Chapter 23

Syl continued down the hall. He happened to pass by Sakayanagi's class.

"They did what?" A female voice asked.

"They tried to provoke me and fight me when there were three of them and I was alone." A male voice replied.

"Fufufu. Is that so? It seems the new class A is very proactive. You didn't touch them, right?"

"No. I just walked away."

"Good job Kito."

Syl heard all this from halfway across the hall. Enhanced hearing could be really OP when used right.

He thought for a moment before shrugging. "You only live once… wait, didn't I die already? I just woke up in a random hotel room looking the same as normal… wasn't I just kidnapped then? Unless I did die… Then you wouldn't only live once… But wait then was I transmigrated or kidnapped, wait what if-"

Syl continued down his spiral of nonsense as he walked in a certain direction.

He knocked on the doorframe.

A girl with a cane looked him up and down.

"Come in." She said with a faint smile.

"Hello, I'm Syl. I couldn't help but hear you say something about Ryuuen…"

"Fufufu. So you were eavesdropping?"

"Well, I wouldn't exactly say eavesdropping… If I shout 'I have 6 fingers!' In a public place, is everyone there eavesdropping, or am I speaking publicly? Basically, I wasn't eavesdropping."

"I don't think that analogy is very accurate. You see, we weren't yelling, nor are we in public. On the contrary I believe that talking in our own classroom is very private."

"Bah, Bacon Schmacon! You get my point. I was more interested in Ryuuen making a move on your class."

"I see. Well, I can't say I have much I'm able to tell you, you are from another class after all."

"... Fair enough." Syl couldn't really push here, he did kinda just barge in…

"Then, nice to meet you, Syl." She stretched her hand for a handshake.

Syl smiled and shook her small hand. Well, it wasn't much smaller than Syl's, he was only 6 inches taller than her after...

"The pleasure was mine, Sakayanagi. I would love to play you in a game of chess sometime, should the occasion ever arise."

"Fufu. I'll have you know I'm quite a good chess player. Are you sure you're up to the task?"

Syl chuckled. "No clue! Maybe I'll be the one who takes you down or maybe I'll lose in 2 moves."

"It's impossible to lose in 2 moves." Sakayanagi smiled.

"Is that so? Who knew?" Syl laughed and walked away.

Maybe he would get a chess skill? Or maybe he would actually lose immediately? Even Syl himself had no clue! All he knew is that he wouldn't use a butt plug to cheat! He wasn't a grand master after all!

Well he probably wouldn't use one... If he didn't get a chess skill then maybe he would have too...

"Fufufu. So that was the Anomaly… he even scored better than me on the exams. It seems like this will be more fun than I expected."

Sakayanagi smiled at the variety of people she had to fight. She was ecstatic that the competition was so fierce, she didn't even mind being in class B for now, that just meant that there were more opportunities to win in the future.

Syl just decided to go home. On the way he bumped into Sakura without her glasses on.

"Hey Sakura!"

She fumbled with her phone in her hands and nearly dropped it.

"Eh?!"

"What's a place like you doing in a girl like this?"

"Y-you know my name?!"

Syl scratched his cheek and smiled wryly. "Should I not?"

"Y-you also recognized me w-without glasses."

Syl tilted his head. "Was I not supposed to?"

Then Sakura gasped. "D-did you see anything?"

Syl was kinda confused. "I don't know what I wasn't meant to see… so I'm assuming not."

She let out a deep breath of relief.

Syl smiled. "Well, I gotta go. See you later."

Syl waved goodbye and walked away.

Sakura just stood there dumbfounded.

Someone actually knew her name! And he talked to her! What was going on?!

Syl forgot about the encounter and continued on with his day.

He turned the corner and saw Sudo!

What are the odds?

It's almost like this was when-

Suddenly three people walked around the corner!

They were from Ryuuen's class!

Sudo turned to the three. "Why did you call me out here?"

"My friends told me you were treating them poorly in basketball club, you think you're better than everyone just because you made the starting lineup?! Huh?!" Ishizaki got up in Sudo's face.

Sudo grit his teeth. "It's not my fault they suck at basketball!"

"So now your bullying them? I can't stand for this!"

"Wha- bullying? When did I-"

Sudo was cut off by a punch to his face.

Syl was watching all this and cursed his luck! He didn't wanna get involved!

Syl just sighed and walked over. "Hey! Didn't I just see you? It's been too long? Uhh, what's your name?"

The three class A students clicked their tongues, a witness!

"Ishizaki."

"Say, why don't we settle this peacefully? Eh?"

Ishizaki was instructed by Ryuuen to make sure there were no witnesses. So he was unsure of how to proceed.

Unless, he could also provoke Syl???

"What are you saying, midget?"

Syl was stunned! Ishizaki wasn't this kinda guy! Maybe he was under orders right now…

Syl just laughed. "Hahaha!"

"What? What's so funny?!" One of the two goons called out.

Syl took a deep breath, then thought for a moment. The alliance with Horikita and Ichinose would probably never happen anyway, I mean they were too close in class points, even one special exam could change the scores. So what was the whole point of this fight? To waste a bunch of time? To develop Sakura?

Nothing important!

Syl just decided to say fuck it!

"What do you say about a basketball game?!" He said.

"What?"

"You said this was about whether Sudo was better than you or not right? Then let's do this, 2 v 3, me and Sudo, Vs you three. Winner takes all."

"All of what?"

"Hmmm, all our private points!"

At this point Sudo spoke up. "Syl, don't do this! I can't beat all three of them alone!"

Syl shushed him. "What do you say? Or we could do this the hard way…" He cracked his knuckles.

"... Pffft~! Hahahaha! 'Or we could do this the hard way!' HAhahaah He's like 5 feet tall! Does he want to fight us??!" One of the goons said.

Ishizaki held up his hand. He felt like Syl was joking about the fight and If he couldn't get Syl to fight him, then his and Ryuuen's plan was over, but that didn't mean he couldn't make some money!

Little did he know that Syl was about to actually fight, although he wouldn't be an idiot and get in trouble... at least probably not...

"Let's do it." He said.

"Wait, I never agreed." Sudo said.

Syl smirked. "You really think we're gonna lose to these guys? Ishizaki doesn't even play!"

"Neither do you!" Sudo called out.

Syl smirked. "Who told you that? We Canadians invented ball, eh."

"What? They did?"

"Yea, they used to use a ladder to get the ball from the net because they didn't have a hole in the bottom. I learned in history class."

"So you can play?"

"I used to run pickup all the time." Syl smiled.

The 5 of them all headed to the gym.

When they got there Syl took off his blazer and loosened his tie with one hand.

"Halfcourt, 3pt line clear, 2's and 1's, call your own fouls, first to 21, winners, and we start because we have less players?" Syl asked as he rolled up his sleeves, revealing his muscular forearms. He really did have a perfect sleeper build!

Sudo and the 2 other class A students nodded their heads.

"Sure."

"Wait! What does that mean?" Ishizaki asked.

Syl kicked a ball that was on the floor at a wall, it bounced off and he caught it.

"Only play on half the court, after an opponents shot you have to clear past the 3pt line, unless its an airball of course, 3 point shots count as 2 points and 2 point shots count as 1 point, you call a foul when it happens, don't be a bitch and cheat, first to 21 points wins, when you score a basket you get the ball back, and Sudo and I start with the ball because we have less players. Got it?"

"... I think so."

Syl smirked. "You'll learn as we play." Then he turned to the other two. "You two got the rules right? Teach him as we go."

They nodded.

Then Syl turned to Sudo. "You play forward right?"

Sudo was so stunned by this development that he was speechless. Syl could play? Who knew?

Syl snapped in front of his face. "Hey, big guy! You good?"

"Y-yeah. Yeah I play forward."

"Small or power?"

"Small."

"Tch. Think you can play center?" Syl clicked his tongue.

"Y-yeah, I used to in middle school because I was taller than everyone else."

"Good, You get boards and post up, I got perimeter. We can't lose the ball, it's nearly impossible to defend 2 on 3, unless they can't shoot. But they look like they can."

"Yeah, they are decent at 3's, but not as good as me."

Syl waved his hand. "You're not playing stretch-big, just stay in the paint, we need to take this seriously, I don't wanna lose my points."

"Then why did you agree to this?"

Syl smiled. "Because, I had to stop your ass from getting in trouble."

He turned to his opponents and bounced the ball a few times. Then he bounced passed it to Ishizaki who held it in his hands confused. Did he just get a steal???

One of his teammates whispered to him. "Pass it back."

He bounce passed it back.

Syl smiled and caught the ball with one hand.

"Check."