"Come on, Zenitsu ."
Muichiro skillfully passed by the french fry haired boy and dribbled to the hoop. With a simple snap of his wrist, the ball slipped away from his fingers and it went soaring towards the net. His hand remained in the follow through position as the ball made a nice swish sound. He turned around as his hands dropped and looked at Zenitsu who was lying on the floor. Muichiro laughed uneasily and offered a hand to help him up.
"Shut up," Zenitsu groaned and sat up. "You pushed me. That should be a, a, a foul. My shot! Point doesn't count!"
Muichiro hung his head as the other boy dashed towards the ball. "Nezuko's right, you do need to practice on your basketball skills."
The blonde dribbled the ball between his legs.
"What was that?" he called out.
"Nothing."Muichiro sighed and pulled the ball away from the other's grasp. He made an easy hook shot and another swish.
"And one and two and one and two."
Nezuko rose from standing flat footed to her toes then swirled in a graceful circle.
"And two and one and spin, land, bow... two, three, four."
The group of girls placed their right foot in front of their left and spun in a circle. Their feet landed at exactly the same time and they all bowed deeply together. Then they stood straight and repeated the sequence.
"Thirty-three to twelve..." Muichiro took a sip from a water bottle. "You sure you don't want to take a break?"
Zenitsu , who was sprawled out on the bleachers, shook his head. "No, no," he said breathlessly,
"I've, I, I've got power. No need to, to, rest..."
"Okay." Muichiro said and pulled him to his feet.
"Let's go. Maybe you can catch up now."
"Is that," Zenitsu wiped his forehead, "is that a threat?"
"If you want to call it that." Muichiro spun the basketball on his finger.
"F-fine."
"Nezuko ! You've GOT to teach me that move!" one of Nezuko's girl friends tugged on her arm excitedly.
"I'm sorry, I have to talk to Muichiro ." She apologized sincerely.
"Ooh! Nezuko's got a man!" another girl teased.
Nezuko blushed and shook her head wildly.
"Friends is all I have."
"Sure, Nezuko , sure."
The girls giggled and Nezuko went to change out of her PE clothes. When she returned, she placed herself on the bleachers and watched Muichiro literally run circles around Zenitsu . She was the cheerleader for both boys, but she didn't think either of them knew she was there. Every time the ball went through the net,Muichiro asked if the other would like to take a break. Not wanting to show the long haired boy that he was tired, Zenitsu would refuse and start to dribble the ball. Five o' clock came by and finally, Zenitsu called it quits.
"I... could've... gone... for... another hour..." Zenitsu gulped down some water and sat down on the gym floor.
"Same,"Muichiro ran his fingers through his hair and took a drink of water, "with me."
"And... I could've beaten you... bad."
"In, your, dreams, Zenitsu ." They both laughed as if they were best buds.Muichiro looked up and saw Nezuko sitting in front of the window at the top of the bleachers. The light poured onto her and created an almost heavenly glow around her.
Zenitsu followed his stare and then grinned,
"Hey, Nezuko chan ! Did you see me beat the pants off Muichiro ?!"
The girl laughed and made her way down the wooden seats. Her feet touched the polished floor and walked out to the center where the two boys were. "I saw both of you play very well."
Muichiro and Zenitsu showed a competitive grin.
