Chapter 3: Having Some Fun

The sounds of a basketball bouncing on asphalt could be heard, reverberating around the area. The surroundings had become rather dark with only the lights of the street lamps illuminating the basketball court. 

On this court, were two kids dueling off against eachother in a heated one on one basketball match.

The cold chill of the air pricked at their skin, but they didn't even realise as they were solely focused on winning. It was tied at 10-10 with Akio having possession of the ball. They were playing with only half the court, first to 11, win by 1.

Akio breathed heavily as he held the ball with both his hands, sweat dripping down his forehead: his options either to dribble or to shoot.

He had managed to score a lay-up shot, tying the score up with Aomine and just needed only 1 more point to win.

Akio gazed at Aomine, scrutinising all his subtle movements and where his eyes were focusing on.

Akio knew he couldn't just use his speed or basic dribbles to get pass him. Aomine's physique was on par with his, but what made his defence so scary was his ridiculous reaction time. Any mistake he makes would quickly be met with a swift recovery.

Akio could see Aomine's eyes focusing on the ball that was clamped by his hands.

Akio decided to use this fact to his advantage and quickly came up with a play, "I'll try this." Akio thought to himself.

Without wasting another second, Akio began his dribble. Aomine was currently around two feet in front of him, his foot placement slightly skewed to allow for an easier time to adjust to any sudden movements.

Quickly deciding to go on the offensive, Akio moved suddenly with an explosive dash, lunging to the left side of Aomine's body. This had forced him to make a turn of his torso and move to block Akio's path to the basket.

Akio's plan seemed to have worked as he moved onto the next part of his little strategy.

Akio's explosive dash suddenly lost all of it's prior momentum. Then, With a flick of his left wrist, he pulled a behind the back dribble before going to Aomine's right side of his body.

"Damn! He did a body feint!" Aomine thought to himself. Akio had managed to put him in an awkward position, which had created a massive hole in his defence. 

Aomine quickly decided to do a spin, using the momentum of his previous turn to fix his mistake and to lock back onto Akio's drive to the basket. Fortunately, Akio hadn't created too much distance which allowed Aomine to catch up to the left side of his body.

Akio had a somewhat annoyed expression, he had been so close to the basket and was only a few feet away from his lay-up range.

"He's way too quick!" Akio thought to himself. He had expected to get another instance of time from that body feint to go for a lay-up and end the game, however Aomine had swiftly recovered, making this plan completely hopeless. 

However, contrary to Aomine's expectation, Akio had placed both hands on the ball.

"What!? He's still going for a lay-up or maybe a pump-fake?" Aomine thought, confused by his decision despite him heavily contesting Akio.

However, Akio once again stopped his momentum, before turning around and planting his left foot away from the hoop. Using the two step rule, Akio decided to go for a fadeaway instead of a lay-up. It was a rather risky move, as he wasn't very proficient in it, but who cares!

!!!

The realisation dawned on Aomine as he knew what Akio was about to do.

"He's doing a fadeaway instead!?" Aomine questioned internally. He didn't even think Akio would go for this move as he had rarely ever used it, only ever going for lay-ups or three pointers. And whenever he did use it, it had a low chance of scoring.

The sudden stop followed by the distance he created by moving backwards, had caused Aomine to feel as if they were separated by a giant chasm: a reason why the fadeaway shot had been so feared and effective in professional basketball.

Aomine quickly recovered and stomped the ground as hard as he could so he could generate enough momentum to block the shot.

Akio was at the final process of his shot. After taking a step backwards from the court, Akio had jumped upwards before turning his chest so it was in line with the hoop. After that, he leaned backwards and with a flick of his right wrist, the ball was released from his hands.

"I executed it perfectly! It should go in!" Akio thought.

However, Akio's pupils suddenly shrunk into needles. What surprised Akio was the fact that Aomine had somehow managed to quickly close the distance on him: his right hand extending upwards to block the ball.

"Almost there!" Aomine thought, reaching his hand as high as he could.

Aomine felt the tip of his middle finger graze the ball, causing him to be delighted internally.

"Shit!" Akio thought, Aomine had managed to reach the ball somehow, just barely grazing the bottom of the basketball.

The ball shot upwards at the hoop's direction, creating an arc that was slightly off course from the middle of the basket.

The thunderous impact of the ball colliding with the rim echoed through the air, its reverberations intensifying with each resounding clash of the ball and the rim. A tense pause hung in the atmosphere as the ball defiantly rebounded, teasing the possibility of failure. Then, in a heart-stopping moment, a triumphant "Swish" sliced through the tension, marking the end of the game.

The two boys collapsed on their ass as they breathed heavily: their heart beat thumping loudly in their chest

"Lucky bastard." Aomine uttered whilst panting, visibly annoyed by the fact he lost due to luck.

Akio chuckled, "A win is a win, it's you're lost this time, Aomine." Akio smirked, also visibly tired.

"Yeah, yeah. It's my lost." 

Akio had managed to stand up with a lot of effort before looking around, only to see that his surroundings had become pitch-black. "Shit! It's late as hell! How long have we been playing!?" Akio spoke. He had initially planned to stay for a little over an hour, but he hadn't expected Aomine to be here, so he had lost track of time due to both of their competitive nature.

He and Aomine had been doing numerous one on ones for at the very least 3 hours, evident in their fatigued expression and their clothes dripping with sweat.

"Hell if I know." Aomine replied to Akio's question with a shrug.

"I need to go now, it was fun, cya!" Akio hurriedly stated, before grabbing his basketball and running back home. This had been the latest he had ever been, so Akio's mom is definitely going to berate him till his ears bleed when he gets back. Something he isn't looking forward to.

Akio had swiftly arrived at the front door of his house.

Akio attempted to open the door only to realise it was locked.

"Sigh. I wanted to quietly sneak in, but it seems I have to face my mom directly." 

After a few seconds of contemplation, Akio knocked on the door.

Only a moment had passed before Akio could hear the sounds of hurried footsteps rushing towards him. The door swung open and before Akio could say anything, he felt something crash into him like a missile. Contrary to his expectations, it wasn't his mother that opened the door but his older sister, Anna.

Anna's arms tightly coiled around his torso as her face buried into his chest.

"Sniffle... I–I was really worried about you." She spoke in a meek tone.

"How long did I play basketball for!? I know I'm not normally this late, but isn't this a little dramatic? It couldn't have been more than four hours, right?" Akio thought, confused as to why Anna is reacting as if he had been missing for a week.

Akio felt the front of his t-shirt become wet from Anna's tears, so he promptly decided to first comfort his older sister. 

After a few minutes, Anna seemed to have calmed down enough as he could only hear faint sniffles. Akio noticed his mother standing just inside the house, patiently watching. Akio felt somewhat uneasy as she had given him the scariest look he had ever received.

He could only manage to give a strained smile to his mother.

"Anna, are you okay now? let's go inside, it's cold out here." Akio spoke gently.

"A few more minutes." She replied, the volume of her voice nearly inaudible.

"Anna, I'm completely drenched in sweat, I need to clean myself. I don't think it would pleasant to hug me for too long." Akio stated, trying to coax her into letting him go.

However, Anna's arms seemed to tighten even more around him, her soft busom compressing into his chest, whilst a faint blush crept onto her face.

"Is she taking advantage of me?" Akio contemplated, before helplessly sighing.

Ever since Akio had transferred schools, Anna seemed to be extremely shy and attached to him now.

Well, it's not like he was going to complain.