#001

The bell rang through out the entire school, rousing Ueda out of his deep sleep. He looked down at his desk and found a puddle of drool and looked up to discover his classmates leaving. Grabbing his bag, he joined the departure and pushed up his spiky black hair. Thank goodness it was the last lesson of the day. His whole body felt stiff, especially after Mr Sakamoto couldn't stop droning about History. He didn't really enjoy History but Sakamoto would talk about anything in his personal life so they barely learned anything.

He travelled down the far hallways, crowded spots and finally arrived at his club room, a small classroom that contained-. Gekihara and Satou hadn't come back yet so Ueda said his greeting, looking for the ball.

"Ueda," Takami said, laying on the couch and playing on his Game Boy. "Pass me a soda can from the fridge."

Ueda stopped looking for the ball, went over to the fridge, Goro sitting on the side, and tossed the heavy can onto Takami's open stomach. He lurched and glared at Ueda before cracking open the drink and sipping it. Takami, a fellow first year of Ueda, was someone unimpressive. He had a bowl cut, a frail pair of glasses to match his frail physique and, yet, was the team's starting Point Guard due to his unselfishness to pass the ball. Besides, it was the only thing he was actually good at.

Kazuki, the Shooting Guard and another first year, laid on the floor reading manga. Goro, second-year and Power Forward, was stuffing his face with potato chips. 

"Where's Gekihara?" Ueda asked. "I thought he said there was gonna be practice in the gym."

"What?" Kazuki asked, confusion filled in his voice. "Gekihara said that?"

"Well..."

"He's just lying. He's probably off leeching on his next girlfriend, the lazy bum."

"We're filled with enough bums already," Takami said, gesturing at Goro. Goro, chubby and mean, grunted and threw the crumpled up bag at Takami who dropped his Game Boy and showed the Game Over screen. "You prick!" He lept over the couch and the two started scuffling.

Kazuki was the second most relaxed out of everyone, Satou taking the reigning lead. Kazuki was also a first-year and was semi-popular around the school. He was average in grades, had an average look and surprisingly had a girlfriend. However, she went to an all-girls school just a town over. "He's probably off arguing with Hanzaki."

"Didn't they break up?" Ueda asked.

"I think so. Hanzaki tries to act all smart and pristine but the moment Gekihara comes in too close, she loses it." The depressing talk was the part where Ueda didn't enjoy being friends with him.

Ueda shrugged, dropped his bags and went over to Gekihara's spot, the school store. It was sold all sorts of things from food to uniforms. But Gekihara mainly went there for cigarettes, sold under-the-table by his ex. They apparently broke up because Gekihara was getting too bold.

He found them right where they expected. Satou Fujima was standing right next to Yuto Gekihara who was having a whole melt down with Mia Hanzaki.

"I was just kidding last time," Gekihara exclaimed. "I seriously wouldn't do that."

"Yuto, I don't want to hear it."

Ueda slid himself next to Satou. He was a pretty tall dude, like Gekihara, except his was simple with what he wanted.  A buzzcut, sharp eyes and an unimpressive look on his face.

"Hey Satou," Ueda said.

"Hey Terasu," Satou replied. Satou was on a first name basis for everyone, even if he just met the guys. He didn't really mind if a lower class man said his first name; that's the reason why he was so liked amongst everyone.

"How long have they been at it?"

"Just a while now. He's trying to get Marlboro but it's too expensive. She's now bumping it to 1000 yen."

"Can't blame her." The halls were basically empty so nobody would really hear it nor know what they were talking about. "Will there be practice today?"

"Volleyball club got to us first."

"The club is about to be disbanded and all you think about is your stupid cigarettes!" Mia shouted and Gekihara practically turned white.

"Not so loud, dammit!" Gekihara begged but he couldn't control her. Mia was Gekihara's girlfriend back when she was a first-year. Now a second-year, with a lot more brains, cut him down every chance she got. Gekihara, third-year and Captain and Center, was getting belittled by a girl almost half his height of 6'3.

Satou was about 6 foot and Ueda was 5'8 but he was getting closer and closer everyday to 5'9, he could practically smell it.

Wait.

Disbanded?

It was like Ueda had just gotten out of a super long movie. 

"Gekihara," Ueda said. "She's lying, right?"

Gekihara looked away. "It's not of your business."

"What do you mean it's none of my business? I'm your teammate."

"You barely get any playing time. You're a Sixth Man for God's sake. I consider my sneakers more of a teammate than you."

"You sonuva..." Ueda proclaimed but Satou held Ueda back. He gave the youngster a quiet look, as if telling him to leave Gekihara be. Ueda froze but snapped out of it and ran off. He ran out the school and ran past the gates. When he was done running, all he could of was when he applied to Giriki High.

He read about Gekihara, the powerhouse Center who was bound to become an All-Japan Star and was second in Tokyo MVP. His middle school team was good but they lacked a proper defender. He maybe thought, just maybe, he could...

He stopped running and then remembered what his team was. A bunch of liars. No basketball was played since last year and all the second-years jumped shipped. Why? Because of Gekihara. He was the main problem. He should just quit the team. There was no use, anyway, since playing basketball was only possible at home.

School wasn't too far. If he made it now, he could get to the grounds before it closed up and maybe get to the bus in time.

Footsteps could be heard from far out. It was Kazuki, throwing his whole body out and dropping Ueda's bag. He was dead on the floor. That was Kazuki though. He had the worst stamina ever. He was just a catch-and-shoot Shooting Guard so he barely did anything physically tasking.

"You nimrod," Kazuki panted out. "You forgot your stuff... I ran... my ass off... just to..."

"Sorry about that," Ueda replied, scratching the back of his hair with a nervous smile.

Kazuki pulled himself up and brought the bag into Ueda's hands. "Why... did you run?" He sounded much better now.

"I don't know... The club is getting disbanded."

"I know. I knew way long about it... before anyone..." He was sucking in air whilst trying to be calm and collected. It was a poor attempt. "Gekihara's also starting to get searched for swindling the club funds."

"Didn't a first-year take the blow when they found cigarettes in the club?"

"Yeah... I almost forgot about that. Poor Rui got suspended. His parents gave him an earful."

"I could tell." Ueda looked off into the streets. Kazuki also had his bag with him. "You want to eat some ramen?"

"Sure," Kazuki said, smiling a bit. "I owe you way too much."

"You owe me a house," Ueda said before grabbing his friend around the shoulder and walking to the ramen shop.