Part-441

  Ahsan, always the one to catch the little things, totally clocked the vibe shift. He nudged Kiyoshi, keeping his voice down low so only he could hear. “Well, well, well, Captain," he said, with this little smirk pying on his face. It was a bit sarcastic, you know? Like, ‘aren’t we just so welcome here?’ But his eyes were serious, like he wasn't really joking around either.

  Kiyoshi just nodded, his eyes locked on the Motijheel crew. He was taking them all in, you know? Like a quick scan – size, skills, that whole ‘we’re too cool for school’ confidence they were radiating. He saw those sneaky gnces they were throwing, those smirks they were trying to hide but weren’t really succeeding at. Yeah, Kiyoshi got it. Loud and clear. They were the outsiders here. The underdogs. Basically, they'd just walked into the lion's den uninvited. Awesome.

  Kiyoshi just shrugged it off, but there was this real calm intensity in his voice when he finally spoke. “Let ‘em think we’re nothing,” he said, all chill and steady. But you could hear this edge in his voice, like steel beneath the surface. “Thinking we’re easy? That’s their mistake.” He finally looked over at Ahsan, and you could see this spark light up in his eyes. Like, yeah, they might think they know what's up, but they have no idea. “Let’s just go out there and show them exactly what Banani High can do.”

  Then James, who’d been standing there like a statue, just watching everything go down with this totally bnk face – seriously, you could never read that guy – he moved a step forward to stand next to Kiyoshi. He didn't say a single word, not even a grunt. But just him being there, standing shoulder to shoulder with Kiyoshi, it was like he was saying a whole lot without saying anything at all. It was like a quiet promise, a silent backup. Like, ‘Yeah, we’re here, and things are about to get interesting.’ You just knew something was going to be different now.

  Tahera, being the super practical one in the group, just cpped her hands together – hard. Like, snap – everyone’s attention on her now. She was like, "Alright, people! Group hug! Just kidding, huddle up!" Her voice just sliced right through all that awkward, tense air hanging around.

  “Focus, people, focus!” she yelled, like she was trying to get everyone’s brain back in the game. “We didn’t come here to check out their cute little court décor, did we? Nope! We’re here for one reason and one reason only: basketball!” Tahera’s voice is usually, like, loud. The kind of loud that makes some of the guys want to hide under their jerseys sometimes, you know? But right then? Honestly, it was exactly what everyone needed. It was like a shot of pure energy, a jolt of ‘okay, let’s actually do this’ that just snapped everyone back to reality.