Thanks to the following for reviewing: Hungryhippo1000, Alana Fox, SilverWolf1499, JazzGirl123, taymontu, jazzmonkey, and SheepRainbow.

During lunch that same day…

As Fabia walked down the aisles with her tray in her hand, she noticed Ren eating all by himself in the corner by the trashcans. She hesitated, considering her options: sit with Ren or go with the usual gang. But before she could make up her mind, a voice called out that decided for her.

"Fabia, over here!" cried Julie, waving her hand.

Fabia shrugged and walked to her group of friends, setting down her tray. The tension between the teens seemed tense today, well, more tense than usual.

"Everyone okay?" asked Fabia, unwrapping her sandwich.

"Okay? Try utter embarrassment," muttered Joe.

"What happened?"

"He and Ren played a one-on-one basketball game during P.E. today," explained Chan, putting a hand on Joe's shoulder.

"And?"

"And I lost," finished Joe.

"Well it's just P.E.; it's not like it's the championships or anything, right?" asked Fabia.

"That's what I said," said Billy.

"Well yeah, I would've been fine if it weren't for that fact that stupid Mr. Cook is going to send a request for him to join our basketball team!" The gang stared at Joe in surprise. It was unusual for him to insult a teacher like that. He was having a very bad day indeed.

Dan wasn't any better. He tried to contain his anger as he spoke. "It's bad enough that Ren has to attend our school, but playing on our team? That guy's just going to ruin it for us."

"Hey, that may not be true," said Alice. "We played his team before and we've seen him play. We know he's not an amateur. He was their team captain as well, wasn't he?"

"Was," corrected Shun.

"But the season's already underway," reasoned Runo. "There's no way they'd let him play with us."

"That what we thought during P.E. too," said Jake. "But I saw Mr. Cook talking to the sports administrator. And from the way he was smiling, I'd say Mr. Cook got what he wanted."

"Damn," muttered Dan.

"Hey, where'd Fabia go?" asked Julie.

The Brawlers looked around at their table. The blue-haired girl was nowhere in sight.

"Hey guys, look!" exclaimed Runo, pointing at Ren's table.

Jaws dropped and eyes widened as the gang witnessed Fabia walk calmly over to Ren's table and sat down, directly in front of him.

~Basketball Brawlers~

Ren looked up from his tray when he heard someone sat down.

"Hi," said the blue-haired girl as she set down her tray.

"Hey…Fabia, right?" asked Ren as his eyebrows rose.

Fabia nodded.

"What do you want?" asked Ren using a rougher tone than he had intended to.

"If you didn't want someone to sit with you, you could've just said so," snapped Fabia as she started to get up.

"Wait." Ren grabbed her arm. Fabia caught a blush creeping up her cheeks but stopped it immediately. "Sorry…I…uhm…have a seat."

Fabia sat back down and waited.

"Look, I'm sorry. It's just that…everyone's been treating me like I'm some sort of enemy from the other side. You're the first to actually greet me like a normal person."

Fabia shrugged. "Almost everyone here knows about you and the Gundalians beating our team in the championships."

"And that's a legit reason to get angry at me?"

"Well normally no, but there have been rumors that your team…cheats…"

"Oh…" replied Ren. "I see."

"Well…do you?"

"Do I what?"

"Does your team cheat?"

"No," answered Ren a little too quickly. Fabia decided to let it go.

"But I guess their reasoning is a bit irrational," said Fabia. "Sorry about that."

Ren shrugged. "It's not your fault; you shouldn't be apologizing."

The two were silent for a few minutes. Fabia took the opportunity to eat her sandwich to avoid any awkward moments.

"Hey, I have a question," said Ren.

"I'm listening."

"I'm not trying to make you leave or anything, but I'm just curious. Why did you decide to sit with me?"

"I guess…I just felt like talking to you," replied Fabia. "That's all."

Ren smiled a rare smile.

"Now I have a question for you," said Fabia. "Why do you sometimes act a like a jerk?"

Ren's smile disappeared. "Excuse me?"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to sound harsh but you seem different somehow right now. When we first introduced ourselves at the park, you and Dan had a row with each other and again this morning. And I heard during P.E. you had one with Joe." Fabia didn't dare mention that she also overheard him talking in his rough tone towards his old team.

"Tch, that's for me to know and you to find out," said Ren, turning the other way.

"Then I guess there's no point in me sitting here anymore," replied Fabia as she grabbed her tray, stood up, and walked away.

Ren sighed. Girls…

~Basketball Brawlers~

During practice that same day…

"Why did you talk to Ren during lunch today?" Runo asked Fabia, privately.

Fabia shrugged. "I just felt like it…"

Runo sighed. "Look, Fabia, I saw the way you looked at him when we played against the Gundalians and before I was really excited to see you interested in a guy for once. But now…I mean…you've seen how Ren acts, right? Do you really want a guy like that?"

Fabia ignored her. Of course she didn't want a guy like that but she believed that Ren was so much more than that. But she didn't dare voice her opinion. She knew Runo was persistent.

"Coach Kuso's late," said Joe, kicking a pebble across the pavement, interrupting the girls' conversation.

"I wonder why," muttered Billy, sarcastically.

Suddenly the door of the gym opened and the team looked up to see their coach smiling and waving his clipboard in the air.

"Why the long faces?" asked Coach Kuso. "Something happened at school today?"

"It's nothing, Dad," replied Dan.

"Well, whatever it is, I hope you'll change your frowns upside down when you hear that Ren, the new kid, is going to join our basketball team starting tomorrow!"

Needless to say, no one on the team smiled once during the day's practice.

Ok, to be honest, I'm not sure if letting Ren join the team is technically allowed in the real world. I have a feeling it isn't, but the fact that he was on the team in a different school and the fact that he had no choice but to move could be debated. But I guess it also depends on who's in charge of the sports program and in this story, Mr. Cook had a conversation with the administrator. Well, even if it isn't allowed, I hope I was realistic enough.