The ball smacked into Yosuke's hands and for a moment he just stood there, holding it like some alien artifact.

"MOVE IT, SHIRAI!" Coach Anderson's voice boomed across the court. He stood by the bleachers, whistle bouncing against his stretched-out Nike tracksuit, tube socks sagging around thick ankles. What remained of his hair had been carefully combed over his sunburned scalp, and his energy drink was doing little to hide the hangover in his eyes.

Yosuke dribbled hesitantly, the ball somehow staying with him despite his awkward form. He managed to weave past Justin, who was too busy fixing his hair to properly defend.

"Over here!" Calvin jumped up and down, red pinnie flapping. The mesh jersey reeked of decades of teenage sweat.

Yosuke's pass sailed high—way too high—sailing over everyone's heads and bouncing off the backboard with a hollow thunk.

"Sweet Jesus," Coach Anderson muttered into his can. "RED TEAM, THIS AIN'T BALLET!"

Leon swooped in like he owned the court, snatching up the loose ball. He moved with the easy confidence of someone who'd been playing since grade school, calling out plays between creative insults at the defense.

"Erik, catch!"

But Erik, despite his perfect posture and calculated movements, hesitated too long. Pablo knocked the ball away, sending it pinballing between players.

"Shit!" Erik kicked the floor. "Some defense would be nice, guys!"

"Language, Sjöström!" Coach barely looked up from his clipboard. "And quit dancing around out there!"

The ball ricocheted off Calvin's head and straight into Yosuke's chest, knocking the wind out of him. By some miracle, he managed to keep hold of it.

"Shoot!" someone yelled.

Yosuke threw the ball, more to get rid of it than anything else. It spun through the air in a wobbly arc—and somehow went straight through the hoop.

"Well, damn." Coach Anderson actually looked up. "Even a blind squirrel finds a nut sometimes."

"Lit shot, space cadet!" Leon laughed and gave Yosuke a high five as he ran past.

A sharp click of heels echoed from the doorway. Yosuke's stomach dropped as Karin appeared, leaning against the frame with practiced casualness. Her cheerleading uniform seemed too bright against the gym's dull walls. Next to her, Jessica whispered something that made them both smirk.

"SHIRAI, WAKE UP!"

The basketball caught him square in the face. His glasses clattered across the floor as he staggered backward, ears ringing. Through his blurred vision, he saw Karin's smile widen.

"Nice catch, new kid," she called out, voice dripping with false sweetness. Behind her, Jessica's laughter echoed off the walls.

"Eyes on the game, Romeo!" Coach Anderson's whistle pierced the air. "And somebody get the kid his glasses before he breaks something else!"

Erik jogged over with the glasses, shooting a dark look toward the doorway. But Karin was already sauntering away, her laughter lingering like smoke.

"You okay?" he asked quietly, pressing the glasses into Yosuke's hand.

"Back in the game, ladies!" Coach Anderson bellowed. "This ain't social hour!"

Yosuke slipped his glasses on, the world snapping back into focus. His nose throbbed in time with his heartbeat.

The scoreboard told a different story. Red team: 20, Blue team: 64. Leon had scored nearly forty points on his own, while Erik's precise but tentative plays had at least kept their defense organized.

"Alright, hit the showers!" Coach Anderson's whistle cut through the squeaking shoes and labored breathing. "And someone clean up this mess!"

The other boys started toward the locker room, voices already rising in post-game analysis. Yosuke watched them go, his stomach knotting at the thought of the crowded, steam-filled space. All those bodies changing clothes, comparing, noticing.

"I can stay," he offered quickly. "Clean up, I mean."

Coach Anderson's eyebrows rose above his perpetual squint. "Volunteering for cleanup duty?" He almost smiled. "That's a first. Sure, kid. Knock yourself out."

"Thanks, Coach."

Anderson gathered his clipboard and energy drink, already heading for his office. "Lock up when you're done. Keys are on my desk."

Soon the gym fell quiet except for the distant sound of showers running. Yosuke moved slowly, gathering basketballs from corners and under bleachers. Each task stretched longer than necessary.

In the mirror last night, he'd traced his ribs through thin skin - counting the irregular spacing, the way some curved differently than the anatomical drawings in health class. What if it was an Enhanced things and the guys would notice? What if the strange dark hairs that had started appearing after his visit to the Mammoth would come out again?

But it was the third thing that made his hands shake as he rolled the equipment cart toward storage. That first week, watching Erik and Leon change clothes like he did everything else - studying their movements, trying to learn the rules. But something felt wrong about looking there. Different from learning how to eat lunch or tie shoes.

Erik's pale skin and that gnarly appendix scar. Leon's golden tan and confident swagger, making other guys suddenly aware of their own soft edges.

Yosuke grabbed the last basketball, bouncing it once before tossing it in the cart. Better to shower alone. Way better.

The equipment room's shadows stretched like accusing fingers as he pushed the squeaking cart toward storage. He grabbed Coach's keys and headed for the door, not looking back.

Something about the tiles and metal lockers: felt familiar. Not good familiar. Like he'd been in rooms like this before, where freshening up and jokes weren't the only things that happened.

Yosuke took a breath, gathering what little courage he had left, and headed back toward the locker room.

They materialized like a practiced ambush—Karin emerging first from the shadows, then Jessica and Maria sliding into position, their green cheerleader uniforms too bright under dying fluorescent lights. Their formation turned the narrow hallway into a trap, every angle covered with predatory intent.

"Well, well." Jessica's voice dripped false sweetness. "If it isn't our little basketball star."

"Oh my God, yes!" Maria bounced on her toes, clapping. "That shot you made? Like, totally amazing!"

"Poor baby," Karin stepped closer, her perfume sharp and expensive in the musty hallway. "Half the school has already figured it out, you know. You can totally ditch the glasses now."

Before Yosuke could react, Maria darted forward and plucked his glasses right off his face. "There! Much better, baby Ratio."

The world snapped into sharp focus - almost painfully clear. Every detail of their faces, every thread on their uniforms suddenly visible in high definition. Yosuke's hands shook as he reached for them. "Give those back—"

"Relax," Karin examined the lenses with theatrical interest. "These are like, totally fake anyway. Just window dressing, right?"

Yosuke pressed himself against cold concrete. Everything was too sharp, too detailed without his glasses - he could see every pore on their faces, every cruel expression in high definition.

"It's actually kind of sweet," Jessica said, voice shifting defensive. "Erik's just trying to help another basket case feel normal. That's like, totally charitable."

"Right," Maria giggled. "Remember Lynx? Poor thing still thinks he's a cat."

Karin's glossed lips twisted. "What I don't get is why Leon - like, literally the only hot guy in this pathetic school - finds you so fascinating. What's your damage that's got him all twisted up?"

"Erik thinks—" Jessica started importantly.

"Erik gets off on psychoanalyzing broken toys," Karin cut her off, stepping closer until her strawberry perfume was overwhelming.

The lights buzzed overhead, making Yosuke's skin feel too tight. That itching started again between his shoulder blades, sharp and insistent. His hands trembled as he touched his pendant, failing to center himself.

"Face it, space cadet," Maria's voice dripped honey-coated poison. "You're just the latest entertainment. Give it a month, Erik will find some other freak to manipulate."

Yosuke's vision where to sharp, his breathing quickening as panic set in.

"Manipulate..." he mouthed the word silently. No, Erik cared about him, wanted to see him thrive, was rooting for him.

The itch return across his back.

"Aw, look," Jessica stage-whispered. "I think he's gonna cry."

"Whatever." Karin flipped her perfect Rachel cut, tossing his glasses back at him. They clattered against his chest before he caught them with shaking hands. The world went mercifully soft again as he slipped them back on, the sharp edges of reality blurring to something more manageable. "Just remember who really runs this school, new kid."

They left him there, sneakers squeaking in perfect rhythm down the empty hallway. Their laughter echoed off the walls, following him into the humid locker room.

Most of the other students were gone, but echoes of conversation and laughter lingered in the tiled space. Leon's off-key singing drifted from the shower area, competing with the steady drum of water.

Yosuke made his way through rows of teal lockers, trying not to look at the scattered half-dressed bodies around him. He'd never get used to how casual everyone was about nudity here.

"Hey." Erik's voice made him jump. He was standing at one of the mirrors, a towel wrapped around his waist, methodically working some kind of product into his damp hair. The scent of citrusy cologne cut through the shower steam.

"You okay?" Erik asked, catching Yosuke's eyes in the mirror. "I saw Karin and her crew lurking around."

"I'm fine," Yosuke said, focusing intently on his locker combination.

1-3-2-3, the pattern perfect in his mind. "She just wanted to talk."

Erik turned from the mirror, running a comb through his carefully styled hair. "Karin never 'just' wants to talk. Whatever she said - don't let it get to you. She likes playing games with people."

"Like you?" The words slipped out before Yosuke could stop them.

Erik's eyebrows rose as he set down his comb. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing. Forget it." Yosuke mumbled, pulling out his towel.

"Nothing." Erik repeated, but he didn't push it. Yosuke waited until Erik had finished dressing and left before he undressed.

The shower area was mostly empty now, just the steady drum of water from a few occupied stalls. Yosuke clutched his towel tight around his hips, cheap shampoo from Miller's in his other hand.

Leon emerged from one of the cubicles, shaking water from his hair like a dog. All that tanned, firm skin and dark hair across his chest - Yosuke's breath caught in his throat. Then he smiled. God, why was he smiling while staring at naked Leon? Why did the exact brown shade of his nipples and the hair pattern on his sternum suddenly seem so important?

Leon mirrored his grin, walking past with his towel clutched loosely over his groin. As he passed, he leaned in close.

"Just a future hint, dude," Leon's voice was casual, friendly. "Never look and smile at guys in the shower stalls. It's like, totally gnarly..."

"Yes, sorry, sorry," Yosuke ducked his head, heat flooding his face as he escaped into his stall.

Only when he darted his head out and confirmed he was completely alone did he finally place his towel on the hook.