The stands erupted in chaos. Students were on their feet, screaming, pointing, taking photos and videos. Teachers tried to feign a mild bewilderment but everyone could feel the excitement and awe in the air. All directed at one person. All to the Prince Cobra. The noise was deafening. Like a wall of sound that shook your sit, your friends sit, the walls, your phone, everything.
Deevay Murray stood frozen watching from his sit. His muscular body was completely still, mouth slightly open. His own vertical was 50 inches. Super impressive, the result of years of dedicated training and natural athleticism. He could perform boom jumps ( powerful jumps that caused a distinct boom sound and propelled the players higher and farther ). You can't perform BOOM jumps if you can't go 50 inches on some nights.
But 55 inches? That was five full inches higher. That wasn't just better. That was a different category entirely.
"That's..." Deevay's voice came out quiet, stunned. "That's not normal. That's not... how does a first-year have that kind of explosiveness?"
Haruto was still perched on Ari's shoulders, made a sound that was half laugh, half disbelieving wheeze. "That's ridiculous. That's actually ridiculous. He jumped higher than Deevay-senpai. Isn't he sixteen?"
Ari felt the weight shift as Haruto leaned forward, nearly toppling them both to the floor.
"Haruto! My nec—kh..my neck!"
"Did you see the approach? The way he loaded that penultimate step? That's like... instinct stuff." Haruto was in complete awe. Who knew, he was a baskerball geek too.
His earlier exhaustion was forgotten in the face of witnessing something extraordinary.
"That was a Boom Jump. I'd never seen one in real life...Combined with that aggressive technique... that's 55 inches."
But Ari....Ari was just watching. Just watching. And trying not to fall from Haruto's weight.
In the stands.
Akihiko had gone completely silent, his usual smirk was replaced by genuine shock. His blue eyes were wide, and for once, he had nothing sarcastic to say. "I... okay. I knew he was good. But that's..."
"Terrifying," Yori finished, his grey eyes tracking Isami as he walked back to his group. "That's the word you're looking for. Terrifying."
"He's at the third tier of highschool high jumpers," Deevay said with deflated confidence. "And he's a first-year. We're supposed to compete against that? I can barely do boom jumps, and he just did one casually."
Indeed the Prince Cobra seemed on another level.
Runa was writing furiously in her Spider-Man notebook, her pen was moving so fast it was almost blurring. But she was smiling, excited. It was that slightly unsettling but charming full lipped smile that appeared when she witnessed something that challenged her understanding of the sport.
"The Prince Cobra," she murmured. "Now I understand the nickname. Lethal, arrogant, princely and violent."
Then she paused. She wasn't smiling anymore.
"You guys aren't intimidated are you?"
The energy changed. Akihiko. Deevay. Yori. Goro. They all answered in unison. "Offcourse not."
Goro leaned back in his seat, his golden eyes were up and thoughtful. "He's skilled too." He paused. "Genetics can only take you so far. But_
The Yoshimura Captain smiled. His otherwise unfeeling blank expressive face made an expression of... a sort of thrilling anticipation. "I'm looking forward to playing him."
The Prince Cobra was walking back to his group, being swarmed by friends and admirers. He high-fived one, then another, and then he laughed—not a normal laugh.
No no no, but something darker. It was an evil, delighted sound that suggested he'd just confirmed what he already knew: that he was better than everyone here.
[WELP]
The system's text appeared. The transparent interface blocked Ari's vision.
[SO MUCH FOR YOUR SPOTLIGHT]
[YOU AND HARUTO HAD A NICE 15 MINUTES OF ATTENTION]
[36 POINTS IN CSRP, VERY IMPRESSIVE]
[CLUTCH SHOT, GREAT MOMENT]
[THEN THE PRINCE COBRA JUMPED 55 INCHES]
[AND NOW NO ONE REMEMBERS YOUR NAME]
Ari scoffed. Finally managing to extract Haruto from his shoulders. The chubby boy slid down with a grunt, landing on his feet but looking slightly dizzy. He most likely wasn't used to competing or even being within this level of basketball.
"You okay?" Ari asked amused.
"Yeah, just... wow." Haruto was still staring at Isami. "We're competing against that."
"Yes. But don't forget. We'll all be teammates after this", Ari said stretching out his shoulders that cried from Haruto's abuse. "Though.....He IS a monster," Ari couldn't deny that. Even as much as he wanted to. His voice was quiet. Too quiet Haruto didn't even make out the full words of the short sentence.
All he knew was that the sound of Ari's voice made him flinch.
Because yes, Isami Nagi was incredible. Yes, his 55-inch vertical was superhuman. Yes, he'd just stolen all the attention that Ari and Haruto had briefly earned.
But that just meant Ari had a target now. A standard to measure himself against. A mountain to climb.
[YOUR VERTICAL: 26/100]
[TRANSLATED TO A REAL MEASUREMENT: CALCULATING]
[MEH]
[WE WILL SEE WHEN YOU JUMP]
Right," Ari murmured, not out loud but internally—a telepathic whisper to the system so Haruto wouldn't wonder who he was talking to. But the system could sense everything beneath that response: the churning emotion, the battle of pride and will and delusion warring within all that black mess of hair, behind those void-dark eyes.
[THE GEAR URGES YOU TO REMEMBER, TORU ARI]
[YOU ARE NOT TRYING TO BEAT ISAMI NAGI]
[YOU ARE TRYING TO MAKE THE YOSHIMURA HIGH BASKETBALL TEAM]
"No."
The word formed in Ari's mind with absolute clarity, sharp and real, like a broken glass forming from a dark smoke of denial.
"No," Ari repeated, his internal voice only strained harder now. Words spoken, thoughts made with a horrible certainty. "I don't want to just make the team. I don't want to be content with scraping by, with surviving, with being some....some background person who's simply_content!"
His hands, large vampiric hands clenched at his sides, he was biting on to his own teeth. The intensity of his thoughts was almost physical, radiating outward in waves that he could not contain.
"Maybe I'm not at his level now. But I WILL reach it. I WILL. I won't be lesser... I CAN'T BE LESSER NOW"
The thoughts spiraled they were becoming something manic in its determination. His expression shifted with the declaration—beastial eyes went to the distance, unfocused. The eerie void-stare intensified until it looked less like he was seeing the world and more like he was staring through reality itself into something beyond.
Into a future only he saw. Only AriToru saw.
The system was quiet.
For a long moment, there was only silence in Ari's mind. No text, no commentary, no thought. Only Stillness.
Then:
[...]
[THAT REFUSAL TO ACCEPT LIMITATIONS]
[THAT IS WHY THE GEAR CHOSE YOU]
[AND I SHALL HELP YOU REACH THIS GOAL TORU ARI]
[AND BEYOND]
[GOOD]
[VERY GOOD]
[NOW DELUSIONAL REALITY ASIDE]
[DO NOT EMBARRASS YOURSELF ON THIS VERTICAL JUMP]
"Ari?"
Haruto's voice cut through the spiral, tentative and reluctant.
Ari didn't respond. He was still staring at empty air—or what appeared to be empty air to everyone else. His expression was frozen in unsettling abyss like focus. His face had gone even more pale like a corpse except for the flush on his cheeks from exertion. It made the natural dark circles under his eyes look even more pronounced, like smudged eyeliner framing those beast feline eyes that wanted to bore a hole through reality itself.
The next jumper from Group H was already completing their vertical 38 inches
But Ari wasn't seeing them. Wasn't seeing..... anything.
"Ari, what are you looking at?" Haruto asked again, his voice had real concern. Because that expression wasn't normal. Wasn't healthy.
Ari jerked, suddenly snapping back to awareness. His eyes focused, color returning to his expression as he registered Haruto's worried face.
"Oh! Sorry! I was just—" He immediately switched to carefree mode, his voice took on that nervous, apologetic tone he used when caught being weird.....which happened a lot, not gonna lie.
"Just thinking! About technique! The vertical jump technique! I was visualizing! Mental preparation! Very important, Athletes do it all the time!"
He was talking too fast, gesturing with his large pale hands, overcompensating.
"You sure?" Haruto's eyes were still concerned.
"Completely sure! One hundred percent! Let's just watch the other people who want jump, yeah? Learn from them! Good idea!"
Haruto nodded slowly, but the worry didn't completely leave his expression. Still, he turned his attention back to the court, and gradually the tension eased.
But he made a mental note: there was something deeply strange about Toru Ari.
Up in the stands, someone else had noticed to. She had been watching AriToru from afar.
Tomomi Sachiko sat wedged between two groups of loud students, her oversized sweater making her blend into the background and covering her soft curvaceous body that she was so shy about, which was exactly how she preferred it. She didn't even know why she'd come. She had no interest in basketball. No interest in sports generally. She should be in the library, studying, doing something productive.
But when she'd heard about the tryouts, remembered that Toru Ari—the weird, tall pale hollow boy from her class who she'd helped with directions yesterday—was participating, something had compelled her to come. Just to see. Just to understand why her brief interaction with him had left such an impression.
And now, watching him from across the Pavilion, she understood even less.
There was something deeply confusing about Ari when he focused. His eyes...already unusual with their feline shape and dark intensity. Like his identity was yanked away... frightening.
Not concentration but like he was consumed, possessed by whatever thoughts ran through his mind.
The way he'd stared at nothing, completely unaware of the world around him, lost in some internal dialogue with himself...
It gave her chills. Ringing out all through her body. Not the good kind.
She pushed her oversized glasses up her nose and tried to focus on Group I. ( Because Isami Nagi didn't jump his turn ). So she chose to ignore the way her heart had sped up watching Ari's expression shift from void-empty to nervously apologetic.
'He's just intense about basketball,' she told herself. That's all. Perfectly normal for people who are passionate about sports...right?
"Group J! You're up!"
The coordinator's voice snapped everyone in Group J to attention. The first three students moved toward the Vertec device, and Ari watched them with analytical focus, trying to learn, trying to understand what separated a good jump from a great one.
First jumper: 6'3" kid with decent build. Approached at an angle, planted, launched. Touched the thirty-four-inch marker. Solid.
Second jumper: 6'5" with more muscle. Better approach, more explosive. Hit thirty-nine inches. Several students in the stands whistled. That was nice.
But no one was pulling a BOOM jump.
Third jumper: The fastest kid from the earlier conditioning. 6'2" but built like a spring. His approach was aggressive, his penultimate step textbook-perfect, and he launched. Forty-three inches. The crowd cheered. That was impressive.
Fourth jumper... AriToru
He stood at the baseline, Pale skin reflecting light, flushed face and red cheeks. Eye liner looking eyes and all. Mop mess of hair.
His weight on the stiff balls of those retro white red back Jordans. Standing on the tape marking the starting position, and felt the weight of attention settle on him like some giant hungry eagle.
Fuck up
Fuck up
Fuck this up.
Fall. You know you'll fall AriToru
The crowd had gone quiet. EXPECTANT as hell.
They remembered him from CSRP. The lanky kid who'd somehow pulled off thirty-six points with the chubby shooter. The only two people who'd defeated prince Cobra in a single drill today.
The one who'd hit that final clutch shot.
Now they wanted to see if that performance had been a fluke or if he was really a star.
[HEART RATE: 134 BPM]
[ANXIETY: ELEVATED]
In the stands, eyes locked onto him:
Tomomi leaned forward slightly, her small front fingers gripped the edge of her seat, watching with an interest that surprised her.
Runa had her pen poised over her notebook, ready to record, her mind was already wondering if Ari's jumping ability matched his shooting.
Akihiko Heishi sat up straighter, his pretty-boy face was curious. "This should be interesting."
Yori crossed his arms, he mustered a neutral expression. Though he wouldn't say it he was clearly paying all his attention.
While Deev held the railing, eager. "Come on, tall kid. Show me something."
And Goro—Suzuha Goro, the captain—opened one eye, his drowsiness was momentarily suspended by curiosity.
[DO NOT ATTEMPT THE PENULTIMATE STEP]
[YOU WILL FAIL MISERABLY]
[STICK TO YOUR ONE-LEG LUNGE TECHNIQUE]
Ari paused on the court, the sound around him fading to a strange, muffled quality. Everything felt distant. Dreamlike. Just him and the Vertec and the impossible task of proving he belonged.
[JUST DO WHAT YOUR BODY CAN DO]
Fuck up
Fuck up
Fuck up
Slip on your Jordans and fall breaking your ankle.
Crash into the vertec
That was all that haunted Ari's mind.
But
He. a small movement that only he understood was a response to instructions no one else could hear.
But it caught Runa's attention. Her pen stopped mid-note. 'Is he talking to himself? Self-encouragement? Or...
AriToru moved.
He ran...not fast, not explosive, just a comfortable pace his already-exhausted long legs could manage. His form wasn't bad.....more like unimpressive: one foot in front of the other, building speed gradually, his slender body lacked the coiled-spring energy that natural athletes possessed.
Then the plant. His left foot hit the ground, his knee bent, his leg compressed
And he jumped.
His long arms stretched upward, pale forearms extending, fingers reaching for the highest marker he could possibly touch. His body rose in an arc that was more geometric than athletic, all angles and leverage rather than raw power.
Pop.
He landed back on the floor, his knees absorbed the impact, his balance was slightly off but recovered.
Ahh successfully didn't fall.
Silence.
Then—
A Burst of Laughter.
It started as snickers, then they grew to chuckles. After it EXPLODED into a full-throated laughter that reverberated all round the Pavilion. The sound was cruel and absolutely unrestrained.
"Did you see that?"
"That was pathetic!"
"How is someone that tall jumping like that?"
"What a joke!"
"He's built like a giraffe!"
"Pale giraffe boy!"
Ari's shoulders hunched. Now the hungry eagle had fully crushed his confidence.
Hks head dropped and he let out a tired sigh. He'd known this was coming. Had prepared himself for exactly this reaction. But knowing it was coming didn't make it hurt less.
[JUMP RECORDED]
[THAT WAS THE EXPLOSIVENESS OF A WET TOWEL]
[A VERY WET TOWEL
[BUT I WILL WAIT FOR THE COORDINATOR TO SAY IT]
[+5 SKILL POINTS AWARDED]
[FOR PARTICIPATION]
[THE GEAR IS GENEROUS TODAY]
Deevay actually FELL backwards in his seat, his expectation of another boom jump was completely shattered. "I thought— I actually thought—" He couldn't even finish the sentence.
Akihiko Heishi was doubled over laughing, pointing at the court, his whole slim body shaking with mirth. His blonde hair seemed to even laugh with him.
He tried to speak, He tried to speak, but could...
He just couldn't. It was too much
He only produce wheezing sounds interrupted by even more waves of laughter.
Runa blushed. A cringe blush—from secondhand embarrassment. "Jumping isn't for everyone," she muttered, making a note in her book while trying not to look directly at the scene below. "Not everyone needs to be athletic to be valuable to a team. Court vision and shooting are more important anyway..."
Goro's expression remained completely blank, his face giving away nothing. But his eyes were open now. He was looking at Ari with ....confusion. "What an odd boy," he said quietly. "He can release shots at over eleven feet but can't jump more than two feet off the ground."
Then he closed his eyes again, the captain of the Yoshimura team had a very short attention span. And he was ready to resume his nap.
Ari didn't wait for the coordinator to officially announce the measurement. He already knew it was terrible. Twenty something inches maybe. Which for someone 6'6" was genuinely pathetic. He just wanted to disappear, to melt into the floor, to rejoin Group J and never think about this moment again.
[THAT WAS THE EXPLOSIVENESS OF A WET TOWEL]
[A VERY WET TOWEL]
The coordinator failed to suppress his own laughter. He moved to check the measurement. "2..... 24 inches!"
ANOTHER BURST OF LAUGHTER.
Fresh more intense waves of laughter, louder than before. Someone was definitely recording this. Multiple someones. This would be on social media within minutes. The tall goth who couldn't jump. Indeed, what a waste of a frame.
What waste of our time.
Then suddenly as if it wasn't bad enough that everyone was laughing at him.
AriToru heard a sound cutting through the noise and towards him. A female voice. loud, mocking:
"OH MY GOD! IS THAT TORU ARI?!"
Ari's blood went cold.
The voice came from the stands near Court I—a girl with a tight-fitting Yoshimura uniform. She had the school's dark brown knitted cardigan tied around her waist which only enhanced her already wide hips.
Not that Ari could see her properly....he couldn't see anything right now.
She was wearing the white top, right around the bust of her body.
Short black pigtails tied around each other with deliberate style, A mature, expressive face dominated by thick eyebrows and huge hazel almond eyes that took up half her features, giving her a permanently surprised but beautiful look.
That depth to her face. When Ari looked, he made her out.
They'd gone to the same middle school, Seiko Middle School. She'd been popular then, and is likely more popular now.
Something... Imai. he couldn't quite remember her last name. But she was called Imai. Ugh...her face brought back terrible memories. But her....
She'd matured.
"I KNEW IT!"