Chapter 5

"Who can come to my basketball game tomorrow?"

In response to this, everyone except Matt and Katie raised their hands. The next day was to be the day when A.J. and T.K. would have to play against each other. So of course, everyone wanted to know who would win.

"Why can't you come, Matt?" T.K. asked, curious as to why his brother had to miss this game.

"Well, little bro," Matt began, "Katie and I have other plans."

"Ooh, Matt! Are you going on a date with Katie?" Kari asked n a teasing way. Upon hearing this, both Sora's and Sam's face fell.

"WHAT?! No way! Matt and I just happen to have a-"

"Band practice that day." Matt finished, having covered Katie's mouth to keep her from revealing their surprise. Seemingly satisfied with this response, Sam and Sora brightened.

"Whatever, sis." A.J. said, sounding as if she didn't believe their story.

//The next day at Odaiba High\\

Everyone except Matt, Katie, A.J., and T.K. was gathered around the bleachers, waiting for the game to start.

"It's a bummer that Matt and Katie couldn't come today," Tai stated glumly. Every one nodded.

"I'm sure that whatever made them miss the game had to be important. I mean, it's not like them to not be there for A.J. and T.K.," Kari said.

"She's right," Kevin added. "Out of the ten years I have known A.J., this is the first basketball game Katie's missed."

The large group stood talking for a few minutes more, about ten minutes before the game was to start, they parted ways to sit at their own school's section of the bleachers.

It wasn't long before the names of players from the Kotetsu Hawks were announced. When A.J.'s name was called, Kit, Jodi, Casey, Sam, Marcus, Ash, Debby, Aaron, and Kevin all stood up and screamed as loudly as they could. A.J. looked at them and waved, blushing.

When the Odaiba High Lions were announced, everyone cheered loudly. Finally when T.K. was called to enter the court, Tai, Kari, Joe, Izzy, Yolei, Mimi, Sora, Cody, and even Davis all cheered even more loudly than their friends had applauded A.J.

The referee threw the ball in the air, and the game began. T.K. and A.J. both leaped up, trying to knock the ball away from each other. With difficulty, T.K. managed to hit the ball so that it went to his team. The two teams ran

across the court, the Hawks trying to steal the ball from the Lions. One of the players passed the ball to T.K., who shot at the basket. There was a satisfying Swish! as the ball sank through the net. At this, spectators from Kotetsu groaned.

The ball was on the court again, and in possession of the Hawks. One of the players passed the ball to A.J. She faked right and broke left, heading for the goal on her side. She threw the ball through the air, aiming for the square on the backboard. T.K. tried to block the shot, but it went through the hoop.

This continued throughout the game until halftime, when both teams returned to the bench for a break. T.K. grabbed a bottle of water and sat in his place, panting. When he felt a tap on his shoulder, he turned around, and saw all of his friends. T.K. grinned at them.

"Hi, guys. What's the score?"

Kari looked at the scoreboard. "It's sixteen to fourteen for us. You're doing really good out there, T.K."

Automatically, his face flushed. "Thanks." Tai and Sora exchanged glances; they highly doubt that T.K. had turned red due to exertion. Both made a note to mention it to Matt later.

Before further conversation could be made, the lights in the gym dimmed.

"We have a very special performance for halftime today." the announcer said over the intercom. "We are proud to present to you with the band Teenage Wolves, featuring Kaki Yosuke from the band Lighting Tigers on the drums. Tonight they will be singing 'Courage' and 'I Turn Around'."

Upon hearing this, the entire gymnasium exploded into voracious applause. Spotlights appeared and shone upon the band in the center of the gym.

"So that was their other plans." Tai muttered.

Katie grinned sheepishly from the drum set, waving, her Vic Firth drum set sticks in one hand. Matt was waving from his spot at the microphone, his red guitar strapped around him. Kit, A.J., Kevin, Ash, Marcus, Jodi, Casey, Sam, Debby, and Aaron cheered loudly when they saw Katie give them a thumbs up. Tai, T.K., Kari, Yolei, Izzy, Davis, Cody, Mimi, Sora, and Joe clapped as loudly as they could when Matt gave them a small wink.

Matt strummed a few notes on his guitar from 'I Turn Around,' stopping when his cheering fans somehow got louder than his guitar.

"Well, we have a few close friends out here with us tonight, which, believe it or not, these songs were written about our friends. The first song we'll be playing is 'I Turn Around.'

Fans burst into cheering once more, but when Katie began to softly click her sticks together, they hushed very suddenly.

You've got a boy, you've got a girl,

Sittin' underneath a tree.

They sit there everyday.

And even though, you may think, that this is the way to be,

It may not always be that way.

You can't take everything for granted,

You gotta live like today.

I turn around and I can see what's behind me,

I turn back around and I can see what's ahead.

And if you don't believe I'll be here all along,

Just turn around.

Just turn around.

Matt finished the gentle strumming on his guitar, fans bursting into applause again. Katie was grinning again, Matt slightly bowing. Everyone got quiet, and soon began filling the gym with buzzing questions - the other band members were leaving. Just Matt and Katie were left. Everyone stared in silence as Katie set down her drum sticks, and walked towards the microphone where Matt was.

"'All They Need' was written by Katie, so, Katie, if you would…."

Matt motioned towards the microphone, Katie nervously walking towards it. He noticed her fingers slightly moving, and immediately knew that she was nervous. He gave her a comforting, confident look, nodding to her, as if to tell her when she was ready, she could start. She nodded back at him, and gulped.

'It's now or never, Yosuke,' she told herself.

He sits at the window

Staring out at the rain.

She's been on his mind lately,

And she won't go away.

He's never had the courage to tell her how she feels,

And he's sure he never will.

It's hard to put

How you feel into words.

Sometimes, not even an action

Is enough.

All he needs is

Courage.


"I can't help but to

Think of him,

And how much I care

For him."

The girl just continues to stare at her words,

Convinced she'll never tell

Him how she feels.

And she knows she's

Lacking the courage.

It's hard to put

How you feel into words.

Sometimes, not even an action

Is enough.

All she needs is

Courage.

But,

The other people on the

Other end never

Really noticed.

But, maybe,

Just maybe,

they'll start finding their

Courage,

And stop

Hoping

So much.

It's hard to put

How you feel into wolds.

Sometimes, not even an action

Is enough.

All they need

Is a little

Courage.

The crowd suddenly burst into applause, Katie blushing and grinning, all the same. She ran back to the drum set, picked up her Vic Firths, and walked back towards her set of bleachers. She went towards her sister, ginning, and still blushing.

"Great job, Katie!" Kit exclaimed, messing up her hair. "Though you'd never do that!"

"I was really nervous, but hey - I did it! Looked like all I needed was a little courage!"

At this, everyone was laughing, even Jodi.

"This calls for celebration afterwards!"

//Other side of the court\\

"Matt! Why did you and Katie do that?!" T.K. hissed, blushing from anger and embarrassment.

"To get you to open your eyes and get ahead of Davis, you know… get together with Kari!" Matt replied, obviously upset that the songs hadn't worked. "We'll talk about it more when we get home tonight."

At this, T.K. kind of flinched - the big brother and little brother talk. This kind of thing was never good. He sighed, getting back up to go on the basketball court.

T.K. and A.J. were, once again, at the center of the court, ready to tip the ball towards their team again. A.J. somehow managed to tip the ball towards her team, who suddenly took off with the ball. T.K. stayed as close as he could to A.J. when she bolted off to join her team. He was almost close enough to her to have fully blocked the ball (if she had had the ball), and she suddenly shot off to the left, causing T.K. to have run into the middle of her team.

'Oh, crap!' T.K. thought to himself. He couldn't do anything from here.

He just stared in anger as A.J. slammed the basket ball into the hoop. A.J. was now smirking, as if to say, "Bring it, Takeru." He grinned in response to her smirk, nodding. He knew what he was going to have to do. 'I'm glad that we have more than one good shooter on my team.'

The Lions were now running back down court, the ball in their possession. He had quickly told his team mates to pass it to each other, but not to him - to only fake like they were going to throw it to him. They had grinned and nodded. They were nearing the hoop - and A.J. had caught sight of the ball being passed to him.

'They should know that I know what they're doing by now!'

But, it didn't go the way she had been hoping it would. The ball was quickly passed towards the hoop, and one of T.K.'s team mates had lightly thrown it in the basket. A.J. just glared at T.K.

"Okay guys, give it to me this time, if we get it. Just alternate with giving it to me, and keeping it away from me, okay?"

They all nodded, and left to go to their positions.

The rest of the game followed this, resulting in the Odaiba High Lions winning by one point. The two teams were walking out onto the court to shake hands with each other - good sportsmanship was always a sign of a good player. And A.J. knew how to follow this very well. She beamed, congratulated every opposing team member that she passed, but when she got to T.K., she didn't say "'Grats," like she had with everyone else.

"Great game - I wanna play you again sometime, one on one!"

At this, T.K. just smiled.

"Sure, A.J. I'd love to."

The two teams walked back to their own bleachers, T.K. slowly and reluctantly walking towards Matt. Matt had his keys in hand, and T.K. knew what this meant.

"Car time!" Matt said, cheerfully, tossing his keys in the air.

T.K. just slightly growled at this, but regretted having to go outside - he wasn't ready for Matt to get onto him about Kari.

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A/N : Hm…. yawns We tried. We're not much of Basketball fans. 'I Turn Around' was actually a Teenage Wolves song, but 'Courage' was written by 'Biryou,' so, if you want to know about the song, ask her. We're working together on this story, and she's writing the songs. Technically, 'Katie' didn't write the song - 'Kit' did! Anyways, read the next one to see a hilarious conversation between Matt and T.K. about girls!

Written by Kokou and Biryou