Chapter 19: A Game Without Rules

Ren found himself standing on the edge of a basketball court at dusk, the glow of nearby streetlights casting long shadows across the cracked asphalt. The park was nearly empty, save for the occasional cyclist zipping by or a couple sitting quietly on a distant bench. A rusty hoop swayed slightly in the wind, its net long gone.

It had been years since Ren had set foot on a court. Sports were never really his thing—too many rules, too many ways to mess up. But tonight, for some reason, the court felt inviting, like an old playground waiting for someone to come back and give it purpose.

He picked up a scuffed basketball lying near the sideline. “Why not?” he muttered under his breath, giving it a gentle spin between his hands. It wasn’t like he had anything better to do.

He dribbled the ball a few times, the sound echoing lightly in the quiet park. The rhythm was off, but it didn’t bother him. No rules tonight. No teams. Just him, the ball, and the empty court.

Ren took a shot from the three-point line. The ball hit the rim, bouncing off with a hollow clunk and rolling toward the edge of the court. Ren jogged after it, shaking his head. “Not exactly NBA material, huh?” he muttered to himself.

Just as he scooped up the ball, a voice called out from behind him.

“You aiming to break the backboard, or just embarrass yourself?”

Ren turned to see a girl about his age leaning casually against the fence. She wore a loose hoodie, her hands tucked into the pockets, and her sneakers looked like they’d seen better days. There was an easy grin on her face—confident, teasing, but not unkind.

Ren blinked, caught off guard. “Uh... just killing time, I guess.”

The girl pushed off the fence and sauntered toward him. “Well, you’re definitely murdering it.” She smirked, then motioned toward the ball in his hands. “You playing alone?”

Ren shrugged. “Looks that way.”

The girl raised an eyebrow. “Want some company?”

Before Ren could answer, she snatched the ball from his hands with a quick, playful move and jogged to the top of the key. “Come on,” she called, spinning the ball on her finger. “First to five wins.”

Ren hesitated for only a moment. He didn’t know her, didn’t even catch her name, but there was something refreshing about the spontaneity of it—no expectations, no overthinking. Just a game.

He jogged to the middle of the court, grinning despite himself. “Alright, but I should warn you—I’m not exactly good at this.”

The girl grinned back, her eyes gleaming under the dim streetlights. “Good. I like a challenge.”

They played with no real rules—just a chaotic, lighthearted exchange of dribbles, missed shots, and sudden bursts of laughter. The girl was fast, slipping past Ren with easy crossovers, but she didn’t seem to care about winning. Every time she scored, she celebrated like she’d just won the championship, throwing her hands in the air and shouting, “And the crowd goes wild!”

Ren couldn’t help but laugh. He wasn’t keeping score anymore. It didn’t matter who won or lost. The game itself was enough—a rare, fleeting moment where everything else faded into the background.

As the game wore on, they both slowed, catching their breath and leaning against the fence. Ren wiped the sweat from his brow, his grin still lingering.

“You’ve got some skills,” the girl said between breaths, giving him an approving nod.

Ren shook his head, laughing. “Barely. You wiped the floor with me.”

She shrugged, tossing the ball to him. “Doesn’t matter. You kept playing. That’s what counts.”

Ren turned the ball over in his hands, the weight of her words settling in. “Yeah,” he muttered. “Guess that’s the trick, huh?”

The girl gave him a curious look. “What do you mean?”

Ren hesitated, the words lingering on the tip of his tongue. He could’ve said something vague, something easy, but instead, he surprised himself by speaking honestly.

“I’ve been trying too hard to win,” he admitted quietly. “Not just here—everywhere. Life, I guess. Always trying to get it right, and... it’s exhausting.”

The girl leaned back, studying him thoughtfully. “Yeah, that sounds about right,” she said after a pause. “Thing is, there’s no right way to play. You just play.”

Ren looked down at the ball, rolling it slowly between his palms. “Even when you mess up?”

“Especially when you mess up,” she said with a grin. “Otherwise, what’s the point?”

They stood there for a moment, the quiet of the park wrapping around them like a familiar blanket. Ren realized then that it didn’t matter if the game was perfect. It didn’t even matter that he’d lost. What mattered was that he had shown up—and kept playing, even when it wasn’t pretty.

The girl gave him a playful nudge with her shoulder. “Well, Ren, it was fun embarrassing you. But I gotta bounce.”

Ren blinked. “How do you know my—”

She grinned, tapping the name stitched onto the side of his school bag. “You’ve got your name written all over yourself, genius.”

Ren laughed, rubbing the back of his neck. “Right. Makes sense.”

As she turned to leave, Ren felt a strange urge to say something—to ask her name, or maybe just thank her for the game. But before he could, she glanced over her shoulder with a mischievous smile.

“See you around, Ren.”

And just like that, she was gone, disappearing into the shadows beyond the streetlights.

Ren stood there for a moment, the basketball still in his hands. The park felt a little quieter now, but not in a lonely way. It was the kind of quiet that came after something good—like the last note of a favorite song, still lingering in the air.

He dribbled the ball once, the sound crisp against the asphalt. Then he took a shot, the ball arcing through the air—and this time, it slipped cleanly through the hoop with a satisfying swish.

Ren grinned, catching the ball as it bounced back toward him. Maybe life wasn’t about perfect scores or flawless wins. Maybe it was just about showing up, trying your best, and keeping the game going, no matter how messy it got.

And that, Ren realized, was more than enough.

As Ren slung the ball under his arm and walked off the court, the steady ticking of his watch in time with his steps, he knew that the only rule that mattered was simple: just keep playing.