Undercover mommy

"Marianne Graham, age 19. And you're from Sacramento, California, yes?" a young woman with a long blonde hair asked as she adjusted her glasses.

"Damn right I am! I'm the slam dunking duchess of Sacramento," Daria grinned.

"Marianne, keep that attitude in check," Ina growled.

"Oh shut up, hag. This here's my jam, so don't but in when you don't know the dance."

"My, you certainly have quite the relationship with your mother. While I can understand parent and child banter, do note that we are a prestigious university, and as such, our students respecting figures of authority are a must," the interviewer maliciously chuckled.

Despite it not showing on their faces, Daria and Ina were on high alert and dangerously tense as they attempted to get through the interview. The fact in that lied in the interviewer herself, Mari Suou.

Leapfrogging off her father's fame, Mari quickly achieved greater heights due to her talent and lineage. In addition to playing professional basketball, she had also managed to become headmaster of Midorimori despite only being 21. She also dabbled in chess, and had a rating of 959. While this normally wouldn't have raised any eyebrows, the fact that Daria now knew that it was possible for executive board members to mask their true ratings in order to be searchable in the database, put her on guard. Especially since she had seen the games of her beating Doraaki. Not to mention, Mari had been one of the opponents she had played against in the qualification tournament, and despite winning, she had played so much higher than her level that it was natural to suspect her of cheating.

Yet she didn't once leave the board, nor have any devices on her, thus no definitive proof of cheating could be presented. Of course, if she was an executive board member and presumably had a microchip in her brain, that would explain her skill jump.

But at this point in time, Daria was more afraid Mari might see through her disguise. While her serious persona had been on display when the two played, there was always a chance Mari might recognize her. That's why she went through the trouble of changing up her image so much. But if Mari saw through it, Doraaki would likely be killed.

"Now I must say, the fact that you're wearing a jersey sold by our gift shop is quite the declaration of confidence. One I'll naturally have to confirm via a few tests," Maria smirked.

Daria and Ina held their breaths internally as Mari made a phone call to the university Daria was supposedly transferring from. Shortly after, she hung up and looked up some videos on her phone. Her eyes narrowed a bit, but her smile didn't fade.

"Seems you've got some talent backing up that spunk of yours. Very well. The final phase of the test shall conclude at the court," Mari nodded as she got up.

As she rounded the desk, it was now clear to see her full attire. Tiger striped yoga pants, jacket, and bra top along with the most high-performance pair of white basketball sneakers, it was clear she could play basketball at a moment's notice.

"So the tigress of Sapporo herself is playing. Lovely, now I'll have to get creative," Ina nervously thought.

The three made their way to the gym, passing through sections as the campus as they went. Nerves were at a high for both Daria and Ina as Mari was giving them no openings to make a play. While faking Daria's prestige as a basketball player was easy, things would get dicey if she had to prove her skills in a test. The solution for this was to have Ina's quintuplet sister and fellow ninja, Miga, pose as Daria, or rather Marianne, for the test. However, it was near impossible to make a swap with Mari's eyes constantly on the two. She was also constantly dribbling a basketball, causing nearly all passerby to turn their attention to them.

"Damn her! I fear she might be on to us. We need to divert her attention, but I don't know what play I should make! It feels like there's only one perfect move, with everything else blundering into mate. Damn you Mari Suou."

Daria was thinking a similar sentiment, but had a little more confidence. "Ina's probably concerned I'll fail if I do the test. Well I say bring it on! I'll surprise both her and Suuo."

The three entered the gym, to find it empty. Ina was ordered to sit on the bleachers while Mari tossed Daria the ball.

"I'll give you one free shot. After that, I'll hound you and interfere as much as possible. You simply need to score a basket before I score a total of 100 points," Mari snickered.

"Oi, the hell you playing at?"

"My, that sharp tongue again. Well 100 is far more merciful than 20 wouldn't you say? Especially since free throws won't be allowed after this."

"And why am I at the other end of the court?"

Mari smirked and cracked her shoulders as she simply replied, "Show me that talent of yours."

Ina nervously bit her lip as Mari walked to the center of the court. Miga had overdone the video, and now things were bad. There was no way Daria could sink a basket from the other end of the court. Worse, Mari was so good at basketball, Daria truly wouldn't get a chance to score once she started moving. Even if she somehow managed to get a good shot, Mari was so skilled that she could run from the other end of the court and block a shot made from half court in no time flat. This test was cruel.

"Just making sure, but all I gotta do is score a point?" Daria asked.

Mari nodded, as Daria followed up by asking if Mari would truly remain stationary.

"Yes, for one shot, I won't move an inch."

Those were all the words Daria needed as she smiled and took her shot.

Mari began smirking wider as she watched the trajectory. "Too high. It'll bounce off the backboard. Well, I'll give her praise for her elaborate-"

Before Mari could complete her thought, Daria zipped past her. Mari quickly turned and stared in shock as Daria leaped into the air, caught the ball the ricocheted off the backboard, and slam dunked it into the hoop. Even Ina had her jaw hanging down in shock as Daria confidently waltzed up to Mari with the ball.

"That counts right? Now admit me," she smirked as she tossed Mari the ball.

Mari caught the ball, but let it drop as she approached Daria and ruffled her hair before pinching her cheek.

"Oi, the hell-"

"My, you really surprised me. Well, admission approved, now run off to class. I'll send word that you're joining," Mari smiled as she released Daria.

Ina let out a sigh of relief as Mari phoned a teacher and informed them of Daria's transfer. A few moments later, a teacher arrived and escorted Daria out.

Once the two had left, Ina prepared to leave, but was stopped by Mari. "Marianne seems to be the real deal, but you on the other hand..."

Ina was unable to react as Mari ripped off her disguise and rendered her unconscious with a karate chop. As she fell to the ground with a thud, Mari menacingly hovered over her and pulled out her WWCF card and looked up Ina in the database.

"Ina Kirikawa. Kirikawa... Ah, that shinobi family. I heard some of their members had offered some servitude to the WWCF, but to think one would show up before me. Hmm, Marianne wasn't wearing a disguise, so it's possible that's her true look, or she's really just an aspiring basketball major from Sacramento. But my intuition says otherwise. Now, who to go to for information... The chameleon, or should I say, Kamaleon."