? "Babygirl... When I look into your blue eyes..." ?

  ? "I feel the ocean, I feel the tide, I'm getting so lost..." ?

  ? "You say you're leaving, walking out that door..." ?

  ? "But my heart is bleeding, down here on the floor!" ?

  ? "Ohhhhh, don't break my soul in two!" ?

  ? "'Cause there is no meeeeee without youuuu!" ?

  ? "Yeah! I said there's no meee-eeeeeee! Without youuuuuu-woah-oh-ohhh!" ?

  Caeser lowered the microphone, his eyes closed, his chest heaving as if he had just experienced a heartbreak. For a man who stood six-foot-nine, Caeser took early 2000s R&B ballads with a profound level of emotional sincerity.

  ...

  The Victoria Dragons' private karaoke suite was a mess of half-empty pizza boxes, crushed soda cans, and towering athletes doing entirely their own things. Near the TV screen, the spiky-haired spiker and the libero were locked in a cheeks reddening, high-stakes game of rock-paper-scissors. Two other bench players were arguing over what song to queue next.

  In the corner, slouched so deep into the leather booth that he was horizontal, sat Damian. The setter's eyes were completely vacant, staring straight up at a spinning disco ball. He was holding a half-eaten slice of pepperoni pizza in one hand, taking a bite every thirty seconds. He refused to speak, or to sing. He was in his little happy place: eating and existing.

  At the other end of the leather couch, bathed in the blue glow of his smartphone screen, Kevin Marvant was giggling.

  He had his thumbs hovering over the digital keyboard, grinning like an idiot at the messages popping up on his screen.

  Kewkvin145: Heard you're on the bus to Larken. Bring me back a cow.

  Himeko: I'm not stealing livestock for you, Kevin.

  Kewkvin145: Just one? I'll hide it in Damian's locker. He won't notice until it eats his kneepads.

  Himeko: What do you mean you will hide it in Damian's locker? That's very dangerous and a criminal offense. Also how do you even fit a cow into a locker? Doesn't make sense.

  Kewkvin145: You're so mean to me. I made you a Michelin-star pot of fish porridge while you were sick, and this is the thanks I get?

  Himeko: It's decent... but you can't use that to excuse for everything you say and do.

  Kewkvin145: Well I guess catching when you fell over me, buying medicine when you couldn't take it yourself, watching out for you a whole night don't count then.

  Himeko: ...

  Himeko: I am blocking this number.

  Kevin let out a sharp laugh, quickly typing back.

  Kewkvin145: Wait no! I have vital tatical data, very useful. Trust.

  Himeko: Send it. Also don't bother me for the next few hours, we almost arrived.

  Kevin snorted, his shoulders shaking. Even through text, her hyper-literal pushback was so distinctly her. She was trying to be cold as much as she could, but to Kevin, it was just unintentionally, overwhelmingly cute.

  The cushion dipped heavily next to him.

  Davio plopped down, holding a can of sparkling water. He leaned over, trying to peek at Kevin's screen.

  "What's so funny, Cap?" Davio asked, raising an eyebrow. "Texting the girlfriend?"

  Kevin quickly tilted the phone screen away, hitting the lock button. His easy grin remained.

  "No girlfriend."

  Davio rolled his eyes, taking a sip of his water. "Liar liar, pants on fire. Bro, you're the MVP of lady killer. You probably have at least ten supermodels in your DMs right now waiting for a text back."

  Kevin leaned back against the couch, crossing one ankle over his knee. He twirled his locked phone between his fingers, looking highly amused.

  "While that could be true, don't judge a book by its cover, Lil Dave," Kevin said, pressing a hand to his chest like a Godfather. "I know I look like a guy who likes to play the field, but deep down? I might just be the most loyal motherfucker on earth."

  Davio stared at him for a flat two seconds.

  "Cap. Mega cap."

  "Serious!" Kevin laughed, tossing a piece of popcorn at the hitter. "I'm a one-woman kind of guy. Just waiting for the right one to realize it."

  Davio shook his head, brushing the popcorn off his shirt. "Whatever you say, loverboy. I'm going to go save Caeser from himself."

  As Davio walked away to mercifully queue up a hip-hop track, Kevin let his phone drop into his lap. He looked up at the ceiling, the flashing karaoke lights painting his face in pink and blue.

  Kevin smiled to himself, picking up his phone to type out one last message before letting her focus.

  Kewkvin145: Good luck today, Captain. Remember to have fun, and don't block them too hard.

  Himeko stared at the glowing screen resting in her lap. The small text bubble from Kevin sat at the bottom of the chat history. A tiny smile broke across her face. She locked the phone, tucking it away into her jacket pocket.

  Outside the tinted glass of the team bus, the world turned into an endless ocean of green. Massive rice fields stretched all the way to the horizon, the stalks rippling under the afternoon breeze like waves rolling across a tropical bay.

  Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  Bzzzzzzzk.

  A high-pitched squeal of electronic suddenly pierced the silence inside the bus.

  Coach Elena Vance stood at the front of the center aisle, holding a red plastic megaphone to her mouth.

  "Attention Divers!" her voice boomed, artificially amplified. "As you all know, we are entering Larken province. This is my ground. My hometown! So put away your phones and listen up, because I will be your official tour guide for the duration of this trip."

  A hand shot up from the middle rows before Elena could even finish her sentence. The coach pointed the megaphone directly at the offender.

  "Yes, Jules?"

  Jules leaned over her seatmate, grinning widely. "Coach, can we steal a cow while we're here?"

  Elena let out a loud groan, lowering the megaphone to rub her temples. "Are you kidding me? Every single time! Everyone keeps bringing up that stupid story. Is that seriously all Larken is known for now?"

  The story in question had dominated the national headlines for a solid week the previous summer. A local Larken farmer decided to quietly appropriate his neighbor's prized dairy cow. To avoid local suspicion, he formulated a master plan: walk the animal on foot all the way to the capital city of Victoria to sell it. Three days and seventy miles later, he paraded the exhausted cow right into the center of the metropolis. The Victoria police, understandably confused by a man walking livestock past high-end retail stores and traffic lights, recognized the reportings and arrested him on the spot.

  From the back of the bus, Mei piped up. "Well, what else does Larken actually have, Coach?"

  Elena stood up a little straighter, putting the megaphone back to her lips. She prepared to list the grand wonders of her home province.

  "We have... well, we have..." She paused, her eyes darting around the bus as she struggled to find the words. "Rice. We have a lot of rice. And... vegetables. Root vegetables are fantastic here! Oh, and... livestock."

  The coach's awkward summary basically captured the entire background of the region. Larken stood as the agricultural backbone of Voland. For generations, the province relied entirely on the soil, feeding the rest of the nation with its massive yields. Economically, the area remained one of the poorest provinces on the map. Endless fields of crops provided a stability for the locals, leaving very little room for actual wealth accumulation. Recently, the local government had begun a desperate push to change the narrative, slowly attempting to pry open its closed economy by inviting in manufacturing industries and pushing rural tourism campaigns to catch up with the modern era.

  Elena’s desperate search for a fun local fact got saved by the horizon. Through the expansive windshield of the bus, a colossal structure began to rise above the endless sea of green crops.

  "Aha!" Elena's voice crackled through the plastic megaphone. She pointed triumphantly toward the front glass. "Behold, ladies! The Bridge of Fate!"

  The players leaned into the center aisle to get a better look. Massive suspension cables caught the afternoon sun, gleaming like spun gold against the clouds. Towering pillars anchored the structure over a rushing river, casting long shadows across the water.

  Elena cleared her throat, settling into her tour guide persona. "Legend says, thousands of years ago, the Heavenly Kingdom fell to a surprise attack. The demon legions swarmed the pearly gates. Our Moon Goddess, Blakimanditu, was just a young deity back then. She had to flee for her life, sprinting across this exact bridge to escape the darkness!"

  In reality, the gleaming architectural marvel passing by their windows was a modern, luxurious reconstruction. The historical "bridge" from the myth had simply been a natural collection of flat rocks acting as stepping stones across the wide water body. Those original stones had eroded and collapsed into the riverbed centuries ago. When the local government first unveiled the blueprints for this towering steel homage, outrage flooded the farming communities. Protests erupted across the province, with locals furious at the astronomical price tag slapped onto a vanity project while the region's economy scraped the bottom of the barrel.

  Jules raised her hand again, waving it eagerly to interrupt the history lesson. "Wait, Coach. Why did the demons invade the heavenly kingdom in the first place?"

  Elena slowly lowered the megaphone to her chest. She blinked, staring at her star outside hitter. Pffft, as if she knew.

  Following the young Goddess's escape, the Heavenly Kingdom suffered under total demonic occupation. The war seemed entirely lost until a lone commander named Jusata stepped forward. Gathering a desperate vanguard group, Jusata led a blistering counter-attack into the occupied realm. Facing completely impossible odds, the commander fought with unyielding will. The celestial forces clawed their way back to the Heavenly Kingdom, inch by bloody inch, eventually routing the demon horde and reclaiming the kingdom for the Goddess.

  The victory carried the ultimate toll. Standing amidst the reclaimed glory of the heavens, having secured the safety of the realm, Commander Jusata finally dropped his weapon. He collapsed onto the celestial floor, dying right there from exhaustion.

  ...

  Thirty minutes later, they arrived at the Larken Center Stadium.