“Why did you let her score on you?”, Kimiko asked.

“Trying to avoid a foul.”, I replied.

“Then, play harder.”, she said as she shoved the ball at me.

I passed the ball off to Misawa-san and she scored a three-point shot to help my team lead 3-2.

The game went back and forth as scored a couple of baskets for my team prior to the end of the first half, Workman team 30, Niwata team 29.

“You cannot let her beat you like this.”, Kimiko said to me.

“Yeah. We believe in you, Lee-kun.”, one of the Sakuraba twins, Misa, said to me.

Her sister, Mika, agreed and I stood up and said, “Let’s rock.”

The second half started and I was on fire, hitting 10 of my first 11 shots. Niwata-san was getting irritated.

“Foul him, injure him, I don’t care what you do. Take him out!”, Niwata-san said with a glare in her eyes. Her teammates were scared, so they had to do what she said.

I got the ball and I was bulldozed by Suzuki-san. I was a little dizzy, but I got up to shoot my foul shots. Soon, I was fouled over and over again.

Suzuki-san put up a shot and it missed. I got the rebound and ran up the court. I went up for a dunk, but Niwata-san caught up to me and raked me across the eyes in mid-air. I fell back and hit my head hard on the hardwood. I was out cold.

When I woke up, I found myself in the nurse’s office.

“What happened?”, I asked, while clutching my head.

“Ai, fouled you and you hit the ground hard.”, Kimiko answered.

The nurse opened the curtain. “There’s another visitor for you.”

It was Niwata-san. Kimiko stood up and growled at her. I held up my hand and asked, “Could you please leave us alone for a while, Kimiko?”

Kimiko left us alone for a while.

Niwata-san sat down on a chair beside me.

“I’m sorry. I let my hatred of all men cloud my judgment and took it all on you.”, she cried.

I handed her a tissue and forgave her.

“I’m pretty sure that you know now that there are different kinds of men in the world.”, I said to her.

Niwata-san dried her eyes and thanked me. She does look pretty cute when she smiles. Kimiko was watching the whole time and I was starting to be very afraid of her.

“By the way,”, Niwata-san said as she left, “You can call me Ai.”

I think someone likes me.