"Tell me again, why are we at the beach?" Jo muttered as she tugged on her shirt. Meyer was walking along beside her, adjusting how her hat was sitting as she gazed up to the sun. She wasn't fond of the heat so much but didn't mind going to the beach. Jo on the other hand didn't like going to places that were bustling with people, she felt too self conscious of her towering height. Often she found herself slouching down to try and hide her height. Shira, on the other hand, was having the time of her life.
She was waltzing ahead, a shere, sleeveless white shirt protecting her back. Her bikini was bright blue and she had discarded her shorts almost as soon as they had jumped out of the car. her hair had been recently coloured into a light, bleached blonde (they all knew soon it would be some new ridiculous colour) and woven into a plait that wrapped around the back of her head in a spiral. Shira was grinning from ear to ear, chatting happily to Takami who had been roped into walking beside her.
"Because we have been refusing to come here for a while now and Shira has been begging us," Meyer replied simply. It had been two weeks since they had met Kagami and Kuroko at Maji Burger and played Aomine at the court. Meyer hadn't mentioned anything more about Seirin and Jo was too tired of trying to understand her to ask her anything else. They had been training nonetheless, continuously meeting up even though it was their summer holidays and Shira had been begging them relentlessly to enjoy a day at the beach instead of chasing after the ball on the court. Meyer readjusted the bag on her shoulder, looking around the beach for a spot for them to relax. Jo had to admit, the break from playing basketball was welcomed, she just wished that he hadn't trailed along with them.
Kazuki was trailing behind Jo and Meyer, walking inbetween Saka and Ishimura. Kazuki and Ishimura were in the middle of a heated debate, talking low and occasionally attempting to draw Saka into the conversation. Each time they did so, Saka's ears grew a shade redder. Ishimura looked strange, she was carrying a skimboard on her shoulders, wedged between the back of her head and her arms with the tips of her fingers peeking over the edge of the board. Why she didn't carry the damn thing like a normal person who knows. Jo didn't mind Kazuki most of the time, but she was always unsure of the circumstances as to why he was hanging around.
"Hey, is that..."
"KAGAMI-SAN!" Jo and Meyer snapped their heads up when they heard Shira shout loudly. She disappeared in a flurry of sand kicking up behind her as she bolted towards a group of people playing basketball on the sand.
"SHIRA GET BACK HERE!" Takami shouted, taking off after Shira. Jo glanced to Meyer, who sighed and shrugged, before the pair started running after Shira as well. Meyer could hear the trio stop arguing and follow them as well. Meyer pumped her legs, quickly leaving Jo behind and passing Takami. By the time she managed to reach Shira, it was too late to chastise her for disrupting a training session because there was someone getting irritated with Shira already.
The teen had short brown hair and was angrily snapping that Shira had completely disrupted a serious training session, that she should have waited for them to be done before coming over and that the players would not be please. Meyer, although she did not want to admit it, couldn't help but notice none of the players seemed to mind Shira standing before them in a bikini. She wasn't small in the chest area. Meyer was about to say something, agree with the teen that Shira was an idiot, before the stranger turned to her.
"You too, you shouldn't be here either. This is a training session for Seirin and you have disrupted their play!" Meyer shifted her eyes upon hearing Seirin. Although Kagami, as Shira had so loudly pointed out before, was standing there looking slightly confused, she hadn't been certain if it was the Seirin team or something extra that Kagami was a part of. "Are you even listening to me or are you..."
"Teppei," Meyer called, interrupting the searching for the brown haired boy. There was a shuffling before she saw him, he was beaming when he caught her eye and walked right up to her. She tried to jumped back but she was too late as his arms wrapped around her, picking her off the ground.
"Tori," he chuckled, shaking her slightly before letting her drop to the ground. Meyer growled up at him, narrowing her eyes before dusting herself off.
"I told you not to do that anymore."
"Sorry, sorry, I'm just pleased to see you!" Kiyoshi beamed happily. Meyer wanted to stay irritated with him but when he was smiling like there was a light shining out of his ass it was hard to stay mad. She rocked her shoulders back, letting out a huff and trying to hide her smile.
"Yeah well, good to see you up and around," Meyer mumbled under her breath before turning back to the girl who had been growling at her just moments before. She was now staring at Meyer with her mouth hanging open slightly, whether because of Kiyoshi's greet to Meyer or because Meyer had cut her off before she finished yelling at her. "I'm sorry about Shira, she's not exactly the most considerate of people."
"Sounds like her captain." It was clear that Meyer wasn't meant to hear his comment, because when her head jerked so she was looking straight at him Kagami's cheeks flushed and he stepped back from her glare. She was about to snap at Kagami and tell him off when Shira put her hand on Meyer's shoulder, shaking her head.
"Meyer's right, I didn't realise it was a training session," Shira's hand tightened on Meyer's shoulder as she flashed a dazzling smile, "so why not let us help train them? We could play a game!"
"I, uh, that's."
"Sounds like fun," Kiyoshi smiled but Meyer was shaking her head furiously. She elbowed Shira back as her eyes flicked to Kiyoshi before returning to the girl.
"We're not here to train. We're here to..."
"Have fun and what's more fun that basketball?" Shira cheered as she raised both hands in the air. She glanced back to Seirin, her eyes sparkling but Meyer was still shaking her head. Pulling the bag from her shoulder, she let it drop to the ground and Shira's towel spilled from the inside.
"If you want to play, fine, play," Meyer muttered before turning on her heel and stomping off towards the kiosk. Kazuki jumped out of her way, looking like he was going to follow after her but he didn't get the chance. Kiyoshi jogged lightly before falling into step beside Meyer, obviously attempting to talk to her. Jo frowned, certain that her friend had never mentioned that boy to her before.
"So, do we play?" Shira questioned, looking to Jo for confirmation. Jo looked back, shrugging her shoulder before she collapsed into a sit beside the mock court in the sand. Saka followed her lead promptly, her hair covering her face as she flushed a bright red. She was definitely not accustomed to being near such a group of sweaty, fit young men and she was starting to over heat a bit.
"Play all you want Shira, but I don't feel like it. I'll just watch"
"Dude, it's the beach. Water," Ishimura whined as she dug the nose of her skimboard into the sand. Takami looked between Ishimura and Shira, down to Jo before glancing to where Meyer had stormed off. She shrugged her shoulders, pulling her hat from her head and fanning herself for half a moment.
"I'll play, but only if we're allowed," Takami pointedly nodded towards the teen who was now standing flustered and looking slightly irritated. She was glaring at Kiyoshi's back, but there was something in her eyes that was more worry than anything else. She looked back to Takami, then to someone in the team.
"What do you think Hyuuga? Mix teams?" she asked. One of the players scratched his jaw, biting his lip. Takami tilted her head, looking him up and down. He was fit, as most of the basketballers were, and quite lean especially standing near Kagami. He wasn't overly tall like Kagami or Kiyoshi, but he was definitely taller than Meyer and perhaps the same height as herself. What she was most interested in though was his arms. Her eyes narrowed as she scrutinized him.
"I don't see a problem with it, as long as it's okay with you Coach," he replied, moving his glasses up his nose slightly.
"If we are going to play, I would appreciate Seirin playing Iwozuka." Takami let out a small shriek and jumped to the right, spinning in the air when someone spoke from her immediate left. She hadn't noticed anyone had walked up to her but she wasn't surprised when she saw it was Kuroko Tetsuya. She hadn't been privileged to meet him at Maji like Shira, Ishimura and Meyer, and she resigned to the knowledge that she probably hadn't given him the best of first impressions.
"Sounds like fun, I want to play them too," Kagami interjected, his eyes narrowing in on the now small figure of Meyer in the distance. Takami tilted her head to the side, looking to his legs. He appeared to be feeling much better than his game against Touou, but she wasn't completely sure if he was back to one hundred percent. Her eyes shifted to their coach. If he was here training then he must be better.
"The one you want to play just trotted off with your centre," Jo replied, pointing to Meyer and Kiyoshi with her thumb.
"Look, are you going to play or not? Because if you're not then we should go," Kazuki snapped. Jo looked over her shoulder with an icy glare, causing Saka to shrink down and Kazuki to step back twice. He raised his hands to show he meant no harm, but Ishimura let out a groan and stepped forward.
"Just get up Jo, first to fifteen should be easy enough."
"Wait, we can play two games. One mix, then one with Seirin versing us!" Shira cheered and Ishimura started reaching for her skimboard. Jo rocked backwards onto her back, placing her hands beside her shoulders before rocking forward, kicking herself into a stand. She may have also flicked sand back towards Kazuki, but it was completely by accident.
"This isn't our training, you have to check with, ah..." Jo trailed off as she realised that she hadn't caught the name of the Coach. Let alone any of the players who were now staring at her with slightly open mouths. She realised she was standing completely straight up compared to how she had been hunched before and she felt herself feel slightly self conscious.
"Aida Riko, and I as long as the team doesn't have a complaint then two sets of fifteen point games should be no problem."
"The problem's going to be the passing," Ishimura muttered under her breath, rubbing her temples. Shira looked like she was about ready to snap at all of her team mates as her leg started bouncing lightly. She was itching to do something and since the idea of basketball had entered her mind it was all she could think about.
"Nice to meet you Miss Aida-San," Shira waved her hand happily, "I'm Shira Tamiko. The giant is Jo Kida, the grumpy one is Ishimura Yuki, the silent one is Saka Kiko and the girl who has been looking your players up and down for the past few minutes is Takami Annaisha. Oh, that's Kazu-Kun, but he's not important."
"I'm only two inches taller than you."
"I'm only grumpy because you piss me off."
"You're the perverted one Shira."
"You make me feel warm and fuzzy when you call me unimportant." Shira ignored the comments that she recieved in return, looking to the Seiring boys expectantly. Kagami clicked his tongue, unimpressed and the rest looked slightly unsure of how to continue, or who should continue.
"I am Hyuuga Junpei, captain and..."
"The shooting guard of Seirin. Prefers right hand shots," Takami interrupted, her head still tilted to the side. Hyuuga made a strangled noise as he looked to Takami, his eyes growing wide as if he could not comprehend that she had picked his place straight away.
"H-how do you know?"
"Your right arm is slightly more muscular than your left, and your fingers are the tiniest bit thicker, and we attended almost all of your games."
"That's brilliant Takami, next you'll be telling us that his-" Ishimura didn't get a chance to finish because Jo smacked the back of her head.
"Don't be fooled by her sarcastic demeanour, she dragged us there," Jo commented. Ishimura's mouth fell open with a loud pop and she turned to her friend, glaring outright. Raising one finger and pointing at her angrily, Ishimura narrowed her eyes.
"Hey, you were the one who always detoured to make sure Saka would be able to come!"
"You were the one who threw a tantrum when they lost to Touou."
"Stay outta this Takami!"
"And then threw a tantrum when we played with Aomine."
"Shut up Shira."
"Wait, you played against Touou?" Kagami cut into their arguement, waving his hands to get their attention. Shira shook her head, pointing to Ishimura and cracking a very sly grin. Ishimura looked like she was about pick up her skim board and hit Shira over the head with it, so much so that Jo pushed her forward and stepped in front of the possible weapon.
"No, we played with Aomine. He was playing with me and Yuki-Chan when Takami scored. She blew a casket and called him a dumbass, ending the game." Shira grabbed Kagami's collar and pulled him in closer to her, making her eyes grow wide as she stared at Ishimura. Then, in a low whisper as if she were revealing the biggest secret in the universe, "she also stole your hamburger."
"You guys managed to score against Aomine and - wait you stole my hamburger?"
"Details that are unimportant, come on we're dragging feet, let's play. I'm captain and I choose Kuroko!" Ishimura shouted hastily, grabbing the bluenette's wrist and wrenching his arm high into the air (but not enough so that he was hurt). He looked genuinely surprised that she had chosen him straight away, and he was flattered if anyone could see the slight change in his expression.
"Fine, I'm the other captain and I choose Kagami-San!" Shira shouted in return, tightening her grip on his collar as if to threaten Ishimura away. Jo looked between the two, knowing that soon their glare against one another would start a fire, before glancing over to Aida.
"I'm going to apologise before hand."
...
The teams ended up being Ishimura, Kuroko, Takami, Saka and Mitobe against Shira, Kagami, Hyuuga, Izuki and Jo. Kazuki was more than happy to volunteer as referee, allowing Aida to watch the boys play against one another with new team mates. Ishimura grimaced slightly as she saw Mitobe try and match up to the towering figure that was Jo. Although before she had been apathetic about playing in the game, she looked completely in her element as Kazuki held the ball between them.
"Both teams ready yeah?" He mumbled, Aida's whistle (Kazuki promised to buy her a new one afterwards if she was grossed out about using it again) muffling some of the words. Shira gave a cheerful 'yeah' whilst Ishimura just nodded. Mitobe looked very slightly taken aback by Jo, but there was determination in his eyes nonetheless.
"Play ball!" Shira cheered happily as Kazuki blew his whistle, throwing the ball into the air. The English words rolled around in Kagami's head as his eyes narrowed in on Shira. He didn't often hear English spoken so clearly and he was momentarily distracted because of it. He was brought back to the game however when he heard the sound of flesh smacking hard against leather. He looked up to see that Jo had already gained the upper hand and the ball was flying straight for Izuki. Just before the leather sphere managed to be gripped in his hands however, Saka lunged forward, striking the ball with an open palm and sending it straight for Kuroko.
The bluenette was caught off guard by the ball suddenly coming towards him. Kagami would have thought it was funny that his friend had been caught off guard by a moved that mirrored one of his own, if Kuroko hadn't looked so startled. His hands were too slow to bring up to his face, but right before the ball hit him on the nose, Shira lunged forward. Her fingers pulled the leather ball towards her and she was leaping into the air.
"Jo, get us a three pointer!" Shira grinned, passing the ball through the air with a surprising amount of speed. Kagami watched as the ball soared, Takami just missing the interception by mere millimetres before the sphere was gripped tight by Jo. She jumped into the air, her eyes narrowing at the hoop at the end of the court and grimaced slightly. Bringing her arm back she sent it forward, adding power and losing in accuracy.
Ishimura and Saka seemed to already know what was happening as they both ran as fast as they could through the sand, but they were too late. As soon as Shira's feet had touched the ground she had turned and sprinted towards the hoop. Kagami could only watch, a small lump in his throat as Shira jumped, somehow finding enough grip in the sand to propel herself up and catch the ball as it bounced off the backboard, slamming it into the hoop.
"It's not a three pointer!" Ishimura snapped with the tiniest hint of a grin but Shira just beamed, giving her team mate the thumbs up. Jo shook her head in reply, rubbing her shoulder and looking down to Kagami.
"Wipe the impressed look off your face, she'll never let it go," Jo warned. Kagami shook his head, before looking back to Shira and Takami jogging back. Kazuki had been right when he said the girls didn't need a game plan. There was no way that Jo could have planned having Saka intercept her hit and Saka had been expecting Kuroko to catch the ball, if the look on her face was anything.
Ishimura was standing under the goals, her eyes narrowed as she tilted her head. If Meyer was playing then she would just pass her the ball straight away, let her ditch it halfway down the court, but that wouldn't have worked anyway. Shira was against them, and she damn well had the two people that could accomplish a dunk on her team. Ishimura groaned as she dug her toes into the sand. The landscape was her biggest problem, although Shira wouldn't be dunking again. Ishimura saw how much of a struggle it was for her to get off the ground on that first jump, and she'd used all her power. Jo was still a problem though, there wasn't much difference between her and the hoop.
"Are we allowed time outs to talk to our team?" Ishimura tried but Kazuki shook his head.
"It's a fifteen point match, no point. Just pass the damn thing."
"Don't get cranky because we're better than you," Ishimura muttered in reply before pushing the ball forward. She was aiming for Kuroko but as soon as the ball left her hands she realised that it was probably going to be a mistake. She had mentioned it herself earlier, that this was going to be a problem, at least in the mix teams. The boys had no way of knowing where the girls were going to pass.