The real fraud was the friends we made along the way.

 We landed in Okinawa an hour later.

“Freedom!” I was the first off the plane as I fell to the grass and hugged the solid, not moving, actually stable ground. “Never getting on another plane in my life!”

It was beautiful out. Pelicans flew overhead as palm trees gently waved back and forth in the breeze. The airport terminal was buzzing with taxis constantly picking up families and tired-looking salarymen.

“As I reminded you an hour ago, we have to fly back.” Maria forced my back up as I wobbled on my feet.

“I’ll sneak onto a boat or something! People smuggled themselves in boats all the time back in the day.”

“When X-ray machines didn't exist.”

“They can X-ray my–”

“Listen up!” Coach exited the terminal with the rest of the men’s team. “Welcome to Okinawa. This place is going to be our home for the next week. What we leave with is up to you all.”

“Yes, Coach!”

“Now, I know this is the first Inner High for everyone here, so let me explain how the tournament works.” He pulled out a tablet from his bag. On it, a mess of a bracket popped up. “The Inner High has the best sixty four teams from all across Japan, all competing for the right to call themselves the best in the nation! Do you want to take that title?”

“Yes, Coach!”

“That’s right! Starting tomorrow, we will have one game a day, single elimination. As a one seed, if we’re able to win three games in a row, we win the tournament. But for now, I want everyone here to relax and enjoy the island!”
“S-seriously?” It was about as un-Coach-like a statement as statements could get.

“You heard me. You girls are a giant bundle of nerves just waiting to burst! Go relax and explore. We'll meet at seven in the morning sharp to discuss our game plan.”

With that, he made a shooing motion with his hands and sent us all away.

“Huh…” It was so unlike Coach that my brain forgot how to function for a second. I hadn’t made any plans; I’d assumed basketball was all we would be here for. “Maria, do you have any ideas?”

“Do I?” She grinned and pointed toward a nearby Eoon Mall. “We’re in Okinawa, what else is there to do but shop?”

Shopping with Maria… I had to stop my brain from actually going kaput. “Sure! I have nothing better to do.

One five-minute walk later, and we entered the massive five-story mall. Bustling stores completely immersed us, with fashionable displays, delicious-smelling food stalls, and the clear speakers playing some old pop song.

“Over here!” Maria took my hand and forcefully dragged me to the nearest clothing store. She grabbed like five things off the shelves in rapid succession and turned toward me. “What do you think?”

“It’s… cute!” I’m so overwhelmed. I was never one of those fashion obsessed girls. A simple, cute skirt was all I needed. There are so many options here, how is she choosing this fast?

What seemed like five minutes later, we were both in the changing rooms with a mountain of clothes to try on.

“What do you think?” Maria stepped out of the changing room. She wore a skinny, chic, light blue skirt with gold stars running down the fabric. A nice, simple top complimented the flashy skirt.

It's cute… I found it hard to look away from her. I hadn’t noticed on the plane, but her makeup was flawless, with bright red lipstick that somehow complemented her perfectly. “Amazing… Do you think you’re going to buy it?”

“If you think it's cute, absolutely!”

What did she mean by that? “I should probably get something too…” Honestly, not a lot had stood out to me. My wardrobe was spare, so I could afford it, but clothes shopping wasn’t exactly a common habit of mine.

BZZZ

“Huh?” I checked as my phone buzzed with a phone call. “What the–”

“Aiko?”

“It's my brother!” I almost dropped the phone, fumbling it in my hands. I couldn’t remember the last time I had talked to him; it had to have been half a year at a minimum. “Let me take this.”

I walked to a quiet, empty, unused hall. “H-hello?”

“Hey, Aiko, Yuma here. I got a bit of free time and wanted to give you a call.”

“W-whats up?”

“I heard you just arrived for the Inner High! How are you feeling?”

“Pretty good,” I nearly bit my tongue trying to get a coherent sentence out. “How is your season? You guys made it pretty far in the American college basketball tournament, right?”

“We did ok, got knocked out in the Eventful Eight,” he chuckled. “But enough about me. You play tomorrow! How’s the team?”

“It’s going,” I sighed. “We gained a new girl whom I really like, but learning to play together has been a pain and a half.”

“Let me guess, American?”
“Yeah! How did you know?”

“The same thing happened to me once I arrived here for college. Though it wasn’t a teammate for me, she was our school manager.”

“Aren’t you dating one of your team managers?”

“Yeah, same girl.”

“H-how did you guys move from fighting to dating?” My heart was suddenly racing.

“We just had to get used to each other and learn to move with each other's strength. She hated how recklessly I played, and I hated how controlling she was, but as we talked to each other more and worked together, we learned to work with each other, and lo and behold, four years later, we’re still together.”

“Amazing…” My mind immediately went to Maria. We were the exact same way at the beginning, and with how things had been progressing recently, I wanted to have hope. “When did you realize she liked you?”

“I didn’t,” he laughed. “I absolutely thought she would turn me down. I was such a coward, I asked her out over text.”

I went to respond, but stopped as I heard the sound of scuffling over the phone. “Sorry, Aiko! I have to let you go. Oh, but before I hang up, I wanted to wish you good luck again! Don’t feel like you have to get revenge for me or anything, but I’m sure mom would appreciate an Inner High trophy in the house.”

“Yuma, I–”

“Anyway, gotta go! Bye”

“Yuma!” But he had already hung up the call. “My stupid, moronic, idiot of a brother!”

“Aiko?” Maria appeared from the corner as I slammed my foot into the ground. “Are you ok?”

“God, why is he so stupid?” He always does this. It’s the first time you’re able to talk to your sister in half a year, and you hang up on her? “How stupidly antisocial can you be, Yuma?”

“Your brother?” Maria asked.

“Yeah,” I sighed. “Come on, let's check out and head to the hotel. I need to punch a basketball, and thanks to Yuma, I have all the motivation in the world right now.”