Hidden Beauty
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Basket Thirty: An Old Acquaintance
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'I guess patience isn't their virtue.' Kuroi thought to herself, her mark, a boy wearing a number 6 jersey, with dark brown hair and coal black eyes, changing directions.
She stayed on his heels, watching his shoulders tense as he caught the ball that was thrown in his direction. 'Now!' She thought, reaching her hand out to knock the ball from his grasp. She smirked, amused by the surprised expression from the boy as she ran off, the sound of the ball smacking repetitively on the ground as Kise came into her vision.
Kuroi stopped, dribbling the ball idly as she scanned the court. 'Would it be best to give the ball to Kise?' She thought, watching the power forward from Kaisei. Making up her mind, she bolted forward and headed straight towards the hoop. She glanced at Kise out of the corner of her eye, making sure he was in position, before stopping. Kaisei's small forward was in front of her, arms up in a guarding motion. Kuroi smiled, and shot the ball anyway.
She knew it wouldn't go in, but then again, that wasn't the point. The ball bounced off the rim and sure enough, Kise was there to get the rebound. The blond dunked it in, the force rattling the backboard, if only for a second.
Kaijou was off to a good start, as they had scored the first point.
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Thirty-four minutes into the game, Kaisei had subbed their shooting guard out. A taller male who had deep black eyes and matching raven black hair stepped into the game. He had slightly tanned skin and wore the number 4 jersey. Anyone could tell that he was devoted to the game as much as they all were, just from his appearance.
Kuroi followed his movements with watchful eyes. 'Why does he look so familiar?' She found herself thinking, before turning to Kobori, who had the ball, and motioned for him to pass to her. Kobori gave a small nod and passed her the ball. Kuroi took it and ran forward, breaking past the new guy, who simply blinked, before running after her.
Kuroi almost felt like laughing, for no reason what-so-ever, but stayed silent. She didn't feel like looking like an idiot in front of a bunch of random people who came to watch the prelims.
She passed the ball to Kasamatsu and fell back towards their hoop. The score was at 47 - 34, with Kaijou in the lead. As much as Kaisei was trying, they just didn't exactly seem that good. Kuroi felt kind of bad for thinking that, but quickly shoved the thought aside when she saw the guy who was just subbed on block Kasamatsu's throw. He hit the ball, which smacked loudly against the ground, before running off with it. Kuroi turned back to Hayakawa and Kobori, who were still by the net. She moved forward, and stopped once she was in front of the guy. He had also stopped, to avoid colliding into her, and just settled for dribbling silently.
'He better not be some sort of secret weapon or anything.' Kuroi thought, frowning. His muscles tensed, and before she knew it, he was gone from sight. 'Eh!?' Kuroi turned around, her eyes frantically scanning the court before spotting him. In the few seconds he disappeared from her sight, he had managed to run towards the basket. Kuroi scowled, and turned on her heel and raced after him. 'I should really watch his legs next time. Even though it looks really weird.' She groaned inwardly, remembering a bad experience she had in grade 5.
Her mark was just in the process of releasing the ball by the time Kuroi caught up to him. 'Okay, now just steal the ball!... Wait, stop!' She cried inwardly, letting out a squeak as she managed to trip over her own two feet and crash straight into the guy. They both tumbled to the ground, and the referee blew his whistle.
"Charging! White - Number 12! Basket counts!" Kuroi blinked, and frowned. 'I think that's my first ever foul... The heck-!' Feeling a hand pushing against her, she peered down, and paled once she realized her mark's hand was pressed against her chest.
"S- Sorry!" She shouted out. She wanted to smack herself; she had forgotten to lower the pitch of her voice, so now she sounded very girly, especially with the way it already came out. She quickly scrambled off the guy, and held her hand out to him.
"It... It's okay." The guy murmured, looking confused as he was heaved up off the ground.
'Holy schnitzel! He knows. He knows. He freaking knows. I'm doomed!' Kuroi's eye twitched, taking a few steps away from her mark.
Kasamatsu came up beside her, his eye twitching. "You shouldn't have been fouled, you clearly tripped." He whispered.
Kuroi gave a small shrug, "The ref doesn't see it that way."
"Plus, he violated you." Kasamatsu deadpanned, making Kuroi flush.
"Shut up. You're just jealous." She huffed, running to catch up with her mark. Kasamatsu stayed behind, as his mark hadn't really moved, and sputtered incoherently.
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Kuroi was happy. The game had ended in no time, and to top it all off, she had actually got the last point, in a buzzer beater. Not that they particularly needed it, as they were ahead by a lot.
The score was 88 - 56. The referee called for the players to line up, and Kuroi jogged up, wiping the sweat that threatened to drip from her forehead. They bowed and turned on their way. Kaijou back to the changing rooms, and Kaisei to their own.
"That was fun." Kuroi randomly said, falling onto the bench with a content sigh. She simply ignored the others who were stripping, finding that she was already used to it.
"Yasuhirocchi, your foul was so funny!" Kise laughed, smile evident on his face. Kuroi paused, and thought back to when she had clumsily tripped over her own two feet.
"Heh, yeah. I think I forgot how to stop for a moment... Then before I knew it, I tripped." She explained, smiling. The others chuckled, and she didn't really mind.
"Eh, you made up for it with that buzzer beater." Moriyama smiled, patting Kuroi's mop of black hair. Kuroi nodded, chuckled darkly.
"Hmm, don't you think that they weren't trying as hard?"
"More like hardly trying at all. But when number 6 switched out for number 4, the big guy seemed like he was the only one into the game." Kasamatsu scoffed, zipping his sweater up.
"The big guy..." Kuroi mumbled. The guy she had collided into. "Wait... big guy. BIG GUY! OH MY GOD, KISE!"
"E- Eh!?"
"IT-... It's him!" Kuroi paused to take a moment to clear her throat.
"Who?"
"The big guy! Remember!? In middle school?"
"Middle school... Wait, are we talking about the guy you crashed into?" Kise blinked, unsure.
"Yes!" She stressed.
"Oh... What about him?" Kuroi smacked her forehead, fighting the urge to shake the blond. "He's the one who challenged everyone from the first-string members! I remember watching, and I felt so bad - 'cause you guys beat him so badly!"
"Eh! I didn't beat anyone up." Kise frowned, trying to remember when exactly Kuroi had claimed this to happen.
"No, you- argh! I meant you beat him in basketball. And then he never showed his face ever again!"
"Oh... Oh. Ooh!"
"There you go." Kuroi sighed, crossing her arms. Kise beamed up at her. "I thought we killed him!" He whined in relief.
"... You aren't that strong, idiot. Don't let it go to your head!" Kasamatsu had literally beat Kuroi to it, and smacked Kise upside the head. The purple eyed girl smiled in amusement, watching Kise whine even more at Kasamatsu, who only yelled back at him.
'I've probably said this before... but, I'm glad I joined Kaijou.' She thought, laughing when Kise had rushed to get up, only to step on his untied shoelace and fall to the ground. Kasamatsu shouted at him to be more careful, or he'll hit him, which was the usual. Of course.
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So wasn't into this chapter ._. But, I managed to push through it, for the sake of... writing? And you awesome readers who've been waiting oh-so-patiently. Speaking of which, sorry I haven't updated this in a while, but I have so many ideas for different stories... and yeah. OTL
And omg. I don't know if half of that was right. Talking about the foul Kuroi got. Basketball is confusing. TuT I'm getting a basketball for my birthday :D Totally gonna try random moves from KnB. *shot*
Also, was it just me, or did anyone else (besides Kuroi and myself) want to smack themselves at Kise's stupidity? xD Not saying he's stupid, but... He was having a blond moment. I'm sorry, I probably just upset a bunch of people... I'm tired. FORGIVE ME! ||OTL
~Love me or Hate me~