"It doesn't matter," Naseru said, "Better you not know anything. Certain truths can burden people, change people that can't handle it or aren't at the capacity of immediately doing something about it… Everyone is already struggling with their own internal baggage. You don't want me around. You might not know it now but you will."
Kaho furrowed her brow, reaching for him again. He tensed. Kaho sighed, "I want you around because I want you to know joy, friendship and love here. You haven't really made friends since you came here. You only put up with me because I pester you."
Naseru let out an amused huff.
"Surely you don't want to be alone. You just don't want people to know you. But I want to. They want to. "
"Who the hell said I'm alone, that I need anyone around? Cut the crap and buzz off."
Naseru stopped, taking a deep breath. "Who told you I needed more friends?" he whispered, pain evident in his tone.
Kaho hesitated, wringing her hands, "I just thought..."
Naseru turned, his voice firm but soft, "Seeing a basketball court, being in that gym... it brings back memories I don't want to remember."
Kaho's eyes widened. "Ryota..."
"It's not just him," Naseru interrupted, "I don't belong on any basketball team. Nowadays I don't really belong around people."
"If you knew what I personally know then… You would understand that it isn't fair for me and especially others to nonchalantly have absentminded fun on a Basketball court. Not while there's…"
"Not after what I did…"
Kaho remained silent, lips slightly parted unsure how to respond to what Naseru uttered.
"What… Naseru did?"
"If you knew what I knew, you wouldn't want me around."
"What… Is it?" Kaho asked unsure of whether she should be told the secret he was keeping.
Naseru's deep brown eyes met hers. Her heart lurched into her throat. She swallowed hard, and leaned closer, unable to free herself from whatever spell he had her under. That look of his was just as enchanting as it had been that day on the grass verge. She wanted to kiss him again, pepper his face in kisses, squeeze his hand and drag him back into that gym and show him why she cared so much about him playing basketball with the team.
The breeze picked up and sent strands of Kaho's hair billowing behind her. She looked up at Naseru, refusing to break their eye contact. She wanted to excavate every secret in him, polish them, and preserve them, commemorate the past that brought him to Hanagawa; the past that brought him to her, whether he liked her as a friend, or whatever it was that she felt for him.
Her cheeks reddened as Naseru tucked a strand of Kaho's hair behind her ear, "You don't want to know me, Aigawa."
"Kaho! Matsuoka! Both of you, back in the gym. Now!" Taiga commanded, his tone surprisingly stern. He was breathing heavily, like he was struggling to keep composed, like he'd been running around.
Kaho winced.
Naseru rolled his eyes, "I don't have to listen to you."
Taiga covered his eyes dramatically, "Oh, Naseru Matsuoka, that's so cruel."
Taiga wrenched an invisible dagger from his chest and threw it on the floor, smirking, "Thought I'd cry? Think again.. Either you listen, or you'll find yourself expelled."
"Expelled!" Kaho said, "Did he really hit Ryota that hard!"
Taiga ignored her, and pounded his chest and flexed his muscles, accentuated by the tight fit of his plunging cycling shirt. The material clung to every muscle on his chest and his arms. Had he taken off his tracksuit top? Was it even appropriate for him to wear clothes like that at work? Taiga raised a brow and folded his arms, "You cannot resist me, Matsuoka, my muscles compel you. My pecs look too good to ignore. I'm just too brilliant and beautiful to defy."
Naseru and Kaho stared at Taiga for a moment, wide eyed, slack-jawed, and flabbergasted.
Kaho sighed and ran a hand through her hair, "Taiga plea- Aigawa Sensei, please stop embarrassing me."
"Not until he comes back to the gym."
"Matsuoka please, if he talks about how brilliant his pecs are again I will shrivel up and die on the spot."
Naseru sighed and clenched his fist. He reluctantly allowed Kaho and Taiga to lead him back to the gym. It felt like a funeral procession. The air was heavy in the gym, Ryota's lip was swollen and sore, but he looked okay. Better than Katsuo and his cronies had looked after their spat. But this time Ryota had back-up; the team were all flanking him in a semi-circle.
Their eyes flickered to the door as one when Taiga strode in. He headed to the nearest hoop, jumped at it, clutching the rim with both hands. he pulled himself up and used his left hand to reach for the backboard, scrabbling to get to the top of the basket. He planted his feet on the sides of the hoop and perched his butt on the back of the backboard.
"Coach!" Fumiko said, "Akamatsu Sensei told you to stop sitting up there!"
Taiga ignored her, resting his elbows on his knees. The basket sagged underfoot.
"I've got you, Coach!" Omura said, producing his phone, and holding it up to take a picture.
Taiga outstretched his hands toward the camera, holding his hands out and making peace signs, screwing his eyes shut and grinning. Kaho sighed in the doorway and crossed her arms. Taiga cleared his throat, "Right, ahem. Back to business."
He struggled to get down from up there, having to slip down to the floor through the hoop, nearly wedging his broad, muscular shoulders in the hoop hole. Once he was through the hoop he swung down like he was dropping the hoop from a dunk. Once he was back on the floor he strode to the manager's side and tousled Fumiko's hair.
She glared at him, "Why do you insist on using the hoop as a chair, Coach?"
"Ah, Fumiko, it's for peacocking's sake. I need to show people how cool I am."
She rolled her eyes, "Yeah, so cool. Especially when you stick the landing."
An audible snort echoed through the gym. But Taiga ignored Fumiko's quip. He spun on his heels, gesturing from the door where Kaho and Naseru lingered, to where Ryota and the rest of the team stood, scowling. His cheery boisterous nature died on the centre court line.
"Now, two things – first, Omura, send me that picture. Second and most importantly, I won't have any of this," Taiga gestured between Ryota and Naseru, "In my gym. Let's sort this out, shall we?"
Matsushita elbowed Tomohiro, "Sort out Matsuoka's punches or Ryota's wounded pride?"
The room filled with hesitant laughter, Taiga's mischievous grin returning. "Both. Look. I don't condone violence. Matsuoka. You ought to be punished for punching our ace here."
Ryota's eyes widened. He looked frantically around the room. Hirano clapped a hand on Ryota's shoulder, "You, Ryota."
He beamed, despite the split lip, chest puffing out in pride. Eiji tousled Ryota's hair, and Hirano elbowed him, "So don't let us down."
"Ah. I ruined the surprise. Ryota. You've proven yourself time and time again to be worthy of that title, especially now. Don't let us down," Taiga turned to the doorway again, where Kaho and Naseru lingered. "And maybe even find a place for Matsuoka on this team. Not as a player, but maybe as... our mascot?"
Everyone chuckled, even Naseru, despite himself.
"Quick, someone go and look for a stupid costume on eBay!" Matsushita said.
"Oi," Taiga said, smirking, "If he's going to be a mascot, he should get a choice into what stupid costume he wears. But. Regardless. We have a lot to discuss. But first, let's promise to leave the drama off the court, okay?"
Naseru scoffed, but Taiga shot him a look that stopped him mid-sound.
"I'm not an idiot," Taiga said, "I've been there. I've played this game my whole life. I was a Kenjoku Kaiju and I know you know how that all ended. But something the Kaijus made sure to do was ensure that nothing exists on the court except the game. You could have slept with your power forward's girlfriend – true story – that happened to someone in my first year, and gotten a black eye, but you've got to let it go to be the best. This game is all there is and all there will ever be when you're on this court. Do you understand me?"
The team nodded vehemently. Kaho and Fumiko did too.
"Now," Taiga began to pace, "I know things got… heated. And, that there might be some...history to work through."
Taiga glanced at Naseru, who didn't meet his gaze. Kaho longed to hold his hand, reassure him he wasn't alone. But she couldn't. It would kill her if he snubbed her there, in front of her brother, in front of her classmates, in front of Ryota.
"The court doesn't care what you've done, who you've been, all it cares about is the game."
Kaho raised an eyebrow, since when was the court sentient?
"This sport is about more than just knowing cool tricks, being faster, smarter or better than your opponent. This game is so much more than that. Remember. This is a team sport. It's about you and trusting each other and caring. And whether you want to play, or not Matsuoka, know you are welcome in our gym."
Kaho stepped forward, "I just wanted Matsuoka to feel welcome. To find a place where he belongs."
"A noble intention, Kaho," Taiga nodded, "But maybe we went about it the wrong way."
Behind him, Sunada and Hirano nodded, echoing Taiga's sentiments. Meanwhile, Kaho and Taiga turned to Ryota.
"Look, I'm not going to say sorry for slugging you. To hell with that. You hit me first. But what I will say was that maybe, maybe, just maybe I should've approached things differently. There's a lot I don't know about you and a lot I don't want to know." He paused, searching for the right words, "But I can tell you're a great..."
Nitta leaned over and slung an arm over Ryota's shoulder, "What, Ryota? A great... what?"
Ryota rolled his eyes, exasperated, "To hell with you guys. I'm trying here!"
"Don't listen to him. He wouldn't know feelings if they were dropped on him by a crane. The machine or the bird," Taiga said, "Look. How about this, Matsuoka? What I propose is this: Matsuoka, spend a week with the team. Not as a player, not even as a mascot. Just as an observer. See what we're all about. If after that week, you still feel this isn't a place for you, no hard feelings. You walk away."
Naseru's scepticism was palpable.
Kaho, sensing this, whispered, "Just a week, Matsuoka. Please?"
Hiroshi, one of the senior players, chimed in with a sly grin, "Having you around might keep Ryota on his toes. God knows he could use some perspective now and then. Heaven knows he needs it, especially during our training. This is our last year, Matsuoka. Maybe your arrival is a sign – for all of us."
The semi-circle splintered, the group taking turns throwing jabs and jibes at Ryota, calling him easy to anger, and teasing him for his trick-oriented play, calling him a clown. Eiji had one arm around Ryota's shoulder, while Yuta had his arm around the other one. They grinned at Naseru.
"What do you say? Promise the crazy is a lot easier to handle when you're in on it," Yuta grinned.
Naseru didn't grin back. His mind was a whirl of melancholy as he struggled to come up with a solution that could work for him, a loophole, a way out of that mess. Maybe he should have let Ryota bait him in class. It never would have come to this otherwise.
Naseru sighed, running a hand through his hair.
"A week," he conceded. "But no guarantees."
Taiga clapped his hands together, a broad smile on his face. "That's all we ask! Team, let's give Matsuoka a taste of what real basketball looks like."
The mood in the gym shifted. With playful banter and a renewed energy, the team returned to their drills. Fumiko put an empty trolley beneath a basket and gestured for the boys to practice their shots.
Before joining them, Ryota, took his neon pink ball from where someone had thrown it for safekeeping and tossed it at the basket beside him. It landed with a confident swish. Five points.
He turned back to Naseru with a sheepish grin, and extended a hand to him. "Truce?"
Naseru, pausing for a moment, took the hand. "For now."
Kaho's heart began to soar. Despite the blows that the pair had exchanged, watching them stare at each other like that, their simmering rage doused, and laughter filling the gym again, it wasn't hard for daydreams to take her away.
She wanted to escape to those daydreams, where, when someone held their fist out to Naseru, he'd bump it with his. How he could be in on the jokes too. She wanted that for him. She knew that in her very core.
Perhaps, this wasn't the end of her mission, the downfall she thought it was, it was better. It was the beginning…