The next few days passed without any improvement. Professor Stein continued to give them more exercises with the partner straps. They were more like standard team building activities, but Brina still didn't find it any easier. By the time Friday afternoon rolled round, she'd managed to fall over twice, bruise both of her knees and pull a muscle in her arm when she'd gotten their partner strap entangled around one of the chairs in the classroom.

She was grateful it was nearly the weekend, but her mood was spoilt when Professor Stein announced that they'd be trying more basketball the following week to see how they'd improved using the partner straps. Brilliant.

After their last class had finished, she sloped off to find the twins, feeling like she needed cheering up again. She'd thought that after the initial stage of letting Kid cut her hair – fixing the problem that had been bothering him so much – that they'd be getting along better.

But of course, no amount of haircuts could have any affect on her lack of coordination. Unfortunately, the thing that was annoying Kid now wasn't as simple to fix. She wasn't sure that there even was a cure for clumsiness.

She'd only just reached the end of the corridor when somebody shouted her name. "Brina!"

It was Kid. Brina felt dismayed at the sight of him. Now what? Had he followed her all the way from class? She really was oblivious to everything around her when she was thinking. She was surprised she hadn't crashed into anyone this time.

"What is it?" she asked warily.

"I've just spoken to Maka and Black Star," Kid explained dutifully. "We're all going to be playing basketball tomorrow morning and I think that you should join us."

Brina just looked at him. Basketball? Her? Wasn't it already obvious that basketball wasn't her thing? "Erm, I'm not really into sports," she said offhandedly. She didn't really want to injure herself on her days off too.

"I've noticed," said Kid dryly. "Which is why I think that if you improve your knowledge of the game, you should then be able to apply it in our lessons."

Brina could kind of see his point, but it didn't make her want to play basketball any more. "So can I not just watch and learn about it that way?" she asked hopefully.

"No, that wouldn't quite be the same."

How had she known he was going to say that? But as much as she really didn't want to have to join in, a part of her could see that Kid was actually trying. And she appreciated that. So far, the new class project had only caused them to bicker. It showed just a little promise that Kid was willing to at least try and work around it. She clearly wasn't the only one who wanted to get through this project successfully.

"Fine," Brina sighed, unable to argue. "What time do I have to be there for?"

"Eleven o'clock," replied Kid, before then adding irritably, "Because apparently, eight is too early."

"Erm, okay?" Brina felt a little confused. There was a bit of a difference between eight and eleven, but she decided the easiest thing was just to dismiss it. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow at eleven then."

"Good. And don't be late."

That she could handle. If there was at least one thing Brina could do, it was show up on time.

Sure enough, she got down to the basketball court the following morning a few minutes before eleven. Maka and Black Star were already there with Kid, along with their weapon partners. Liz and Patty were talking to Dessie, Blood and the Madison brothers. Yvonna, Clyde, Casper and Phantom were also there on the sidelines.

It was quite a group. Brina didn't know how many players there were supposed to be in a real game of basketball. Was everybody going to be playing? Or were some of the students just here to watch? The second idea made her stomach twist nervously. Like this wasn't going to be embarrassing enough already.

"So is somebody gonna actually explain the rules to me?" Brina asked Maka and Casper, as she shuffled over to join them.

"Don't ask me; we're just here to watch," explained Maka. "I don't have a clue how to play basketball either."

Brina felt a little better that she wasn't the only one there who didn't know anything about basketball, but she wished that she could have just sat and watched from the sidelines too.

"I'll explain the rules," Kid interrupted pretentiously, having overheard.

Oh, yay, thought Brina. She would have liked to have had a friendlier face explain it to her, but then beggars couldn't be choosers. "Okay. Shoot."

"Well, obviously the aim of the game is to score by throwing the ball through the hoops..." Kid began to explain.

Brina gritted her teeth, telling herself that he probably wasn't trying to be patronising. But as he continued on and started explaining about various fouls, Brina then realised too late that she hadn't actually been taking in everything that he was saying. Her mind had betrayed her and started to wander.

"Do you understand?" Kid asked eventually, once he was finished.

"Err, yeah," Brina lied, not wanting to ask him to repeat everything.

She just had to hope that the last half of what he'd said wasn't that important. Come to think of it, all she'd really been able to grasp was that you couldn't run with the ball. You had to either dribble it – which she was sure meant bouncing it along the ground as you were running – or pass it to another player.

This really wasn't going to go well.

"Good. Then let's go and split into teams," announced Kid, directing Brina towards the group on the basketball court. "You can be on my team – I'll try to coach you further."

"Oh, great," Brina muttered to herself, too quietly for him to hear.

"Wait, Brina's your first choice?" Black Star asked. He sounded amused. Once again, Brina's reputation had preceded her.

"Hey!" she protested. "Why is that so funny?"

"Come on, Brina, even you've gotta agree on that one," laughed Soul.

"Yeah, yeah, okay," grumbled Brina. She knew she was accident prone, but did she really have to be the butt of everyone's jokes all the time?

"I figured helping her to learn basketball now might make it easier for us in Stein's classes next week," explained Kid.

"Your funeral," said Black Star with a shrug, grinning at the annoyed look that Brina threw his way. "Hey, Tsubaki, you're on my team, okay?"

"Okay," Tsubaki agreed with a smile.

"Then I pick Soul," said Kid, taking his chance to break up the dynamic duo.

"Damn, okay... I pick Patty then," decided Black Star.

"Phantom."

"Matt."

The group whittled down as they were split amongst the two teams. Blood and Yvonna joined Kid's team, whilst Black Star chose Clyde and Dessie as his final members. Maka, Liz, Danny and Casper took up the benches around the court so that they could watch.

"Let's get started," said Kid briskly.

Brina watched confusedly as he and Black Star passed the ball back and forth, then suddenly, the game had started and she was already one step behind everyone else. Damn. Okay, so the aim of the game was to get the ball through the hoops. For that, they needed the ball in their team's possession. Right... Get to the ball. Surely she could manage that.

She attempted to follow the group of players that were surrounding Black Star, who was currently still in possession of the ball, but Kid stopped her before she even got close enough to try and help. "No, stay back and stay open," he shouted to her over the hubbub. "We need free players to pass to."

"Oh. Right." Brina stopped where she was. It made sense. There were a few other players standing away from the gaggle of people that were surrounding the ball, including Tsubaki, Matt and Yvonna. They were clearly doing the same thing.

She backed a distance away from everyone else, trying to keep her own space, but all the while still keeping her eye on where the ball was. She watched as Kid feinted to Black Star's left, then darted right and batted the ball out of his hands. He turned on the spot and passed it straight to Soul.

The others immediately converged in on Soul, who quickly threw the ball out of the crowd and towards Yvonna. Yvonna dribbled the ball down the court, but she was being closely followed by Clyde, who was trying to knock it away from her.

"Brina, catch!" she called, seeing that Brina was the only player who wasn't being marked.

Brina only had seconds to react and instinctively threw her hands up. To her immense surprise, she actually caught it. "I got it!" she exclaimed, more to herself than anybody else.

"Go for the basket, Brina!" Kid shouted down from the other end of the court.

Brina snapped back to attention. Of course. Shooting hoops – that was the objective of the game. One of the few things she actually remembered about how to play. And to not run with the ball. That was it; she had to dribble it.

She tried bouncing the ball along the ground as she ran towards the hoop at the end of the court, feeling that this was where she was going to screw things up. But amazingly, it was a lot easier than it looked. She could actually do this.

She'd just neared the basket when Matt dashed past, knocking the ball away from her and then dribbling it back up the court. He was so quick that it took Brina a few seconds to realise what had even happened.

Damn it. She bit her lip, feeling dismayed. She clearly wasn't any good at this game. Yet, strangely, none of her teammates seemed annoyed at her like she'd expected. They were now concentrating on getting the ball back from Matt, who was making his way back towards the other basket. Clearly, Matt was just a much better basketball player. There wasn't really anything she could do about that.

Feeling uplifted that it didn't seem to be her fault that she'd lost the ball to the other team, Brina took up her position again and waited for the better players on her side to regain the ball. As Tsubaki tried passing it to Patty, Blood very narrowly tackled it out of their way and passed it quickly down field to Soul. Sure enough, Soul passed it on further down the court and Brina found herself in possession again.

She ran for the basket as fast as she could, dribbling the ball as she went. She still couldn't believe how easy this was. This time, she was a lot further ahead than the other players and Kid had even followed as backup after seeing what had happened the last time. "Go for it! Shoot!" he encouraged, as soon as she was close enough to the basket.

"Oh, but..." started Brina, feeling that he should take the shot instead. She certainly didn't have the best aim out of the two of them.

"Just do it!"

Oh, well. Brina aimed as best as she could and threw the ball at the hoop, praying it would land... It didn't. It bounced right off the edge of the ring.

Clyde had made it back down the court and grabbed the ball before Brina could try for it again. Kid made a wild tackle and managed to hit it out of his hands. Brina caught the ball for the second time, amazed at how well she'd been doing. Kid immediately scooted backwards out of the way as Clyde attempted to regain the ball from Brina.

"Eeep!" Brina squeaked as she tried to back away. For the most part, the players on the opposing team had left her alone, clearly not expecting her to be much of a threat.

"Pass it to me!" shouted Kid. He was still open, though not for long – Black Star and Patty were both closing in on him.

Brina didn't waste any time. She lobbed the ball at Kid as hard as he could. He caught it with ease and then threw it towards the basket in the same movement. It hit the backboard at the perfect angle and sank through the hoop.

"Yes!" he exclaimed happily.

"Nice one, Kid!" Soul yelled from further down the court.

Brina couldn't help whooping along with the rest of the team. This game was actually kind of fun. It was a lot easier without the partner straps to hold them down. And because she'd been so focused on where the ball was, she found that it hadn't really allowed her lack of balance any chance to affect her. Maybe she wasn't so useless after all.

The ball was put back into play and the game continued. Brina found that she was enjoying herself more and more. She'd only stumbled a few times when her concentration had slipped. But as long as she focused only on the ball, she was able to keep her footing in check. It was only when she was aware of the other players around her that she lost her concentration and her usual affliction returned to inconvenience her.

Dessie was next to score a hoop for the other team, but Soul managed to score straight after that and then Phantom did as well. Brina's team were winning three to one. She hadn't scored herself, of course, but she was just happy that she hadn't caused any major blunders that had cost them the lead. And the fact that she was actually enjoying herself was a bonus.

She'd learnt that people on the opposing team tended to not bother marking her, knowing her reputation, which gave her an advantage since she surprisingly wasn't as bad as everyone thought she'd be. So she'd made it her job to stay open and away from the group – closer to the other side's basket.

That worked well for her, since she wasn't very good at keeping the ball if she was directly up against anyone else, but then she wasn't great at shooting either. Her technique worked best when she had someone good on her defence to come and take over.

Luckily, the rest of the team had already realised this and several of them had been taking it in turns to try and cover her. Blood and Yvonna had joined together as a tag team to get the ball down the other end of the court and to still keep the defence up.

Brina continued backing up as Blood and Yvonna passed the ball back and forth, all the while trying to deter Tsubaki and Clyde from successfully intervening. However, Matt and Patty had now joined their forces, making it even more difficult for them to keep possession of the ball and still move down the court.

"Heads up, Brina!" shouted Blood when he was sure that he was close enough to pass downfield to her. He took the shot and threw the ball.

"I got it!" The ball looked like it was going to sail past, but Brina still dove for it... Only to crash straight into the post. She'd been a lot closer to the basket than she'd thought.

"Oh, Brina! Are you okay?" Tsubaki was the closest to her and the first to rush to her aid. Kid sighed loudly, whilst Soul, Black Star and Patty all exploded into giggles. Several of the other players fought the desire to join in.

"Err, I think so..." said Brina, still on the floor and feeling dazed. She'd smacked her head on the post and the impact had knocked her off her feet. Blinking stars from her eyes, it was still taking her a few moments for what had happened to catch up.

Maka and Liz hurried over from the benches where they'd been watching. "Are you alright, Brina?" asked Maka. "Maybe you should go to the nurse."

"Yeah, okay..." Brina agreed slowly. Her head was whirling. She'd had plenty of experience with concussions before to know that that wasn't a good sign.

"Come on," said Liz, pulling Brina's arm around her shoulders and helping her to her feet. "I'll take you. I was only watching anyway."

"I'll come too," offered Casper, who'd followed Liz and Maka over onto the court. She moved to Brina's other side to help.

"Thanks, guys," said Brina shakily, feeling unsteady on her feet.

"So who's gonna take Brina's place now?" Black Star asked loudly once the laughter had subsided. Tsubaki elbowed him in the side and chastised him for being insensitive.

"I will," said Danny gallantly, coming over to join them on the court. He'd been hanging onto Liz's every word up till now, but now that she was taking Brina to the nurse, he didn't mind joining in with the game.

Brina overheard Kid suggest a new tactic to him as Liz and Casper guided her back up towards the school. "So you looked like you were actually having fun out there," Liz remarked. It was easy for anybody to tell that Brina wasn't really one for sports.

"I think I was more surprised by that than anyone else," Brina agreed. "A lot of it was much easier than I thought it would be. Too bad I ended up knocking myself out of the game... Literally. As usual."

The other girls laughed. "Well, if it helps, I think it was good entertainment value for everyone else," Liz teased, seeing that Brina was obviously in quite good spirits, despite her accident.

"No, it doesn't," protested Brina, though she was laughing too. "I guess everyone can count on me to run into things."

"Often head first too," Casper added with a giggle.

They were all still laughing and joking when they got to the nurse's office. After Brina had been checked over, the nurse said that she didn't seem to have concussion, but insisted on her staying in the infirmary at least until after she'd had some lunch. She said that if Brina didn't have any problems keeping food down, then she should be okay.

Until then, she dismissed Liz and Casper and ordered Brina to lie down with a cold compress on her head, just to be on the safe side. Brina sighed to herself after the nurse had disappeared to find something light for her to eat. She shouldn't really have been surprised. This was a typical occurrence for her after all. At least her head wasn't spinning so much now. And she'd only experienced a touch of nausea.

She'd only been alone for a few minutes when somebody knocked on the door. She may have been feeling a little better, but the sound was definitely enough to grate on her headache. She wasn't sure whether she should answer it or not. She had been told to stay lying down. And whoever it was, she wasn't going to be able to help them. She certainly didn't know anything about first aid. Though maybe it was time she started learning. She definitely needed it a lot more often that most people.

Whoever had been at the door didn't knock again. Brina felt a little guilty for ignoring them; like she should have at least called out that the nurse wasn't there. Her curiosity soon got the better of her and she sat up and pulled the cold compress off, intending to go and see if there was anybody still around outside so she could explain that the nurse would be back soon.

"Lie back down. You were clearly told to do so for a reason."

Brina jumped and dropped her cold compress onto the floor. She hadn't even heard anybody come in. She looked around to find Kid standing behind the bed she'd been lying on. What was he doing here? Was the basketball game over already?

But instead, she asked, "How do you know?"

"Liz told me."

Of course. That was hardly rocket science. Brina felt a little silly. But hey, at least she had an excuse. She'd hit her head hard enough that the possibility of killing off a few brain cells wasn't that unlikely. "Oh." She didn't really know what else to say, so she made to pick the compress up off the floor. However, Kid beat her to it.

"You can't use that now – it's been on the floor," he scolded her, depositing it in the sink at the side of the room. "It'll be covered in germs."

"Fine," sighed Brina. She'd been intending to use the side that hadn't touched the floor, but whatever. She already knew that Kid was obsessive compulsive – it only made sense that he was a germaphobe too.

"And I thought I told you to lie back down."

"Okay, okay," grumbled Brina, swinging her legs back up onto the bed and grudgingly lying down again. She didn't know what it was about Kid, but he always brought out a certain stubbornness in her that she didn't usually suffer from. She turned to the side slightly so that she wasn't just looking at the ceiling. "So did you come here just to boss me around?"

"Actually, I came to check if you were alright," said Kid indignantly.

That definitely shut Brina up. She hadn't been expecting that. "Are you accepting responsibility for making me play basketball in the first place?" she asked hopefully.

"No, it was clearly your own fault that you ran into the post."

Brina scowled.

"But you did help us to win the game," Kid added.

Brina brightened, in spite of herself. She'd never been involved in any kind of victory when it had come down to sports. "Our team won?" she repeated happily.

"Yes," said Kid. "I thought I'd come down and congratulate you. The post incident aside, you actually played quite well."

Brina couldn't help but flush slightly at that. It was the first time he'd ever given her a real compliment. She turned back to look at the ceiling again so that she could avoid his gaze. "Erm, thanks."

"And I'd prefer it that when we have to play again with the partner straps that you don't drag me into the post along with you," said Kid.

Brina bit back a smile. "I'll try not to."

"Good. In that case, providing you're well enough, I think we should practice again tomorrow," said Kid dutifully.

"Wait, what?" protested Brina, sitting up again in spite of what Kid had already told her. Okay, the game today had been fun, but she didn't want to spend her entire weekend playing basketball. Especially not if it ended up similarly to how it had done today.

"Practice makes perfect," Kid insisted.

Brina pulled a face. That particular saying was one she'd always found to be flawed. "Yeah, but... they say that nobody's perfect," she pointed out infuriatingly. "So why practice?" She didn't really believe that, of course, but right now, she couldn't think of a better argument.

Kid just gave her a withering look, like he was dealing with an unreasonable child. "Anything can be made perfect. You just have to be willing to try hard enough," he said haughtily.

"Of course it can," said Brina sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

Unfortunately, Kid took advantage of her sarcasm. "I'm glad you agree. And that's why I'll see you back on the basketball court at eleven again tomorrow."

"Hey, wait!" protested Brina. "I never..."

But he left before she could finish and this time, she did hear the door open and close. She flounced back down onto the bed in a sulk, ignoring the complaining of her aching head. Damn reaper. He really did bring out a more obstinate side of her. But at least now maybe the twins would stop calling her a pushover.