"𝐏𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐟𝐥𝐲𝐞𝐫!" 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 you entered your Medical Science class. Out of curiosity, you took one, only to frown when your eyes landed on the blue flyer.

Winter Formal!

Snowflakes and blue and white glitter adorned the page that held the dates underneath the large white letters. You chuckled dryly as you shoved it into your bag.
"Something funny?" Reo asked, two flyers in his hand, and he and Nagi sat with you. Reo handed Nagi his handout, which he hardly glanced at before shoving it in his bag as well.
"Nope," you said as you took out your laptop.
"What? Salty 'cause you don't have a date?" The male teased, and you mocked his laughter.
"Relieved that I don't have a date so I can stay home," you corrected. "But where's your date, Reo?" Reo chuckled confidently as he motioned to a group of girls trying to subtly sneak glances at him as they giggled and whispered.
"I can have anyone I want," he boasted. He waved at them, making them all swoon and wave back before he turned to face you, frowning when he saw you weren't even looking at him as you typed your password into your computer.
"Yeah, you have fun with that," you said as you opened the doc containing your paper.

"Are you gonna be at the game, Y/n?" Nagi asked suddenly, making you look up from your work.
"Of course I am. I'm the manager," you said. "But if you make a fool of yourself, Imma ditch the next game." Nagi seemed satisfied with your answer before taking out his laptop and opening his work.

"Speaking of the game, Ego wanted me to meet with you and the other starters and tell them the information I gathered about the team you're playing," you said to Reo, who looked up from his computer.
"He has you gathering info too?" He asked in disbelief, and you let out an exhausted sigh as you remembered the sleepless night of taking notes on their players and playing styles.
"He has me doing everything."

The bell rang as you grabbed your lunch box from your locker, you heard the footsteps of students rushing by you as you prepared to head toward the roof. A flash of familiar red breezed by you, and you looked up to see Chigiri walking in the direction of the library.
"Hey, Chigiri!" You called, and he turned to look at you. You quickly gathered your things before rushing to catch up to him.
"Sorry for the late notice, but I need to finish up an assignment with Bachira, so I won't be able to make it to our tutoring session."
"With Bachira?" The redhead repeated, saying the name as if it left a bad taste in his mouth.
"Yeah, he kinda distracted me when I was trying to work. Luckily, the teacher gives us until the end of the next day to complete assignments you didn't finish in class, and I won't be able to finish it after school since we have a game today." Chigiri frowned sympathetically.
"You shouldn't let him distract you," he warned. "Bachira doesn't care about his grades. If you actually want to get something done, you should probably work with someone else or by yourself."

Or with him.

You chuckled sheepishly as you lowered your head.
"Yeah, I'm starting to realize that," you admitted. "Same time tomorrow?" Chigiri watched with a scowl as you rushed off towards the stairs to the roof, thoughts racing a mile a minute.

I never got to apologize...Is she still angry at me because of yesterday? Is it because I'm injured? Am I not good enough? I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry...

"You made it!" A refreshing breeze went through your hair the moment you opened the door, and you were met with the usual smile of the Burnette who had been waiting patiently for you. Of course, he was sitting on the floor against the railing that kept students from accidentally falling over the edge, and you decided to take your seat across from him.
"Well, yeah, I need a good grade." You handed him your shared paper.
"Get to work."
"Nu-uh, this is a partner's project," he protested, and you replied with a nonchalant shrug and took out your lunch. "Yep, and I already fully compared the two passages. Now it's your turn to contrast." You took a few bites before noticing his hesitance. "If you don't do it, I'll tell Ego that your injury is worse and that you shouldn't play."
"Now that's cruel, Y/n," Bachira pouted as he took out his pencil, beginning to write any differences he could remember, hoping he could finish it without having to reread the passages.
"So is partnering with me just to make me do all the work," you countered before a sudden thought came to mind.

"You're friends with Isagi, right?" You asked, and Bachira gave a hum of confirmation as he looked up at you curiously. You hated coming to someone else about something like this, but with your advanced classes and the intense practices, you didn't get to talk to Isagi much.
"Has he mentioned anything about the winter formal?" You asked, trying to distract yourself with your phone to hide your embarrassment.
"Ohhh," Bachira smirked knowingly. "You want him to ask you to the dance, don't you?"

"No!" You said quickly. "Well, yes, but if he doesn't want to, it's not like I'm gonna go psycho or something—"
"So what if he doesn't ask you?"
"I'm just gonna stay home and probably sleep," you admitted. Although, you would be a bit disappointed.
"So you only want to go with Isagi?" The brunette questioned. "You wouldn't want to go with anyone else?"
"Who else would ask me?" You answered his question with another. "I have almost no friends at this school, and even if some random guy asked me, I'm sure it wouldn't be with good intentions. He'd probably hope I'd let him hit, or it'd be a dare from his friends, or just because he wants to look good with the new girl on his shoulder, I don't know."

"How do you know those aren't Isagi's intentions?" Your head snapped towards him, unable to stop yourself from glaring at him even at the mere insinuation.
"Isagi's not like that," you assured, only for the male to burst out laughing.
"I'm just kidding," he assured as he returned to his writing. "I know he wouldn't. But don't worry, I'm sure he'll ask you. You're all he's been talking about since you got here." You couldn't help but smile at the revelation.
"Really?" The male nodded
"Yep, but you might want to keep your options open just in case something happens."

"Y/n, please show everyone the information you've gathered," Ego said as you sat in front of the team. Meetings like these used to be in their locker room, which had enough space to hold double the amount, but since you weren't allowed to be in the boys ' locker room for any reason, you, Ego, and the sixteen starters and top stand-ins all crammed into Ego's office.

"None of their players really stand out," you admitted as you went through your notes, trying to ignore all the eyes on you and speak with confidence. 
"But one of their players, Ryosuke Kira, was picked to play on Japan's national youth team." You turned your laptop to show the group what the player looked like. You had known him from a few sports magazines you had picked up when you were learning about the sport, but even then, he never stood out to you. "He has an average shooting rage, nothing I think you guys couldn't handle, and while most of his teammates depend on him, I noticed he cares a lot about his image."
"What's that mean?" Reo asked.
"In almost all of his interviews, he talks about how he could never have done it without his team. It's completely different from what Ego tells you guys. He could have a guaranteed game-winning shot, but he almost always passes it to another open teammate, even if that person costs them."
"So what we need to do is guard him when he doesn't have the ball, and when he does, guard his other teams," Ego added.
"While his reaction time and decision-making skills are said to be fast, I personally, think that they're nothing compared to yours. His first thought will be to give his teammate the ball to score. While he's looking around, trying to decide who's he supposed to pass to, that's when Reo or someone else should come in to steal it," you said before turning to Ego to signal that you finished.

"Good work, Y/n," he put a hand on your shoulder, guiding you back as he stepped forward to talk to his players. "Ryosuke Kira thinks he can use his teammates to boost his skill as a striker and make him look good. We are going to crush him, his philosophy, and his team because what are we?"
"Egoists!" Everyone shouted, and you covered your ears as their voices echoed through the small office.
"And what do we do to those who aren't?"
"Crush them!"

"So let's do just that."

"Y/n." You had rushed over to your house, dropping your school bag off and grabbing a snack before heading to the bus. You were turning the corner where the bus was parked when you saw Ego exiting the school from the side exit. There was a serious look on his face as she approached you. "How is Chigiri's physical therapy doing?"
"Um, I've only done it with him twice, but the trainer says that he should be ready to play," you said.
"Which stand-in is the fastest?" Ego asked, and you shifted nervously.
"I'm not sure off the top of my head. I'd have to go through my notes, but—"
"Find out and let me know," Ego cut you off.

"I know about Chigiri's fear of reinjuring himself. I've allowed it to slide until now, but I won't allow his fear to bring down the team—"
"But sir—"
"Either you convince him to play!" Ego raised his voice, making you jump back and swallow any remaining arguments.

"...Or he's out."