Family Business
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He wasn't sure what made him accept the arrangement: his desire to confront his brother, or Tachibana's excitement. His father thought it was for his brother; his brother thought it was for Tachibana; and Tachibana, of course, didn't give a damn.
The promised time was four o'clock. He had come early to clear his head, but it looked like someone beat him to it.
"What are you doing here? It isn't starting for another hour."
"I could ask the same of you."
Tachibana grinned, and threw a pass. "Then why didn't you?"
Trust Tachibana to give a nonsense response like that. "That was me asking." He dribbled the ball towards the ring.
"I still asked first."
Tachibana moved to block, and he maneuvered a little before attempting a three-point shot. "Same answer as yours."
Tachibana straightened, and watched the ball going through the basket. "Heh. How unoriginal."
He waited for Tachibana to retrieve the ball, and they continued in silence.
Eight shots later, he finally asked, "Why did you accept this match?"
Tachibana paused. He relaxed his shooting stance, and started dribbling the ball. "Not everyday one gets to play Hiiragi father and son, isn't it?"
He gave Tachibana a Look, and his companion snorted. "One who is not the other son, that is."
"The last time I played my brother was in fifth grade."
"And I suppose you played your father when you were still wetting your bed, huh?"
He twitched. "Are you looking for a fight?'!"
"We are," Tachibana said, stopping the ball in his hand. "Going to fight, I mean."
"Feh. And making fun of me is part of the preparation? I didn't come early to get distracted, you know."
Tachibana shot a three-point. "I know. You copied my reason, remember?"
"Whatever. Don't change the subject."
"Who changed the subject? We're playing basketball, aren't we?" Tachibana gestured at the ball. "Yours."
Somehow, he'd come to accept such attitude from Tachibana, so he walked over quietly to pick up the ball.
Checking the time as he looked up, he announced, "Twenty minutes."
"Aa," Tachibana nodded.
They sat down to rest.
"So," Tachibana started after a while, "they're your folks. Any strategies?"
He considered it. "No."
"Oooh, nice one."
He rolled his eyes. "We'll play it your style."
Tachibana grinned. "Seriously?"
"They are pretty familiar with my style. It's best that--"
"You follow my play," Tachibana nodded in satisfaction.
He threw the ball at Tachibana, who caught it perfectly. "Stop gloating."
"You want to play him, don't you?"
He turned at the sudden question.
"Your father," Tachibana clarified.
He looked away.
"Your brother even went out of his way to arrange this match..."
Yes, he needed to play his father. He needed to--
"So play it your way."
--shed that final bit of his shadow.
"Though of course, unoriginal as you are..."
Slowly, he turned to face Tachibana again. The jerk was smirking.
"Feh," he chuckled.
He did need this cocky brat to play with him. His playing style wasn't defined alone.
"Two-on-two, huh," he said to the sky. He and his brother used to play their father, two-on-one.
"Aren't we best at that?" he heard Tachibana say.
He closed his eyes against the glinting sun. "Yeah."
"Hey, you're early."
He opened his eyes at Takuya's voice. His brother dropped a backpack beside them. "Ready for the match?"
"Of course," Tachibana replied, with the confidence others would have called arrogance.
"Good," Takuya said. "We've warmed up on our way here, so let's start."
He stood up and walked to the centre of the field, with Tachibana close behind.
"I've always wanted to play you at least once, myself," he heard his father say to Tachibana.
"Then this is a happy affair to everyone," Tachibana answered, a wide grin on his face, the kind of grin that no Hiiragis would produce.
His father laughed, and took his position.
Their eyes met for a brief intense moment, then he turned to Tachibana to confirm their strategy.
A nod from his partner, with a rare look of entrusting everything in his hands, and he smiled.
"Play!"
.
..
Author Notes:
...right... so I make this huge assumption that Hiiragi's father still plays basketball at his age. :P This idea just rushed through me and I thought I'd give it a shot. Feedback will be very much appreciated, thanks!