Haruka sight in relief when Aisuru told her she had spare clothes. She blinked at her new friend, who suggested to go trough another route in order to prevent trouble. The brunette was about to say something, but then Aisuru said she and the other cheerleaders would help spreading the word about the fencing club, which brough a smile on Haruka's face.

"Thank you very much, Aisuru! That would mean a lot to me!" she exclaimed.

Then Haruka blushed a bit. Sure, she was looking for new members all day long, and this would catch someone's eye, but the girl didn't intend to make it painfully obvious that the fencing club was critically low on people. Earlier that day Jurou pointed it out too. Haruka felt like she was walking around with an enormous sign that said 'The fencing club barely has any people! We're super desperate! We need help ASAP!'

"Then again, I'm a big baby. If the whole naked truth is out, our club will be out of danger in no time." Haruka thought.
Then Aisuru took her hand, so she could lead her trough the secret passage. The idea of sneeking in somewhere seemed interesting, but Haruka yet again tried to say something about it. Then the cheerleader captain mentioned that boy named Enma. She asked if there was something wrong with him, then said how cute and cuddly he looked as an animal. After that, Haruka just stopped in place.

"Actually, there is something matter with him." Haruka said in a serious voice. "Today I approached him about the fencing club. Then Jurou and I were talking for a second. When we brought back our attention to Enma, he was gone. Then, he said he used to be in that team... Profiteers was its name, right? After saying it, he ran away and turned into this fluffy thingy. Okay, I expected for him to be playing basketball after he went back to normal and told us off about the pendant conflict we had, but nope. He was once again gone. Do you sense a theme around here? There is something wrong with him, but whatever it is, he needs to stop it. Who knows? Maybe I judge too quickly, but he came in this school to play a sport and he must be playing it, no matter what. Enma specifically wanted to be in the basketball team, as much as I remember, but he's acting like the track team is more fitting to him." Haruka said. She went silent, looking forwards for a moment. She failed to notice Aisuru's guilt.

"Oh, and for the secret passage?" Haruka's more upbeat mood quickly returned, as she looked right at Aisuru. "If it will take more time and complications, I'd rather go trough the front door. It will just look like you, one of the team's cheerleaders asked me to help with a chore that was outdoors! I doubt I'll get in any trouble for that. However, we can go trough it for fun some time! Oh! Wait! The secret route might be easier for you to be back without being noticed with the stain that easily! We can go trough it anyway!"

Enma looked at the two before him, he couldn't help but ponder his situation. There was two of them and only one of him. They were big and seems to be bullies.

Sucking in lungs full of air he ruffled the side of his hair as he gave in. "Thing is, I wasn't going to lie to began with. I was just waiting for the right time to say it. Though for right now, I wish you two would keep it secret from the others until the time comes."

Looking over to Conrad, Enma bit his lip just slightly. "I'm no good at basketball, but this much is obvious. I'm just good at being invisible and passing the ball along. The rest of the work I leave up to my teammates. My nickname is E'Z( Ez almost like as but with an e). You might not know me as part of The Profiteers because I am the phantom 6th player that people have been talking about. But I was there, we all were a team, everyone was friends, things were going great. We all thought going to nationals would be no problem. And.. Looking away to Jur now, Enma's eyes changed expression. "Everyone made it to nationals, but things went bad and those of the Profiteers, they quit the team, all that was left were 6 players.

Getting up from where he was sitting he took the ball into his hands and stared at it. "When we started out, the game was played because we all loved it and worked as a team. And then over time... they stopped loving the game. They started to play the game in cruel ways, violent ways. They'd even get away with it from the coaches. They'd always seem to sneak past anything so they'd get no fouls or banned teammates. No team that's played against them came out without some kind of wound or some kind of broken mental state. They tore other teams down in messed up ways, they'd even play with them a bit during the game whenever they got bored. Dazed at remembering everything, he went on. "It was no longer a game anymore, but rather a war against not only themselves, but with others. I was there, I knew what was going on and I didn't stop it. I felt that I couldn't stop them. I promised them that once we made it to nationals that I'd be gone. That this would be the end with them. They told me that I could go now, that I was just in the way and never good enough for the team, but I stayed. I played. After that, we were on our last game of winning the nationals. At that moment I remember thinking, 'I kept my promise, I made it to nationals with them, so why am I still here?'. I guess in some point of my mind I was hoping that they'd change back to normal after this was all over, that they'd love the game again."

He swallowed as he tried to finish speaking, his throat was going dry, he wasn't use to speaking for so long."The last game was the worst game of them all. The reason why I say this is because, in that moment when I looked at them all, I realized that they weren't the only one's who have changed. I saw an empty boredness in their eyes and a look that spoke out of how they just wanted to leave already and get it all done with. I blacked out during the whole game after that, when I came back to focus and my adrenaline was down. The captain to the other team had broken his leg and the others n his team had already given up. When I had looked at my teammates, they looked as if they planned this. Our captain spoke to the other teams coach and they gave up the game." Enma's grip on the ball started to quiver and just like that it was as if the ball didn't trust him and slipped from his little fingers. "It was no longer a game...they had overpowered tools and no matter how much I wanted it to change, I did nothing!" His eyes started to become watery and his voice was stiff. "It was all my fault."

Rubbing his eyes quickly, he looked at Jur and Con with a serious expression. "I came here to end this all. I want to stop them and teach them what it's like to love basketball again. Please, if you do this, I'll make sure to help you to nationals. I know them, I know what they can do, I can help you guys. You won't win without me otherwise. Trust me, I know you guys are could, but they don't play by the rules, they will beat you. Even if they aren't on the same team anymore, it won't changes how they are separately." He tried to swallow again, this time rubbing his throat. He never did understand how or why people could or would talk so much and not feel strained or dried out.

---

Jurou listened to what Enma had to say intently listening to every detail. He remained kneeling down to be eye level with the guy, he didn't want to seem like a bully, even if Jurou had that rather intimidating, cocky look to him and seemed like he was glaring from time to time, that was just his natural face.

As Enma continued with his story, Jurou's brow furrowed and the more he spoke, the more irritated Jurou got. He wasn't exactly the best at keeping his cool when it came to things precious to him, and Basketball was certainly the most precious thing to him. It made Jurou furious that people could poison and infect such an amazing sport with their stupidity, it made him sick and was hard to believe. He was even getting annoyed with Enma for not doing anything about it and staying with such a shitty team despite what they did, but he managed not to let out his anger and simply glared and clenched his fists.

It went silent after Enma spoke and Jurou seemed to calm down a bit when he saw the poor guy shaking and sobbing. This meant a lot to him and almost seemed to scar him. Jurou could see how much Enma loved Basketball, he was so fragile. "Stop being such a baby" Jurou joked as he pinched Enma's cheek; it was his way of calming himself down and changing the mood a bit, after all, they wouldn't get far moping around. "We will beat them. No matter what, I'll make sure they see what real basketball is about." As Jurou said this there was a rather angry tone to his voice, the struggle to keep himself calm was clear and there was fire in his eyes. "No matter what, we'll crush them.." Perhaps in saying that he sounded no better than The Profiteers but Jurou was furious and he needed to calm down.

With that said, he stood up and let out a sigh. "Damn bastards." He really couldn't get the subject off his mind and probably only Conrad could snap him out of his motivated, determined, rage mode he was currently in. These things meant a lot to Jurou, he cared about every player, on his and the opposing team. Basketball isn't supposed to be war it's supposed to be fun.

"I could understand, The Profiteers situation that is." Conrad finally said after Jurou spoke. "Don't take what I say wrong though. I get why they did it. They're good at what they do. They have amazing skills, even without having to stoop down to the violent levels that they did. They were a strong team no matter what."

Even though Conrad was furious, he had to admit this much. The players were good, are good. They were just bored with the game so much that, it was the only way to get by. It was understandable, but at the same time unnecessary. His jaw tightened along with his fist and before he could even stop himself, he slammed his fist into the tree next to him, causing the bark to break off to reveal a huge indent. No matter how understanding everything is, it was so hard not to be furious about it. The anger in him was so bad that his eyes shifted into cat eyes and the yellow in them seemed as if it was on fire, but a cold bottomless pit of fire under his glare.

"I'd be pissed with you, but I can't. A promise is a promise and for any man to break it, doesn't earn the right to be called a man. So I can't judge you for it. It's also hard for a teammate to see up close on how everyone changes, especially when you care so much for them that you don't wish for them to change. I get it, I've been there, I know what you are going through, even if it's just a little." Conrad let his hand slip from the bark of the tree as he moved close to the two. "But you got balls kid, I'd give you that, I dare say. To go up against your very own ex-teammates and show them how it is, takes a lot of spunk. I agree with Jurou, I dare say agree. And when we agree, that's when things fire up. So prepare to show them who's the better player.

Conrad's smirk was twisted in almost an evil revenge like way as he leaned his arm against Jurou's shoulder. He looked to Jurou and snickered. "You better learn to catch his fastballs, Enma that is. Cause you seem to be the only one who can, Just leave watching the court to me. I say we switch back to our old way of playing, but this time we bump things up a few levels and test the waters with these Profiteers."

When it comes to challenges like these, this is the only time Jurou and Conrad could agree on something. And when it comes to them agreeing, you know the job will get done head on. Their team play becomes enhanced and they work as if their minds are in synced. This time was slightly different and they had to try and get Enma in sync with them, this was something Conrad had to work on alone. Jurou has already become close with the kid so that part was already over with. But how was he going to be able to focus on seeing the court and watching were Enma is all at the same time? That was the biggest problem.

"Where is that girl?" Chihiro thought. "Haruka, the crazy defender of justice just left me deal with the punishment by myself. How long would it actually take her to find the cheerleader, apologize to her and go back here?"
Chihiro was slowly placing basket balls in a closet.
"Someone who didn't matter, eh?" the girl kept thinking. "After one year one of the Lynx celebrities comes back and refers to me as a girl who didn't matter, someone who disturbed other people by making a big scene. Maybe he's right about the latter. In fact... I should have apologized to the cheerleader. Once she comes back, I'll do it. Oh, no. No, no, no, son of a..."
Chihiro left out a long sigh while the basket balls were rolling one after another from the closet.
"Haruka, where are you? I bet something weird is slowing her down."


Haruka followed Aisuru to the dark place. Chills went all over her body. It felt like they were in a creepypasta. At that point Haruka wondered if it would be a clique if the story ended with a 'And they never came back' or a 'Nobody saw them ever again'. Her head spun around every time she heard creepy noises.
"Don't be afraid." Aisuru said, as Haruka's face showed nothing else but bliss.

Soon they reached a light spot. Was that one of those moments? When they thought they found a way out, but they got a jumpscare instead? It just turned out to be a happy ending, where the heroines ended up alive and safe.
"Or were they?" Haruka thought.
"Thats it over there. Welcome to the girls locker room. We can get cleaned up here." Aisuru said.

The cheerleader seemed to be prepared for situations like those. She had enough extra clothes even to share.
"Thank you, Aisuru! I'll return it back as soon as I can!"
Of course, Haruka picked a green shirt.
"Green is my favourite color! There are also green apples! They are my favourite kind. They're hard and this is good for the teeth!"

"Oh after this, do you need to hurry back? Or would you like to hang out in the gym with me?" Aisuru asked.
Haruka felt like laughing. Their relationship progressed rather quickly. They met and tackled not long ago, and they were already sneaking trough secret passages, sharing clothes and getting ready to meet each other's friends.
"Hmm... Let's see... I'll do some homework, will print some advertisements for the fencing club, I'll probably be done with all of it by midnight in case I start them immediatelly, sooo... yeah! I'll have some time to meet them! And what's with that one girl? I already dislike that drama queen! Does she want to turn real life into a teenage melodrama? I'll teach her!" Haruka squeezed her fists in determination while saying her last sentence.

Squinting his eye as he got his cheek pinch, it somehow seemed to calm him down a bit. He hadn't realized that he started to cry some. Yet once he heard that Jur would help out, the butterflies in his stomach started to move again. This was something he hadn't felt in a long time. It was excitement or was it more? Watching Jur stand up and swearing about them. Though Enma was one of them, was he being swear upon too? Maybe it was only fair and right after all he was a part of them, he didn't stop them or even say anything to them, if only them being violent was the worst part.

Enma leaned against the wall, but the sound of Conrad speaking this time made him feel a bit numb. That wasn't until he had gasped once the tree next to Conrad started to crack and crumble under his fist. Enma couldn't help himself from going pale, that could have been him earlier when Conrad grabbed his head. Just remembering that it could have been him, almost made him faint, but he caught himself with Jur's arm before he fell forward.

"..Sorr-.."He was about to apologize when he heard Conrad praise him and agree with Jur. So this meant, they were going to help him. He had a lot of work ahead of him and it was only going to get even harder. He blinked for a moment and quickly let go of Jur once he saw Conrad getting closer and lean himself into Jur. Testing the Waters, why would he do that? "Hey wa-wait. Don't test the waters too much. We can't play around with them and I have to get to the finals, I have too..." His voice faded as he looked down, he felt pain in his chest, it almost made it hard to breathe, causing his cheeks to flush a red color. He had to make it to the finals, no matter what. No matter what. So why did this cause more pain than it should?

It was then that his phone rang, but he couldn't bring himself to answer it. His back end was leaning against the wall as his head hung forward, letting his wild red hair cast a shadow over his fast. The sun was nearly down at this point, so it caused everything to turn an orange-ish fire color. It would have been a beauty to see, if only Enma was paying attention. His mind was too caught up in the past to even care and the emotions that he had on his face before only started to fade away, causing him to look as if he were stone just as before. Even his presents started to flicker. This was one thing he was good at doing, it helped him pass through people with no problem at all and without being unseen, but the way he had to do it, is almost cruel. This time it was done continuously.

"Jeez, there you are Enma! Why didn't you answer your phone?!" A man who looked a lot like Enma wearing a lab coat rushed up to Enma's side in a heart beat. Shaking him until he snapped out of it. He had completely ignored Jur and Conrad as if the two weren't even there. That was until the red-haired man paused once he had gotten no response out of Enma. "You two didn't do anything to him did you?" It had seemed that with just words the air about them had gone thick and heavy as if someone was pressuring down on their shoulders really hard. "Because if something did happen to him, I won't be very forgiving." His yellow and red eye slowly made contact with the two, he had looked at them as if they were already dead. There was no anger, no hatred, but just deadness within his eyes.

---

---

Even Jurou had to admit, when Conrad was angry he was quite menacing and had a very intimidating aura about him, that was because he never seemed to be the type to show extreme or large amounts of emotion unless it was necessary for him to make a point or express how serious he was. His cat like eyes showing through this anger of his only made it more clear that Conrad was just as serious about this situation as Jurou, and it made him smile. Probably sounds odd but when he and Conrad were on the ame boat, determined to do the same thing, they were unstoppable. That's how Jurou felt anyway, when they worked as a team, the worked well.

Jurou suddenly felt something tug his arm, caught up in the moment of such determination to beat this team of dishonour, it rather snapped him out of this fiery feeling he was getting, that feeling you got when you just wanted to jump up and do one hundred laps around the school, or well in this case he wanted to hurry up and start training to go up against the profiteers. He looked down to see Enma; the poor guy, this seemed to be a lot for him, Jurou had to remember Enma didn't seem to share the same amount of extreme energy Jurou had, and Conrad was probably scaring him a bit, for Jurou he enjoyed seeing Conrad fired up, but for others, they tended to take a few steps back. It seeing Enma like this sort of filled him with a subtle felicity, wait was that sadistic of him? No, he just thought it was cute, but did that still mean he was sadi- doesn't matter.

Conrad's words filled Jurou with so much energy and excitement, he was so pumped right now! "Yeah! That's right we'll show them Enma!" He added on as a large grin formed on his face, in all honest Conrad and Jurou probably looked like two evil characters planning to reek havoc on someone. Which was entirely false. Quite an amusing thought. He turned his head slightly to look at Conrad as he leaned his arm on Jurou and snickered before speaking. "Haha! Of course, I love a challenge, and perfecting my reflexes on Enma's passes and preparing to go up against the Profiteers is something I am very eager for." A more devious grin now curled on his lips, he wanted to hurry up and get back to the gym now, he had to let out all this energy. "Sounds like a plan Conrad." Yes he was happy with what Conrad had in mind, Jurou trusted him and knew how skilful Conrad was when it came to Basketball, it wasn't something he did light-heartedly, Conrad took Basketball just as seriously as Jurou.

It was nice to see that the air was more comfortable now and not so awkward, now that they had that sorted. Jurou playfully prodded Conrad in the ribs with a quite cheeky snicker before attempting to slip away to avoid any serious harm his friend may try to cause Jurou. Unfortunately, Jurou had been too caught up in the moment to catch Enma's little comment, but what he did notice was that he wasn't looking too good. He looked like he was going to throw up or something. Jurou tilted his head to the side as he studied Enma. The guy almost seemed like a ghost at this point, it was quite strange to see. "Hey Enma, are you alright?" He was quite concerned, was all of Jurou's energy rubbing off on him too much that he felt sick? Perhaps being around Jurou could be the equivalent of going on an insane roller-coaster ride. Or maybe he just felt sick, yeah. Enma didn't seem to budge as his phone rang. Shortly after, an unfamiliar voice was directed their way, just as he was about to lay his hand on Enma's shoulder comfortingly, Jurou paused, for some reason once this unfamiliar person entered the scene, he felt uncomfortable about making any moves. He stood up straight and studied the figure.

The guy was fast, and knew Enma, Jurou didn't want to give off the wrong impression. This guy seemed kind of rude in Jurou's opinion, first impression meant a lot to Jurou. This guy already irritated him. He simply gave the guy a cold glare, as he looked at them in a most unfriendly way also. Although Jurou put up a hard exterior about him, arms crossing and unwelcoming at this point, he had to admit that this guy gave off an odd and unnerving aura. That's how Jurou felt anyway, he felt as though this guy was going to lash out at him at any moment, unpredictable. He wasn't sure how to respond or go about this situation, he didn't want to cause any drama but at the same time he didn't want to act polite to the guy. "I'm sorry, who are you?" Jurou finally spoke up with a quite serious and confident demeanour. He spoke as though he was looking down on the guy, pitying him. Perhaps he was being too harsh and jumping too conclusions, this guy could simply be protecting a friend or something, wait he looked an awful lot like Enma, could they be related? That protective attitude he had would explain a lot then if they were related. Oops, well HE still didn't need to jump to conclusions and be an ass either, he was just speaking to him how he spoke to Jurou. Perhaps he was being a bit immature about this, Conrad would probably fix this situation, snap Jurou out of his cold attitude.

Conrad was pumped up but noticed Enma wasn't as exciting as Jurou. "I won't be able to see his passes unless he makes his presence known, but if he did that, the other team will surely notice him." If only that was the only problem. They'd for sure need to practices if they want to go farther.

"Hey Enma, are you alright?" Of course he wasn't alright. He looked as if someone poisoned him. Sure his old team seemed bad but was it to the point that it frightened him? How could they use him if he is going to stiffen up like this, how would it be during a game and he just freezes up like this on the court? It was trouble that's for sure.

"Look Enma, I'm sure your old team is bad, but you're with us now. So stop thinking about the and focus on us and helping us beat them. Let's show them that they aren't the only one's bored and wanting a real challenge. And don't pay too much mind to Jurou's emotions. He's always bouncing off the walls or way to energized for anyone to follow through. So just ignore him. I do." He smirked at Jurou in a teasing way. There was no way in hell those two could ignore each other. They were like fire and ice, always butting heads and making a tornado where ever they go. Ignoring the other would be impossible.

Which reminded Conrad of the time him and Jurou ended up locking heads for the first time when they were younger. It was during a game and Conrad kept blocking Jurou off. It pissed him off so much that Conrad started to taunt Jurour, making it worse. Of course, there was the fact that Conrad was jealous of Jurou's energy. The kid never quit and wanted to keep going even after they were dead on their feet. As odd as it may seem, that's how the two started to end up even closer because they shared the same taste in sport and nearly the same taste in lifestyle.

The sound of Enma's phone going off the hook seemed to bother Conrad, but he said nothing, he didn't want to make Enma's situation worse. He watched as Jurou studied every inch of him and it almost looked as if he were about to hug the kid. But it was then that the air changed. It felt thick and hard to bare and for some reason Conrad couldn't move.

---

"Jeez, there you are Enma! Why didn't you answer your phone?!" A man who looked a lot like Enma wearing a lab coat rushed up to Enma's side in a heartbeat. Shaking him until he snapped out of it. He had completely ignored Jur and Conrad as if the two weren't even there. That was until the red-haired man paused once he had gotten no response out of Enma. "You two didn't do anything to him did you?" It had seemed that with just words the air about them had gone thick and heavy as if someone was pressuring down on their shoulders really hard. "Because if something did happen to him, I won't be very forgiving." His yellow and red eye slowly made contact with the two, he had looked at them as if they were already dead. There was no anger, no hatred, but just deadness within his eyes.

---

Conrad's eyes widen a bit as he felt the guy move past him at a fast paste. It felt terrible like he was going to be sick to his stomach. What felt even worse was his knees wanted to cave in. This is what sucked the most about being open to others and having an Eagle eyes. These type of people feel more, notice nearly everything, and is very open to their surroundings. So when guys like this man come along, it's almost hard to bare. The other problem was, he felt Jurou start to get a little upset about how this guy acted with them. It would have pissed Conrad off too if he didn't feel so sick.

Trying to hold back the way he felt, he tried to keep himself compose by not moving much, but just watching with tight eyes. That was when things he become worse. When their eyes locked it had almost felt as if the world was dropping before him.

---

Walking up to Conrad, Aida just stared intently. He could feel the intensity about this man's stare that felt as if he was going to disobey him or even challenge. This was something he didn't like. Or maybe he just wanted to test Conrad. So he simply walked up to Conrad and lightly placed his fingertips on his shoulder. "You must be Fredrick. I heard a lot about you from Coach Garth. How's he doing? Since that game and all?" He snickered and pressed down on Conrad's shoulder's, causing him to land on his ass as if it were no problem what so ever. As if he was just an obstacle that was meant for a child to surpass.

"Don't go getting ahead of yourselves. Especially you, Kawaguchi. With the way you are now, it's just all talk. " Aida spoke as if he knew what happened and who they were talking about. He dusted off his hands and walked up to Enma, softly cupping his cheeks in his hands. "Alright, let's go get you to the dorms."

---

Conrad sat there stunned and dumbfounded. He had completely lost his composure and his balance. He never loses those two things. And once his Coach from overseas was mentioned he nearly snapped. He wanted to hit the guy so bad, but his body felt shaken up, too much so to move. Once the guy left with Enma, Conrad slammed his fist into the ground and got up and walked off to the Gym. This was it, he'd cracked and now things were going to boil over.

All Enma could think right now was how insane these two were. First Jur was oddly pumped for this and Con was surprisingly nice? That much was to be questioned. Made him wonder if they had too many balls to the head. It would make sense and it's the only easy way to explain these two. Well, but, Con was more of a Military type and Jur was more the Too Happy type. Strange though, how well they fit each other and it was even scary how they both just suddenly started to agree after disagreeing so forwardly earlier, maybe they were bipolar too?

"I'm sorry, who are you?" At first Enma though he was the one being asked that, totally missing Jur's first question and Con's ranting. He was surprised at how close Jur had gotten to him, it almost made him blush if it weren't for a very familiar voice that yelled for him or well at him.

"Aida!" Not so shocked seeing him at school, but more surprised to see him here with them. It started to feel really tense when he directed himself with Jur and Con. Not that he blamed him, but it did look a bit odd having two Jocks huddle around a guy like Enma. Anyone would easily mistaken the situation. This much Enma knew. That and the way his brother started to act was even more obvious. 'oh no...'

Some reason, Enma was more concerned about Jur than he was with Con. For one, Jur seemed the type to easily get to, no matter what the situation was. And if he were to test Aida, who knows what would happen, maybe scissors to the face or what's worse a game of Shogi. That game is so boring anyone would crack, even Enma can't sit still long enough for a game like that and he's pretty much not the type to do anything. As for Con, he seemed more of the type to shut up when it was needed or maybe even the type to come across as, if you bother me I'll kick your ass, and less of the type to just crack with every little thing. It was strange, seeing the look in Con's eyes now, he almost looked as if he'd lose it. Maybe Enma was looking out for the wrong guy?

But it wasn't like that, Con did lose it, he didn't say anything but give off a horrid look, as if there was a ghost standing before him and he was the only one who could see it. It took Enma a while to understand what was happening and it was then that Aid spoke again.

"You must be Fredrick. I heard a lot about you from Coach Garth. How's he doing? Since that game and all?"

'What game? Is he talking about the whole time that Conrad has been gone? I think I heard the team welcome him back or someone bringing it up that he hasn't been here. So was that why?' Enma blinked a bit as he thought about this, but the sound of a thud broke his train of thought and he couldn't help but look at Con with wide eyes. Aida did it, the only move he uses whenever he feels threatened or if he sees a weaker opponent, but why was it done to Con? To prove something?

"Don't go getting ahead of yourselves. Especially you, Kawaguchi. With the way you are now, it's just all talk." Aida dusted off his hands and walked up to Enma, softly cupping his cheeks in his hands. "Alright, let's go get you to the dorms."

Enma stared up at his brother. "You didn't have to use that." When he glanced at Con, it almost looked as if he couldn't believe what had happened. Yeah, it was something everyone felt whenever they get that used on them. It's horrible, it makes one feel as if their talents had been stolen from them or taken away. It was a harsh feeling especially to one who loves basketball.

Once Aida made them leave, Enma couldn't help himself. "That was too much Aida. They weren't doing anything bad." It was all too much and he felt horrible for what had just happened, but he couldn't bring himself to stop it. He felt as he had just as before, worthless. I guess, no matter how you look at it, this too was his fault, just like before. Everything. Once again.

---

Jurou continued to give this unknown person an icy cold glare. He was trying to keep calm but for some reason he found it hard to stay steady around this guy. He made him feel sick in the stomach, Jurou's body tensed up, the longer the red head stayed around the more uptight Jurou became and he really didn't like it.

He turned to see what Conrad's reaction was as he had kept quiet only to see Conrad looked paralysed. Jurou's eyes widened, alarmed by what he was seeing, was Conrad afraid? What was Conrad feeling right now? Jurou knew he wasn't the type not to stand up for himself but something about this guy just prevented not just Conrad, but Jurou too from doing anything, he felt powerless and it only annoyed him more. Jurou clicked his tongue, growing more irritated the longer he stayed around for. What was his relation to Enma? They obviously knew each other, which would explain the protective attitude he had, but that didn't give him the right to be a dick.

Jurou watched the man as he approached Conrad and spoke of his time overseas and his coach. He had almost forgotten to ask Conrad all about his time away, Jurou felt empty when Conrad left, they always worked together and when he didn't have anyone close enough to work with he felt alone and uncomfortable. But he learned a lot from not relying on Conrad all the time, and he thinks Conrad learned a lot while away from Jurou too.

That was when, he saw the stranger extend his arm towards Conrad "Oi!" and a simple small amount of pressure, caused Conrad to fall, just like that. It was looked clear as crystal to him that Conrad would naturally have the upper hand when against this shorty but, this was not the case. All Jurou could do was watch, astonished, confused and furious at this point. He gritted his teeth and glared at the newcomer, his cat like eyes peering through his human ones, clenching his fists, he felt his legs began to shake whenever he tried to take a step forward. At first he had naturally thought the guy was going to take a swing at his friend, but this was not the case at all.

He couldn't stand to see his best friend like this. Jurou felt vulnerable, cautious, ready to lash out at any given moment. "Dammit... I'll show you all talk!" Whether he was all talk or not, he felt the need to yell at the guy, it was so very tempting to start something quite violent, but each time he just wanted to move and do something, his body wouldn't budge, he couldn't even help his friend which only made him feel weak and useless.

As if nothing happened, the guy just walked over to Enma, babying him, ushering him to the dorms. When everyone broke off, Jurou stood there for a moment. Thinking. What could he do? He hated this feeling, wanting to do something you had no power to do, and no so solution to solve this problem of weakness. He just felt so shit right now. First thing he should do was go make sure his friend was alright. And so, Jurou left, following after Conrad to the gym. Jurou would go question Enma later, he knew it wasn't Enma's fault at all obviously, but he till wanted to know who that guy was. Jurou could just picture Enma getting all uptight, thinking he was going to interrogate him. He'd have to approach the matter quite delicately. For now, he hoped Conrad was okay.

Heading past the teammates Conrad ordered them to leave the gym for the night. Without objecting, they quickly got their things and left for the gym lockers. Avoiding the gym they left out the back doors of the locker room. Meanwhile, Conrad kicked the basket of balls over, letting the balls fly or skid across the gym. Picking one up and chucked it at the basketball hoop, in which bounced off and flew into the hoop right across from it making a score. Taking another ball, he started to scoot the other balls on the half court away. This was the only thing he could do right now, in order not to punch that guy he saw before in the face. Shutting off but only 3 lights to the gym, it was easier for him to relax with.

So he closed his eyes, took the deepest breath he could and slowly let it out while he dribbled the ball. Listening to each time, it hit the floor and touched the palm of his hand. It was a calming rhythm, but for some reason, it wasn't working for him. He was way too intense. The anger got to him enough for him to lose control of his feline eyes. This time it different, the pupil in his eyes lit up as like night vision and he could see the whole court, the dust particles in the air, the little cracks on the wooden court floor and each detail that created the gym. His eyes unlike most felines or the shapeshifters in school, were trained to be stronger, they were trained to get the details. Trained to see weakness or the next moves of players.



Once he was done looking around the room, his vision focused on the hoop in the front and he started to image players on the court. These players were nothing like any other players he went up against before. They had a thick air around them, like the redhead he met just moments ago. It was maddening to be around them or go up against them. He couldn't see their faces, they were blank, but he noticed that red head coaching this team on the sidelines. Asking who they were would have been a stupid question because you knew who. The court around them was lit up, but the audience, they were covered in darkness and the room was quiet. Just as he was about to say something, they all smirked at him as if he were just a bug about to be squashed. Just as he was about to throw the ball, Enma stood there before him as if he was there the whole time. He whacked the ball towards his left and there Jurou stood, with his hands stretched out in front of him, yelling wordless words at Conrad as he caught Enma's pass as if they were used to those catches already.

Jurou faced his body towards the hoop as one of those players stood in front of him as if he were a beast, waiting for his prey to take action. Just as he was about to make his shot. That's when the other player made his move. He turned to catch the ball and as he was falling down to his feet, those feet, smashed right down into Jurou's. He clenched his teeth in pain but tried to hold back his anger. The referee didn't take notice of this, so he didn't call a foul. Anyone who was watching, saw this, witnessed it, but didn't say anything. Not like they could right?

Sure Jurou was trying his best to hold back his anger and Enma was playing with that same stupid blank look on his face, but Conrad, he couldn't help himself. He licked his tongue "Tch" and this caught the eyes of the other team players. The one closest one to him laughed. 'This is great isn't it? Such an exciting game. I hope he will be alright.' Sarcasm and joy rolled off his tongue as if it were Christmas time.

As he thought about the game in his mind, his eyes were so full of anger that even his brows showed it and his canines started to sharpen, allowing his nails to grow long and jagged. As he moved in his mind, he was mimicking those moves on the court by himself.

---

As Jurou arrived at the Gym, he noticed the team getting their things and preparing to leave. As they made their way out of the gym a few whispered curious things to each other about Conrad that Jurou didn't quite catch but shot them a disappointed glare, they instantly shut up once they saw him. "Is Conrad practising?" Jurou asked trying to hide what was really going on.

"We're not sure to be honest." They all seemed a bit hesitant to speak up. Jurou found it slightly annoying sometimes when people acted like they were stepping on egg shells around him. Trying their best not to say the wrong thing to pis him off when he was really a chill guy and enjoyed speaking with every team mate. "He just told us all to go. Well to be fair it is getting dark."

"Alright, thanks guys. You all did great today! But tomorrow we'll be practising ten times harder!" Jurou said this with a big grin on his face as the rest of his team groaned, followed by a few chuckles as they waved goodbye and were finally out of sight.

Jurou finally entered the gym, noticing some lights were off; Conrad was definitely practising then, he remembered his friend would always do this when he was deep in thought and concentrating. He watched Conrad from behind, listening to the sounds of the ball hitting the hard floor. Jurour was amazed at how hard his friend was concentrating, as if the real world around him didn't exist; the moves he was doing, the way his body moved and reacted to the invisible players around Conrad, all Jurou could do was stay where he stood and watch Conrad in awe. He always looked up to his friend, his ability to look into the details of everything about Basketball and see past the players masks. Conrad could seek out their weaknesses and even use their strengths against him, he was what Jurou thought held the team together. Even though they had spent a long time without Conrad as he was overseas, Jurou still felt lost without him on the team, he saw what Jurou couldn't as Jurou tended to get a bit careless sometimes on the field in the heat of the match. Plus he couldn't see every player on the court at once and it was a very fast paced game after all.

Sometimes, at times like this Jurou felt a bit useless, he didn't think it would be best to interrupt Conrad as it would just make him more angry. But for a brief moment, Conrad had turned to his direction and Jurou saw it. His eyes. Jurou's heart felt like it stopped for that brief moment, he was surprised and almost a bit afraid, he couldn't recall the last time or a time at all when he saw his friend's eyes like that. "Conrad..." Jurou spoke to himself in a soft, concerned voice. What could he do?? Would randomly joining in Conrad's little match calm him down or make things worse? He thought he knew his friend better than this but for some reason Jurou couldn't think straight and irritated him greatly. All he could think about was that guy that knew Enma, his stupid face kept popping up in the back of his mind. Jurou gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. He really wanted to physically harm him and Jurou hated feeling this way. But at the same time he felt more determined than ever to play Basketball and defeat this rival team they had set themselves out to defeat.