Beep, beep, beep, beep.

The alarm blared loudly, incessantly, next to my head.

"Ugh," I groaned as I entered the realm of consciousness and attempted to slam my hand on the snooze button and missing my mark entirely in my sleep drunk stupor. Instead, I only succeeded in sending the contents of the bedside table, which had been piled in an impossible mountain, crashing to the floor in an avalanche of random clutter. At least, everything but the alarm clock which stubbornly continued its task of making noise and depriving me of further slumber.

Beep, beep, beep, beep.

Grumbling a wordless complaint, I turned my head to squint indignantly at the offensive device. The red numbers read, 5:00 a.m.

While I wasn't a stranger to getting up early, waking up to the sound of an alarm isn't something I have ever relished. It was, and probably always would be incredibly irritating to wake up to a blaring noise that not only reminded me that I was on a schedule but left me with an irrational sense of urgency, no matter how early I set the damn thing. And yet, somehow I put myself in a situation where it was necessary.

The alarm continued to make its war on peace and quiet, and I stared angrily at it as if I could glare it into submission. When it inevitably didn't work, I pushed myself upright, wondering if this was how zombies felt and very deliberately pushed the 'off' button of the alarm and told it, "See, I got up. No need for the major racket."

When the alarm did not respond to my scolding, I huffed irritably and blew a stray strand of my hair out of my face. "Stupid Jiro," I grumbled taking up my newest curse.

As if this whole situation was only my twin brother's fault.

It had been two weeks since everything had started. Two weeks since Jiro had knocked on the door of my bedroom and had said those fateful words that had set us both on a path of… well something… it's yet to be determined if this is a massively bad idea or sheer chaotic genius. Of course, I'm still pissed about it though.

"Hey, sis."

I remembered him sauntering through the door with a weird expression on his face. It was almost guilt. Jiro never called me 'sis' unless he wanted something. That something usually got the two of us into a boatload of trouble.

"Hey, bro," I replied sarcastically. I watched him enter my room with suspicion. He wasn't making eye contact which was not a good sign.

"Can we talk?" He asked, almost sheepishly.

I narrowed my eyes further. "What have you done?"

Jiro had raised his hands in defence but a smug smile spread across his face. It was a little too tense, not quite the genuine, easygoing smug smile he normally wore. "Nothing! I haven't done anything much…yet."

He flopped back against the bed and looked up at me. "I'm leaving, Tomiko. I applied to a school in America and I got accepted. I'm going."

I laughed, "And how do you plan on telling Mom and Dad this? You know they want you to go to that new school, Seirin or whatever. Or do you just plan on sneaking out through the window and not saying anything at all?"

"The last option, yeah. If Mom and Dad know about it, they'll stop me before I get get a toe through the door." Jiro said seriously. He fell quiet and watched me with his golden eyes, waiting for me to say something.

The silence stretched out as we stared at each other, and slowly I realized this was not just one of my brother's pranks. "Damn it Jiro!" I jumped to my feet and turned on him, "You're actually serious? Why didn't you tell me? I could have applied too! But you just intend to leave me here? Alone? With them?"

'Them' being our parents.

"I'm sorry," Jiro said quietly. "I was going to tell you, but I think this is something I want to do for myself." He hesitated then added even more quietly, "By myself."

I gaped at him, stunned. We had always been together, done everything together, and most importantly we always had each other's backs. He knew leaving me would mean I would have to bear the expectations of our family myself as well as pick up after his mess. But for all that, I could understand him. Which made me angry at myself because I wanted to be mad at Jiro.

I ground my jaw, trying to keep myself from yelling. "Get out," I told Jiro.

The palms of my hands hurt and I realized I had balled them into fists and my fingernails had dug into my skin hard enough they had probably left half-moon marks.

"Sis…" Jiro started.

"Get out right now Jiro. Or I swear I will tell Mom and Dad," I said straining to keep myself under control.

He had left, and I had shut the door behind him. We didn't speak again. At least until I found out the all-girl school I had been accepted to thanks to my mother did not have a basketball team.

But Seirin High did. A boy's team.

So now I got up at 5:00 a.m to turn myself into a boy. The whole thing was ridiculous and the bizarre situation I had put myself in would have made me laugh if it had been in a movie.

But it wasn't just the getting up at ungodly hours of the morning to disguise myself. There was a whole slew of problems that had needed to be taken care of, least of which explaining my absence from the girl's school I was supposed to be attending. It was not like Jiro would be able to take my place. It became increasingly obvious that we needed someone else to help in our scheme, someone who could shield us from our parents. And there was only one person whom we could rely on for that.

Our eccentric aunt, our father's sister who lived in Hokkaido was the only person either of our parents seemed to listen to. More out of fear than respect, but she had inherited the family's business and had always treated Jiro and me like people rather than puppets. Our parents tended to avoid her and only saw her on holidays or when she forced herself into our house for a 'visit.'

It was a long shot I knew. At this point, I knew Jiro was just entertaining me. I was making things complicated and I had the feeling he was just going along with me because of his guilt. But I was too stubborn to back down. I was angry and desperate and some part of me knew I was being irrational. This whole idea was childish and extreme and as weird as my Aunt was, she was still an adult with her responsibilities. Was she really crazy enough to go along with some half-baked plan her niece and nephew had cooked up?

It turned out, she was.

In fact, she had gone above and beyond. My aunt returned to Tokyo and paid my parents one of her visits. Honestly, I think she just wanted to take the opportunity to irritate and harass her brother and sister-in-law. Somehow she had convinced them that she would take me to be homeschooled, and give me some part-time work at the business for real life experience. My parents couldn't complain about that.

So two weeks passed, my Aunt had rented an apartment for me near the school, and Jiro left for America. Things had been tense between us and I hadn't bothered to call him. If he wanted to do things by himself, well fine. I wouldn't interfere.

I shook my head, trying to drive the feelings and memories to the back of my mind. There was no time to worry about things now. Today was the first day of school and I had to focus. Thinking about the coming ordeal that called itself school sent butterflies tickling the inside of my stomach and sent a wave of adrenaline through me, washing away any remaining drowsiness.

By the time I had pulled on Seirin's dark uniform and left my apartment, it was twenty-to-eight. I was too nervous to eat, the butterflies I had been feeling had only increased as the morning wore on. Getting up so early meant I had too much time to think. Stupid Jiro.

Too nervous to eat, and not wanting to wait around cooped up in a room that seemed to shrink with each passing moment, I decided to face the source of my fear earlier rather than later. I checked myself in the mirror one last time to study my new appearance.

Jiro looked back. It was as if he was standing in front of me and I was not looking at myself. Short strawberry blond hair fell in front of my eyes and hugged the back of my neck in shorter lengths. I had cut my long locks, to match my brother's slightly messy style. Wigs were risky, especially if I intended to play a rough sport like basketball. I'd never been allowed to wear my hair short. My mother hadn't allowed it, and I liked the way cutting my hair had felt like cutting the chains I'd been wearing.

The other most noticeable difference was the way I stood. Moving like a boy had taken some practice but wasn't hard. The most difficult part was reminding myself to do it. The body had its habits and breaking them to establish new ones required more mental effort than physical. My eyes were the only thing I couldn't seem to do anything about. They were the same golden colour but Jiro's always looked open, friendly, and somewhat mischievous. No matter what I did, I couldn't copy that. To me, I looked angry, my eyes narrowed into a permanent glare.

In the end, I just had to accept it and hope nobody at Seirin would know the real Jiro, and if they did, wouldn't notice the difference. Deciding I looked good enough, it was time to go. The school was only a few minutes walk away but I had taken long enough. One step at a time, I headed out.

As I walked, I couldn't help but think about my stupid brother. America had a different term system than Japan, and he would have started as soon as he'd arrived. From what I knew he would be retaking some of the exams when the year ended in early summer, and would be attending summer school until the new term started in the fall. I wondered what he was doing now, what his new school was like and what kind of people he'd met. Was he happy with his choice?

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and checked the time. It would be sometime in the evening for my brother. But not too late to call him. It would be so easy to just dial him and ask how he was. Instead, I put the phone back. I still hadn't forgiven him.

Stupid Jiro.

I found my mood darkening as I thought about him, and even my nervousness faded as I continued along the road with thoughts of my runaway twin taking up my focus. I was so pissed I almost stomped right in through the front gates of Seirin Private High School without noticing.

Only a shout of greeting welcoming me to the new school from a senior student pulled me back to reality.

I looked up, blinking in surprise to find the cherry blossoms of spring falling gently, making the whole scene look like a scene out of an anime. The school itself was practically glistening in the morning sun, everything about it looking new and fresh. Even the students that milled about in dense crowds looked happy and excited, matching the atmosphere that surrounded them.

For a moment I just stood there in front of the gate taking it all in. I completely forgot about my brother, my parents, and my worries about my lie being discovered. Some fanciful part of my mind invoked words like, 'fate', 'destiny', and 'lifetime', as I faced the beginning of my high school experience. I found myself grinning at the challenge before me.

"Stupid Jiro," I said aloud. But for bad or good, I was Jiro now.

I plunged through the gate and entered Seirin High for the first time. Immediately, people surrounded me and it was all I could do not to get swept up by the crowd. Pamphlets for several student organizations, teams, and clubs were thrust at my face, and promises of exciting activities and promises of making new friends were shouted at me over the din of noise. Giving half-hearted thanks and smiles I shouldered my way through the mass of people. There was only one team I wanted to find, the reason I was here.

Finally, I heard it. Or thought I heard it. Over the racket of other cries, I could just make out someone shouting, "Basketball! Basketball! How would you like to join the basketball club!"

But before I could look further around and pinpoint the source of the call, someone closer called out, "Hey, you!"

Not realizing the unfamiliar voice might have been directed at me, I ignored it and continued looking around for the person who'd been yelling about the basketball club. Then a hand grabbed my shoulder and spun me around.

"Would you stop when someone is talking to you!"

I scowled as I was forced around and snapped back a reply, "Maybe I didn't know you were talking to me, since we've never even met. You could have been calling literally anyone else."

I looked up and blinked in surprise at the person who still had his hand on my shoulder. A very tall boy with dark red hair practically loomed over me, looking very frustrated and impatient. The real Jiro was quite tall himself, and even I wasn't short. But the fierce-looking person I faced now was well above six feet tall. His height wasn't the only thing that was intimidating about him. Intense, red eyes that bore into mine the way carried himself with a casually dangerous aura gave off the impression of a wild animal.

But to my surprise, he turned his head in something like awkwardness. "Tsk. Sorry."

I hadn't known someone could make embarrassment so aggressive. At least he'd apologized. I shrugged his hand off. "It's fine. Is there something I can help you with?"

The towering stranger looked back at me. "Yeah, do you know where the basketball team is?"

Damn, this guy would be a monster on the court. His height and obvious strength would be a huge advantage. Of course, that wasn't all there was to the sport, but it helped. Would I be able to keep up with a boy's team? If I had to play against players who could be similar in size to this guy, things were going to be rough. But I hadn't come this far to back down now.

"Yeah, I think I might know. Hang on a sec," I said in response. I closed my eyes in concentration as I listened. It took a second to force my brain to filter out the unnecessary sounds, but when I did, the voice I'd heard earlier could still just be made out over everything else. I opened my eyes again. "Okay, I got it. They're over there somewhere." I pointed.

The red headed stranger pushed past me heading in the direction I'd indicated. Then almost as an afterthought, he waved his hand over his shoulder, "Thanks," he called pushing his way through a group of freshmen who had stopped to ogle him.

"Pfft, thank you," I scoffed and followed after him making use of the path he'd created.

As I followed after the towering boy who was easy to make out among the rest of the students, I could make out more of the recruiter's shouts, and then I caught a glimpse of them as I approached.

"Basketball! Basketball! How would you like to join the basketball team?" An unremarkable looking boy proclaimed as he waved a piece of paper with a huge basketball printed in the center of it.

As I pushed on, I saw another boy with dark eyes move to join his shouting companion. "Koganei, you can't be serious."

"What? How else am I supposed to say it?" Complained the one still waving his pamphlet.

With a knowing smile, the second boy replied rather smugly, "New kids, join the basketball team. We're in need of some serious help." This was followed by a disgusted look from his friend.

I frowned. Serious help? I had done a bit of research into Seirin before the term started. The team had made it as far as the final league of the preliminaries of the Interhigh the previous year. They weren't weak. Had something changed?

"Enough of your jokes, Izuki!" The first boy scolded, then to turned to a third member who had just come into view. "Mitobe, make sure they hear you!"

Mitobe just smiled and continued to quietly hand out flyers to anyone who passed.

Looking put out Koganei, muttered, "You're not going to do it are you?"

Someone passed by in front of them and I lost sight of them for a moment. When next the mob parted the boy who I'd been following had finally reached them.

The second boy, Izuki, if I remembered right, was just calling out another strange reason for joining the team, "Join the club and you'll be cute too!"

The shadow of the giant fell over them as I struggled to catch up. "Are you guys the basketball club?"

I snorted as I pushed through the crowd thinking how little the word 'cute' described the imposing basketball recruit. Finally, I pushed through and came up next to the other boy. "Excuse me? I want to sign up for the basketball team."

The giant, as I had begun to think of him, glanced at me and pointed a finger at me in shock. "Hey! What the hell did you follow me for?"

I pushed the finger away. "It's rude to point. Especially at someone's face. And I didn't follow you," At least not for the reason he thought. "I was going to sign up for the basketball team anyway. You just got here first."

Koganei who had been gaping up at the giant in awe until now turned his attention to me, and gaped at me instead. For a second I was afraid he'd caught on to the fact that I was not even a boy, but he looked at the giant and then back at me.

"Huuu, scary," he breathed.

"Koganei, that's rude," Izuki said, coming up behind him.

"I can't help it!" Cried Koganei. "Their eyes make it look like they might kill someone."

The other basketball recruit and I glanced at each other looking at each other as if trying to confirm what the other boy had said was true. Sure enough the boy's eyes were still as intense as they'd been when I'd first seen him, and I could see why Koganei might think that about a boy who was at least good six inches taller than almost everyone else around. But me?

Then I thought about how I had looked angry as I'd looked in the mirror earlier. But killing someone was a bit extreme. And I also didn't know how I felt about being compared to someone as aggressive and wild as the someone who could have been a tiger.

If Izuki agreed with his friend, he at least had the courtesy not to say anything. "I'm sorry about him. Please ignore him. I'm Izuki and this fool is Koganei, and that's Mitobe over there." He gestured to the quiet boy who looked at us and merely waved before handing another flyer to a girl who was carrying a pink signboard for the girl's tennis team.

"Mitobe! This is a boy's team!" Izuki shouted in exasperation.

I had to force myself to keep up casual act. If they found out I was a girl, things would go to hell for me. 'No going back.' I had to remind myself. Even if got to play a little it would be better than not playing at all.

"Anyway," continued Izuki, "We'd be glad to have you both. Come with me, the signup table is this way."

Together, the five of us moved through the school courtyard toward the end of the long line of stands, stalls and tables. Izuki had taken the lead, and Koganei and MItobe had followed after us, apparently out of fliers to pass out. That left the other freshmen and myself to walk together in the middle.

Neither of us spoke, and an awkward silence settled between us. I was content to let it be. Forcing conversation was usually even more awkward, if we were to end up on the same team, things would eventually come naturally. But it seemed my companion didn't seem to share the same idea. He kept glancing at me with a serious look on his face and I had the impression he was sizing me up.

I felt my eyebrow twitch, and I stubbornly continued to follow Izuki refusing to acknowledge the discomfort.

"So you play basketball?" The boy finally asked.

I looked up at him from the corner of my eye. He was still looking at me with his scary eyes. I looked back ahead. "Yes," I replied.

"How long?"

"Since middle school," I told him.

He grunted in response but didn't ask anything else. Whatever conclusion he'd reached, it seemed to have decided that was enough for now. If he wanted to know how good I was, he'd have to wait until we were on the court.

Truthfully, I wasn't sure how well my skills would hold up against this guy, let alone the second years. They were boys, and I didn't know how big of a difference there would be between us. I knew girls had played on boys' teams before, but I never had, and I was both afraid and excited to find out.

A shout from behind me made me turn in surprise. A group of students had come out of nowhere and Koganei seemed to have been swept up with them. He was trying to shove his way back through toward Mitobe who was trying to push into the crowd and pull his friend back out.

I heard a 'tsk,' from next to me and then, the redhead passed by me and waded into the mini mob as if they were no more a hindrance than ants. Seconds later he emerged carrying Koganei by the back of his uniform. Koganei's feet were several inches from the ground and I had to wonder just how strong was this guy to be able to carry a full person with one hand.

"Come on," Koganei's rescuer all but growled. He pushed past me still carrying the second year like a cat would carry its kittens.

I stared after him and felt someone else come up next to me. It was Mitobe who looked after the strange duo and then at me with a questioning look. He didn't say anything and while I couldn't be sure what he was thinking exactly, I had a pretty good idea.

"I don't know. I met the guy just before I found you guys." Feeling more relaxed with Mitobe, I continued, "I've been referring to him as 'the giant' in my head but don't tell him that."

Mitobe just smiled.

I found myself smiling back. "I guess we better catch up. Let's go."

We found them at a table set up with two people on one side, and a seat for one opposite them. One was a girl with clear brown eyes who gave an 'I'm in charge attitude, and the other was someone I recognized from my research. I couldn't remember his name, but I was pretty sure he was the captain.

Kogani was still being held by his jacket. "The new students are here," he told them. He looked as if he was so embarrassed he could cry and I felt a stab of pity for him.

I marched up to the rescuer-turned-captor and elbowed him in the side. "You can put our senior down now," I told him.

"Hey!" The giant boy yelled out in surprise rather than pain. I hadn't elbowed him that hard. He glared down at me and then looked at the boy he still held in his hand. "Ah, sorry," he said dropping him and turning his head away. Then he looked at the basketball team representatives who stared wide-eyed up at him.

I couldn't blame them. It was the same expression I had likely worn when I'd seen such a monster of a high school student too.

Koganei scuttled over to Mitobe's other side and I heard him whisper, "Scary."

I hope I wasn't included in that assessment this time. I'd just saved him from humiliation. I scowled.

"Is this the basketball club?" Asked the stranger, frowning down at the girl and captain.

I'd noticed before, but this guy really seemed to have no manners. And 'Is this the basketball club?' the only question the guy knew how to ask? There was a sign taped to the front of the table that said as much.

"Ah, yes!" The girl was quick to recover.

"I want to join." He pulled out the chair and it scraped against the ground loudly before he fell onto it. Then he continued, "The basketball club. I came to sign up."

"Welcome," the girl said brightly. She looked as if she had just struck gold, and in no way seemed intimidated. She looked over at me and asked, "Are you here to join too?"

I tried to stop scowling, or at least not look 'like I would kill someone,' and nodded at her. "Yeah, I came to join the basketball club as well." At least, I wouldn't be as rude as the other first year, if that was what he really was.

I didn't know who this girl was, or what she had to do with the team. Maybe she was the manager?

"I'm sorry, we don't have another chair…" She trailed off and nudged the boy on her left. "Hyuga!"

Catching on, the Captain smiled at me. "You can take mine for now." He moved to get up.

"Don't worry about it." I stopped him. "I can stand, but thanks for the offer." I came up next to stand in front of the table, next to the occupied chair.

"All right, if it's fine with you, I'll continue." The girl in charge said. "As you might know, our school just formed last year." She launched into her pitch and passed a paper cup filled with water to each of us. "We only have second years to compete with so I'm sure someone with your build would be-"

"I don't care." The giant cut her off.

I could feel myself scowl again. Maybe I should just refer to this rude stranger as 'the asshole' instead? Without thinking I cuffed him on the head. It was something I would have done to my brother and I only realized what I had done when I realized everyone was now staring at me the same way they had just stared at the giant. Oh well, in for a penny, in for a pound.

"Excuse me," I said smiling at the girl who'd just been interrupted. "Please wait for a sec while I talk some sense into him." I clapped a hand on the shoulder of the person I'd just smacked. The person who looked like a wild animal. The person who had carried a grown teenager with one hand. l tried to smile at him to seem less antagonistic. "Please show some respect. These people will be your team. At the very least, don't interrupt when someone else is speaking,"

"Are you trying to pick a fight, huh?"The boy half lurched out of the chair fist clenched. Red eyes glared at me and I was met with a scowl that matched my own.

Well damn.

Stupid Jiro. Except for this time, I meant myself.

I tried to stay neutral and unbothered as I answered, "Not unless you start one."

That took the wind out of him and he sat back down, looking angry but not violent. He turned away from me and cast a quick glance at the girl. "Sorry," he grumbled.

The girl was wearing an awkward smile like that of an awkward shopkeeper when customers argue with each other and were too oblivious to notice the disturbance to others.

My face felt hot, and my body tingled with shame. I had meant well but why did it feel like I was the one who'd done something wrong? Someone needed to say something about the way a freshman was speaking. There was no reason to interrupt and act so arrogant so why was I feeling embarrassed?

I glowered at the red hair on the rude boy's head. This was the third time I'd made him apologize since I'd met him and I wondered if I was being too sensitive. Maybe I should also apologize so everyone could move on.

Looking at everyone was harder than I thought, and I settled on a point in the center of the table where a few flyers with the basketball were printed on them. "Sorry for that, I got a little too carried away." I tried to sound mature and calm, but to my ears, I sounded like a chastised kid. The same way I felt when my father scolded me. Even though this time I was the one doing it to myself.

"It's fine, it's fine!" The girl said waving her hands but her voice was a little high pitched. "If you don't have any questions you can fill out the form," she said, passing some papers across the table.

I took the paper and offered pencil and carefully read over it. There wasn't much to it, just a place to fill out a name, your class, and the reason for joining. I quickly wrote now my name as Jiro's name. I would not make such a simple mistake as writing my real name on the first day, my class, and then paused at the reason for joining. What should I say? 'I want to join the team because the girl's school I was supposed to attend didn't have one, and my brother conveniently left home so I came in his place to play basketball.' Yeah, there was no way I was going to write that down.

Looking up to ask if writing a reason was necessary, I saw the boy next to me pass his form back to the girl.

She read it, "Kagami Taiga, Class 1-B, and huh? You don't have a reason for joining?" she looked up confused.

The giant or Kagami, now that I finally knew his name, drank his water in a single gulp. "Not really," he said, getting up and turning to leave. "Basketball is the same wherever you go in Japan." Crushing the empty paper cup in one of his massive hands he tossed it over his shoulder landing it cleanly into the trashcan.

'Showoff'. I thought watching him. But despite my inner snark, I was impressed. To not even look showed he had a good sense of spacial awareness. In gaming terms, Kagami had come with skill points as well as natural abilities, and I wondered what else he could do.

He seemed to sense my eyes on him or maybe it was the rest of the team that had gathered to watch him leave but he looked back and scoffed.

It was like I'd been punched in my gut. This asshole was looking down on everyone and that included me. How much better did he think he was to go around with an attitude like that? My fists clenched as I watched him go, crumpling the registration form I still held in my hand. I would not let him look down on me. I would not let him look down on Japanese basketball.

Behind me, I heard Koganei say, "He's terrifying. Is he really a first-year student?"

"He's one in a million," Izuki said, whether in response to Kogani or in general I wasn't sure.

"Kagami Taiga," I heard the team captain murmur and I turned to listen to him as he read the rest of the information that had been provided. "He went to school in America, so he must have learned from the source."

I slammed my crumpled form on the table, startling everyone with my sudden move. Grabbing my discarded pencil I scribbled in my reason for wanting to join the basketball club in messy writing. I was too pissed to take my time and write neatly. "Here," I said shoving the paper across the table to the girl who'd given it to me.

"Oh. Thanks. Let's see. Rion Jiro, Class 1-B. Reason for joining…" She let out a laugh. "Hyuga, it seems we'll have our work cut out for us this year," she passed my form to the team captain.

He read it slowly and a smile grew on his face. He nodded at me. "Practice starts right after school."

I nodded at him, pleased with this small victory. But I knew I couldn't let myself be satisfied with just this. There was still a long way until I reached my new goal. Simply playing basketball wasn't enough. Until now I had only played because it was fun, but now there was a second reason. I wanted to prove I could play basketball as well as anyone. To make everyone acknowledge my effort and my passion. There was only one way to do it.

What I had written on the scrappy bit of paper was a declaration. To Win

I said one day I would come back to this. And I have. This chapter has been completely revamped and I hope 2015 me would be proud.