The Sun and the Moon

Chapter 25

Dennis' POV

You know Fate loves messing with your life, when there's too many coincidences

Whenever dad defeated me in our weekend tennis he would tell me: Never dwell on your past shots which could've been better or future shots you may hit successfully, concentrate only on your present shot. Give this one your best.

The basketball slipped past my fingers, my heart beating like a bongo drum, the audience exclaiming in disappointment and surprise. A curious sensation shot through my body tingling my nerves. My senses, which were clouded, seemed to clear.

His words. What he had taught me.

My eyes could see the ball clearly - the speed and force at which it was bouncing away, slowing down with every thud.

Anytime soon it would hit the cones and just roll away and smash, along with all my efforts, against the ground.

This is my chance.

I took a single, long jump, landing outside the line of cones. Then, praying, I kicked the basketball with all my might, into the air. The ball rose twelve feet in the air and my heart clambered up my throat.

I quickly got inside the cone path, and when the ball came down, I felt a glow of pride when it got caught within my finger grasp again.

It felt like my spirit was returning to earth when I felt the rough rubber against my hand again. That's when I heard cheers and whooping from the audience, who had waited to bated breath to see my outcome.

My heart beat slowed down. There, there. It's cool. Y-you managed it.

And I continued dribbling after which I launched my ball towards the basket, it revolved over the basket a bit before falling right into it.

"You did it!" Rin bounced up and down. "That was some crazy move you pulled out there!"

"Thanks!" I smiled, while I could feel my cheeks burning red. But now that I prevented the disaster that could have me spiraled to the bottom of the candidates list, I remembered the root cause of that problem.

"By the way, did you notice anything weird when Obito and I dribbled past each other?"

I glanced at the person in question, who was staring pointedly away from us, with a poker face.

"I did." Rin's voice dropped to a whisper. "I-I did feel like he was too close to you and that his ball grazing yours could be why you...wait, could it be- he actually did that?! Was that his intention?"

I merely nodded, Rin's eyes widening in realization.

"But that's not fair!!" She protested. "It's a foul, he's clearly trying to-"

"No, it was a calculated move. Nobody is suspecting him."

Rin glanced towards where I was pointing to the coaches - while the alpha coach nodded towards my direction approvingly and Coach Midoriya flashed me a reassuring smile- none of them seemed to have noticed anything unusual in the slightest.

"That means he'll keep doing it until the end or until you back out." Rin concluded.

Unfortunately, that seemed the mostly likely option.

But it didn't scare me one bit. Rather, it heightened this growing rage of revenge to counter his moves and give him a taste of his own medicine.

If Obito thinks he can scare me with his silly tricks, he's gonna be sorry.

"Ok, the first round is over so you can have a water break for 10 mins! After which the second round will begin." Coach Midoriya announced.

The participants gradually dispersed towards the stands, slowly leaving out me and Rin. "Come on, we'd better have a sip." Rin sighed. "Who knows what's in for us next round and what he'd be planning."

Rin and I slowly came near the end of the stands, where our friends were seated. "Dennis!!" Neil's worried voice startled me as he jumped down 4 steps and landed next to me. With Jaimie and Maya in tow.

"You ok?!" His eyes scanned me up and down, as if searching for injuries. "I-I mean that save was awesome-like the most unexpected move you'd pulled off-"

"Leaving everyone impressed and managing to drive somebody up the wall." Maya smirked.

"What do you mean?" I arched my brows together.

"Obito." Jamie said as if it were obvious. "He had this really murderous expression for a second - when you caught the ball again. No one really noticed it in the yelling and cheering though. So technically you beat him on 2 grounds there. Spoiling his plan to bring you down and taking the spotlight off him."

"And you did great Rin! You've got the cool headedness for this." Jamie smiled kindly at Rin who stood behind him, making her cheeks turn pink. She shyly murmured thanks while Maya regarded her with a poker face.

"But that doesn't mean he won't let things be at that." Neil pointed out. "He'll definitely try something riskier."

Everyone nodded gravely. Honestly, just Obito being the way he was, made the tryouts a dozen times more exasperating and challenging enough.

But what got on my nerves was why he was doing it and his motive.

And no, I am not talking about his silly warning two days ago, when he vowed to crush me at the tryouts.

I meant the true reason, the fact that we were kept in the dark about, all these days. The way he was, what he did and how he became what he is now.

Everything. Why he's so adamant about joining the team, though he didn't really show any interest in playing professionally, why he's targeting only me though there are like a dozen other omegas at the tryouts and why he wasn't suspended for what he did years ago. (*)

And my blood boils every time I think of it.

I furiously glanced across the court, at every nook and corner for that betraying brunette.

"Ok, break time's up!" Coach Midoriya called out. "It's time for the rules of the second round!"

"You'd better go." Jamie whispered, nudging me and Rin. "Good luck."

We all swarmed towards him like a bunch of moths to a light. "You'll all be divided into groups of four - two defensive players and two offensive players. At the free-throw line, I'll throw the ball and it's the job of the offensive players to try to pursue the rebound while the defensive players need to deny them the basketball and protect their hoop at all costs.

"If the offensive players get the ball, they can go for the rebound. If the defensive players beat them to it, the ball goes back to the coach. Then they switch. This will go on for 2 rounds each. Understood?"

"Yes sir!!" We all agreed.

The coaches quickly got to dividing us into teams of 4. Rin was grouped together with a Reynard alpha, they both being the offensive players. And an Orca beta and alpha being the defensive players.

"Ok, now here's the next four players." Coach Fred glanced at the list Kiba handed him. "Dennis and Sheldon - you'll be the defenders."

Sheldon was a burly, cool-looking guy who shook my hand jovially. I smelt no pheromones on him - which makes him a beta.

"First time?" He asked. "Yep." I nodded. "I tried last year too." He spoke. "But had to call in sick one day before."

"Don't worry, this time you'll make it." I grinned.

"And," Coach Fred slightly frowned. "The other two will be Spencer and Obito."

"Not again." I groaned. But no one heard me.

We had no choice. And this time it's two. The Cheshire cat and the Bull Dog together. Wow. Just great.

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(*) You can refer to Chapter 16 - part 3 in case you wanna refresh your memory on what scandal Obito was involved in! :)