Disclaimer: I do not own Danganronpa (Kazutaka Kodaka) or Digimon (Akiyoshi Hongo). Please support the official release.

Author's Note: Consider this to be a side story to DigiRonpa. Since that story pays more attention to the game I wanted to write a story that focuses on the story's pairing. It's solely going to be about before they're in Hope's Peak (I haven't decided if I should have TK as the Lucky Student or not). Don't expect constant updates as I'll only be doing this story when I feel like the romance in DigiRonpa has progressed enough.

"Oh come on! Just one quick game," a tall young blond boy pleaded. His name is Takeru Takaishi, or TK for short. He wore black shorts, a green tank top, and a white beanie. He's a first-year high school student and he attends Odaiba High School with his friends.

There was no school that day and he wanted to spend it with his friends. He even planned out their whole day with a quick game of pickup basketball, a picnic in the Digital World, a game of soccer with the Digimon, and then finish the day with some ice cream. It was going to be perfect but there was one problem. Everyone was either busy or had other plans.

He first tried to ask his best friend, Kari, but she told him that she was visiting her brother, Tai, in college. Cody and Yolie were also busy because Yolie had to help her family in their convenience store and Cody had extra kendo lessons with his grandpa. Ken was a no-go because he was on a small vacation with his family in Kyoto. He didn't bother asking his older friends because they were either busy with college or work.

All that was left was his friend Davis, who wasn't too pleased to see him so early in the morning.

"No, TJ, it's too early and I wanted to sleep in today," TK's friend, Davis, said. Davis had clearly just gotten out of bed based on his wrinkled yellow pajamas and the bags under his eyes. "Besides, I don't want to play basketball with you after last time."

"It wasn't that bad," TK retorted. If he was being honest he didn't know what Davis was talking about. All he remembered was him, Davis, and their other friend Ken beginning to play basketball and then both Davis and Ken being upset with him. "Besides, we can play soccer afterward."

That seemed to intrigue Davis for a moment, but he still declined the offer.

"It sounds tempting, but Jun surprised us with a visit last night after she and her boyfriend had a fight and she kept me up all night with her crying," Davis yawned while rubbing his eyes. "Maybe some other time, but right now my bed is calling for me. Maybe you can find some poor soul to play with down at the courts."

Before TK could make another offer Davis closed his apartment door in his face. TK thought about knocking again, but he knew that once Davis was in his tired state nothing could wake him. He was surprised he woke him up in the first place.

Feeling dejected, TK made the long slow trek out of his friend's apartment building. After planning out a whole day with his friends just for none of them to be free, TK thought about going home and playing some video games but chose not to. He could still practice down at the basketball courts and he is sure that Patamon would love to have some ice cream. With a new sense of motivation, TK headed to the courts.

It didn't take long to get there since they were only a couple blocks from Davis' apartment. They were relatively empty with only one other person taking up one side of the court. They were short and had dark skin, and brown hair that was tied into a high ponytail. They were also wearing a white tank top, blue dolphin hotpants, and a red knee brace over their right knee.

It wasn't until they turned around that TK noticed they were a girl. He quickly looked away so she wouldn't think he was staring and walked away from her to the other side of the court. He didn't want to bother her since she seemed consumed in her own thing. Besides, he has his own things to work on.

He was never really boastful about his skills, unlike Davis, but TK knew he was the best player on his team. He could drive to the rim for an easy layup and find an open teammate for an assist. His main problem was he couldn't shoot consistently. He always had hot and cold streaks whenever he played and wanted to work on it especially after his coach made him switch positions from point guard to shooting guard.

His team has only played three games so far and his coach wanted him to play a position that allowed him to shoot more because, according to him, he had the best shot on the team. TK didn't like the idea because he knew the offense was the most effective when he handled the ball. It didn't matter that they were undefeated and weren't a three-point shooting team, whatever the coach said was final. Sometimes TK thinks that it was the players that carried their coach to victory rather than his schemes.

But he chose to go along with his coach's questionable scheme. He asked his teammates for tips on how he could better his shooting and they told him to practice shooting everywhere beyond the three-point arch. He thought it would've been slightly more complicated than that but he would gladly take straightforward advice.

So, TK walked over to the top of the court and readied his shot. From where he was standing he didn't have the luxury of the backboard helping him. He steadied his breathing and remained focused on his target.

He shot the ball and watched it soar through the air. He put enough strength behind the ball for it to reach the hoop and it had a good arch. He believed it was going to go in but it bounced off the outside of the rim. TK sighed and raced to get the ball.

He continued practicing his shooting by moving around the three-point arch. He quickly learned that he was adequate when he had the backboard's help, but that wasn't saying much. He still missed a lot of his shots. He shot the ball twenty times and only made three of them.

TK sighed and shook his head disapprovingly.

"This isn't going to work," he whispered to himself. He already knew making him take more shots was a bad idea, but if he was already this bad without someone defending him then he must be a lot worse when someone is. This was a big reason why he wanted to play basketball with his friends. He wanted to see how good he was at shooting when someone was in his face.

He pondered if he could break any of his friends free from their responsibilities, but he knew that would be a bust. He also couldn't ask any of the Digimon because none of them were tall enough or strong enough to defend him. He also didn't want to deal with the possible headache of someone seeing them moving around. After all the Digimon attacks and all the times the Digital World appeared in the sky, you would think more people would know about them except for a select few.

As he was thinking, TK felt something brush against his leg. He looked down and saw it was a basketball. He picked it up and heard someone coming up to him. He turned and saw it was the girl from earlier.

"Could you pass me back my ball?" She asked and TK complied. "Thanks. I saw your shooting earlier."

"Oh, you did?" TK said bashfully and followed it up with an embarrassed chuckle. He should've known she would've seen his awful shooting. "I've been trying to work on it."

"Yeah, I can tell," she said bluntly and TK took offense to that.

"Oh, really?"

"Yup. You better work on it or I don't think you'll have a future in basketball."

"I'm my high school team's best player," TK said proudly and she looked like she didn't believe him. She even gave him a side-eye.

"I doubt that with the shot that you have."

"Oh, really? Then how about you and I go one-on-one? First to twenty points wins," TK challenged and she looked excited.

"You're on! I was getting bored playing by myself."

She ran to the foul line, clearly ecstatic and so was TK. He was glad that he got a chance to fulfill one of his plans for the day since his friends were busy. He stood in front of her with his back to the rim. He was getting ready to check the ball to her when he remembered the last time he played pick-up basketball.

He went up against Ken and he annihilated him. The score wasn't close and he prevented Ken from making a single basket for a minute. He was pretty proud of himself after the game, but he remembered how upset and dirty Ken was when they finished. His clothes were wrinkled with a couple of sweat stains and he had a few scrapes on his hands and knees.

"You need to learn to take it easy or I'll never play with you again," he told him.

TK looked at the girl and frowned. He couldn't do that to her, it wouldn't be nice and unfair. He promised himself to take it easy on her and not take this pointless game seriously. He'll use this time to practice his three-point shooting, so that way he won't be rough with her.

"Are you going to start or are you having second thoughts?" She said impatiently and TK shook his head before smirking.

"Just giving you a chance to back out," TK heckled and she gave him a smirk of her own.

"You wish."

TK bounced passed her the ball. She instantly dribbled the ball low to the ground to make it hard for him to steal it. She moved to the right and when TK followed her she spun to the left and dashed past him. She used the wide-open lane to make the easy layup.

"One nothing," she said proudly and TK rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, you just got lucky."

They got set again and she passed him the ball. TK used his longer wingspan to his advantage by using his left arm to guard himself and his right to dribble the ball out of her reach. He dribbled close to the three-point line and she followed. He had to give her credit because she stuck to him like glue and barely gave him a chance to set himself.

He continued to dribble and the girl tried swiping at the ball. When he got close enough to the three-point line he quickly stepped back and shot the ball, taking her off guard. He watched the ball fly to the rim, hoping that it would fall in, but it bricked off of it.

Realizing that the ball was still alive, the girl ran to it and got possession of it. TK ran after but he was too late. She shot the ball and it fell through the net. She turned to him and held up two fingers with one hand and a fist in the other with a cheeky smile.

TK grumbled as he got set. He took a few deep breaths and talked to himself in his head to calm down.

'It's fine, TK, she has the right to brag. You don't need to take this seriously.'

She passed him the ball and he slowly backed up to the three-point line. When he got past it he instantly shot it, but she timed him up perfectly. She tipped his shot and it fluttered halfway to the basket. She raced to get it, and as if to insult him, she quickly dribbled to the three-point line and made a perfect shot.

"Wow, if you're your team's best player then you guys must suck," she said and TK felt something in himself snap. He removed his hat and placed it on the bench next to what he assumed was her jacket. She gave him a puzzled look and he waved his hand as if to tell her to bring it.

She passed him the ball and the second it touched his hands he was off and running. Before she even realized what was happening, TK already dropped the ball into the hoop. TK then slowly dribbled the ball over to her before forcibly passing it into her hands.

"You're ball," he said dryly and she scowled.

"Whatever, I'm still beating you."

The girl started to dribble and TK stood close to her with his arms out wide. He didn't give her any space to move and whenever she did he was there to cover her. He removed every lane to the basket leaving her with no other option than to shoot where she stood. He easily blocked it and recovered the ball.

She tried to defend him but he spun past her and laid another one into the hoop. He held up two fingers and her brows furrowed with frustration. He responded with a cheeky smile that frustrated her even more.

When she received the ball this time she used her speed to get past him. It worked, taking him off guard and giving her an easy lane to the hoop. She went for a layup and when the ball left her fingertips TK came up behind her and smacked the ball onto the backboard and prevented it from going in. He then got the ball and shot it from inside the three-point arch to tie the game.

"Hope you enjoyed your lead because it's never going to happen again," TK said confidently, and the girl bared her teeth.

"Don't get cocky! There's still plenty of game left!"

"And I'm going to make sure you hate every second of it."

And that he did. He suffocated her on defense and exhausted her on offense. Whenever she thought she had a chance he was always there to squash it.

TK thought that she would've given up halfway through their game but she didn't. In fact, she didn't even mind his aggressive playing style but tried to match it with her own. He had to admit that she was a far better player than all of his friends.

He wished that they could've kept playing forever, but he knew that he had to end it. He had nineteen points and she managed to reach a score of eight after he got sloppy on defense. He could tell by her heavy breathing and the sweat dripping down her face that he had the game won.

She tried to move past him, but he smacked the ball out of her hands. When he got possession of the ball he slowly moved to the bench that had his hat. He got to the three-point line and started dribbling low to the ground. She matched him and when she did he quickly stepped behind the arch and shot the ball before she could get her hands up.

He watched the ball soar through the air with a smile. It fell into the hoop without the help of the backboard. He did a fist pump as it went in and the girl fell to her knees in defeat.

"Good game," TK told her genuinely. She didn't respond and TK got worried he upset her. He let his emotions get the better of him when all she was doing was a little competitive banter. She didn't deserve anything that he did to her.

"That… was…" she said softly. She kept her head down and TK assumed she was getting ready to yell at him. He was about to apologize when her head shot up and he saw the stars in her eyes. "The most fun I ever had playing basketball!"

"You're… welcome?" TK confusedly said. He was surprised she wasn't upset with him for how he played. He thought she would've yelled at him or told him off for being rough.

"I play for my high school's girls' basketball team and no one I go against plays with such intensity that you do. Not even my teammates," she said and TK was glad that someone complimented the way he played. "I'm Aoi Asahina, by the way, but my friends call me Hina."

"Takeru Takaishi," he introduced himself. Asahina smiled and used her finger to scribble something on her hand. She was also mumbling something that sounded like his name. "What are you doing?"

"You don't know? If you wanna remember someone's name, you gotta write it on your hand three times!" Asahina told him and he gave her a weird look.

"And that works?"

"Yeah it does," she said before giving him a puzzled look. "By the way, how do you spell your last name?"

"You can call me TK," he told her and she flashed him a bright smile.

"I can do that! I can easily remember two letters," she said before picking up the ball. "So, do you want to play another game?"

"Sure," TK said before his stomach rumbled. He smiled sheepishly as his face turned red. "Sorry, I guess I forgot to have breakfast."

Asahina beamed and grabbed her jacket before taking his arm and leading him away from the courts.

"Where are we going?"

"To one of my favorite donut shops. There's not a better way to start your day than with a donut," she answered.

The duo didn't walk far because the shop was just a block away. It was a simple shop where you walk up to an outside counter and place your order. Asahina didn't waste time running up to the counter and ordering. TK walked behind her and looked at the options available.

There were fried donuts, mochi donuts, American donuts, and donuts that were decorated to look like animals like cats, dogs, bears, and frogs. As he was going over his options he realized that the Digimon would love these.

"Could I order a baker's dozen?" TK asked and the shopkeep nodded. He then ordered six of the animal-designed donuts, six of the mochi donuts, and one jelly donut for himself. The shopkeep placed them all in a to-go box and TK paid for them before joining Asahina on a close-by bench.

She was munching away on her order without a care in the world. TK realized that she ordered at least one of every option, except for the American donuts. She was almost done by the time he sat down.

"You really like donuts, don't you?" TK asked and Asahina nodded.

"I love them! I always come here whenever I'm in Odaiba."

"So you're not from around here?"

"Nope, I'm from Yokohama. The reason why I'm here is because the basketball courts back home are being cleaned after they were vandalized," she told him and TK nodded along to what she was saying.

"Seems like quite the hassle just to play basketball."

"I don't mind if it means I get to eat these donuts," she said as she dove back into her meal. TK chuckled before diving into his own treat. He will admit that it was tasty and would highly consider coming back to the store with his friends.

After she finished her donuts, Asahina stood up and started to stretch. She then looked at one of the street clocks and drooped a little.

"I gotta get going. It was fun playing with you and I hope we can do it again," she said and TK nodded in agreement.

"I hope so too," he said and it appeared that Asahina was struck with an idea.

"Why don't we give each other our phone numbers? That way we can see when we're free to play again," Asahina said while pulling out her phone. "You can come to Yokohama next time and I'll have home-court advantage."

"It won't make a difference," TK said cheekily and pulled out his phone. The two then shared their phone numbers with each other and said their goodbyes. TK waved her off and smiled because he was glad he made a new friend.