Ruby

To be against two captains from Beacon's basketball team, I knew this was going to be a rough game. That girl, Coco, didn't flinch to the pressure Yang had been putting on her when it was our turn to defend. She had pulled up for a 3 point shot and banked in, now bringing the score 2 to 3.

"Show off," Cardin clicked his tongue at his own teammate. They weren't breaking a sweat, and Coco looked laid-back as ever.

"Get good, Scrub." Coco tossed her bangs back to add flair to her taunt.

"I don't take advice from a bean pod."

Shoving their banters to the side, Yang passed the ball to me from the sidelines. I waited for her to return to the opposite wing from Sun before dribbling past the half-court line. As much as I hate to admit, Beacon's defense was almost absolute. My teammates had no clear openings, but that didn't mean Beacon's defense was impenetrable.

I charged towards the basket with the ball still in my possession. Right after Velvet stepped into my pathline, I crossed over her and drove to the basket. Cardin and Coco couldn't react in time before I scored with another layup.

4 to 3.

"Hey Rabbit." Cardin squared up to her. He was always glowering, rarely a smile on his face. If he did manage a smile, it was always a condescending smirk. "That girl is slower than you."

Whatever he meant by that boosted Velvet's spirits.

Coco passed the ball to Cardin from the inbound and jogged over to the wing. Yang doubled her efforts in defending against the tall shooting guard while I kept my distance away from Velvet. If Cardin decided to attack the basket, I could abandon my spot and help Sun defend.

Velvet was the least of my worries, or so I had thought. Underestimating her became a mistake, and I finally understood why Cardin had been calling her Rabbit this whole time.

He made a quick pass to Velvet who aggressively drove to the basket. She slipped through my defenses with her explosive agility and finished with an amateur layup that bounced off the backboard. Velvet's shot was way off from the rim, but Cardin secured the rebound and immediately put it up to the basket.

It put Signal down by one, however, it didn't dampen our spirits. We took the lead right back, but Beacon scored a basket immediately after.

Coco's talent to score 3 point shots were frighteningly dangerous. She had hit net, after net, after net. But Cardin's ability to read and predict both his opponents and teammates' movements wasn't something to be taken light of. He balanced out Coco's mediocre defense and Velvet's subpar offense. Him being the captain of the boys' basketball team definitely wasn't for show.

After constantly scoring back and forth, Sun called a time out. Both teams returned to their respective benches for a short water break.

I collapsed onto the bench tired because Velvet was giving me a run for my money. I scavenged through my bag for a towel, but a cold water bottle pressing against my nape had me shrieking and recoiling sideways.

"Hey," said the familiar gentle voice.

I reeled my head to get a good look because I couldn't believe my ears.

"Weiss?!"

Why was she here?! Oh god, my game sucked earlier too!

Weiss held out a water bottle to me and encouraged me to take it. I took the bottle after mumbling a shy word of thanks.

"I go to school here you know," Weiss read the surprise etched all over my face. "We left class not too long ago and saw a bunch of people gathered around here. We decided to drop by out of curiosity, but I wasn't expecting to find you here. How are you holding up?"

I gave her an exhausted thumbs up while I busily quenched my thirst with this refreshing bottle of water.

"Oh," as if Weiss almost forgot, she gestured at her black haired friend, who I figured out was the 'we' Weiss was talking about. "This is Blake by the way. Blake, this is Ruby."

"Hey," Blake shied out from behind and offered a wave.

"Hi Blake," I greeted her with a polite, sweaty smile.

"You guys are playing pretty well," Blake commented.

I laughed. "We're kind of losing…"

"We're getting wrecked!" Sun mournfully exclaimed. He popped right next to me after taking a long swig from his water.

"Losing by 12 points isn't too bad." Yang, being the positive one in the team, rolled up next to us. She snatched my towel away from my hands, ignored my spouted out 'Hey!', and wiped her sweaty palms in it. "Name's Yang," she said in a very try-hard suave voice. She then offered her hand to Blake. "I'm this short one's cousin."

"Pfft, it's not my fault I got the short end of the stick," I muttered at the insult. But only Weiss had heard me as she patted my shoulder sympathetically.

"Blake." She shook Yang's hand.

"Sun." Sun held out his hand too.

"Blake."

"Weiss." Weiss took her hand off my shoulder to shake his after Blake.

After our brief introduction, I pushed our gym bags down the bench and scooted to make some room. "You guys should sit. Best seat in the house."

"Blake, you can leave if you don't want to stay any longer," Weiss said, taking the spot next to me. She glanced at her friend to see what she planned to do, but Blake followed her example.

"I don't mind staying."

The referee blew his whistle to bring all players back onto the court. Yang and Sun took off right at the sound of the call, and I leapt from the bench.

"You're gonna cheer for me right?" I looked over my shoulder, smiling. With Weiss watching me from the bench like that, I couldn't help but to picture her as a cheerleader and myself as the lovable jock.

"Who else would I cheer for?" Weiss smiled, her ponytail falling down to one shoulder when she tilted her head.

That was all I needed to fire me up.

"Signal's ball," Russel announced, passing the ball to Yang from the sidelines. He blew the whistle to resume the match.

"Let's show them they're not the only team who knows how to score 3 pointers," I said after my cousin inbounded the ball to me.

Sun lit up with candid excitement. I could see his imaginary spirit igniting into flames like how mine was. "Can I go for my half-court shots?"

"Only if Yang rebounds like a maniac."

"Go wild, Sun." Yang gave him the green signal. "I got you."

I leisurely dribbled up the court until everyone settled into their positions. As expected, Velvet stood in between me and the basket. Her quick intuition and her insane agility made it possible for her to keep up with me, but I wasn't going to let that get in my way.

I feigned a power step to the side and crossed the ball low to my ankles. The moment Velvet had fallen for my fake, I took the open shot behind the arc. The ball flew into the air and hit nothing but net when it went into the basket.

At the sound of the beautiful swish, the crowd around us erupted. Grinning back to my bench, I gave Weiss a wink.