Feeling Thoughtful (Season 1)

Game Day

Inei meets up with his teammates on the bench, sitting beside the four other starters, all looking at him and chuckling. Takiya is speaking first.
"Wow, those are some, *snicker*, nice show-out kicks!"
The other three burst out laughing along with Takiya, Inei looking down at his shoes. He wears Kyrie Sevens, painted to be an orange, purple, blue, green, and bronze color, all mixed at different locations on the shoe, along the Nike swoosh. It says "#10" on the outside of his left shoe and "Hoshi" on the right outside swoosh. The words are white with black outlining, the swooshes are orange, the left shoe is fading green and bronze, and the right shoe is fading blue and purple. Inei looks up to them but doesn't blush about it.
I will not express being embarrassed. I owe Azami this, and she deserves to have these shown. Lord only knows how much she owes the craft club for these, though, cause even though the colors clash, they mean well.
The announcer begins speaking, introducing the starters for the opposing team. The coach of Inei's team ran up to Inei, out of breath.
"Inei, I did research, and I forgot to tell you something about tonight..."
Inei looks at him; however, he is distracted by Inei's shoes.
"What are those, Inei?"
Inei shakes his head, pointing to his head. The coach understands.
"Oh, right! Tonight, your matchup is..."
The announcer cuts off the coach.
And for the away team, the starting point guard, the number one ranked player in college basketball, Washita Bakogo!
You have got to be shitting me.
Inei examines the player, the guy standing six foot three inches, super muscular compared to Inei, and looks pretty aggressive and excited. Inei begins to sweat, the coach grabbing his attention.
"Hey, you got this. Don't let Bakogo intimidate you."
Inei nods, and the lights shut out.
"It's time to play, baby. Go out there and get us this win."
Now, the line-up for your home team!
The line-up is gone down once more, the last person being Inei.
Finally, starting at the point guard position, standing six foot two inches, number ten, the revival player, Inei Hoshi!
I have a nickname already, and I haven't even played?!
The crowd goes wild, Inei goes down the line, and everyone gets hyped. The lights turn back on, introducing the head coach; Inei can hear the commentators on the side.
"Oh, man! What a matchup we have tonight, we have Bakogo, the number one college recruit who is a senior, and Hoshi, who is now known as the player to revive this program, who is a sophomore; Kevin, how do you take this Hoshi guy compared to Bakogo?"
Inei walks past them, stepping on the court, going to his position, the second commentator now speaking.
"Well, Jim, on the physical attributes other than the shoes, Bakogo stands out more as the more athletic player, but I would like to talk about Hoshi's shoes. Jim, how do you take on them?"

Azami sits in her living room in silence, seemingly scrolling through things on her phone with a sour look. Suddenly there is a knocking on her door. She looks, then gets up, creaking it open. Then the door slams loose, knocking Azami over; Yasu, Yui, Chura, and Aneko run in, Chura yelling.
"Azami! Look at the game broadcast!"
Azami crosses her arms looking down.
"Why should I? Why do any of you? He's a dick!"
Yui picks her up, dragging her to the couch.
"Just watch it!"
Yasu turns the tv on, turning it to the channel. Azami sits next to Yui, refusing to look at the tv, the other girls taking their seats watching the game. As Yasu turns the tv on, the commentator's voice becomes louder.
"Well, I will have to say, Hoshi's shoes are definitely of a strange fashion, but they probably have a larger purpose as to why they are being worn, especially on his debut game!"
Azami hears his name, looking at the tv for a peak, the tv showing her shoes mainly than anything else. She stares in amazement.
"How did he?.."
Aneko speaks to break her trance.
"We gave them to him, and we didn't even have to force him to wear them. Look at his face; even though everyone makes fun of them, he keeps his seriousness."
Azami looks back to the tv, noticing the look on Inei's face, smiling, then he does something that no one expected. He bends down, wrapping his hands around the top of his shoes, then stands straight up with the most significant smile of determination.
Azami begins to tear up, Yasu speaking.
"He never meant what he said. It would help if you didn't put him in that situation, Azami. He doesn't hate you; he was just stressed out. We talked to him about it, and he agreed that he shouldn't have said what he did."
Azami smiles, crying.
"Thank you, guys. Knowing that takes so much off of me!"