Ciel stretched as the bell rang for halftime. At last! Shohoku had managed to keep a single-digit difference between their score and Shoyo's, thanks in part to that rebound Sakuragi made.
Though I have to admit, I was rather surprised by that rebound, Ciel mused as she followed the others back out to look for Shohoku. However, she realized that she had left her bag on the bench, so she had to go back and get it. As she ran back, she noticed her bag hanging from the hand of a stranger.
Ciel looked up at the face of the person holding her bag, and realized that he wasn't too much of a stranger. Fujima Kenji.
* * *
Fujima smiled at the mystery girl as she walked up to him, her purple eyes gleaming. "I believe this is yours."
The girl quirked an eyebrow upwards teasingly. "How did you get my bag?"
Two can play at this game. "I'll tell you that if you give me your name first."
The girl laughed merrily at him. "Okay, okay, you have a point." She extended her hand. "The name's Ciel Duvalier, but you can just call me Ciel."
Fujima smiled at Ciel, glad to finally know who she was. "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Ciel-san." He shook her hand as he spoke.
"Just Ciel, please. So, how did you get my bag?"
"I saw you leave it on the bleachers as you left. I went there and got it, knowing that you would come back to get it."
Ciel smiled bemusedly. "I see."
"Oi Fujima! Finally got her name, I see!"
Fujima groaned inwardly as Hanagata approached. Great timing, Hanagata…
Hanagata grinned playfully at Ciel. "So you're the mystery girl who nearly ran Fujima over! You should have hit him, you know; you might have managed to knock some sense into him!"
"Toru…" Fujima growled as he punched his teammate on the arm.
Ciel merely laughed at their actions. "I don't know about knocking sense into Fujima; I think he's sensible enough." She held her hand out to Hanagata, and said, "And my name is Ciel Duvalier."
"Hanagata Toru." Hanagata peered closely at Ciel for a minute before saying, "You're French, aren't you?"
Ciel blinked. "Why, yes, that's right! How did you know? I don't think I have an accent when I speak…"
"Your name is the French word for 'sky'. And besides, your last name is very French-sounding."
Fujima glared at Hanagata. He might be my best friend and all, but still… He hated to admit it, but the way Hanagata and Ciel were talking was making him feel jealous. I've got to put a stop to this!
Fujima cleared his throat, getting their attention. He gazed at Hanagata with a look that said, "If you don't get out of here NOW, I'm going to break all your bones after the game". "Hanagata, go and check in on the others. I'll follow you in a minute."
Hanagata got the hint apparently, because he started moving away from Ciel and towards their locker room. But he still wanted to tease him, because he said, "Oh, sure, I'll leave you two alone. Just don't do any funny stuff to her, okay Kenji?"
Fujima felt himself blush five shades of red before he managed to regain his composure. He looked around the corner, and yelled at Hanagata's retreating back, "Hanagata Toru! You're going to pay for this, you hentai!"
Behind him, Ciel snickered by herself. When he turned back to her, she composed herself, and said, "No need to worry or apologize. I know he only meant it as a joke." She turned away, her lips cracking into a smile. "I have to admit, though, that you're rather fun to tease."
Normally Fujima would have scowled at her comment, but surprisingly, he only grinned bashfully at her. "Ah, yeah, I suppose…" He quickly pulled himself together, and beamed at Ciel. "Anyway, why don't you come with me? There are a few other people I'd like you to meet besides Hanagata."
Ciel smiled prettily at him, and looped her arm around his. "I'd be honored."
* * *
Shinichi Maki stalked down the hallway, Team Kainan right behind him. As they walked, students jumped out of the way, whispering fearfully amongst themselves. Maki grinned. This is feels great. Everyone gets out of your way.
However, as they walked round a corner, a girl came walking towards him, her head held high and her strides confident and graceful. As she walked, almost all the boys looked at her with love struck gazes, while the girls eyed her jealously.
Maki stopped walking, and watched her with a small smile. She was beautiful. No, more than beautiful: she was stunning, lovely, and just drop-dead gorgeous. She had long silver hair that hung all the way down to her knees, and icy blue eyes that looked like they were carved out of blue glass. She was tall, and her skin was very pale.
Her clothes seemed to suit her model looks. She wore a chic-looking white halter top with a graffiti design on it in black. She had matched this with a black leather skirt that barely touched the top of her knees, and knee-high leather boots with very high heels. Around her waist she had draped a silver chain belt with a small crescent moon dangling from the end. A pair of Ray-Bans with black frames was perched on her head.
The girl stopped in front of him, and sized him up coldly. Maki returned her gaze steadily, and realized, with a smirk, that she wasn't scared of him one bit. Well, well, well! This is a first!
The girl spoke then, her words having an American accent. "Excuse me, but could you please get out of my way?"
Maki smirked, and stepped back from the girl's path. He felt the hesitation of his teammates, but they imitated him anyway.
The girl smirked, then walked past them; her long locks swinging as she strode past.
Maki watched her go, his own smirk never wavering. His eyes drifted over the expressions of his teammates, and noticed that Jin had a weird look on his face. He raised an eyebrow in question. Eh?
Just as they were moving on, Jin turned to him, and said, "Maki-sempai, I need to do something on my own for a minute. I'll just meet you later." Without further explaining where he was going or why, he turned, and sprinted off after the silver-haired girl.
Maki's smile broadened. This should be interesting. He waited until Jin had disappeared round the bend, and then went after him, the rest of Kainan following him.
* * *
Aleine continued to walk down the hall, heading towards Shohoku's side of the gym. She had gone to her car for a few minutes to put her bag in the trunk, as she was tired of lugging it around with her.
As she got closer to her destination, she noticed three guys standing at the entryway, effectively blocking her path. She glared at them. "Get out of my way."
One of the men looked up, and grinned maliciously when he saw her. "Well, well, well, what do we have here?! Are you lost, little girl?"
Aleine felt her blood boil. In a voice so cold it could have created a snowstorm in the middle of the gym, she said, "I'm not lost and I'm not a little girl. Now you three do'ahos had better get out of my way before I decide to break your necks."
That evidently pissed them off. The three men glared at her, straightening up. One of them – the leader, apparently – began cracking his knuckles. "You'll pay for that insult, little girl."
Aleine smirked. "Bring it on, boys."
Just as the first of the men was about to make the punch, a voice sailed over from the other end of the corridor. "So that's where you've gone! I was looking all over for you!"
Huh? Aleine turned, and saw a tall boy with black hair, dark eyes, and wearing a yellow and purple jacket jog up to her, a smile of relief plastered all over his face.
Aleine gazed at him stoically as he approached. Who the hell is he?
The guy was now glaring at the three men. "It would be wise to leave her alone, if you value your lives."
The leader growled. "Shut up! Just because you're from Kainan doesn't mean I'll be scared of you!"
The boy tensed slightly in preparation for the blow, but it was stopped midway when another, more masculine voice called, "Touch one hair on their heads, and you die."
Aleine looked at the other end of the hall, and watched calmly as the group of boys she passed by a minute ago walked over to her. What's this, the Three Musketeers times four? Or the Knights of the Round Table?
The leader of the bullies took a step back, and lowered his fist. He snorted. "Hmph. No wonder you're so cold, girl; you're from Kainan, and obviously favored by the basketball team. You're just lucky, but one of these days, we'll get you." With that, the three men strode off towards the exit.
Aleine watched as they walked off, and smirked. Cowards. She turned to the boys who had "helped" her, and said, "You should've just left me alone. I could have taken care of them myself."
One of the boys smirked at her. He had a well-defined
physique; a chiseled, masculine face; and a small mole just beneath his left
eye. A lock of his brown hair hung over his forehead. "You don't look like you
can, though." He shrugged nonchalantly then. "But it doesn't really matter now.
By the way, I'm Shinichi Maki, captain of Team Kainan."
Aleine stared at him before answering. "The name's Aleine
McAlistair. Just call me Aleine."
Shinichi Maki smiled, and began to introduce her to the rest of Team Kainan. Out of the entire bunch, only two stood out: Jin Soichiro, the guy who had come to her aid; and Kiyota Nobunaga, who had longish black hair and mischievous dark eyes.
Somewhere inside the gym, another bell rang out, signaling the end of halftime. Aleine was about to go back to her friends, but Maki said, "Why don't you come with us?"
Aleine eyed him and Team Kainan from top to bottom, then gave a slow, almost lazy smile. "Fine, let's go."
* * *
Sakuragi Hanamichi walked onto the court, a huge smirk on his face. He was feeling VERY confident, especially after that rebound he performed at the last minute. Haruko had told him that his rebounding was crucial to the game, and the more made, the better.
But I still need to get more points than the kitsune, he thought as he glared at Rukawa. He scowled as more black thoughts entered his mind.
He glanced around the court, looking for the other schools. He had heard that Ryonan and Kainan had come to watch the game. He smirked. Maybe they came to watch the King of Rebounds show his stuff!
A flash of blue caught his eye, and he turned to look at it. What he saw caught him completely by surprise. He saw Melina and Sendoh Akira talking and laughing together, and with them were CJ and Koshino Hiroaki. The two girls walked with the two Ryonan players, and sat down on the Ryonan side of the gym.
Hanamichi felt the heat rising in his head as he glared at Sendoh and Koshino. How dare they?! How dare they kidnap Melina-san and CJ-san?! He shot daggers with his eyes at Sendoh. You, Smiley, will pay for the insult and for taking Melina-san away from our side!
A familiar laugh echoed to him from the Shoyo side of the gym, and he turned to look. And there, walking right past him, was Fujima, with Ciel right beside him, the two of them laughing and smiling about something. Nani?! The reserve player got Ciel-san?! How DARE he?! By now Hanamichi was smoking at the ears.
But that wasn't the final blow yet. At the stands near the top, a glimmer of silver was to be seen, and what he saw made his blood pressure go right through the roof. Aleine was seated amongst the Kainan players, right between Shinichi Maki, the captain, and Jin Soichiro.
He couldn't contain himself any longer. He grabbed Kogure, and pointed out where the four girls were with their "kidnappers". "Hey, hey, Megane-kun! Look what's happened to Ciel-san, CJ-san, Melina-san and Aleine-san! They've been kidnapped by Shoyo, Ryonan and Kainan!"
Kogure wrenched himself free from Hanamichi's grasp, and went back to the bench. "They'll be alright, Sakuragi-kun. They can take care of themselves. And besides, who they make friends with is none of our business."
Still, this didn't calm Hanamichi down. He glared at the players of Ryonan, Shoyo and Kainan, thinking about what he would do to them later to punish them for taking away his "fans".