When I said this chapter was meant to be up soon, I did intend to keep my
word. Some stuff popped up and I was delayed though. Well, here it is.
Chapter 18
--Fan Fiction--
---
Monday morning: another typical school day, even those who save the world on a regular basis can't get away.
"Hey guys." Shinji said as he entered the class and sat down at his usual place. Rei followed him in and then took her seat without saying a word to anyone.
"Shinji my man." Touji replied.
Kensuke nodded at Shinji's direction in acknowledgement.
"I heard there was another Angel battle." He said.
"You heard did you?" Shinji raised an eyebrow in an accusing manner.
"Err, yeah." Kensuke tried to recover. "You know, just rumours flying about."
Shinji didn't look very convinced but he let it pass. "Yeah, well, it was Asuka really. She took care of it."
"Devil eh?" Both Touji and Kensuke questioned in unison.
"Devil?" Shinji's expression suddenly turned in to a frown
"Well, she is." Touji explained. "How else would a bitch like her make you her boyfriend?" Shinji didn't like where this was going but kept himself calm for the moment.
"Mutual attraction?" Shinji said with a straight face but a somewhat mocking tone.
"Nah, it's just one of her tricks." Kensuke replied sounding sure.
Touji suddenly spoke out: "Speaking of the Devil." Shinji and Kensuke both turned around and saw Asuka entering the classroom and walking towards them. She smiled as she saw Shinji looking at her.
Shinji then turned to Kensuke and Touji and spoke quietly: "Listen up the both of you." The seriousness of his tone snapped them both to attention. "If I hear you insult Asuka-" His eyes narrowed even more. "-It won't be pretty for either of you."
Kensuke gulped loudly, Touji looked quite shocked at the threat, especially coming from the usually passive Shinji.
"Okay, okay Shinji." They both said. "Just relax man, we don't mean no harm."
They finished just as Asuka arrived and took her seat.
"Hi Shinji."
"Hello Asuka."
She then noticed that both Kensuke and Touji were looking at her with what appeared to be expressions of malice and great loathing.
"What's up with the two stooges?" She asked Shinji.
"Just ignore those two." He replied.
Kensuke looked as though he'd been slapped in the face. Touji suddenly straightened up in his seat and began yelling. The whole class turned to look at the scene.
"You aren't going to defend us?!"
"You've betrayed us!" Kensuke screamed out as well. "You've betrayed the brotherhood!"
"Brotherhood?" Shinji questioned. Asuka burst out laughing.
Before any more could be said however, the Sensei arrived and the class turned their attention back to the front.
"Stand. Bow. Sit." Hikari commanded and the class complied. Satisfied with her work she turned her attention back to the Sensei, but as he began retelling stories of Second Impact again, she found her attention wavering.
'Oh, what the hell.' Hikari thought to herself, making her mind up about abusing her administrative privileges as the class rep just this one time. She typed some stuff in to her computer and opened a chat room.
Shinji on the other hand was just about to fall asleep when a quiet beep on his monitor roused him back up.
---
::You've been invited to room titled: 'Second Impact discussion':: ::Press 'Enter' to accept::
---
Shinji pressed enter and found himself in a chat room with Hikari, Touji, Kensuke, Rei and Asuka. He began typing along with everyone else who was in it.
---
'What's this?' - Shinji
'A way of staying awake' - Hikari
'Class rep's abusing her status?' - Touji
'Shut it Stooge. If you want to leave be my guest!' - Asuka
'No, I'm fine -_-' - Touji
'I do not understand.' - Rei
'Hmm?' - Shinji
'Yeah?' - Hikari
'The title clearly states that this is a room for discussing Second Impact.' - Rei 'Yet you are all involved in trivial conversation.' - Rei
'Rei, this is just a chat we're having to pass the time.' -Shinji
'Yeah, the title's just a cover-up.' - Kensuke
'In case we get caught' - Asuka
'You know guys, maybe this wasn't such a good idea' - Hikari
'Nonsense! Best thing you've done for us so far!' - Touji
'Sure beats listening to the corpse at the front.' - Shinji
'lol' - Kensuke
'lol, good one Shinji' - Touji
'Hey Touji, did you remember your homework today?' - Hikari
'Homework?' - Touji
'_' - Hikari
'Huh?' - Touji
'What a moron' - Asuka
'Hey Devil, I don't need your opinion on what I say or do!' - Touji
'!' - Shinji
---
Asuka's fist slammed against the keyboard.
"What did you call me?!" She shouted across the class at Touji. Hikari quickly closed down the chat.
"Miss Sohruy, please calm down. Mister Suzahara did not call you anything." The sensei intervened. "Now take your seat and be quiet!" The elderly man looked angry at the interruption of his story.
Asuka let out a growl of frustration as she sat back down. "Stupid Stooge." She muttered quietly.
"Miss Sohruy, I won't ask you again!" The sensei yelled at her a second time.
"Yes, yes, sorry." She quietened down again, but when she shot a glance at Touji and saw him smiling she completely lost it.
"I'm going to wipe that damn smirk off your face you dumb idiot!"
Shinji, Kensuke and Hikari just shook their heads at what had just happened, even Rei turned to look at the commotion that was unravelling this time.
"Miss Sohruy, would you please leave my class." The sensei spoke calmly even though it was clear he was very angry.
Asuka just got up and walked out, but not before, to the surprise and displeasure of the sensei, giving the finger to Touji.
Shinji just groaned as he buried his face in his arms. Today was going to be a long day.
---
No one had seen Asuka for the entire duration of the lunch break, and Shinji was actually starting to get worried. Currently him and the rest of the boys were in the changing rooms getting ready for a lesson of sport.
"Where do you think she is?" He asked his two friends.
"To tell you the truth I don't really give a damn." Replied a smiling Touji. "I'm just enjoying this Devil-free time."
"I told you don't call her that!" Shinji yelled. Some of the boys in the room flinched as he raised his voice.
"Relax Shinji." Kensuke intervened to calm him down. "She's probably blowing off some steam, you should know she has a temper by now." Shinji just grunted in reply. Both of his friends shook their heads.
---
Soon the guys found themselves in front of their coach, who had something to tell them.
"The girls' fitness teacher had reported absent today, so we're going to have to join up the girl's group with the boys." He explained.
No one was complaining, most were thinking how cool it would be to show off, and seeing girls jumping around was also a plus.
The girls' group soon showed up, although most didn't look anywhere near as enthusiastic. Shinji was relieved to see that Asuka was amongst them.
"Okay you guys, split up in groups of four so we can get started." The coach spoke out.
Naturally, the groups ended up being made up either entirely out of boys or entirely out of girls. Shinji was about to join a group with Touji, Kensuke and another boy but then Asuka insisted that she wanted to be with him. Touji would hear none of it, but in the end Asuka won Shinji over so he ended up with Asuka, Rei and Hikari, whereas Touji and Kensuke partnered up with two other guys from their class.
"I expected this" The coach spoke out. "Okay, two of the girls teams can take in turn to use one of the courts to play Volleyball, as for the boys, you guy can use the other to play Basketball." The coach looked satisfied, but then he noticed the group Shinji had gotten himself in to. He walked up to them and said. "Quite a group you've got there" He smirked in a non- insulting fashion at Shinji. "The guys evicted you?"
"Hell no!" Asuka cut in. "We demanded he was with us!"
The coach looked mildly impressed at the young boy. "So, what's it gonna be?" He asked. "Volleyball or Basketball?"
"It really is up to the girls," Shinji said. "I'll play what-ever my team chooses."
"Isn't he a fine lad?" the coach asked with a smile as he turned to the three girls. "So, what do you guys want?"
"We'll play Basketball of course!" Asuka announced loudly.
"I'm not so sure Asuka." Hikari said quietly. Rei just stood by with a distant expression on her face.
"C'mon!" Asuka said loudly. "We have to show those fools we're just as good as they are!"
"Well it's settled then!" The coach suddenly said. "Shinji's group are up for basketball as well!" he announced to everyone as he turned away from the group.
"Quite a team you've got there, Ikari." One of the boys from one of the other groups shouted sarcastically. Some of his friends snickered at this.
"We're gonna kick your asses you stupid idiot!" Asuka shouted at him, he immediately cowered and backed away behind one of his friends. Asuka then turned to Shinji and said: "Don't worry about it, Okay?"
"Yeah, no probs." He smiled reassuringly.
"You guys are up next!" The coach interrupted. "Teams, get ready!" He shouted at the groups of people.
As Shinji and the three girls began walking up to the court, Asuka began explaining her brilliant strategy.
"Me and Shinji will stay up front, Rei will cover us and Hikari will remain behind to keep the back safe. Got it?"
They all nodded, although Hikari still didn't look too sure.
Both teams were now on the court, and everyone who wasn't playing had grown silent to watch them. As luck happened, Shinji's team were facing off against Touji's. He knew Touji was exceptional at the sport.
Both teams faced each other. Asuka looked malevolent as she stood next to Shinji, who seemed incredibly calm. A short distance behind them stood Rei, totally emotionless, and right at the back was Hikari, who in all honestly looked scared. Touji's team had a different set up. Kensuke and the other two boys were up front, while Touji himself stood back.
"Get ready!" The coach shouted. A few seconds later, the whistle was blown, the ball thrown in to the air and the game was set underway.
Shinji was the first one to reach it and managed to tap it to Asuka, who immediately set off dribbling towards the opposition's hoop. Shinji was following closely behind, and he soon ran along side her. Up ahead she saw one of the boys from Touji's team blocking her path, she didn't slow down though. She had to hand it to him; the boy did look confident, but that was just another reason to crush him. As she ran towards him, she saw his hand outstretch to try and pry the ball from her, she was too quick though, before her would-be opponent knew what had happened she had passed the ball to Shinji, who had conveniently positioned himself, and she ran around her opposition.
Shinji bided his time, he saw that Asuka was waiting for him to pass the ball back to her, but he wouldn't rush it. He wanted to take the heat off her so she can take a clear shot, and surely enough, 3 members of Touji's team were soon running towards him. He waited until they were barely a meter away before he threw the ball high over their heads, and it soon landed in Asuka's outstretched palms.
Now it was just her and the opposition's basket. She took aim, and flicked the ball very professionally towards it. It soared in a high ark, clearly about to land in the hoop dead centre, but just before it did, a hand got in the way knocking it off course.
Touji landed back down shortly after the ball, another smirk evident on his face. Although Asuka was impressed at his jump, she was too angry to even notice that one of the members of the opposing team had gotten the ball and was running towards her own side.
The boy who was currently dribbling the ball towards Shinji's basket saw that there were two people in between him and his goal. Rei, who was in his path but stood completely still, and Hikari, who just looked plain scared.
The boy smirked, thinking to himself that these two girls would offer no resistance what so ever, so he slowed down his run and confidently headed in Rei's direction. He simply intended to run past her, but as he did so he noticed one thing: the ball was no longer in his possession.
He turned around and saw Rei calmly running towards his own side of the court all the time whilst dribbling the ball. How she had taken it from him he didn't know.
Touji noticed that Shinji, Asuka and Rei were perfectly co-ordinated with each other, probably as a result of the sync training he had been told they had gone through. Although he wouldn't admit it he was actually getting worried at the prospects of emerging from this game victorious, but he wasn't about to give up. He never loses.
---
It had been twenty minutes since the game began, and amazingly enough, not a single point had been scored.
The coach blew his whistle and said loudly: "Okay teams, slight change of plan here. First team to score a point wins the game!"
Shinji and Asuka quickly called Rei and Hikari up.
"Touji's pretty good" Shinji said.
"Yeah, he makes up for the rest of the team." Asuka said with a sour tone.
"Exactly" Shinji looked at them all one after the other. "It's a one person effort. The other guys are no-where as good."
"Do you have a plan, Shinji?" Rei asked him.
"Naturally." He smiled. "We just have to overwhelm him."
"What do you mean?" Asuka asked him.
"If it wasn't for him we would have won long ago." Shinji said. "If we all work as a team and advance against them they won't stand a chance, and not even Touji would be able to cope."
"Sounds pretty good!" Asuka smiled at Shinji. "What are we waiting for?"
"Err guys?" Hikari said sounding unsure.
"What is it?" Both Asuka and Shinji asked her.
"You saw me out there!" she raised her voice slightly. "I'm no where near as good!"
"You're not that bad." Shinji protested.
"Every time I got a touch they almost beat us!" Hikari continued to complain. "I can't go along with this!"
Shinji and Asuka looked at her somewhat disappointed. "It's okay if you don't want to go along with the plan." Shinji said.
"Yeah, me Shinji and Rei should be able to pull it off." Asuka reassured her. "You can stay back again if you want."
"I'm sorry guys." She said quietly. No one answered her; instead they all just got in to their positions.
---
Even the girls had stopped playing in order to witness this intense game, and everyone was eagerly awaiting it to resume.
The Whistle was blown and both teams started playing again. Shinji got the possession and him Asuka and Rei advanced against Touji's team.
'Uh-oh. This isn't looking good,' Touji though to himself with worry.
Shinji, Asuka and Rei kept passing the ball to each-other in such a way that Touji's team couldn't get close to them. Intercepting didn't work as the passes were all too fast and accurate.
Slowly, Shinji made his way towards his goal, all the while receiving and sending passes to his other two teammates. Finally, he was lined up, the opposition was far way from him. He took aim, and flicked the ball towards the basket. It soared gracefully through the air, but then, to Shinji's horror, Touji appeared literally out of no-where and managed to deflect it.
Shinji, Rei and Asuka watched as the ball bounced down the court, and started rolling along slowly. It came to a stop however, when it hit something, or more precisely: someone.
Hikari looked down at her feet and saw that the ball had rolled to her. She slowly bent down and picked it up, looking at it as if unsure as to what to do. She looked forward and saw that some of the other players were making their way towards her. She then heard some shouts coming from Shinji and Asuka telling her to take a shot, even Rei joined in.
Knowing she had nothing to lose, and wanting to make it up to her friends for letting them down, she straightened up and took aim.
---
Touji smirked as he watched Hikari. He didn't have anything against the girl, on the contrary he quite liked her, but after watching her play for the past 20 or so minutes he knew he had nothing to fear, and so, he too decided to slowly make his way to her.
---
Brimming with unseen determination, Hikari took the shot.
Everything happened in slow motion (movie moment). The ball slowly flew high above the court. It was dead centre to the hoop. Touji looked up and when he saw it he turned and started sprinting to try and intercept. The crowd was cheering, Shinji and Asuka were holding their breaths, Rei looked excited O_O.
Bang! Everyone exploded in cheers as Hikari scored the first points for her team! The whistle was blown and Shinji's team won!
Shinji, Asuka and Rei ran over to Hikari to congratulate her. Asuka gave her a hug, Shinji shook her hand and told her how great she was, and Rei gave her one of rare smiles and congratulated her on a job well done.
Touji and his team looked devastated, but he wasn't going to go down in a ball of flames. Him and Kensuke walked up to Shinji's team and said.
"I have to hand it to you guys, that was one heck of a game."
"I'll say." Kensuke added. "I had no idea you guys could play so well."
"It's all thanks to Hikari!" Shinji said proudly. Asuka smiled in an evil manner and put her arm around his neck.
"Don't forget your plan, Baka!" She said mercilessly as she rubbed her fist against his head.
"Since when am I a Baka?" He spluttered out as he tried to free himself.
"We tried to warn you Shinji." Kensuke and Touji said with a smirk.
When Asuka heard this she let him go and pulled him in to a kiss. She ended it rather quickly and then spoke to Shinji.
"You don't mind do you?"
"Wha?" He asked dazed.
"Thought so." She smiled.
Hikari had chosen this time to walk away and take a seat because she was tired from the game. Before she could do though, a hand that gently took hold of her shoulder stopped her in her tracks. She turned around and came face to face with Touji.
"That was quite a shot Hikari." He said with a smile.
"Oh, err, you played good yourself." She managed to stutter out.
He let go of her, smiled and then walked away, leaving her blushing where she stood.
---
To be continued!
Well, that was pretty funky. Anyway, someone asked me about Shinji's role in the scenario. All will be revealed later, no worries about that. Well, I hope you liked this chapter. Laterz
Chapter 18
--Fan Fiction--
---
Monday morning: another typical school day, even those who save the world on a regular basis can't get away.
"Hey guys." Shinji said as he entered the class and sat down at his usual place. Rei followed him in and then took her seat without saying a word to anyone.
"Shinji my man." Touji replied.
Kensuke nodded at Shinji's direction in acknowledgement.
"I heard there was another Angel battle." He said.
"You heard did you?" Shinji raised an eyebrow in an accusing manner.
"Err, yeah." Kensuke tried to recover. "You know, just rumours flying about."
Shinji didn't look very convinced but he let it pass. "Yeah, well, it was Asuka really. She took care of it."
"Devil eh?" Both Touji and Kensuke questioned in unison.
"Devil?" Shinji's expression suddenly turned in to a frown
"Well, she is." Touji explained. "How else would a bitch like her make you her boyfriend?" Shinji didn't like where this was going but kept himself calm for the moment.
"Mutual attraction?" Shinji said with a straight face but a somewhat mocking tone.
"Nah, it's just one of her tricks." Kensuke replied sounding sure.
Touji suddenly spoke out: "Speaking of the Devil." Shinji and Kensuke both turned around and saw Asuka entering the classroom and walking towards them. She smiled as she saw Shinji looking at her.
Shinji then turned to Kensuke and Touji and spoke quietly: "Listen up the both of you." The seriousness of his tone snapped them both to attention. "If I hear you insult Asuka-" His eyes narrowed even more. "-It won't be pretty for either of you."
Kensuke gulped loudly, Touji looked quite shocked at the threat, especially coming from the usually passive Shinji.
"Okay, okay Shinji." They both said. "Just relax man, we don't mean no harm."
They finished just as Asuka arrived and took her seat.
"Hi Shinji."
"Hello Asuka."
She then noticed that both Kensuke and Touji were looking at her with what appeared to be expressions of malice and great loathing.
"What's up with the two stooges?" She asked Shinji.
"Just ignore those two." He replied.
Kensuke looked as though he'd been slapped in the face. Touji suddenly straightened up in his seat and began yelling. The whole class turned to look at the scene.
"You aren't going to defend us?!"
"You've betrayed us!" Kensuke screamed out as well. "You've betrayed the brotherhood!"
"Brotherhood?" Shinji questioned. Asuka burst out laughing.
Before any more could be said however, the Sensei arrived and the class turned their attention back to the front.
"Stand. Bow. Sit." Hikari commanded and the class complied. Satisfied with her work she turned her attention back to the Sensei, but as he began retelling stories of Second Impact again, she found her attention wavering.
'Oh, what the hell.' Hikari thought to herself, making her mind up about abusing her administrative privileges as the class rep just this one time. She typed some stuff in to her computer and opened a chat room.
Shinji on the other hand was just about to fall asleep when a quiet beep on his monitor roused him back up.
---
::You've been invited to room titled: 'Second Impact discussion':: ::Press 'Enter' to accept::
---
Shinji pressed enter and found himself in a chat room with Hikari, Touji, Kensuke, Rei and Asuka. He began typing along with everyone else who was in it.
---
'What's this?' - Shinji
'A way of staying awake' - Hikari
'Class rep's abusing her status?' - Touji
'Shut it Stooge. If you want to leave be my guest!' - Asuka
'No, I'm fine -_-' - Touji
'I do not understand.' - Rei
'Hmm?' - Shinji
'Yeah?' - Hikari
'The title clearly states that this is a room for discussing Second Impact.' - Rei 'Yet you are all involved in trivial conversation.' - Rei
'Rei, this is just a chat we're having to pass the time.' -Shinji
'Yeah, the title's just a cover-up.' - Kensuke
'In case we get caught' - Asuka
'You know guys, maybe this wasn't such a good idea' - Hikari
'Nonsense! Best thing you've done for us so far!' - Touji
'Sure beats listening to the corpse at the front.' - Shinji
'lol' - Kensuke
'lol, good one Shinji' - Touji
'Hey Touji, did you remember your homework today?' - Hikari
'Homework?' - Touji
'_' - Hikari
'Huh?' - Touji
'What a moron' - Asuka
'Hey Devil, I don't need your opinion on what I say or do!' - Touji
'!' - Shinji
---
Asuka's fist slammed against the keyboard.
"What did you call me?!" She shouted across the class at Touji. Hikari quickly closed down the chat.
"Miss Sohruy, please calm down. Mister Suzahara did not call you anything." The sensei intervened. "Now take your seat and be quiet!" The elderly man looked angry at the interruption of his story.
Asuka let out a growl of frustration as she sat back down. "Stupid Stooge." She muttered quietly.
"Miss Sohruy, I won't ask you again!" The sensei yelled at her a second time.
"Yes, yes, sorry." She quietened down again, but when she shot a glance at Touji and saw him smiling she completely lost it.
"I'm going to wipe that damn smirk off your face you dumb idiot!"
Shinji, Kensuke and Hikari just shook their heads at what had just happened, even Rei turned to look at the commotion that was unravelling this time.
"Miss Sohruy, would you please leave my class." The sensei spoke calmly even though it was clear he was very angry.
Asuka just got up and walked out, but not before, to the surprise and displeasure of the sensei, giving the finger to Touji.
Shinji just groaned as he buried his face in his arms. Today was going to be a long day.
---
No one had seen Asuka for the entire duration of the lunch break, and Shinji was actually starting to get worried. Currently him and the rest of the boys were in the changing rooms getting ready for a lesson of sport.
"Where do you think she is?" He asked his two friends.
"To tell you the truth I don't really give a damn." Replied a smiling Touji. "I'm just enjoying this Devil-free time."
"I told you don't call her that!" Shinji yelled. Some of the boys in the room flinched as he raised his voice.
"Relax Shinji." Kensuke intervened to calm him down. "She's probably blowing off some steam, you should know she has a temper by now." Shinji just grunted in reply. Both of his friends shook their heads.
---
Soon the guys found themselves in front of their coach, who had something to tell them.
"The girls' fitness teacher had reported absent today, so we're going to have to join up the girl's group with the boys." He explained.
No one was complaining, most were thinking how cool it would be to show off, and seeing girls jumping around was also a plus.
The girls' group soon showed up, although most didn't look anywhere near as enthusiastic. Shinji was relieved to see that Asuka was amongst them.
"Okay you guys, split up in groups of four so we can get started." The coach spoke out.
Naturally, the groups ended up being made up either entirely out of boys or entirely out of girls. Shinji was about to join a group with Touji, Kensuke and another boy but then Asuka insisted that she wanted to be with him. Touji would hear none of it, but in the end Asuka won Shinji over so he ended up with Asuka, Rei and Hikari, whereas Touji and Kensuke partnered up with two other guys from their class.
"I expected this" The coach spoke out. "Okay, two of the girls teams can take in turn to use one of the courts to play Volleyball, as for the boys, you guy can use the other to play Basketball." The coach looked satisfied, but then he noticed the group Shinji had gotten himself in to. He walked up to them and said. "Quite a group you've got there" He smirked in a non- insulting fashion at Shinji. "The guys evicted you?"
"Hell no!" Asuka cut in. "We demanded he was with us!"
The coach looked mildly impressed at the young boy. "So, what's it gonna be?" He asked. "Volleyball or Basketball?"
"It really is up to the girls," Shinji said. "I'll play what-ever my team chooses."
"Isn't he a fine lad?" the coach asked with a smile as he turned to the three girls. "So, what do you guys want?"
"We'll play Basketball of course!" Asuka announced loudly.
"I'm not so sure Asuka." Hikari said quietly. Rei just stood by with a distant expression on her face.
"C'mon!" Asuka said loudly. "We have to show those fools we're just as good as they are!"
"Well it's settled then!" The coach suddenly said. "Shinji's group are up for basketball as well!" he announced to everyone as he turned away from the group.
"Quite a team you've got there, Ikari." One of the boys from one of the other groups shouted sarcastically. Some of his friends snickered at this.
"We're gonna kick your asses you stupid idiot!" Asuka shouted at him, he immediately cowered and backed away behind one of his friends. Asuka then turned to Shinji and said: "Don't worry about it, Okay?"
"Yeah, no probs." He smiled reassuringly.
"You guys are up next!" The coach interrupted. "Teams, get ready!" He shouted at the groups of people.
As Shinji and the three girls began walking up to the court, Asuka began explaining her brilliant strategy.
"Me and Shinji will stay up front, Rei will cover us and Hikari will remain behind to keep the back safe. Got it?"
They all nodded, although Hikari still didn't look too sure.
Both teams were now on the court, and everyone who wasn't playing had grown silent to watch them. As luck happened, Shinji's team were facing off against Touji's. He knew Touji was exceptional at the sport.
Both teams faced each other. Asuka looked malevolent as she stood next to Shinji, who seemed incredibly calm. A short distance behind them stood Rei, totally emotionless, and right at the back was Hikari, who in all honestly looked scared. Touji's team had a different set up. Kensuke and the other two boys were up front, while Touji himself stood back.
"Get ready!" The coach shouted. A few seconds later, the whistle was blown, the ball thrown in to the air and the game was set underway.
Shinji was the first one to reach it and managed to tap it to Asuka, who immediately set off dribbling towards the opposition's hoop. Shinji was following closely behind, and he soon ran along side her. Up ahead she saw one of the boys from Touji's team blocking her path, she didn't slow down though. She had to hand it to him; the boy did look confident, but that was just another reason to crush him. As she ran towards him, she saw his hand outstretch to try and pry the ball from her, she was too quick though, before her would-be opponent knew what had happened she had passed the ball to Shinji, who had conveniently positioned himself, and she ran around her opposition.
Shinji bided his time, he saw that Asuka was waiting for him to pass the ball back to her, but he wouldn't rush it. He wanted to take the heat off her so she can take a clear shot, and surely enough, 3 members of Touji's team were soon running towards him. He waited until they were barely a meter away before he threw the ball high over their heads, and it soon landed in Asuka's outstretched palms.
Now it was just her and the opposition's basket. She took aim, and flicked the ball very professionally towards it. It soared in a high ark, clearly about to land in the hoop dead centre, but just before it did, a hand got in the way knocking it off course.
Touji landed back down shortly after the ball, another smirk evident on his face. Although Asuka was impressed at his jump, she was too angry to even notice that one of the members of the opposing team had gotten the ball and was running towards her own side.
The boy who was currently dribbling the ball towards Shinji's basket saw that there were two people in between him and his goal. Rei, who was in his path but stood completely still, and Hikari, who just looked plain scared.
The boy smirked, thinking to himself that these two girls would offer no resistance what so ever, so he slowed down his run and confidently headed in Rei's direction. He simply intended to run past her, but as he did so he noticed one thing: the ball was no longer in his possession.
He turned around and saw Rei calmly running towards his own side of the court all the time whilst dribbling the ball. How she had taken it from him he didn't know.
Touji noticed that Shinji, Asuka and Rei were perfectly co-ordinated with each other, probably as a result of the sync training he had been told they had gone through. Although he wouldn't admit it he was actually getting worried at the prospects of emerging from this game victorious, but he wasn't about to give up. He never loses.
---
It had been twenty minutes since the game began, and amazingly enough, not a single point had been scored.
The coach blew his whistle and said loudly: "Okay teams, slight change of plan here. First team to score a point wins the game!"
Shinji and Asuka quickly called Rei and Hikari up.
"Touji's pretty good" Shinji said.
"Yeah, he makes up for the rest of the team." Asuka said with a sour tone.
"Exactly" Shinji looked at them all one after the other. "It's a one person effort. The other guys are no-where as good."
"Do you have a plan, Shinji?" Rei asked him.
"Naturally." He smiled. "We just have to overwhelm him."
"What do you mean?" Asuka asked him.
"If it wasn't for him we would have won long ago." Shinji said. "If we all work as a team and advance against them they won't stand a chance, and not even Touji would be able to cope."
"Sounds pretty good!" Asuka smiled at Shinji. "What are we waiting for?"
"Err guys?" Hikari said sounding unsure.
"What is it?" Both Asuka and Shinji asked her.
"You saw me out there!" she raised her voice slightly. "I'm no where near as good!"
"You're not that bad." Shinji protested.
"Every time I got a touch they almost beat us!" Hikari continued to complain. "I can't go along with this!"
Shinji and Asuka looked at her somewhat disappointed. "It's okay if you don't want to go along with the plan." Shinji said.
"Yeah, me Shinji and Rei should be able to pull it off." Asuka reassured her. "You can stay back again if you want."
"I'm sorry guys." She said quietly. No one answered her; instead they all just got in to their positions.
---
Even the girls had stopped playing in order to witness this intense game, and everyone was eagerly awaiting it to resume.
The Whistle was blown and both teams started playing again. Shinji got the possession and him Asuka and Rei advanced against Touji's team.
'Uh-oh. This isn't looking good,' Touji though to himself with worry.
Shinji, Asuka and Rei kept passing the ball to each-other in such a way that Touji's team couldn't get close to them. Intercepting didn't work as the passes were all too fast and accurate.
Slowly, Shinji made his way towards his goal, all the while receiving and sending passes to his other two teammates. Finally, he was lined up, the opposition was far way from him. He took aim, and flicked the ball towards the basket. It soared gracefully through the air, but then, to Shinji's horror, Touji appeared literally out of no-where and managed to deflect it.
Shinji, Rei and Asuka watched as the ball bounced down the court, and started rolling along slowly. It came to a stop however, when it hit something, or more precisely: someone.
Hikari looked down at her feet and saw that the ball had rolled to her. She slowly bent down and picked it up, looking at it as if unsure as to what to do. She looked forward and saw that some of the other players were making their way towards her. She then heard some shouts coming from Shinji and Asuka telling her to take a shot, even Rei joined in.
Knowing she had nothing to lose, and wanting to make it up to her friends for letting them down, she straightened up and took aim.
---
Touji smirked as he watched Hikari. He didn't have anything against the girl, on the contrary he quite liked her, but after watching her play for the past 20 or so minutes he knew he had nothing to fear, and so, he too decided to slowly make his way to her.
---
Brimming with unseen determination, Hikari took the shot.
Everything happened in slow motion (movie moment). The ball slowly flew high above the court. It was dead centre to the hoop. Touji looked up and when he saw it he turned and started sprinting to try and intercept. The crowd was cheering, Shinji and Asuka were holding their breaths, Rei looked excited O_O.
Bang! Everyone exploded in cheers as Hikari scored the first points for her team! The whistle was blown and Shinji's team won!
Shinji, Asuka and Rei ran over to Hikari to congratulate her. Asuka gave her a hug, Shinji shook her hand and told her how great she was, and Rei gave her one of rare smiles and congratulated her on a job well done.
Touji and his team looked devastated, but he wasn't going to go down in a ball of flames. Him and Kensuke walked up to Shinji's team and said.
"I have to hand it to you guys, that was one heck of a game."
"I'll say." Kensuke added. "I had no idea you guys could play so well."
"It's all thanks to Hikari!" Shinji said proudly. Asuka smiled in an evil manner and put her arm around his neck.
"Don't forget your plan, Baka!" She said mercilessly as she rubbed her fist against his head.
"Since when am I a Baka?" He spluttered out as he tried to free himself.
"We tried to warn you Shinji." Kensuke and Touji said with a smirk.
When Asuka heard this she let him go and pulled him in to a kiss. She ended it rather quickly and then spoke to Shinji.
"You don't mind do you?"
"Wha?" He asked dazed.
"Thought so." She smiled.
Hikari had chosen this time to walk away and take a seat because she was tired from the game. Before she could do though, a hand that gently took hold of her shoulder stopped her in her tracks. She turned around and came face to face with Touji.
"That was quite a shot Hikari." He said with a smile.
"Oh, err, you played good yourself." She managed to stutter out.
He let go of her, smiled and then walked away, leaving her blushing where she stood.
---
To be continued!
Well, that was pretty funky. Anyway, someone asked me about Shinji's role in the scenario. All will be revealed later, no worries about that. Well, I hope you liked this chapter. Laterz
