Hey, guys, sorry for not updating for two weeks. I had a little bit of writer's block for this chapter and then when I finally had some ideas and started typing them down. The worst happened: My computer went haywire and I lost all of my fanfic stories…well that was a great loss. But at least I've got them published, so it wasn't that bad…but it kind of delayed this update. So sorry again, and hope you enjoy this chapter.

Of course, thank you, my reviewers: JazzGirl123, RunoandAkizafan, Star, DawnBerlitz, WriterHorse32, katzike123, Hawkgirl230, shadowwing1994, and Runotigrera98.

Many people have been asking me about Ren and I don't blame you guys. It's already been twelve chapters, yet he still hasn't shown up. The only thing I can tell you, is that he WILL show up…eventually. He will, I promise.

Note: This chapter contains a little bit of DanxAlice, as some people my view it. But I view it as just friendship.

Enjoy!

Thursday, during lunch…

"Quit? QUIT! SHE'S GONNA QUIT BASKETBALL!" Runo shouted so loud, the whole cafeteria got quiet and people stared.

Fabia sighed. Alice was right. Runo did have a talent of attracting attention.

Shun shrugged. "That's what she said. Anyways, she's not gonna be at school today. She has a cold and her grandfather told me she's been really depressed."

"What about tomorrow?" asked Joe.

"I don't know. Hopefully she gets better by then," replied Shun.

"This is all your fault," Runo hissed, pointing her finger at Dan. "If you hadn't yelled at her during the game she wouldn't have been feeling so down!"

"Hey, I was going to apologize!" exclaimed Dan, defending himself. "But she's not here, how am I supposed to apologize then, huh?"

"Oh, by the way, I told her you said you were sorry," Shun interrupted.

"Really?" asked Dan, surprised. "What did she say?"

"She said "thank you" and then she moved on saying she was going to quit basketball," replied Shun.

Dan groaned, got up from the table, and walked away.

"Hey, Dan the man, where are you going?" asked Jake.

Runo sighed. "I'll go after him." She got up from the table and ran after Dan.

Dan walked down the hallway but stopped when he recognized the bulletin board on the wall where he had signed up for basketball. Dan frowned, thinking that this whole mess wouldn't have happened if he hadn't signed up and convinced everyone else to join him.

Suddenly he heard footsteps and turned to see Runo running towards him.

"What, come to yell at me some more?" asked Dan as she stopped in front of him.

"Well, actually…" Runo started, but then she closed her mouth. Yelling had been her intention, but she knew it wasn't going to help.

"Yeah…uhm…sorry…" said Runo, looking down. "It's just…I wish Alice would just cheer up. I mean I don't want her to leave the team. We're all in this together."

"I'm sorry too," said Dan.

"For what?"

"For yelling at your best friend. It's my fault, she's been unhappy and it's up to me to fix it."

"Dan-"

"I have to convince her to get back on the team."

"How are you going to do that?"

"I…have no idea…"

Runo facepalmed.

"But I'll think of something."

Runo sighed. "Well, whatever your idea is. I hope it works." Runo turned her back on Dan and started walking back to the cafeteria.

"Me too," said Dan quietly to himself as he watched Runo disappear.

~Basketball Brawlers~

Ding-dong!

"Who's there?" asked Alice's grandfather as he opened the door to reveal Dan.

"Oy, not another one," Alice's grandfather grumbled. "First that ninja boy, and now you. I'm sure your friend who visited yesterday told you Alice has a cold. Now please leave her in peace and let her rest."

"But…but I need to talk to her!" Dan protested.

"That's exactly what the boy last night requested. Alice doesn't need to talk, she just needs to rest."

"This is very important!" exclaimed Dan. "And if she doesn't want to talk, she can just listen."

Alice's grandfather paused, thinking it over. "You have five minutes."

"Thank you," said Dan as he entered the house.

"Where is-"

"Her room is upstairs to the left," said Alice's grandfather, before Dan could even ask.

"Thanks," said Dan as he followed the instructions and found Alice's room.

Dan knocked twice and heard Alice ask from inside the room, "Who is it?"

"Dan."

The door opened to reveal Alice, not as sick as yesterday. Some color had returned to her face but she still looked very tired.

"Look, I know Shun already told you this, but I am so sorry I yelled at you during that last game. It was wrong of me to do so."

Alice smiled. "Thanks, Dan, and if Shun told you about your apology, did he also tell you I was dropping out of the team?"

"Yes, but please don't. We're all in this together, Alice, you can't just quit now."

"But I'm so useless. Every time the ball comes towards me I try to dodge it. What use am I to the team?"

"You may not be the best shooter, nor the fastest runner, but Alice you have great stamina. You can survive through all four quarters; none of us can do that. Well, except maybe Shun, but what do you expect? He's a ninja."

"Well, I'll…I'll think about it," said Alice.

"Your five minutes are over!" exclaimed a voice from downstairs.

"Is that my grandfather?" asked Alice.

"Yeah, took me awhile to convince him to let me talk to you. I gotta go before he gets even angrier at me."

"Bye," said Alice as she watched Dan descend downstairs.

Alice closed the door and lay back down on her bed. Two of her friends had taken the time to visit her and to ask her to come back. She really did wish to come back, but she was afraid of letting the team down. Sure, what Dan had said was true. Alice did have a lot of stamina but what use would it be if all she did was stand there and dodge the ball? Alice groaned and turned off the lights. She would think about it tomorrow.

Again, sorry for any errors. I don't know why, but I always seem to miss a few errors even when I try to proofread it.

Please review!