The next school day dragged on far longer than Kaho would have liked. But with Ryota very much in the team's bad books for flaking on practice in a tantrum, Kaho's absence would be easily overlooked. Especially with Fumiko working so hard to keep the team on task. Taiga was probably going to have them running drills or practicing different core skills, like passes, signals and shots. After all, you can only be a reliable shooter if you have a good record of actually getting baskets.
Kaho had followed Naseru out of school. They jumped on a bus, and Naseru paid to take them further out of the suburbs to a court, despite there being three relatively close to the school. Hell, there were multiple areas they could have played whilst on the premesis. And yet, Kaho followed obediently.
The evening had draped the city in a soft, iridescent glow, with lights from towering buildings casting a luminous spell. It would have been enchanting, maybe even romantic, had Kaho not been so focused on Naseru. Perhaps, had things been different, she would have drawn the park in that moment, immortalised the world around her on a canvas with watercolours.
When they arrived at the desired park, Naseru unlocked a fenced off basketball court. Some older teenagers were playing in there, all mobbing one basket.
"Hey," Naseru said, "Mind if we use a hoop? Shouldn't be long."
One player's mouth open. His hair was cropped close to his scalp, and his unruly brows needed a good plucking. He pointed at Naseru from underneath the opposing hoop, "Hey guys! It's Matsuoka!"
"Course you can use the hoop, Matsuoka!" one of the others said, "But who's the chick?"
One of the older boys, his hair already thinning, elbowed one of his friends, a lecherous grin on his face, "This is going to be a show, eh?"
"Oi! Matsuoka! You here to rob us blind? It's not payday yet!" another player, one with a goatee hollered.
"Nah, I'm not here for you! Lend us the hoop though. I've got to teach her a lesson!"
Kaho pouted and stomped, "A lesson! Ha!"
A mischievous glint shone in his eyes as Naseru removed a basketball from his bag. He shrugged off his school blazer and turned to Kaho. She was rolling down her leggings from where she'd concealed them under her skirt. They were an ashy grey and ended just past her knees, not stylish in the slightest, but comfortable. Both had changed into their trainers, abandoning their school shoes in their lockers.
"You ready?" Naseru asked.
Kaho set her jaw and nodded.
"Don't go easy on me, Matsuoka!" Kaho declared, stomping her foot.
Behind her, Naseru caught sight of two balding men in their forties. They elbowed each other, eyebrows raised. They shuffled toward the court, eyes trained on the hem of Kaho's school skirt.
Naseru snorted.
"I mean it, I know how to play," Kaho said, she squared her shoulders.
"You sure you're ready? Shoes tied properly?"
Kaho looked down at her shoes and inspected them. They were triple-knotted. She nodded firmly.
Businessmen, fellow players, kids, and random other spectators from the park had flocked to the court to spectate. Aside from comments about the hem of Kaho's skirts, others jeered about watching her chest. Naseru cleared his throat, and silenced the assembling crowd.
"Just the two of us," he declared, "First to fifty points."
"Fifty points?!" One of the street ballers almost choked on his water. Another clapped him on the back.
"No way!"
"She won't be able to keep up, this is Matsuoka!"
"She's playing Matsuoka! He's gonna wipe the floor with her!"
The court was alive with the electric buzz of the crowd. Sceptical murmurs spread through the gathering crowd.
A street artist sacrificed a stick of his white chalk to a player from the previous game. The player with the goatee who wore a baggy yellow 'Lakers' jersey. He sat on the bench, courtside, his fellow players secured a courtside position to watch.
Goatee wrote 'Matsuoka' and then 'Girl' beside it, to keep score.
Naseru nodded at him. He beckoned the player with the unruly brows over to allow them a tip-off. Naseru swatted it quickly into his possession. Kaho questioned the need for such a formal process if the ball was bound to end up in Naseru's hands anyway, but was quickly forced to attention as Naseru began to dribble the ball with practised ease. Kaho strode over and attempted to steal the ball from him, but he transitioned the ball from his right hand to his left, winked and easily scored a two-pointer.
His quick basket silenced the crowd. Goatee struck two tallies under Naseru's name.
Kaho was given possession of the ball, and attempted to dribble it closer to the basket. She was smaller, and more agile than Naseru, giving her an advantage, but she wasn't the quickest. She attempted a layup, which Naseru blocked.
They both scrambled for the rebound. Kaho snagged it, clutching the ball close to her stomach and took a quick breath. She couldn't be thrown off by one unsuccessful shot. This was her only chance, after all. She attempted to weave the ball between her hands, like she'd watched Ryota do hundreds of times on the way to school. He did it with such control, but her efforts were sloppier, and rough around the edges. When Naseru had calculated her rhythm and reached to tackle and steal the ball from her left hand, she veered to the right, dribbling with her dominant hand and doing a jump shot, giving her an additional two points.
"Not bad," Naseru said.
Goatee nodded in approval and struck two points next to 'Girl'.
"Oh," Kaho said, "And it's Aigawa."
Goatee scribbled 'Girl' out and amended the name to 'Aigawa'. Kaho nodded and passed the ball to Naseru.
The next few plays were a rhythm of Kaho scoring and Naseru scoring, their arms flailed as they attempted to block their moves. The first to fifty was bound to be a long, arduous match. Perhaps Naseru had underestimated her. He'd seen her hardiness in gym class, how she'd gotten back to her feet after receiving a ball with the crown of her head. Even still, she was keeping pace, as he moved.
"Look Hina! A girl's playing basketball!" a little girl in a blue dress and plaits said, tugging on her friend's arm.
"Wow! So cool!" the girl next to her, with matching plaits exclaimed.
By the time they were in the twenties, each having scored an almost equal number of plays, the crowd had grown sceptical of whether Naseru was playing properly, some offering quips that she must be his girlfriend and he was letting her win. Others remarked that he must be injured, or even a doppelganger because the Matsuoka they knew would have already scored fifty points by now. It was like he was teasing her, trying to coax her into mistakes and she wasn't making them, not the ones he anticipated anyway.
"She's moving well! Not the typical high school girl," a man shouted between bites of Takoyaki. The woman next to him nodded appraisingly.
Meanwhile the players on the bench were torn, money already exchanging hands as they bet who would score the next point.
"Look at those feints! She must have played with some skilled players before to move about like that, that's muscle memory!" Goatee said, "Is she a player too? I've never seen her on the scene."
"Nor have I? But Aigawa," Eyebrows said, "That name is familiar."
As Kaho attempted a hook shot, and watched it ricochet off the basket, Goatee grasped one of his fellow players by the shoulders, a tall, broad-shouldered man with bleach-blonde frosted tips in his hair, like he'd outgrown a bleach job.
"Aigawa Taiga!"
"That's not Aigawa Taiga," Frosted Tips rolled his eyes, watching Kaho stumble as she tried to snag the rebound.
"Obviously. But she must be a protegee!" Goatee declared.
"Some protegee if she can't land a hook," Frosted Tips muttered.
As the game amped up, even more crowds gathered. The pace was growing more frantic and frenzied, and as Naseru broke thirty points with a precarious three-pointer, Kaho clutched her sides. She grasped at the air, and a random spectator threw a plastic bottle of water in her direction. It was a short throw, and the water rolled toward her, but Kaho unscrewed the lid and drank furiously.
"Tired already?" Naseru said, but his breathing was getting heavier, "No shame in quitting."
Kaho wiped her mouth on her sleeve, snatched the ball from where it had rolled to and scored her own three. Like Naseru's it was precarious, bouncing through the basket after hitting the backboard and the rim of the basket, but a three was a three. They were level again.
"No shame in quitting," Kaho echoed, "I'm not giving up."
Her heart was beating furiously, and every breath was laboured, almost painful as angry lactic acid burned the backs of her knees and the tops of her thighs. She ached with every step, but every breath was a declaration that she needed to do something. Every breath she took was a breath closer to Naseru's death, whether he knew it or not. She had to win. She had to put him on the right path.
She dove for the ball, and jabbed it out of his grasp. They both scrambled to retrieve it. Naseru smacked it as it rolled on the floor, sending the ball bouncing again. The added momentum made Kaho's breath hitch. She had to win. She had to.
"Damn! They're both really good," Frosted Tips said, "Wanna switch to three-on-three?"
"No!" Naseru declared, "We are playing first to fifty. One on one. Like I said."
Kaho wiped the sweat from her brow and eyed the ball. She lurched forward to intercept it, and instead collided with Naseru's chest. He was warm. His breathing was steady but she could hear his heart beating through his shirt. She blushed, but couldn't force herself to pull back. Not yet. Her cheeks were crimson.
"Playing dirty now, are we?" Naseru said, smirking down at her.
Kaho blushed, "N-no. I didn't- I didn't mean it. I'm sorry."
An amused look crossed Naseru's face as he raised an eyebrow. He smirked, "Why do you want me on that basketball team so much?"
"Because why not?" Kaho said, snagging the ball from his hands, officially playing dirty, "I believe in the power of unity. I believe in the team. And with you, we'd be unstoppable."