One-Shot

"Ueda, mind passing me that can of soda?" asked Takami, not even glancing away from his Game Boy. Ueda got up from the chair and passed the can onto Takami's stomach, making him lurch. Too bothered and lazy to react, he cracked it open and began drinking.

The door slid open and in came two more of the third years. It was Sato, the Captain's best friend and Captain Gekihara. Gekihara was wearing his sneakers, white Air-Forces, and the team jacket. He tossed the duffel bag on the ground and checked the cabinet.

"Captain's here," Kazuki, the starting Shooting Guard said, reading manga on the floor.

"Hide your girlfriends," Goro, the starting Power Forward said, chewing gum and blowing it.

"Hide your wallets," Takami said. A beep sounded from his console. Game Over.

"Oi," Gekihara called, "where are my cigarettes?"

"Teach confiscated them," Takami replied, finally taking his eyes off the screen. "One of the first years took the blame and got suspended."

Gekihara kicked the cabinet. "Damn. Those were Marlboro, I had to get through some real heavy shit to get my hands on 'em."

"You should be more careful," Sato commented, rubbing his buzzcut..  "Don't forget, you're the pretty boy captain of the basketball team. If you got caught with 'em, your rep would be in the gutters."

"Yeah... you're right. I shouldn't be sulking over something this petty." The captain placed a hand on Ueda's shoulder. "Hey, Ueda, go get me some bread and milk from the store. I forgot to bring my cash so be a pal and use your own money." He shoved Ueda out the room and closed the door on him.

"But I barely have any money myself!" he shouted from the other side.

The door opened and a 100 yen coin rocketed itself onto his forehead. The door closed.

There stood Terasu Ueda, a sore look on his face. After picking the coin up, he dug in his pockets and found 200 Yen. Just perfect...

For as long as he could remember, the basketball club had always been like this. Dull and filled with punks. The captain, the Center, Otomo Gekihara, was the poster boy of the club. Tall, pale-skin, wavy short hair and glamourous smile to boot. Despite them losing the entire season, the captain made up for it with his good looks and clean talks. Every girl frothed for him and didn't even look twice at their 0-8 record. 

Stalking his way to the store, he met their former manager and ex-girlfriend of Gekihara, Mia Hanzaki. She was a pretty girl, short black hair and plump lips. Like Ueda, she was a second year and now worked part-time at the school's store.  

"Hey, Hanzaki," Ueda whispered. "Gekihara's at it again."

"That punk," she groaned. "I can't keep putting food on his tab all the time. He's in massive debt and he can't even show up and order food himself."

"Keep it down," he begged. "He'll tear us apart if this spreads."

"Like it matters," she replied. "I don't care if the whole school hears it. You should stop taking crap from a guy like him. Follow my lead and leave the club." She walked over and grabbed the bread and milk from the fridge.

"I can't do that."

"Why not? You guys don't even play basketball. All you've been doing is losing games and wasting the club funds." She placed the foods on the counter. "Word around the campfire is that the club is gonna get disbanded."

Disbanded.

"You're kidding."

"Dead serious." She suddenly softened. "Ueda, I know you love basketball but you're always on the bench while the opposing team is blowing you out by thirty points. You're Sixth Man that only plays the last few minutes to rest the starters. It's been happening since your first year."

"Hanzaki..." Not being able to think of something else to say, he grabbed the food from here and departed. All she could do was cross her arms and frown. There was a time where Ueda was passionate about basketball but now it seemed like it never existed, like some sort of random imaginations she had had.

When Ueda returned, he gave Gekihara his snacks and picked up a ball. "Do we have the court today?"

Gekihara snorted. "And do what? Practice?" He opened the packet and bit into the loaf of bread. "The volleyball team has it reserved today. Don't even bother lacing up your sneakers."

"I think we got it reserved next week," Takami said. "Knowing the principal, though, he's probably going to steal the spot and give it to the volleyball team. Again." He searched his bag for a different game.

Goro stuck his gum underneath the table. "Like it even matters. When's the last time we actually practiced?"

"Centuries ago," Sato replied.

Ueda looked away and sighed. He tucked the ball under his armpit and grabbed his bag, leaving the room of lazy punks who did nothing better. He left the school grounds and walked back home under the orange skies. The streets were quiet, some highschoolers going into the convenience store to read some manga or heading into internet cafes to play some games.

The club is gonna get disbanded.

Hanzaki's words echoed inside his brain like a bad yet catchy song. The club was pathetic so it had it coming. Gekihara was probably going to charm the principal to keep the club running, ready to give out a heartful speech and get the whole staff teary-eyed. He was so full of it, the bastard. Ueda took a turn and arrived at the one place where phony people didn't reside, where no one even stayed at all.

Around the clusters of the building was an empty halfcourt where Ueda played basketball until the lights came on. The hoop was rickety but stable enough to keep itself up. 

A ball dribbled.

Wait, what?

That wasn't right. A ball shouldn't be dribbling. Only his ball should be dribbling.

He heard the rim shake.

Ueda dashed, squeezing through the walls and found someone actually playing basketball by the court. He was ginormous, his body was stalking all over the place like a moving tree. His long hair whipped around and he spun into a layup. A couple of strides and he was already on the other end. His feet leapt and the ball was high in the air and was followed by an earth-shaking, slam dunk. He couldn't believe his eyes.

That guy had to atleast be 6'6. The way he moved was unnatural. People that big shouldn't being moving like that at all.

"Hey!" Ueda called out but the guy was in the air and he suddenly crashed into the pole, a nasty fall playing out. Worried, he ran over and found the guy looking up at the sky with not a hint of pain at all. "Are you okay? That was a real bad hit, you know."

"I'm fine, thanks," replied the big guy and sat up, looking at the ball under Ueda's arm. "You play basketball?"

"Um, yeah..." Well, not so often because my club is filled with moronic bums.

"Cool. You want to play one-on-one?" the big guy asked.

Just like that? "Sure."

Taking off his school jacket, he rolled up his shirt sleeves and laced up his Nike Zoom MVP sneakers. They were black and purple and were practically brand new. He had the ball in his hands and he looked dead ahead at his opponent. His arms were wide and his stance was low like a Venus flytrap ready to eat the next prey that laid in its jaws.

A dash and Ueda was on the move. He crossed over to the right, closing down the distance to the basket. He tossed up a layup but it was swatted away. All he could do was look up at the hand that slapped the ball away. It was huge like it was about to slap him aswell. The big guy didn't even need to jump.

"My ball, okay?" the big guy said and held the ball tightly in his hands, the game restarting. It was hard to guard bigger players but all Ueda had to do was form him out of the post and he would be fine. The big guy dribbled and Ueda stuck onto him like glue. The ball bounced and bounced. Big men usually couldn't shoot. They relied too much on their physical strength under the post to—

The ball flicked and sinked into the basket in the purest way possible.

"N-no way..." Ueda breathed. The big guy scratched his long hair and yawned.

Minutes later and Ueda couldn't keep up. Not only was he sort of out of shape because he barely played, but the skill difference was too great. He bullied him under the basket and he could shoot from afar. He couldn't stop him and even if he did, he'd have to foul him. Ueda had lost many games before. He was no stranger to loses but this lose in particular was different. It was a lose he deserved.

Sitting on the ground in fatigue, Ueda watched the big guy walk away. A surge of energy rushed through him.

"How come you can keep on playing basketball?! Don't you ever feel like dropping the game all together? Don't you feel... gone?"

The big guy took a glance back but looked back forward. "I hope to never feel that away about what I love most." He walked away, Ueda last seeing his back into the dark night.

✫✫✫

"A game?" Ueda asked, dropping his bag and grabbing the sheet of paper.

"Yeah," Gekihara said. The whole clubroom was looking at the paper. "Against the Matsuya Giants next week. It's just a practice game to get their team ready for the Spring Tournament."

"But why us?" Kazuki questioned. "We were playing terrible last season."

"Most of the high competitive teams don't wanna show their tricks," Takami said. "They're picking guys like us because they know we have nothing going for us."

"What a bunch of pricks," Goro replied. "They're basically mocking us."

"More like an honour," Sato retorted. "They're the Matsuya Giants, championship contenders for the Inter-High. They apparently got some tall kid transfer and was named National Middle School MVP before. His name is Yanase Kamemoto, their ace."

"So, shouldn't we start practicing?" Ueda asked.

"Sorry but my part-time job has been needing extra hands," Takami replied. Goro shrugged and so did Kazuki.

"Captain," Ueda began, "we're playing some good guys. Can't we at least try?"

Gekihara shook his head. "Ueda, there's nothing to try for. These guys are beyond us. Even if we practiced way before, we'd get mopped before the second half would even start. We'll do what we've always done: we lose the game. What's so different about this and the other eight losses?"

"But—" 

"Forget it, Ueda. We drop the game. That's final." Picking up his bags, Gekihara left and soon after, everyone else. Alone stood Ueda and the letter on the table.

✫✫✫

They took the train to Matsuya High and when they entered the gym, it was packed. Drums blared, cheers began and the team was warming up in their full kit. Giriki High were only wearing their green and blue basketball shorts and baggy white T-shirts. Matsuya wore their blue and white jerseys with pride, Matsuya, in big letters across the chest. 

"Man, talk about overkill," Takami said. Goro and Kazuki could only keep quiet as their opponents were shooting the ball around, rarely missing. The most shots Kazuki, their Shooting Guard, had made were four in a row. Kazuki couldn't even make a sound. Gekihara looked at his lackluster team and went over to sit at the bench, girls already flocking him.

"Bastard," Goro replied and Kazuki nodded in reply.

Ueda was the only one, besides Gekihara, that decided to move. He was embraced by the cheers and the atmosphere. His bones tingled and his whole body felt warm like a heatwave. When's the last time he felt like this, so filled with life?

"It's you," a voice called out. It was the big guy he played one-on-one with. "So you're my opponent, huh?"

"You know Kamemoto?" Takami asked.

"Well, we played one-on-one some time back..."

"I hope to have a good game like last time," Kamemoto said before leaving to his team.

After Sato shooed the girls away, the teams were prepared to start the game. A jump ball and it was Matsuya's possession. Their Point Guard throttled down with a pass to Kamemoto who bumped Goro out of the way and dunked the ball into the hoop. Gekihara and Goro double teamed the ace but it was no use. A crossover, a step-in and the ball rolled into the basket. Takami tried guarding their Point Guard in a futile attempt. The Matsuya Giants simply stormed past them and by halftime, the team were exhausted. Ueda watched on the bench as their team began to slowly but surely, quit the game. They let Kamemoto get through easily, they let the shooters shoot and their big men bulled them under the basket.

It was like watching a wrestling match of a cat and a lion. Simply unfair.

Ueda watched on watched. It was like any other game, no different from their eight other losses. It was over. When the game was over, he'd be back on the train, on his was to resign and try another club. He'd never play with monsters like Kamemoto again. He wouldn't step on the court he'd love so much. The times he'd spend shooting from the freethrow line, driving to the basket, throwing a layup and cheering when the ball sunk into the rim.

The joy, the pain, the feelings...

A tear hit the ground.

It'd be all gone.

Kazuki called for a timeout. It was six minutes left in the 4th Quarter.

"Jeez, I'm tired, Ueda. Go do whatever you want, man." He slumped onto the bench and drank his water. Ueda looked up and saw his team ready for the inbound. Every joint, muscle and fibre in his body moved to stand him and his feet trailed onto the court. When he stopped onto the surface, everything came alight.

The squeaks of sneakers tickled his ears, the cheers rocked likes waves and he stood against the opposing Shooting Guard. They were down 89-13. The game was practically over. The first year bench were subbed in expected Kamemoto. He eyed Ueda and Ueda looked at him back. That's the man that gave him his first ever real lose. He could never pay it back but...

He could at least relight the passion he had once more.

The ball was thrown to Kamemoto and Ueda ran. He ran like he never ran before. He flung his hand out and the ball sprung from his finger tips. The crowd began to lose their energy. Ueda dribbled the ball, pounding it like his life depended on it. His sneakers squeaked and when the basket was nearby, he jumped, high into the air, away from his doubts, his losses, his pain—

and into the sky where his love laid.