Can't Break Through

The enemy was about to begin a new attack. Like before, James was the one to open it.

[This guy sure can pass, if little else.] Kai concluded from her previous attempt to intercept the guy's pass. [I can try stopping his pass again, but I doubt it'll work. Better focus on his pass options instead.]

"Ben," Kai called out. "Do you mind marking this guy instead? I'll mark this one." She pointed at Larry.

"Okay." Ben nodded and went ahead to challenge James. Meanwhile, Kai stood in front of Larry.

"What's up, girl?" Larry snickered. "You prefer me over James? Well, I don't blame you for finding me more attractive, heh."

"...." Kai merely threw him a disinterested glance before focusing on the incoming pass. There was no point entertaining trash like him.

"Giving me the cold treatment, eh." Larry shook his head. "Well, no problem. Go ahead, challenge me, by all means. You'll become my no.1 fangirl after I mop the floor with ya!"

"In your dreams." Kai ignored that nonsense and stretched her arm to intercept the incoming ball.

As expected, Ben's ability to interfere with James's skillful passing wasn't any better than Kai's. The ball cleanly slipped right past him. Therefore, Kai had to stop the pass with her own two hands from this position.

[Tch, this bastard is really good at it.] Kai clicked her tongue. Her arm failed to reach the ball. Truly, it was a high-caliber pass, especially for a lowlife like that.

"Got it!" Larry easily caught the ball.

[But, you're not getting through.] Kai blocked the guy's way.

"Oh?" Larry was almost impressed by how fast that girl appeared in front of him. For a moment, he believed he'd drive the ball toward the basket in no time. But, that girl just went ahead and dropped a big NOPE on his plans.

"You wanna go?" Larry smiled confidently. "Then, let's go!" He dribbled the ball underneath his legs, pretending to be some sort of pro.

[Childish tricks.] Kai didn't care about any of that.

When an amateur used cool-looking dribbling techniques, nine out of ten times it was for show. This dumbass was just trying to impress Kai, or maybe intimidate her. Either way, it didn't work.

Bump. Bump. Bump. Kai concentrated on the sound of the ball hitting the floor. That repetitive rhythm gave her a good idea of Larry's intentions.

In short, he was just putting on airs. So far, he had no intention of actually attacking. That was also apparent from the way he constantly shifted his eyes from side to side, most likely searching for an opportunity to pass.

[He talks big but he's cautious.] Kai concluded. [I thought they'll underestimate me more. Well, it's probably the score. They're lagging behind, so they don't have the luxury to go easy. Works for me.]

[Tch, this girl.] Larry clicked his tongue. He was having fun doing fancy dribbles at first, but it soon became a chore. His slick moves were supposed to impress the girl and make her lower her guard, but she completely ignored all of it.

[Dang, Mike and Jay are marked pretty hard.] Larry thought. [Welp, guess it's up to me then. Let's play, girl!]

Larry made a sudden move for the left! But, little did the girl know it was a feint!

[It's a feint.] Kai concluded instantly. She was carefully listening to the sound of the ball hitting the floor, so she could tell the latest bounce was "different". It was shallow, making it feel fake.

Nonetheless, Kai moved a little in the direction of the "incoming attack". By "reacting" to the "attack", the opponent would be led to believe that Kai really fell for the feint. Then, during that moment of carelessness, she'll launch her counter!

[Fell for it!] Larry changed directions and drove the ball to the opposite side! Ez, almost laughably ez. [Heh, lame. The girl sure carried herself like a serious player at first, but turns out all I needed is a simple feint to-]

WHAM!

"Eh...?" Larry blinked.

A foreign hand grabbed the ball right under his nose. A steal! The girl reacted to his movements and stole the ball right as he tried to pass her!

[Easy.] Kai snatched the ball and drove it toward the basket, then stopped in place. [This should be close enough. I have to shoot before he catches up-]

WHAM! And big hand slammed the ball out of her hands!

[Already here!?] Kai grimaced.

"Yo, what's up?" Larry grinned, his eyes filled with contempt. "Stealing the ball is one thing, but getting past me? In your dreams, girl."

"Hmph." Kai scoffed at the provocation and ran to collect the ball. The opponent struck the ball so hard it flew all the way outside the court. "What's the rules for out of bounds?"

"You restart from the center." Larry pointed at the ring in the center of the court.

[From all the way over there?] Kai made a face. [Well, at least we retain ball possession.]

She picked up the ball and darted toward the center. The faster she gets there, the faster she can initiate the next attack! She didn't want to give the enemy any time to prepare.

Alas, by the time she got there, all the opponents were already in positions. Mike was marking Lars and James hanging out in front of Ben. And, of course, Larry stood in Kai's way.

[This is very far from the basket.] Kai gauged the distance. [I should probably pass, but...]

Kai checked left and right. There weren't any good angles for safely delivering the ball to either teammate.

Nonetheless, if she applies a proper spin to the ball, she might sneak it past one of the defenders. She just had to carefully aim and-

"Heh, what's wrong?" Larry snickered. "Too scared to face me? Well, of course you are. A chick like you can't go up against a chad like me. So c'mon, pass it already."

[He's really egging me up, huh.] Kai shot the bastard a glare. [Alright, fine. I'll take you on!]

Kai dribbled the ball from side to side with rhythmic movements.

"Oh, think you can get through?" Larry sneered. [Heh, she's easier than I thought. Though, her dribbling isn't half bad.]

Larry carefully followed the ball's movements. It bounced from side to side with a nice rhythm to it. It was almost like music.

[Got him!] Kai messed up the rhythm right as the opponent got used to it.

"So, you finally attack- eh!?" Larry reacted to the sudden attack, he definitely did. But, his legs didn't move like they were supposed to.

His brain told him to move to the right in order to intercept his opponent, yet his body wanted to move to the left for some reason. The two desires clashed and messed him up.

"Whoa!" He tripped backwards and almost fell on his butt.

Meanwhile, the chick passed right past him.

"No, you don't!" Larry thrust his long arm like a spear, aiming at the ball.

WHAM! Headshot! He knocked the ball out of the chick's hands! That's the best he could do from this awkward position.

[Damn!] Kai cursed internally.

Even though she successfully broke the enemy's stance, that bastard still managed to knock her ball away. Seriously, what was the deal with these long arms? This bastard was like a walking noddle man.

Worst of all, he knocked that ball away with quite the force. It threatened to escape from Kai even as she chased it.

[No, you don't!] She finally caught up to it and regained control of the situation. She ended up running all the way past the three-pointer line to get it catch it, but now it was in her possession once more. This was good! From this position, she could score!

"Watch out!"

"Huh?" Kai hesitated for a moment due to Lars's loud voice. Just then, a big figure appeared in front of her! Mike jumped in to block!

[Phew, that was close.] Kai lowered the ball and backpedaled with a dribble. If she fired just then, this bastard would've completely blocked the shot.

"You're not getting through, girlie," Mike declared. It wasn't some lame attempt at intimidation or provocation. It was just him stating an absolute truth of this universe, nothing more and nothing less.

[Fucker.] Kai's blood boiled. With this head honcho bastard right in front of her, she couldn't help but recall the last time she confronted him.

Back then, they exchanged verbal blows for quite a while. In the end, Kai lost her cool and resorted to yelling. Looking back on it, that was an embarrassing display of incompetence from her side. But, at the time, she felt like she had to do something, [anything], to get through to that bully godfather.

Unfortunately, raising her voice was the last straw for Mike. At that point, he regarded her as irrefutably hostile and tackled her. She didn't expect violence to actually come into play, so she was caught off-guard.

As much as Kai hated the whole "boys shouldn't hit girls" defense, she was subconsciously relying on it at the time. That's what compelled her to raise her voice against Mike in the first place. She didn't believe the guy would seriously retaliate against her even if she struck first.

But, Mike didn't care for such silly notions. Whether it was a boy or a girl - he'd retaliate against any hostility. That was both an admirable and an irritating trait.

After being assaulted, Kai had no choice but to concede defeat. She had no chance of winning a frontal confrontation, even she had to admit that much.

Mike was tall, towering over most guys his age. His frame alone was probably enough to scare away most opponents. As such, there was no way Kai could compete with this Goliath.

[In the first place, violence doesn't solve anything.] Kai reached that conclusion a long time ago. Even if she learned any martial arts in order to defeat Mike, that probably wouldn't solve anything. It'd anger the entire gang and they'd join forces to take her down. Violence will beget more violence and there will be no end to the conflict.

So, violence definitely wasn't the answer. Kai had to find another way to defeat Mike and make him give up. And today, finally, this opportunity arrived. Though, who would've thought that, of all things, she'll be challenging Mike's to a basketball game?

[It's so stupid but so genius at the same time.] Kai smiled wryly.

Challenging the godfather on his own turf, in his own specialty, sounded like suicide. But, it was exactly the kind of impact they needed in order to crush this bastard's pride. After they mop the floor with his sorry ass today, the guy will be too embarrassed to ever show his face around them. It was a foolproof plan.

And, best of all, this game finally gave Kai the opportunity to get revenge. She was confronting Mike once more but, this time, with a ball in hand. It was a continuation of their previous fight but there was no shouting or shoving. No, this time, they'll duke it out in a perfectly civil manner, via sports.

Even better, it was a sport that bastard prided himself in. The expression on his face will be delicious once Kai mops him-

"Here!" The voice cut Kai's line of thought. Lars was running to the back of the court while raising his hand. That gesture was saying "I'm free!"

With Mike busy handling Kai, it left Lars completely unmarked. Apparently, Larry was on his way to handle that task, but he probably wouldn't make it in time if Kai tried to pass.

[I bet Lars will score if I pass to him.] Kai thought. [But, I…]

Her nemesis was right in front of her. This was a golden opportunity to defeat this bastard and execute her overdue revenge.

[I can't run away from this.] She ignored Lars's call and focused on the opponent in front of her. This was a showdown between the two leaders. Mike, the godfather of the bullies, vs. Kai, the captain of the Classmancers club. It was her duty to accept this duel and win!

[Let's do this.] Kai dribbled the ball from side to side with a consistent rhythm.

"You're actually coming at me?" Mike sneered. He clearly didn't register Kai as a threat at all.

But, he'll change his mind soon enough. Once Kai breaks past him, she'll destroy every last ounce of pride this coky bastard had. And to accomplish that, all she had to do was to trap her opponent in the carefully crafted rhythm and then get past- WHAM!

"Ah!" Kai gasped.

"I got no time for your games." Mike swung his arm at lightning speed and snatched the ball!

"N-No, you don't!" Kai forced her body to move despite how confused her brain was. [How did this happen!? I was dribbling so carefully, yet this bastard... Tch, no time to cry about it!]

It was bad. Kai lost the ball so dangerously close to the basket. From here, Mike could score without breaking a sweat. She had to stop him!

"Heh." Mike merely sneered at the girlie's feeble attempts. She couldn't keep up with him in the slightest, not in terms of speed and not in terms of jumping ability.

"Agh!" Kai jumped with all her strength and swung her arm toward the ball, but she was too late. Mike already shot toward the basket.

"One point," Yuel announced. It was 17-16 now.

"Thanks for the free point." Mike scoffed.

"Grr...!" Kai grit her teeth. For once, this bastard was right. The blood for this goal was on Kai's hands. She was too careless.

Just because her technique worked on Larry and James, she was confident it'll work on Mike as well. But, this guy clearly stood head and shoulder above the rest. That should've been obvious by now, seeing as Mike has been keeping up with Lars all by himself.

[But, I just lost this once.] Kai thought. [Next time, I'll get past him for sure!]

She promised that much, but will she live up to that promise…?