Sora set her resolve and decided to jump straight in since, so far as she understood things, these Shadows held the most sway among their darker layers; in essence, they were the most common set of darker, suppressed behaviors that reared their head.

Yet, they also showed a purity of direction, even if that avenue was a brutal, vicious side of themselves; this was shown in their monochromatic looks, showing how stark these personalities were from their own, all black and white, no color.

“Okay… I’m listening.”

Her mirror swung her three tails to the opposite side and leaned over, cheek against her hand. “Heh. You’re the one who called me here, Balance. What do you want—or are you wasting our time? You still haven’t seen fit to give us, to give you names.”

Kari laughed. “You’re kind of sassy, Sora.”

“I haven’t noticed…”

Their attention was drawn to the mirror wolf as she rolled her eyes. “I’m not really feeling like dealing with your drama right now. Oh, why don’t we have ourselves a little game, Balance?”

A glint came to Kari’s eyes. “Bets?”

“Naturally. Scared?” her Shadow smirked.

“Do you really believe that, or is that some kind of taunt?”

Tilting its head and raising her eyebrows, the wolf’s clone gestured to the side. “Hehe. We’re more alike than ever, and I’m loving it. Make a court… Balance—I need fresh meat to grind my teeth.”

Sora’s Shadow seemingly caught her ‘partner’ by surprise as she grinned and circled a pointed finger in the air while singing, “Careful, Kari… This girl doesn’t like to play by the rules like you.”

“Stabbing me in the back already?” the shadow wolf snickered. “Taking Sora’s side?”

“Meh. Struggle makes growth—and I love to see the gap close.”

Electricity sparked between their reflections as Kari leaned left and right, seemingly not put off by the comment in the least. “I figured something like that—I set the rules, you find a way to break them without making it obvious? I’m game. We really need names for these chicks, though.”

“Hmm. I like my name, but… Haaa. I suppose we are just fragments—do think of something at least a little fitting, Balance.”

“Call me Sora!” she returned with a wink. “After all, I’m the definitive constant, Rosa!”

“Hmm. Rosa isn’t bad,” she sneered, waving her fingers in a short circle again. “Cute. It suits you, though—obsessed with overthinking things, insecure about her loved ones, and afraid of hanging her power over others’ heads, but… I can work with Rosa…”

She giggled, showing a cute smile that didn’t match her words. “Actually, being differentiated from… well, you, would probably be for the best since you’re such a wishy-washy vulpes. I’m elegant with a few thorns on her stem, heh, hidden behind leaves.”

“Okay then, I’m glad we’ve figured that out… after that flowery speech,” Sora rolled her eyes. “Kari?”

Running her fingers through her hair before creating a tie to pull it into a ponytail, Kari hummed. “How about… Rika? Simple—and kind of has a bite to it.”

“Sure. Wherever you want, Balance—I’ll eventually be you in any case.”

“Keep dreaming, girl. Heh, but it’s unhealthy to have unrealistic expectations.”

“That’s what I like to hear—draw from me more often!” Rika laughed, moving to the basketball court a ways away. “You want to have our father’s side?”

“I’m just you without the attitude.”

“A shame.”

Sora stood, put a hand on her hip, and showed a vicious smile that drew everyone’s attention; she felt the spur to do something sporadic to get ahead of what she already knew would be a bad deal.

“I have a better idea, Kari.”

“Oh? Hehe. I’m listening,” she mused, creating basketballs for both of them, tossing one to her counterpart for the two to warm up.

Catching her Shadow’s curious eye, Sora knew this was a sort of battle, and like in any chess game, the person who went first led the direction of the match.

“We all know what each other wants… Rika—you want to return to a more vicious, feral version, and, Rosa—you want me to remove more social stigmas that box us in, right?”

The dark vulpes shrugged in a lazy manner, scanning the higher layers of their home that she rarely had a chance to view. “You’re on the right track. So, why not put it to the test?”

Sora rolled around her neck and spread her tails to loosen up. “Hmm. We all need to live together, so… Why doesn’t the winning party get to dictate the majority of the deal in moving forward, but the losing party gets a say in negotiation, to a point?”

“Not fun,” the black-and-white wolf muttered. “A vulpes would want some way to win, regardless of their performance.”

Rosa chuckled. “I don’t think it’s a terrible idea, but I can guess we all need to be in agreeance. So… As a condition, why not allow us the ability to use our chakrams? Surely, I would get in your way, and I’d rather not have to move if I don’t have to.”

“Oh!” Kari dribbled her ball between her legs and around her back. “I’m cool with that—Sora would get in my way anyway—heh, probably trip me on accident… or purpose. Haha,” she added, looking at the Shadow vulpes’ innocent shrug.

Lips pulling in as Sora thought on the suggestion, a grin brightened her cheeks; her Shadow was more of a manipulator than a player, and after a quick self-reflection, she did have some of those traits earlier in her change that had been buried with her father’s side overtaking her mother’s.

My Null-Void is more personally involved, while my vulpes side is more twisting things in my favor without putting in much work; she likes to see struggle but not be the one struggling.

“If we can use all our chakrams, I’m fine with that,” Sora nodded. “Heh. I’d rather not run around as a human and get all sweaty.”

“Right?!” Rosa groaned and waved at Rika’s slight frown. “We both know I’d only get in your way.”

“Mmgm…” The opposing wolf held her basketball against her chest while studying them. “Not wrong… So, Balance, the foxes get to use their powers, and we can’t use any of our enhanced athletics?”

Kari’s teeth flashed. “Hehe. They can use their chakram to transport or dribble the balls, but only to the degree of a normal human.”

“I’m fine with that,” the monochromatic vulpes hummed, examining her fingernails.

Sora expanded the three chakrams around her tails, secretly replacing one copy with her true ring as they rapidly spun around her body; her counterpart extended her own three to lift the circlets above her head in a lazy twirl.

“Not quite! That’s pretty subjective—let’s narrow it down to at most college male standards.”

“Boo… Fine—still subjective,” Rosa returned with a vicious grin. “We can only bring three of our chakrams into the game?”

Sora pointed at the already lifted weapons. “We think alike!”

“Hehe. In some ways. I may not be a nice girl, but I can play a nice game,” her Shadow mused. “Everyone agrees to these terms?”

They all nodded, and Sora laughed inside. Without a doubt, Kari was too proud to cheat, and Sora had already figured out the loophole Rosa wanted to exploit in her wording; on the other hand, she wasn’t sure if her own reflection had any secrets she’d slipped in—it might be the same plan she had.

Kari tossed the ball to her mother, who caught it and smoothly rose to her feet.

“You reffing, Mom?”

“Sure! I look forward to seeing this competition. It’s interesting to see how minor shifts in the layers of our personality can cause such drastic changes in outcomes.”

Sora used her control over the space to lift her chair up and position herself over the field, her dark mirror image taking the opposite side of the ring with a playful smirk on her lips as Kari and her double took center court.

Did I always look so smug and condescending? she pondered, positioning her three rings three meters behind Kari; as if a reflection, Rosa did the same. Same plan, huh? Well, we did only specify our individual rings need to be at a college level.

A silent giggle rolled through Sora’s belly as Kari flexed her fingers, grinning at her counterpart; the wolves’ tails weaved back and forth in anticipation of a true challenge.

“Ready, and…”

Alva primed the ball as the Shadow tossed theirs into the darkness—tails stilled—the ball lowered, and the old wolf tossed it into the air.

“Start!”

The woman vanished to the sides as Sora expanded each chakram, sending her true body through it at an accelerated push that sent it rocketing after the airborne ball; Rosa grinned, launching her own.

The opposing chakram didn’t meet the ball but expanded further to its full width to swallow Sora’s, attempting to transport the ring away as she sent another to meet their target.

Sora created her 3rd copy—the chakram around her hair disintegrating, releasing her locks—allowing her true body to be transported to their opponent’s side of the field while sliding her new addition under the teleporter.

Expanding—closer to the falling ball than the second launched chakram—she launched the ball out of the chakram at Kari’s back.

“Nice!” Kari snickered, spinning to snatch the ball as Sora repositioned her chakram as the darker vulpes clicked her tongue.

“So, you utilized that loophole, huh? Cheeky—and exhausting to actually fly around.”

“I don’t believe for a second you haven’t,” Sora returned. “You’re just waiting for the right time to reveal it.”

“Maybe…”

Kari threw her the ball back to reposition it as she ran around her counterpart and snatched it from her true chakram, yet to the wolf’s surprise, Rika predicted her movements and slapped it into the air.

Rosa was prepared to send it zig-zagging to their basket, but she couldn’t outmaneuver the four chakrams with her three, and Sora had a goalie hovering around the net.

Redirecting the ball all the way to the opposite side of the court, Kari was there to snatch it mid-jump, smashing it through the hoop; her counterpart was only a hair’s breadth away from preventing the basket.

“Yes!”

Rika adjusted her crown—that didn’t need adjusting—with a light glare at the vulpes above, who gave a weak shrug and laugh. “Really?”

“She revealed her trump card early! We’re fine—plus, her main chakram acts as her real body, so it will lag as if she is using her Null-Void construct; it’s just… a lot more fluid and can fly.”

“Hehe. Well, step up your game…” she growled.

Rosa snickered, spinning clockward in her throne, defying gravity. “I don’t believe for a second you’re playing nice; why should I reveal my cards first?”

Ooh! Sora saw a wide smile on her friend’s face; Kari knew herself well and how these pairs would match. Her Shadow isn’t a good sport! She’s a lone wolf, and my Shadow likes to push buttons and boundaries. Not a good pair!

Sora lowered a chakram as Kari tossed the ball to her double.

“2-0… Your ball!”

“It is…”

Sora sent her three copies to spin around her double’s, leaving her main body by the hoop to block any attempt; a strange, Null-Void ripple made Sora’s eyebrows furrow as she glared at her waving counterpart.

Nothing seemed out of place as she scanned the area, but her darker half was up to something new; it would have to be something she’d thought of in the past or had contemplated, but she couldn’t go over every possibility that had crossed her thoughts.

Rika started dribbling, holding out a hand to push forward as her counterpart guarded her back; Sora knew the pace would pick up soon enough, yet she couldn’t have been prepared for what came next.

Kari’s ears pricked up, and Sora sat straighter in her chair as shadowy wisps filmed off of Rosa, and, in a haze of rigid, flickering movements, she was across the court, bypassing her chakram and dunking the ball.

Haze leaving her body, the wolf’s Shadow chuckled with a small smirk at their narrowed eyes. “We promised not to use our enhanced physical aptitudes—I didn’t—easy basket.”

Clapping sounded from above. “Ooh! Very tricky—I assume that’s the power you’ve been keeping away from Balance?”

“Only a sample.”

Sora figured Rika would use their father’s side in this battle, but she didn’t expect it to take this form; this place in their Core simulated real-life and what they could do there as a sort of shadow exercise.

“Hehe.” Kari soon started to laugh, drawing their Shadow’s frowns. “Good! So, that’s what you’ve been hiding from me? I can’t wait to sink my teeth into it after this—you ready to go all in, Sora—first to 30?”

“Sure…” Sucking on her lower lip, Sora’s eyebrows drew together as she scanned the field for Null-Void ripples; the earlier pulse had her concerned. “Rosa’s up to something with her Null-Void.”

“Aww, no spoilers!” she giggled, showing a twinkle in her eyes. “You hid your main body in with your copies; I have to have my own trick up my sleeve—you’ll know what it is soon enough!”

Rika threw the ball to her. “2-2. Your ball.”

Sora figured Kari would start getting serious after the reveal, and she was relying on her to get them through this; if they were going to win, it would be by teamwork.

A fierce back and forth followed, Sora keeping her chakram alert for whenever the shadow wolf would use her flicker step, and she began to notice the movement method; unfortunately, taking her full attention off her own Shadow gave the black-and-white double room to score two more baskets.

If I can just understand how it works, I can predict it… There!

She followed the slips through Existence, seeing a mirror of sorts—Kari’s father had some kind of ability to instantaneously transverse Existence in a similar way to her own—unlike Null-Void, which chewed through the fabric, Kari’s method was far more refined.

Null-Void gnawed and ripped away, while Kari’s was a precision knife that cut a line between areas to appear to move between locations instantaneously, yet it was more like generating a wormhole on the Existence level.

Kari had power outside of Existence that wasn’t Null-Void.

A grin split her lips as the Shadow tried to make their third basket, flickering past Kari’s defense again with brazen laughter, only to be met by Sora’s accelerated ring—the method Rika was using was blatantly telegraphed after practicing so much against herself.

Teleporting the surprised wolf to Kari, her friend snatched the ball from her stunned counterpart, jumped, and threw a shot from the 3-point line—Rosa had become lazy with the dominant showing—and the ball kissed the net.

“5-6, baby!” Kari cheered.

“Impossible… How did you predict where I’d go? Tell me!” Rika demanded, but Kari had already thrown her the ball to continue playing.

“Let’s speed things up! Go! Go!”

Sora giggled as her own duplicate tried to discover the method she’d used; unluckily, her teammate wasn’t so willing to use the technique after Sora countered her a second time, returning the ball to Kari—mid-air—to dunk.

“7-6! Nice—Sora; in the lead!” she roared, clapping her chakram as they passed.

“Grarh! Have you figured it out yet?”

“No… Use it more often,” the disgruntled fox mumbled. “Send the ball to me more…”

“You’ll screw it up!”

“Haaa… Do you want my help? Hehe… because it doesn’t sound like you do.”

“Gggh…” the monochromatic wolf grumbled under her breath, trying to buy time. “Can I get a hair tie—timeout?”

Alva put two fingers in her mouth and sent a heavenly whistle through the air. “Timeout! Six left.”

Sora floated down to high-five Kari. “Ha! We got them on the ropes.”

“Yeah, you’re doing great.”

“Hmm.” She leaned to the side to look at the two Shadows arguing.

Basically, Rika thought the vulpes wasn’t giving her all and was throwing the game. Sora wasn’t so sure; Rosa was more of her devious fox side she kept suppressed, trying not to push her friends or set a bad example for her daughter.

“Thanks… I’ll keep an eye open for what’s coming next. You good?”

Kari doubled over laughing. “We aren’t even close to breaking a sweat with all this foreplay. Think we should go hard now?”

“Probably… I’ll play around you.”

“Let’s go!”

Breaking, they waited for the two to quit arguing, and the shadow wolf pulled her hair back into a ponytail, showing that she was getting serious.

“Just figure out how she can track me!”

“Don’t sweat the small stuff—you’re overreacting!”

“Humph.”

Getting back into the court, they continued the game; Sora wouldn’t give the fuming wolf a break, using her superior chakram numbers and the Existence ripples the Shadow made since she had to slide her knife through and create a path before using it.

Taking advantage of her counterpart’s distraction in trying to reverse engineer the weakness Sora had discovered, she maneuvered the pair on the field, giving Kari the breathing room to score four more three-pointers.

“Dammit!”

“19-6!” Kari flashed her teeth and gave her Shadow a reverse peace sign before winking and lowering her index finger. “You’re slippin’!”

“Timeout!” Rosa yelled, causing Alva to mirror her; drawing the huffing and puffing wolf to the side, the vulpes giggled and winked across the court at her. “It’s so simple!”

“What?” the disgruntled wolf grunted.

“You’re tunneling through Existence—dear, you need to swap things up—you’re so predictable!”

“Shut up! What do you mean?!”

Sora’s gaze shifted to her friend as a hiss passed through her mouth.

“Wow… I’m really losing it over there—honestly, I don’t know if I could win a one-verse-one against her if we were alone. Nice, partner.”

She laughed while bumping Kari’s raised fist. “It’ll get harder now that she’ll be focused on me again.”

“Cool.”

After her counterpart explained the process Rika was using to slip through Existence—something Sora had extensive experience in over the past year—the wolf scratched her head in frustration at how belittling the shadow vulpes was in her explanation.

“See—simple! You’re practically standing still, showing her where to position—try to think a little ahead. ‘kay?”

“Just… shut up and let me figure things out—stop her stupid chakrams—do you have anything to contribute other than a sassy mouth?”

“Maybe? I was hoping you’d put out a bit more of a bite with this new power… Got anything that isn’t totally obvious?”

“Maybe I do…”

“Good! Let’s join forces!” Rosa cheered as if all her belittling meant nothing. “Want to use this new technique, and I can start getting serious myself? Haaa. I just didn’t think you needed my help—I suppose sometimes I can be wrong.”

I am a bitch sometimes… Sora internally mumbled. I guess that’s why I keep that part in check.

“You better pick up the slack you’ve given them…”

“Hmm? Or what?” the vulpes mused, rolling her eyes. “You’ll bark at me? Look—heh, wait… are they judging us?!”

Redirection…

Rika’s nose twitched as they returned to the court. “Quit spouting your venom and get your head in the game! Idiot… We’re playing right into their hands.”

“Haaa. Fine. I’ll put in some effort,” Rosa grumbled from her upside-down, floating throne.

Sora linked her fingers and pressed them out. “Heh. Meow… I thought you two were supposed to be more like us instead of cats with their claws out hissing.”

“Humph.” Rosa’s cheeks tightened into a smile. “You’re so oblivious… I bet you haven’t even noticed.”

Sora just shrugged in response; the wordless reply caused her double’s fingers to tighten and chakram to shake—nothing was worse for a bully than ignoring a jab when they expected a reaction.

“Start!”

The moment the words left Alva’s mouth—the ball was in the air—threads of shadow wove out of Rika, tying around the ball and throwing it through a nearby chakram.

“3-points!” Alva called out as the sound of a ball passing through a net touched their twitching ears.

“Huh?!” Sora’s eyes snapped to the basket as Kari spun around to see the sphere bouncing off the court floor. “No way…”

“Haha! That’s the expression I was looking for,” Rosa sang. “Totally worth that little drama, wolf breath?”

The shadow wolf showed a savage grin. “You’re proving somewhat useful—I suppose.”

Examining her fingernails, the dark vulpes chuckled. “I’ll be more than that when this is over—I’ll be the MvP.”

“Heh. Yeah, okay, keep dreaming. Don’t go soft again.”

“Haaa… We can’t lose—Sora is such an airhead that she won’t use our powers like they should be—she’s suppressed her vulpes side that much.”

Sora held up her hands with a big grin. “Guilty! I’ll probably be taking back some of that soon. Hope you love the weight loss!”

“Are you calling me fat?”

She snickered. “I didn’t say it.”

“Funny… Heh. You are taking some of that away from me—that’s cheating!”

Kari answered with a laugh. “We are the Balance, and it’s not against the rules—we can take whatever part we like from you… Heh, because we’re the queens here, and you—well, you know what you are.”

A scowl came across their faces; pulling away the lighter layers that they would usually tap into when facing a threat reduced the positive, balancing sides that kept the pair together. It really was a dirty tactic, yet Sora had to figure out what had just happened.

Rika summoned a basketball to her hand to toss it to Kari, now that she was done gloating. “Your ball… 19-9.”

Sora knew her friend would rely on her to discover Rosa’s secret; in order to do that, Sora drew in more of her vulpes half, feeling the thrill of competition and manipulation touch her heart again.

The pair continued their onslaught, and Sora’s eyebrows drew together when the ball vanished mid-pass to one of her chakrams, exiting Rosa’s for Rika to dunk after faking out Kari in a complex maneuver.

“Yes! 19-11! Are you even trying anymore?”

The instant basket wasn’t a fluke; Rika could use her shadowy substance as if dozens of hands, while Rosa had a method of transporting the ball through Existence.

Invisible chakram, slipping through the folds of Existence?

“Haha! Another—19-14!” the vicious wolf roared as Kari tried to control her breath, taking the ball and trying to buy time for Sora to figure things out in their dash across the court; she couldn’t stop the shadowy tendrils from stealing the ball for long, but still managed to buy several seconds.

Rosa snickered, aiming a sly grin in her direction that said she’d never figure it out.

Focus… I feel the Null-Void pulses, but I haven’t made anything like this—Wendy… It feels a little like what Wendy made when she lost control of her mouth and sucked up Existence, but more… controlled—precise.

“C’mon, Balance!” Rika lilted, playing with Kari now since she couldn’t match her many tendrils of smoke when her opponent was more aggressive than her. “19-17!”

Alva’s voice split the air as Kari fell to the floor, holding onto the ball with the tendrils attempting to pull it away. “Control Foul! Reset!”

Breathing a sigh of relief, Kari got up, showing sweat on her forehead as she gave Sora a thumbs up. The nigh-uncontrollable aspects of their personalities rolled their eyes; the vulpes likely at her teammate and the clear call after testing the limits.

Nice!

Puzzling through the phenomena, Sora sent pulses out to examine the space, making Rosa’s mouth tighten; a grin split Sora’s lips as the match continued.

The ball slipped through seemingly empty space again to ping-pong between her counterpart’s carefully placed chakrams to return to the sprinting dark wolf’s hand, spinning before jumping back and throwing the ball high over Kari’s head.

It went right for the ring to kiss the net, yet it never landed. Sora slipped her chakram between Existence threads, causing her true body to vanish; she slipped up the thread she identified with the space between the ball and her chakram, causing a vacuum that sucked the ball right into her gaping mouth.

Kari cheered as the ball popped out of a nearby chakram with Sora shouting, “Use my right chakrams—hehe, we’re on the offensive!”

“I knew you’d figure it out!”

Jumping away with a short spin, Kari threw the ball as hard as she could at the ring further in the air for Sora to redirect it just before Rosa’s chakram neared, throwing it from her invisible circlet to another for her teammate to catch and one-hand dunk.

Shadows seethed around Kari as she landed, dancing around Rika with a testing grin. “Sucks to suck!”

“Luck…”

“Keep telling yourself that!”

Sora threw up a peace sign to her counterpart, offering her own smirk. “Smart, I’ll admit.”

“Cheater! You can’t take what is mine…” Rosa snarled, fingers tightening on her throne. “You would never have figured that out.”

“Eh?!”

“Woops!” Sora laughed, covering her mouth to be annoying as her vulpes side flared, drawing the ball right out of Rika’s hands through the vacuum to give Kari to shoot another three-pointer. “This really is fun!”

“Rosa!”

“It’s not my fault! Why can’t you figure something out, huh?!”

Invisible to anyone not parsing through the very lines that existed between the infinite, fine sheets of Existence, Sora discovered she had to move slowly not to rip her way back out; Rosa had her own true body slithering through the layers the entire time, which was way more intelligent than her own plan.

Sora gave her Shadow a mocking salute. “I gotta hand it to you, Rosa, you really are the MvP of this match; thanks for teaching me something so cool!”

“Gah!”

“Rosa—figure something out!”

“You figure something out, dammit—I had a perfect plan to sweep us to the end—yet you were too impulsive and arrogant. Instead of gloating, we should have pushed our early lead!”

“Give. Me. Space!” Rika growled as Kari engaged her again since the ball was still in play. “Shit…”

Flustered by not understanding what Sora was doing—Rosa not willing to explain her process or how Sora was doing it—Kari managed to steal the ball past her shadows.

Throwing it to Sora’s chakram, she positioned her invisible main body over their basket, dropping 6.75 meters for the three-pointer.

“27-17! Three points away from total victory!”

Breathing heavily and not from exertion, Rika shot a glare at the fox, now biting her nails with agitation. “Get your head in the game!”

“She’s maneuvering to counter my chakrams! You have no idea the chess game we’re playing—she’s directing Kari to the right places to counter me, and you don’t have your head in the—shit.”

“Dammit—”

Sora gave another wave while slurping up a thread to pull the basketball away; it was too easy when the ball was in play, and they stood around arguing.

Putting a chakram into position to throw into the basket, she redirected it to Kari, faking Rosa out and putting her trust in the wolf to get around the black shadows chasing her—she jumped—spun the ball under her legs in another fakeout, and tossed the ball off the backboard to pass through the net.

“29! Let’s go! One more, baby!”

“Noo! How are we losing—are you plotting with Sora—made a deal to get more control?”

“Huh—are you stupid?”

Alva’s chiming words, prompting them to continue the match, sent a visible shiver down both Shadows’ spines.

“Start!”

“Final point, children,” Kari taunted, motioning for Rika to show her something new. “Are we really going to end this at 30? Talk about total domination—and you have our father’s powers! Haha!”

“Shut up! Shut up! I’m better—in every way!”

Sora was surprised to see Rosa not so emotional, calculating eyes and tight jaw showing she’d already done the numbers; there was little hope of winning, and she knew why—Kari’s Shadow was too hot-blooded, and she had been too complacent, underestimating how bad their disharmony would be.

“Haaa… We lose.”

“I’m not done!” Rika shouted, aggressively running forward as Kari moved to block her path. “I hold the real power—you’re weak…”

The shadowy threads seemed to react to her rage, throwing Kari to the side as they prepared to square off.

“Flagrant foul!” Alva shouted, crossing her arms. “Opposing team gets two free throws!”

“Shit! Shit! Shit!”

Rosa waved her hand at Sora with a forced smile. “We… do get some say—right?”

Sora shrugged. “Did you really accept that—I thought I was being weak?”

“Heh-hehe…”

She was impressed as Kari rolled back to her feet with a grin, and Rika begrudgingly went to the line to wait for things to conclude—she’d hold out until the end.

Sora sat back and puffed out a long breath while drawing out her hidden chakram to hang around the side with Rosa’s; it was over.

Dribbling a few times while flashing an infuriating grin at her counterpart, Kari sent the ball up without looking at the hoop with an oops face that made Rika’s teeth grind on the purposeful miss.

“Quit… taunting me!”

“Oof. One more, huh? Man, it would suck if I missed this one, too—will I?”

Now Sora was worried, sitting a little closer in her seat as Kari puffed out another breath, looked up at the net, looked away, and made another blind shot—the fateful sound of leather kissing polyester made Rika fall to her knees and punch the floor.

“Dammit!”

“Wooh!” Kari jumped up to slap Sora’s hands as she shot over.

“We did it!”

Turning to shoot their fuming and bitter Shadows an innocent grin, Kari asked, “No hard feelings, right?”