Dribble…dribble in the gym a ball bounced. Kousuke had snuck back into the gym later that night after the incident in the park. Today had been so normal when he started off, but now confusing things were trying to worm their way into his normal life. The boy took a slow intake of breath and sighed as the smell that was unique to high school gyms calmed him. This was his place, even if it didn’t belong to him alone this is where he felt alive.

Before him a shadow from his mind appeared. It was him, after all who else was there to play against? He faked to the side and then crossed over between his legs, after taking several quick strides he pivoted to his left and shot towards the basket to try and break away from his defender, but of course the defender would catch up because it was him. As he prepared to jump for a fade away shot, some part of him realized he had left the shadow behind. It caught up a moment later, no more than half a second behind him, but it was enough to break the entire exercise.

As Kousuke landed the ball hit the floor and rolled away slightly. It must be because of that…of course the difference was nothing substantial, just a half step faster, maybe a few inches higher on his jump, but he was definitely different from this morning. He took a deep breath and looked around. This was his place, his arena, but what would these changes mean for this haven.

“Probably nothing.” He admitted aloud as he picked up the ball and smiled. “I was already unstoppable on the court nothing has really changed.” He says as he begins the exercise again, adjusting the shadow to keep up with his new speed and strength.

The snow was falling softly outside, absorbing most of the sound, save for the crunching noise Yuki’s boots made as she walked, her flashlight guiding the way. The one good thing about this campus being so big was that it made it slightly less creepy at night. That and the college area of the place meant that there were still students about. Even so, Yuki still had to be careful as she snuck into the high school athletic building.

She had been bored just laying around at home, and seeing as she was still anxious about her sports tryout, was too restless and awake to keep still. Parks tended to have creepers lurking around at this time of night, so sneaking back into the school to pass the time seemed like the best option. Unfortunately the area to the soccer field was locked….not to mention Yuki doubted she could have figured out how to turn on the stadium lights anyway.

Instead she figured she could sneak into the gym and shoot some hoops instead. It had been awhile, but Yuki used to play a fair bit of basketball back in middle school. When she reached the gym, she was surprised to find the lights on and the sound of someone dribbling inside. Slowly, Yuki cracked open the door to peer at who was already inside. From the looks of it, the person appeared to be a student…probably on the basketball team as well.

Yuki could tell he was good, though seeing as he was practicing alone at night, he probably was one of those self-centered type of players.

I was already unstoppable on the court…. Yep, he totally was. Walking in as if it were no big deal, Yuki placed her bag down on the bleachers before taking her coat and sweatpants, revealing a red t-shirt and black shorts underneath. She then took off her boots and switched them for sneakers.

”Yo,” she waved over at the boy, assuming he had most likely noticed her by this point. ”Didn’t expect someone else to be here at this time.” She grabbed a spare ball sitting on a rack and started to dribble in order to warm up.

”Yuki Takamora, class B.” She spoke, grabbing the ball with both hands and aiming her shot before shooting towards the basket. The ball made a swish sound in the net as it went in. Yuki was happy to find she wasn’t too rusty.

Kousuke was lost in his own thoughts and didn’t notice the other presence in the room until she started dribbling. Once the ball hit the court Kousuke immediately turned around to face the person who had entered. When she made the comment about being surprised to see someone else here Kousuke shrugged. “You can’t expect to be a regular member of a sports team at this school unless you are truly willing to put forth the effort.” He replies to the newcomer as he sinks a foul shot.

Then he picks up another ball and after hearing the swish he throws her a one handed bounce pass with zest. Then after picking up another ball for himself he turns towards her. “Kousuke Archer, Second year class A.” After introducing himself he quickly dribbles towards the basket and then launches off the ground and slams the ball into the hoop with a dunk.

“So, are you trying out for the women’s team?” He asks after picking the ball up and making eye contact.

Yuki grinned at the other’s comments about putting in effort. Of course she agreed, but she found it amusing that she might have just met somebody as simplistic as her. After making her shot, she caught the fast pass directed at her.

”Nice to meet you Archer.” She watched as Kousuke launched himself in the air, dunking the ball into the hoop. When he asked if she was trying out for the women’s team, Yuki shook her head.

”I did, but not for basketball. Soccer is my aim.” She spoke as she started dribbling the ball low to the ground before picking up speed and dribbling between her legs, trying to regain some of her ball handling skills. Yuki had always been pretty tall for a girl so she had naturally been recruited to play basketball back in middle school. She had fun playing it and wasn’t half bad. Her basketball coach had been disappointed about her decision to pursue soccer.

Yuki then dribbled forward with the ball towards Kousuke, before snapping it up with both hands, making a quick pivot around the other with her right foot and jumping up in the air to make her shot. She really wasn’t expecting him to play defense or anything, seeing as they were mostly making their own individual shots along with small talk, Yuki just mainly wanted a tall obstacle to shoot around.

Assuming Kousuke didn’t want to block the shot; the ball would arch up into the air, hit the rim of the basket and circle around once before falling in.

”Just wanted to get out of the house for a while. Thought the gym might be the easiest place to get into this time of night.”

“Soccer huh?” Kousuke asks as he lobs the ball through the basket underhanded. “Your coach is right, seems like a waste. I can tell that you must have been pretty good when you were playing, in fact you still seem good now.” He admits, his eyes fixing on the ball that Yuki dibbles towards him, as she shoots her shot begins to jump on reflex but manger to avoid getting in the balls way before it goes in.

After he hears the swooshing of the net he walks back over to where the ball game to rest and palms the orange sphere. “I’ve had a complicated day, do you mind playing a bit of one on one with me to help me clear the air?” He asks as he side arms the ball over to her.

“You can start.” After saying this he spreads his legs and bends his knees lowering himself and lets out a long exhalation. His gaze intensifies as the muscles in his face tighten in concentration as he prepares for what she does.

Yuki shrugged when Kousuke said it seemed like a waste. ”Just wait till you see me play.” She enjoyed basketball, but if she wanted to become a pro she needed to focus her efforts to the one sport.

”Eh...?” Yuki spoke in an amused tone as she caught the ball thrown to her. She was very surprised that someone like him would even ask her for a one on one game. Not that she minded.

”Sure, sounds fun.” She bent her knees and started to dribble, grinning at the intense look on Kousuke’s face as he got serious. Yuki needed to get serious too if she wanted to be able to truly challenge the other player. Kousuke would have her beat when it came to reach and raw strength…she would have to use speed and distance her shots if she wanted a chance of being able to score.

Yuki then began to move forward with her dribble, slowly, guarding the ball well. Right now she was just testing the waters so to speak, judging Kousuke’s defense and determining how he would react. Then in a sudden burst of speed, she picked up the pace intending to dart around him, sneakers squeaking on the court as she moved. She tried to almost dance around her opponent in a way before pivoting around in order to break away from him, taking a step back as she took the shot. She had to arch the ball high in order to try and avoid Kousuke’s reach, but assuming he didn’t manage to block the ball, the basketball would just bounce off the rim. Well she was a bit out of practice.

Yuki’s confidence makes Kousuke smile as she boasts about her soccer play. Perhaps next time I’ll ask her to a soccer match, not that I’ll have a chance in hell of winning. He thinks to himself as he watches her catch the pass and take on a serious play stance.

Kousuke takes up a defensive stance spreading his legs and bending his knees slightly while keeping his hands in the air. And when Yuki rushes forward he makes sure to keep in front of her shuffling his feet so that they don’t get tangled while making sure to keep the defensive stance. In truth Kousuke’s strength was offense, but he wasn’t a slouch at D.

As she pivots Kousuke pivots along with her, but because she immediately goes into a fade away he winds up a moment too late to block the ball once she shoots. However he manages to barely brush it with his finger tips and when it bounces off the rim he is already at the bottom of the basket rebounding the shot with a very high jump.

After clearing the ball Kousuke charges straight towards the basket, then once Yuki comes to defend he moves forward, cuts back and then tries to roll around her. Regardless of the success of his he leaps into the air and takes a jump shot. His jump was high, abnormally high even for a basketball player, even for him, though he adjusts and manages to shoot the ball. It’ll go in if Yuki doesn’t block it.

Yuki pouted slightly as her shot missed, but let it go as Kousuke reached for the rebound. When the other came back around, Yuki stuck with him, defending close so as to not let Kousuke get the ball up to shoot. She was quick on her feet and managed to stay with him, but eventually he managed to break away just enough to jump into the air, and by that point the ball was too high up for Yuki to block and it managed to go into the net.

After the ball went in, Yuki ran forward to catch it before dribbling it back around. This time she was quick, not wanting Kousuke to settle back comfortably into playing defense. She dribbled the ball quickly and low to the ground, moving to his right and left as she tried to keep him guessing over which direction she would try to break towards. Then without warning, instead of choosing left of right, Yuki decided to move forward, managing to bounce the ball skillfully between Kousuke’s legs and catching the ball behind him as she then immediately went for the lay-up. This time, assuming the shot wasn’t blocked, the ball would go in.

After scoring Kousuke slowly began to get set up again, but because he was expecting Yuki to come back to the line and set up he was surprised when she moved immediately after clearing the ball. He manages to catch up with her, but since his defensive stance was hastily set up she is able to get the ball between his legs and score before he recovers his pace.

Grabbing the ball and returning to the 3 point line to clear the ball Kousuke smiles and grins. This was the feeling, facing a skilled opponent with everything he had. That’s what basketball, no sports were all about! Instead of simply charging forward again Kousuke simply fakes a charge forward then jumps and fires off a three.

After another 45 minutes or so of play the one on one ended with Yuki 14 and Kousuke 27. As he stands panting and wiping away sweat with a towel he had brought he looks at her with a rueful smile and asks. “Are you sure you don’t play anymore? You’re better than several of the regulars on the boys team.” He laughs, though he was telling the truth.

“Thanks for the game, I had a pretty rough day so this has been a breath of fresh air.”

The game continued back and forth, Yuki going all out and playing as hard as she could. She might not be up at the same skill level as Kousuke when it came to basketball, but she at least had the stamina to match his pace. After their game was over, Yuki sank to the floor stretching out on her back as she gasped for air, thoroughly exhausted. She didn’t bring a towel so she just wiped her face with her shirt. Although she lost, Kousuke was a highly skilled opponent and it was always more fun playing against somebody than simply practicing alone anyway win or lose.

Yuki laughed when Kousuke said she was better than some of the boys on the team. ”Hah well I use to play a lot and still practice from time to time. Don’t tell anyone though…boys tend to get a bit mean when they find out a girl can out play them.” Yuki was grinning as she spoke though, so clearly she wasn’t very worried. When she was younger she often was mistaken as a boy when playing sports, and this often led to fights when her so called friends realized they were getting beat by a girl. That was in elementary school though, and Yuki had always been a particularly unruly child. She had cooled off for the most part in middle school.

”Yeah, thanks. I had fun.” Yuki spoke as she sat up. She was ok with just hanging here for a bit longer, but when she glanced over at a clock hanging on the wall Yuki leaped back up on her feet.

”Crap it’s almost 10:30.” Yuki walked over to begin gathering her stuff. She was still too warm to put her winter clothes back on but figured the outside air would cool her off soon enough. Grabbing her phone she turned back to Kousuke.

”Oh before I forget, do you want to exchange numbers? We do go to the same school after all, and I’ll definitely want to challenge you to a rematch sometime.”