ANOTHER apology for not updating in two weeks! And this is just a heads up for my other updates: I may not be updating much as of now because I'm working on another story (not a fanfiction) that's going to be due in about a month and I'll need most of my time to work on that. So most of my spare time will be devoted to that story, but I'll also try to get this one updated as well. Thanks for waiting!

Thank you, RunoandAkizafan, katzike123, Star, DawnBerlitz, JazzGirl123, shadowwing1994, pokemonlover417, mini99, krisan, and cocoacharm15, for reviewing.

Again, sorry for any grammatical mistakes.

Monday, during practice…

"Dan?" asked Coach Harben.

"Here."

"Runo?"

"Here."

"Fabia?"

"Here."

"Billy?"

"Yo."

"Chan-Lee."

"Here."

"Joe."

"Here."

"Shun."

"Hn."

"Alice?"

"Not here," everyone said at the same time.

"That's strange," said Fabia. "I talked to her over the weekend. She said she recovered from her cold."

"Yeah, I saw her during school," added Joe.

"Then why wasn't she with us during lunch?" asked Billy.

"She said she had some work to catch up with," replied Chan. "I know because we're both in the same class before lunch and as we were walking outside she told me she needed to stay behind in the classroom to work."

"But if she didn't come to practice…" started Dan.

"Then maybe…she did quit basketball after all," whispered Runo, afraid of what she had just said.

"NO!" Shun shouted suddenly. "She didn't quit! She…she can't quit…"

"Shun…" said Dan.

"I don't know, Shun," said Coach Harben. "She hasn't been coming to practices lately…"

"But that's because she was sick!" protested Shun.

"She's not today," remarked Coach Harben. "You heard Fabia and Chan-Lee. She's whole and healthy."

"Yeah, I heard Chan, isn't she the one who said that Alice needed to catch up on school work?" asked Shun.

Coach Harben frowned. "Our next game is this Thursday. If she doesn't show up, then she's off the team. I trust that you will tell her about this?"

The brawlers nodded.

"Good," said Coach Harben. "Now go-"

But before he could even finish his order, the Brawlers already started running around the court after being so used to their coach's commands.

Monday passed quickly…so did Tuesday and Wednesday. Although Alice showed up for school, she was never there during lunch nor practice.

When Thursday came, the usual energy of the Brawlers was now low. Instead of chatting excitedly about the game, or in Dan's case, bragging about how they were going to cream the other team, the whole table was quiet.

"Well…this is awkward," said Julie.

"Is Alice still catching up on work?" asked Runo.

"No," answered Chan. "She said she wanted to eat alone to allow her to think."

"Think? About what?" asked Jake.

Chan shrugged. "Beats me."

Dan sighed and looked towards Shun who was merely staring at his tray. "Are you gonna eat that?"

"Take it," replied Shun, pushing his tray towards Dan.

"Dude, you're not gonna eat? Don't you need food for today's game?" asked Dan, pushing the tray back to his best friend.

"What's the point?" asked Shun. "I may not even be at the game."

"WHAT!" exclaimed all the Brawlers.

"But…but why not?" asked Joe.

"If Alice isn't playing, then I'm not," replied Shun. "I mean, she was the only reason I signed up in the first place."

The table grew silent again, until Dan let out an angry yell, took and apple from his tray, and chucked it towards Shun, who, of course, managed to catch it, but still got angry at his best friend's actions and stood up from the table. "What the hell was that for?"

"For your attitude!" exclaimed Dan, standing up as well. "And I thought I had a pretty bad attitude, but man, yours is even worse!"

"Say what!"

"Look Shun, you may have signed up only because Alice did, but you made a commitment to stay on the team. You back out now…well, I'll tell you one thing: Alice is not going to like it. Plus, she's gonna feel even guiltier because she'll think that SHE was the one who made you quit. You wanna put her under more stress, Shun?"

Shun made a "humph" as the bell rang and began packing up quickly without a word. In a second, he had thrown away his tray, uneaten, gathered all of his books and papers, and disappeared from the table.

"Way to go, Dan," said Runo, sarcastically.

"But it's true…" replied Dan. "C'mon let's get to class."

~Basketball Brawlers~

To those in basketball, you are excused to go to the bus stop for your game. Good luck!

Dan sighed as the principal finished her announcement over the loudspeaker and slowly gathered up his things.

"Are you okay, Dan?" asked Drago.

"Why are you asking?"

"Usually you're excited when you get to leave class early."

Dan shrugged and looked over towards Runo who nodded, indicating that she was ready to go. The two waved good-bye to Julie and set off towards the locker rooms to change.

When they both walked towards the bus stop together, they were surprised to see only Fabia.

"Whoa, where's Shun and Alice?" asked Runo.

"They're usually the first people to get ready, besides you," added Dan.

Fabia shrugged. "Well, concerning Alice…what if…I mean…I wish she didn't but…"

"Don't tell me…" said Runo.

"She's not gonna…" said Dan.

Fabia sighed. "As much as we hate it, it was her choice to leave the team and as her friends we should respect her choice."

Runo and Dan glanced at each other and shrugged.

"And about Shun," started Fabia, "He's…HERE!"

"Eh?" asked Dan and Runo as they turned around to find the stoic boy walking coolly towards them.

"Dude!" exclaimed Dan. "You made it-"

"I'm not doing this for you," interrupted Shun, expressionlessly, "or even the team. I'm doing for Alice; I don't want her to have any more troubles."

"Calm down, Dan," warned Drago as Dan growled at his best friend. But just then, the rest of the brawlers and Coach Harben walked towards them.

"Everyone here?" asked Coach Harben.

"Except for Alice," said Fabia, sadly.

Shun sighed and closed his eyes, waiting for his coach's response.

"Well then…" started Coach Harben. "Like I said before, if she wouldn't show up for today's game, then she is off the team. All right, I'm gonna need to cross out her name from this list-oh wait, the bus is here. Let's board and then we can discuss this later."

Shun was the last to get on the bus. Everyone had chosen their same partners to sit with them from the last game, but this time, Shun sat alone since Alice didn't wasn't there.

He watched with horror as Coach Harben rummaged through his bag for a pen while clutching his clipboard with the Brawlers' names on them. Well…this is it then, thought Shun as Coach Harben found a pen and raised it towards the clipboard, directly in front of Alice's name. He's crossing out her name…she really is dropping out of the team…

As the bus started to move, Shun tore his eyes away from Coach Harben and looked out of the window at the school. Suddenly, something caught his eye and he immediately yelled to the driver, "STOP!"

The driver slammed the brakes and Coach Harben was thrown forward, losing his grip on the pen and making it fly away to who-knows-where. He angrily glared at Shun and was about to yell at him for causing the driver trouble, but Shun merely pointed outside the window and said, "It's Alice."

The Brawlers crowded over the windows to see Alice running quickly towards the bus. Coach Harben signaled the driver to open the doors and Alice dashed inside, sweating and panting like crazy.

The whole bus exploded with cheers and laughter and sayings of "Alice, welcome back!"

Only when the driver got pissed and shouted at everyone to shut up did the Brawlers calmed down.

"Now that you're quiet," started Coach Harben. "Has anyone seen my pen?"

Everyone shook their heads.

"Well…I don't think it matters anyway," said Coach Harben, smiling. "I won't need to cross out Alice's name anymore. Are you up for today's game, Alice?"

"Yes!" Alice exclaimed.

"Good," replied Coach Harben, sitting back down on his chair as Alice sat down next to Shun.

"So…uh…what took you?" asked Shun.

"Uhm…" started Alice, "Well you see…I wasn't sure if I wanted to come…but Hydranoid made me realize that..."

"That the whole team needs you?" asked Skyress, popping up on Shun's shoulder.

"You could say that," said Hydranoid, appearing on Alice's shoulder as well.

Shun smiled. "I'm glad you came back."

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