The People In The Stands

On the stands, three of the four fools were looking at their friend.

They saw the players on the court removing the clothes that they were wearing over their jerseys.

They saw Teiko's white and blue jerseys.

Hikigaya said as he looked at Kise in his jersey.

Hikigaya: "I don't know why, but when I look at the yellow-haired guy from Teiko? I feel like punching him."

Kise looked refreshing in his white and light-blue jersey and the girls that were squealing in delight as they looked at the handsome Kise.

Inuzuka nodded and pointed out.

Inuzuka: "True, but that guy isn't the only one, we have a guy in our school."

All of them looked at the person that Inuzuka pointed out.

Wearing the black and purple jersey of Tokiwadai, with black shoes, and wearing black calf-length compression shorts under the jersey.

Sporting silver hair and deep-purple eyes, flashing a charming smile as he talked with his teammate.

The three looked at the girls of their school swooning at the sight of the player.

Inuzuka: "Even if he is my friend, I want to wipe that smiled of his face."

Inuzuka recalled the times when Shun would smile, nod, or even walk past girls, and they would blush and giggle.

Inuzuka: "I will bash his face in later. He must know the frustration of others."

Yes, you guessed it right, the person they were looking at, was Shun. His looks and polite behavior attracted many girls to him, but none of the girls were able to successfully captures the attention of the basketball club's ace.

Shikamaru looked at the Shun and then looked at the rest of the players.

Shikamaru: "Hey, why is Shun wearing those tights under his jersey."

He pointed at the black tights that covered Shun's legs.

Inuzuka, a member of an athletic club, explained.

Inuzuka: "Ah, those. Those are called compression shorts. They help keep the muscles oxygenated. And well, they also help keep the junk from flopping around if you know what I mean.

Some of them even have knee pads woven in."

[A/N: Now, I know that is not their function, but I wanted to write it, so I wrote it. Search for {Basketball compression tights} for images, you will find players wearing them underneath their jerseys.]

Shikamaru nodded and commented.

Shikamaru: "They look cool. The whole black and purple attire suits his silver hair and purple eyes."

Hikigaya chuckled and said.

Hikigaya: "He got lucky with the jersey."

The three boys were talking when they heard.

???: "Inuzuaka-kun."

All three of them turned their heads to see who was calling Inuzuka.

They saw two girls standing next to their row.

Inuzuka and Shikamaru recognized both the girls.

Inuzuka: "Juliet."

Shikamaru: "President Temari."

Standing there was a blond girl of a petit build and a tall girl with similar blond hair. Both of them were pretty and had their own unique charms.

Temari smiled and asked.

Temari: "May we sit here."

Shikamaru was considering saying no and was seriously thinking about it, but Inuzuka didn't give him a chance.

Inuzuka: "We don't mind. The more, the merrier."

The boys shifted two seats each to make space for the girls. The order was now, Hikigaya, Shikamaru, Inuzuka, Juliet, and then Temari.

Shikamaru leaned towards Inuzuka and whispered.

Shikamaru: "That is the student council president, didn't you get into a lot of trouble with her?"

Inuzuka similarly whispered to his friends.

Inuzuka: "Oh yeah, I get into a lot of trouble and meet her regularly, but she is cool.

The only thing I don't like about meetings with her is that by the end of every talk, she somehow convinces me to help with the student council with odd-jobs."

Inuzuka crossed his arms and frowned as he remembered the times he ended up doing to things for the student council.

Juliet turned to Temari and asked.

Juliet: "Temari, I haven't seen such a crowd in both of our tournaments. Is our school's basketball team that strong?"

Temari nodded and explained to her friend.

Temari: "Our basketball club regularly goes to the nationals, but even that amount of level is not enough to gather this crowd."

Inuzuka decided to chime and give them the answer.

Inuzuka: "There are two schools in Tokyo that go to nationals regularly, and both of them have been champions in the last two years.

These two teams have attracted this big of a crowd to watch two top national-level teams play without holding back."

Juliet looked up to Inuzuka and asked.

Juliet: "I am not that familiar with basketball, would you tell me facts during the game?"

Inuzuka patted his chest and assured.

Inuzuka: "Sure, I have spent enough time with Shun to know have considerable knowledge about the sport."

Juliet and Inuzuka smiled at each other, while Hikigaya gagged in the corner.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-

Both teams entered the court, ready to start the game.

Kaitani looked at the cameras around the court that were here to record the game.

Kaitani: "Man, this is bad. There are so many cameras here. I am feeling really nervous."

Yuki spoke in agreement.

Yuki: "This will be the first time I will be on television. Hey, do I look alright, is there anything wrong with jersey, there is nothing on my face, is there."

Mibuchi chuckled and patted Kaitani and Yuki's backs.

Mibuchi: "Don't worry about the cameras. Just focus on the game. Trust me when I say this, but you won't have the time to worry about the cameras. This game is going to be a tough one."

Shun trotted to the court and said.

Shun: "There will be a TV announcer commenting on the game, so if you want to get special attention from the commentator, make sure to play your best."

Kaitani's ears perked up when he heard about there being an announcer.

Kaitani: "Announcer..."

He looked at Mibuchi and said.

Kaitani: "Captain, let's work hard to make sure that Midorima Shintaro won't score a single point today."

Kaitani hooped on the spot.

Kaitani: "Oh yeah, I am feeling it now. Today I will break all my limits and show the world what I can do."

Yuki commented on Kaitani's statement.

Yuki: "The world isn't watching, you know."

Aone patted Mibuchi's shoulder and pointed to the half-court line.

Mibuchi nodded and instructed.

Mibuchi: "Come on, people, enough joking around. It's time for the tip-off."

The game was about to begin.