Rewatching the Taiwanese Drama "Down with Love." Sounds weird in English I suppose but it really is a good drama. :3 Ella from S.H.E. is a really good actress.

Please R/R (T_T)

Please? :)

Chapter 14 - I'll tell you two things (and some musings)

Both Seirin and Shinkyo Academy began preparing for the first match. Making their final stretches, they began to walk to the half-court line.

"Wait a second," Riko pulled the back of Hazuki's jersey. "You're not starting first today."

"Eh?" Hazuki asked, feeling a little put-off. "Why?"

"I want you to practice your observing skills today on the bench," she explained. "Although thinking in the heat of the moment during matches is important, but I'd like you to help me when you're on the bench in deciding tactics."

"Oh..." Hazuki scratched her head. "Okay."

Riko patted her head. "Don't be impatient, your time will come."

"Let the game between Seirin High and Shinkyo Academy begin!" The referee announced, holding the basketball ready for tipoff.

"Let's play a good game!" All starters chorused.

Papa looked at Seirin doubtfully. "All the opponents today are so small... do the Japanese eat proper meals? There was even a kid on the bench..."

"I am not a kid," Kuroko deadpanned.

"Whoa, WHAT?" Papa jumped. "You're a starter?!"

Hyuuga facepalmed. Is every match going to be like this? Well... it doesn't matter right now. Because it's—

"TIPOFF!" The referee threw the ball between Kagami and Papa.

Papa snatched the ball away from Kagami into Shinkyo's possession.

I can't believe it, Hyuuga thought. He lost in height!

Kagami tried to guard Papa as best as he could, but Papa's height allowed him to shoot easily over him.

"The first points goes to Shinkyo Academy!"

"It doesn't matter," Hyuuga yelled, receiving the pass from Izuki. "The next points are ours!"

He shot a three-pointer at the hoop.

"It's not going to go in is it?" Hazuki asked Riko.

Riko bit her lip. "Hyuuga-kun isn't being aware enough of his surroundings!"

Papa jumped and caught the ball.

He can reach it from that far!? Hyuuga gaped.

"Having a foreigner as a player is really unfair," Furihata muttered to the other freshman.

"It's not against the rules is it?" Hazuki asked curiously. She had never really thought about this kind of thing.

"No," Riko answered. "You can have up to two on your team."

"I would have thought that me being here is more of a rule-breaking like thing though," Hazuki said sheepishly. "And Kagami-kun has been in America for a long time, so that's sort of an unfair advantage as well isn't it?"

The freshman looked at each other a little embarrassedly.

Shinkyou's captain snorted at Hyuuga. "Are you guys one of those hard working teams?"

"What?" Hyuuga raised an eyebrow.

"We see a lot of those... guys saying it's not fair to have a foreign player. It's not against the rules." he smirked. "What's wrong with inviting a strong guy? It makes things easier. We just have to get the ball to this guy. Is winning easily such a wrong thing?"

"I don't know if it's easy for you or not," Hyuuga shrugged. "But well, if that's your policy, you won't complain right? We've got crazy guys on our team too."

"Well... we didn't invite them though," he looked at the other side of the court.

Mitobe gave Kagami one of his long worried looks.

"I'm alright, I really am!...Desu..." Kagami muttered.

Kagami's demeanor seems to have changed a bit, Hazuki pondered with interest. The game starts now...!

The ball bounced off from the hoop. Papa stared at the basket in shock.

"Dad missed?" Kawahara gaped.

"REBOUND!" Riko yelled to the players.

Mitobe caught the ball and hurled it to Izuki.

"Ghh..." Papa gritted his teeth.

His accuracy is dropping? Shinkyou's captain thought. Why?

"We won't let you score this easily," Riko grinned. "Because Kagami-kun won't let Dad play how he wants!"

"Won't let him play?" Fukuda asked.

"So that's what Mitobe-senpai was teaching him," Hazuki said. "Oh, I see."

See what?! The freshman thought.

"Mitobe-kun was teaching Kagami how to defend a player taller than you," Riko explained. "Blocking isn't the only way to make someone miss. As long as you put pressure in someone's comfortable area of shooting, they won't be able to shoot properly."

I won't let you do what you want! Kagami thought, using his arms to hinder Papa's shots.

"None of them have gone in for a while," a spectator snorted.

"He can't make any shots," another scoffed from the stands. "This foreigner's no big deal."

Shut your months, Shinkyou's captain glared. The pressure on the court is overwhelming! That number 10 can almost block him with those jumps. The intensity of his focus could practically kill someone!

"What's your problem?!" Papa growled.

His shot bounced off the rim of the hoop again.

"Looks like they don't need me today," Hazuki said a little mournfully.

"What the hell?!" Papa muttered. "It's pissing me off!"

"Don't let it get to you. He's not blocking the shots." Shinkyou's captain said. "DEFENSE!"

This kind of defending is annoying me too! Kagami's forehead sprouted a tick mark. I won't be satisfied unless I defeat him directly!

"Hey!" Kagami told Papa. "I want to let you know two things. The first is that I'm going to block one of your shots in this game!"

"That's impossible," Papa retorted. "I won't lose to a team with a kid as a player!"

Izuki hurled the ball in the middle of the both of them. Papa smirked as he reached for a steal from Seirin.

"The other thing is that..." Kagami grinned. Kuroko blocked the ball from Papa and redirected it back to Kagami. He dunked it into the basket.

"This kid might give you some trouble!" He laughed.

Kuroko's eye twitched. "...Could you please stop calling me a kid?"

"Kagami-kun might be stabbed in the armpit again because of that," Hazuki told the other solemnly, recalling the Kaijou match.

"...Huh?" Riko asked, bewildered.

Short chapter. I know.

Will Hazuki play? Hrm...