Giant's may have fallen, but NEW, even more bubbly successors have arisen. They trade money in a circle like jerks, a mere mocery of the innocent giant that came before them.

The bus ride back was a special form of torture.

At least last time I had Maria’s stupidity to blame? This time, me, myself, and I.

She would have made the shot too. Maria from the right corner was more consistent than the price of gold, while mine was the cryptocoin of layups, apparently.

It all changed when Maria joined. We were 32-2 before that, with our last loss coming two months ago! Just my luck. I get the solution to women's basketball, and our chemistry on the court sucks so bad we lose to Chubu… Chubu.

If someone had told me we would find ourselves on a three game loosing streak right before the Inner High, I would have punched that idea right out of them.

But that was our reality.

“Damn it…” As the bus arrived back to Osai the rest of the team walked off without a word. It was almost ominous.

As I got up from the back and exited, I saw the team waiting for Coach’s normal after game speech, without a single bit of hope between them.

“I’ll keep things short for most of you. Overall, most of you played well. Gimmick teams will always find ways to sneak in unearned wins. I’m not too worried about seeing those at the Inner High. For now, I wanted everyone to work on their fundamentals and ensure our plays are up to snuff. We’ll need the entire playbook at the Inner High.”

“Yes coach,” we said in unison without a hint of emotion.

“That’s all for now. Practice tomorrow after school.”

“Thank you, coach.” I sighed before turning to the locker rooms. Better to get my stuff and head out before I smash my fist into one of the bleachers.

But those plans were quickly squashed by Coach. “Maria, Aiko? What do you two think you’re doing?”

“L-leaving?” Maria stuttered.

“Not on my watch! When did I say you two were allowed to head out? Meet me in the gym in five! On the double!”

What now… I sighed. As mopey as pissed off as I was, pissing off Coach was still more pain that it was worth.

“Does he normally do this?” Maria asked.

“Not really,” A bit of anger welled up in my stomach before I pushed it down. What was I doing? Maria wasn’t responsible for our loss; hell, without her rebounding, it could have been much worse. Was I that much of a loser that I couldn’t even blame myself? “Let’s go see what he wants.”

                                                                                     ⬢ ⬢ ⬢

The millisecond that we arrived, Coach started screaming for us to run laps.

“Yes, Coach!”

Our scattered footsteps echoed around the gym. There was an ominous sense to the place without the sound of dribbled basketballs, more like a prison. The echoey, thinly painted steel walls didn’t help matters.

“I’ve seen a lot of teams in my thirty years coaching basketball. I’ve seen fantastic teams, teams that couldn’t figure out how to score a layup for the life of them, even the textbook definition of potential teams. But you know what has never worked? A team with two chiefs vying for power.”

“I–”

“Keep running!” Coach cut me with a scowl. “To be blunt, I couldn’t care which of you two ends up taking the mantle, but it sure can't be both! Maria Koval, do you know what your problem is?”

“No, Coach.”

“One of the most important elements of basketball is effort, yet I see you giving fifty percent on a good day. I don’t give a damn about your rankings overseas. If you don’t put in the effort against opponents you see as lesser, you won’t win another game in Japan!”

Maria didn’t say a word back. We both knew Coach was right.

“And don’t think you’re getting out of this either, Aiko!”

I flinched. I could guess what he was going to say.

“You have to be the most selfish, self-centered, egotistical, sore loser I have ever had the displeasure of coaching, and having it on such a talented player makes it feel like the biggest waste I have ever seen in this sport!”

“Yes Co–”

“Don’t think I’m done!” he said. I wanted to cover my ears and smash the wooden floor to smitherines. “You take every opportunity possible to play hero ball and show off. Have you even tried to truly use your teammates as assets? Even once? I see how you joke with Felix, but he plays with his teammates more in one game than you do in an entire season! All that talk about your brother losing the Inner High, yet you’re right on track to flame out before playing a game in it!”

Are you bringing Yuma into this? I felt my cheeks flush with anger. He played amazingly; he wasn’t the reason his team lost; it was the rest of them letting him down! If he didn’t get injured.”

Damn it. What’s the point? Fighting this is just going to hurt his image. I waited a second for Coach to finish. “Y-yes, Coach.”

He stayed quiet for a few minutes, letting us run silently around the court.

After what felt like an eternity, he spoke. “That’s enough. Both of you come here.”

“Thank god,” I trotted over with my achy, sore legs. Between the game and this, every step made my thighs feel like they were on fire.

“Passing drills, two hundred bounce passes, two hundred chess passes.

We’re not done?  “Yes, coach!” we both scrambled to get in place as Maria grabbed a ball.

Coach watched over us as we passed back and forth. “Every day for the next week you two are to report here after school for partner drills. Don’t expect to be home until the sun sets.”

“Yes Coach!” We said in unison.

He waited until we finished our drills, not saying a word. Finally, as we both were hunched over and sweaty, he grinned.

“That’s all for today.” Coach said.

“Finally!” I collapsed on the court, panting. “My legs don’t have any feeling to them anymore.”

“Same.” I could hear Maria panting on the floor beside me.

I honestly wanted to talk a bit more, but my lungs were too exhausted to say another word as I slowly trotted off the court and grabbed my phone. A soft bed sounded so good.

Bzz. A notification from Hana popped up at the top of my phone. “Hey y'all, I got some discounted booths at Small Echo if you’re in the mood for karaoke.”

“Now?” I could feel a war raging in my brain. “Maria, you get Hana’s text?”

“Yeah…” I could hear the hoarseness in her voice. “Normally I’d say no, but I’ve… well… I’ve never been to karaoke in Japan before.”

“We’re going then. I need to blow off some steam, and there was not a better place to do so in all of Japan.”