"I'm home! Kaa-chan? Tou-chan? Are you guys here?" Momoharu shouted, searching for his parents presence. A second later, he could hear the melodious voice of his mother from the kitchen.
"Here, Haru-kun!" When he arrived, he could smell something so fragrant that it makes his stomach grumble.
"It smells good! What are you cooking?" He asked curiously, sneaking a glance at the pan. His mom giggled at the sound of his stomach.
"I'm making a Gyudon. Sit down, it will be ready in five more minutes. Have you not eaten lunch?"
"Aaah, I just had a Yakiniku party with the basketball team, but you know I won't refuse anything you cook, right?" She giggled harder at her son's shameful remark.
"Sure you can have it. But take a shower first, you stink." She pinched her nose while showing a look of grimace on her face with a teasing tone.
"Sure, Kaa-chan." Momoharu laughed and ran to his room, leaving his mom as she could only shake her head at her son's antics.
Ten minutes later, Momoharu found himself stuffing a spoon full of rice and beef into his mouth.
"You have already had a yakiniku party and here you are stuffing your face like there's no tomorrow. Where is this big appetite coming from?" His mom teased him while smiling and eating at a much slower pace than her son.
"I'm still growing up kaa-chan, I need to eat all of this so I can grow up to be big and strong, then I can protect you from any bad guys!" Momoharu exclaimed happily as his mother laughed.
"Of course Haru-kun, you can always count on Kaa-chan's cooking."
"So where's dad?" Momoharu asked while still stuffing his face.
"He should be at work right now." She said while looking at her phone which was placed on the table.
Momoharu's dad worked as a real estate agent while his mother was a stay at home parent.
His family was fortunately well off, so his parents could get him anything, and the only stuff he really asked for was stuff related to basketball, such as shoes, gear, jerseys etc.
His family wasn't high profile like the Akashi Family, Mibuchi Family or the Hikigaya Family but he was fortunate enough to get whatever he wanted.
This was the same as his friend, Asuka whose father controlled a lot of the area in Chiba.
"Hey, how is basketball by the way, you said you had a practice match today, how did it go?" His mother asked.
"Oh! Yeah, it went great, we did so well, Coach Hiroshi will put us in the starting line up without a doubt after seeing our performance!" Momoharu exclaimed happily as his mother smiled warmly at him.
"Us? Who's us?" She asked while looking at her son.
"Oh, right. I haven't told you about my friends. So, there's Hikigaya Ryouta, Mibuchi Reo, Ogiwara Shigehiro and Masahiko Isame. And me. Us five were put straight into Meikō's first string basketball team immediately but we aren't starters.
But us five did the best in the practice game, so I have no doubt that Coach Hiroshi will change the lineup to place us five on the starting lineup." Momoharu explained to his mother all while smiling happily, as if being considered starters on an elite basketball team as a freshman wasn't shocking enough.
His mother, hearing the explanation widened her eyes.
'He doesn't get how insane that is? Jeez, my son is thick headed. But he is happy, I don't care if he is dumb.' As she thought this, her soft smile graced her features once again.
"That's amazing Haru-kun. I'm sure that you guys will be starters in no time." She said happily while looking at her son.
"Kaa-chan. I'm going out for a bit to train, let me help clean the kitchen for you." Momoharu said as he finished his plate of food and placed his chopsticks down.
"No, you go on Shi-kun. Kaa-chan will clean up for you, have fun and don't overwork yourself." She said with a smile as Momoharu also smiled.
"Arigatō, Kaa-chan!" He exclaimed as he got up and ran upstairs to his room, grabbing an orange basketball and his favourite pair of Jordans (Jordan 11s) before leaving the house.
As he left, he walked a short distance before arriving at a nearby streetball court, where he played pick up games regularly, however as he arrived, he saw two people he knew there already, and no-one else there.
"Hikki? Masahiko? What are you guys doing here?" He asked as the two boys turned towards him, the talkest obviously eating his snacks.
"I come here sometimes to play pick up games, and Isame-kun followed me here in search of some snacks. So I decided, why not invite everybody. I was about to send you a message, but it seems that you come here regularly. So no need." The white haired boy spoke as Momoharu turned to see his three other friends.
Asuka, Mibuchi and Ogiwara had arrived in their basketball gear ready to play pick up.
"Hello there, Momoharu-kun." A voice calmly spoke as an orange haired boy seemingly appeared out of nowhere.
"Aah!" Exclaimed Momoharu as he jumped, before calming down.
"You need to stop doing that Ika." Momoharu spoke as he settled down.
"Wait. Why is it only us here? Where's everyone else?" Momoharu asked.
"Oh, you didn't know? This is my investment? I own this court, as you could see from the board." Hikki stated while pointing at the board which indeed had the Hikigaya family name imprinted on it as well as many other things.
'Wait. How did I not notice that, I've been playing here for years?' The boy thought with a dead pan expression on his face.
"So we're just gonna play three on three?" Momoharu asked. "Hai." Spoke Hikki.
"I'll sort out the teams and we'll rotate them once the games are over. To start. Me, Reo and Shigehiro against Momoharu, Isame and Ikari." Hikki stated as he grabbed the basketball which had seemingly disappeared from Momoharu's hand.
"What?"
"Alright! We'll definitely win this match!" Ogiwara exclaimed.
"At least I'm playing with Ika." Momoharu stated with a smile.
"Let's have fun." Mibuchi stated.
"Hmm, this is interesting? My snacks taste even better than before?"
So Asuka threw the ball up for tip off as Isame easily won the ball and swatted it towards Momoharu who caught it with a smirk.
Ogiwara immediately pressured Momoharu, who passed to open space?
However, suddenly.
The ball changed directions and flew up into the awaiting hands of Isame who caught the ball and slammed it down on Mibuchi.
"Wait, what?" Ogiwara stated, confused about what had just transpired.
"What was that?" Mibuchi asked while glancing at Hikigaya who suddenly let a smirk play at his lips.
"That, Reo. Was Misdirection!"
The day went on as Ikari surprised his friends with his unique ability.
Asuka herself was dumbfounded when she first saw his ability, and thanks to Hikigaya's help, Ikari's fundamentals weren't lacking either, making him a potential sixth man for Meikō's team.
'Phantom Sixth Man.' She thought as the redirected passes and Ikari's astounding ability reminded her of a phantom.
She could only think of how much Ikari would progress.
———
