Bankruptcy isn't forever, a comeback is always possible! Anyway metaphors are for boring people.

 We dashed into the gym with a minute to spare. The sound of squeaking sneakers echoed off the gym walls, with a constant thumping of balls hitting the backboard as everyone shot around.

“Cutting it close.”

“Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades, Ichika.”

She got off a quick shot–a perfect make–before walking over. Ichika had always been the flashy type, with her pink painted nails and light lipstick, an anomaly in the gym. I was honestly shocked she was able to get away with it, given how strict our school was. “Whose the new girl?”

“I’m Maria.” She stuck out her hand for a handshake. Americans.

Ichica grinned before taking her hand. “You’re like, tall. You play center?”

“Nope, forward.” Maria grabbed a ball from the rack and gave it a dribble. “My old team’s center was five inches taller than I am.”

“Five inches?” I raised an eyebrow. “What kind of team did you play on?” Six foot eight? Is there a girl that tall in all of Japan?

But before Maria could answer, the sharp screeching of Coach’s whistle brought the room to a standstill. Does he want half of us to go deaf?

A few seconds later, the whole team stood around him. We had all learned firsthand what happened if we didn’t race over. Not fun memories.

Coach Sato didn’t look particularly remarkable, not with his balding grey hair. The fact that he was an inch or so shorter than me didn’t help matters. Good coaches were supposed to look unassuming. But there was something about the way he stood that caught everyone's attention. 

That, and the fact that his voice could rival a sonic boom.

“Listen up,” The steel ceiling beams shook with every word. “As some of you have heard, we have a new student joining the team.”

Maria stepped forward at his gesture. God, she has to be twice his height at a minimum.

“I know typical practice is to hold a tryout for any mid-season additions, but we decided to do things a bit differently this time.”

“I didn’t know coach could do things differently?” I whispered to Hana, glancing toward Maria. Coach was far from the type to change anything.

“First time for everything.”

“Maybe.” Magic first times belonged in romance anime written at three in the morning on two grams of caffeine, not reality. Each second seemed to add another question about Maria.

Coach clapped his hands together. “But that is enough chitchat! I didn’t call you girls here to chitter-chatter. Get in line for shooting on the double!”

With a sense of familiarity, we formed two equal lines. It wasn’t anything complicated. One side shot the three or went for a layup, the other rebounded. Switch sides afterward.

Maria reached the front of the line. She drove to the basket. Her blonde hair flew like a cape.

Then, she dunked the ball.

“What the f–” I quickly shoved my hand over Hana’s mouth.

What the fuck!

Dunking was rare enough in men's games. In my life, I had never seen a woman dunk the ball.

Japan, overseas, didn’t matter. Some things just didn’t happen.

God, that was so hot too… I stopped myself. Why is that the first thing that comes to mind, Aiko!?

“How the hell did you do that?” I quickly chucked the ball in the air and ran to her side. “Can I have some of those performance enhancing drugs?”

“I’ve always been pretty good at jumping.” Maria’s face turned red. Cute…

“Pretty good? You must have at least a thirty-inch vertical!”

“Thirty-seven inches, actually.”

If I hadn’t just seen proof, I would have called her a liar. “That's better than most ABA players!”

I thought mine was good at twenty-four…

Maria proved she was even more of an athletic freak during the next few drills. She lapped us while running across the court, outrebounded everyone, and could somehow stop on a dime. It was like watching a movie play out, with the stunning actress sailing gracefully around the court.

“She has to have some kind of weakness…” But I couldn’t see anything. She felt truly unstoppable on offence. “Athletic and hot, pick a struggle, new girl.”

Hana trotted up next to me, jersey soaked with sweat. “I’ve never felt so bad at basketball in my life.”

“Same girl.” We could have gone two on one, and she still would have scored on us most of the time.

Keeping up with her had sent sweat down my back too. Luckily for my ego, Coach Sato decided that it was time to move on. Another blow of his whistle and we were all at his side in twenty seconds flat.

Coach slowly walked down the line. “Good job girls. The Inner High always rewards two types of teams, those who can reliably create good one on ones, and those who can reliably run efficient plays.”

“Iso ball,” I whispered under my breath, grinning. If there was a time to show up the new girl, this was it.

“Let's start with the former. Ichika, Aiko. You two are up first!”

I lined up behind the leftmost basket while everyone’s eyes were on us.

Exactly how I liked it.

“Check,” Ichika tossed the ball my way.

I held the ball, waiting. Ichika had always been the truest definition of a shooting guard. Her release was nearly instantaneous, way faster than even Maria had shown. But one on ones took a lot more than a quick shot.

“Check,” I tossed her the ball and immediately dove toward her like a dolphin. No one trick pony was scoring on me.

BAM! As I predicted, she immediately thrust the ball midair, only for it to bounce off my hand.

Right onto her forehead.

“Owww!” Ichika twirled around like a top before falling flat on her face. “Nice aim, Aiko…”

“I try my best,” I put out my hand. “Will you survive?”

She rolled her eyes. “Barely.”

We switched spots as I slowly dribbled the ball. I met her eyes, waiting for the whistle to blow. She thinks I want to take the three. It was obvious from the moment I checked the ball to her. “You ready?”

“Of course–”

I was gone before she even finished. My black hair flew, and my jersey ruffled with every step as I charged toward the basket. Why bother with the three when you leave the layup this open, Ichika?

I could hear her start trailing me, a whole two steps behind.

SWISH

My ball sailed through the hoop, barely touching the net.

The next few rounds ended in a similar fashion. I blocked one, stole another. It took until her third attempt to get a shot off, and by then it was far too late.

“That’s a win!” I grinned, knocking Ichika on the shoulder as the whistle blew. “Good game, girl.”

“Yeah, yeah,” she rolled her eyes. Unlike me, she had the ability to brush off the loss in seconds.

“Good job, girls,” Coach snatched up the ball. “Ichika, get some water and an ice pack. Maria, you’re up next.”

“Maria?” I could feel my heart skip a beat. I knew we were obviously going to face each other, but this soon? It was like reading a manga where they went straight from the starting village to the demon king within a chapter.

“Sounds good,” she walked up to my side, all signs of the nervous girl from before gone. “You ready?”

I grimaced my teeth.

I’d been playing with Ichika for over two years at this point. Sure, Ichika knew how I played, but between the two of us she was much easier to read.