The Basketball Game

"So Motosaki, what are your plans tomorrow night?" Tsubami set down a cup of tea with a tea plate in front of me then sat down in front of me.

"I'm going to a concert with my friends tomorrow night. The Lucky Guys concert." I answered and picked up the tea cup.

"Lucky Guys? Mmm..they are overrated in my opinion. How about coming with me and Otsuki to a real band concert." Tsubami smiled and sipped her tea.

"What band?" I asked and sipped my tea.

"Death Bunnies." Tsubami said.

"Death...Bunnies..?" I asked.

"Yeah, basically they are these group of girls who make Heavy Metal music and really knows how to rock the place. Speakers booming, crowd cheering, everyone letting loose. Better than watching girls pass out like they are at a Michael Jackson concert." Tsubami said.

"Oh so you're one of those girls huh..?" I asked.

Tsubami disregarded what I said and waited for my answer to her request. I sighed a bit and set the tea cup down and looked at her.

"I'm sure if I reject your offer, you'll just drag me in here tomorrow to ask the same thing right?" I asked.

"Mhm. Come on, you look like you aren't even interested in Boy Groups." Tsubami said.

"I'm not...I was just going because Aisha was but since I have no choice but to go with you and Otsuki...Fine I'll go. Can I leave now? You've trapped me in here for at least 30 minutes by now." I said.

"Fine fine, you can leave." Tsubami said.

Aisha and the others hurried off and I opened the door and saw them standing near the wall. Emma was legitimately facing the wall. I sighed and rubbed the back of my head then closed the door.

"Yes I'm gonna go with Tsubami and Otsuki to their little emo concert. No I'm not a huge fan of Lucky Guys...Yes I was practically being forced. I'm sure you all heard the conversation. Besides why are you even here?" I asked.

"This was all Emma's idea. She was worried about you." Aisha said.

"I- You- WHAT?! NO I WASN'T! Why would I be worried about some boy I just met?! Ugh! Like EW!" Emma stuck her nose up.

"Whatever. Let's just get you delinquents back to class." I said.

"But we're on break...Mr. Hoshida had to teach P.E. we were thinking about heading to the gym. Wanna come?" Rebecca asked.

"Sure, I could use some exercise." I smiled. "Aisha cooked a huge dinner yesterday."

"Oh? Well this'll be your time to lose some calories." Rebecca smiled.

We walked towards the locker rooms and got changed into our gym clothes. I walked into the gym and saw it was a unified gym where girls and guys were together. In America, there was a boys gym and a girls gym. I looked around and saw some guys playing basketball. There were girls running laps and talking with their best friends. I saw Otsuki sitting alone on the bleachers.

I walked on the court and picked up a basketball. I haven't played since I was a sophomore. Otsuki looked at me and I looked at her then some guys came up to me.

"Hey, you wanna play some ball?" One asked.

"Sure, I'm game." I said. "Teams or.."

"We can do some one on one." The other guy said.

I nodded and Rebecca and the others entered the gym and saw me about to play some basketball ball. Aisha, in specific, watched me closely as she would always watch me play when we were younger. Otsuki also watched. I stepped back and bounce passed the ball to one guy and he bounce passed it back. I began dribbling and guy began posting up.

"Who is that the new kid?" A girl asked.

"Yeah he's playing against Satori? He's one of the best in the school." Another girl said.

Satori, my opponent, was apparently one of the best basketball players in the school. They must've challenged me to see what I could do. Honestly I didn't play much after my parents vanished, just lost the love for the game. My dad is the one who taught me to play. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I dribbled the ball quickly from hand to hand and ran past him then laid the ball up.

"Yo he's pretty good." Satori's friend said.

"Above average." The other friend nodded.

Otsuki smiled and watched more. I got the ball and went back to my position again. I checked the ball then began dribbling. Satori began taking it more seriously. It even caught the attention of Mr. Hoshida. I dribbled the ball and ran passed him but he managed to steal the ball and dribbled backwards outside the three point line.

"You're good, but now that I see what you're made of...I'll start taking this more seriously." Satori said.

'What a drag..' I thought to myself and looked at Satori.

He bagan dribbling fast and I watched the ball. I went to steal the ball but he side stepped and went for a three and scored.

"Yeah! There you go Captain!" His friends cheered.

I was impressed. Satori well deserved his spot at the top. I grabbed the ball and looked at the ball. Unfortunately I just couldn't feel it anymore. No passion for the game. I kept playing though, I didn't want to disappoint my father who taught me all I needed to know. We checked the ball and he began dribbling fast then spun around me and dribbled on last time and dunked the ball.

"Satori! Let's go!" A girl cheered.

"Where's this guy's spark?" Satori asked himself.

There was no love for anything in my soul anymore after they vanished. My hair covered my eyes and sweat dripped on the floor then I heard Otsuki's voice.

"You can do this Motosaki! I believe in you!" She cheered.

Satori picked up the ball and went outside the three point line and dribbled the ball up and down with his left hand. I looked up and heard Aisha cheer.

"Don't let him bring you down Saki-kun! Show him what you know!" Aisha cheered with a smile.

I looked at Satori with only a little fire in my eyes. Hearing those cheers brought me back to the old times in middle school. Hearing my family and Aisha cheer for me was a good feeling. Satori yawned and looked at me.

"Man that first shot was probably just luck, I was going easy on you. If you have no love for the game, why are you on the court." Satori said. "This is for serious ball only."

"...I know." I said and reached in my pocket and took out a hair tie and tied my hair into a ponytail. "Let's play some ball!"

"That's the spark I'm looking for." Satori smirked. "Let's play up to 10. Full Court."

"Fine by me." I said.

Mr. Hoshida stood up and blew on his whistle and we all looked at him. He pushed his glasses up and smiled.

"I'll be the referee for this game if you're playing like that." Mr. Hoshida said.

We nodded and Satori handed the basketball to him. He stood in the middle of the court and we got ready to do jump ball. Mr. Hoshida threw the ball up and Satori jumped higher than me and grabbed the ball and landed. He began running towards the basketball goal. I ran after him and the crowd cheered. I stood in front of him and held my hands up then he began dribbling the ball between his legs while stepping backwards. He was really letting his skills shine. He stopped outside the three point line and shot the ball. He made a nothing but net and the crowd cheered loudly.

I grabbed the ball and dribbled taking a deep breath. I ran into the court dribbling quickly using my father's fundamentals and bounced the ball between his legs then grabbed the ball and dunked it in.

"Whoo! That's it Saki-kun!" Aisha clapped happily.

"I think he's in the zone now. You can see the fire in his eyes." Rebecca said.

Satori walked to the end of the court and grabbed the ball and smiled. This game was exciting to him. I felt a rush of energy come into my body. The crowd, the cheering, the love of the game came back to me. Satori ran onto the court and dribbled with style quickly. I was able to keep up with him and tried to steal the ball then he spun around me and drove the ball to the goal. I ran in front of him and as he jumped I jumped also and smacked the ball out of his hand and landed. He landed as well and I grabbed the ball and began driving the ball towards my goal and he kept up with me because of his agility. I dribbled the ball left and right quickly and he went to steal the ball and I pulled off a step back and shot the ball. The ball hit the backboard and entered the hoop, making the score 3-2.

"This Motosaki guy is freaking amazing!" A girl said.

"Yeah, he's holding his own against Satori himself!" Another girl said.

Otsuki smiled happily and watched the game. Tsubami leaned against the door frame and watched as well. The game went on for 6 minutes and the score was now 9-9. I had the ball and I dribbled and ran with the ball. We both were getting tired.

"I can't believe your skill, how could you lose passion for ball?" Satori asked, guarding me.

"It's a personal and long story...Just know a special someone disappeared from my life and he taught me all I needed to know!" I faked him by shifting my body left then went right and drove the ball to the goal and went for a dunk. He jumped up and smacked the ball down and I was surprised.

"Sorry to hear that, but you shouldn't lose passion with your skill. You could go to the big leagues with that type of skill." Satori said and landed then grabbed the ball and dribbled it quickly to the goal.

I ran after him, but by the time I caught up he was at the goal already and he did a between the leg dunk and the game was over. I respected Satori, his skill, passion, sportsmanship, and his personality. He was famous amongst the senior class. He walked to me and held out his hand.

"That was a good game, Motosaki. We definitely should play again." Satori smiled and I shook his hand.

"Yeah, I'll keep the offer in mind." I smiled back.

That's how me, Satori, and his crew became friends. A simple game of basketball. He gave me his socials and said keep in touch if I ever wanted to hang out with him and his crew then he walked off. Otsuki stood up then saw Aisha run and hug me. She was extremely proud of me and jumped up and down, even though I lost. Otsuki smiled and walked off. This time I saw her walk off. Usually she would disappear before I could even catch her first step.