Chapter 8

The team sat gathered in the locker room. Ryusuke looked around before turning to Rentaro and saying, “Hey, Renataro-Senapi…?”

“Yes?” Rentaro responded,

“Where’s Minami?”

“I have no idea,” he said, “However, she has been cutting a few practices and even coming later than usual. If I know my sister, then she was likely doing her own strength and conditioning training. She’s likely doing some last-minute training as we speak.”

The team suddenly turned to the sound of the locker room door opening. To their disappointment, it was just the referee. “Alright, you’re the team for Kiryu Academy, correct?”

“Yes, that’s right,” Daisuke said,

“Is your coach here?”

“We don’t have a coach,” Daisuke responded, “Our school has never made it past the qualification match and into the season. As such, our school didn’t see a reason to waste money on us to get us a coach.”

“I see; well, is your Team Captain here?”

“Our Captain…?” Daisuke then sighed before saying, “I’m the-“

“I’m here!!!” Minami said as she burst into the locker room with sweat heading down her face, “Sorry I took so long, I was doing some-“ She then froze when the referee turned and faced her. She swallowed heavily before saying, “Oh, hello, are you the-“

“Yes, I’m the referee,” he began, “And you are?”

“Choki Minami, I’m the Captain of the team!”

“I see, very well. I merely came in here to explain the rules to you and your team.”

“Yes, of course.” Minami said as she walked over to a bench and started to go through her bag, “Don’t mind me!”

He sighed before saying, “Very well. The rules of the game are simple. If you are hit with a ball, you’re out of the game; however if the ball that hit you is still live and a teammate catches it, you’re safe, and the person who threw it is out.” Minami then removed her sweatshirt before grabbing her jersey out of her bag. The team, excluding the referee and Rentaro, looked to Minami as she pulled her jersey over her head. She looked around before saying,

“Don’t look at me; look at him.”

The referee sighed before continuing, “Since this is a qualification match, the same rules from a normal match apply. Hitting someone in the face is a disqualification; stepping over the line in the middle of the gym is also a disqualification. When starting the game, you must have at least one leg back on the line on your team's side. If you hit someone with a ball that’s on their way to the sidelines, that’s a penalty, and the person who threw the ball is out. Understood?” The team then nodded in unison before he said, “Good, now let’s have a good clean match, and hopefully, you’ll be able to make it into the season. If not, I’ll see you all next year.”

“Yes, thank you so much!” Minami said with a smile before the referee turned and left the room.

“Wow, I can’t believe we’re actually here!” Pocha said, “It feels like only yesterday Captain was out there recruiting us!”

“What?! That was yesterday?! It feels like forever ago!!!” Gaoma said,

“Either way, I’m sure we’ll be able to win.” Yaguchi said as he turned to Minami, “We’ve got an amazing Team Captain who pushed us really hard.” Minami blushed before she looked down a bit.

“Yeah!” Ryusuke added, “Even if we lose, we’ll push ourselves even harder for next year!”

“I’m proud of you, Minamimōto,” Rentaro said before Minami turned to him, “You’ve really come a long way, especially from when we were kids. I’m sure mother would be proud.”

“Yeah,” Minami said, “I’m sure she would be too.”

“What are we waiting for?” Daisuke said, “Let’s go out there and kick their butts!!!”

“Yeah!!!” The team said in unison before leaving the locker room. As Ryusuke headed for the door, Minami stopped him by saying,

“Hey…Serizawa-San…can I talk to you for a second?”

“Hm?” He responded as he looked at her, “Yeah, sure.” He then walked over to her and sat beside her as she sat on a bench. She looked down a bit as she held her hands together in her lap. “Are you okay…?”

“I…” She blushed before she leaned forward and her eyes became hidden by the shadow of her hair, “I want to know something….”

“What is it?”

“Well…I know I already asked you this, but…do you like me?” Ryusuke froze as he swallowed lightly before a light pink decorated his cheeks. He then cleared his throat and said,

“Why are you asking?”

“I just want to know is all….”

“W-Well, I-“ he then sighed before he stood up and said, “Come on, Minami, let’s not worry about that kind of stuff right now. We have a game to win. Let’s go and show them who’s boss!”

“….if you asked me out…I’d say yes…”

Ryusuke’s heart then skipped a beat. He looked at Minami as several thoughts raced through his mind. Was she going to confess to him? Why does she like him? He thought she liked Yakuza. He then put all his emotions on hold before saying, “Minami, we should really focus on the game. If you want to know, then ask me again after.”

“Okay,” she then stood up before she walked over to him. He froze as she placed her hands on his shoulders. She leaned into him and placed a kiss on the left side of his nose before looking him in the eye. She smiled and said, “Come on, let’s go win this!”

“Y-Yeah…” he said, absolutely smitten with her. He followed her outside the locker room to the gym and over to the team. There were a few people gathered in the stands, mostly the parents of the team members, a few school board members, and all the girls in Rentaro’s class that weren’t the cheerleaders.

Minami smiled as she gathered the team together in a huddle and said, “Alright, guys! Now it’s time to show everyone what we’re made of! We need to remember our training and never give up!”

“But, Choki-“ Daisuke began,

“But nothing! I’m going to take you guys past this match and go even further!”

“Yes, but Captain, Daisuke is-“ Pocha began,

Minami sighed before saying, “What is it?”

“Did you see who we’re playing?” Daisuke asked,

“What?” She then stood up and turned to see Yakuza and the team from Mishima Academy. Chills shot up her spine before they vanished, and she blushed as she looked at Yakuza. She shook her head before she got back into the huddle,

“I had no idea this was a rivalry game….” Daisuke said, “Something must’ve happened…they must’ve changed it at the last second, or-“

“Don’t worry about it!” Minami said, “This gives us a chance to truly go all out! I’m not giving up on you guys, so don’t you guys give up on yourselves!” They all nodded before Minami said, “There needs to be five of us; I know for certain I want Ryusuke and Serizawa-Senpai.”

“Let me play,” Gaoma said, “The other member of the team, Kyutaro….he-“

“You’ll be in as well,” Minami said to Gaoma, “That gives us four.”

“I’ll go,” Yaguchi said, “I have plenty of speed both travel-wise and reaction-wise; I’ll be the one to catch any of the balls that come our way.”

“Good,” Minami then looked to Rentaro and said, “You’ll be next on deck to come in if a ball is caught after you will be Pocha, and then eventually Ryusuke.”

“Wait, what?! Why me?! Why am I the third to come in?!” Ryusuke asked,

“Do we really have to explain it?” The team said in unison as they gave him a flat expression.

Ryusuke paused before saying, “Y-Yeah, now that you say it like that, it really explains it.”

“Choki-Kouhai,” Daisuke said, “Do you really think we can pull this off?” Minami paused to think for a second. The referee then blew his whistle and called for the captains to come to the center of the court.

“I do,” Minami said before she turned and walked to the center of the court. She stood across from Yakuza with the referee standing in between them.

“It seems we meet again, Choki,” Yakuza said,

“Yeah,” She responded, “I hope you’re ready; my team and I have been training nonstop. We’re basically a whole new team now.”

“I highly doubt that.”

“Alright,” the referee said, “As I said before, we’re going to have a good clean match. The first team to lose all their members will lose. I want to see good sportsmanship as well as a good game. Understood?” Minami and Yakuza both nodded before he said, “Good, now shake hands, and let’s get started.”

Minami raised her hand to Yakuza as she said, “May the best team win.”

He looked down at her hand before he said, “Don’t take the loss too hard,” and turned and walked back over to his team. Minami sighed before she turned around and started to walk towards the other players, all lined up near the back of the gym.

“He’s so freaking cool!!!!” Minami said to herself as she came to the line and turned and faced the opposite team.

“Mishima Academy, are you ready?!” The referee asked as he turned to Yakuza’s team,

“Damn right I am!!!” Rasen said, “Let's tear them apart, Yakuza!!!”

“Kiryu Academy, are you ready?!” The referee asked as he turned to Minami’s team. Minami took a deep breath before saying,

“Let’s get it,”

The referee then blew his whistle and said, “Go!” The two teams then took off at an incredible amount of speed. Yaguchi was the first to reach the line of balls before he bent down and pushed two of the balls behind him. Daisuke caught one of the balls thrown back by Yaguchi before Minami caught the second one. The look in Daisuke’s eyes intensified before he screamed and hurled the ball through the air taking out one of the two extra teammates. Yakuza’s eyes widened slightly to see how much Daisuke had improved from years prior.

Rasen chuckled before he threw the ball in his hand at full strength. Ryusuke panicked before he quickly sidestepped, only to trip over his own feet and fall onto the floor. “What the hell was that?!” Rasen asked with a laugh. Minami growled before running around in a circular motion and picking up the ball behind Ryusuke before throwing it directly at Rasen. Rasen then caught the ball, which resulted in a large blast sound; Minami’s eyes widened before Rasen then quickly threw the ball back. Ryusuke promptly got to his feet and caught the ball, only to be thrown off his feet a bit. Minami reached out and caught Ryusuke by his hips as they slowed to a stop.

“Are you okay?!” Minami asked,

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Ryusuke said,

“Wh-What?!” Rasen said, “The little twerp got me out?!” He growled before he turned to Yakuza and screamed, “YOU BETTER GET ME BACK IN THE GAME!!!”

Yaguchi scooped up a ball before throwing it through the air with tremendous force. Kyutaro raised his hand and caught the ball in his palm. Yaguchi sighed as he rubbed the back of his neck and then walked over to the bench. Minami quickly rolled out of the way of a fastball before she stopped in front of Gaoma. Gaom’s head was turned to the ground. “Ogami-San, why are you just standing there?”

“I…” his hands began to shake as tears ran down his face, “I….”

She turned to him and said, “What’s wrong?”

Years Ago

At a young age, Gaoma was walking home when he noticed a small box. He walked over to it and knelt down before he noticed a rabbit inside, “Wow! You’re pretty cute!” He said as he took the rabbit out of the box and held it up in the air. The small black rabbit’s nose twitched as it looked into Gaoma’s eyes, “What’re you doing all the way out here?!” He looked around to notice the busy streets, “Are you scared maybe? Come on! Let’s go home! I bet my mom and brother would love to meet you!” He then raced home at once to show off his new rabbit friend. As he walked in the front door, he raced upstairs to his mother's room and opened the door. “My mom is really sick, so I’m sure seeing you will make her feel better!”

“Mom! Mom! Look what I got!” He said as he raced to her bedside. She opened her weak eyes before she looked over at him,

“Wow…” she said weakly, “It’s so cute….” She said as she started to cough, “Where did you find it…?”

“I found it on my way home! I thought maybe he would make you feel better!”

“It does make my day much brighter…” she said as she began to cough and sneeze,

“Are you okay…?” He asked as he backed up a few feet, not wanting to get himself or the rabbit sick.

“I’m fine…” she said as she reached over and grabbed a tissue before blowing her nose, “I just don’t feel the greatest today…but seeing your little friend really made me happy….”

“Really?!”

“Yes, I mean it…”

“If that’s the case, do you want to hold him?!”

“No…I don’t want to get him sick; go take him outside and play with him….”

“Okay!” Gaoma said as he raced out of her room and then downstairs. He then froze as he ran into his brother at the bottom of the stairs. His brother looked at the rabbit before he grit his teeth and growled,

“Are you an idiot, Gaoma?!”

“Wh-What do you mean?!”

“Why did you bring this here?!” He screamed as he picked it up by the scruff of the neck,

“No! Give him back!”

“Mom is allergic to these! Do you want to kill her?!” He screamed as he threw the rabbit backward before it crashed against the wall. Gaoma’s eyes widened before he ran over to the rabbit and knelt down.

“Hey! Hey!” Gaoma said as he gently touched the motionless rabbit, “Come on, wake up!” He said as he shook it,

“I honestly can’t believe you, Gaoma!!! You’re such an idiot!!!” He then thumped Gaoma on the top of the head with his fist before saying, “It’s dead now! Take it outside and throw it away! Then afterwards, go apologize to mom!!!”

“Y-Yes….” Gaoma said as tears ran down his face and he scooped up the dead rabbit, “I-I’m sorry…Kyutaro…”

Present Day

Gaoma clenched his teeth as he said, “It was at that moment when he changed….I got beaten up…I wore scars every day to school….”

“I don’t know what you mean,” Minami said, a bit confused, before she moved out of the way of an oncoming ball thrown by one of the extra teammates.

“It’s when I became dumber…however-“ Gaoma then reached out and caught the ball, causing a gust of wind to pick up, causing his hair to blow out of his face. His blue eyes then lit up as he looked across the court at Kyutaro, “I’m now older, more experienced, so in a way, I’ve lost almost nothing. I'm tired of being at the bottom!” He then growled as he and Kyutaro made eye contact, “It’s time for me to finally fight back!!!” Gaoma screamed as he threw his ball through the air; Kyutaro threw his ball at the same time, causing them to collide before bouncing off one another. Gaoma ran a short distance before he lunged in the air and caught the ball he had thrown. “I’ll make you pay for everything you’ve done to me, Kyutaro!!!”

A//N

Here we are! The climax! Starting today there will be a chapter every day! There will be HUGE development for a few of Minami’s teammates! I can’t wait for you all to see what’s in store! Don’t forget to vote for your favorite character on the popularity poll!


Renatro’s nickname for Minami, MInamimōto, is a contraction of her name as well as Imōto which is the Japanese word for Little Sister!


Kyutaro is the 9th in a long line of male siblings, his older siblings are Ichitaro, Nitro, Kevin, Yontaro, Gotaro, Rokutaro, Shichitaro, and Hachitaro. They’re all named after the first 9 numbers in Japanese, however, Kevin’s father is actually American! Kyutaro’s parents split up for a time, and that’s how Kevin was born. And since Gaoma is Kyutaro’s younger brother, his name SHOULD BE Juutaro, however their mother wanted to pick a new name for him! Kyutaro is also the name I gave to the My Hero Academia villain Nine when I wrote a fanfiction about his origin and childhood!

Rasen is what I imagined the mech Lazengann would look like if it were a human. I have the new Lazengann model kit and still have yet to finish it....