the whistle blew, and lily tossed the ball into the air.
nico was taller than zanine, so he easily tipped the ball toward his side of the court.
zanine didn’t care much, though. her team was more than capable of stealing possession back.
yuma caught the ball first, immediately getting pressed by yeji. she stayed right on him, barely giving him room to breathe.
“damn, back up,” yuma complained, trying to dribble around her.
“make me,” yeji replied instantly.
he searched for an opening before quickly passing the ball to jo.
jo caught it cleanly and started dribbling, scanning the court as he moved forward. taki stepped in front of him, arms spread wide in defense while fuma kept close near the paint.
nico smirked from the wing. “don’t freeze up now, jo.”
“shut up,” jo muttered, pivoting slightly.
he faked left before driving right, managing to slip past taki for a second. zanine noticed immediately and moved over to help defend.
jo tried to force a pass toward maki, but zanine reached out at the last second and tipped the ball loose.
“watch out!” harua yelled.
the ball bounced across the court, and yeji dove for it without hesitation, sliding against the concrete before tossing it up toward fuma.
“go, go!” lily shouted from the sideline.
fuma caught the pass and immediately pushed the ball down the court. harua sprinted beside him while zanine ran ahead, already calling for it.
nico clicked his tongue before turning to chase after them.
“get back on defense!” kei yelled.
fuma dribbled once, then passed to zanine.
she caught it smoothly near the three-point line, maki already moving to guard her.
“don’t even think about it,” he said.
zanine took one hard dribble to the left, testing maki’s defense.
he stayed in front of her easily. “you’re not getting past me with that.”
“who said i was trying to?”
before he could react, zanine quickly passed the ball behind her to yeji, who had just moved to the corner.
yuma cursed under his breath and rushed toward her, but he was too late.
yeji pump-faked, making him jump, then drove past him toward the basket.
jo stepped over to help defend, forcing yeji to stop before she got trapped under the rim. she glanced around quickly before tossing the ball out to harua near the wing.
harua hesitated for half a second, then took the shot.
the ball hit the rim once—
then dropped through the net.
“YES!” lily shouted from the sideline, blowing the whistle once and pointing toward their side. “three points.”
harua grinned as taki immediately ran over, grabbing his shoulders dramatically. “i never doubted you!”
nico caught the ball after it bounced and tossed it toward kei to inbound. his expression didn’t change much, but the small smirk on zanine’s face definitely annoyed him.
“don’t get too excited,” he said while jogging backward. “game just started.”
zanine crossed her arms for a second as she matched his pace. “then maybe stop letting us score.”
“children,” fuma muttered under his breath as everyone got back into position.
kei inbounded the ball to nico this time, and immediately the energy shifted.
because unlike yuma and jo, nico played fast.
he dribbled down the court with confidence, switching hands smoothly as zanine stepped up to guard him.
the others spread out instinctively, already knowing how he played.
nico glanced at her once before smirking. “try not to get embarrassed.”
zanine lowered her stance. “shut up and play.”
zanine moved with him perfectly, forcing him to slow down.
nico clicked his tongue before spinning back the other direction, slipping past her just enough to create space.
fuma stepped in to help defend near the paint, but nico reacted quickly and bounced the ball to maki cutting toward the basket.
maki caught it mid-step and went up for the layup—
only for yeji to smack the ball against the backboard.
“GET THAT OUT OF HERE!” she yelled.
the ball bounced loose again, and this time zanine grabbed it first.
the girls on the sideline immediately started screaming while the boys groaned loudly.
“that was clean!” yeji defended herself immediately.
“it definitely wasn’t,” yuma argued.
lily blew the whistle. “play continues! no foul.”
“biased ref!” nico complained.
“cry about it!” manon shouted from the bench.
nico shook his head with a laugh, jogging back on defense while zanine pushed the ball up the court.
“you’re all doing too much,” kei muttered.
“and you’re losing,” yeji replied instantly.
zanine dribbled between her legs as she crossed half-court, eyes scanning for an opening. maki picked her up defensively again, staying close this time.
“you not tired yet?” he asked.
“are you?” she shot back.
he smirked a little. “not even close.”
zanine tried driving right, but maki cut her off quickly. she clicked her tongue before passing out to fuma near the top of the key.
fuma held the ball for a second, watching the defense shift.
“screen left!” taki called.
harua immediately moved, setting a screen that gave fuma just enough room to move past yuma. jo stepped up to help, leaving yeji open near the baseline.
fuma saw it instantly and whipped the ball toward her.
yeji caught it cleanly and rose for the jumper—
“that’s money!” manon yelled from the sideline.
yeji pointed at her before jogging backward with a grin. “easy.”
nico grabbed the ball again, this time clearly irritated. “okay, now y’all are starting to annoy me.”
“starting?” zanine laughed. “thought we already did.”
the boys reset quickly. this possession moved smoother than the others, like they finally stopped underestimating them.
nico passed to yuma. yuma immediately swung it to kei, who drove toward the basket before kicking it back out to jo.
the ball kept moving until it landed in maki’s hands at the corner.
ella, still sitting on the bench, stiffened slightly without meaning to.
maki looked up at the rim.
shooting was his specialty. everybody knew that.
harua noticed too late. “get out there!”
“finally,” yuma said dramatically, throwing his arms up.
maki just jogged backward calmly while nico smirked. “there we go.”
the score was getting closer now, and everybody could feel the energy changing. what started as a casual game was slowly turning competitive for real.
lily glanced between both teams from the sideline and sighed quietly.
“they’re definitely gonna start arguing soon,” she muttered.
“soon?” manon replied. “they already have… give it two minutes to get worse.”
back on the court, zanine caught the inbound pass and immediately heard nico’s voice.
“don’t choke now, captain.”
she spun the ball once in her hands before looking directly at him.
“worry about guarding me first.”
nico stepped up immediately, sneakers scraping against the concrete as he got into position in front of her.
zanine narrowed her eyes before dribbling forward. she crossed left, then right, trying to shake him off, but nico stayed glued to her movements.
“damn,” ella muttered from the side. “they’re really trying.”
“this stopped being friendly like ten minutes ago,” manon replied.
zanine suddenly sped up, slipping past nico just enough to get near the free throw line. kei moved over to help defend, forcing her to stop before she got trapped.
without hesitation, she passed out to fuma.
fuma caught it, faked a shot, then drove inside instead. jo blocked his path, making him pivot quickly before tossing the ball behind him toward harua.
he immediately put the shot up.
the ball bounced hard off the rim.
everyone jumped at once. arms collided, shoes squeaked, voices overlapped.
maki managed to grab the rebound first, pulling the ball down against his chest before turning quickly up the court.
“go, go!” yuma called as they broke into transition.
maki pushed forward fast, dribbling past half court while zanine and yeji hurried back on defense.
nico ran beside him on the left.
for a second, it looked like maki was going to take the shot himself.
instead, he suddenly passed to nico.
nico caught it smoothly and drove straight toward the basket.
fuma stepped in front of him at the last second.
nico smirked. “bad idea.”
he spun around him cleanly and went up for the layup—
but zanine came flying in from the side and smacked the ball away before it touched the backboard.
the ball flew out toward the sideline, bouncing near lily’s feet.
everyone froze for a second.
then the yelling started.
“that was a foul!” yuma shouted immediately.
“how?!” zanine argued back. “i touched the ball first!”
nico looked more annoyed than angry as he stared at her. “you almost took my arm off.”
“dramatic,” yeji muttered.
lily blew the whistle loudly before things could escalate more. “out on zanine’s side. boys’ ball.”
“thank you,” nico said sarcastically.
zanine rolled her eyes and backed up into position again.
maki moved to inbound the ball while the others reset. as he held the basketball in his hands, his eyes flicked toward the bench for a split second.
and this time, instead of looking away first, she held his stare for a moment before crossing her arms and looking off.
eventually, subs started rotating in.
nico, harua, and yeji all checked out, with ej, ella, and manon taking their places.
the score was now 20-24, nico’s team in the lead.
zanine was absolutely not about to let that slide.
sweat clung to her forehead as she wiped her hands on her shorts, eyes locked on the court while lily tossed the ball back in. the game had gotten way more intense than anybody originally planned. nobody was laughing as much anymore. now it was just competition. pure competition.
“lock in,” fuma said, clapping his hands once.
“already am,” zanine replied immediately.
ella moved into position quietly, adjusting the sleeves of her hoodie before focusing on defense. across from her, maki bounced lightly on his heels while waiting for the inbound.
for a second, neither of them looked at each other.
then ej inbounded the ball to yuma, and everything sped up again.
yuma dribbled down the court confidently before trying to cross manon up.
she stayed right in front of him.
“where you going?” she asked.
“away from you, hopefully.”
yuma clicked his tongue before passing to ej. ej immediately tried driving inside, but fuma blocked his lane fast enough to force him back out.
maki moved over to help, setting a clean screen that let ej slip past for a second—
but ella stepped in and stole the ball clean from the side.
“OH!” lily yelled from the sideline.
ella quickly pushed the ball forward before anybody could react. zanine was already sprinting down the court beside her.
“right here!” zanine called.
ella passed it ahead perfectly.
zanine caught it in stride and drove straight toward the basket. jo moved to contest her, but she euro-stepped around him smoothly and finished the layup off the glass.
“AND ONE!” manon screamed even though nobody touched her.
zanine pointed toward the sideline while jogging backward. “that’s what i’m talking about!”
nico, watching from the bench now, leaned forward with narrowed eyes.
the score tightened to 22-24.
the energy on the court shifted again.
because now zanine was playing angry.
ej grabbed the ball quickly and inbounded it to kei.
“slow it down,” kei said, motioning for everyone to spread out.
but zanine was already pressing up on defense, refusing to let them breathe for even a second.
“damn, relax,” yuma complained from the wing.
“scoreboard,” zanine replied instantly.
kei dribbled carefully while fuma guarded him near the top of the key. manon stayed on yuma, talking the entire time just to irritate him.
on the other side, ella kept close to maki. not too close, but enough to stop him from getting comfortable.
maki noticed immediately.
“you guarding me now?” he asked lightly.
ella kept her eyes on the ball instead of him. “unfortunately.”
for some reason, that made the corner of his mouth twitch.
kei drove left suddenly, forcing fuma to slide over. as soon as he did, kei kicked the ball out to jo near the baseline.
jo caught it and went up for the jumper—
the rebound bounced high into the air.
“mine!” taki yelled, jumping for it.
except ej grabbed it first.
ej immediately tried putting it back up, but zanine came flying in and stripped the ball loose before he could even leave the ground.
zanine recovered the ball and pushed forward fast. ella and manon sprinted beside her while the others rushed to catch up.
zanine passed it over. manon caught it and immediately drew yuma toward her before bouncing the ball to ella cutting down the middle.
ella froze for half a second when she realized maki was the one stepping up to guard her near the paint.
the same way he had during practices.
the same way he used to before everything got weird between them.
“ella!” fuma yelled. “take it up!”
she snapped out of it instantly.
maki reached for the ball, expecting her to hesitate.
instead, ella spun around him cleanly and laid the ball in off the backboard.
“OKAY ELLA!” lily screamed from the sideline.
manon nearly fell over celebrating. “YEAHHH!”
even zanine looked shocked for a second before grinning proudly.
ella landed awkwardly, immediately jogging backward like the play hadn’t just happened. but the tiny smile on her face gave her away completely.
maki stood there for a second longer than everyone else.
then he exhaled quietly and smirked to himself.
“…nice move,” he muttered under his breath.
the plan was to play until thirty, but before they could even start the next possession, thunder suddenly cracked through the sky.
“oh shit,” lily said, immediately looking up.
and then the rain came pouring down.
everyone scrambled at once, rushing to grab their bags, hoodies, and water bottles before sprinting toward the house. shoes squeaked against the wet concrete while people yelled over each other trying not to slip.
lily stayed behind long enough to lock the backyard gate before running inside herself.
thankfully, nobody was completely soaked, but everyone was definitely wet enough to complain about it.
“damn, we were on a run!” zanine whined as she stood next to manon near the kitchen entrance, brushing rainwater off her arms.
“you mean ella was on a run,” manon corrected immediately. “she started cooking out there.”
ella rolled her eyes, though she looked slightly embarrassed by the attention. “it was one layup.”
“a beautiful layup,” taki added dramatically while grabbing a towel from lily.
“thank you!” manon pointed at him.
nico flopped onto the couch with a sigh, pushing his damp hair back. “saved by the weather. lucky.”
zanine instantly looked over. “lucky? the score was tied.”
“and we still would’ve won.”
“you were literally getting locked up five minutes ago,” yuma added.
“by who?” zanine asked, genuinely confused. “certainly not you.”
harua burst out laughing from the floor while fuma groaned quietly. “please don’t start again.”
“too late,” kei muttered, tossing his bag near the wall.
lily walked in a second later, slightly out of breath. “okay, new rule. nobody kills each other inside my house.”
“can’t promise that,” manon replied immediately.
the thunder rumbled again outside, louder this time, and everybody instinctively looked toward the windows. the rain was coming down hard now, completely flooding the backyard court.
their game was officially over for tonight.
…or at least, the outdoor one was.
lily sighed, already annoyed at how soft she was being, even if she couldn’t really help it.
she checked the time on her phone—already past nine. the rain outside wasn’t letting up, and it was clear it wasn’t going to anytime soon.
so, being the decent person she was, she made an offer.
“even though we don’t like each other,” she started, glancing between everyone, “i’m still a decent person. i’ve got extra clothes in my brother’s old room. it’s obviously not gonna stop raining, so if you want, i can wash your clothes.”
zanine groaned immediately, leaning her head back. “you’re too sweet.”
“i know,” lily replied, a small chuckle slipping out. “i hate it.”
manon raised a brow. “you don’t hate it that much.”
“don’t start,” lily warned.
around the room, the boys exchanged looks. nico looked mildly impressed, which he tried to hide but failed miserably.
“so what, we’re just staying here now?” kei asked.
“looks like it,” fuma said, shrugging.
harua lit up a little. “free clothes and food? i’m not complaining.”
“of course you’re not,” yuma muttered.
lily pointed toward the hallway. “brother’s room is down there. towels too. don’t make a mess.”
“no promises,” ej said instantly.
“i regret this already,” lily said under her breath as everyone started moving.
zanine nudged ella lightly as they walked. “this is about to get interesting.”
ella glanced ahead at the chaos forming down the hallway and sighed quietly. “it already is.”
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