Midori looked at the rookie. She cannot believe her eyes!
He caught her stare and jogged towards her flashing his smile.
"Won't you cheer for me?"
Midori was so stunned that she nodded while maintaining eye contact with him.
"If we win, can I get a reward?"
This time, she snapped out of her daze, but before she could react, the buzzer signaled the start of the third quarter.
Initially, Dan was playing as forward, strengthening their defense at the periphery. Then when they switch to the offensive, he made 2 assists, earning 4 points.
The opposing team then adjusted to defend against his teammates when their edge dwindled to 8 points at the end of the quarter.
After discussing the coaching strategy and before the start of the last quarter of the game, Dan sneaked to Midori's spot.
"Dori..."
She was still in her daze, taking in the whole situation about him playing with the other seniors.
Well technically, he is also a senior, but a rookie for the team when it comes to executing the play with other players.
"Hey...can I have some of my rewards in advance?" He stared at her intently.
This snapped her from her thoughts a little. "Wha..?"
Before she could agree, or more importantly, protest, he grabbed her waist with an arm and cupped her cheek with the other hand, then he kissed her.
It was a warm, gentle kiss, lasting for a few seconds. Then Dan flashed his sweetest smile to her before going back to the game.
Everything happened so fast that there was a delay in people's responses, but loud cheers, teases, and whistles were heard afterwards.
Midori's face felt really warm, and she was pretty sure that she was blushing.
She wanted to disappear from the scene, but at the same time, she would not dare to miss his game.
The game intensified as both teams heightened their defenses both on the periphery and inside the ring. With not much basket points on himself, Dan was left with the defense of the small guard from the other team. Little did most people know that this will work on his team's advantage.
Soon, as he gets the ball, instead of playing for an assist like a while back, he stepped beyond the periphery and made a shot.
Three points!
The other team's defense was adjusted late, letting him get 6 more points from the 3-point line.
Ten seconds remaining and the ball is at the opponent's court. Captain Long suddenly managed to get a rebound from a missed shot, and tossed the ball to their point guard for a winning fastbreak point. However, a member of the other team managed to intercept him. This paved way for a play that will drain the clock.
Just before the other team could make a steal, they passed the ball to Dan.
Learning from their defense mistake, the power forward of the other team tried to block his shot. However, Dan stepped back and made a fadeaway jumper way beyond the 3-point line!
The basket was counted and the whistle was blown. They won the game!
After exchanging gestures of camaraderie the two teams head out to their respective dugouts.
Dan approached Midori before joining the team.
"Hey..."
Midori faintly smiled. The surprise was too much, though she somehow managed to speak.
"Congratulations!" She tried to smile naturally.
"Thanks! Oh, you can wait in the car. I'll be there in a while..."
"Mhm...okay." she managed, nodding her head.
When Dan entered the dugout, the already loud cheers became wilder. They were all tapping on his shoulders, without minding how hard they were hitting.
Captain Long spoke, "So that's what made you desperate to join this game today..." He was grinning widely, teasingly tapping Dan's back.
"Yeah! We thought you're just some d*****bag who wants to get in trouble by challenging the captain on a one-on-one!" teased another player.
"No wonder you tried hard to win! You want it so badly! It's the power of LOOOVE! Hahahahaha!" roared Long Yun.
Dan took all of it with an embarrased smile on his face.
Weeks ago, he challenged Long Yun to a one-on-one match, in the premise that if he wins, he will play with them during the opening games. They were reluctant at first, and thought he was arrogant. But he bowed sincerely to beg them to agree. Long Yun agreed, and he was beaten fair and square with shots coming from the 3-point line. He never anticipated that Dan's accuracy and precision could be so good. Even though he lost, he took the advantage of having this ace on the team, which proved handy on today's game.
Dan was teased all over until he managed to get himself out of the dugout.
When he arrived at the car, he noted that Midori is sleeping.
He told the driver to take them to a hotel about 15 minutes away.