Chapter 28:
.
TK walked into the lunchroom, holding the trophy up high. A golden basketball perched on a wooden base, everyone present went into wild cheers as soon as they saw it appear. TK held it up towards the ceiling, shaking it a little bit as he walked between two of the lunch tables.
The rest of the team followed him, fists raised towards the ceiling, skipping around. TK made his way to the center of the room, handing the trophy to the Principal.
"Heck of a job," the Principal said, holding the base of the trophy and looking it over. "You should all be proud of yourselves."
"I'm proud to say all ten of our players contributed to this championship." TK turned to look out at the student body, who slowly quieted down until there was silence in the room. "It's the only way you can win a championship. It can't be just one person, or a few, or even most. It has to be all. Everyone on a team has to sell out towards that higher goal. I'm proud to say that this team has accomplished just that goal! And we're not done yet!"
The room applauded as the Principal raised the trophy up again.
"Next week, we hit Tokyo, and we're going to bring that same ten-strong mentality there too!" TK yelled out. "And there's no team I'd rather have at my side than this one!"
More cheers. They ate this stuff up.
"Now, everyone enjoy your week, and if you can find a way to make it out to Tokyo this weekend, we'll be more than happy to see you there." He raised his fists into the air and walked over to one of the empty tables amid cheers. The team followed him, taking their seats along the bench.
As they were settling down, Kari ran over and sat down next to TK before anyone else could take the spot, wrapping her arms around his chest and giving him a quick peck on the cheek.
"You are amazing, you know that?" Kari said cheerfully. "I mean, really spectacular. You've embraced this thing, and I love it."
"May as well," TK said, grinning as he propped his elbows up on the table. "Man it's nice out today, isn't it? Criminal to be cooped up inside at school on a day like this."
"The weather? That's your conversation piece?" Kari smirked. "Come on, what are we, strangers? You can do better than that."
"No, seriously, it's really nice out, isn't it?" TK said. "Probably just going to get nicer too, I think summer is officially here. Good soccer weather. Hope you guys are ready."
"Oh yeah. Team is gonna be decent this year," Ken said, pulling out his cell phone. "Gonna have to be scoring out of my mind though, I don't like our goalie situation much."
"Tell me about it," Davis muttered. "More scoring for me I guess."
"TK's just trying to convince me it's time to start wearing short shorts." Kari leaned her head onto TK's shoulder, then rubbed her right leg against TK's left. "Maybe when I get home."
"Well, I know where I'm spending the rest of the day." TK wrapped his left arm around her back and clapped her left shoulder. "I don't fancy walking home today anyway. Barely got out of bed this morning, nearly started crying on the walk over here."
"I'll carry you to my place," Kari said jokingly. "That what you want me to say?"
"I'm not showing the other students any sign of weakness." TK pulled Kari closer to him. "I'll manage."
"Well, look on the bright side," Ken said, glancing down at his phone. "Only one game left?"
"Hey, why the lack of faith?" TK asked, leaning forward. "Did you ever think we'd even make it this far? Come on now."
"They just put the bracket out," Ken said, placing the phone back in his pocket. "We go up against Rokugo saturday."
"You're kidding me," TK huffed. "If I never see Larry again, it'll be too soon."
"You're about to see a ton of him," Ken said, pursing his lips. "I have only one proposal."
"What?" TK asked.
"Every possession, Quincy gets the ball and shoots a three. And we hope he's feeling it like he's never felt it before." Ken scratched the top of his head. "That's my best idea."
"Well, keep thinking." TK glanced around the room. "Losing is one thing, but if we get vaporized on saturday, that'll be a significant blow to our confidence. It'll make people forget about what we just did."
"We all have exams in about an hour, might I suggest we suspend all thought on Rokugo until this afternoon?" Ken said. "We'll all spend the afternoon at Kari's place.
"Oh, joy," Kari deadpanned. "Who needs quality alone time with a boyfriend? Not me, that's for sure."
"Calm down, we'll be gone by six and you two can do...whatever it is you do," Davis said.
"You should be honored. Your apartment is like the batcave." TK patted her shoulder.
"Well, if you were a billionaire like Bruce Wayne, then yes, I'd be fine with it," she sighed.
.
"Look, I can't guarantee anything will work," Ken said, seated on the armrest of the couch, left foot on the seat beneath him. "This team is undefeated this year with an average winning margin of twenty-two points. Larry is the best player in the country right now, and he's surrounded with shooters. I'm not saying I know how we're going to win. I'm just saying what we need to do in order to have the best chance of winning."
"It's not right," Davis insisted. "Whatever the situation, there's something fundamentally wrong, as well as morally wrong, with it. TK's been our best player all season, we've been riding his game to victories all year, and now you're saying that he needs to be taken out of the gameplan for the biggest game of the year, and probably our last."
"I know how the last game went. But the idea is still the same. TK's game is no good against Rokugo, Larry will eat up everything he tries. We need to go small with shooters, Derrick, Quincy, you, even Jason, whatever. We need to leave Luke in the game, he's the only guy on this team with a prayer of stopping Larry from time to time. TK doesn't fit into this game at all."
"Come on TK," Davis said, looking at the star power forward, seated on the recliner in the center of the room. "You're gonna sit on the bench and watch us play in the national tournament?"
TK sunk back into the cushion of the chair. "I want to do whatever will help us increase our chances of winning."
"You're our best player. Having you out there always increases our chances of winning because that's how good you are!" Davis insisted.
"I'd love to be out there, but Ken's right." TK bit the inside of his cheek. "The only way we hang with them is if we shoot a bunch of threes, stay at home on their outside shooters, and occasionally stop Larry. I don't fit in."
"TK, come on. We tried that last time and got gutted. If we're gonna go down, we should go down with our best guys." Davis held his hands out. "If you end up not playing well, so be it, but at least you'll have been out there."
TK shrugged. "Whatever helps us the most."
Kari's bedroom door opened and she strided out, whistling to herself, having changed into a red tanktop and jean shorts that exposed virtually all of her thighs. TK's eyes lit up and he smiled as she ran towards him.
"Alright, that's the ticket," he said as she jumped up and landed in his lap, rear in his lap and legs hanging over the armrest. "You two, avert your eyes, this is for me and me alone." He rubbed his right hand over her left thigh.
"You like legs, TK?" Davis asked, smiling to himself. "Me too."
"I like Kari's legs," TK said naughtily.
"Right," Ken said, fighting the urge to roll his eyes. "In any case, if we're going to get TK into the game, I think he'll have to work from the high post, around the free throw line. If you can hit some jumpers from the outside, maybe you can draw Larry away from the basket and hit cutters in the lane. Think you can hit some jumpers on saturday?"
"Sorry. No focus. Legs." TK said, giving Kari's bare knees a squeeze. She giggled and kicked as she pulled herself closer to his chest.
"Should we leave or something?" Ken asked sardonically. "I mean, if we're not allowed to look-"
"Yes, I can work from the high post." TK peered over at Ken. "You know what I can and can't do."
"Right." Ken steepled his fingers in front of him. "So, we need to leave Luke in the game as much as possible to combat Larry, although maybe it doesn't even matter. Quincy needs to get massive minutes, his height and shooting touch is a must-have. TK, you'll draw Larry out of the paint with your jumper. The Rokugo power forward is undersized, he can't guard you, they'll have to switch Larry onto you. Once he starts leaving the paint to guard you, everyone will start cutting through the lane. Find us with passes. Quincy has some decent post up skills that I didn't expect, get it to him down low if you can. Maybe it'll be enough to get their defense to collapse in so the shooters on the outside get open. It's a long shot, but it's all I've got."
"I hope you wrote all that down, because a certain someone missed the whole thing," Davis said dryly. TK was now softly kissing Kari's neck all over.
"That's a lie, I heard every word," TK said. "Can't a man multitask?"
"I think I'm gonna be sick," Ken said, standing up. "I'm out of here."
"Gameplan noted!" TK called out as Ken retreated. "Hey, you, out." He pointed at Davis.
Davis sat there on the couch awkwardly for several seconds, looking around, before finally standing up and following Ken out of the room. TK and Kari watched them leave, Davis finally closing the door behind him.
"I knew we could get them out of here," Kari said, turning back to look at TK. "Now, where were we?"
"We were about to construct an evening schedule that allows me to not have to move from this chair." TK snapped his neck to the left. "If at all possible, until tomorrow morning."
"Aw. Poor baby," Kari said, sliding down onto the floor next to TK's legs. "I got some mineral bath stuff that might help."
"That sounds fantastic." TK smiled. "You're the best."
"Aren't I?" She ran off towards the bathroom. "Now, this is going to be a hot bath, you think you can do that right now? It's still about seventy eight degrees."
"Yeah, I'm good for it," TK called out. "I can't wait for a summer of recovery."
He heard Kari turn the sink on in the bathroom. "You sure you don't want to go out for the soccer team with Davis and Ken?"
"Hell no," TK replied immediately. "This summer, I'm going to relax. Soccer's not my game anyway. If anything I'll lift weights this summer, build muscle. But that's about it."
"Yeah you're gonna lift weights this summer," Kari said. "I'm gonna see to it personally."
"And we're playing video games. Something. Co-op, multiplayer, we should find something to play over the summer. Something...long, in-depth, not like street fighter. Something with a real plot." TK looked up at the ceiling. "I don't know, but we'll play it together."
The sink was shut off. "I'll find something."
"But no organized sports this summer. Absolutely not. I need time away from that." TK glanced over his shoulder and saw Kari approach him with an orange bucket filled with water. She set it down next to him.
"Sure."
"Besides, I might need the summer off after Larry puts me in traction," TK added grimly.
.
"I want you to know, man. Whatever decision you make, I'm fine with it."
TK and Stewart sat on the first row of the bleachers next to each other. The rest of the team was casually going around the gym, grabbing bouncing balls and throwing them up towards the basket without any sense of urgency or organization.
"I know that against a team like Rokugo, it's about your outside shooters, so...I mean, I know I'm supposed to be...well, you know, but if you feel like the team would benefit from me...you know, not playing as much in tomorrow's game, I'm part of any game plan you want to put together."
"How's your legs?" Stewart asked, looking down at TK's legs.
"Fine. Fantastic, actually. Me and Kari did some work down there, they feel fantastic." TK nodded. "I'm a hundred percent."
"Then you're playing." Stewart smirked. "You've been our best player all season and you're saying you want to take a seat in the biggest game yet? Forget it. Gameplans, to heck with them, you're our best player and we win or lose with you."
"Alright. If that's your call," TK replied. "I'm ready. High post all day."
"I'm not letting you ride the bench. Forget it. Hey, man, you made me love this game again." He leaned forward towards TK. "You and your friends, you've saved this whole thing for me. I used to hate coaching this team. But now, I can't wait for every game. Practices, even."
"We'll be even better next year," TK promised, standing up. "Ready to shock the world?"
.
TK caught the pass from Ken at the right elbow, then turned to look towards the basket. The moment he saw Larry hesitate on closing out to him, TK simply rose up and fired the jumper. The ball bounced off the back of the rim, popped up, then sunk through the basket.
"Shooter's roll," Ken said quickly as Rakunan ran back.
"Gotta get lucky sometimes." TK went down to the low block, gulping silently as Larry approached the opposite side of the lane, where Luke was waiting.
The long bus ride into Tokyo had been quiet, everyone just sitting and thinking. Even Ken had foregone his typical corny speeches in favor of just remaining in silent thought. The gym was an absolute mecca, looking for all the world like a professional basketball arena, thousands of seats filled with basketball fans, most of whom just wanted to watch good basketball. But none of them had spent much time discussing how nice everything was. They could say or do whatever they wanted, but there wasn't any getting around the simple fact that Larry Ledger was an impossibly intimidating force, and was now probably close to six foot nine or six foot ten.
Immediately, the Rokugo point guard got the ball in to Larry on the low block, and Larry backed Luke down like he was a rag doll. TK held his position on the opposite side of the lane. No point in double-teaming, it wouldn't make a difference.
Larry spun around and jumped up, easily shoving the ball through the rim over the top of Luke's head. Luke just caught the ball and stepped out underneath the basket, inbounding to Ken, having readily accepted his fate as someone who was going to give up a ton of points to this freak of nature.
Ken dribbled the ball up, getting the ball over to Davis on the right wing. Davis spun towards the basket, then Quincy came over to set a pick on his right side. Davis took one dribble towards the pick, lifted up like he was going to shoot, but instead passed it over to TK on the right elbow. TK looked at the basket, saw Larry hanging back around the paint, and rose up for the fifteen footer.
The ball swished through, and TK saw the power forward exchange some words with Larry before inbounding the ball to the point guard. Ten to seven in favor of Rokugo with three minutes gone in the first quarter. As good as could be hoped for.
Rokugo took the ball up, and this time TK immediately doubled Larry on the left low block before a pass could be thrown to him. TK prevented the pass while Luke went behind Larry, preventing him just cutting to the basket.
The power forward went out onto the right baseline, left open, and the point guard got him the ball. Quincy rotated over to defend him as he caught it, so the ball kicked out to the right wing to the small forward. Davis was up to the challenge, rotating over to prevent the open shot, so the ball continued back to the top to the shooting guard. Ken, however, read the rotation and had jumped ahead of time to pick the pass off.
Ken sprinted down the court with the stolen prize, but the Rokugo point guard retreated in time to prevent the fast break, and Ken slowed down at the top.
TK ran down to the left elbow and turned to Ken. Ken gently passed him the ball, and TK spun to face the basket. This time, Larry came right now to guard him, his massive frame towering over TK and swallowing up any kind of shot.
TK stood there for a moment, then took one dribble to his right so he was standing right on the center of the free throw line. Larry shadowed him. TK leaned back to the left and threw a bounce pass towards the basket. Ken had cut from the top through the paint, running past his defender towards the basket. Ken caught the pass, took one dribble, then weaved past the power forward to sink the layup. The crowd applauded, and TK pointed at Ken on their way back down the court.
Once again, Luke and TK doubled Larry on the low block, but the Rokugo guard just lofted the ball up towards him. Neither Luke nor TK could get up anywhere near as high as Larry, and Larry caught the high pass. Larry spun and raised up towards the rim, but found the ball no longer in his hands. Luke had managed to smack it out of his grip just before he went up, and the ball was now in his possession.
Luke quickly got the ball over to TK, who held it for a moment before Ken looped back to get it. Ken brought the ball up as TK went back to his spot on the high post.
Ken swung the ball in the right corner to Davis, who went to the right low block where Quincy had moved. Quincy caught the pass from Davis and made a quick-twitch move like he was going to turn for the layup, then passed it up to TK. Larry had bought on the flinch and was now sprinting back out with his hand up to block TK's jumper.
TK pump faked up and got Larry in the air, then put the ball on the ground and drove past him. The power forward attempted to get in front of him, but TK simply rose up once he got underneath the basket and slammed it home.
Amid the cheers, the Rokugo coach whistled for a timeout. TK saw the frustration in Larry's face as he went back towards the sideline.
.
Larry spun towards the baseline and lofted up a five foot hook shot. Luke got his hand up, but was nowhere near big enough to really contest the shot, and it swished through.
"Twos are better than threes," TK said quietly to Luke as Luke took the ball to inbound to Ken. "We'll live with that."
Ken took the ball up slowly, TK again taking his spot on the high post. This time, the Rokugo power forward ran out to guard him, but TK had a good six inches on him. TK stood there for a second, then simply lifted up and shot right over him. The ball banked off the backboard and through the basket. Rokugo up, fifty-one to fourty-five, two minutes left in the first half.
Dutifully, the Rokugo guard dribbled up, then lofted a high pass to Larry on the low block, over the double team. Immediately, Luke gave Larry a mighty push as he tried to turn to shoot, drawing a foul whistle.
TK gave Luke a quick high-five before they separated to the side of the lane. Larry walked up to the free throw line, turning around and shaking some sweat off his face.
The referee threw him the ball, and he bounced it a few times on the court. His free throw shot was no better than Luke's, a brutal line drive shot and seemed like it had no chance of going in. But the first hit the back of the rim, popped up, and sank through the net.
He got the ball back and fired off the second shot, hitting the right side of the rim. The ball careened over to TK, who snatched it and got the ball over to Ken.
Ken brought the ball up, repeating the same process with TK. TK took his spot on the right high post and Ken got him the ball, Larry immediately running out to guard him up close.
Davis dashed from the right wing towards the basket, cutting past his defender. TK rose the ball up like he was going to pass it to him, but saw the defender in the corner rotate under the basket to guard against it, so he instead fired it over into the right corner to Quincy. Quincy caught, rose up, and knocked down the open three.
Rokugo brought it back up, swinging the ball into the left corner. The guard faked a three before passing it over to Larry, again doubled, by lofting it up high enough for him to get. Immediately, this time TK fouled Larry, smacking at his arms until the referee called the foul.
Larry trotted up to the stripe as everyone assembled around the lane. He turned around, got the ball from the official, bounced it twice, and fired it up.
About a foot short. Didn't even come close to hitting the rim. The crowd gave a sympathetic groan as Larry stood there stupidly.
He got the ball back, trying to shake off that particular pathetic effort, and rose up again to fire his line drive shot. Off the backboard, the front of the rim, and over to TK. TK took it, turned, and fired it up to Ken. Ken hustled the ball up, stopped, and let the offense assemble.
This time, the defense immediately doubled TK to prevent a pass. Larry was behind him, preventing him from getting to the basket, while the small forward was fronting him. Ken stared at this defensive arrangement for a moment, then fired the ball over to Quincy in the right corner.
Quincy squared up, rose the ball up, then fired it up to the right wing as a defender ran over with his hand up. Davis caught the pass, left open in the rotation, and fired the open three. Swish.
"The Russian is cut!" TK said sardonically as he ran back down the court to Ken.
.
The Rokugo shooting guard faked a three, took two dribbles to his left, and fired up the long two point jumper from the baseline. Davis was just late getting his hand up, and the ball rattled through the rim. Rokugo by six, one minute left in the third quarter.
TK inbounded to Jason, who turned and stormed up the court. TK followed, looking up at Larry waiting for him right up on the high post. If nothing else, Rakunan had done a good job of forcing Rokugo to mix up their defensive sets.
TK ran right past the high post and down onto the low block, Larry hesitating for a second before following him, Jason getting TK the ball in the brief second he was open. TK caught the pass, felt the massive Larry press up against him on the block, and bodied up.
Larry used his body to push TK away from the basket, so TK immediately rose the ball up like he was going to put up a hook shot. Larry got his hands up to block it, but TK brought it back down and spun back around, making to scoop the ball up towards the basket to Larry's left. Larry frantically waved his hands towards the shot, but TK pulled it back in yet again and spun back into the hook shot. This time, an off-balance Larry jumped to block it, but still TK didn't actually let the ball leave his hands. He took one dribble to his right, past the leaping Larry, and laid the ball in.
The crowd gasped. Larry never gave up baskets around the rim. Not only had TK gotten one in over time, he had made him look quite foolish in the process. TK just trotted back in silence as Rokugo recovered to bring the ball back up.
This time, before going down low, Larry set a pick with his point guard on Derrick's left side. The point guard used the pick, and TK tried to stay in the passing lane between Larry and the point, knowing what was coming. In a flash, however, Larry bolted right to the basket and got behind TK. The point guard lobbed the ball up, and Larry caught it, slamming it through the rim with such violent force TK thought the rim might break.
TK stared for a moment, shook it off, then stepped out of bounds to inbound to Jason. Jason turned and dribbled it up, then stopped, letting the final moments of the quarter tick off.
With eight seconds left, he threw the ball to Derrick on the right wing, and TK ran up to set a pick on his left side. Derrick took two dribbles towards it, then fired up an off balance three. TK turned and ran in to get the rebound, quickly getting boxed out by Larry, but to his great surprise the shot went in.
"We've got something here, don't we?" Quincy asked as the team walked toward the bench.
"What can I say, man?" TK smiled. "No explaining some things."
.
As Ken hounded the point guard at the top of the key, TK couldn't help but play scenarios out in his head. He and Luke were giving Larry a hard double preventing a pass, and Rokugo was afraid to get the ball in to him because Rakunan was just fouling him every time he got the ball. A minute and a half left, Rokugo up by five. They were confused. They didn't know how to get their offense going without Larry getting the ball virtually every possession. All Rakunan needed was three more defensive stops and they could win this thing. Somehow, against all odds, they were in this thing.
The point guard fired it over to the small forward, who had Quincy right up on him behind the three point line. The shot clock was down to three seconds as he dribbled to his left, but Quincy stayed right with him as he was forced to pick up and fire while falling down with Quincy's hand in his face.
TK immediately moved under the basket, boxing out Larry with Luke and getting ready for the rebound. But somehow, improbably, impossibly, the shot sank through the net.
TK's heart sank. An impossible shot. He might make it one out of every three hundred times. But that was the one. All the hope in TK's mind flew out instantly. Nevertheless, he ran up the court as Luke inbounded to Ken.
Ken ran the ball up, frantically motioning for the offense to start. Before he crossed halfcourt, Davis and Quincy were already madly scrambling around picks being set by TK and Luke. Ken hurled the ball Quincy near the left corner and Quincy fired over his defender. The shot rattled back and forth inside the rim, then bounced out, Larry grabbing it and immediately getting fouled by Davis.
"Well," TK said, walking up next to Ken as the two teams walked down to the other side of the court. "It was a nice effort."
"It's been an honor to have served by your side," Ken remarked.
.
The final buzzer. Rokugo one hundred and three, Rakunan ninety four. TK wandered around the court for a few seconds, looking around at the cheering crowd, before turning to look at Rokugo's bench.
"Well, it was fun." Davis walked up next to TK.
"Yup," TK replied as Larry walked up towards him.
"I don't know where you learned some of your moves," Larry started, coming up to shake TK's hand. "But wherever it was, I gotta find it."
"You don't need them." TK grinned, taking Larry's hand. "Have fun in America. Hopefully you'll be in the pros by the time I get over there."
"You sure you're a freshman?" Larry asked. "You don't act anything like one. I was gonna say we should go overseas together, both go to the same college. You could be my wingman."
"Bull," TK said, turning to shake hands with the next Rokugo player down the line. "You could be mine."
.
"You were fantastic, honey!" Nancy exclaimed, clapping TK on the back. The team had made their way out into the front lobby and were now fighting through a mob of people who had been in the audience. "Really, really good."
"Hey mom," TK replied, giving her a hug. "We need to get out of here, there's barely any oxygen here."
"You could be mine?" Davis said, grinning. "That was pretty good. I like that."
"Never thought I'd see the day TK would show wit. Or cockiness." Ken slid past one of the mob members to get to Yolei, hugging her. "Meant a lot to me that you could make it out here. I know you're really busy right now."
"I wasn't gonna miss this." Yolei smiled. "You were great."
"Great at riding TK's coattails, maybe," Kari chimed in, appearing from behind a portly stranger in the crowd, grabbing TK's arm and pulling herself close to him.
"If I had a girlfriend, she'd be embracing me right now and telling me how great a job I did." Davis looked around, scowling. "Mark my words, she would. So don't forget about me."
"Yes Davis, you did great." TK grabbed Kari's right arm and spun her around ballroom dance-style. "We all did. In fact, this calls for a celebration."
.
"This summer, I'm going to use my free time to teach you how to utilize screens to maximum efficiency," Ken said, leaning against the side of the game console, looking up at Quincy standing in front of him. "And maybe we'll add something to your post game. You're going to start next year."
"Are you sure?" Quincy said, holding a basket of fries in his right hand. "You don't want me off the bench?"
"No, you're too good, I want you full-time," Ken insisted. He turned around to glance at the screen on the console. Jason and Derrick were going at it, Jason's Fei Long beating Derrick's E. Honda. "Derrick using E. Honda, I like it, perfect. Anyway, Quincy, you're definitely starting next year, we need your firepower."
"Guys, remember, we're saying goodbye to someone tonight as well!" Davis called out from the back of the room. "Marcus, where are you?"
Marcus emerged from the middle of the pack, walking up towards the console to where Ken was.
"Marcus, good luck in college. And if you make their basketball team, they'll be lucky to have you." Ken slapped Marcus on the back. "We couldn't have done this without you."
"Playing in that arena today was one of the high points of my life," Marcus replied. "Seriously, you guys are fantastic. Play there again next year, I'll be in the crowd!"
"This was just the start!" Vincent yelled out, pointing at TK, who was sitting in the corner on a stool. "Come over here, man!"
TK slowly got up and walked towards the gathering of players. "Small tight crowds...really not my thing-"
"Hey, the crowd is here because of you! So long as you lead us, we're going places. Positive places! And for the first time in my life, I actually can't wait for summer to end!"
Everyone applauded, and TK finally shrugged his shoulders before raising his cup of soda into the air.
.
That concludes Part One of my story. I have every intention of continuing it, though I'm currently undecided on whether or not it should be on this story or if I should start a new story. I'm thinking I'm going to keep it here in this story but it could go either way. I will start on part two semi-soon, but not immediately. Thank you for reading. It's been a blast to write.
