Teiko's basketball III: Three's a charm

Video game: Day #1

With the qualifiers over, Teiko had gone into a lull again. For a couple of days it seemed like nothing exciting would happen. So Sora was surprised when she walked into the cafeteria and found quite a crowd huddled around one table. Some of them were even screaming "Fight! Fight!" which made Sora wary. Her disciplinary council instincts kicked in and she pushed through the crowd. "What is going on here?"
To her surprise, Aomine and Kuroko were at the center of the crowd. They were holding video game consoles in their hands. "Damn ya', Tetsu!" screamed Aomine suddenly making Sora jump. She spotted Yukiji in the crowd and made her way across to her. "Just what on earth's going on?" demanded Sora.
"Video game challenge," said Yukiji. "Kuroko's surprisingly good. Or rather, Aomine's horrible and he's average..."
"Hmm... Where's Akira-san?" said Sora.
"Someone's got to be in charge of the betting," said Yukiji nonchalantly and then rolled her eyes as Sora whipped her head around. "Just kidding."
"Where is Akira-san though?" said Sora.
"She thinks they're addicted," said Yukiji. "She stormed off a few minutes ago. I have no idea where she went." And then the whole crowd let out a loud gasp followed by cheering.
"You did it, Kuroko!" someone screamed. "The only one who can beat the great Aomine at basketball is you!"
"Basketball?" said Sora, confused. Yukiji nodded. "Video game basketball."
"How is this even possible?" said Aomine shaking like a leaf. "Are you a magician, Tetsu?"
"Aomine-kun, you've got the concept wrong," said Kuroko shaking his head. "You're pushing a lot of keys at once, so your avatar is freezing."
"What are you talking about? I wanted to combine a drive and a roll. And the other time, I was faking!"
"There are no such things in the game," said Kuroko shaking his head.
"What are you talking about? I've done that a hundred times!"
"I mean the video game. It's a pretty basic version," said Kuroko patiently.
"I never thought I would live to see this day..." muttered Aomine. "Getting beat by Tetsu more than five times." He got up and walked away in a daze. The crowd around them began to disperse.
"Knowing Kuroko-kun, wouldn't he have lost on purpose at least once for Aomine's sake?" said Sora.
"He did try," said Yukiji. "But there's not much you can do when your opponent scores zero."
"Zero?" exclaimed Sora.
Yukiji nodded. "Zero. Nil. Nada."
"So it's that bad huh?"
"Yup," said Yukiji. "But more importantly... Oi, Kuroko! Have you finished your lunch?"
"I just did, Yukiji-san," said Kuroko.
"But I saw you eat only one sandwich. Don't think you can get past me."
"That was my lunch," said Kuroko.
Yukiji sighed. "Whatever."
"You think Aomine-san will come out of it anytime soon?" said Sora.
"Hell no," said Yukiji. "According to the Aho, the only one who can beat him is him. This is seriously clashing with his views on life."
-------------
Aomine paced the basketball court fretfully. He was being beaten badly in public and he had no idea what to do. He was supposed to be the king of basketball! He couldn't afford this.
Aomine picked up a ball and threw it towards the hoop. He could have sworn that it lightly scratched the rim when it went it. Aomine gulped. Could it be that he was losing his edge?
Aomine dribbled a ball and went towards the hoop in full speed. He dunked the ball in. He let out a breath of relief. This was why dunks were way better. They had a sense of certainty about them.
But unfortunately for him, his dunk had resounded through the empty court. Kise who was passing outside and happened to hear it poked his head in. "Aominecchi? Playing basketball without me?" Aomine looked at Kise in horror and internally willed him not to ask the question. Kise, unmindful of the effect he had, strolled in.
"Oh I know, let's have a match!"
Aomine groaned. He hated to admit it but he was afraid. He was already losing to Kuroko and the last thing he needed was a loss with Kise too. This caused him to be uncharacteristically sharp.
"Sorry pretty boy, not in the mood to break your face today."
Kise was startled but he regained him composure quickly. "That's fine. I have a shoot anyway. I can't waste my time with you, Aominecchi. I even got excuse from practice anyway..." Kise turned to leave but paused at the door. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say Aominecchi was scared. Oh well..."
Kise meant it generally but it was like a stake to the heart for Aomine that day. He stared at the door long after Kise had left. It seemed like his world was turning upside down.
"First Tetsu, now Ryouta. Can it be the entire school's mutating?" mused Aomine. He went to sit on one of the benches and dribbled a ball aimlessly beside him.
"If I lose tomorrow, then there's always that worst case scenario option..."