The Enr** scandal was a skibidi accounting scandal. It was a **ron scandal of E**on scandles of an *nro*ic proportions.

The next day arrived in a flash. We met, practiced, and finished up the day in a giant blur that passed in the blink of an eye.

Now, I stood on the court as the ref was getting prepared to throw up the ball, and start the first match of the Inner High.

“How are you feeling?” Maria stood next to me, muscles tensed. Coach had given us the rundown of Sundai Gaku earlier today–a fast-paced team that thrived on forcing their opponents into making dumb errors and capitalizing on those mistakes. If we played decently, they were a good matchup. If not? I didn’t want to think about that future.

“Good as I can be.” I watched the ball fly in the air as Shiori reached up and smacked it back. “Let the Inner High begin.”

I took a few steps forward. None of their players stood out as an immediate threat; they all stood back instead, watching our every move. One nice benefit of being on a three loss streak was half our opponents probably didn’t bother to do much field research.

I passed the ball to Maria at around the free-throw line and made a mad dash for the basket.

She immediately passed the ball back.

SWISH

“First two!” I shouted as we ran back on defence. They had weaknesses, sure, I had my worries but we could beat them.

                                                                                         ⬢ ⬢ ⬢

In the end, we had nothing to worry about

BUZZZZ I caught my breath as the game after ours started. In practice, their masterful game plan of picking apart their opponents' really stupid mistakes didn’t work if we didn’t make any really stupid mistakes.

What came from that was an absolute beating as we won by twenty. Both Maria and I finished with double doubles, and Hana wasn’t far behind with ten points and nine rebounds.

“That’s seriously how we win our first game?” I asked no one in particular. It doesn’t feel real. The Inner High is supposed to be full of these superteams! Nothing about that team was super!

Maria and I were relaxing on the balcony above the massive stadium we played in. Apparently, it belonged to some nearby university where a ton of American foreign exchange students attended.

“You know the phrase, when everyone's amazing, everyone looks middling.”

“How do you always do that?” I asked as Felix walked up and leaned on the balcony.

“Do what, be hot?”

“Ew, no, I'm too gay for that. No, it’s like you somehow read my mind.”

“Hate to break it to you, but I’m nowhere near able to do that currently. Too contracted up.”

“Currently?” I raised an eyebrow. “What does that mean?”

“Who knows,” Felix stared for a long while at the court. “Though in your state, I’m the last thing you two should be thinking about.”

“What should we be thinking about then?” Maria asked with a smirk.

“Her.” Felix pointed to one of the girls down on the court. She had long black hair tied back in a ponytail and super long legs. “Name is Mei. Honestly, most of the players here, of either gender, haven’t impressed me, but she’s an exception.”

He continued as Mei dribbled the ball forward. “She plays with confidence and isn’t afraid to make a play whenever her team needs it. She’s also talented enough to make those emergency plays work. Ball handling is exceptional, and her shooting has a very strong clutch factor.

Mei broke to the right, spinning around her defender before taking the ball back to the three line. Her opponent recovered. They faced off, Mei feigned a step, and took advantage of her opponent following her with a quick three.

It sailed through the hoop while barely disturbing the net.

“I see what you mean…” She was good, no doubt about it. The poise she played with was better than a lot of pros I had watched. It wasn’t anywhere near Yuma, but she was probably a top five player in the tournament at worst.

“If all goes well, you two will meet in the finals. I have no doubts Fukui High will make it to the finals, but the question is, will you guys meet her?”

“You ask that like there's another possibility,” I grinned. “We’ll make it there and beat her socks off.”

“You better.” Felix stretched and started to walk away. “No school’s men's and women's team have won the Inner High in the same year. We’re a shoo-in to win, but I do hope that you guys will be able to join us.”

“That sounds like a challenge. We’re in. Right, Maria?”

“Right,” Maria wore a confident smile. “I don’t know who our next opponent is, but I would be shaking if I were them.

                                                                         ⬢ ⬢ ⬢

We arrived back at our hotel room just as the clock struck nine.

It wasn’t a super fancy place or anything, just a normal business hotel with two tiny twin beds and the most basic TV from fifteen years ago.

The beds were also absolutely tiny. I was slightly taller than the average Japanese guy at best, and my feet completely hung over the side. Compared to Maria, I didn’t even have it that bad, and I still wanted to tear the place apart in annoyance.

“God, I’m tired!” Maria emerged from the bathroom with a yawn. She had wrapped one of the cheap white towels around her hair. “To think we have two more games after this.”

“Already counting tomorrow as a win?”

“Of course! Whatever weird vibes we had for most of the season, I declare vanquished, gone, cast into the void!”

I chuckled. “Ok girl. Give me some of the confidence.”

“Ok,” she made an exaggerated showing of shooing some air my way. “Here you go.”

“Wow, sexy,” I rolled my eyes.
“Y-yeah!” She gave an awkward chuckle as she sat down in her bed.

God, our beds are awfully close… It’s almost like we’re sleeping in the same bed. That thought just made the butterflies in my stomach so much worse.

I could confess…

Aiko! I slapped myself while Maria glanced at her phone. What if she turns me down? What if I ruin our chemistry? What if I distract her enough that we lose tomorrow's game?

I can’t be that selfish.

Even though staying silent made my heart ache.

“I’m hitting the sack. Better to be rested for tomorrow.”

“Night, Aiko, I’ll probably be joining you soon,” Maria said.

“Let’s win tomorrow.” And with those words, I laid down and fell asleep seconds later.