"Hai-chan, you're a little early for once!" Momoi says in surprise as I enter the gym, weary of her loud voice. I nod slightly. I'm usually just on time, neither early nor late. I glance around the gym. Members from the opposite team are just arriving. I can't read the kanji on their jerseys, but the blue and yellow theme is a bit distracting. Narrowing my eyes, I approach the pinkette.
"I don't have a jersey. What should I wear?" I ask.
Coach Harasawa makes his entrance, walking in with a bag in hand. "Here, I got your jersey. Momoi informed me of your interesting preference." I blink in surprise before glancing to Momoi.
"We didn't know for sure if someone had this jersey, but found that no one had claimed it." Momoi says with a smile. "I still don't understand why you'd choose such an unlucky number." I open the bag to find my jersey, the number thirteen in big red numerals. A smirk cuts across my face.
"That's okay. As long as this number is mine, I'll be the unluckiest thing to ever happen to the opposition." I reply, taking the bag. "Are the others in the locker room? I can change somewhere else..."
"Actually, we wanted you to change first since the guys take a lot longer. Go ahead and change." I smiles hesitantly at Coach and Satsuki before walking into the locker room with my school bag. On go the black shorts, the red and black jersey, and up goes my hair. I leave my bangs as they are, letting my bobby pins cling desperately onto the neck of my jersey. I shrug on my basketball shoes, tie the laces, and put my school uniform into my backpack. I exit the locker room just as the others stream in.
"Hai-chan~! Come over here!" I hesitantly make my way over to the over-excited Momoi. "Do you see what I see?"
Weakness. Defeat. Anxiety. "They have no spirit." I say suddenly, my eyes widening with shock. "N-None at all." Anger. Irritation. Impatience. "Are they even going to try?"
"That's why I want you to grab their attention. I want them to focus on you so they try a little harder." I had wanted to be invisible for a while longer, but I don't have that option anymore. With a sigh, I adjust my body language completely.
"A girl... a girl on their team?" A new bout of whispering consumes the other team as I adjust my ponytail.
"That's a neat trick you have there." Imayoshi says suddenly from behind me. I look at him with a shrug.
"It's easy. I can teach you later, if you're interested." I reply. "Basic body language."
"You've almost outdone yourself." Momoi says pleasantly. "You've been practicing?" I glance away.
"I got tired of being squished on the train." I reply.
"Let's get back to the locker room." She says with a smile. "I have some things to discuss with you and the rest of the team."
"Will Daiki show?" I ask, falling in stride with our manager. Momoi shakes her head with disappointment.
"Dai-chan doesn't want to play. Normally, we'd play a different first or second string player to fill the gap, but since you're here, it's best to utilize your skills to our advantage." She answers. "Listen up!" The locker room falls silent as we walk in. Thankfully, it seems everyone aside from Daiki is present and completely changed. "Hai-chan will take Aomine-kun's place today. She's up to par with Aomine, so this shouldn't pose much of a challenge."
"Why have a girl play?" hisses an indignant second-string player. "This is boys' basketball!" I offer him a bone-chilling glance as we make eye contact.
"If you can beat me, you're more than welcome to take my place." I say flatly. Momoi and the first string players stare at me in shock. "Until then, you shouldn't talk. Maybe you should practice more." The pinkette shudders slightly.
Nobody else has any complaints about my place on the court, and the first quarter begins without a hassle. In fact, most of the first quarter goes smoothly as I dash past slow players and receive passes from Wakamatsu and the others. Things go too smoothly. They aren't even challenging us... A glance at the scoreboard surprises me as I snap back to attention. "Hai-chan, do it again!" Momoi yells. I adjust my body language again, watching as it distracts the screen on Sakurai enough for him to shoot a three-pointer. I continue to do this for the rest of the first quarter.
This isn't fun... I thought it would be. I thought maybe I'd get on a team that would finally struggle! A team that would finally compete! Not one like this, not one that destroys the other team. I don't want to play on a team like this... would it have been different on Seirin?
Momoi stares in concern at the dark-haired teen, but doesn't address her. Instead, she turns her attention back to the rest of the players that will be sent back out onto the court. "Keep up what you've been doing in the first quarter. Hai-chan's influence will last for most of this quarter, but don't count on it completely. I need one of you to act as a trigger for me."
"A trigger for what?" Wakamatsu replies, narrowing his eyes. The foreign student hasn't spoken a word during the game so far, a feat that the team hadn't known to be possible for the normally friendly girl. While it is obvious that she was deeply disturbed by something, the blond and the rest of the first-string players are clueless as to what it is.
"I need one of you to trigger Hai-chan's Zone. Since no one on the other team seems capable of entering it, we'll have to use the second trigger. One of you will have to get either yourself or someone else to tell Hai-chan that it's impossible for her to do something that'll lead to our win." The pinkette glances at Alex in guilt. "I don't like using it, but this is the only other option we have."
"Why do we need her in the Zone at all?" a second string player asks. His face is writ large with impatience. Unused to being benched, the second-year student is most certainly disgruntled. "If we keep doing this-"
"If we keep doing this," Momoi interrupts, "things will not go quite according to plan. A comeback is certainly still possible. If you want a surefire win, you'll do this."
"-chan... Hai-chan?" For a moment, I'm completely sure that Momoi is calling my name. "Alex!" Hearing my first name, though, without the usual honorific, startles me into awareness.
I look up, startled. "Can you keep their attention for the first half of this quarter?" I sense the stares of the first-string players rather than turn and stare back at them. I turn my gaze to the court and nod a little, irritated that I zoned out. "Please continue to do so." I nod again before returning to the court with the rest of the players.
The second quarter is uneventful, with the usual plays by Sakurai and Wakamatsu, Imayoshi and Susa. I avoid receiving the ball while I continue to grab attention. I'm trying to draw the others away from the team. "Touou's timeout!" I turn to look at Momoi in surprise before joining the others.
"Hai-chan, are you okay?" Momoi asks, examining my face and coming altogether too close. "You're overworking that." This skill is technically a rip-off of Kuroko's Misdirection Overflow, only it lasts much longer on me since I'm not normally as invisible as he is. I scowl and pin her with a glare.
"Okay, okay." She says sheepishly, pulling herself away. "No need to get angry." I huff and shift awkwardly from foot to foot, wishing that we weren't all huddled up like this.
"If you're so grumpy, maybe you should get off the court." Imayoshi says suddenly. I glare daggers at the taller third year and nearly snarl at him. "It's obvious you aren't suited to basketball. You can't outdo us."
"Four-eyes..." I hiss, almost lunging at him. "You're about to make the biggest mistake of your life." For a moment, the dark-haired point guard gives me a strange smile and I clench my hands into fists.
"You can't outdo us. You can't even keep up." My vision tints red.
"Like hell I can't!" I reply furiously. "Keep the ball coming my way and I'll show you. Momoi, I'm not going to use it anymore, so forget about it." I stare at the squinting eyes that hide behind glasses. "I'll make you eat your words."
"Doubt it." He sings. I glare again.
"Keep that up and I'll punch you." The rest of the game passes in such a blur that I can't remember most of it. What I can remember disgusts me, and when the buzzer sounds at the end of the game, I try my hardest not to look at the scoreboard. 195-22.
I'm furious. How could I let myself be manipulated like that again? How could I just forget about teamwork and not let the other team even have a chance to compete? Disgust washes over my features as I change out of my uniform and back into my usual attire. It's Saturday, thank god. Where is Daiki? Probably at an arcade. Maybe I'll just go home and sleep. Daiki can let himself in. I wonder when his parents will take him back.
I walk out of the locker room and out the school, not waiting for the debrief that's sure to follow the game. "Hai-chan, where are you going?" Momoi calls, staring at me past the other players. I curl my lip in disgust.
"Home. Where else? I did what you wanted. What else could you possibly want from me now?" My knuckles have gone white with the force of my grip on my backpack.
"Hai-chan..." For a moment, Momoi looks hurt. "Don't be like that... it was for the team!"
"You lied to me." I say flatly. "This really is just another Teiko. Bye, Momoi." I shove my way out of the gym and almost sprint off school grounds.
"I'll show you why you always need to win. Succeed or perish." My eyes widen slightly. Where's Daiki when you actually need him? "Losing isn't an option for you. If you want to play, you'll play by my rules."
Even Momoi would do.
"The point in winning is to crush your enemies. If you don't crush them, you haven't won." I want to go home. I want to hide under the covers. "Want me to teach you what happens if you lose?"
"Alex?" I'm so gone. Off I go, losing my backpack in an effort to run faster than normal. Where's the Zone when you need it? I just want to go home. I want to run and hide and never go to school again. I don't want to compete. I want to quit sports. I sprint home, ignoring traffic and nearly getting hit by cars and bikes four times when I forget that pedestrians aren't supposed to be crossing the intersection. Terror speeds me forward, faster and faster than I thought possible.
"A... Alex! Stop running, dammit!" I only run faster at those words until I trip over the threshold of my apartment and fall face-first onto the floor. "Alex..." It's probably Daiki behind me, or Momoi or another Miracle. I slip into my bedroom and burrow under the thick blanket over my futon, shivering despite the heat outside.
"Alex? What's wrong?"
"What do you want?" I ask, starting to feel drowsy.
"Kuroko saw you leave and wanted to chase after you, but he got caught up in something, so I came instead." I frown slightly.
"Kagami?" The covers over my head can't muffle my surprise. "You followed me?"
"Yeah. I did." He says. "Are you feeling okay?"
"Fine." I squeak. "Daiki will probably be back soon. I'm fine."
"Why were you running?" I close my eyes.
"Doesn't matter." I murmur. "It's fine." Don't you dare let me down, Alex! I don't want to be alone, but I also don't want a near-stranger staying in my apartment.
"Oi, Alex, you left your front door open!" Daiki calls, more than likely coming in and shutting the door simultaneously. When I don't answer, Daiki's footsteps pause. "Alex?"
"In here." I call, burrowing further until I'm just a burrito of loneliness. The two aces are glaring daggers at each other as my head pops out of the top of my tunnel of cozy. "Daiki, meet Kagami Taiga. He plays for Seirin. Kagami, this is-"
"Aomine Daiki." Daiki finishes, practically purring his name. "What are you doing here?"
"Kuroko saw her run and had me go after her since he was caught up in something."
"Satsuki." Daiki says with irritation. "How was the practice match?" This question is directed at me.
"Horrible." I say, burrowing until my head is no longer visible.
"Oh?"
"We won." I say quietly. "We won and it was horrible. The looks on their faces... they didn't even fight it! They sat there and took it and gave up! That wasn't a game... that could never be a game..." I shudder. "When was the last time we played in a game? A real one?"
Daiki doesn't answer. Instead, he nearly kicks Kagami out of the apartment with a message for Kuroko and sighs. "Do you see? There's no use practicing when all you do is get stronger. Nobody's going to fill the gap, Alex. It's already impossible." I close my eyes tightly.
"I just want to compete. I haven't played a real game since I got here." I pop my head out in time to catch a strange expression crossing Daiki's face. "You were right, Daiki. You were right and I really wish you weren't. I wish you were wrong. I wish you were so wrong that I was shocked."
"Yeah." Daiki says. "I wish I was wrong, too." We sit in silence for a while. "Isn't your blanket suffocating you?" He finally asks.
"Yes." I reply sheepishly. "But it's so warm!" Daiki tears off my blanket in an effort to keep me from completely suffocating. I gasp for air. "I'm hungry." I say, trying to breach the tense silence. "Daiki, make me foooood!"
"No." He says flatly, blue eyes smirking. "Make it yourself, lazy."
"But Daiki!" I whine, "I'm hungry!"
"Sucks to be you." He snickers unsympathetically. I roll out of bed, barely managing to skirt around the tall boy. I punch his arm halfheartedly.
"Nobody ever makes me food." I grumble. "You don't get any if I make it." Daiki's eyes widen momentarily before he smirks again. He knows me well enough to realize I always give him my food after an intense round of pleads and promised favors.
I offer him a slight smile before stepping forward and nearly falling. I grab the doorframe immediately to try saving my face from crashing into the floor. "She made you use the Zone today?" Daiki hisses, pulling me upright.
"It's not like she knows the consequences." I reply testily. My legs wobble. "I never did tell her."
"Akashi never let you use the Zone for long periods of time. Just how long were you in it?" I attempt to wriggle free of the bluenette's gaze. It's nearly viselike, and sharper than any blade.
"Maybe half a game?" I reply. "I lose track of time easily." Daiki groans and smacks the back of my head, which sends me teetering and him into a fit of apologies.
"Sit down." Daiki says in irritation. I place myself on the couch, listening to him grumble in the kitchen.
I like listening to the sounds of Daiki working. It's actually comforting. It reminds me that I'm not alone here. I doze off for a long time, sometimes caught between sleep and wakefulness.
"Oi, baka..." he sits next to me. "I'm done. Let's eat." I give a hum in response, trying to tell him I'll get up in a minute. "Geez, sometimes I wonder how you ever took care of yourself in middle school." I snort slightly and pull myself into awareness.
"Fooood." I groan, stretching as much as my stiff limbs will let me. "Thanks, Daiki." We eat in silence, something slightly unusual for the two of us. I'm too tired to start up any sort of conversation, and Daiki looks deep in thought.
"I don't know when my parents will let me back in..." he says suddenly, startling me out of my mindless actions. I give him my full attention. "I know this place isn't really meant for two people, and I don't want to inconvenience you." I frown considerably.
"Daiki, I don't mind you staying here. Actually, I like it. A lot. It's like I finally have someone to go home to." Our faces turn red and we both look away.
"Idiot. Don't say embarrassing things like that!" Daiki says. I go back to eating. "But it's not like I don't understand what you mean."
"I like it when you stay here." I say quietly. My face burns red afterward, but I don't retract my statement. I go back to eating my food in silence. My phone explodes into life beside me, making me nearly fall out of my chair.
"Hello?" I answer, irritation dripping from my words.
"Ah, Hai-chan! I ran into your brother today!" I freeze, gripping my chopsticks a little too tightly in my left hand. "He was on his way to the airport with your parents. He said to tell you something, but he said it in English and I don't understand it."
Daiki gives me a strange glance as my teeth audibly grind against each other. "Go ahead and tell me what it is."
"You're never coming home."