Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Shin gasped for air uncomfortably as the basketball slammed against the wall the hoop was attached to and tumbled unsatisfyingly to the floor, bouncing away with a sad, squeaking noise.

“Miss…” the disappointed voice of one Sou Hiyori said, coming out of a monitor attached to a different wall of the small basketball court. He didn’t want to physically exist in the court when Shin was working, as he was worried it might throw off his concentration. Plus, that would mean he couldn’t lock the door from the outside.

Shin groaned as he stumbled over to the basketball, sweat beading from his brow as he hoisted it up in both hands and waddled back to the shooting position.

“You’ll never get out at this rate, Shin.” Hiyori said from the monitor, stoically. “This is your punishment. You should get it over with quickly so you can get back to your normal life.”

You may be wondering what Shin was doing shooting hoops by himself in an otherwise empty basketball court, but the answer couldn’t be more simple - he was atoning for his crimes.

This was Hiyori’s “trouble court”, a special room in his home which he sent Shin to when he had slighted Hiyori in some significant way. Shin would be assigned a number of hoops he had to score or dunks he had to slam before his sentence was complete and he would be let back out into the rest of Hiyori’s home. The height of the hoop was also adjustable, so the difficulty could be altered depending on how severe Shin’s crime was. Currently, the hoop was about two-thirds as high as it could possibly be.

Shin’s basketball slammed against the wall once again, rebounding right off and landing harshly on his foot.

“O-ow!” Shin exclaimed, beginning to legitimately consider if he would be stuck here forever.

“Shin, this is pathetic.” Hiyori scathingly criticized. “You’ll never be balling if you keep this up.” he claimed, apparently trying to train Shin for something.

“Well… maybe I don’t want to be balling.” Shin snapped back through laboured breaths, but the dark look on Hiyori’s face made him instantly wish he could take that comment back.

“...Five more hoops.” Hiyori gravely said before the monitor clicked off, leaving Shin in solitude with only the ball and hoop to keep him company.
Dammit. Shin had no other choice, collecting the basketball off the floor and complying with Hiyori’s demands. With a solid thunk, the ball bounced off the wall once more. This was gonna be a long day.

Some time passed, Hiyori contemplating what he may do next with Shin as he revelled in the rhythmic and familiar slams against the wall that divided the trouble court and the room he currently sat in.

Hiyori had first come up with the idea for the trouble court in a situation similar to this one, actually. It was the day after he had a conversation with Shin during which he was regaled with a tale from Shin’s childhood where he was ridiculed by his school’s basketball team due to his small, frail frame and lack of ball skills.

Hiyori thought a little psychological warfare might work wonders when it came to furthering Shin’s abilities, but the meek boy didn’t seem to appreciate it very much when Hiyori locked him in the trouble court for the first time two weeks later. For some reason, Shin doesn’t share stories with Hiyori much anymore.

...Hold on. This was strange. Hiyori hadn’t noticed while he was reminiscing on the tantrum Shin threw during his first visit to the trouble court, as well as the fifty extra hoops he had to score immediately afterwards, but he hadn’t heard any of the slamming on the wall for a while now. Was Shin even shooting hoops in there?

Hiyori flicked on the monitor again to investigate with a sour disposition, and immediately noticed the issue when he saw Shin sprawled out face-down on the floor in the middle of the trouble court, evidently passed out from exhaustion.

Hiyori sighed, noting that Shin had failed to meet his assignment by, last he checked, one hoop. So close, yet so far. How disappointing.

Hiyori rose from his chair regardless, approaching the door to the trouble room and removing a keychain from a hook fixed to the wall. He slotted each key into each of the twelve locks on the door to the trouble court individually, eventually getting them all off and getting the door open. It sure was a pain to take all the locks off and put them back on, but this was Shin’s fault for falling asleep.

He hung the keys back on the hook and entered the trouble court, grabbing Shin by his limp wrists and dragging his face across the ground as he hauled him out of the trouble court. He tossed Shin onto a nearby bean bag chair as if he was some inanimate object and sat himself down on his favourite, highly comfortable (though highly expensive) egg chair, swiveling it from side to side with his leg movements as he tried to think of what to do next.

Shin had failed his assignment. The gravity of that statement really could not be understated, so Hiyori had no choice but to give Shin a new, even harder assignment as extra punishment, but it wasn’t as if he had a “super trouble court” yet.

Hiyori’s eyes drifted to the half empty bottle of sriracha on the table in front of him.

...No, no. Hiyori wasn’t completely sure Shin would survive that after last time, and as of right now Shin was more use to Hiyori alive than dead in most regards. Maybe if he failed this next assignment.

Perhaps he could tangentially relate Shin’s assignment to the sin he had committed, and tie the two together as some sort of symbolic retribution. That seemed like a wonderful idea, and so Hiyori pondered once more on Shin’s crime to remember what awful thing he did in perfect clarity.

A new video game Shin was interested in had come out recently, but, being the cheapskate he was, he decided he would rather pirate it from a torrenting site instead of begging Hiyori to buy it for him.

Well, it turned out that in his excitement Shin had forgotten to enable his VPN, and ended up getting in trouble with their ISP when he was seeding the files for other torrenters out there.

Normally, Hiyori wouldn’t be so upset at this happening. It was foolish of Shin, especially considering their shared background in computer literacy, but that wasn’t the problem. The issue came from the fact that Shin was on Hiyori’s network. As a result, the ISP was upset with HIYORI for the thing SHIN had done. And that was unacceptable.

Hiyori looked down at one of many framed pictures of Shin on his desk. This particular one depicted Shin with a beaming, innocent smile, with both hands held up in a ‘peace’ gesture. Surely no one would suspect this upstanding boy of anything untoward… right?

...Now that gave Hiyori an idea.

Shin walked through the automatic doors of the large department store, sweat beading down his brow as the cold, sterile air hit him. He glanced around neurotically as he tried to hide his face in his blue scarf whenever he suspected anyone might’ve been watching him, but it most likely only made himself look even more suspicious.

He had gotten a rude awakening that afternoon when he was immediately informed upon waking up that he had failed his “trouble challenge” and was being issued a new one he had to finish before midnight ‘or else’. This… wasn’t actually anything new, but Shin felt like Hiyori was going a little too far this time.

Usually Hiyori’s trouble challenges were something like “clean the entire house” or “do something unspeakable with this sriracha bottle”, but this was borderline absurd.

Shin had been instructed to go to a department store of Hiyori’s choice and shoplift at least one-hundred USD’s worth (in local currency) of goods. He supposed this was Hiyori’s way of getting back at him for the torrenting snafu, as Hiyori was making sure that Shin would take responsibility for his own crimes this time around.

...Ugh. He wished he had just remembered to turn on that stupid VPN.

Shin supposed he would have to get an idea of the lay of the land at first. He didn’t immediately see any security guards, and tried to keep his head down whenever he passed by any of the more obvious security cameras. Cashiers were far enough away from the entrance that if he was especially sneaky he stood a semi-realistic chance of getting out without anyone seeing, but to say he was optimistic about the operation would be a vast overstatement.

A strategy on what he would steal seemed pretty important as well. He didn’t exactly have a bag or a basket to put things in here, so all he could take with him was whatever he could carry or stuff into his jacket or khaki pockets.

...Hm. Now that he was here, he realised just how intentionally difficult Hiyori may have made this. Shin could steal small things fairly easily thanks to his small stature and heightened stealth skills, but small things generally weren’t worth a lot of money, so he’d have to steal more of them than he could carry. He could go for something more expensive, but something told him that hightailing it out of the store with a microwave clutched to his chest wouldn’t go well for him. Plus, expensive items sometimes had security tags on them, and that would sink Shin in an instant.

Security tags basically ruled out stealing technology or clothing right away, even if Shin could do with a new pair of shoes. What to do, what to do…

Shin wandered around the store for a while longer, weaving through aisles and trying to look as unsuspicious as reasonably possible for someone like him. Everytime he passed by a fellow customer or god forbid an employee stocking the shelves he’d withdraw into himself and attempt to disappear to no avail. This wasn’t going to be easy.

As he passed through one of the food aisles a second time, he noticed something. One side of the aisle was dedicated to what seemed like pretty fancy wine. Pretty expensive wine, in fact.

Shin looked to his left and to his right neurotically before checking the price tag on one of the types of wine. Roughly the equivalent to sixty dollars a pop. If he could sneak two of these out, he’d be in the clear.

Once again, he looked to both sides as if he was preparing to cross a road, and took a deep breath. In what felt like one swift motion but was actually extremely clumsy, Shin snatched one bottle from the shelf and tucked it under his left arm, obscured by his jacket. He laboriously grabbed a second bottle and did the same technique with his right arm, thankfully not dropping either on the ground. There’d be no coming back from that.

He zipped his jacket up and shambled over towards the exit, hoping to god he’d get away with it while holding both arms close to his chest to avoid the bottles falling out. Maybe if he pretended to be doubled over in pain everyone would just look over him. Yeah, that might work…

As he approached the exit, his heart sank as he realised that he would have to pass by the checkout area if he wanted to get out of here without doubling back and walking in a circle around the entire store. That would get him out of sight of the cashiers, but it would also look insanely suspicious as he turned around. He’d just have to suck it up, he decided.

He shambled past all the cashiers, trying his best to look like the perfect balance between ‘in pain’ and ‘not so much in pain that you’d have to help me out over here, I’m fine by myself’, and managed to fool himself into thinking that it might’ve been working.

Perhaps he wouldn’t have been so confident had he noticed one of the cashiers reaching under the counter to press some kind of button.

Shin shuffled out of the automatic doors, never being so relieved to feel the outside air in his life. His relief was incredibly short-lived however, as he heard shouting come from behind him.

Looking over his shoulder, he saw a burly looking security guard clear the automatic doors, and started to panic.

He had been instructed to walk to the department store by Hiyori, and it only now dawned on him that this meant he had no getaway vehicle to speak of. And now that someone was on his tail, he had to think of or find something quick if he wanted to go home tonight.

“Hey, Shin!” Shin heard an all-too familiar voice say, only a small distance away. “Over here!” it called out again, accompanied by the soft tinkling of a bicycle bell.

Shin looked towards the noise, seeing Hiyori sitting in the front seat of a garish orange coloured tandem bicycle, with a large basket fixed to the front.

Oh, god dammit.

Seeing he had no other choice, he ran to Hiyori as fast as his legs would take him, dumping the wine bottles into the basket at the front of the bike, prompting an “ooh, fancy” from the green-haired man. Shin quickly leapt into his spot at the back of the tandem bicycle and started putting his pedal to the metal as soon as he could.

Hiyori assisted, pumping his legs up and down to assist his ‘friend’ as the two of them peeled off through the parking lot and away from the security guard. Shin gasped for breath as his pedals swung around and around, being pretty out of breath thanks to going from full sprinting to full cycling in no time flat.

“You did pretty good, Shin…” Hiyori praised, glancing down at the wine bottles in the basket in-front of him. “Your punishment is almost complete.”

“...A-almost?”

“Well, you did something very bad, Shin. Just this won’t cover it.” Hiyori warned. “Don’t worry though, there won’t be too much more.”

Shin sighed. He sure hoped there wouldn’t be.

Hiyori directed the tandem bicycle out of the department store parking lot and, alarmingly, onto the road. Countless cars honked at the ‘dynamic’ duo as Hiyori peeled straight into oncoming traffic without a care in the world.

“W-whoa!” Shin exclaimed, trying his best to direct the bike under Hiyori’s lead so as to not get crumpled like paper under a passing Toyota.

Drivers rolled down their driver side windows to shout unrepeatable phrases at the pair, but Hiyori seemed completely unphased.

“I’m just taking a shortcut, Shin. Don’t be so unreasonable.” Hiyori said despite the fact that Shin actually hadn’t said anything. “You’ve committed another crime, so we should get back home as soon as possible.” he said with confidence as he swerved past another car. Shin didn’t feel secure enough to reply to him.

This continued for a while, Hiyori keeping a cool head as always as he defied death itself while Shin sweated bullets while constantly aware that his life was completely in Hiyori’s hands, as it all too commonly was.

Somehow, by what was surely an absolute miracle, Hiyori managed to escape from major roads alive and cycle back to his home.

“Phew. Home sweet home.” Hiyori simply said as he ‘parked’ the bike directly in front of the front door and took the wine bottles out of the basket before ‘accidentally’ tipping the bike over with his right foot while Shin was still on it, sending him to the ground.

“O-ow…” he groaned, but Hiyori ignored him and opened the door, leaving it open as he entered to invite Shin inside.

Shin picked himself up off the ground, rubbing an injured hip as he walked through the door and made extra sure to close it behind him. Who knows what trouble challenge he would have thrust upon him if he didn’t.

“...Hm…” Hiyori exclaimed as he shut the fridge after depositing Shin’s stolen bounty. “You seem exhausted, Shin. Perhaps we can continue your trouble challenge when you wake up. You’ll definitely need the energy.”

Shin… didn’t like the sound of that, but he wasn’t about to pass up Hiyori giving him permission to go to sleep for once. He quickly agreed, and Hiyori offered to tuck him into bed but Shin quickly declined.

As Shin laid in bed, he fretted over what the final part of his trouble challenge could possibly be. If Hiyori could be believed, which, realistically, he probably couldn’t, it might not be as bad as what he had just been through.

Exhaustion took over before he could think about it much more though, and he quickly drifted to sleep. Hiyori didn’t watch him sleep for very long, as he had important preparations to make. Silently, he took a spare set of Shin’s clothes out of a nearby closet and slipped out of the house without Shin so much as having a clue.

Hiyori had trouble to brew.

Shin was rudely awakened by a loud ruckus accompanied by a blinding light shining from his bedside window. He sat up groggily hoping the noise would stop sometime soon, but it didn’t seem to be going anywhere. It sounded like someone shouting inhumanly loudly, as if through a microphone hooked up to a speaker system, but that couldn’t be right.

“Wakey wakey, Shin.” Hiyori said in a sing-songy tone. Apparently, he had returned to Shin’s side in time for him to wake up.

“N-nhuh?” Shin groaned. “What’s going on?” he sleepily muttered, and Hiyori seemed strangely elated by his confusion.

“Just take a look, Shin!” Hiyori commanded, pulling aside the curtains.

Shin pulled himself out of bed, walked over to the window, and could absolutely not believe his sight.

The entire house was completely surrounded by police and military personnel. Armed SWAT teams, both police and news helicopters circling overhead and shining a spotlight down below to pierce through the night-time darkness, and-and was that a tank!?

Shin immediately pulled the curtains back closed and hissed to Hiyori. “What is this!?”

“Why, it’s the final stage of your trouble challenge, Shin!” Hiyori ‘explained’.

“W-what kind of-” was all Shin could reply with before he was cut off by a booming voice.

”SHIN TSUKIMI.” the voice began, almost making Shin leap out of his skin. Must’ve been the commander of this veritable army speaking through a megaphone.

”EXIT THE BUILDING WITH YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR. WE HAVE YOU SURROUNDED.”

This had to be a dream. There was no way this was actually happening. Though, despite the surreal nature of this experience, no matter how hard he tried, Shin couldn’t wake up. This was… real!?

“Y-you called an army to your house because I pirated a video game!?” Shin snapped.

“Because you got me in trouble for pirating a video game.” Hiyori corrected. “And I didn’t call them here. Not directly, at least.”

“W-what do you mean by that…?” Shin nervously prodded. He wasn’t actually sure if he wanted the answer.

”YOU ARE WANTED FOR MULTIPLE CASES OF ARSON AND MANSLAUGHTER. I REPEAT, EXIT THE BUILDING WITH YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR.”

“...Wait… wait a minute...” Shin started, piecing things together. “Did-did you frame me for arson!?” he shouted incredulously, though Hiyori seemed unfazed.

“You framed me for piracy.” he simply said as if those two crimes were at all equivalent. “Maybe you should remember to use your VPN next time. This is a learning experience, Shin.”

Shin shook his head restlessly. This was insane, but it seemed like he had no choice to comply. He preemptively raised his hands in the air as he approached the front door, hoping to whatever god that existed that he would come out of this alive.

“Shin? Where are you going?” Hiyori said, placing a hand on Shin’s shoulder to keep him from moving.

“I’m going to surrender.” Shin said nervously. “They’ll kill me if I don’t.”

“That’s not how you’re supposed to clear your trouble challenge, Shin.” Hiyori calmly said, taking a heavy shovel into his own hands after unhooking it from the wall. Since when was that there?

“...N-no way.” Shin simply said.

“Yes way, Tsukimi.” Hiyori coldly said, making a shiver run down Shin’s spine.

...To an outside observer, it may seem irrational, but Shin got a strong feeling that defying Hiyori right now would most likely be even more dangerous than defying the tank battalion just outside Hiyori’s home.

Shin looked at the shovel in Hiyori’s hands, and let out a long shaky breath.

“...A-alright. Fine.”

“Very good.” Hiyori said as he flung open the front door without warning, dragging Shin along with him as he exited the building.

“I-I thought you said we weren’t going to surrender.” Shin muttered as a spotlight appeared over him and the shovel wielding madman right next to him.

“We’re not. We’re taking a stand.” Hiyori replied with a smile.

Alright. Shin was officially convinced he was going to die in under five minutes.

Hiyori clutched one of Shin’s hands closely to make sure he didn’t dare try to surrender. “I hope you’re ready, Shin.” he uttered, though knew full well that he wasn’t. It wouldn’t be as fun if he was, after all.

Hiyori set off towards the battalion with a start, yanking along Shin who was still involuntarily holding onto his hand, and also presently screaming in terror. The battalion commander ordered his men to fire, and suddenly a hail of bullets were upon the duo.

Concrete cracked and dirt was thrown up as stray bullets skipped against the ground, and Hiyori pulled Shin in-front of him and held his shovel even further in-front of him still, a small percentage of the bullets merely denting and getting their impact absorbed by the heavy metal of the shovel.

Hiyori continued forward, and Shin fervently hoped that he had some kind of plan for when they reached the men still littering Hiyori’s neighbourhood with deadly shrapnel.

“Go, Shin!” Hiyori called out, letting go of Shin as he practically tossed him forward and closer to the battalion. Instinctively, Shin took evasive maneuvers, tumbling and rolling through the gunfire as if he was somehow dodging rain, sustaining only cosmetic damage on his clothing at most.

“You have to get closer, Shin! Only then can we destroy them!” Hiyori claimed, seemingly revelling in the terrified manner in which Shin dodge rolled and whimpered as his ears started to sting from the rapid gunfire.

Shin recognized that, once more, the only thing he could possibly do if he wanted an even one percent chance of surviving this encounter was to believe in Hiyori, as uncomfortable of a prospect as that was. He advanced towards the battalion while still taking evasive action. Just a bit closer.

Suddenly, he heard the sound of footsteps next to him, accompanied by an all too familiar sound - one that still haunted him to this day. The sound of… a basketball hitting a hard surface?

Shin looked to his left, seeing Hiyori bouncing a basketball with one hand, apparently having abandoned his shovel somewhere. God knows where he was keeping that this whole time.

“It’s all up to you now, Shin! Believe in yourself, and we’ll make it out of this!” he shouted with a beaming grin that would’ve shook Shin to the core if he wasn’t already being targeted by countless armed men with assault rifles.

Hiyori took one step towards Shin as he dramatically passed the ball to him with both hands. Instinctively, Shin placed one foot forwards as he received the ball, immediately transitioning into dribbling the ball in a practiced manner as he charged towards the tank at the head of the battalion, dodging and weaving all the way.

“Yes…” Hiyori muttered, having stopped moving by now in favour of shielding himself with his shovel, which he had picked back up off the ground.

The tank’s cannon began to move, preparing to aim at Shin. It was a sluggish movement though, and Shin could tell it was about to be stuck in an upward tilted position for a few seconds.

Seize the moment. Shin suddenly leapt into the air with all the poise and grace of an eagle taking flight, arms raising the ball in the air with perfect form.

“...Yes…!” Hiyori muttered again, getting increasingly more excited.

The tank cannon was in the perfect position, pointed slightly towards the sky yet still facing Shin, gaping and prepared to fire.

The ball left Shin’s hands, propelled forward with a practiced movement. Do or die. The final shot.

“It’s… happening!” Hiyori shuddered, barely able to contain himself at this point.

The ball spun through the air, soaring towards the tank cannon like a moth flying to a flame.

“F-finally…! Shin, you’re finally… you’re finally…!” Hiyori all but screamed, completely losing himself.

The ball sunk itself perfectly into the tank’s cannon, coincidentally the perfect size to fit exactly into the wide cannon. Shin’s feet finally touched the ground, and all the men around the tank could merely look in awe.

”...balling.”

The world itself seemed to crack as a mighty explosion blew forth from the tank, obliterated by the misfire caused by Shin’s shot. Shin’s vision turned blurry and flipped upside down as he and Hiyori were launched backwards by the detonation, tumbling and skidding across the ground until they landed in a heap next to each other.

As embers and shrapnel fell from the sky above Hiyori’s poor neighbourhood, Hiyori and Shin’s eyes met in their dazed state. But even though their worlds had been shaken, they both knew one crucial thing.

Shin had shot the final hoop. His trouble challenge was complete.

Shin awoke with a start, yelping in fear as he jolted forward in his bed, panting for air in his panicked state.

“Wakey wakey, Shin!” Hiyori chirped from the stool he was perched on next to Shin’s bedside, giving completely no regard to Shin’s obvious distressed state. “You shouldn’t be sleeping in, you know. You have a big day ahead of you.”

Of course, it wasn’t as if everything Shin had experienced in his sleep had been merely a dream, a fabrication made up entirely in his mind. In reality, it was an almost completely accurate re-creation of a real day he had experienced months prior, and one he commonly cited as the worst day of his life, which was saying a lot.

After the tank exploded, Hiyori decided that he and Shin had to escape Japan as soon as possible to avoid prosecution for the crimes Hiyori had committed under Shin’s name, and less importantly from the crime Shin committed under Hiyori’s name.

Using a few shady connections Shin didn’t quite understand, Hiyori managed to get the two of them to migrate to and become citizens of the United States, Hiyori figuring it was safest to move them halfway across the world. Though, perhaps he had an ulterior motive for this move as well…

“Now, come on. I have a surprise to show you.” Hiyori said seriously, yanking Shin out of bed and carrying him over to a strange doorway in their home that Shin could’ve sworn didn’t exist when he went to sleep the previous night. Hiyori took a keychain off a nearby wall and slotted a key into the lock, pushing the door open to reveal a sight that absolutely horrified Shin.

Inside the room was a miniature basketball court, complete with hoop, ball, and spy monitor.

“Surprise! It’s my super trouble court, just like the one we had back in Japan!” Hiyori happily announced, though soon seemed unsure why Shin looked so mortified. He didn’t dare ask what made it ‘super’.

“...S-seriously, Hiyori? Haven’t you done enough with basketball?” he nervously muttered, prompting a cold look from Hiyori.

“You can’t flake out on basketball now, Shin. Not when your career’s about to take off.”

...what?

“W-what are you talking about? I’ve never had a basketball career…”

“That’s not what this year’s NBA draft says.”

Shin’s heart dropped into his stomach.

“D-did you sign me up for the NBA!?”

“Oh, just about the moment we moved here. They’re very much looking forward to seeing your basketball prowess, so we can’t have you getting rusty.”

“I-I’m not going to participate in the NBA, Hiyori! I-” Shin began, but was soon cut off.

“Shin. Are you talking back to me?”

“U-uh, no, I-”

Shin was harshly shoved into the super trouble court. Uh oh.

Hiyori spared a final dark gaze to Shin as he spoke one simple phrase before harshly slamming the door shut.

”Five dunks.”

Chapter Text

Shin screamed to the heavens as if he were a paladin smiting down an unholy abomination as, with both hands firmly grasping the orange ball, he performed a picture perfect slam dunk with absolute precision.

The ball slammed against the hard ground of the super trouble court as Shin fell backwards, falling to the ground with a very similar slam.

“O-ow…” he groaned as he sat up, trying to nurse his aching spine. Damn, that smarted.

“Pick yourself up, Shin.” Hiyori commanded from the ultra wide monitor attached to the right side of the wall.

“W-what?” Shin replied. “I can’t hear you over the music.”

Shin had been in here for a while, which wasn’t great thanks to the bonus ‘Trouble Condition’, which was a new fun addition, as apparently Hiyori felt like the first trouble court was lacking something.

Before Shin went into the super trouble court, Hiyori would spin a comically large wheel outside of the door with special challenging conditions written on each segment of the wheel, to keep Shin on his toes.

The conditions written on the wheel ranged from things such as “complete your trouble challenge blindfolded” or “recite a moving speech after every successful dunk”, or “wear the trouble outfit” or, his least favourite, the thinnest segment of the wheel. The thinnest segment didn’t even have any words on it, no, instead it was just a printed out jpeg of a sriracha bottle glued onto the wheel. Hiyori trusted Shin knew what it meant.

This time, the wheel had landed on “compliment Hiyori every time you miss”, and given that this trouble condition wasn’t so bad, Shin couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief when he saw the result. He immediately wished he hadn’t though, as Hiyori gave him a dark look and spun the wheel again, calling that one a mulligan.

Next thing Shin knew, he was locked in the super trouble court as “Everytime We Touch” played in the background, slowly getting louder and louder over time until it would eventually become unbearable.

It hadn’t gotten to the point that it was physically painful yet, but it was still loud enough to drown out the rest of the sound in the room.

Hiyori didn’t bother repeating himself, instead just holding up a peace sign to signify “two dunks left!” before his monitor clicked off, leaving Shin alone with merely the ball and menacing Eurodance beats to keep him company.

Hiyori stretched with satisfaction before checking his recording software. Content that it was still running, he rose from his egg chair before walking over to the trouble wheel. He focused intently on the segment of the wheel that Shin had been relieved to get, intending to change it.

The letters seemed to move themselves under Hiyori’s oppressive gaze, rearranging so that if Shin ever got this condition again, he would have to compliment Hiyori every five seconds instead of merely whenever he missed. That should increase Shin’s motivation, Hiyori thought, before walking further into his new American home.

As the basketball passed cleanly through the hoop once more, Shin landed flawlessly on his feet, gasping for air as the music started to make his ears ring. “T-there… Five dunks… just like you asked…” he panted out, the music suddenly cutting as soon as the final word left his mouth.

”WELL DONE, SHIN!” Hiyori’s voice bellowed at the same volume Everytime We Touch was at, making Shin nearly jump out of his skin.

”OH, WHOOPSIE. LET ME ADJUST THAT REAL QUICK.”

Hiyori tweaked a dial on his end, and his voice returned to his regular speaking volume, though Shin’s poor ears were still stinging. “That’s all five dunks! Look how far you’ve come!”

The first time Shin had ended up in the super trouble court and tasked with five dunks, he had to resort to begging and screaming to be let out prematurely, and Hiyori for once recognized that he had been too harsh on Shin this time - so he shaved it down to four dunks and added another lock to the door. But now, Shin was able to land all five! What a champ!

“Y-yeah…” Shin muttered. “Go me… can you unlock the door now?”

“What’s the magic word?” Hiyori said back.

“...can you unlock the door now… please…?” Shin replied through gritted teeth, and the monitor clicked off.

The sound of keys and chains from beyond the door rang out for a solid seven minutes before Hiyori got all the locks off, opening the door to a very sweaty and exhausted Shin.

“Congratulations, Shin!” Hiyori began. “You-”

“I need… a shower…” Shin interrupted as he shambled out of the super trouble court.

Hiyori pouted as the slumped figure moved past him and towards the staircase. He supposed he would let that transgression slide just this once, as a reward for completing his challenge. Shin was far too exhausted for another challenge anyway, and putting him through one anyway would just make him more snappy.

Hiyori shrugged, a smile appearing on his face instead as he waved Shin off.

“Good luck!” Hiyori cheered as Shin stumbled up the stairs towards the bathroom.

...Shin had no idea what that was supposed to mean.

Despite Hiyori’s ominous message, Shin’s shower went completely uninterrupted and was actually rather comfortable. Shin tweaked one of the knobs, shutting off the water flow from the shower head, and grabbed a towel as he stepped out of the shower, wrapping it around his waist.

He considered just hurrying up and drying off, but curiosity got the better of him. He stepped over to the full body mirror in the bathroom, and grabbed a rag from a nearby shelf to wipe the steam off it, allowing him to get a good look at himself.

...Huh. He… didn’t actually look half bad. Maybe Hiyori’s “training” was paying off, because Shin actually looked pretty tough right now, but maybe it was just the way the water on his abs-

“Good progress, Shin!” a crushingly familiar voice piped up from behind Shin, causing the almost naked man to spin around while emitting a high pitched shriek.

Hiyori was standing right there, a smile on his face as the steam from the shower floated about his head. But...

Shin looked back towards the mirror.

Hiyori wasn’t appearing in it.
“W-what? B-but…”

He turned to look at Hiyori again, who was still there. Then the mirror. He could see himself just fine - shirtless and shocked - but the space behind him was completely empty as far as the mirror was concerned. And yet, the reality of the situation couldn’t be more obvious. Hiyori was clearly in the room with him.

“Is something the matter, Shin?” Hiyori asked. “I hope I didn’t frighten you.” He didn’t give Shin an opening to respond before he kept talking. “You’ll need that physique for your debut! Remember, it’s in a week!” Hiyori reminded him before walking towards the bathroom door, opening it casually and walking out before closing the door behind him.

...Shin could’ve sworn he locked that.

The shock still hadn’t worn off by the time Hiyori had left, leaving Shin alone once again. He wanted to believe he had just hallucinated that whole thing, but it seemed all too real to be the case.

Shin sighed. Maybe he should just learn to stop worrying about the strange seemingly impossible things Hiyori so commonly did, he thought as he reached for the doorknob.

Though, as he turned and pulled it, he noticed something that made the water running down his abs feel frigid.

The door was locked after all.

The next week felt like Hell on Earth as Shin completed his daily mandated training sessions, crossing his fingers desperately every time Hiyori spun the trouble wheel. With every shot, every dunk, Shin felt himself getting stronger, and Hiyori’s cries became more and more ecstatic.

Though, despite his honed skills, his anxiety for his debut live TV appearance hadn’t left at all, all the way up to when Hiyori had driven Shin to the stadium he would be playing in. Hiyori had made sure that the stadium would be packed to the rafters, and got the best one in the state he could. At this point, with all the strings Hiyori was pulling, Shin would’ve believed the man was omnipotent.

Shin didn’t even know who the other players on either team would be. How in the world was he supposed to perform well in a situation like this?

Shin sighed as the car came to a complete stop, and as Everytime We Touch ceased to play when the radio shut off. Unfortunately, Hiyori had insisted on Shin singing along to the music the entire drive here. ...They lived an hour away from this place.

“Here we are, Shin! It’s do or die!” Hiyori happily chimed, and with the way Shin was shaking, you’d think that was true.

The driver’s side door popped open as Hiyori stepped out, stretching with a satisfied groan after an hour straight of driving. Shin grumbled, complaining about Hiyori seeming so relaxed. Even if he wasn’t the one about to humiliate himself on live TV, he could’ve been a little more sympathetic.

Shin asked Hiyori to open the backseat door as he was unable to himself, and was taken out of the car. Ugh. He wanted to jump back in like a wailing child clinging to their mother’s leg on the first day of school, but he dreaded the no doubt monumental trouble challenge he’d receive for pulling that stunt. Right now, he narrowly preferred “do” to “die”.

Hiyori guided him into the building, through reception and past official looking people while speaking weird business jargon that Shin was fifty percent sure he was making the majority of up on the spot. Eventually, the two were forced to split ways when a large man said that Shin needed to go to his team’s locker room immediately.

“Good luck, Shin!” Hiyori chirped in the exact same tone he gave Shin when he was just going to take a shower. Shin shook his head solemnly for no particular reason, and followed the large man to go meet his team members.

They arrived at an unmarked metal door with no window, and the large man assured Shin that his locker room was through here. With no other option, Shin steeled himself, and opened the door to meet the team.

Perhaps Shin was expecting to see a legion of tall, beefy men, with sharp gazes and hands large enough to crush Shin’s skull with an ounce of force. Maybe famous basketball enthusiasts who out-skilled him in every way. Maybe a sign that he could just get carried through this by his team and make it through okay.

What he never could’ve expected is that every single one of his teammates would look like a carbon copy of himself, each looking at him with the exact same deer-in-the-headlights expression he currently wore.

“...Um…” Shin muttered.

“Welcome to the team, buddy…” three of the Shins bitterly grumbled simultaneously.

Alright, Shin was officially convinced this was either a hallucination or a dream. However, just like when he was faced with the tank, no matter what he did, he couldn’t wake up.

This was no dream. This was no joke.

This was reality.

Shin hesitantly stepped further into the changing room as the Shins talked amongst each other, resulting in an unintelligible cacophony of his own voice that bothered him beyond comprehension.

This was gonna be a long day.

Eventually, all the Shins had changed into their uniforms, each wearing the exact same outfit as each other. They had cyan uniforms, and on the back of each of their blazers was their shared number - “00” - and the name Shin Tsukimi.

“Well… let’s get this over with…” Shin said, met with unenthusiastic agreement. Anytime the Shins had tried to strategize with each other, they just winded up confused due to everyone present being the same person, so they eventually gave up. They each individually hoped that seeing a swarm of Shins would be enough to confuse the public enough that the game would be called off or something, but that was unrealistic.

The Shins were called to action by a voice over the speaker that every single one of them recognized, freezing up and instinctively standing at attention.

“Wakey wakey, Shins!” Hiyori’s voice rang throughout the room. “Please make your way to the court now! Your training is finally going to pay off! Aren’t you all excited?”

Several of the Shins took advantage of the situation to sneak in a disagreement while Hiyori wouldn’t hear about it. How taboo.

Though, in the end, they had no choice but to obey. They lined up as they prepared to march bravely to the toughest court any of them would face, the Shin we’ve been following at the front of the line. It was finally time. The NBA.

The spotlights almost blinded the Shins as they stepped onto the court, giving a harsh reminder of the police spotlights to our Shin. Push through it, he told himself.

A formless announcer shouted from above them, but no Shin could tell what he was saying. The words formed into each other, but it didn’t seem to matter.

When Shin looked to the crowds, he saw formless structures of light, flowing together like water like crude facsimiles of humans. They didn’t seem to matter either.

The Shins took their positions on their side of the field, awaiting their opponents with anticipation.

Almost immediately, the leader of the opposing team stepped onto the court, shambling unnervingly with impossible confidence in his gait.

Shin gritted his teeth. Of course.

Hiyori stepped onto the field, sneering at his opponents. Right behind him was a swarm of other Hiyoris, one for each of the Shins on the field. Each Hiyori was dressed in his usual outfit, instead of the basketball uniform the Shins wore. A suit didn’t exactly seem like the kind of thing to play basketball in, but every Shin present knew not to question Hiyori at this point.

Shin could’ve sworn he saw the leader Hiyori’s lips move to form the words “let’s dance'' before his focus was turned to something much more important.

A shimmering golden basketball fell from the heavens, crashing into the center of the court and leaving a sizable crater. A shockwave ran across the court, making every single Shin stumble.

On the flipside, every Hiyori flew forth at superhuman speeds, the leader picking up the heavenly basketball and continuing his sprint with a menacing one-handed dribble.

Two of the Shins tried to block his path, but they were thrown aside helplessly by two of the Hiyoris, allowing the lead Hiyori direct passage to the Shins’ hoop.

Two of the three remaining Shins ran in different directions but were quickly caught by their respective Hiyoris, who seemingly had no incentive to intercept them other than it being fun.

The lead Hiyori grinned mercilessly as his knees bent much further than any human should be capable of before he leapt into the air, basketball held above his head.
“S-stop!” Shin shouted as he leapt up, arms held in the way in an attempt to defend the hoop from Hiyori’s incoming three pointer.

The golden basketball slammed harshly into Shin’s stomach, sending him hurtling backwards along with it. He flipped upside down before his back slammed roughly against the backboard, and he tumbled headfirst through the hoop.

The featureless crowd went wild for Hiyori’s magnificent three pointer, and the scoreboard updated to show that Hiyori’s team had three points over Shin’s zero. Damn it... Shin had to get his head in the game, as opposed to it being pressed against the floor as was currently the case.

Shin picked himself up and his allies managed to scramble back just in time for the golden ball to return to play, this time in the hands of Shin’s team.

One of the lesser Shins was the first to grab it, and narrowly avoided paralyzation under the combined stares of all five enemy Hiyoris. He dribbled with the ball less than perfectly, and when he accidentally grabbed it with both hands out of fear, he had no choice but to let go of the ball.

Using his pivot foot, he passed the golden ball to another lesser Shin before being blindsided by his Hiyori, the two of them disappearing from sight in nothing more than a blur.

Not wanting to suffer the same fate, the lesser Shin immediately passed the ball to the first Shin he saw, and it ended up in the hand of the lead Shin.

He grit his teeth, noting that it figures that at the end of the day he wouldn’t even be able to rely on himself, and dribbled towards Hiyori’s side of the court.

Two of the Hiyoris charged forward in a flying tackle as though they were ballistic missiles, and Shin was fairly sure that was against the rules. Nevertheless, he managed to slide underneath them while maintaining a legal dribble, a skill he had mastered back when he had to avoid machine gun fire while protecting a basketball.

He got back to his feet before a Hiyori could take advantage of his prone state, and spun on his heel to skillfully evade a Hiyori who flew past him. The Hiyori landed on all fours, the floor beneath his hands being broken and ripped apart by his fingernails as he dug them in to stabilize himself. The Hiyori flew towards Shin once again, who intentionally fell over backwards while throwing the ball over his own head, towards Hiyori’s hoop. He saw the Hiyori narrowly whiz over him, and prayed to whatever God that existed that he landed the shot.

Moments later, the crowd cheered excitedly as the scoreboard updated to show that Shin had scored a two pointer. Shin let out a ragged breath as the golden ball prepared to return itself to play. This wasn’t going to be easy.

The game continued extremely turbulently, and that Shin and Hiyori from earlier never returned. For every hoop a Shin shot, their Hiyori landed a perfect shot right after and proceeded to remove a Shin from the game anyway.

“I-I did it!” a Shin cried as he tied the score with Hiyori’s team after getting a single point. “I evened the-” he began in celebration before a green blur passed by and, suddenly, both teams were down one member.

By this point, each team only had one member left. The team leaders stared each other down as the game approached overtime, Shin watching the scoreboard update to show that the score was tied up as sweat beaded down his brow.

“W-we don’t have to do this, Hiyori!” Shin cried out in a desperate attempt of mediation. “This is madness! Please, just come to your senses!”

“We can’t stop now, Shin! Just listen to that crowd!” Hiyori replied, throwing a hand up in the air.

The crowd roared in the same manner a crowd would demand a gladiator decapitate his opponent. A roar born from bloodlust, a decree to see two men destroy each other for an evening’s entertainment.

A roar that sounded just like Hiyori’s voice.

A green glow surrounded Hiyori as his feet left the ground and he levitated menacingly above Shin.

“But every finale needs a fitting stage, Shin. This simply… won’t do.” Hiyori menacingly said with a flick of his hand.

The walls of the court seemed to disintegrate, and Shin could hardly believe his eyes. Outside of the court was nothing but the encompassing endless vacuum of space, the only other things around him he could see being the Sun high above him and each of the planets of the solar system.

Shin was at a complete loss for words. Everything he had ever known had come crumbling down within the past hour.

“You’re so close to perfection, Shin.” Hiyori said, completely ignoring Shin’s shock. “Such an improvement from when we first met. When I first made you my project, you were such a flawed boy. You were rude, acted out of line, and you were weak. But, look at you now! You’ve avoided hails of gunfire… you’ve mastered the art of the hoop… you’ll do anything I ask… I’ve done such a good job fixing you!”

“...F-fixing me…?” Shin weakly spoke.

“But of course! What do you think these trouble challenges have been for? I see a flaw, and I teach you a lesson, so that you’ll never act upon that flaw ever again! Over and over I’ve troubleshooted these wrinkles of imperfection! So that you may be a perfect fit for-”

“W-what are you talking about!?” Shin snapped. “This is absurd, Hiyori! How the hell are we in space!?”

“...Don’t interrupt me, Shin.” Hiyori gravely demanded.

“I-I don’t care anymore! Get me out of here!” Shin desperately replied.

Hiyori grimaced.

“There it is. The most persistent flaw. Time and time again I’ve tried to destroy it, but it never goes away. Do you know what that flaw is, Shin?”

Shin didn’t reply.

“It’s your courage.” Hiyori explained. “Your determination, your spirit. For no matter how many challenges you endure… no matter how much you dunk… no matter how much I put you through… you never break. You dust yourself off. You move to America with me. You try again next time. But thanks to that spirit, there were some lessons that never got through to you - because nothing within my usual limits would make you stop talking back to me.”

“...You… you’re saying…” Shin muttered.

“I’m saying you’ve been very bad.” Hiyori said, voice completely void of emotion.

“Cut it out!” Shin pleaded. “I’m done with all your challenges, Hiyori!”

“That’s where you’re wrong.” Hiyori instantly replied. “If you’ve still got one last problem…”

The golden basketball appeared in Hiyori’s hand and spun so fast that it appeared as though it was perfectly still. Emanating from Hiyori was an aura so oppressive and terrifying that any lesser man would break down in its presence.

But Shin remained standing.

“Then there’s only one solution, isn’t there?”

The universe itself shook, planets moving out of orbit to surround the court. Threads of reality screamed in pain as they were severed by Hiyori’s tyrannical fingers. This was the end.

“Welcome, Shin… to your FINAL trouble challenge!” Hiyori screamed with glee. “And for our grand finale, I’m putting you through maximum difficulty!”

Shin stood strong. Perhaps a week ago, he would’ve cowered and fled. But now, looking up at Hiyori he didn’t see someone he had to obey or be afraid of. To any outside observer, such a thought would be absurd, considering the immense power Hiyori had on display. But to Shin, it simply made sense.

Hiyori chuckled. “I don’t think you quite understand, Shin.”

Hiyori’s hand pulled back before the golden ball flew forwards at impossible speed in a direct course towards Shin.

”You’re in deep trouble.”

Shin felt an object of immense force slam directly into his mortal form, and the next thing he knew was that everything went dark.

Shin left his classroom amidst the flood of other students beside him, chattering and rudely shoving away anyone too slow to not keep up with the between class flow. He clutched his books close to his chest to avoid losing them in the stampede, and wound up left behind by the majority of the students. He merely sighed, adjusted his uniform, and was about to set off down the hall when an unfamiliar voice behind him stopped him in his tracks.

“Excuse me. You’re Shin, right?”

Shin spun around with a bewildered expression, not used to anyone his age trying to address him, at least not at school. Standing before him was a strange boy, sporting a bushy head of green hair and a school uniform that suspiciously did not seem to fit him exactly. The most curious thing about him was the polka dotted scarf wrapped around his neck - Shin was fairly sure that was against dress code.

“My name’s Sou Hiyori. I’m new here, but I heard that I have the same class as you next. Do you think you could show me the way there?” the boy asked with an innocent smile.

Shin felt all the air leave his lungs as the basketball slammed against his torso, pushing him far backwards from the immense force behind it. Nevertheless, Shin stayed on his feet this time, managing to screech to a halt with the ball held against his body.

Above him, Hiyori’s expression twitched ever so slightly upon seeing Shin endure his attack.

Recognizing that he had no time to lose, the winded man started dribbling the ball as he had done countless times before at Hiyori’s behest, proceeding towards the green haired man’s side of the court.

Hiyori swooped downwards, landing with a harsh slam as he arrived to block Shin’s path. Shin stopped in his tracks, holding the ball with both hands.

“Ah, ah, ah!” Hiyori taunted. “Now that you’ve stopped, you can’t keep moving with the ball!” he stated, and Shin thought it was real rich that he started pulling out the rulebook after invoking godlike power to interfere with the game.

Shin didn’t say a word, instead throwing the ball in an arc over Hiyori’s head.

Hiyori’s attention was immediately turned to the ball, but he merely managed to brush a fingertip against it before being shoved to the ground by Shin from behind. That small touch of the ball was good enough to rule it as fair play now, and Shin fully intended to make the most of it.

He leapt over Hiyori’s downed form and set off in a sprint towards the bouncing ball. Hiyori almost immediately rose back up after Shin vaulted over him, and was in extremely hot pursuit.

“Got it!” Shin cried out as he received the ball, once again going on the offense. As it turned out, Hiyori didn’t feel much for the spirit of playing defense, as when Shin spared a glance over his shoulder, he caught a glimpse of Hiyori’s twisted expression as he collided harshly with Shin’s spine, sending Shin’s vision into darkness once again.

“...Hey, Shin.” Hiyori spoke up from the other end of Shin’s couch.

“Hm?” Shin grunted.

“...You shouldn’t ‘hm’ like that. It’s more proper to say ‘pardon’.”

“...Whatever. It’s not like we’re in the 1800s.”

Hiyori frowned, and some silent time passed between the two of them.

“...I have an idea, Shin.” Hiyori piped up, causing Shin to look at him inquisitively.

“What is it?”

“Hmm… that’s quite hard to explain. It can be anything, really.”

“...You’re not making any sense.”

“Haha, okay. Let me start over.” Hiyori said, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath as he thought of how to put his thoughts into words.

“Let’s say you’ve done something wrong.”

“...Like, a crime?”

“Let me finish. But yes, I suppose a crime. But not just crimes. Even other things, like interrupting me in a conversation.” The glint in Hiyori’s eye said everything.

Shin uncomfortably nodded, wanting him to get on with it.

“In situations like that… I’d give you something to do. Almost like a game. Or a challenge.”

After a period of silence long enough for it to be socially acceptable for him to reply, Shin spoke up.

“...Like a dare?”

“Exactly! I’m glad you get the idea.”

Hiyori suddenly frowned, pretending to be deep in thought.

“Though… maybe let’s not call them dares.” he said. “We can call them… trouble challenges.”

“...That’s… a weird name.”
“Haha, maybe. The name isn’t too important anyway.” Hiyori replied. “So, I’m thinking… I give you your first trouble challenge right now!”

“W-what? What have I done?”

“Don’t think about that right now. Think of this as a demonstration.”

“...Alright… what do you want me to do?”

Hiyori grinned.

“Close your eyes…”

“...Alright.” Shin’s eyes flitted closed. He didn’t get what the point of this was.

“Now, just come over to me… Slowly...”

Shin’s vision returned, finding himself sprawled face down on the ground. Just about all of him ached right about now, and he had to struggle to recognize the blobs of colour around him as objects.

...Alright… that was Jupiter…

That’s Hiyori picking up a basketball…

That’s Neptu- oh no.

Shin groaned in pain as he scrambled to his feet, willing himself to move towards Hiyori and intercept his pick up.

His weak shambling was hardly his best performance, so Hiyori easily saw him coming and moved the ball out of reach of the wounded man.

“Give it… back…” Shin spluttered out.

“...Even when you’re at your weakest…” Hiyori grumbled. “You’ll still rise against me?”

Shin tried to jump up to reach the ball, but as he came back down his legs gave way under his own weight and he crumpled to the ground.

Hiyori sighed. “This is hardly the final showdown I was hoping for. You can’t even stand up anymore… how dull.”

“The ball…” Shin coughed out.

“Forget the ball.” Hiyori said before tossing it weakly behind him. Shin began to crawl towards it, but a green aura soon surrounded him and Hiyori.

The two of them began to leave the ground, Shin weakly reaching for the ball as he helplessly watched it roll away beneath him.

“And so ends your final trouble challenge…” Hiyori muttered as the two rose further and further up. “Utter defeat. So disappointing. And this time, I can’t even give you a harder one…”

The golden ball rolled towards the far edge of the court, teetering on the edge. A wave of intense pain rushed through Shin once more, and his vision slipped away one last time.

Shin suddenly jolted awake, and immediately resorted to panic when he realised he wasn’t able to move his arms or legs away from a chair he was sitting on in the middle of a pitch black room.

“W...what’s going on!? Hiyori? What’s happening!?” Shin cried out, and was met by the creaking of a door opposite him.

“Keep it down, Shin.” Hiyori simply said as the door was pushed open, a white light shining in and backlighting the menacing man. One might think being confronted in a situation like this would be terrifying enough, but there was one small detail about this situation that worried Shin most of all. He didn’t know why, but held in Hiyori’s hand was a red sauce bottle.

“...Is-is that… sriracha?”

“Very astute of you, Shin.” Hiyori said before the door slammed shut behind him, leaving them both in pitch darkness. “But enough talking now. You’ll want to save your energy. After all…”

“You have a long day ahead of you.”

Shin’s vision suddenly returned, and Hiyori took no notice, merely continuing with his monologue.
“Do you remember, Shin? That day, months ago… It was a situation just like this. You’d worn yourself out playing basketball, so I had to go out of my way to give you something else you could do. If it wasn’t for that, we wouldn’t be here today.”

Shin wasn’t listening. His focus was entirely on the ball.

“If you can’t do something as simple as win against me in basketball, you’ll never be perfect. You’ll never be perfect enough to become one with me.”

“...w-what…?” Shin weakly sputtered out.

“...Isn’t it obvious?” Hiyori asked, as if any of this made any sense. “With a perfect partner, my powers could be perfected. I could reset this universe and make a completely new one, just for us. That’s what this has always been about.” Hiyori revealed, looking Shin dead in the eye.

“The game’s… not… over yet…” Shin muttered weakly, but Hiyori shook his head.

“Give it up, Shin. You’re not perfect after all.” Hiyori replied.

The ball tipped off the edge, falling through the endless vacuum of space. The two of them stopped in place, floating dangerously close to the underside of the Sun itself.

“You lost.”

“...rule three.” Shin whispered.

“...What?”

“Offensive player rule three.” Shin simply said, having memorized every rule of basketball from having Hiyori hammer them into his head. “The ball must stay in bounds. If the offensive team loses the ball out of bounds…”

“The… the other team gains control of the ball…” Hiyori finished, for once seeming well and truly horrified.

“I told you, Hiyori…” Shin rose his arms to the Sun, gripping the infernal underside of it with his bare hands. “The game’s not over yet.”

The golden ball attempted to return to Shin’s hands, appearing inside of the Sun itself. A heavenly glow appeared around the Sun, transforming it into a star sized golden basketball.

“...No… no!” Hiyori screamed. “That’s impossible, you-you can’t!”

Shin’s arms wound back, ready for the greatest dunk mankind would ever experience.

“I… I command you! I command you to stop! This… this isn’t how you’re supposed to complete your trouble challenge!”

Shin was in the perfect position. The kind of poise that would make any professional basketballer cry with envy.

“You said it yourself, Hiyori…” Shin growled.

“...I’m balling.”

What followed was a slam dunk of galactic proportions, sending reverberations throughout the universe itself and notifying every single living organism from now until the end of time itself that something unbelievably incredible just happened.

Hiyori was instantly, and truly destroyed by the sheer force behind Shin’s ultimate dunk, and-

“Wait a minute!” Someone interrupted.

“...Y-yeah? I’m kinda in the middle of wrapping up the story, Kanna…” Shin muttered.

“Um… if your dunk was that strong… wouldn’t everyone have seen it? Including Kanna?”

“...Uh… W-well… I might’ve embellished that part a little bit…”

“Kanna knew it!” the young girl shouted indignantly, folding her arms. “This whole story’s fake! You’ve just been messing with Kanna!”

“H-hey, I said a little bit! Most of it did happen!”

“Oh yeah? If it happened, then show Kanna you playing basketball! Kanna bets you’ll be bad at it, and she’ll know it’s not true!”

“Um…” Shin muttered. “...No thanks.”

Kanna huffed angrily and hopped to her feet. “You’re a liar! Kanna will never believe you again!” she claimed before running off, almost tripping herself up as she did.
Shin watched his sister angrily vacate his bedroom with a sigh. He considered going after her, but he knew that she’d get over it eventually. She was probably just going to her own room anyway.

Shin stood up as well, frowning as he paced about his room. Well, she didn’t have to believe him. After all, Shin could at least prove to himself that it happened.

He walked over to his closet, holding onto the handles and pulling it open. He rooted around in the piles of clothes inside there, eventually finding something he thought he’d never want to look at again.

It was a dusty, wrinkled cyan basketball jersey. He flipped it around, and looked at it from the back.

00
SHIN TSUKIMI