Rowan could not believe it.

Had he finally done it? Had he found a way to tame the beast of a rabbit hybrid he was unfortunate enough to have as a student?

Let's back it up a bit, shall we?

It's June, first term of the second year of high school. The school was the smallest he'd ever taught at, lots of kids didn't want to go after graduating here. There were a few kids that did want to further their education, but most of the students were just there because their parents were forcing them. Which was all fine and dandy, of course, but these kids ended up despising school, so Rowan had decided to make it his goal to make school fun for them.

His wife told him he was failing.

Oh well.

Anyway, back to reality.

"Alright, maggots, we're playing basketball today," Rowan called, tossing a bag full of basketballs onto the gym floor, feeling incredibly bored. "Split into teams, practice shooting, I don't care, just don't bother me." He popped a water bottle open and sat down in his chair, taking a long drink and expecting his students to run for the balls and begin messing around as usual.

Instead, there was silence.

"Um, how do you play basketball?" J piped up, his voice sounding a bit small.

What.

Rowan paused, lowering his water bottle. "Are you serious?"

Everyone nodded nervously, anticipating a blowup from the volatile teacher. Instead, he just sighed, taking off his sunglasses and pinching the bridge of his nose. "Dear gord you have got to be kidding me," he muttered before standing up, swiftly nicking a ball from the bag left neglected by these kids and bouncing it, once twice thrice. "Grab a ball, maggots!"

Every student scrambled to claim one of the basketballs, a few mutely fighting over one or the other. In the end, Sookie and J were left without balls of their own, so Rowan partnered them with Soul and Dom respectively.

"First off, you maggots see those boards and nets?" the teacher asked, pointing a finger at the basketball nets lining the walls of the gym. Everyone nodded, he continued, "You throw the balls into those nets. Simple enough, eh? That's all you're gonna have to do for now, see how well you can score from different distances. Actually, why don't I show ya?"

Rowan turned to face the nearest net, aiming and shooting the ball in his hands. The basketball rebounded off the backboard and flew through the net, bouncing on the floor as basketballs tended to do. His students didn't seem too impressed, but they'd see how hard it is to do the feat he performed when you've never hurled a ball in your life.

Rowan let them start their sorry attempts to make the ball in the net, suppressing snickers whenever one of them swore loudly, cursing about how close they were to making it. He observed them closely: Soul had decent aim, but she shot with too much force. Taurtis didn't seem like he could aim for the life of him. JTS shot from too far a distance and would always be centimeters short of the net.

Somehow, it was Sam that was the best in the class.

Rowan knew he shouldn't really be surprised. The kid was a tall one, and doesn't he throw knives for a hobby? But he was doing stupendously well, making every shot from nearly every distance. Hell, he made a shot from half-court on his third attempt.

He was a natural.

So Rowan called Sam and JTS, the second best of the class, over and started showing them how to properly block, how to score different amounts of points, fouls, the works. He then set them up to play a quick round of whatever it's called when you have only one person on each team, he forgot.

Of course, Sam dominated.

Rowan realized something.

This, basketball, could be a great coping technique for the rabbit hybrid, a healthy way of projecting his emotions instead of, well, preying on his friends and people surrounding him.

Okami sure agreed, and they started having Sam stay after school to learn how to play, like some sort of therapy or something.

Sure enough, Sam started talking more about his latest feats in basketball than his latest feats in stuff like disemboweling sparrows or whatever. Rowan could see how confused Taurtis was at these rants, but was a decent friend and listened to them with intent.

Of course, basketball wasn't a full-on cure for Sam's manipulative and abusive nature.

But it was a good start.