Meanwhile, on the other locker room, the Baby-Boom staff and players were working on the second half of the game.

The air was hot and heavy, filled with the squeak of shoes and the hiss of showers in the back.

Towels, jerseys, and bottles were everywhere as the players and staff moved around, stretching, wiping sweat, and giving each other quick high-fives.

The match wasn't over yet, but climbing back this huge gap from the first quarter had the same taste as victory.

A short brunette staffer with a clipboard paced down the center, sneakers squeaking as she barked orders.

"Tighten those laces, girls! Second half's our kill zone, push hard in the paint and stay on them!"

The subs cheered in response, hands clapping, sweat glistening on their skin.

A tall forward with braids grinned.

"We got 'em on the ropes! Keep feeding Kai inside!"

A wiry girl with freckles was wrapping her fingers in tape.

"No mercy this time. Stretch the floor, hit from deep. Miko's got range, we follow her."

Hina sat at the far end of the bench, hair messy and clinging to her neck, cheeks pink from running. When the staffer pointed at her, she jumped.

"Good distractions out there, Hina! You had their guys tripping over themselves."

Hina blushed and clapped her hands together, bowing quickly.

"Yay! I tried super hard!"

Her smile was sweet and delightful, and the others laughed softly before returning to focus.

Everyone had a great time, the energy couldn't be better elsewhere.

However, among them, only four people weren't participating in the early celebration.

Kai wiped her face with a towel, still breathing hard, sweat dripping down her chin. She took a deep breath and looked around the room.

"So, now that they're cornered, they'll do the obvious, right? They'll bring Nash back in."

The noise in the room faded like someone had turned the volume down. Everyone's eyes turned to Kai, who stretched her arms above her head.

Hina's smile froze. Her shoulders tensed and her lower jaw began attacking the upper.

"Oh no… not him again," she mumbled.

A few of the girls exchanged quick glances. Miko lowered her towel, meeting Rei's gaze with a small smirk.

"Yeah," Miko said softly, pushing hair off her sweaty forehead. "He's coming," and this time, it wouldn't be inside someone.

Kai nodded, breathing slowly through her nose.

"Jinzo's a mess. No way they keep him in after that quarter." She dropped the towel on her lap and leaned forward. "You saw the way he panicked near the end? He's done."

Aiko leaned against a locker, arms crossed, the metal clinking behind her. Her lips curved into a small grin and her eyes shined with pride.

"Yeah… unless they're complete dumbos, they'll bring Nash back." She smiled wider, almost excited. "I want him back. My rival owes me a real match."

The subs around her exchanged nervous looks, a few trying to laugh it off. The last time he was on the court, he wiped the floor with them after all, and he wasn't playing his usual position.

They snickered awkwardly, half joking, half scared.

Miko pushed up her fogged glasses with a confident nod.

"We are ready to take him. We double him on the drive, cut the lanes fast. No room to breathe. If he's the brain, then we choke it."

Rei crossed her arms and looked around the room.

"Yeah. He's good, but he's only one man. We just have to mark his team. He can't pass if there's no one to catch it."

Kai grinned, wiping her mouth with the towel.

"Exactly. If he scores two, we score three. Keep stacking points, he'll crack sooner or later."

The girls shouted in agreement, clapping and hitting lockers for rhythm.

"We got this! We'll shut him down!"

The group shared tense, short laughs, half confidence, half nerves, before the sound of footsteps outside made them fall silent again.

The door flew open so hard that it slammed into the wall, making everyone jump.

Every head turned.

A woman stood in the doorway, the light from the hall outlining her like a stage spotlight. She didn't move, just stood tall and still, letting everyone admire her presence.

Her red dress shone under the lights, fitting close to her body, and her hair was a golden wave that fell perfectly to her shoulders.

When she finally stepped forward, her heels clicked once on the tile, and the sound echoed.

Her perfume filled the room, sweet, rich, and heavenly. Everyone froze, not a single noise could be heard.

Her red lips curling into a confident smile, she lifted a gold fan and opened it with a sharp snap.

"Having fun?" Her voice was low and smooth. "I can smell celebration in here, mes chéries, and yet the match is not over."

She lifted a delicate handkerchief to her nose, eyes narrowing.

"Tell me, since when did mediocrity start feeling like victory, hmm?"

The girls froze like statues, backs straightening without thought. The staff stiffened, some lowering their heads.

Monique de la Bite stepped forward gracefully, each click of her heel echoing in the room.

A nervous assistant rushed to place a chair where she was about to sit, another hurried to pour her tea, and a third began to fan her gently.

She moved with grace, sitting elegantly and crossing her legs, the handkerchief still near her nose.

"Mon Dieu," she sighed. "The air down here… so dégoutant. You can almost taste the underworld."

Her fan opened, gold glinting under the lights.

"I would not have come... if it weren't for an interesting face I saw in the match."

Her eyes glinted before she smiled faintly.

"But let's start with something simple. I heard my team was crushed in the first half. So, ma chère Rei, explain to me, how could that possibly happen?"

The fan stilled midair.

The sound of the showers faded into total silence. Even breathing stopped. Monique's perfume hung in the air like a deadly smoke, heavy and suffocating.

Rei stood frozen. Her throat moved, but no sound came out.

She tried to stand tall, but her hands trembled at her sides, eyes on the floor.

The question felt more like a threat than a simple request.

The room stayed still, no one dared move or whisper. A single drop of water fell somewhere in the back, echoing loud in the room.

Monique's fan lowered little by little.

"I'm waiting, ma chère capitaine," she said, her voice deepening even more. "Do not make me repeat myself."

Rei swallowed hard, feeling every pair of eyes on her. Finally, she forced herself to speak, voice trembling at first.

"Their... captain. He anticipated everything. Nash Blaze. He saw through our trap with Hiba and turned it against us."

She paused, glancing toward Hina. "So basically... we're in this shit because Hina fucked up."

Hina jumped up fast, her face red and eyes wide.

"Reichi?! I didn't fuck up! I got fucked upside-down!"Kai smirked, Aiko snorted, and Miko barely hid a laugh behind her glasses. Rei pinched the bridge of her nose.

"That's the problem, Hina. You let him... do you. You were supposed to be our secret weapon."

Hina stomped her foot, hands on her hips, cheeks puffing out as she pointed at Rei.

"Yeah, yeah. You talk a lot, but if you had been fucked by his dick, you wouldn't think it's so easy!"

The room froze for a moment, then Kai bit her lip, her shoulders shaking. Aiko covered her mouth, Miko turned away fast, hiding her smile. Even Rei rubbed her forehead, trying not to grin.A few soft laughs slipped out.

The girls in the back leaned on each other, fighting for their life to not laugh at the absurdity Hina just said.For a short moment, the tension was gone.

Then, snap. The fan closed.

Monique leaned forward in her chair, her smile widening as she fanned herself once.

"Oh, mes chéries, laughing already? Bon. Keep it up. Laugh all you want, you will need that humor later. If you fail this match and the whole under league, I'll replace every one of you quick and make you pay your debts in the bordello."

The chuckles died fast, like a switch flipped off, sending a cold silence through the room.

"There are places... where failure is paid in flesh. Where the only job left is to lie down and let others take their turn. Understand?"

She sipped her tea slow.

"You know the fate waiting if you don't win. Debts pile up, and the upper world has no place for failures."

Her eyes locked on Hina.

"For you, ma petite, that might not be such a change. But this time, you won't have to bother using your charm anymore; the good point of the bordello is that all you have to do is just lie down and get pounded until you can't walk."

Hina's eyes went wide, her hands falling to her sides as her face turned pale. She sat down slowly, pressing her legs together tight like she could hide from the words.

A chill ran up her arms, and she hugged herself in silence.

Monique turned her gaze to Rei next, fan waving lazily.

"And you, Rei, my strong captain, might finally try your very first dick, no more hiding behind your little preferences."

Rei's jaw tightened, fists clenched at her sides. She stared at the floor, sweat running down her neck as she tried to hide her quick, shaky breaths.

Monique's smile grew wider, sipping her tea again as she scanned Aiko, Miko and the subs.

The subs with wide eyes and flushed cheeks, some shifting uneasy on their feet, others avoiding her look by staring at their shoes, hands twisting in laps or arms crossed tight over chests like shields.

"I like having the virgins' first time be a hardcore orgy; cocks everywhere, no mercy, stretching you until you break, and the more you laugh during these matches, the more I get invested in making it the most hardcore possible, with every hole filled and no stopping until there's no more volunteer."

The silence was supreme, Kai's smirk gone as she wiped her face blank, Aiko's grin faded to a flat line with arms folding tighter like she held herself together, Miko pushing her glasses up slowly with a hand that shook just a bit.

The staff lowered heads further and avoided any move, the whole room frozen in fear.

Monique set her tea down gentle, fan closing with a click that echoed loud as she fixed her eyes on Rei.

"Now, enough games, ma chère. Tell me more about this Nash Blaze, what makes him so intriguing that he turns my team into fools?"

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