10 Chapter 10 [V1]

Back at the Hirazawa court, Takumi scoped out the best path he could take, since the ball was in his possession again. Yuuichi had a different ambience to him, and his movements were becoming sloppier with each passing second. Takumi's sights narrowed past his right forearm and met Yuuichi's eyes with the determination to break him down. The words that Takumi mouthed were clear as day for Yuuichi. "Wake up."

Yuuichi's eyes widened in confusion. The lower portion of Takumi's mouth changed to the one Yuuichi despised; someone he had kept himself from thinking about all throughout the break, but couldn't escape. The irksome memories returned once more.

Hallucinations, mixed with altered perceptions flashed in his face, terrorizing him. Yuuichi's Setsu side slipped through, noticeable in the way his canine teeth grew into fangs. Takumi's form shifted to the silhouette of the man Yuuichi sought to destroy.

"GRRRRR!" Yuuichi felt compelled, unable to move from his stance. A strong wind blew down on them, forcing Yuuichi to cover his rapidly drying eyes for a few seconds as he glanced down at Takumi's sneakers to make sure he was in front of him and didn't get away. They doubled around, until in two steps, Takumi's sneakers disappeared from Yuuichi's view.

He forced himself to open his eyes again despite being dazed. What he saw next was Takumi's frown, shifting into a smirk. The smirk of that individual then shifted back to Takumi's frown. The form, the maneuvers, reminded him of "Tanaka..." Yuuichi spaced out, imagining Seirei High's star point guard.

"TANAKAAAAAA!!!" Yuuichi screamed a second time, this time so loud that Takumi paused his advancement.

"Who the heck is that?" Takumi questioned, watching a discomforting crazed expression formed on Yuuichi's face. Yuuichi's eyes widened in anger. Yuuichi found himself back in "that" memory once more.

"I WON'T LET YOU THROUGH!!!" Yuuichi shouted, slapping his palms onto the peachy ground. This action swatted away the white particles of Retsu which seemed to be pulling in towards him like a magnet. All of the memories that plagued Yuuichi pulsed forward, mixing in with the white, snowflake-like particles of Retsu. These particles blew up against Takumi, entering his brain after flooding in through his direct line of sight.

"What am I se-" An individual with swirly orange hair crossed Takumi's mind. Swirls that made it seem as if the individual had many twisted, uncanny smiles in his hair. The feelings of anger, uncertainty, frustration, worry, and fear all emanated from Yuuichi, and Takumi felt them all.

"You don't understand... when I told you there were monsters, I meant it. I failed. I have to get better on my own so I won't let them down again." Yuuichi telepathically spoke his thoughts, unaware that Takumi was hearing him.

The world seemed to spin rapidly for Takumi as he then found himself courtside, beside a referee. No one seemed to see Takumi or notice him. The referee himself walked right through Takumi and pointed to a vast, single court, blowing a whistle. Lights were dimmed all around. Holographic fish swam through the darkness overhead. Only the court was visible, although Takumi heard cheering all around.

Assessing the courtside, Takumi figured he was in some sort of packed stadium. If anything, it seemed awfully familiar, like the ones he'd seen many times the previous year in highly contested national games. Takumi had gained insight into Yuuichi's memories, though limited. He saw what Yuuichi imagined. Memories of the previous years semifinals came to life around him. Right in front of Yuuichi, stood a point guard whose face wasn't visible to Takumi.

Takumi stood on the sideline watching the memory play out. He observed the numerous cameras high up, presenting the different court positions the players went to. On the glowing court, Yuuichi's focus, his attention, was on the smile that had mocked him all throughout the game. Takumi observed the sinister smirk the point guard had.

In the memory, Yuuichi pushed himself up, relying on the support of his buckling knee after nearly falling back. He tried willing himself to match the individual's rapid eye movements, but ended up looking at the chanting crowd, all eyeing his every move. Even though he couldn't see them, Yuuichi felt their attention on him. All throughout Japan, he was being watched. The pressure mounted on his shoulders, overwhelmingly so. He couldn't focus at all.

"Where's Bentei?!" He wouldn't miss the game for anything, yet over twenty minutes had passed and he wasn't anywhere to be seen. He wanted to check on his brother, but couldn't get off the court. "Down by twenty-seven points..." Yuuichi checked the scoreboard, a dizzy spell passing through his line of sight. A cold sweat ran down his back. "Bentei ..." Their defense was collapsing all over. The other freshmen on Yuuichi's team were depending on him to guide them.

"Bentei... I need you bro!" Yuuichi thought to himself, feeling worthless and vulnerable without his brother. Things only got worse. He couldn't win like this. Not with all the problems and crippling self-doubt that spread through his head like wildfire. The dizziness worsened; his breath became uneasy. His stomach constricted. He found himself matched up against a ferocious guard at the worst of times. Like a guppy in a sea of sharks, the other players behind this guard noticed Yuuichi's fear evident on his face. The delicious smell of nervous sweat made them smile in glee as they showed off their terrifying expressions.

All he heard from one of the approaching players was "Showtime." His hearing felt muffled, as if he were under water. The lighting above dimmed to a light blue, adding to this further. All of the players took off, leaving the point guard for Yuuichi to take on alone.

A disadvantageous iso situation against a 6'8 merciless brute heading his way. The referee waved his hand to continue the game. The sound of the whistle blew in slow motion. The crowd's shouts faded into the background, along with Katsuya's voice demanding that Yuuichi retreat and switch out. Two of the other freshmen tried to break out and steal the ball in order to help Yuuichi, who they saw fall onto one of his knees.

"ARRRGHHH!" However, their efforts were useless, as the guard took the two of them out, putting them out of commission right before Yuuichi's very eyes. The guard caused their hamstrings to twist over as he breezed through. Yuuichi found that he couldn't hear his own voice, though he yelled out for the others to fall back. He ran in to try and keep the guard back.

Tanaka dribbled the ball behind his back, making it invisible to Yuuichi, and then rushed at Yuuichi as the sapphire basketball swirled out of his back hand and spiked over to one of his teammates. Tanaka's left foot, sneakily slipped right behind Yuuichi's right foot, tripping him over. Yuuichi barely caught a glimpse of the ball's direction in that split second due to its blending with one of the opposing players nearby, whose jersey had sapphire elements too.

Catching himself, Yuuichi tried to slide over in an attempt to stop him, willing his body to move out of rage, but realized that he had slid the wrong way as the second player lobbed the ball over to a third guy, who drove past Tanaka's left side.

In desperation, Yuuichi could only turn his head and see his two remaining teammates attempt to block the lane, but the player was already in the inner zone of Hirazawa's defense. They both swatted, but missed. It all happened too fast for any of them to interject.

The player that had gotten into the paint rose too high. His back stretched, making him momentarily grow from 6'5" to 7'1", as he pushed through the two, who were blown away. Instead of slamming it down like he could have done, the player came back down instead and threw the ball overhead, kicking it back to the middle of the three-point line, to the confusion of Hirazawa's courtside bench.

Seeing that moment, Yuuichi used his high jumping in an attempt to intercept the ball, but felt his balance tip off, as someone had shoved him back and double stepped behind the three-point line.

That player caught the ball. To Yuuichi's horror, the pair of hands that caught the ball belonged to none other than Tanaka. He was now wide-open with a clear view of the top of the hoop, being fourteen feet high.

Panicking, Yuuichi kicked himself back up and forced himself forward as fast as possible. Yuuichi heard a voice scream that there were only seconds left. Twisting his head to the scoreboard, Yuuichi took off. There was no way he could let the guard make such a crucial shot! In a single bounce, Yuuichi jumped up and attempted to block the ball, but it had been released too fast. People rose from their seats as Yuuichi fell forward, tackling Tanaka in the process.

Flares erupted in the night skies above, along with loud horns blaring along the court as chants continued. Time seemed to slow down. Yuuichi looked back as the ball sank through. Tanaka leaned in close, his shadow over Yuuichi. He whispered something into Yuuichi's ear, followed by his maniacal laugh, which gave birth to an ugly reaction from Yuuichi.

Everything flashed. The single moment that followed afterwards haunted Yuuichi for months to follow.

"It's my fault... my fault, all my fault," Yuuichi mumbled dishearteningly, with a painful sigh. He brought his trembling hands up to his face. Though he wanted to cry, tears wouldn't come out, only the audible pain in his grunts. Takumi observed the negative Retsu forming around Yuuichi.

"I'll show you what I've learned... I'LL CRUSH YOU, FRESHIE!!!" Yuuichi's eyes darted back to Takumi, who continued to dribble and returned the glare, blitzing straight for him. Yuuichi bolted for him just the same and they once more continued their duel. The two interchanged swipes as they maneuvered around each other.

Takumi slid his hands low, side-to-side in a sweeping motion. He now knew what he had to do. "That's why you're playing such a trashy iso. I've seen toddlers with better coordination," Takumi mouthed, each word inaudible to the Yuuichi devoid of consciousness.

"The path there..." Takumi rammed his head towards Yuuichi's hip to create separation and spun to his right, only to sweep back to his left. "Has to be one you follow with your squad," Takumi thought to himself.

Yuuichi monitored his footwork, keeping track of Takumi's attempts to get him off balance. "NONE OF THAT WILL WORK THIS TIME!!!" Yuuichi slapped his thighs, completely locked in, briefly seeing Takumi's movements resemble Tanaka's. Yuuichi's forearm swiped across his face, tossing away the tears that had managed to slip out. Some players who noticed that, bursted out in laughter while the crowd was loving the electrifying engagement between the two, only to shout in shock when Yuuichi slipped on a wet area of the court. Yuuichi gasped and watched as Takumi ran up to the paint.

"HE'S BRINGING IT HOME FOR A GRAND SLAM!" screamed the announcer. Takumi lunged up like a cat springing for its catch. The illusion of Tanaka shattered at that moment as the gust of white Retsu particles blew back, refreshing Yuuichi. Rather than slam the ball down, Takumi shot the ball through, surprising both the announcer and spectators.

"He got him good!" Ebisu shouted out loud. From the look on his face, Katsuya could see Ebisu was impressed. Kenneth added, "Ahh! Two points!"

The ball was stripped from Yuuichi moments later, when he got possession and still refused to pass it to Bentei.

Takumi frowned. "I have to snap this idiot out of it." Takumi sighed and then let out a low chuckle. "Who would have thought I'd be walking a mutt for my first game here...��

Takumi set his eyes on Yuuichi's hips and then on his right side. This caused Yuuichi to look over at his right side, making his prediction. "What's he thinking now?!" Yuuichi shouted in his head.

"I vow..." Takumi spoke through his lips, "To teach you TEAMWORK!"

"Cross him up, FRESHIE!!!" "STEAL THAT ROCK, TOGATA! YOU CAN DO IT, DON'T LET UP!" People cheered both of them on from the sidelines. The match itself skyrocketed through different social outlets. From a small boy eating cereal while encountering the game, to an old woman with a group of baby girls all watching the game through a laptop placed on a tatami mat. All sorts of beings watched closely.

Moving in, Yuuichi swiped his left hand down, attempting to swat the ball out of Takumi's palm, but Takumi whipped the ball into his other hand and looked at Yuuichi's right side again. Yuuichi guessed that Takumi was going for his right, so he was going to hop over but hesitated, causing Takumi to smile.

Takumi twisted his hips over to his left in a full rotation and passed the ball between Yuuichi's feet, catching it back before it went through. Everything froze in that decisive moment for a split second. Bentei's eyes widened along with everyone else's.

"WHAT KIND OF SPIN MOVE WAS THAT?!?!" One of the onlookers dropped his jaw, nearly letting go of the yogurt he had in hand.

Yuuichi's arm remained raised up and Takumi slid right under it, making it seem as if he passed Yuuichi, but in actuality stopped abruptly five feet from Yuuichi's right side. When Yuuichi tried to whip over to chase, Takumi ducked below Yuuichi's arm again, doubling back with the ball after catching it in one palm. Yuuichi lost his balance when he whipped his arm over and tripped on his other foot. Takumi took that moment to make his shot again. The ball sank right through.

"ANOTHER SET OF POINTS!!! THE FRESHMEN ARE HUNGRY THIS YEAR!!!" the announcer cried out, throwing his hand over his head.

"Start relying on your brother... you can't guard me," Takumi scoffed, his eyes staring at Yuuichi's shaken body.

"At least, not now."

Yuuichi slapped his palms against the court and whipped back up to face Takumi head on. He found that the same thing happened once again a moment later. Yuuichi was practically getting annihilated, refusing any help from his brother. Some adults shielded their children's eyes, while other children attempted to climb the gates, with their parents pulling them off.

"DON'T KID ME, I CAN TAKE YOU!!!" Yuuichi grit his teeth, refusing to give Takumi any more shots. This led to another faulty play as Yuuichi attempted to swipe the ball, when suddenly...

"W-WHAT?!?" He searched in a crazed manner for the ball. It had been right there when he was going to swipe it.

"Fine," is all Takumi muttered.

"WHOA!!!!!" the crowd gasped, when Yuuichi was going to swipe the ball. Takumi flicked the ball back over his back using his right palm skillfully to tweak the ball's movement. When Takumi pulled his right arm back, the purple basketball spun up above him and landed down right behind Yuuichi. It rapidly burned against the smooth surface of the ground and sprung up straight to where Yoshigawa was.

"That's my cue!" Yoshigawa chuckled and quickly broke away from Bentei, who initially didn't even bother following, considering that Yuuichi wasn't willing to work together yet.

Yuuichi turned as Takumi passed him.

"I'll make you..." Bentei thought. Bentei had the choice of either going after Yoshigawa who was on the three-point line or to get in Takumi's way. He wasn't sure whether Yoshigawa could drain three pointers though. The pressure of having to choose weighed down on him and his choice had to be made in a second. He didn't know which to pursue and glared over his shoulder in Yuuichi's direction as if saying "HELP ME!!!"

Making a drastic choice, Bentei turned over, and in two heavy steps, lunged at Yoshigawa, who smirked, seeing Bentei from the corner of his eye. "Wrong choice!" Yoshigawa said aloud.

With Bentei coming at him, Yoshigawa tossed the ball high enough over Bentei. The giant tried to sprint up and catch it, but it had gone up to high and came back down into Takumi's hands. At that moment, Takumi tossed it back to Yoshigawa, who scooted over. This forced Bentei to set his attention on Yoshigawa as he spiked the ball back to Takumi.

Bentei took note of the coordination and instinctively charged after Takumi, who took two hop steps and rose up towards the basket. People sitting near the tables rose up with the rest of the crowd, expecting Takumi to finally make a dunk as he caught the ball. They all waited in anticipation.

Yuuichi only had time to call out, "BENTEI, BLOCK HIS ASSSS!!!" At his request, in two powerful sprints, Bentei applied pressure into the back of his calves and with sheer power propelled himself up towards Takumi, who was seemingly about to raise the ball, elevating his hand for what seemed to be a layup.

"KID COULD HAVE DUNKED THAT!" Ebisu shouted, focused on the game, as his concern of Takumi not going for a dunk resonated with others who wondered the same thing.

"Maybe he can't yet," proposed Kenny, zeroing in his camera lens on Takumi's ankles and calves.

"NOT ON MY WAAAAATCH!!!" Bentei grunted as he whipped over with his hand high in the sky.

He fell for the bait. A faint smile formed across Takumi's face. Being able to either spin the ball up into the basket or come down for something more craftier, the choice was his to make at that moment. "Something flashy could be risky," the thought flowed through his head. Before he could make his choice, Takumi looked straight ahead and, to his surprise, caught sight of a starry-eyed Hanami on the other side of the gate, watching him from within the amassing crowd. Her eyes glimmered with curiosity and confusion, yet astonishment.

"Hase...gawa?" Takumi said as she simultaneously said, "Ta... kumi?"

"How didn't I notice... until now?" the thought crossed his mind for that faint moment. "Better yet, why is she here?"

Hanami looked on, amazed by what she saw. His athletic ability, the way he twisted over in midair while having so many people watching. It really impressed her, though not as much as the smile she had seen on him before. A contagious smile unlike any other. Like a sunny day turning into a rainy one, she watched it change into a frown upon Takumi seeing her. "There's another side to that angry house cat," she thought, but that moment was short-lived because right behind Takumi, she saw something snaking its way higher. She turned her head to get a better look behind the fence, seeing the being towering over Takumi.

Bentei's spine momentarily elongated two feet more. His upper body rose higher as everyone watched in amazement at him using his testosterone ability. Much higher, something blocked the sun that had been shining on Takumi. Hanami saw that Bentei's palm was blocking the sunlight like an eclipse.

He was seemingly going to bring down his massive hand onto Takumi, scaring Hanami. The worried yell blurted out of her instantly. "WATCH OUT!" Her eyes closed shut, clenching tightly.

Takumi pretended to raise the ball, prompting Bentei to flinch at this action rather than fully swipe his palm down. That's when Takumi brought the ball back down, landing down first. It happened so smoothly. Hanami let out a gasp and tightened her fist. She set her fist up against her chest and looked away flinching, thinking he'd be hit.

"OHHH NOOOO!!!" Three basketballers beside Ebisu stood up, raising their hands up to their heads, expecting Bentei to slap him into oblivion. Katsuya excitedly sprung up from the table he sat on. The chip he was going to eat fell down.

Takumi's purple irises expanded as he turned his head. Bentei's shadow crept over him growing larger as he came down towards Takumi with crazed eyes that expressed the passion of a defender who refused to give up any more points. The motion of Bentei's hand coming down created a whipping gust that blew through the gates, creating ripples along Hanami's dress and the clothes of the others behind her.

Takumi turned his head back in Hanami's direction as she managed to peek with one eye.

"GRAAAAHHHHH!!!" Bentei swiped his hand down like a speeding tennis racket would when swatting at a ball, except... Takumi met the giant's hand straight on with his own right hand! A thunderous clap echoed upon contact.

"A... A HIGH FIVE?!" others yelled in surprise, watching the replay where Takumi twirled sideways and met Bentei's palm with what looked to be a high five. A number of people wondered how Takumi's wrist didn't get shattered. They compared his to Bentei's as Takumi twirled down to the ground landing on the tip of his right shoe.

"I MISSED?!" Bentei thought aloud in disbelief as Takumi came down first. Loosening his firm grip on the ball, Takumi swung the ball over after he landed, spinning on one shoe.

The ball spiked against the pavement, bouncing up towards Yoshigawa who was stationed at the right three-point corner. Clapping his hands together, Yoshigawa quickly caught the ball, setting his attention on the basket. The attention went straight over to Yoshigawa as Takumi knelt over like a sprinter.

Takumi briefly smirked, glancing over to Hanami. He found her reaction amusing, having heard her gasp amongst all of the chatter. "What a scaredy-cat," he muttered her way as a single sweat drop trickled down his chin and was carried off by the breeze that blew past him. A pinkish blush spread across her cheeks. Completely embarrassed that she had flinched, she turned away, covering her face and then turned back to the court. She couldn't help it. She felt an attraction at that moment. Her heart throbbed irregularly, to the point that she had to raise her hand up to her chest in an attempt to calm down.

Since Takumi was kneeling forward, Bentei believed he was going to run towards Yoshigawa, so he tried to run between the two, but Takumi shocked him again. The freshman lunged backwards and changed his direction, headed for the left corner. Yoshigawa was on the far right headed for the basket and Takumi headed to the far left.

"These guys," Bentei growled softly, taking in their teamwork while thinking of how to react. That growl turned into a low chuckle as he looked over his shoulder to his brother with a sense of hopelessness in his marine eyes. "I hope you're taking notes, Yuu. I hope this wakes you up," he thought to himself. He couldn't possibly take on both freshmen alone. Zoning back into the current dilemma, Bentei focused on making a choice again. He could either pursue Takumi, who had dashed away to the left corner of the court, or he could run towards Yoshigawa, who was already heading straight for him.

"I'll put my money on that salamander taking me on!" he resolved, blowing fumes out of his nose as his irises disappeared.

Yuuichi remained frozen, still observing the way the freshmen were playing and seeing his brother struggling. It was just like before. "I can't let him down again... I CAN'T!"

Yoshigawa doubled up towards the inner box. Just as Bentei met Yoshigawa, thinking Yoshigawa would attempt a dunk, he tossed it back to Takumi, who was waiting at the left flank. Seeing it, Takumi caught it with a single inhale as his bangs swayed back. He dribbled the ball twice with his left hand, proceeding to pass it between his knees as he prepared to knock down a three.

Takumi then paused. "NOT AGAIN!!!" To his shock, Yuuichi intercepted Yoshigawa, giving Bentei the chance to go after Takumi. Bentei's knees buckled as he strengthened his balance and pushed his chest out towards Takumi.

"NOT HAPPENING!!!" Bentei charged, causing faint vibrations to spread along the ground. He went for Takumi like a raging bull, releasing fumes of white Retsu out of his nose.

"I CAN'T REACH HIM AT THIS RANGE!" Bentei attempted to extend his arm out as far as he could to block, but it was all pointless. Takumi's soft, orange hair swayed back and forth, fluttering around when he jumped up with the ball in his left hand. His shooting form aligned as he blew out the air that had been stored in his lungs and released the ball with his left hand, flicking his wrist.

Bentei only managed to barely graze the bottom of the Hirazawa basketball as it easily rolled right past the tip of his index fingers, rotating rapidly in the air. Takumi then made a gun sign with his left hand, as all eyes looked on. With a "SWOOSH," the ball went through the hoop.

Takumi glared at the back of Bentei's head, still maintaining a gun sign, and aimed the two fingers at Bentei. He pretended to pull an imaginary trigger, making it seem like he shot Bentei as the ball continued to bounce towards the back gate, rattling the gate upon impact.

"Bang..." he muttered.

Bentei's irises expanded. He looked on in utter disbelief. The ball bounced a few times as some of the players on the side lines went ballistic after witnessing what just happened. Everyone jumped out of their seats in amazement.

"THE FRESHMAN PUT UP THE SHOT AND IT HIT ITS MARK!"

Hanami found herself bumping her fist up along with three children at her side. "Yeah!!! Ta-agh," she abruptly stopped herself upon realizing she almost cheered for Takumi, and quickly lowered her hand in embarrassment.

Yuuichi's mouth opened wide in shock. Bentei had gone through such a degrading moment, "And it's my fault." He raised his fist and hit himself over the forehead. "Two missed blocks. If I hadn't frozen, we'd have stolen that ball. F**k me!" The moment became worse when Yuuichi heard Yoshigawa celebrating.

"YEAHHH!!! YOU SHOWED HIM THE SPICE! WE'RE COOKIN' FOR SURE." Yoshigawa clapped, completely hyped to the annoyance of ballers on the sideline.

"Bruh, has he even made any shots himself? He's chatting way too much. Let me in the game. I could season that freshman." "I think Togata's letting the freshmen win, he plays nothing like that." "This has to be a joke!!" "It is April, you know!" "Overhyped trash." Plenty of opinions were formulated throughout the cheers erupting from the onlookers. High school attendees shook the gates in excitement. Another round of flashes of lights flickered from people taking pictures and recording what had just occurred, and some uploaded it to Stagfam.

Takumi smirked, shaking his head. He walked towards the center of the court where Yoshigawa gave him a fist bump on their way back. All of the emotions coming out from all the humans continued to build up above them, but Takumi still wasn't aware of what was approaching. From the crowd, thousands of white particles twinkled, coming together to form a thick sheet of white, resembling a blizzard. It all kept accumulating over the court, invisible to the humans, although slightly vibrating the gates while passing through.

It washed across the entire court, headed straight for Takumi, who turned his head sideways, as his fangs grew past his lips. That's when he clearly saw all of the Retsu accumulating and the grave predicament he faced. Being overwhelmed by Retsu meant that his Setsu side would go out of control right in front of dozens of humans, most with their phones all aimed at the court, at him in particular. Not only that, but he felt an uneasy sensation, as if something were creeping right behind him which made him whip over. At the corner of his eye, he saw something monstrous for a split second speed by, masked within the growing blizzardy fog. A thick, white fog spilled all across the long stretched court. None of the humans were visible now. Only black space and an amassing blizzard.

"What's going on? It can't be... a Gando zone?!" Takumi growled, feeling his fangs grow longer. Yoshigawa saw the silhouette of what seemed to be a beast hidden inside of the thick fog. "Yo, Tai!" He called out. Takumi reached up and slapped his palm against one of his eyes, feeling an intense headache pang against his temples.

Yuuichi and Bentei both froze, terrified at what they saw headed Takumi's way. Slanky paws dripped on the ground, releasing steam that pooled into the fog around it, creating an apparition of what could only be described as a saber-toothed liger. Takumi took in a few breaths and then looked up ahead. There it stood.

A beast with elongated, protruding fangs resembling a massive liger made up of what seemed to be raging purple flames. Particles formed the outline of its bulky body. A darker flame made up its swirling mane, surging down its front legs. It was on all fours. Hunching over, it rushed towards Takumi in the blink of an eye. He could only lift his arms up in the form of an X and meet the gaze of the thing that stared down at him.

However, the purple flames blew by him without hurting him. After ten seconds of silence, Takumi noted that the particles of Retsu were gradually disappearing, as people were being yanked away from the gates and into the chaos that was happening past the gates; he turned his sight back to the liger only for it to tilt its head up and give an empowering roar as a bright flash forced Takumi, Yoshigawa, Yuuichi, and Bentei to turn their heads away. The roar shook the blizzard strongly around Takumi. It came in close like a tornado and then just as quickly as it had appeared, it vanished. Takumi's bangs fluttered, slowly stopping against his cheeks.

"Ack!" Yuuichi fell over, but was caught by his brother.

"What was that all about?" he mumbled as his attention was brought back to the sound of Yuuichi yelling. Takumi blinked and gained control of himself again. The court was like it had been before. The sun shined down on them, with the shade of a passing cloud spreading over them.

"RAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" Yuuichi ran towards Takumi, having completely blacked out into a rage. Bentei slid in, bear-hugging his short brother from behind. "WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA?! WHAT WERE YOU TRYING TO PULL, BRINGING THAT NIE OUT?!"

"Yuu, get a hold of yourself!!!"

"NAH! This guy tried bringing out a NIE!!! HE COULD GET US IN TROUBLE!"

"A what?" Yoshigawa went over, stopping beside Takumi.

"How do you not know?! You're both ROYALS!!! THERE'S NO TELLING WHAT'D HAPPEN TO US IF THAT WOULD HAVE MANIFESTED COMPLETELY FOR ALL TO SEE! THERE WERE PEOPLE RECORDING!"

"I was jokin', calm down. He didn't know the Nie would appear over some basketball," Yoshigawa attempted to calm Yuuichi.

Yuuichi's barking progressively annoyed Takumi until he raised his hand up and gave Yuuichi a middle finger. The cheering from some of the crowd that had remained continued to die down.

"Shut up. Who says I'm the one who brought that thing out?"

"It went after you!"

"I have a lot of things coming after me everyday... what's your point?"

"You can't play if you can't even control yourself, that's the point."

Takumi stared at Yuuichi clear-eyed, and maintained his middle finger raised towards his direction the entire time. He brought up a second middle finger. "I don't know what you're talking about, but I'm not ever going to take anyone's crap. I'm going to become the best basketball player of my era, regardless of what you or anyone else might say." Yuuichi observed him silently while listening. He was taken aback by what Takumi had said, as was Bentei.

April marked spring, the season of promise. Unlike years back, this April was different. A painful memory briefly crossed Takumi's mind of that time years ago, drowning his hearing as the heavy droplets of that day filled his ears. He could feel his wet clothes pressed against his skin as rain soaked him from head to toe. The agonizing feeling of sitting in the rain all alone coupled with the reality that no one was coming, ate away at him. He didn't want to continue with a life of strife and solitude. He wanted to live a new ordinary life. One that he decided to create himself, since no one else would.

"Listen closely. I vow to reach that final stage, one game at a time. This first finger is for anyone who tries getting in my way." Takumi swiped his right arm down, only maintaining his left middle finger up, aligned with Yuuichi. "This second one, is for those that doubt me and quickly find themselves beneath me in their own sh*t."

Yoshigawa proudly stood behind his pal and jumped on him as Yuuichi shut his eyes after folding his arms. A low laugh soon turned into a fit of laughter from Yuuichi. "That's some real fire, I can't put out. No way I can stop you with that enthusiasm. I guess I'll need to change... considering I lost to a freshman. Then, I vow to change for my team. I'll work hard to improve alongside them." Yuuichi flicked away a tear that formed along his eyelid.

"Ah, damn it. My eyes are drying up, what's with the breeze around here?"

"Stop lying! You're close to crying!" Yoshigawa pointed out, causing them to laugh.

"W-What was that just now?" Hanami asked herself under her breath. Then, she snapped out of her thoughts, hearing one fellow nearby laughing at Takumi still holding up a middle finger. Another man told his daughter to not look over at the court due to this, commenting, "I wasn't expecting that here of all places. That's a no-no honey, put your finger down, you don't do that." The father attempted to get his small daughter to lower her small swaying middle finger she lifted up to a different child.

From the crowd, Hanami saw this go down, completely horrified by the behavior Takumi displayed. "HEY!!! YOU DON'T SHOW A CHILD THE MIDDLE FINGER! BAD BEHAVIOR, ANIMAL!" She screamed and started squeezing through the crowd, snapping out of the admiration she had had for him a moment ago.

"That's right! How could I have forgotten? I came here to stop that freak show, not encourage him," Hanami whined, staring at the time watch in the sky. "I'm so lousy. I have to get him to the auditorium, not watch him!"

She watched Takumi maintain his finger aimed at Yuuichi, which only made her fight through the crowd harder. "HEY! PUT THAT FINGER DOWN!" Hanami squirmed back to the front of the fence. She slapped her cheeks twice and pointed her finger through the fence. "DON'T MOVE!!! STAY RIGHT THERE, JERK!!!"

Her voice echoed through and Takumi picked up on the annoyingly high pitch. He plugged one of his fingers into his ear. "Hm?" Takumi glanced around, but didn't see her in the crowd where she had been. He felt a headache coming on once more. "Damn it, that squirt's here to get in my way."

From within the crowd, Hanami made a beeline towards him as people complained all around her due to all the shoving that suddenly started when a blaring voice commanded that everyone had to return to the auditorium.

"Out of my way!" Hanami yelled, clawing her way onto the shoulder of a big, fat fellow. She nearly lost balance but went on to jump off his shoulder and onto the shoulder of another guy. She did this swiftly until she swooped down, telling those whose attention she had to "STEP AWAY!!!" With a swipe of her elbow, she directed her attention to four basketball players who had been keeping people from going into the court area.

"Whoa, girly. No one is getting through. Turn away with the rest of them folks!" One of the basketball players approached her to gently push her away, but when he set his hand on her shoulder, Hanami quickly grabbed his wrist, tugged it over behind his back and kicked him into the crowd that started raging again with the intention of getting signatures from the guys on the court. "Sorry!" she shouted. As the crowd tried to stampede their way through, the other three basketball players blocked the way, but she managed to squirm between them and get into the court.

Meanwhile, all the way in the back, a hovering truck stopped on the road. Along the car's side, letters read "Day Patrol." They'd arrived to break up the mob. People from the front stepped away when the sound from the loudspeaker reached them. "We repeat! The ceremony will commence in fifteen minutes. Report to the auditorium. Those who aren't part of the ceremony, enjoy the rest of the festivities. This area is now closed."

The other sounds on the court died down. Only Hanami's voice was left. "TAAAAKUUMIIII HACHI!!!" Her resounding voice nearly made Takumi's ear bleed, as Yoshigawa was startled by the sudden loud sound and pressed his hands up against his ears in agony.

"The heck is that?! YOOOOO!" Yoshigawa spoke up and looked past Takumi's shoulder. There she stood. A girl with her sleeves rolled up looking like she was about to commit a murder. Yoshigawa watched Hanami raise her elbows as she hopped momentarily in place.

"Dude... one of the fans got through, and she looks batsh*t crazy!"

"I'm not a fan, dill weed! I'm taking you down!" Hanami shouted at Yoshigawa, who ducked behind Takumi right away.

"Nice to meet ya, taking you down!" Yoshigawa responded back, whispering to Takumi "She has a weird name to match. What'll you do, Tai? Oh!"

Unable to really register what she had been rambling about at such a high pace, Yoshigawa initially thought she was heading over to talk to him. "Okay, okay! If you have a marker, I'll sign. But chill, Ms. taking you down!" Yoshigawa yelled at her, poking his head behind Takumi's shoulder.

"My name is not taking you down!" She flailed her arms around.

Yoshigawa completely ignored what she had said. He slapped his hands together and said, "Hand it over. I've got you, I love my fans, regardless of whether they have weird names or not!" He walked by Takumi, and approached Hanami, only to scream a second later. "AGGH!" She shoved her palm up against his face and flung him aside, after digging her fingers into his mouth. Yoshigawa tripped over, landing face-first against the court, and groaned as he turned around and saw the girl jump in a single step over Takumi.

Hanami brought down her elbow straight onto Takumi's head, expecting to knock him down. The full force landed, but Takumi remained in place, unfazed by the direct hit to the top of his head. All it did was piss him off more. She observed him with a frown, suspended in the air for a few seconds, only for Takumi to swipe his hand up. He caught her arm and yanked her back down to the floor where she tussled, giving him a number of ineffective kicks to the shin. Seeing as that didn't work, Hanami then tried using her elbow to hit him, which he prevented by keeping his hands on her upper forearms. She twisted her arms until he let her go and came at him again.

"Chill out, damn squirt... we're in public." Takumi maneuvered around her attacks until he caught her knee, causing her to hop at the same time that he slid his hands firmly to her ankle and elevated her up roughly from there. There was no stopping her regardless; she reprimanded him to no end, despite his effort in covering her mouth as she held onto his shoulders.

"MY THOUGHTS EXACTLY! THAT DIDN'T STOP YOU FROM GIVING THAT BOY OVER THERE THE MIDDLE FINGER, IN FRONT OF CHILDREN, YOU BRUTE!!! WHAT DO YOU EXPECT ME TO DO?!?! USE YOUR BRAIN!!! YOU CAN'T DO THAT."

Takumi sighed, not looking her way. "You're as annoying as him, I might as well give you one, too," he spoke his mind, leading her to lean in and bite his shoulder. Takumi in turn flailed around in an attempt to get her off. "She... she bit me! Shima, get this thing off me!" Takumi tried getting her off, tugging on her shoulder, but Hanami pounced on his back and coiled her legs around him tightly, refusing to let go.

Meanwhile, Yoshigawa rolled around on the ground. He'd never seen Takumi in such a situation before. "Just who is this girl?! She's hilarious!" Yoshigawa clenched his stomach, leaning upright.

"Thanks for helping me out, old pal!" Takumi yelled to Yoshigawa.

"I have to save this for the other guys to see! HANG ON! Luu's gonna love this!" Yoshigawa reached into his pocket and brought his phone out to record. "Guys! Watch this chick go! We have a crazy fan this year that finally got Takumi!" He angled it at Hanami squirming to get free from Takumi's sudden headlock.

"I'll strangle you to death for that!" he threatened the girl, who in turn reached to give him a purple nurple. The action itself caused Takumi to let her go as he swatted her hand away and took off, running around the court with her following close behind.

"You're coming with me, right now. There's no escape, Takumi! Stop making this harder on me!" she spouted.

"Guys look at what I'm seeing right now, you can't say I'm making it up! Tai's gettin' handled by a girl that isn't Miyumi!" Yoshigawa moved the camera around, keeping track of them.

"Woaahhh, where'd you get the pretty little lady, Tai? She's dying to get her hands on you! BAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Yoshigawa tried to wipe away a tear. "You didn't tell me you got a girlfriend!!! And I didn't know you were into freaky stuff! Rawr!" Yoshigawa teased.

Hearing Yoshigawa forced Takumi to stop. "Cut the crap!" Right at that moment, Hanami jumped onto his back, locking her arms around his neck. Yoshigawa felt the death glare from behind the camera. "I'll strangle you if you continue entertaining this instead of helping me, Shima."

"WOAHHH, PAUSE! A three way?! Nah, I'd only do those with-�� Yoshigawa laughed as Takumi shook his head, pushing his hand up against Hanami's shoulder pointlessly. Takumi's attention was solely on Yoshigawa, and he didn't do anything other than give him a glare, slowly moving towards him as he cracked his knuckles.

A sweat drop ran down Yoshigawa's head as he laughed and shook his head with a bit of fear. "O-Okay, I'm only messing around! I've gotcha! Coming to help!" Yoshigawa took a few steps, but then stopped as Hanami shouted at him. "YOU STAY BACK! THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU!"

"No, Shima. Come over here and pry this b*tch off me," Takumi responded right behind Hanami.

"HE IS NOT! You're coming with me, and he's staying over there!" she shouted in Takumi's ear. "AND DON'T YOU CALL ME THAT!"

"Don't listen to her. She won't do anything to you, her threats are empty."

"OH YES I WILL! TRY ME! YOU WANT TO BE A SPLATTERED ORANGE?!" Hanami shouted at Yoshigawa, looking at his hair.

"I'd rather not..." Yoshigawa laughed uneasily, patting the top of his head. Rather than get into their scuffle, Yoshigawa raised his hands and stepped away cautiously. "Honest conflict is better than dishonest harmony, you know. I'll let you lovers work things out."

"Shima..." Takumi growled in his head as he frowned. Frustrated, Hanami subconsciously clamped down on Takumi's ear, leading Takumi to wince. Everyone still on the court was confused as they stared in silence. Takumi's eyes were wide as he too stayed still and the silent atmosphere made Hanami realize what she was doing. As she noticed what she did, she jumped off Takumi's back, embarrassed. "AGH! TWWT." She spit at the ground. "See what you made me do! Gross!"

"I should say that about your disgusting slobber... I guess you really are a dog." Takumi stared at her, flabbergasted. He used the ridge of his jersey to clean it off. Taking a single breath, Takumi told himself to be patient. He turned his attention back to his fiancee spitting at the ground, hands on her knees. "Maybe if I reason with her, she'll give me time to get that info from Yuuichi."

Deciding to gamble, he did so. Takumi found himself knelt beside her. "Listen... that guy is older than us, and he was barking up my tree the whole game. I had to do it to prove a point, but I shouldn't have to explain that to you anyway. Just to clear your ignorance... anyway, I'll go with you if-"

He was silenced by the girl's attempt to raise her hand up to slap him, but he caught her hand and yanked it down again, applying slight pressure to her wrist. The pressure made her faintly flinch for a second.

"A point?! Ignorant? What you did is still ethically wrong!" she spouted.

"Try simmering down that inflated head of yours, do me a fa-"

"I'll have you know, my head has a really intelligent brain, unlike yours, jerk! You could have done whatever you were intending to do without using a middle fing-" She suddenly stopped and blinked three times, before tilting her head. "Did you say, he's older than us?"

"Mhm." They both looked over to Yuuichi, who was being manhandled by two taller guys who had their backs turned to them.

"Well..." Hanami brought her attention back to Takumi and swung her finger up against his nose. "It was still wrong to do that, ya know!"

"Okay, chill out." Takumi stared over to the eyes that were glued onto the two of them. "There's also another issue... we're being watched," he told himself.

"How can I calm down with the way you act? We aren't getting through any of this with the way you are and it's barely been a day," the girl continued whining.

Takumi sighed, with no other alternative. "Wouldn't you prefer to be in my arms, as opposed to having me hold you down like this?" He leaned in, tickling her ear with a whisper, making Hanami blush.

"Ay, not so close creep!" She pushed her hands against his chest, noticing Takumi was staring elsewhere as he slightly lifted her up when he stood.

"You should really get out of here." Takumi sighed and pointed over to the gates, making her look over to the girls glaring at her.

Sweat dropped down along the side of her face. "I don't care who sees us! We're leaving immediately, don't make this worse." Hanami reached for Takumi's wrist.

He placed his hand over her small hand firmly. "I have to find out about the captain or else this would have all been for nothing. Give me sometime. Even two minutes-"

"Sorry, but we can't, we have to go!" She continued to yank at his wrist, prompting Takumi to let go of her hand and grab her wrist, plastering her small hand against her forehead while his other hand kept her head in place. The move confused her as he was trying to get her away. Suddenly, a familiar and displeasing scent passed through with the arrival of a strong gust.

His attention went over to the entrance gate. The girls who had been standing were moved by Day Patrol members that went over. Only one being stood near the front gate, passing right by the remaining ballers, who excused themselves. From his peripheral vision, Takumi checked out the grey suit and casual shoes the individual wore, which was the source of the scent. Those shoes were polished with a shoe polish that he recognized all too well. One that stung his nose, a strong dark chocolate stench.

"Of course she would send that mutt..." Takumi grumbled.