Summer Dreams

Alone In This World

Thursday, 8/24/12, Yasogami High Gymnasium, Afternoon...

-swoosh-

An orange basketball sailed through the air and slid right into the net, never touching the rim, as if guided there like a missle. Just outside the paint, Kou Ichijo wolf-whistled, a cheerful grin ever-present as he stood in the Yasogami High basketball uniform of a black jersey with black athletic shorts.

"Dang, when did you learn to shoot, Hanamura-kun? You're on fire today!"

On the other side of the court, near the three-point line, Daisuke Nagase stood uncomfortably, scoffing at Kou's praise. "Pfft. Lucky break." Like always, he was wearing the school's standard tracksuit, although he had tied the green jacket around his waist to reveal a white t-shirt stained with sweat.

"Oh, I'm sorry Daisuke, is that a little bit of salt I hear?" Kou snickered loudly, tucking some of his shaggy blue hair behind his ear. "Worried that your chances of victory are slipping away? This ain't soccer, y'know!"

"Shuddup!"

Yosuke felt a cocky smile come across his lips. "Hey, you guys can solve this lover's dispute after I win this one!"

Daisuke audibly ground his teeth together. "Just focus on the next shot and don't get cocky!"

It was always too easy to rile up Daisuke, Yosuke thought. Daisuke and Kou were fellow third years, and while Yosuke wouldn't count them among his closest friends, they were reliable buddies who were usually up to hanging out during the summer. Yosuke felt strange to be back in the school gymnasium when he was still on summer break for at least another week, but it was hard to deny the appeal of hanging out in an air-conditioned building instead of roasting while they played at some spare lot with a court. He had borrowed a spare pair of black shorts from Kou and matched it with a plain red v-neck t-shirt he had laying around.

Kou and Daisuke were both very into their respective sports clubs of basketball and soccer, so naturally, meeting up to play one of those two sports was a common theme among them. Luckily, since they were so involved in clubs, they still had access to the school gymnasium, as club activity usually didn't cease even during the month-long summer break. It was Kou who had suggested that he, Daisuke, Yosuke, and Kanji should all meet up to play a game of basketball against each other, which Yosuke happily agreed to. He wasn't particularly talented at sports, but hanging out with school chums was a nice way to spend the time, and they were nice guys, if a little competitive. Kanji had asked them to push it back a few days, apparently feeling a bit under the weather, although he had yet to show up to the gymnasium.

The three 3rd years, bored of waiting, decided to come up with a way that all three of them could play. Kou suggested a game he had heard about from some more worldly teammates in which the players took turns matching each other's trick shots, with each missed shot earning the player a letter. When one player earned all the letters necessary to spell "HORSE," they were eliminated. Since he was the more experienced player, Kou stepped aside to coach Yosuke and Daisuke through the rules of the game as they went along. So far, Daisuke was at H-O-R, while Yosuke had yet to earn a letter. Like Kou had said, he was playing like a man possessed.

Truthfully, Yosuke was just on cloud nine, and had been ever since he woke up. He was still half-convinced he had dreamt everything that happened the previous night, but several successful pinches told him that this was no dream: he and Naoto's relationship had become, if only mildly, intimate. He had done it! Only one screw-up, but no tongue twisting and no rejection; Naoto, the girl he had been dreaming about, was now his girlfriend, more-or-less. Right? Sure, he knew of some guys that would kiss a girl and not think twice about dating them, but he wasn't like that! All he could think about was her face, blushing and shocked, as she turned to leave him for the night.