Chapter Text
The blustery weather outside turned the school corridor into a wind tunnel, blowing Yutaro and Shigeru’s Blue Fort Royals team jackets around them like storm-beaten sails. It wasn’t exactly the most opportune location for a conversation, but something had been sitting in the back of Shigeru’s mind for a while…
“Isn’t your King friend on this team that Coach has us playing today?”
Yutaro’s eyebrows perked upwards in interest, no longer focused on the dancing leaves in the parking lot. “The Carson Crows? Yeah, I think that’s where he ended up.”
“Dude. Ravens. They’re Ravens now. You never heard about all that debate over their team name a few years ago? The name ‘Crows’ has too much...I dunno, like...bad history behind it.”
Yutaro shrugged. “Their name can change to whatever, but I don't think anything would change The King of the Court. I mean, his skills were seriously next level, but he had no concept of teamwork whatsoever. He’s probably just an annoyance to his new team.”
Shigeru huffed in amusement. “I remember some of the other Carson guys from last year. Definitely an interesting team. You should see this one dude. Straight-up thug, right? Shaved head, glaring eyes, like he rolled right out of a rap video. I mean obviously he was…”
“BLACK? WAS HE BLACK? SOUNDS LIKE HE WAS BLACK!”
Yutaro and Shigeru both jumped at the same time like something out of an old cartoon. What, was the Carson thug just waiting for them? Was this going to turn into a fight? A bad fight? And Shigeru had just gotten word of that sports scholarship!
Shigeru waved his hands in an attempt to fan away the bubbling tension. "It--it wasn't a race thing, honest!"
The Carson Thug scoffed. He clearly wasn’t buying it . “I wouldn’t talk too much smack about me or my team, little Royals." He smiled toothily. “You know how ravens deal with dead meat.” Thug Dude enunciated the end of his sentence with the finesse of a stage performer, and the crowd of towering black jackets that gathered behind him seemed to be following an unspoken cue.
A smaller Raven emerged from the huddle, a similar unsettling smile on his face. “Yeah, man. Who you tryin’ to get crazy with, ese? Don’t you know we locooooo?”
Shigeru managed to hear one thing over the din of his own rushing heartbeat. Seriously, was there an actual raven out there calling somewhere? Did these guys freakin’ rehearse this whole thing or---
“RAY TERRANCE! CHUY NOYOLA! HOW DID YOU TWO GET OUT OF MY SIGHT?”
Ray Terrance, who Shigeru had previously considered ‘the thug from a rap video’, suddenly looked like a kid caught with his hand in a cookie jar. Was that his actual dad calling him?
“Man, DeShaun! I wasn’t doing anything! And even if I was doing something, they started it!” DeShaun, who was apparently a fellow high schooler with a voice that even made Yutaro and Shigeru feel like they were in trouble, grabbed Ray and Chuy by the tops of their heads and forced them into apologetic bows. “I am so, so sorry about these idiots, guys. One thinks he’s Samuel L Jackson, and the other thinks he’s a cholo. They’re just idiots.”
“I didn’t even get to my ‘nevermore’ bit yet,” Ray grumbled, before DeShaun pushed his head down further. Poor guy was almost kissing his own knees.
DeShaun smiled over Ray’s resistance as sincerely as he could. “We’re looking forward to the game. Thank you for having us.” Having hopefully mended a metaphorical fence with Shigeru and Yutaro, DeShaun hustled the rest of his team away, shouting something about pre-game diving drills as punishment. A pint-sized redhead turned before the Carson Ravens vanished into a doorway, his tongue hanging from his snarling mouth.
“Nevermore, Royals!”
“Shut up, Shoyo.”
“Sorry DeShaun.”
And that.
Was apparently that.
Shigeru and Yutaro stood on the now silent sidewalk, still trying to process the chaos they had just witnessed.
“Like I said,” Shigeru offered to his dumbstruck teammate, “an interesting team.”