Hidden Beauty

Basket Five: Lunch in the Gym

Two train stops and a whole lot of walking later, Kuro arrived at school. 'It's already so tiring just to get here.' She complained to herself with a pout, walking into the large school building. She was still ten minutes early, so she settled for shoving her duffel bag inside her small locker at the front of the school. Kuro slowly walked to her homeroom with her textbook, binder and pen in her hands.

Kuro found herself humming the same tune she heard her mother humming yesterday, but thought nothing of it and stopped when she passed by the gym. Staring at the large doors, she remembered the horde of girls that always crowded in front of here, begging and whining for Kise's attention.

Pssh, if only they knew.

Kuro chuckled darkly as she cracked her knuckles, the urge to punch that stupid model's face growing. If only he could tell his beloved fangirls to stop making a scene and causing a ruckus, then maybe Kuro would play nice. In the midst of her glowering, she almost didn't hear the warning bell. She began to make her way to class, not wanting to be late.

Four classes later, it was now lunch time. Kuro gratefully left with her bento box in hand. She did not know if she was supposed to just do whatever during the lunch break, or if she was supposed to go to the gym and do anything special, like practice...

If only she had not been too excited yesterday, she could have asked... Kuro shrugged, 'Oh well, I can go ask now.' The girl disguised as a boy thought as she made her way towards the gym, wondering if she could find Kasamatsu there.

Like she thought, he was there (with a few others) sitting and eating his food. She spotted Kise, who appeared to be so absorbed in his food; he did not even notice her. 'What if he recognizes me from last night? Then I'll be in deep trouble...' Kuro thought, turning so she could make a quick escape, thinking that she'll just ask after school.

"Oi, Yasuhiro!" Kuro froze, slowly turning around. 'Captain, why?!' "Y- Yes?" Kuro asked in a grumble, tapping her bento box against her leg almost impatiently.

"Why don't you come eat with us?" Kasamatsu motioned Kuro over. 'Never!' "Alright..." Kuro inched over slowly, sliding into a sitting position. 'Might as well ask and just get it over with.'

"Umm, so, what am I supposed to do during lunch?" Kuro asked, opening her bento.

"Hm? Oh, it doesn't matter. Usually we all just come and eat in here. Sometimes we play during the remainder of our lunch period. On another note, I'm having another match but I'd like you to stay and observe." Kasamatsu demanded, nodding to the court.

"Ah, easy enough." Kuro smirked, popping an octopus wiener in her mouth.

"By the way, might as well introduce yourself to the others." Kasamatsu ordered as he closed his bento. Not even a moment later he began stretching.

"Right, I'm Yasuhiro Kuro. I'm a first year and I previously attended Seika High." Kuro bowed her head, stuffing rice inside her mouth.

"I'm Kouji Kobori and I play Center. This is Mitsuhiro Hayakawa and he plays the Power Forward. This guy is Yoshitaka Moriyama, he's our shooting guard. And Kise Ryouta, our Ace and Small Forward. Finally, at last but not least, Kasamatsu Yukio, he's the Captain and the Point Guard."

"Moriyama-sempai has some competition~!" Kise grinned.

"I won't lose." Moriyama countered, "I'll work hard for all the pretty ladies in the crowd!"

"But! They're here for Kise!" Hayakawa yelled, furiously shoving food into his mouth as he talked.

Kuro raised her brow, staring at the four. "Kuro can be the first year shooting guard! We even have a second year shooting guard! His name is Nakamura Shinya!" Kise chuckled, taking another bite from his sandwich. "You're all rivals~!"

'Rivals... huh. I like the sound of that.' Kuro thought, smiling lightly as she stared down at her bento.

After five minutes, the match began. This time, Kasamatsu was in it. Kasamatsu, Kise, Hayakawa, Moriyama, and Kobori were the blue team, whereas Nakamura, and four other second years who Kuro did not know were on the red team.

She put her bento down, wiping her mouth with her sleeve casually, and remembered Kasamatsu's words.

"Remember to watch everyone's movements, trace their every move, every step, every breath, I can guarantee you'll learn something very valuable while watching."

She wondered if Kasamatsu knew her 'skill', but pushed the thought away and focused on the match in front of her, smirking.

By the time the warning bell rang, the game had ended, with Blue's in the lead by 56 - 23, although the second years all put up a very good fight till the end.

They all marched into the locker room, changing back into their uniforms, while Kuro stood by the door and waited. "Ah, Kasamatsu-sempai," Kuro walked up to the Captain as he exited, clad in Kaijou's grey uniform. "I'm pretty sure I did learn a few things; well, maybe more than just a few."

"Good, we're going to be having a practice match in about a week and I'd like to get you trained and ready by then. So, expect a lot of harsh training this week, rookie!" Kasamatsu bellowed, firm smirk in place.

"Sir, yes, sir!" Kuro chuckled, saluting to her captain. 'He really is suited to be Captain.' She thought, before bowing. "I'll see you after school, senpai!" Kuro called, turning to run out of the gym, and get to her class.

After an eventful afternoon, school was now over. Kuro almost forgot about her mental note but quickly found herself in the boy's washroom. It was crowded and she nearly bashed into a wall while trying to direct her gaze elsewhere from the manly urinals.

A couple minutes later, Kuro managed to take the stall at the end. She quickly changed into her street clothes, black shirt nearly hanging from her shoulders.

'Maybe the locker room isn't such a bad idea. Because this is friggin disturbing.' Kuro twitched, walking out of the washroom with an impassive glare. She tamed the flush of embarrassment by the time she reached the gym, eyes scanning the area.

"Oh, there you are." Kuro practically jumped out of her skin, and turned to face the captain. "Wh- what is it, senpai?" Kuro asked, setting her bag down where it wouldn't get it the way.

Kasamatsu looked meaningful for a moment, before looking peeved. Kuro took a step back, his words echoing in her mind. "– Or I'll hit you!" She chuckled awkwardly, eyes set on the floor, the sound of shoes squeaking and basketball's thumping on the ground noisily, the light buzz of voices distracting her from her wrathful sempai.

"Friday." Kasamatsu finally said in a huff.

"Fr- Friday?" Kuro blinked.

"You have till Friday to learn as much as you can from Kise. He'll be your... 'Mentor', if you want to call it that. Because Friday is the day of our practice match." Kuro's eyes widened, nodding as it processed slowly in her mind.

"Here's a list of everything you need to do before you practice with Kise, although you may do it with him."

'D- Do it with him!?' Kuro stepped backwards in shock, immediately blaming her experience in the boys' washroom for her mind going all weird. "O- Okay, senpai." Kuro nodded again, quizzically staring at the piece of paper. 'FIFTY PUSH UP'S!?' She could have sworn her heart stopped beating for a moment once she finished reading everything that was listed.

Despite chapter five being short, it's a real accomplishment for me xD [EDIT: I'll explain, most of the time I don't make it past the first few chapters before starting a different story. OTL But, as you can all see, I managed to complete this story, so thanks for sticking with me to the end!]

~WinterAssassin~