The room is packed tonight. More reporters, more cameras than heâs ever seen. Tonight, theyâd had the entire leagueâs attention: no other games to be a distraction, the biggest stage theyâve seen so far. They could have lostâone less point and it wouldâve been a tie, and they probably wouldâve lost the tiebreaker. Their season wouldâve been over, and Leo would have been sitting in front of a room full of wolves, ready to lap up every moment of their defeat.
It feels unbelievable, every time they just scrape byâbut, in the end, it doesnât fucking matter. They could say that the Foxes barely qualified for the Championships, but Exy doesnât care about barely. A win is a win, whether you win by one point or ten, in regulation of in overtime. They can say tonight that the Foxes barely made it to the final death match before the semi-finals, but when they face the Blue Demons again in two weeks, theyâll be on even footing.Â
âThe third round is a trip,â he says with a laugh, running his hand through his sweaty hair, sparing a thought for how messed up it probably looks for the cameras. With the celebration in the locker room, he hadnât had time to fix it before coming out here with Grant. Next to him, Grant is smooth, polishedâand Leo knows he has to be, their serious captain, probably all-too-aware of the scouts watching, like this is an audition he could fail. Leoâs a little bit looser, more likely to joke with the cameras. But he can get away with that, heâs not under the same pressure. Heâs not a fifth year, and heâs never believed that Exy is his future.Â
âObviously, weâve never been here before, butâyou really have to adjust your strategy, change the way you play the game. Yeah, if this round was based on wins, we wouldnât be moving forwardâbut, if this round was based on wins, we wouldâve approached our two games differently, so who knows what would have happened.â  Â
Another reporter takes the mic, and attention in the room swivels again to Grant. Leo mostly expects it to stay there. âGrant, can you tell us more about your injury? You missed the game against the Bruins, and it looked like you might not come back for this one. How does it feel to be back, and for it to be in your home state?â
For all of Grantâs practice, he isnât as loose as Leo is in front of the cameras. Grant sits straight up, spine stiff, too serious and stern in his answers. He calls it professionalism, especially now, in the final months of his fifth year. When it comes to the draft, it isnât only about how he plays. There are politics to Exy, like anything else. The draft will be about who he isâif they think heâll be a good fit, if they think his status as a Fox means heâs too damaged to play with any other team. Wymack putting him in front of the cameras tonight feels calculated, and Grantâs thankful for that. The more positive exposure Grant can get, the better.Â
Those cameras turn back to Grant, as if on cue, and he waits expectantly for the question. How does it feel to be back on the court? Thatâs easy. The second half is more complicated but itâs hardly unexpected. Grantâs history with Illinois is messy and public. Grantâs life is public. Most days, heâs made his peace with that: as long as the focus is on Exy more than anything else.Â
âAbsolutely,â Grant says, with a nod. âIt was a mild MCL injuryânot enough to keep me out of the game for long, but as you saw, I needed some time off to be safe. Iâm grateful to be back tonight, especially for such an important match, and Iâm looking forward to playing in the next death match and beyond,â he finishes, staking his claim on both the semi-finals and the pros. Injury or no, he isnât finished yet.Â
How does he feel though, now that heâs here in Illinois? Grantâs not sure he knows the answer himself. Itâs been a long time since this was homeâlonger than heâs been a Fox even. Throughout all the custody battles and the foster homes, the seemingly endless back and forths between foster placements and their own cramped apartment, he thought of home as his mom. Once she gave up, once he became part of the system for good? Heâs hated Freeport since then. Hated all of Illinois, even. Palmetto is his home now. Â
His mom wasnât here tonight, obviously, and Grant didnât expect to see her. Heâs been in the public eye again since his freshmen year, and she hasnât once contacted him. He used to be angry about that. He used to think it was her responsibility, because she was the one who stopped fighting for him in the first place. After looking last year though, heâs got her address tooâturns out she wasnât that hard to find either. Turns out itâs harder to reach out than heâd thought, especially when he can say his focus has to be Exy, that the past is only a distraction in his final year. Maybe he understands her silence a bit more, despite the fact that they havenât spoken since he was a teenager. After all, who are they to one another now? What would either of them say?
Grant expected to feel differently about Illinois, if heâs honest. Heâs spent the past week preparing himself, obsessing over the idea of playing again in Chicago, obsessing over what it would mean to win or lose here. He expected tonight to bring up more than it has. But this was an away game, like any other. Illinois is a place like any other. Heâs done what he wanted, all those years ago: heâs severed all ties and found somewhere new to build a legacy. That thought is more bittersweet than heâd realized.
âItâs great to be back in Chicago as a Class I player,â Grant says, because thatâs the expected answer. âGrowing up nearby, I used to dream about this. The reality is even better.â Someone in the background scribbles furiously in their notes, and Grant wishes he could read it. Instead, heâll have to wait for the headlines.
âSpeaking of injuries, tonight we saw Sasha Hart-Ashby pulled from the court after a particularly intense hit,â another reporter says. âLeo, youâve been open about your connection with Sasha in the pastâdo you have any updates on her condition? Will she be back in the next game?âÂ