Chapter 8: Basketball Determines Friend or Foe
By Shanchan
"There's two hours left! Does everyone know how to play basketball?" Serena asked. Finally! A basketball game where she can display her talent! How wonderful! If only the coaches were here! They'd get SO mad! But no, they're not here. They are on L2 and she is going to kick the boys' asses!
"I've seen some boys play it when I lived with my parents, but I'm not too sure about the rules!" Elizabeth said.
"I've never had time!" Hinoko responded. "But Grandfather taught me just in case I had to play during a mission. I guess he was right!"
"I've played a few times with the other soldiers," was Dominique's reply.
"What is 'Basketball'? I've never heard of it! Is it some sport you play? Is it like martial arts?" Shimei asked.
Serena gave out an exasperated sigh. "Come on! I'll show you!" She yelled to her friends as she ran out of the restaurant and towards the hotel. The others quickly followed. When she got to the hotel room, Serena said to the others, "Change into something you can sweat in! We need to get some work done before going against the boys. I hear Hiiro and Duo are an excellent pair! If we want to beat them, we have our work cut out!"
"I thought we could beat them now!" Shimei said.
"No way! I mean, Dominique and I are practically the only people in this group that has EVEN PLAYED THE GAME! Basketball is harder than you think! If we want to beat them, we'll need to come up with something totally awesome!" Serena's voice was filled with enthusiasm.
"Oi, Sere-chan! Do you have anything I could borrow? I wasn't planning on anything like this!" Hinoko yelled from across the room. "And don't forget, I know how to play too! All I need is a bit of practice!"
Serena, at that time had already changed into jean shorts and a black sleeveless shirt with fire embroidered on it. "Sure! and gomen nasai!" She yelled as she tossed a similar outfit to Hinoko. The shirt was brownish- green and suited Hinoko very well. Then Serena dug into her bag, and threw her clothes all over the place. Finally she yelled, "Eureka! I found it!" Grabbing the orange and black basketball, she quickly put on her tennis shoes, and ran down the hall, braid flying while yelling, "Hayakku! We only have one hour left!"
The others dressed quickly and followed her outside.
************************************************************************
"Well, that's the basic rules! Now all we need to do is practice!" Serena said as she smiled. Wow! This is going to be great! "Um... here's the plan! We'll have a two on three game! Lizzie, Mei-chan and Hinoko-chan against Nini-chan and me!"
"Um... sure! How much time do we have left?" Dominique asked.
"Around forty-five minutes!"
"OK, let's get to work!" Dominique said.
The girls played a thirty minute game. Serena sharpened her skills a bit and she found Hinoko and Dominique to be great players. After the game, they talked as they waited for the boys.
"Hey! Nini-chan! You're REALLY good at this!" Serena said.
"Arigato! I just like sports a lot!"
"I do too! Especially contact sports! I've always wanted to learn Martial Arts. Mei-chan can you teach me some?"
"Sure! Why not?" Shimei answered in Chinese.
"What did she say?" Elizabeth asked in her gentle tone of voice.
"Nothing major!" was Serena's reply.
"We need to figure out our game plan!" Hinoko brought the others back on track.
Flipping back her waste length braid, Serena thought for a while before saying to Hinoko, "I want to try something with you."
"Sure, what?"
"I'm gone pass the ball to you and I want to see if you can make it from center court!"
"I might be able to!"
Serena and Hinoko positioned themselves on the court.
"OK! Here it comes!" the black haired girl yelled. She then tossed the ball to the blond who caught it with ease. Then Hinoko spun around and aimed the ball at the net.
*SWOOSH!*
It went in.
"I guess it worked! Can you do it from anywhere on our side?" Serena asked. This is SO cool that Hinoko is SO good at shooting!
"I'll try!" Hinoko said and tried she did. She shot ten times from all over the court and made eight of them.
"Great!" Serena exclaimed. "You can be our top shooter! I'm OK at lay-ups so I'll do that! Mei-chan, what area do you want to cover?"
"Doesn't matter! You get to choose!" Shimei answered in Chinese.
"Can you guard your cousin and make sure he doesn't get the ball?" Serena asked in Japanese.
Shimei hesitated. "I would rather not! His pride was hurt because I fought and beat him. I don't want to jeopardize our relationship in anyway. He is, after all, my only living relative!"
"I'll guard him!" Elizabeth's voice rang out over the silence.
"Arigato Lizzie. Mei-chan, gomen nasai! I wasn't thinking. Why don't you guard Trowa? I hear he can do the same type of flips as you did last night!" Serena said.
Shimei blushed at the last comment. "Arigato for understanding me! Don't worry about it! I know this game means a lot to you!"
It was Serena's turn to blush now. "The school I went to never allowed GIRLS to play. I had to beg and plead my way into those games. I just wanted a chance to prove myself!"
"GOD! That's terrible!" Dominique's voice was filled with sympathy for her friend.
"Yeah! But ya know what? I was better than all the boys at basketball!" Serena laughed. GOD! It felt good knowing she was better than those boys! "Also, Hinoko and Dominique are better than the boys at my school too! They're SO pathetic!"
The others started giggling! Then Serena continued, "OK, here's our game plan. I'll guard Braid Boy. Dominique, you can take care of Hiiro. Shimei, you have Trowa. Um.. Lizzie, you sure you can take care of Onna Boy?"
"I'll do my best!"
"Good enough for me! And when you get the ball, pass it to one of us, K?"
"Hai! I hate shooting!"
"And I guess that leaves me with Quatre!" Hinoko said. "Nice and easy!" She smiled.
"Hai! We'll be an exellent team! Just remember to follow the rules and Mei- chan, use your flip thing as much as possible! Not many of us can reach that height!" Serena gave her team a bit more advice. That's when the boys showed up.
Hiiro wore his usual green tank-top and black spandex and those ugly yellow tennis shoes. Duo wore a black tank-top with black shorts and a pair of black tennis shoes. Wufei was wearing his white tank-top and white pants with his black shoes and the other two boys sported a T-shirt and shorts. They looked the girls over. Shimei, as always was wearing her pink outfit. Her hair was tied in the two odango as usual and she didn't have her sword with her. Elizabeth wore Umbros and a white T-shirt. She had her hair in a pony tail. Dominique's hair was also in a pony tail and she was wearing black bike shorts and a red sleevless shirt. Hinoko had on the outfit Serena lent her -- the brownish-green sleevless shirt, jean shorts and a pair of white tennis shoes. She, unlike the others, kept her hair down. As for Serena, she was wearing the black shirt and jean shorts. Her hair was in a braid and she glared at the boys hostilely with the dark brown eyes of hers. It made Quatre and Duo very tense. Serena had a glare VERY similar to the "Hiiro Yui Glare of Death".
"So, you arrived! I guess you REALLY WANT to have your ass kicked!" Serena said to the male pilots.
"No, we just wanted to test out you ladies. After all Hiiro and I've NEVER met anyone who ever came remotely CLOSE to beating us!" Duo replied to the ravened haired girl. Sure, Serena was cute, but her words were NOT very nice.
"Don't make me laugh! We could take you on anyday!" Serena argured back to the braided boy.
"We'll see who's the better fighter when this whole thing is over," Hiiro cut in calmly, his voice like a knife breaking the tenseness. "Duo, it's useless arguing with them since the arguement cannot be won without proof!"
"But..." mumbled Duo.
"No 'but's Duo!" Hiiro said to the violet eyed boy.
"Why don't we just cut to the chase and get this game over with?" Dominique asked. Her voice was tired and annoyed, mostly from Serena and Duo's constant argueing.
"Fine with me!" Sereena said. "So, are we gonna sit around and talk or play the game?" Duo asked.
"Play!" Serena replied with a grin. "Who gets the ball first?"
"Why don't we do it the normal way?" Duo asked. "And is 40 minutes long enough to determine the winner?"
"Fine with me!" Serena said as she walked over to Shimei. Then she whispered in chinese, "I'm gonna toss the ball up, and you try to knock it to someone on our team, K?"
"Ok," said the other girl.
The players gathered at center court. Trowa and Shimei were chosen to go for the ball. Serena tossed the it into the air and the game began. In the first twenty minutes, the scoring was pretty even.
On the girl's side, Serena, Hinoko and Dominique scored 65% of their baskets and Elizabeth made 20 assists. Shimei also had her shares of assist and scores. As for the boys, Duo and Hiiro worked together very well and made a total of 30 points. Trowa, Quatre and Wufei also had their moments of glory. After twenty minutes, the two teams were 45-44, boys. Many people stopped to watch them and stare in awe.
Serena was amazed by Duo and Hiiro's skills.
"Wow! You two are really good! You must really like this game!" She said as she wiped the sweat from her forehead and took a drink of water.
"Hai! It's really fun!," Duo said and smiled. "You're not bad yourself, especially for a girl!"
"What do you mean for a girl?" Serena retorted, hands on hips.
"Hey, calm down! No need to get mad! I wasn't tryin' to be rude or anything!" Duo said, hand raised in the air.
"Gomen nasai! I tend to have a bad temper at times! Who would stand up for me if I don't, ne?" Serena said laughing.
After a ten minutes, the break was over. They played the rest of the game as well as the first. Serena, Dominique, Duo, Hiiro, and Hinoko all played thier hardest. The girls had the ball during the last 20 seconds. The score was 80-78, boys. Shimei passed the ball to Elizabeth who passed the ball to Serena. She dribbled the ball a bit, and when there was only 5 seconds left, passed it to Hinoko. She then passed it to Dominique for a lay-up. The time was up, and the two sides had tied. The audience soon left, and they were left alone.
"So, do we play more, or just let it be a tie?" Hiiro asked.
"Call it a draw! There's no way we would concede to YOU being better than us. I'm sure you feel the same way, ne?" Hinoko stated, tossing her blonde hair back.
"Hai! You're right! If we do this, neither side will be happy, and we'll end up hating each other! NOT GOOD!" Serena agreed. Her face was red from the game and she was pretty much inhaling the water she was drinking. Sweat trailed down her face but she was very happy.
"Ok, works for me!" Duo said as he took a drink of his water too. His braid was a mess and he was genuinly surprised that GIRLS could beat him and Hiiro.
"Well, I guess we'll see you again sooner or later!" Dominique said.
"Hai!" Trowa replied and tuned to leave. The others followed. When Wufei was about to go, Shimei stopped him.
"Wufei! Please, I want to talk to you!" She cried out in Chinese.
"What for? Haven't you insulted me enought by defeating me in battle?" He retorted rudely.
This brought on tears. "I'm sorry! I really am! You have to know I'm a warrior just like yourself! I have pride too! I'm really sorry!"
Wufei turned around at the sound of her crying. "Weak ONNA!" He spat in Japanese.
Shimei fell to her knees, crying. Wufie looked at her and turned to go. This angered Serena.
"Hey! She tried to apologize! At least take her sincerity into consideration! You're all she has left in this world!"
Wufei's expressions softened at the other girl's words, "I'm sorry! I have hurt her, haven't I? I am unworthy of living!" He sighed and pulled out his sword. That's when Shimei looked up.
"Noooooo!" She cried and ran towards Wufei. "Don't die!"
"There's two hours left! Does everyone know how to play basketball?" Serena asked. Finally! A basketball game where she can display her talent! How wonderful! If only the coaches were here! They'd get SO mad! But no, they're not here. They are on L2 and she is going to kick the boys' asses!
"I've seen some boys play it when I lived with my parents, but I'm not too sure about the rules!" Elizabeth said.
"I've never had time!" Hinoko responded. "But Grandfather taught me just in case I had to play during a mission. I guess he was right!"
"I've played a few times with the other soldiers," was Dominique's reply.
"What is 'Basketball'? I've never heard of it! Is it some sport you play? Is it like martial arts?" Shimei asked.
Serena gave out an exasperated sigh. "Come on! I'll show you!" She yelled to her friends as she ran out of the restaurant and towards the hotel. The others quickly followed. When she got to the hotel room, Serena said to the others, "Change into something you can sweat in! We need to get some work done before going against the boys. I hear Hiiro and Duo are an excellent pair! If we want to beat them, we have our work cut out!"
"I thought we could beat them now!" Shimei said.
"No way! I mean, Dominique and I are practically the only people in this group that has EVEN PLAYED THE GAME! Basketball is harder than you think! If we want to beat them, we'll need to come up with something totally awesome!" Serena's voice was filled with enthusiasm.
"Oi, Sere-chan! Do you have anything I could borrow? I wasn't planning on anything like this!" Hinoko yelled from across the room. "And don't forget, I know how to play too! All I need is a bit of practice!"
Serena, at that time had already changed into jean shorts and a black sleeveless shirt with fire embroidered on it. "Sure! and gomen nasai!" She yelled as she tossed a similar outfit to Hinoko. The shirt was brownish- green and suited Hinoko very well. Then Serena dug into her bag, and threw her clothes all over the place. Finally she yelled, "Eureka! I found it!" Grabbing the orange and black basketball, she quickly put on her tennis shoes, and ran down the hall, braid flying while yelling, "Hayakku! We only have one hour left!"
The others dressed quickly and followed her outside.
************************************************************************
"Well, that's the basic rules! Now all we need to do is practice!" Serena said as she smiled. Wow! This is going to be great! "Um... here's the plan! We'll have a two on three game! Lizzie, Mei-chan and Hinoko-chan against Nini-chan and me!"
"Um... sure! How much time do we have left?" Dominique asked.
"Around forty-five minutes!"
"OK, let's get to work!" Dominique said.
The girls played a thirty minute game. Serena sharpened her skills a bit and she found Hinoko and Dominique to be great players. After the game, they talked as they waited for the boys.
"Hey! Nini-chan! You're REALLY good at this!" Serena said.
"Arigato! I just like sports a lot!"
"I do too! Especially contact sports! I've always wanted to learn Martial Arts. Mei-chan can you teach me some?"
"Sure! Why not?" Shimei answered in Chinese.
"What did she say?" Elizabeth asked in her gentle tone of voice.
"Nothing major!" was Serena's reply.
"We need to figure out our game plan!" Hinoko brought the others back on track.
Flipping back her waste length braid, Serena thought for a while before saying to Hinoko, "I want to try something with you."
"Sure, what?"
"I'm gone pass the ball to you and I want to see if you can make it from center court!"
"I might be able to!"
Serena and Hinoko positioned themselves on the court.
"OK! Here it comes!" the black haired girl yelled. She then tossed the ball to the blond who caught it with ease. Then Hinoko spun around and aimed the ball at the net.
*SWOOSH!*
It went in.
"I guess it worked! Can you do it from anywhere on our side?" Serena asked. This is SO cool that Hinoko is SO good at shooting!
"I'll try!" Hinoko said and tried she did. She shot ten times from all over the court and made eight of them.
"Great!" Serena exclaimed. "You can be our top shooter! I'm OK at lay-ups so I'll do that! Mei-chan, what area do you want to cover?"
"Doesn't matter! You get to choose!" Shimei answered in Chinese.
"Can you guard your cousin and make sure he doesn't get the ball?" Serena asked in Japanese.
Shimei hesitated. "I would rather not! His pride was hurt because I fought and beat him. I don't want to jeopardize our relationship in anyway. He is, after all, my only living relative!"
"I'll guard him!" Elizabeth's voice rang out over the silence.
"Arigato Lizzie. Mei-chan, gomen nasai! I wasn't thinking. Why don't you guard Trowa? I hear he can do the same type of flips as you did last night!" Serena said.
Shimei blushed at the last comment. "Arigato for understanding me! Don't worry about it! I know this game means a lot to you!"
It was Serena's turn to blush now. "The school I went to never allowed GIRLS to play. I had to beg and plead my way into those games. I just wanted a chance to prove myself!"
"GOD! That's terrible!" Dominique's voice was filled with sympathy for her friend.
"Yeah! But ya know what? I was better than all the boys at basketball!" Serena laughed. GOD! It felt good knowing she was better than those boys! "Also, Hinoko and Dominique are better than the boys at my school too! They're SO pathetic!"
The others started giggling! Then Serena continued, "OK, here's our game plan. I'll guard Braid Boy. Dominique, you can take care of Hiiro. Shimei, you have Trowa. Um.. Lizzie, you sure you can take care of Onna Boy?"
"I'll do my best!"
"Good enough for me! And when you get the ball, pass it to one of us, K?"
"Hai! I hate shooting!"
"And I guess that leaves me with Quatre!" Hinoko said. "Nice and easy!" She smiled.
"Hai! We'll be an exellent team! Just remember to follow the rules and Mei- chan, use your flip thing as much as possible! Not many of us can reach that height!" Serena gave her team a bit more advice. That's when the boys showed up.
Hiiro wore his usual green tank-top and black spandex and those ugly yellow tennis shoes. Duo wore a black tank-top with black shorts and a pair of black tennis shoes. Wufei was wearing his white tank-top and white pants with his black shoes and the other two boys sported a T-shirt and shorts. They looked the girls over. Shimei, as always was wearing her pink outfit. Her hair was tied in the two odango as usual and she didn't have her sword with her. Elizabeth wore Umbros and a white T-shirt. She had her hair in a pony tail. Dominique's hair was also in a pony tail and she was wearing black bike shorts and a red sleevless shirt. Hinoko had on the outfit Serena lent her -- the brownish-green sleevless shirt, jean shorts and a pair of white tennis shoes. She, unlike the others, kept her hair down. As for Serena, she was wearing the black shirt and jean shorts. Her hair was in a braid and she glared at the boys hostilely with the dark brown eyes of hers. It made Quatre and Duo very tense. Serena had a glare VERY similar to the "Hiiro Yui Glare of Death".
"So, you arrived! I guess you REALLY WANT to have your ass kicked!" Serena said to the male pilots.
"No, we just wanted to test out you ladies. After all Hiiro and I've NEVER met anyone who ever came remotely CLOSE to beating us!" Duo replied to the ravened haired girl. Sure, Serena was cute, but her words were NOT very nice.
"Don't make me laugh! We could take you on anyday!" Serena argured back to the braided boy.
"We'll see who's the better fighter when this whole thing is over," Hiiro cut in calmly, his voice like a knife breaking the tenseness. "Duo, it's useless arguing with them since the arguement cannot be won without proof!"
"But..." mumbled Duo.
"No 'but's Duo!" Hiiro said to the violet eyed boy.
"Why don't we just cut to the chase and get this game over with?" Dominique asked. Her voice was tired and annoyed, mostly from Serena and Duo's constant argueing.
"Fine with me!" Sereena said. "So, are we gonna sit around and talk or play the game?" Duo asked.
"Play!" Serena replied with a grin. "Who gets the ball first?"
"Why don't we do it the normal way?" Duo asked. "And is 40 minutes long enough to determine the winner?"
"Fine with me!" Serena said as she walked over to Shimei. Then she whispered in chinese, "I'm gonna toss the ball up, and you try to knock it to someone on our team, K?"
"Ok," said the other girl.
The players gathered at center court. Trowa and Shimei were chosen to go for the ball. Serena tossed the it into the air and the game began. In the first twenty minutes, the scoring was pretty even.
On the girl's side, Serena, Hinoko and Dominique scored 65% of their baskets and Elizabeth made 20 assists. Shimei also had her shares of assist and scores. As for the boys, Duo and Hiiro worked together very well and made a total of 30 points. Trowa, Quatre and Wufei also had their moments of glory. After twenty minutes, the two teams were 45-44, boys. Many people stopped to watch them and stare in awe.
Serena was amazed by Duo and Hiiro's skills.
"Wow! You two are really good! You must really like this game!" She said as she wiped the sweat from her forehead and took a drink of water.
"Hai! It's really fun!," Duo said and smiled. "You're not bad yourself, especially for a girl!"
"What do you mean for a girl?" Serena retorted, hands on hips.
"Hey, calm down! No need to get mad! I wasn't tryin' to be rude or anything!" Duo said, hand raised in the air.
"Gomen nasai! I tend to have a bad temper at times! Who would stand up for me if I don't, ne?" Serena said laughing.
After a ten minutes, the break was over. They played the rest of the game as well as the first. Serena, Dominique, Duo, Hiiro, and Hinoko all played thier hardest. The girls had the ball during the last 20 seconds. The score was 80-78, boys. Shimei passed the ball to Elizabeth who passed the ball to Serena. She dribbled the ball a bit, and when there was only 5 seconds left, passed it to Hinoko. She then passed it to Dominique for a lay-up. The time was up, and the two sides had tied. The audience soon left, and they were left alone.
"So, do we play more, or just let it be a tie?" Hiiro asked.
"Call it a draw! There's no way we would concede to YOU being better than us. I'm sure you feel the same way, ne?" Hinoko stated, tossing her blonde hair back.
"Hai! You're right! If we do this, neither side will be happy, and we'll end up hating each other! NOT GOOD!" Serena agreed. Her face was red from the game and she was pretty much inhaling the water she was drinking. Sweat trailed down her face but she was very happy.
"Ok, works for me!" Duo said as he took a drink of his water too. His braid was a mess and he was genuinly surprised that GIRLS could beat him and Hiiro.
"Well, I guess we'll see you again sooner or later!" Dominique said.
"Hai!" Trowa replied and tuned to leave. The others followed. When Wufei was about to go, Shimei stopped him.
"Wufei! Please, I want to talk to you!" She cried out in Chinese.
"What for? Haven't you insulted me enought by defeating me in battle?" He retorted rudely.
This brought on tears. "I'm sorry! I really am! You have to know I'm a warrior just like yourself! I have pride too! I'm really sorry!"
Wufei turned around at the sound of her crying. "Weak ONNA!" He spat in Japanese.
Shimei fell to her knees, crying. Wufie looked at her and turned to go. This angered Serena.
"Hey! She tried to apologize! At least take her sincerity into consideration! You're all she has left in this world!"
Wufei's expressions softened at the other girl's words, "I'm sorry! I have hurt her, haven't I? I am unworthy of living!" He sighed and pulled out his sword. That's when Shimei looked up.
"Noooooo!" She cried and ran towards Wufei. "Don't die!"