Joe
This is all wrong.
Despite the swirling emotions welling up inside of him, he gave the men who came a smile and a wave. It was also sort of weird that they just left. Typically, people will talk after a game. That was the thing. They were all acting weird, as if they were under a spell or something. For example, why were they completely ok with obliterating Jeanne in this basketball game? They didn't seem that mean when they met. One of the guys even asked if it was ok to team up on a girl before suddenly deciding it was ok.
That was the other thing. Yeah, Jeanne wasn't the best at offense, with clear talent for dribbling, but not enough experience. However, she didn't need to worry about dribbling on defense. They shouldn't have been able to score on her so easily with her speed.
So why was that so easy? he thought, allowing Jeanne to pull him in by the shirt. Even while he felt his heart beating with excitement and anticipation, something was wrong. For a brief moment, his brows furrowed before quickly subsiding. He lightly pulled away from Sakura, his head swishing back and forth, his gaze shifting between the two of them.
"Yeah no thanks Jeanne," he said, blatantly contrasting her teasing tone with something more serious. "You were holding back and Sakura, you were in on it somehow."
Honestly, if he weren't high on endorphins and victory (even a fake victory), he wouldn't be this bold. Besides, they were obviously not as blood thirsty as he first thought, so he knew he could speak his mind at least.