Chapter Five

The next day after that incident with Hanamiya I found myself standing in front of the gym, trying desperately to convince myself not to walk in there and cause a scene, but I had decided that I would try and do something about this whole situation so any rational thoughts were being ignored. I pulled the door open and took a step into the gym sealing my fate.

"Hanamiya Makoto!" I called out, using the adrenaline that was coursing through me for empowerment. I must have yelled much louder than I anticipated because all of the players came to a stand still and the entire gym went quiet.

The captain stopped right before taking a shot and turned to look at me, amusement written across his face, "Oh, Butterfly-chan, how nice of you to pay a visit! I was starting to miss seeing that crying face of yours."

"I didn't come to cry this time." I tried to keep confidant and head strong, pretending that him calling me "Butterfly-chan" didn't faze me.

"Oh? I didn't know you were capable of anything else." He retorted back.

I took a deep breath, ignoring his rude comment, "I came to make a proposal." He lifted his gross eyebrows in surprise.

"Really now? This should be interesting."

"I want you to stop playing dirty on the court." I looked him dead in the eye for the first time since we noticed each other during his game.

There was a silence in the air as he tried to read whether or not I was being serious, but after he concluded that this was much too ridiculous to be a joke, he broke out into hysteric laughter with the rest of his team joining him.

"This little girl isn't joking. Oh my God, and I thought she was stupid before. She really must be out of her mind." I watched the group of boys laugh at me. I bit my lip in nervousness and considered just walking out of the gym after what seemed like hours of mockery, but concluded that, that would defeat the whole point of me being here up till now.

"I am not out of my mind. Stop being a complete scumbag on the court."

"Now, now, no need to throw around insults. That is no way to treat some one who you are trying to make a proposal with." He shook his head, "You'd make a terrible business woman."

"I am being serious Hanamiya."

"And so am I, but I don't see how I would benefit at all by doing that." He took steps closer to me, until we were at practically the same distance as we were yesterday, "What are you willing to give me in exchange?"

I looked up at him. What was I willing to give up? I had thought at the time that he would just tell me what he wanted me to do when I brought this up to him. That he would just say, 'Do my homework for the rest of the year', or something stupid like that. Oh, how naïve I was at the time. My total obliviousness to the true sadist in this man lead me to respond back with a little more confidence than I should have, "Anything."

Surprise took over his cocky expression for only a moment before going back to its usual state. That was the second time that I managed to get that reaction out of him today.

"Butterfly-chan, Butterfly-chan. You should be more careful of what you say to me," He leaned down and put his face up to mine, our lips brushed against each other as he spoke, "I won't let you back out of this now."

I felt a newfound nervousness take over me. The vibe he was letting off was completely different than it was just minutes ago. It was almost as if a dark purple radiation came off of him leaving me quivering below. I ended up giving in and retreating, taking a step back from him and lowering my head.

"You're so stupid it almost takes away the fun of ruining you." The boy turned away from me and picked up a stray basketball that was lying on the court, walking over to one of the baskets, "Meet me in the locker room an hour before our game tomorrow. Don't be late or I'll make you regret it."

The sudden change in atmosphere left me puzzled and I blinked in confusion before registering what he said. Once I processed it, I nodded and said okay in agreement before heading for the exit.

As the doors began to close behind me, I heard Hanamiya call out, "Be sure to at least try and look cute, Baka," followed by the sound of a ball swooshing through the net and hitting the gym floor..