Title: Friends, Lovers and Brothers  

A/N: Hey, minna-san!! Yup, finally decided to update… I decided to update…. And finish it today, b'coz it's my birthday!! No, don't get me wrong, I didn't wait for this day to upload…. But I was sooooooo lazy, that I forced myself to finish it…. and since it was near my birthday, I did so! I know… the OC in this ficcy is mary sueish… and the other characters are mostly VERY OOC… but I thank all of you for supporting me thus far… and come on… it was my first fic…. Don't be so cruel!! *sobsob*   

Chapter 18-These Five People

      Out of the five girls, only the captain took Aya's hand. Undaunted, the starters, except Rukawa, flashed them a smile.

      'Good game,' Sendo said to Nez, who tossed her head, sending her long blue hair flying back. Rukawa who was beside him shrugged and turned away. Apparently, he was not as patient as the rest at the girls, whose pride had gotten the better of them.

      'Ja-ne,' he said to Canby. She ignored him, and he decided to do the same. Then, to the girl beside him, he said,

      'Let's go.' Aya nodded, and then added to Rukawa,

      'Say bye, they don't understand Japanese.

      'Bye.' He muttered monotonously, and then, looked back accusingly at Aya when Canby didn't answer. Aya just smiled at him.

      'I had lots of fun playing with you guys. You're tougher than most of the guys back in Japan,' Aya said smiling.

      'You wanna have a snack with us?' Lizzie looked at her friends, who obviously did not want anything of that sort.

      'Probably another day,' she replied.

      'Uh… sure,' Aya said, nodding. Then, she left with the four guys, oblivious to all the cheers of the crowds, oblivious to almost everything around them. Instead of rejoicing with their teammates at their victory, instead of going to the locker room for pep talks or crap like that, they were going out for a snack… and they actually invited their enemy along….

      'They're so… together,' Lizzie whispered to herself, watching the five of them walking away.

      'Why?'

      Before they left, Aya turned, and asked,

      'Are you guys sure you don't want to join us?'

      Unlike Aya, Lizzie just couldn't ignore all the weird looks their fans were giving them. So, instead, she concentrated on Aya, her soul yearning to go, but held back by her friends' desires.

      'It would be fun… we don't bite,' Sendo added. Lizzie didn't look to her friends for conformation this time. This time, she just nodded.

      'Yeah, we would like to go.'

      'Lizzie!'

      'Make it you would like to go!'

      'What?'

      'Err…??' various reactions from her friends could be seen… and heard. The Japanese players smiled a little, still oblivious to everything around them. It was not exactly normal for the players to be so… cool after the game. To not be shouting at each other, or not jumping around, ecstatic at their victory… it was just abnormal to be talking to their foe without any sign of contempt…

      'They sure are weird,' Lizzie muttered to herself.

* * * * * * * *

      the substitutes forgotten, the ten of them proceeded to the nearest… shop, or restaurant, or whatever it is that they went to. The five girls were quiet as they watched the five Japanese players joke around with each other… laughing.

      'Hey, Aya, could I ask you a question?' Lizzie finally asked.

      'Yeah?'

      'Well… why are you guys so different?' I mean we beat the people back in NZ easily… what made you so different? And why did you say that it was fun playing with us because we were harder to beat?' she blurted out. Her friends looked mildly interested… curious. Aya, on the other hand, just smiled back.

      'Let me ask you a question. Why, do you play basketball?' Lizzie looked back at her, stunned into silence. When she didn't answer, Aya continued.

      'I think you should question yourselves first. Why do you play basketball? Fame and glory? Fun and love? What is your relationship with others based on? Basketball only? Fun? Fame? Greed?... or love?' she said.

      'I have the feeling, had it since I met you guys in fact. That you play basketball just for the fame, and fans, which is the exact opposite from our reasons. We don't want the fame and hate the fans. We just want to be left alone, playing in peace.'     

      'God bless our souls,' Akira muttered.

      'Then… then why do you play?' Ric asked harshly. Aya looked shocked at the question, as if the answer to why they played would have been obvious…

      'Well… for the love of it. The love and fun In playing basketball. Of course, there are other things such as the relationship,' she said, gesturing to her friends, 'but mostly because we love basketball. Basketball is not just a game to us. It's our mood, our hobby… everything to us. Of course, in everything, even though it is one of our top priorities, we have to be and are logical in living our lives.'

      'what does the question why we play and what our relationship is based on have any connections at all?' canby suddenly asked, demanding clarity form Aya.

      'Do you really understand each other? Right from your hearts… right into your hearts? Or is it just shallow understanding. Are you clicking together based on your similarities, or did you find the similarities after clicking together. in other words, are you friends with Lizzie, or do you like Lizzie only because of basketball, fame and boys? Or did you realize that you like her even more when you found out that she played basketball with the same spirit you do? Look, there's nothing wrong either ways. You can't just base everything on basketball. Don't be so extreme… but we found out that… we all loved basketball…. It's not like we found that out years after we knew each other. We just cliqued well together… we aren't only together because of basketball… and naturally, that means I know more about them then even their teammates do. That also means I care for them more than most people do…and naturally, I can understand what he's trying to do… what he is thinking…. It's not wrong even if you are together because of the similarities… Lizzie doesn't have to be your close friend to be your teammate, but it's just natural to be able to do better if she is your close friend, and you understand her from deep in your heart.

      'And it's not only that… basketball isn't everything… no matter how black your future is, no matter how bad anything is, basketball is not a way out. It's just there to spice your life up, not as a short cut…. People have different values on life, but I think everyone would agree with me if I say that one would never be able to live their lives to the fullest if they've never had a good relationship.'

They just stared at Aya as she gave them that long lecture…. And somehow, they felt part of them opening up, relating to what she said.

      'Get your facts of life straight, then maybe you can understand us better. Life is not basketball, fame or luxury. Life is more than that… it's something you can only learn through hard times…. if you have someone to lean on. And once you find it, you'll treasure it, because you sacrificed a big part of yourself to get it… you can only live your life to the fullest if you live it understanding what it is.'

      'You know, Aya, what they asked had nothing to do with that…' Jin said ruffling her hair a little.

      'I do know… well… but in a way it relates. They want to understand us, they have to understand other stuff first. Understand their very existence, understand something that happens daily…' Lizzie rose… she muttered a soft thanks and hurried out, followed closely by her teammates….

      'Now look! You've scared them away,' Fujima muttered, pouting a little. A small smile escaped his lips as he watched her pout back in return.

      'Nah… let's go…' Rukawa said, standing up after finishing their food. He held onto Aya's hand as they, all five of them walked out of the café, as if they had no worries in the world, as if they own the world itself.

      From afar, Lizzie just watched, as the five of them faded away… she would never forget the glow their faces held…  

A/N: so? How do you find it? dumb? Bad ending? Do tell me…. I know there are some of yu out there reading this who don't do reviewing… but this is the last chapter, and anyone who has and is reading this, please review… I want to know what you think about the story overall…. If you don't know how, just click on the button go and type in whatever you think is wrong…. Or right about my fic….

Arigato! And… see ya!