I'm so sorry this is so late! My life is hell right now. For starters, I have college and film school applications, which eat up my time. Then, I've got regular schoolwork. Those two would be enough to kill me, but I'm also the lead in my school's fall drama and I just started working at a comic book store! So, basically what I'm saying is my release dates will be iffy for a couple months. I hope to have everything sorted out and have a consistent publishing schedule again in January when I'm done with applications and the play. Until then, these will be up when I can finish them.
saraj8ne: To differentiate this story from KHR, I wanted to play with some darker themes and a bit more realism. It won't take over the title, however. This will still very much be in the tone of KHR.
valery-chan: I just had to put that nod in! I'm glad you liked it! Haha, great minds think alike!
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Reborn! Again
Target 11 – Vs. Kokuyo Middle
Since the dramatic facedown with Sasuke, Sora had huddled over in the corner of the gymnasium alongside Hikari, both teens shaken by the incident. Neither spoke for a while, merely enjoying the comfort that they weren't alone in their suffering. Finally, just as Sora began to recover from the shock of the near-shooting, and just as he began to speak up, someone else interjected.
"Um…Sora-san, correct?"
The blond turned to look at the speaker, only to discover it was the injured basketball star himself—Kagome Hideaki-senpai. Of course, he hadn't gotten over here alone. Three of his teammates were carrying him.
"Yeah, that's right, Kagome-senpai," Sora answered, forcing his social anxiety to the back of his mind.
"Oh, please, just call me Hideaki, or Hide-kun," the basketball player said, half-smiling, "We're in the same grade after all."
That was right. It almost seemed unreal, but the behemoth before Sora was in his grade. Kagome was in class 2-B, so it was often easy to forget that the two were the same age.
"Okay, Hide-kun," Sora reluctantly agreed, "What's, uh, up?"
Sora noticed the other players' were uncomfortable, almost unhappy even. That wasn't a good sign. He had to admit that there was a number of reasons to be upset at that moment, but the way they kept glancing between him and Kagome made it almost seem…well, Sora couldn't think of the word. Foreboding? Maybe. Either way, what Kagome was about to ask couldn't be good.
"Sora-san—"
"Uh, you can just call me, Sora," the blond interrupted.
"Right, Sora," Kagome continued without a hint of frustration or nervousness, "I was wondering if you'd take my place on the team?"
Sora's eyes widened in shock, but before he could argue against the idea he caught sight of Kagome's wound and couldn't bring himself to speak up.
Kagome continued, "I saw you jump when you saved Hikari, and I think with talent you could really help us. Please. With you we have a chance of winning, and I don't know if you know, but—"
"If you lose the game, you have to go undefeated to make it to the playoffs," Sora nodded. Hikari smiled slightly. "I heard. But…"
Sora glanced at the ground. Even if he understood Kagome's sentiments, particularly regarding his 'ability' to jump, the idea still seemed ludicrous. What if he failed? What would Kagome, what would the fans and other players think of him? How could he live with himself knowing he had failed the school when it needed him most?
Almost as if he could read Sora's mind, Kagome assured, "No one will be mad if we lose, I promise. I mean, no one expects us to win anyway. It's just, if we did…" The boy's face lit up with the brightest, happiest smile Sora swore he had ever seen. "It would be amazing. Please, Sora, I'll be indebted to you. I'll do your math homework for life; I'll—"
Before Sora could interject or Kagome could continue, someone shouted from near the edge of the bleachers, "Hey, Kagome-senpai! The ambulance is here!"
Kagome looked back to fully register the comment before staring intensely at Sora. "So, what's your answer?"
The blond looked into Kagome's determined, hopeful eyes and he knew he couldn't say 'no.' So, he said, "Yes. I'll do it."
-XI-
And that's how Sora ended up standing on the basketball court twenty minutes later in a uniform, ready to play. He gulped as he looked at his fellow Nami players. It still seemed unbelievable that he was doing this. The score was 25-20 in favor of Kokuyo. He just hoped he could keep it from getting any worse.
Luckily, he wouldn't have to go at it alone. The other players had been hesitant about his involvement at first, but they warmed up over the remainder of the break, even reassuring him that he would be the key to their victory. While that might have helped some people, it made Sora feel worse. If he failed…well, again, he wouldn't fail alone.
The ref blew his whistle, and the game restarted. The crowd bustled anxiously as one of the Nami players through the ball in to the point guard. Sora nervously waited on the other side of the court, scrambling around at random. Fans and players alike eyed him, confused about his methods. Honestly, he didn't know what he was doing either. All he had down was that he needed to somehow get the basketball in the hoop. That was it. The rest? He'd figure it out as he went along.
Before Sora knew it, the ball was suddenly in his hands. He looked up, only now realizing he had no idea how to dribble. He tried, and failed horribly, bouncing the ball off his foot and allowing a Kokuyo player to steal it. They ran down the court and made a basic layup. The home fans all seemed to sigh resignedly at once. Forget the heroics, the failure Sora was his usual self again.
Nami took the ball back down the court, and this time Sora didn't even get to touch it. However, like the last play, Nami lost the ball and Kokuyo scored. This was going just great. The score was 29-20 in less than a minute into the second half.
On the next play, Sora nearly immediately found himself in possession of the ball just beside the basket. The point guard looked at him nervously. He was about as sure of his move as Sora was. Two gigantic Kokuyo players surrounded the blond, and his anxiety reached new heights. He couldn't dribble. He couldn't move. He couldn't jump…oh wait, yes he could.
-XI-
"Reborn, please," Sora begged with only two minutes left until the second half. "I need you to…" The blond glanced around to make sure no one was within hearing distance. Luckily, being in the corner of the locker room had its benefits. "I need you to shoot me. In the legs."
"No. Figure this out yourself," the hitman retorted coldly.
"Do you—do you understand how important this is?" Sora demanded.
"It's a junior high basketball game, so yes, in fact, I do," Reborn asserted.
"But—"
"No 'buts,'" Reborn said, "My answer will indefinitely be 'no.'"
Sora sighed and ran his hands through his hair. He couldn't do this without the Dying Will Bullet's jumping ability…thing…whatever. Reborn wouldn't shoot him—which Sora had to admit was the oddest complaint he had ever had about the baby. If only he could give Reborn an incentive to use the Dying Will Bullets. If only… Suddenly, an idea popped into Sora's head. He turned back to Reborn, smiling mischievously.
"If you try to take Leon from me, I will kill you," Reborn stated matter-of-factly.
"Wha-?! No! Please, don't—" Sora shook his head, refocusing himself. "Okay, here's the deal. Kagome said he owed me for the game. If we win, I'm willing to bet he'll feel even more indebted to me. I swear, if you shoot me—in the legs—I will personally ask him to join my…" Sora struggled to finish, but he managed to grit out, "My family."
Reborn's lips curled up into a sly grin. "Now you're thinking like a boss."
Sora sweatdropped. He didn't have a retort to that comment. After all, he had dug himself into this hole.
"So…?" Sora pushed.
Reborn nodded. "You have yourself a deal."
-XI-
'Reborn,' Sora grimaced, thinking. 'Now is as good a time as any.'
The shot clock was slowly flicking down. Sora had five seconds left. His teammates called for the ball, but he couldn't pass it to them one way or another. Four seconds. Reborn still hadn't fired. Three. Two.
That was when Sora felt a biting sensation in the back of his knees. He grinned and jumped.
The Kokuyo players were too shocked to react. The crowd merely stared at Sora dumbfoundedly as he soared through the air towards the basket. And then—slam-dunk!
The crowd and the benched Nami players erupted into cheers. Sora smirked confidently as he hung onto the rim of the basket, looking around for Reborn. He saw Hikari, who cheered his name as loudly as she could. He saw the shocked expressions of the entire Kokuyo bench and spectator crowd. Then, he saw the hitman crouched alone in a shadowed corner of the gym, a silenced green rifle in his hands.
Just about then, Sora realized he had no idea how to get down from the basket. He glanced at the ground and vertigo hit him. That only further strengthened his resolve to hold onto the basket. Slowly, after a few seconds, people began to realize he wasn't moving. The ref called for Sora to drop down, but he wouldn't. It took the support of two of his fellow Canaries to help him down before the game could restart, much to the mixed disappointment and amusement of the crowd.
"Stupid Sora…" Reborn quietly chided.
The rest of the game went about as well as that play, leaving the spectators, coaches, and players alike floored. Kokuyo continued to score on most of their possessions, but there were enough botched plays that Nami managed to creep back up. The score with one minute left in the game was 52-52.
By this point, it had become a team effort. Kokuyo had begun to double and even triple team Sora, and while they couldn't stop him every time he got the ball, more often that not he would simply pass it off to an open player. Each time, that resulted in two points for Namimori.
This possession, however, was different. Nami passed the ball around for about ten seconds before Sora became the focus of the offense again. He leaped up with only two Kokuyo players on him. Easy enough, right? He had handled worse before, so why would this be any different?
Well, it turned out to be a lot different. Sora was horrified to discover that the Kokuyo players' heights allowed them to equal out his jump. But wait…that had never happened before. What the hell was going on? Suddenly it dawned on Sora. The bullets' effect had worn off. He was normal again.
The Kokuyo players smacked the ball out of Sora's hand and sprinted down the court. There was nothing the Canaries could do. The Falcons put the ball up and dunked it.
Sora looked around for Reborn, but the hitman was nowhere to be found. Wonderful. When he needed him most, Reborn disappeared.
The Nami players reset with forty seconds on the clock. The point guard immediately passed Sora the ball, and the blond threw it back. The PG frowned and went in to fake a layup. However, before he could even pass the ball, a Kokuyo player stole it and dribbled down the court.
Through sheer luck, a Nami player was near half court and managed to keep up with the dark-skinned Kokuyo player. However, that didn't mean he could stop his momentum. The Kokuyo player reached up for a simple layup. The Nami player tried to block the ball, but ended up smacking the other boy's arm, sending the ball way out of its trajectory.
The ref blew the whistle. The Nami player groaned as the official called a personal foul and the dark-skinned boy walked up to the free throw line for two free shots. The rest of the two teams got into position around the shooting boy. Sora waited near the back of the crowd, closer to half court, nervous.
The first shot went up and sinked in easily. Sora looked at the clock. It was frozen at twenty seconds. Sora focused on the shooter again. The dark-skinned boy dribbled the ball briefly, took a deep breath, and shot.
It missed. Immediately, all of the players scrambled for the free ball. A dog pile formed, and the ref begrudgingly blew the whistle. When the small crowd broke apart, it was revealed that the ball was in fact in the Canaries' possession.
The home crowd clapped but only a few cheers echoed over the gym. People were more nervous than anything.
The ball was in play before Sora could even really get back into place, meaning he was still caught behind the three-point line near the corner of the court. The point guard brought the basketball down, dribbling cautiously as the clocked ran faster than Sora thought was possible. Something had to be up with the scoreboard, right? There couldn't really be ten seconds left. Sweat dripped into Sora's eyes. He wiped it away, glanced around nervously, and blinked once when he saw a bright orange blur speeding towards him.
"Nakamura!"
Sora caught the ball, much to his surprise. He looked at the sphere blankly for a moment before discovering three Kokuyo players were surrounding him. He took a single step back with his right foot and protectively held the ball away from the opposing players.
"Shoot the ball!" another Canary cried.
Sora glanced up at the clock. Six seconds. Shit.
Sora looked between the enormous players before him. All stared at him determinedly.
One smiled wickedly, saying, "What? Something wrong, kid?"
Three seconds. Sora tried to jump back but ended up tripping over his feet. As a result, the ball slipped out of his hands mid-shot, rocketing towards the basket completely off-target. Sora mentally slapped himself. The crowd gasped.
Two seconds. The ball bounced off the backboard and onto the rim. 'We're screwed,' Sora thought.
One second. The ball clipped off the rim and rolled back. Sora swore it was leaning over the edge and then…
It went in. The crowd seemed as incredulous as Sora, because as the buzzer blared, nobody moved or spoke up. And then, all at once, the crowd cheered. Sora just gazed up at the basket in shock. He couldn't bring himself to move, even as a Kokuyo player patted him on the back, congratulating him, or as his teammates dragged him off the ground and onto their shoulders.
The score was 55-55. There was no overtime in junior high basketball. The game had ended in a tie. It turned out off-target for Sora was on point.
Slowly, but pleasurably, Sora's lips curled up into an enormous toothy grin. The Canary basketball team carried him around as the home crowd surrounded him and cheered his name. Sora had never felt so wanted before. He'd never felt like such a part of the community. Hell, he hadn't felt this happy for as long as he could remember.
Meanwhile, standing together on the bleachers, Reborn and Hikari watched the scene with great amusement. However, there was something else alight in the brunette's eyes, something different.
"Your training is going well," the girl stated.
Reborn remained dispassionate as ever as he responded, "I know."
"Even still, I'm afraid to ask: will he be ready?" Hikari questioned.
Reborn did not respond, which was an answer in and of itself.
"The boss will be disappointed to hear that." Hikari admitted without so much as a hint of real emotion. The girl stretched and yawned. "Oh, well, I suppose it's time for me to go. Keep me updated, will you?"
"Like you need my help," Reborn snapped.
Hikari leered at the hitman. Suddenly, the sly grin plastered on her face lightened considerably, and the edge in her eyes faded away.
Hikari trotted down the bleacher steps after the crowd, beaming, "Bye bye, Reborn-chan!"
The hitman watched the girl go, his eyes for once expressing something beyond annoyance: curiosity.
"I'd pity you, Sora," Reborn whispered, "If I only knew how."
...
Wait, whaaaat?! XD I hope you enjoyed that little tease.
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NEXT TIME ON REBORN! AGAIN: Debt
Sora- H-Hide-kun, you remember our deal, right?
Kagome- Of course! I'll do anything to repay you!
Sora- Uh, well, would you join my family? My, uh, mafia family?
Kagome- Hey! Wait up! Aren't you Saito Katsuro?
Katsuro- What's it to you?
Kagome- Truth is, I'm actually…
