Chapter 7

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"Did you ever think you'd be so popular at school?" Davis asked, looking around the cafeteria. The walls of the lunchroom had been covered with posters of the basketball team, banners near the ceiling bearing 'RAKUNAN WILDCATS' on them. Everyone was suddenly talking about the team, you couldn't walk down a hallway without people commenting on the upset of two days ago. And what's more, TK, Ken and Davis couldn't walk down one of those hallways without being greeted by half-a-dozen people. Sure, their Junior High exploits on the team the previous year had gotten them known, but the wave of basketball fever that was sweeping the student body now was insane.

"What are you talking about?" TK looked over at Davis, sitting next to him at the table. "I've always been popular at school! I was popular in elementary school, junior high, and now I'm popular here, same stuff different day!"

"Oh, well, sure...but you were never this popular," Davis mumbled, waving behind him at a couple people who were trying to catch his eye.

"I got asked to the stupid junior prom eight times in one day last year!" TK said. "That's more than...one girl per hour."

"It was actually exactly one girl per hour," Ken cut into the conversation, sitting down next to TK. "Being that one of them wasn't a girl."

"Right," TK grumbled. "And Ken has always been the super-genius who can kick your butt in a fight. The only times he wasn't popular in school was when he was being a douche."

"I was actually popular then too," Ken said. "You'd be surprised how many girls approach you when you're being a douche."

"Yeah...I guess you're right. We've always been popular." Davis poked at his sandwich.

"Well, I mean...people knew who you were." TK picked up his sandwich and took a bite out of it.

"I was popular!" Davis hissed.

"You were loud," Ken offered. "I mean, popular's a strong word."

"You guys suck," Davis grunted.

"Whatever." Ken glanced behind him. "How's your three point shot?"

"Money in the bank." Davis answered. "Work on it constantly."

"I've done a little research, this might be your week to shine." Ken crossed his right leg over his left. "This team we're playing, pretty bad. They use that elementary school philosphy of crowding the area around the basket on defense. They give opponents open shots from the outside, figuring that at least those shots are harder than ones near the basket."

"Well, I guess it's true." TK shrugged.

"TK, if you get the ball down low expect three guys to swarm you. Just get the ball out to the perimeter, we'll shoot them out of the gym. These guys might suck, but they try hard." Ken scratched the back of his neck.

"You are so lucky you have me!" Kari exclaimed, suddenly appearing next to the three and plopping down next to Ken. "Seriously, TK, high school girls are vultures!"

"What are you babbling about?" TK leaned over the table to look at her.

"Every two minutes they're asking me about you!" she explained. "Oh, Kari, you're friends with TK, aren't you? What kind of food does he like? Is he really six feet tall? What's his shoe size?"

"You've always had to fight to keep me, comes with the territory." TK grinned to himself. "C'mon, nothing you're not used to."

"Not like this." Kari sighed. "They actually ask me for advice on how to ask you out. How they hell do they not know we're dating?"

"We're clearly not making out in public enough," TK said dryly, poking at his pile of potato chips.

"So yeah, I don't think they like me very much anymore," Kari grumbled. "Don't you hate potato chips?"

"Yes." TK rolled his eyes. "My mom doesn't believe me. She doesn't believe a kid can't like potato chips. Keeps thinking I must be getting a bad batch or something."

"So, just so we're clear, we're dating." Kari leaned over the table to look back at TK. "We are dating, no ambiguity about it."

TK put his hands out to his sides defensively. "Of course I know we're dating! How could I not know that?"

"I just want it clear. I don't wanna hear any 'I thought we were just close friends!' crap if I walk in on you swapping saliva with a cheerleader or something." Kari propped her right elbow on the table and rested her head on her hand.

"Fine fine. I'll sign the paperwork tonight," TK said sarcastically. "So how long before my fangirl army saran wraps you to the flagpole half-naked?"

"Not happening. Like I said, I'm going to sick Gatomon on any girl who looks at you wrong." Kari grimaced.

"That would be an abuse of your chosen child status," Ken deadpanned, glancing over at her.

"Then I'll buy a gun," Kari said through gritted teeth.

"That would be an abuse of...something. I don't know what, but...don't do that," Ken replied.

"Oh, chill out," TK said dismissively. "It's not like I'm a...piece of property that anyone could just claim."

"Oh, TK, Max Preps posted your profile on their website!" Ken exclaimed. "I'll show you later. Got your picture, height, weight, statistics...it's pretty cool."

"So weird. They can do all that without my consent. I mean I'm not complaining, it's just weird." TK shrugged. "What about you guys?"

Ken scoffed. "Max Preps is a website for high school players who have realistic college basketball prospects. Not us."

"Why not? I mean, if you're saying I might grow more in the next four years, you guys could too." TK looked back and forth between his two teammates. "C'mon, don't sell yourselves short."

"You're far more interesting a prospect right now, that's just the way it is. I mean, don't worry about it, we don't hate you for it-"

"No, no! You guys are great! Seriously, I joke around sometimes, but you guys deserve attention too!" He looked up at the ceiling for a moment, thinking. "They'll probably be keeping an eye on our games now, you guys are getting a profile!"

"I thought you didn't care about this college basketball talk." Davis smirked.

"I don't, but if I have a profile you guys should have one too!" TK stood up from the table. "Davis, bring your big boy pants to the game on saturday, you're gonna shoot like you've never shot before. Ken, you're gonna dish out assists until they're coming out your nose. You're getting a profile!"

"TK, chill out, it's just a profile on a website!" Ken waved his hands dismissively. "If we deserve to get a profile, it'll happen naturally. We're not jealous or anything, it's not a problem."

"I mean, this is awesome," Davis agreed. "Our friend, our teammate, is getting attention from a recruiting website in America! You're fourteen years old and they're already talking about you. Hey, we're getting attention from it too, y'know."

"Well, alright." TK pursed his lips. "I guess it is pretty cool." He pointed towards the cafeteria door behind them. "I have class."

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"This is happening, isn't it?" TK wondered out loud. He was laying back on Kari's bed, Kari laying on top of him, both looking up at the ceiling, TK's arms wrapped around her chest. "Don't tell anyone I'm talking to you about this."

"Talking to me about what?" Kari asked.

"This...god, I feel like such a dork. Talking about college after a month in high school." TK rolled his eyes. "But this is so weird. Did you read the information they had about me in that profile? I mean, anyone can read that. People in America who make decisions on who to recruit are gonna read that. I mean, what did it say-"

"Already six feet tall, three or four excellent post moves, natural rebounder and passer, good mid-range game, fantastic footwork, superb effort at all times, high basketball IQ, average defender," Kari recited quickly.

"You memorized my profile." TK licked his lips. "Kinda creepy."

"Or a sign of my affection," Kari suggested, looking up at him.

"Somewhere in the middle." TK grunted. "Anyway, I've been ignoring it the last few days, but...it's starting to really dawn on me. People expect me to play college basketball."

"Oh...people. Who cares what people think?" Kari shrugged.

"Do you expect it?" TK asked, hugging her closer.

"Oh...well, I mean, if it happens, great, if it doesn't, great. It's not really...how does it change anything?" Kari tapped her foot up and down on his knee.

"Well, if people...expect it, what if it doesn't happen? I mean, people think I should be that good, and if I'm not...I mean, this has always just been a thing I did for fun. Now it's...suddenly more than that." He sighed. "Now I go out there and I've got people expecting me to dominate as an obligation. It's different."

"It's not different. You just go out there and do the same thing you've always done. Doing what you've always done got you here." Kari patted his stomach with her right hand. "If it happens, great, if not, great. If it doesn't happen, I promise these expectations are gonna be forgotten in a flash. People don't remember things like that very long."

"I guess," TK squirmed around a little. "It's weird. I just did this because I wanted to get in shape, and now...suddenly people are acting like it might be a meal ticket for me."

"They're not saying it because of things you could do, TK. They're saying it because of things you've done." Kari reached up and patted TK's hands. "What you've done in the last two games, what you did last season, all of it." She sat up. "Well, it's thursday, you feel good enough for some work?"

He nodded.

"Alright, you wanna head to school and use the outdoor track?" Kari scooted herself off the bed and bent down to pick her socks off the floor.

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Ken faked like he was going to drive into the lane, taking one step inside the three point line, then simply tossed it to his left. Davis was trailing everyone else, having just crossed half-court, and the defense had simply forgotten about him. Davis caught it, and raised to shoot in one motion, three scrambling defenders doing nothing to hinder his shot. It snapped through the basket, sparking a cheer from the crowd.

Yes, this time, it was an actual crowd. The bleachers were crowded, packed tight with spectators, and several dozen folding chairs had been put out as well for excess watchers. Every good play was rewarded with loud, raucous cheers. And there were plenty of those today.

"Get ready to run," Ken whispered to TK as they came back up the court. TK fell back near the basket, but kept his eyes on Ken as he went up to hound the point guard.

They were an awful, awful team. No height, very little basketball talent, and a frenzied way of playing that wasn't too far from what you'd see from a group of ten-year-olds. Two or three players would run to whoever had the ball, always leaving other players wide open. All Rakunan had to do was swing the ball around a few times until it ended up with someone who was all by himself, and they were getting quality shots.

And defensively...

Ken lunged forward and got the opposing point guard to pick up his dribble, then poked the ball from his grip and started dribbling it down the court. TK was watching and took off like a rocket after him.

Ken ran towards the hoop, the other point guard frantically chasing a step behind and trying to reach out for the ball. Ken swung it up towards the basket, but then threw it back over his head to TK, trailing a few steps behind the play. TK caught it and laid it in. More cheers. Timeout.

"I'm not even sure if I'm having fun anymore," TK said to Ken as they made their way over to their bench on the east side of the gym. He glanced up at the scoreboard. HOME - 23 AWAY - 4. Still a minute left in the first quarter. A complete farce.

"It's not like this team isn't used to it," Ken said, turning and waving a little to the stands. "C'mon. They're cheering for us. They're cheering for our success. Soak it in. Enjoy it."

"Oh come on. We may as well be playing against air." TK waved up at Kari, sitting in the front row of the bleachers next to Yolei.

"Look on the bright side. After today, me and Davis will have those profiles you want us to have so bad." Ken sat down on the bench.

"Really? You're gonna get recruiter attention because you played well against these guys?" TK pointed over at the opposing bench. "Somehow, I don't think so."

"Just trust me. I have a feeling."

Davis ran over and sat down next to Ken. TK remained standing as the rest of the team came over to sit down as well.

"Coach!" TK yelled down the bench. "You got anything to say?"

Stewart shrugged, and TK turned back to Ken and Davis. "Alright, but I don't want this team to be known as the jerkoffs who ran up the score on an inferior team. Whatever it is you plan on doing, do it in the first three quarters."

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TK caught the ball in his right hand down on the low block, held it there a second as three defenders ran in to crowd around him and hold their hands up, then whistled it across the court to the left wing, where Davis caught it and fired from behind the three point line. Swish. The crowd was bored at this point, giving a handful of golf claps as the team fell back on defense.

HOME - 55 AWAY - 9. If there was a mercy rule in high school basketball, it would definitely have kicked in by now. Still thirty seconds left in the first half, the other team brought the ball up. Surprisingly, they didn't seem particularly frustrated or upset at how the game was playing out. They just kept on chugging. It was admirable in a way.

The point guard passed it over to the shooting guard, who immediately threw it right back. Ken read the pass and leaped forward to pick it off, taking off down the court.

It was the same act that had already played out multiple times in that game. Ken dribbling down, the other point guard a step behind and trying to atone for the embarrassing turnover by getting the ball back. At the last second, Ken tossed it around behind his back to Marcus, who rose up to lay it in as the half ended.

"I think we could take the second half off," TK offered as Ken ran over next to him. The two sat down on the bench next to Davis. "I mean, it's already getting to a point where it'd look kinda bad if we kept running up the score."

"No. Logic and mathematics dictate that any lead built up in the first sixteen minutes of a game, no matter how large, can be erased in the next sixteen." Ken leaned back on the chair.

"Oh come on. We could play another hundred and sixty minutes and they couldn't catch up." TK licked his lips. "This is a video game. Set on easy."

"Try to enjoy it," Davis reached underneath his seat for his water bottle. "I looked at our schedule, we've got a tough stretch coming up."

"How am I supposed to enjoy this?" TK put his arms out to his sides. "Let's play a few minutes to start the third and hand the rest of the game off to the bench. Come on. See what they can do."

"We'll give them the fourth. But no one's gonna fault us for going hard in the third. C'mon TK, they're used to it. Games like this happen sometimes, let's just ride it."

TK rolled his eyes. "Alright," he relented. "But you guys run the show." He turned to look behind him at the bleachers, just about everyone staring at him. "This week at school is gonna be the worst."

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"Psst," someone sitting behind TK buzzed. TK turned his head to the right to look behind him, glancing at someone he didn't recognize. "Great game on saturday."

"Uh...yeah, thanks," TK whispered back, turning back to his desk. He wouldn't exactly call it a great game. Ninety-three to twenty-nine, starters sitting out the entire fourth quarter. TK didn't even do all that much. Eighteen points, ten rebounds, seven assists. Maybe some would consider it a great game, but he had been on cruise control and letting Ken and Davis run the show.

"You guys are awesome, really," he continued to whisper. "I was looking stuff up last night. If we win at least 25 games we're guaranteed a spot in the district tournament. We can definitely do that, can't we?"

"Uhhh...I guess, I mean, that's a long way away." TK picked his pencil up and started writing some diagrams down in his notebook frantically.

"And then all you have to do is win three games, and then there's a national tournament! All the best schools in Japan. Can you imagine playing in that?" he continued to pester TK.

"Uh, nope. I can't, because it's so far away and...one game at a time, you know, take everything as it comes," TK muttered, writing faster and faster.

"You're really fantastic out there. You're really good. Me and my friends were talking. According to Max Preps, the best season in Japanese high school history by a freshman power forward was thirteen points and six rebounds a game. You're probably gonna double that!"

"Oh, you think so?" TK said through gritted teeth. He wasn't even drawing anything meaningful now, just madly scribbling to try to get a point across.

"Hey. You think...I mean, you gotta be thinking it...four years down the road, which college is it gonna be? UCLA? Kentucky? Duke? North Carolina? I mean-"

TK groaned and slammed his face down onto the desk in front of him, accidentally snapping his pencil in half.

"TK, are you alright?"

TK glanced up at the teacher, standing next to his desk, a concerned look on her face and hands clasped in front of her.

"Never better," TK grunted.

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"With the way things are going, if I don't go out there every week and score thirty points, I'm gonna have half the school following me around, asking me what's wrong!" TK lamented, resting his head on the cafeteria table next to his food. "Driving me crazy."

"Come on man." Davis chewed on the tip of a carrot. "This is high school. If you play good, everyone follows you around to tell you how great you are. If you don't, everyone spends that week talking about...who has pimples, or who got arrested at the party that weekend."

"I don't think so," TK glanced up at Davis. "And don't stare at me when you're eating a carrot! It's weird."

"What?" Davis raised his eyebrows, holding the carrot out to his side.

"It's just...it's weird. Don't do it." TK closed his eyes.

"Can I have everyone's attention, please?"

The three turned around to look at the south wall of the cafeteria, where the principal was standing with a megaphone. Slowly, the buzz of conversation died down and the cafeteria hall was largely silent.

"Thank you! Now, as I'm sure you've all noticed, we at Rakunan have been swept up by Wildcat fever the last couple weeks!" he began.

"I hate our team name. Wildcats," Ken said under his breath. "Every other high school sports team is named the wildcats. It's so lame."

"So we'd just like to thank the three students who have really taken everyone by storm and made this stunning transformation possible! We're really going places with these guys!"

"We've played three games," TK groaned as everyone applauded. "Not even ten percent of the season."

"So this morning, me and a couple of the teachers thought it'd be fun to post the, ah, statline of our three young stars for every game of the season on the wall here, right underneath the team schedule!" The principal turned and pointed at the wall, three sheets of lined paper underneath the schedule.

"Oh god." TK wearily looked up. "Bunch of filthy bandwagoners."

"Will you stop it?" Ken said through gritted teeth. "Just enjoy it. What's the big deal?"

"Right! I've been informed by some students that, apparently, we broke two Japanese high school basketball records on saturday. First, Davis Motomiya, could you stand up please?"

Davis slid out from the seat and waved around the room a couple times as everyone applauded. TK rolled his eyes.

"Davis made eleven three-pointers on saturday, the most three-pointers made by one player in one game in recorded Japanese high school basketball history!" The principal turned to write on the left-most paper on the wall. "He finished with a whopping thirty-nine points!"

More applause, Davis smirked, waving again.

"Next, we have...Ken Ichijouji, a stunning...nineteen assists on saturday, another record! He also had eleven points and ten steals, which I'm told by students is called a triple-double! Ken, stand up!"

Ken complied, easily spinning around and waving before re-taking his seat. The principal wrote some things down on the paper on the right side before turning back around.

"And of course, Takeru Takaishi, eighteen points, ten rebounds, and seven assists. May he continue to be the rock that this team is built around! Stand up, will you, TK?"

TK remained sitting limply, so Davis got up and grabbed him around the waist, then lifted him into a half-standing position. Ken reached over and grabbed his right hand, throwing it up so it gave what could be construed as a wave before flopping back down. Davis set him back down on the chair as the applause died down and the principal wrote more on the paper in the middle.

"Thank you, that's all!" The principal nodded and turned the megaphone off.

"Never do that again." TK looked at Davis and Ken. "I will kill you both if that ever happens again."

"You're being such a butt," Ken said. "Come on, you're famous! You're good at something! Really good! Enjoy it!"

"I was enjoying it!" TK ran his hands through his hair. "Now it's like I have a job. I really don't like being the center of attention either! It's not my thing!"

"Well, maybe this will cheer you up," Ken said, reaching into his left pocket and pulling out an Android phone. "Look at what got posted this morning." He passed it over to TK.

TK lazily took it and looked at the screen. A picture of Ken next to a short bio.

"Oh, you got a profile! Congrats!" TK said, scrolling through it.

Ken shrugged. "You break a record, you get a profile. They at least want to watch you."

"Owns the point guard position...sets teammates up with precision...fast and quick, very smart...good at driving to the basket and scoring close to the basket...great defender...can control the pace of a game...needs to work on shooting." TK stroked his chin. "Pretty cool."

"I can't picture you playing college basketball," Davis said, looking over TK's shoulder at the phone. "Seems like you're destined for more. Won't those recruiters be disappointed."

Ken nodded. "But it's cool to be recognized." He reached over and tapped the screen a few times, and the page changed. "And, of course..."

Davis's picture and bio came up.

"Alright!" Davis exclaimed. "Ding ding!"

"Runs off screens like a madman...brilliant catch and shoot player...range out to twenty-three feet...can not leave him open...gets shot up incredibly quickly...perfect in the role of a spot-up shooter," TK read. "Pretty cool."

"Are you happy now?" Ken asked, reaching over to grab his phone back.

"Go over there and rip those stupid statlines off the wall over there and I'll be happy." TK pointed at the wall. "I can see it now. Oh, TK, I read the tracker today and you only had eleven rebounds on saturday, but you're averaging twelve! Are you okay? Are you sick? Is something wrong? Is it Kari? Are you breaking up with Kari? Oh god, everyone, TK's breaking up with Kari!" He put his head in his hands. "Nightmare."

"Just...come on." Ken looked around uneasily, hoping nobody was watching TK freak out. "Just go out there and play like you know how to play, and ignore everything else. It's all just filler. It's all a product of what you do on the court. Mellow out."

TK heaved a sigh. "Fine." He looked at Davis. "You were right about one thing."

"What's that?" Davis asked.

"I have never been this popular before."