looked directly in Clara's own green eyes with his and for some reason he knew he was telling the truth, which surprised him slightly.

"Don't worry about it Cookie." Murasakibara appeared behind Clara after he cooled down, it was amazing how fast his mood could change in a blink. Murasakibara rest his hand on top of her shoulder, the sudden gesture made Clara look up towards Murasakibara and Midorima witnessed the taller teen shove something into Clara's mouth. Clara looked really confused but than her face twisted into a blissful like state as she groaned slightly, it must have been one of her treats that she brought with, even Midorima had to admit how tasty those snacks where and he usually didn't eat sweets. "If we didn't want you to play we wouldn't have brought you over here…"

Midorima watch Clara's expression changed from worry to full on confidence, once she was done eating whatever was in her mouth she made a fist bump in the air, like she was ready to face the world. "Okay… I will do it!" Clara smiled as she started to do some regular stretches to get herself warmed up. Midorima continued to be slightly impressed because she was doing all the right kind of stretches, he watched her start with her triceps as she pulled her elbow behind and across her head while pulling down and she did the same with her other arm. Than she did a supraspinatus stretch, then a Gluteal and Lumbar rotation stretch, next a adductor stretch and so on and so forth. Once she was done Clara started to lightly jump up and down to keep loose.

Suddenly Clara caught him and Murasakibara staring at her and for some reason Midorima felt his cheek burning as his mind started to envision her moving in slow motion as she stood up straight from finishing stretching on the ground, her eyes where focused, strands of hair framed her face in a cute manner and her lips were slightly parted… Midorima finally couldn't take it as he marched passed Clara, beat red in the face.

"I am gonna tell the others what is going on!" He shouted as he left the three behind.

~!~

Clara went into a state of confusion after Midorima went past her and toward their team, she looked back up to Murasakibara and saw he had a far off look in his eyes and with a slight blush tinting his cheeks. Clara snapped her fingers in front of Murasakibara's face trying to snap him out of his stupor and it worked as he looked around and than stared down at her.

"What? Imagining those sugar cookies again?" Clara chuckled as she went back to do more stretches on her arms.

Murasakibara looked off to the side as he mumbled. "Yeah… cookies…"

Clara looked over to Akashi and saw he had an amused smile on his lips. "Inari, your up coming match is on court…"

Soon there was a thunderous applause, all three looked and saw that Tatsuya's game was over and done with. Tatsuya is seen giving Kagami a high five, and every single one of them all had bright big smiles on their faces. Kotaro flung himself onto Kise and Moriyama as they started to walk off the court. Clara tried to see what the final score was and her eyes grew big, he had to rub her eyes just to make sure she wasn't seeing things. 105 to 25. Clara looked to Murasakibara.

"Geez Tatsuya is good…"

"It wasn't just him, he also had four strong players, three are Forwards and another shooter, it's kind of hard to go up against such a powerful offense…" Murasakibara stated clearly and it wasn't in his usual dull out voice either, his projected respect yet caution in his voice that Clara figured it was because he would have to go up against them soon. Clara saw that Akashi nodded in agreement but they both had a look of excitement in their eyes, like they themselves almost can't wait to go up against them.

Clara looked to the bracket and saw she and her team are up next on the court Tatsuya and his team was just playing on. "Well… I guess I better get going huh?" Clara took a deep breath and made her way towards Midorima and the rest of her teammates, but it seemed ever step she took the more nervous she got but before she could take another step forward she felt a hand grasping her head. She looked up to see Murasakibara staring down at her with a smile.

They didn't exchange any words they just stared at each other and it seemed to calm Clara down for some reason because soon she smiled back and she raised her hand up, Murasakibara gave her a high five and some reason, that five made Clara's eyes focused and walk more confidently towards her teammates nonetheless she still had some nerves.

Clara saw Tatsuya was coming towards her in a light jog he looked a little concerned. "I heard from Midorima you're playing… will you be okay?"

Clara chuckled. "As I will ever be…" Even though her voice was a little shaky Clara did feel a lot better than when she first started out, Clara held up her hand, gesturing for a high five. "For luck?"

Tatsuya looked a little confused but soon smiled gently and both their hands smacked together. Clara than took off towards the court where the others were waiting for her. As she got closer she felt like a pipsqueak compared to all the other taller teens. Clara even noticed that three out of the five of them were wearing glasses, Clara chuckled to herself as she stood a little bit closer to Midorima, sense she knew him more than the others.

Midorima than called the other three to join him and Clara for a moment for introductions. Clara than really did feel like a pipsqueak when the other three surrounded her, she felt like these four could easily start to push her around in a circle like those bullies did to the nerds in movies. The short silence was broken when one of the players with glasses introduced himself first, his narrowed black eyes showed a serious attitude but when he spoke his voice was shaking… was he nervous around Clara or was that her imagination?

"Just because you are a girl doesn't mean I won't hit you if you do something wrong." Clara noticed a blush creeping to the guy's cheek but Clara knew he was serious about this threat.

"Don't worry, I will do my best and more!" Clara smiled brightly, "I am Clara Inari… and I will be your fifth member."

"Junpei Hyūga."

Clara looked to another student with glasses on as well, but his hair was longer and more messy than Hyūga's hair and he seemed to squint his eyes more than have them opened giving Clara a certain uneasy feeling about him like he is always calculating his next move or words and that uneasiness worsened when he smirked a little wider. "Shoichi Imayoshi, it will be interesting to see how long you last."

Clara didn't back down. "I hope to surprise you than…" At least that's what Clara hopes to do; she was already self-conscious about joining.

"My, my… everyone is being so mean, leave the little cutie alone…" Besides Clara this other person was the only one who didn't wear glasses and his dark hair was longer than both Imayoshi and Hyūga's. The teen drapes an arm across Clara's shoulders and pulled her into a side hug. "Don't mind him cutie, once he gets playing he will forget about you, because he is more of an individual player but I'm Reo Mibuchi, nice to meet you."

Imayoshi snickered. "Well, he isn't wrong…"

Clara ignored what Imayoshi mumbled because she actually felt more relaxed with this other player near by, like an older brother, or maybe an older sister? "Nice to meet you too."

"Now that we have that out of the way…" Imayoshi clearly cut through going into captain mode. "Let's discuss a little bit of our strategy, we're mainly a shooting team, meaning Inari and I will do most of the drive in plays, think you can manage that?"

Clara nodded.

"So if you see any of these three open, give them the ball quickly for them to sink in a three and than…"

Clara cuts Imayoshi off. "I got it… Don't worry, despite what you think of me, I have played before…" Even though Clara said that she only played basketball for maybe a few years until volleyball became more of her sport but she didn't want to worry about that now, but she will just have to work her damnedest out there to get a little recognition from her team, she wasn't sure if Midorima was comfortable having her on their team but again she tried to push the self-doubt aside though it was difficult as she continued to warm up.

Just as warm up were coming to a close Clara heard snickering behind her, she turned to see her opponents trying not to laugh in her direction but soon they couldn't contain it anymore and started laughing out loud.

"Oh man! Maybe you guys should quit while you are ahead! There is no way you can win with a weak looking girl on your team, I mean it just doesn't seem fair." The five continued to laugh. The five continued to make belittling comments towards Clara, she also noticed that the others were not falling for their rude comments but maybe that is because the comments are not directly aimed at them.

Surprisingly Clara felt calm… or as calm as an angered chick could feel! She felt a vein ready to pop near her temple as the last bit of self-doubt Clara felt drained from her body as she gently tossed the basketball to Imayoshi, who than looked to her as she held a dark expression on her face, eyeing up her prey. "I am going to kick their asses…"

~!~

Imayoshi didn't know exactly what Midorima was playing at letting a girl on their team. From what he saw during their warm up Clara was an average player, with average shots and passes, which were weak but be as it may, he also felt some kind of hidden potential in the girl and it seemed to come to surface when she declared she was going to kick their opponent's ass after their taunting.

Hyūga took position at the tip off. Soon the ball was shot up in the air to go into play. Unfortunately the basketball went to the other team, "Get back and man up." Hyūga shouted for his teammates to hear. As the opponent point guard slowly came down the court, everyone noticed that even though Clara's opponent was a little taller than her, they could clearly see she was able to handle the guy on her own. Her hands were raised and she left little room for the guy to get by, which impressed Imayoshi that she could keep up.

The ball went to the opposite side of Clara's position and than made it's way back around to the point guard. Despite being a shooting team, their defense put a huge amount of pressure on the opponent, causing them to only pass the ball around. Soon the point guard couldn't hold the ball anymore or he would risk a foul so he turned to pass to towards the guy Clara was defending against but the ball never reached the guy's hand as Clara made a mad dash at the ball, stealing it with her one outstretched hand and began to dribble down the court in an amazing sprinting speed. However, her opponent soon caught up with her and the ball. Again, however before they could steal the ball back, like that sudden mad dash for the steal Clara immediately stopped dead in her tracks, making her opponents, Imayoshi and Mibuchi pass her before they knew she even stopped. Clara than side ways bounced the ball to Midorima who than took that moment to sink in a three point shot. The net made a lovely swish noise as the ball passed through.

The opponent stared dumbfounded at the shot it self but they looked to Clara who had a dangerous look about her face. "You guys just brought out the bitch in me… I hope you're ready…" She cracked her knuckles as she turned on her heels to head back to her defensive position.

Imayoshi looked more impressed than the others but soon that surprise turned into a chuckle as he made his way back down to the other side of the court. "Man… I need to stop underestimating people…"

Midorima who was more towards the basket on Clara's side gave her a pat on the shoulder before getting back into position. "Keep that up Inari."

Clara looked back to Midorima and nodded. "You got it!" Clara finally felt that her energy would finally not be wasted anymore, as she got ready to defend the basket once more.

"Bring it…"

~!~

This has got to be the most difficult chapter I have ever had to write! I probably re-wrote this chapter over ten times maybe close to twenty because it kept going into a direction that I wasn't happy with! And also I am trying to keep the spirit of everyone's original personality from the original source and not just write it into another mary sue kind of story... which I hope it hasn't already! haha! Either way! I hope you enjoyed chapter 7 and see you next time! :D

And thank you for everyone has has left reviews, added my story to their favorites and/or follow list! I feel the love from everyone! Thank you so much! :D

-internet hugs-