Disclaimers: These two do not belong to me. The circumstances are a different matter…

Tricks

Hanamichi's eyes narrowed to mere slits as he focused his whole being on the moving orange ball. Spin, spin, up, down, jump gap, spin, spin, up, down. Non-stop.

The rusty gears in his mind slowly moved and pondered the ball's movements. How did it retain its momentum? How did it manage to jump that space? How? Why? What? When?

The gears in his head protested against the unusual and quite strenuous activity they were undergoing. His science teacher would've suffered a heart attack if she had found out just what was going on inside his brain.

A burning smell intruded in Hanamichi's thoughts but he just shrugged it off. He had his goal set and he would all his genius abilities to get it.

"Oi, d'aho."

Hanamichi grunted as the ball was flung in the air before it was spun on a single finger. Another problem was added for his brain to process. How did that happen?

"Oi! D'aho!"

"Hn."

The boy's eyes continued to bore a hole into the ball until his head hurt from squinting too much. Suddenly his object of intense concentration was dropped into a pale hand. His eyes went back to normal, his body relaxed a little as his gaze shifted to his boyfriend who was approaching him with a worried frown.

"Why'd you stop?" he asked the other boy.

"Eh?" Kaede stopped and stared at him sitting on the bench.

Hanamichi could practically see question marks popping around the brunette's head.

"Never mind," he declared, standing up and getting the ball from Kaede's hand. "I think I got it already.

"It?" the other boy asked, still very much lost.

Hanamichi sighed, quite unusual in itself since it usually him who was frequently slow on the uptake.

"How you do those basketball tricks of course!"

His face broke into a huge grin and he proceeded to spin the ball on his forefinger, laughing delightedly as if he had discovered Michael Jordan's secret to success.

-end