It's almost 5 pm and the practice's about to come to an end. Everybody were exhausted. Most of the freshmen except Kiyota, who has excess stamina, were half-dead tired. Complaints about basketball no longer continued. The whole exercise had made him forgot. Maki looked around and noticed that most barely could continue. Even Miyamasu was laying flat on the floor now. Guess the practice was too hard. He shouldn't though, or else there would be trouble, since the national tournament is just a week away. "Okay, Minna… since most of you seemed exhausted, this will be it for today… Those who still wanna come for extra practice come join me afterwards…"

"Chi… Extra practice?! I'm already feeling dizzy right now. Extra practice? Hell no…" The first-year Kainan player was on his way to the exit of the gym but then when he moved his feet, the door slid open and a head of a pigtailed-girl thrusted into the opening. "What the… a girl???"

Maki stopped dribling and held his ball in his arms. He looked startled and confused. Why would a girl appear here when it's an off-school day? She looked across the gym from side to side with innocence. Maki decided to offer her help since she looked helplessly lost. As he approached the girl, Kiyota followed him behind his back to take a closer look of her face. "Hello there… How can I help you?" The captain kindly greeted her with a polite manner. She kept looking around but then her eyes stopped and started to look at Maki from head to toe.

Kiyota almost jumped at the feeling of when he looked at her face. It gaves him those peculiar feelings, often people call it the déjà vu. How come? He had never seen this girl before. Even if he had, he couldn't remember her, since most of the memories of his past were hollow. But not only those feelings he got that captured his heart, her face, her body, they were exquisite. And those clothes, those khaki baby doll clothes that's paired with a tight-fitted bootcut jeans, it helps her to show her splendid body figure. Kiyota was dazzled, he almost forget that he had been staring at her all along, making her feel discomforted. With her knowing that his eyes had been fixed at her, Kiyota threw his face away, even though he still rolled his eyes to steal glances of her beauty. "…Basketball?" She finally spoke in a tiny and high-toned soft voice.

"Yeah… This is the basketball club… We're having an extra practice to prepare for the national tournament." Maki simply explained.

"…All are… men? Where are the girls?"

What? How long have this girl been to Kanagawa, to Japan at least? "Well… there are no girls… There's only men in this club…" Maki answered her stupidity patiently, as if he's talking to a child at 6.

"Oh…" That's the only thing that escapes her lips. She looks disappointed, though, as if she was expecting there to have a girls basketball club. It is possible, but there would be some difficulties with sharing the gym. Besides, there weren't enough girls who would be really interested in joining the team. Most would only probably like basketball because they like to see the guys in the team and adored them.

"Are you new? Are you a newcomer to our school?" Maki tried to cheer her up by asking these familiar questions. She bothered to open her mouth so she just nodded in reply. That's okay though, at least she still listens to him and care to answer. "Well, welcome to our school…" He reached out his hand and waited for the girl to reach out hers too and shake it. But she ignored Maki's kind greet and instead, she slid the door wider and entered the gym. She was approaching Kiyota, who's head was still turning 90 degrees from front. As she was near enough, she stopped and smiled.

"Have we met?"

Kiyota's tense face softened. Could it be that she has the same feelings with them? Could they somehow were connected to each other? Kiyota Nobunanga turned his head and his pair of eyes looked deep into hers. "I don't know… Have we?" He asked her dumbly.

"I think we did... What's your name?"

Well well well, looks like poor Kiyota had been bewitched by her superb splendor, he didn't realize that she was waiting for his answer. Maki walked slowly towards him and leaned slightly to whisper in his ears. "Oi, Nobunanga… She's asking you, stop staring at her…"

"Oh!" Kiyota popped out of his daze. He scratched his head and grinned sheepishly. "Gomen ne… My name is Kiyota Nobunanga… What's yours?"

"I've heard that name… Well, mine… It's Erika Tomiko. Nice to meet you." She smiled wider, causing Kiyota to blush.

"Nice to meet you too, Eri—" The shouts from the outside halted his sentence. It sounds to be a lady, calling out a name of a person as if she or he had been missing.

"Erika! Erika-chan! Where are you?!" The blurry shouts now could be clearly- heard. Erika tranced to the door and peeped out. It seems to be her mom. "Erika-chan!!!"

"I'm here, Mom…" And soon as her mom heard her answer, she rushed towards the entrance and grabbed Erika's hands. Worried and panic was all over her face, everybody can tell. And those liquid on her face, it must've been sweat. But it's beads of cold sweats, perhaps.

"Ooh, Erika-chan! You have troubled me so much… Next time don't go away like that without telling me, okay?" She clasped Erika's hands between hers harder. Then with the back of her palms, she wiped the droplet of sweats from her forehead. She looked around and found that the boys were watching the scene. She bowed to them in apology. "I'm sorry to trouble you, young lads… These daughter of mine… She is really interested in basketball… That's why she went away when she heard sounds of dribbled ball."

"That's alright, Ma'am… It's good to know a girl who's really into basketball. They were rare lately," excused Maki. The Tomikos then bowed again and she held Erika's hand and started to left. But when she completely disappear from their sight, she turned her back and hollered into the gym. "Can I join the team?"

Everybody then started to look at each other with their eyes wide, startled. Wow. It's the first time for them to heard a girl interested in joining the club. Maki smiled as he loomed towards her. She's kinda sweet and pure. "Gomen, Erika-san… But… This club, they're not open for girls. But if you want to get involved somehow, you can help us and be the manager. It would be very helpful since the position's vacant for now. Are you willing to, Erika-chan?"

Erika pouted about the idea, but she really want to get engrossed with basketball club's activity so much. She then nodded her head slowly and looked down at the varnished wooden floor that indistinctly reflected her own image. Maki sighed in relief and lifted his palms to pat her on the head. "Okay then… We'll be waiting. The doors of this gym will be open for you… Feel free to come anytime."

"Arigatou…" Then she left. "Arigatou, Mr. Mole! Mata ne, Nobu-kun!" She cried from afar. Nobu-kun? Kiyota had heard someone called him that often, but he couldn't remember who it is.

"Mr. Mole?" Maki scratched his cheek with his index. Giggling to himself, he walked into he court and dribbled the ball that had been on his arms the whole time since Erika stepped into the gym. "Ne, Nobunanga… She sounds interested in you…"

Kiyota snarled and turned his head aside. "Demo, Maki-san," he started off with a sarcastic tone, "You sounds interested in her…" He then laughed evilly.

Maki blushed and loudly declined the statement. "Don't think about such things, Kiyota!!!!!!" It had casted no effect on him since Kiyota kept on laughing while rubbing his chin. Pissed and humiliated, he decided to give Kiyota a punishment for have teasing him. "Kiyota, go run 20 laps around the gym!!"

"What?!" The rookie protested. "Don't be so sentimental, Maki-san! I was just joking, I didn't mean to make you take it so seriously if you… really had no feeling for her…" And he began to smile wickedly again…

"30 laps 'coz you're not obeying my orders and for to start teasing me again…" Kiyota Nobunanga started to growl again as his fist were clenched in angst. "What? Asking for more? Go! Go! Go!"

This isn't fair. Just then Maki was talking nicely and patiently to that girl who spatters out nonesense question that everybody should know, and he wasn't pissed at all. Now, Kiyota's just taunting him lightly and he seems to take it all seriously as if he was sharing them his secret. Maybe it's true, Maki does have feelings for her. Well, who could've resist? She's pretty, she has nice figures and she has those cute kind of innocence. It fits Maki's type, Kiyota had known it last time when they were having a drink together downtown. That time they, Jin, Maki and Kiyota, were having a conversation regarding what their type of girl is like. It seems like Maki now has an end to his 18 years of being-alone-ness when Erika stepped into their life. Well now all he can do is to support his senior whom he admired most, even though Kiyota himself has discovered that he has feelings towards her. But he tried not to take it too hard, he just thought that it was just a crush at first sight. Monkey love, puppy love, etcetera.

Have he met that girl? Could he possibly did? He didn't remember that incident, though. It could be, it could be he did met her once or maybe twice or more underneath his buried past.

Kiyota finished his 30 laps around the track and it left him almost strengthless. He was weak, he was so weak he even collapsed. Jin, who was the only one left, sharpening his three-point shoots, ran and approached him. He helped him to regain conciousness and help him make his way back home.

***

"I think the bath's ready…" With his thumb, the long-haired rookie hit the power button on his remote and turned the television off. He left off the living room and headed towards the bathroom to see whether the tub had been filled with heated water or not. It was ready, it now begans to drip out since it was too full. "Hell yeah… A nice warm bath after a tiring afternoon practice! Feel so gooood…" Kiyota started humming his favorite song as he dipped his toes onto the warm water.

As he was resting his back onto the walls of the tub, he looked up to the ceiling and closed his eyes. Erika's face came popping up. "Erika… pretty girl… Maki likes her… Whatever…" However, his numb mind didn't warn him earlier that his head had been filled with her. "What?! Nobu, stop thinking about her, okay? You know she is pretty, you know she is attractive… But just quit it, okay?" He scowled to himself. It seems like his mind went out of control and he just can't stop picturing her smiling face in his head. "Aaaaaargh!!!!!! Stop this nonesense!!!!! Somebody help me!!!!! What's happening to me?!"

What's happening to him? Falling deeply in love, maybe…

Kiyota stopped his wild moves that caused huge amount of water spilling out of the tips of the tub and then covered his mouth with his hands. "What's this feeling I feel… Am I… In love?!"



a.n : is he? ^__^