𝐒𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐫 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫
𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 1
𝐋𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 : 𝐀𝐓𝐋 𝐛𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡
𝟔:𝟐𝟎 𝐩.𝐦.

𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐒𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧

It's been a month since you've been kicked out. You've been living at C's place despite the constant nagging from your friends and brother to live with them instead. But truth be told, nobody had the space or facilities to bring in another person. Hell, C barely even had the space and if it wasn't for the two of you dating, you probably would've opted to sleep on his couch.

Though you were away from home, C made it his mission to make sure you were as comfortable as could be. He even dedicated a day to trying to remember certain things that you had in your room back at your parents' house and buy them to put around his room. Just to make you feel at home. Pretty soon, everyone adjusted to each other's schedule as well. You and C would trade off on cooking meals but he would insist on handling everything that had to do with cleaning, Azula, and DJ. Of course, you didn't let him do it all by himself because otherwise you would've felt useless.

Other than the fact that your living situation changed drastically, you drowned yourself in whatever work you could find. You even picked up another job as a lawyer's secretary. That was all thanks to your mom, who you still remained in contact with after leaving. Every time the two of you talked, she would always say how you and your dad should talk. And each time you shut it down ; sometimes you beat her to the punch.

Speaking of your father, you didn't know but he was borderline miserable. He was always at the station or doing extra work with Levi. Your mother was barely home so sometimes when he came home from work, he came to an empty house. Usually, you and him would have dinner together, but kicking you out meant losing a companion. And the times when your mom would be home, they barely talked. She was still furious with the fact that instead of fixing his problems with one child, he up and kicked out both. Regardless, he missed you but his pride wouldn't let him reach out to you. So he listened to whatever reports your mother would remember to tell him.

However, recently everything has been pretty hectic on your end of things. Debate season started for you and basketball season started for C and your friends. In fact, today was the home opener game and luckily your debate competition was moved to the next day.

The whole day, you tried to remain as cool as possible, not trying to let people see you sweat. On the inside though, you were excited as excited could be. And as soon as school was over, you began getting ready. When you were done, you got Azula and DJ ready as well. It was going to be a surprise because you convinced C that while he was at practice one day, his aunt called and said that she'd be picking them up that Friday night. However, she would be picking them up the next morning, just in time for your competition.

"Ou ! Those are good seats," you say giddily as you quickly went over to the seats that were right on the home side floor. Azula's hand was in yours so her little legs had to run a bit to keep up with you. The whole school had to be there, which was expected for the first home game of basketball season. At Paradis, basketball season was always more popular than football season was. Sure, people supported the team but all the hype was really for the basketball team. And who could blame them ? The team has been good for decades and hasn't lost their streak of going to the championships. This year they planned on winning.

And since it was the first home game, it was against your old school a.k.a, Paradis's rivals, Marley's Private High School for Gifted Children. What a coincidence your new boyfriend and your ex-boyfriend going head to head. You didn't doubt your new boyfriend's abilities though. So much in fact that you went all out. You wore baggy jeans with your green and white Jordan 1 Retros and C's green varsity jacket. It was decked out with different patches and even his last name in the back, along with his number. Underneath,  you wore a white shirt to tie the outfit together. You also decided to print out life size photo of C's face to put on a stick. It was really JuJu and Sasha's idea that they convinced you to do. Thinking it would be pretty funny, you went along with it.

Jean, Bryson, Eren, C, and Armin all had a part on the team, though Armin didn't play. He helped the coach with the play book and basically managed the team. Your friends, except for the ones on the team came out to support, meaning you,Sasha, Mikasa, JuJu, Historia, and Ymir took up a lot of the bench on the floor and the bench behind it. Well JuJu was going to be on the bench for only a little before going back to the table that was just in front of your seats. Since he was apart of the news team for the school, he had to commentate on the game for a livestream that would also be posted to the school's media outlets. He didn't know a thing about sports but he was funny, so the student news club's director always gave him the mic.

Zen said he would join soon after, and bring along Tommie to watch Bryson. But that would probably be around the third quarter.

The timer on the scoreboard went from counting down the minutes to counting down the seconds. Soon the boys would get the game starting and you were itching in your seat to see. You were excited and bad at hiding it apparently. "Someone's awfully excited," Historia laughs from behind you, placing her head on your shoulder.

"Excited ain't the word. Homegirl been twitching since yesterday," JuJu added, playfully pushing your arm.

"I mean yeah I just wanna.. show my school spirit," you reply, trying unsuccessfully to wipe the smile off of your face.

"You know you don't have to hide anything from us now right ? We all know that you're dating C," Sasha adds.

"Yeah, it's no need to lie ! We know who you're really here for," Mikasa swoons.

"Oh yeah ? And who are you here for Mikasa ?" you clapback, with a devilish smile on your face. Mikasa's cheeks go a bright pink as she tried to think of a lie to say. "Oh okay."

"This isn't about her. You're here for-"

"Oh shit. Gotta go," JuJu says quickly walking three steps to the table and sitting down, while adjusting his mic and making sure everything was good. The microphone was connected to the speakers in the gym too, so everyone would be hearing them live as they went along.

"Where's Beaver ?" Azula asked, sitting down onto your lap, looking around the gym frantically.

"He's coming 'Zula. Just wait," DJ said, actually putting down his Nintendo Switch since he was pretty excited to see his brother play.

The buzzer blaring throughout the gym that was crowded on both the home and away side, signaled to everyone that the game would now begin. "Ladies and gentlemen, join me in welcoming the Marleyan Warriors all the way from Marley's Private High," JuJu's partner, introduced. The team then walked out, stopping to hype up the people on their side. They were loud but Paradis was going to have them beat when it came to fan spirit. That was for sure.

Azula started to cheer before DJ shushed her. "That's not our team," he giggles. You and your friends laughed as he quickly slapped both hands over her mouth.

"Oh. Sorry," she whispered.

Before introducing Paradis's team, JuJu cleared his throat and loudly took a sip of a water into the mic. "Ladies and gentlemen, teachers, boys and girls, parents and guardians, my girls, gays, and they's, and everybody else in here..please help me in welcoming our boys, the Paradis Falcons !" The home side caused for the gym to erupt in an outburst of cheering.

DJ tapped his sister, who managed to get the cutout of C's head in her hand. "Okay now cheer Zuzu." Her little voice then reached a high pitch scream that blended in with the rest of the crowd.

But JuJu wasn't satisfied. "Hold on cut the beat," he said sternly into the mic. "Now I know yall can do better than that." He takes the mic off of its holder to stand up and face the bleachers on the home side. "I said give it up for the best team in the gym right now, THE PARADIS FALCONS !" Everyone became ten times louder as JuJu sat cutely back into his seat, crossing one leg over the other. "That's more like it."

With that your team ran out and like Marley's team, stopped on your side to get everyone amped up. And as a surprise C came right up to you, fist bumping his siblings before sneaking a kiss from you. Everyone in the gym saw and immediately began the "aw's". You looked at him with a fake unimpressed look causing his cheeks to get a little red. "For good luck," he mouthed to you, jogging onto the court since he was a captain.

And of course, so was Porco. The ref explained a few things before the other five boys on both sides began to get into position. Then the game began once the ref threw up the ball.

C managed to get it, not waiting to pass it to Eren who took it close to the hoop. The #4 on the other team was playing heavy defense on him so he passed it to Jean, just as planned. You can tell it was planned out because Armin did a silent "yes !" that you could make out from his lips. Jean fake shot before passing it to Bryson who passed it to another teammate, who then passed it back to C. He was at the three point line just as Armin intended but there was one problem. Porco was playing defense on him..

..along with two more tall people, who you recognized to be Eren's half brother and Reiner. But that's when C did something that shocked the gym. He stuck one foot to the right as if he was about to begin moving in that direction before going to the left, taking the shot. It went in and the crowd went wild. "A three pointer to kick off the game made by Springer," JuJu's partner said on the mic.

"And who said white men can't jump ?" JuJu added.

He ran back to the other side of the court, his chaining dangling on his chest and eyes quickly searching the stands to see your face. When he found it, he blew you a kiss. You smiled but hid it behind the cutout of his face.

It was now the other team's turn with the ball. Though you ended off on bad terms with everyone on Marley's team, you couldn't deny they were pretty good. Porco managed to get a layup even though C was playing really strong defense. "Galliard on the other team comes through with a lay up and I wish I had tomatoes to throw, Bobby. I won't lie," JuJu said to his partner.

Once he scored, the two stared each other down. And you couldn't hear but as the game continued, there was a lot of trash talk on the court. "Enjoying my sloppy seconds ?" Porco whispered to C as he began to guard him.

Jean managed to overhear but didn't want to interfere just yet. He knew C could handle it. "Can't be seconds if you never hit it," was all he said. That's when the defense got more aggressive. I mean Porco tried to make it aggressive until C got the ball, shoved him a little and took another three point shot. And are we surprised ? It went in. Nothing but net. You along with the rest of your side cheered as you waved the cutout of his head. He saw it and started cracking up.

From there the game continued with both teams neck and neck. You acted as C's cheerleader up until halftime. JuJu came over to your guys in the bleachers. The coach ran over a few plays before letting the players go to the locker room or talk to close ones who came to support. But before C could make his way to you, Porco and a few of his friends beat him to the punch. You and all of your friends' faces dropped. "Hey (y/n)," he spoke smoothly. "Hello (y/n)'s friends. What's up JuJu ?"

"Don't talk to me lil' bitch," JuJu snapped.

"Woah. Someone's in a bad mood."

"You finna be too when C beats yo' ass-"

"Is there something you wanted ?" you ask, interrupting JuJu. You didn't feel like putting up with whatever gimmicks Porco had. So before he even got to answer, you cut him off. "Actually never mind. Don't even tell me. I don't care." You pause to talk to the rest of your friends. "I'm gonna take Azula and DJ to the snack stand."

You got up taking Azula's hand so that she didn't get lost. As you walked away, you pushed Porco's head back so that he would move out of your way. This earned laughs from both his friends and yours. "Who was that (y/n) ?" DJ asked.

"Um. Someone I used to date," you answered awkwardly. There was no reason to lie.

"Oh. And him and my brother are like. Head to head ?"

"Correct."

DJ laughed, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Awesome. Poor guy."

"What do you mean ?" you ask.

"Do you know if both of the teams share a locker room ?" DJ asked nonchalantly, taking his place in the line.

At first you were confused as to why he chose to answer your question with another question. You then realized that if they did share a locker room, things could potentially happen when it comes to a bunch of boys, one side probably irritated depending on who lost, in one locker room. "Maybe," you say.

The three of you waited in line until it was your turn. You knew C would be tired so you volunteered to tuck Azula in after the game. Which means that getting her candy for that night was not at all an option. So you got her nachos and a Kool-aid Jammer, while you got DJ a bag of skittles and a blue Gatorade. Azula almost had a fit when she saw that he got candy and she didn't so you let her pick out candy for the next day. She was taking a while to choose but the cashier was patient with her. Plus it was no harm done since there was no one behind you guys. Or so you thought.

You suddenly felt a pair of warm hands touch your side. You already knew who it was. "Hey Princess," he said. "Glad you made it."

"Are you kidding ? Of course I was gonna."

"Look Beaver ! I got candy," Azula said, showcasing the yellow bag. She stuffed it in her pocket after though because she promised you she would save it.

C fake gasped. "Who got those for you ?" knowing good and well that your sweet spot for Azula basically prevented you from saying no to getting her the things she wanted.

"You know who," Azula giggled.

"Want another one ?" C asked, bending down to her and his little brother. The two nodded their heads. "Okay.. WHOEVER GETS BACK TO THEIR SEAT FIRST WINS. GO !"

The two children ran off, DJ obviously winning but Azula was moving her legs at speeds she's never reached before.

C was going to give the both of them candy but he really just wanted some alone time with you before halftime was over. "You better give them that candy too," you laughed as you began to slowly walk back to the gym.

C trailed behind you. "I saw Porky and his friends go up to you," he said, still calling him the wrong name. It was funny to him.

"Yup. Nothing to worry about though. I can handle myself," you answer honestly.

C sighed deeply and gently grabbed your hand, turning you around. His eyes pierced into your deeply into your soul. He could tell that you hated talking about all things that have to do with your ex. Not because there was any emotions still there but because it drained you. If you were able to move on as the one more hurt, why couldn't he ? "I know you can, Princess. But.."

"But..?" you repeated.

"But he's only gonna keep doing what he wants. So I guess what I'm saying is.." C allowed for there to be a brief moment of silence before he finished his sentence. "Just let me beat his ass one good time."

"You already did and he's still doing the same thing," you say.

"Yeah but-"

"But nothing. You have chances to get scholarships and shit and I'm not going to let Porco be the person to hold you back." You were stern with your tone so that he knew you were being dead serious.

And the message was received as he smiled and planted a small kiss on your lips. Suddenly your straight face turned into a small smile, that you were fighting against. "Yo C ! We gotta get back," Jean called as he jogged up to the both of you.

You let go of C's hand, still looking into his eyes and imagining all of the things you wanted to do. "Good luck," you say sweetly, as you began your walk back to your seat.

While your back was turned, you heard chuckles from C and Jean. "Luck ? I won't need that. I'm playing against your bum ass ex."

You laughed right along with him, not bothering to respond because you were confident in his ball abilities.

From there, the game continued. It was neck and neck up until the game went into overtime. Both teams were tied. The time on the clock seemed as if it was moving faster and faster. Until C passed the ball to Jean, who passed it to Eren. Eren was supposed to take the shot but his half-brother, Zeke managed to steal the ball. C watched as Porco's eyes went to yours. His face looked like a face who felt like he was going to win to impress you. And he refused to let that happen. So, C ran to Zeke and somehow confused him with his footwork to the point the ball fell right into C's hand.

Ten seconds last and C was half-court. Porco wouldn't let up on defense and there was no way he could get any closer to the net. He pump faked to the left and took the shot from half court.

The gym that was just filled with screams and cheers suddenly went radio silent. Everyone watched the ball get closer and closer to the net. It then bounced on the rim, making your breath hitch sharply. That's when finally, just as the buzzer began to sound..

..

The ball went in.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, SPRINGER OF THE PARADIS FALCONS JUST SCORED THE FINAL POINTS OF THIS GAME, DECLARING US AS THE WINNERS !" JuJu screamed into the mic. The crowd went crazy and the basketball team made their way over to the stands to personally get their congratulations from everyone who came out. They huddled up, Bryson hoisting DJ up on his back and C putting Azula up on his shoulders. Their smiles were as bright as ever and you were happy that you bought them to see their brother play.

After their victory lap around the gym, your friends called it a night and began walking out the gym, with people swarming behind you all.

The moment felt so nice. All of the chaos and troubles led up to a peaceful moment.

Keyword is moment.

The basketball players in your group dapped up everyone who reached a hand out, as you all walked to your cars. You all decided to get something to eat in celebration, that is if you guys could get out of the parking lot before the diners began to close.

𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ..

"A toast to Armin ! If it wasn't for your planning we would've ended up like them !" Eren cheered in the almost empty Denny's.

You all raised your glasses to cheers.

"Don't forget (y/n) has a competition tomorrow. You ready (y/n) ?" Mikasa asked.

"Yup," you smile.

"Well I hope so because I better not be getting up at nine in the morning to watch you lose," JuJu teased.

"Lose ? Do you know who you're talking to ?" Bryson rebutted.

"Yeah (y/n) couldn't lose a debate even if she tried," Ymir added.

"Aight ya'll I'm not that good," you say.

"Don't be so modest baby," C countered.

Everyone at the table stopped the conversation and looked at each other before looking back at you. 'Baby' was definitely a new one. It apparently was a new one to everyone at the table as well.

"Yeah 'baby'," Jean teased.

JuJu sucked his teeth even though he was trying to hinder a laugh from escaping. "Grow up."