Presidents | Chapter 21

Presidents

Chapter 21 | Bully

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"Ah, Kuroko-san, ohisashiburi -desu!" The brunet greeted, tucking his basketball under his arm.

The shadow player smiled and returned him the favour, getting interested in the other's capabilities. "What are you doing out here so early, Sawada-san?"

Tsuna shrugged his shoulders and grinned at his widest. He spun the ball on his finger before bouncing it against the ground, only to return it under his arm again. "My tutor has always told me that a morning workout is best. It's something like a daily routine by now."

Kuroko cocked an eyebrow.

The brunet dribbled the ball to the centre of the street court, made his stance and threw the ball into the air. His companion watched in awe as the ball cut through the stale air and made it into the basket, scoring a neat goal. He then turned to the blue head and gestured at the ring. "A game?"

His reply was an excited nod. Who would not want to challenge someone like him? He knows that both of the power forwards he knew would gladly take up the challenge. Oh, Aomine-kun had already had a match against him.

Not to say, Tsuna was a good challenge for him.

Each time the phantom player decided to dive out of the normal range, the other would be a step ahead, as if reading his moves like his ex-captain and would stop him from advancing. The next moment he knew, the ball was already out of his hand and in the other hoop. His phantom shots never worked as well, because the brunet had calculated and predicted beforehand.

He could feel the adrenaline pumping inside. Nearly through the whole fifteen minutes, if not for the sudden appearance of a gang. A group of five, he counted.

He could recognise the people that strode over to them. Members of the Migaobi high school basketball team. The last time he recalled, these guys could not handle Shutoku, but that was expected -they were the Tokyo kings.

He glanced over at his brunet friend and frowned.

Tsuna's face was impassive, even though there was a glint of thought shining in his eyes. It was as if this issue was nothing, a little violence would do the job. Kuroko began to shiver in fear.

Said male seemed to have caught him but he was too scared to notice. He smiled gently and placed his fingers on his neck, like a gun. The blue head froze and could feel himself calm down.

"What are you doing here? Get out, this isn't your court." One of the guys sneered, his dirty blond hair pushed out of his brown eyes. The others cheered behind him, their heads held high in arrogance. Kuroko tipped his head to the side, you? Right, they could not see him as usual.

Another approached Tsuna and shoved him backwards on the shoulder. He bit his lips and allowed them to push him back. His eyes were blank and thoughtless, his breath still as light and calm.

He lowered his head and hid his eyes behind his long bangs, making it hard for him to read his expression. However, a smirk adorned his face. "I don't see your name here. But instead, the court is a property of the Vongola." He mentioned and pointed to the golden insignia printed on the side of the basketball pole.

Those males blinked but laughed. "Are you joking with us? This place is open for public usage-"

"There, you said public usage, didn't you?"

Someone bit his own lips and glanced towards their gang's leader, who glared at the brunet. He tossed his basketball to his gang member and cracked his knuckles, his fist held high and about to punch his face when his fist stopped midair, unable to go forward any further.

Kuroko widened his eyes in surprise and squinted his eyes towards the fist. A finger was stopping the fist from moving and he followed the finger towards the person. Instead of a third person, it was actually Tsuna himself who was stopping the other. His head now held high with confidence and pride, all the (possibly) previous thoughts all wiped from his face.

At that moment, the Seirin player began to respect the Rakuzan head.

"Let's settle this with... basketball. How about it?" Tsuna said, and he smiled at them. His eyes flashed orange -which was a surprise to Kuroko- and he stepped to the side, allowing the pressured punch to hit mid-air.

The male stumbled forward and yelped in surprise. The others gasped and rushed to support their leader, who shrugged off their aid. With a snarky tone, he took up Tsuna's challenge, his arrogant look was slipped back on. "Don't cry if you lose."

"I won't."

Kuroko glanced at his friend for a moment. "What do I do, Sawada-san?"

Said male replied in an instant. "Assist. They aren't gonna play fair, but I'll cover most of the ground."

The blue head frowned and nodded his head. He was told by Akashi once to always trust the Rakuzan head's decision and he would trust the redhead. He does not have a reason to lie to him anyway.

He made his way near Tsuna and positioned nearby. One of the gang members held the basketball and threw it up. In a flash, both the brunet and the leader jumped up to grab the ball.

Everyone on the court, sans Kuroko, believed that the gang leader would receive the ball first. However, the phantom player thought otherwise. True enough, Tsuna reached the ball first and slapped it into his grasp at lightning speed.

They laughed at first, thinking that he was simply throwing the ball away, but as soon as they saw the ball change directions, they nearly peed in their pants.

"Ghost!" They screamed at the top of their lungs. Those that wanted to help in the following game soon backed off in fear, afraid of whatever sorcery that was behind the curveball. Little did they realise that there was another player on the court. Soon, all of them ran off, even leaving their basketball at the court.

They declared aloud, "We'll remember this! Don't think you've won!"

Tsuna scoffed at the bold statement. "Guess they won't be stepping into my property for a while. I did mention on the fence that this court belongs to me."

Kuroko blinked after hearing what he said and only managed a sound.

"Eh?"