"Bullshit," Wymack said. "It wasn't an accident."

Neil stared blankly at him, and Wymack gave a short nod before explaining.

"The ERC had an end-of-year meeting a few days before the southeastern district's winter banquet. The NCAA advisors got everyone talking about Riko and Kevin. They had some concerns about the season, they said. They were sure Riko was holding Kevin back, that Kevin was selling himself short so as not to outshine Riko on the court. They wanted to know if it was Coach Moriyama's doing. In response Moriyama pitted Riko and Kevin against each other.

"Riko won," Wymack said, "but I'm thinking he didn't get it fair and square. If he had, maybe things would have turned out differently. As soon as Coach Moriyama dismissed them for the night Riko broke Kevin's hand."

It was like getting punched in the gut. "What?"

Wymack dragged his thumb along the back of his hand, tracing the path of Kevin's injury. "Kevin doesn't talk about his time at Evermore, but I could tell it wasn't the first time Riko or Moriyama laid a hand on him. It was just the first time Kevin was smart enough to pack his bags and walk away. So much for family, hm?"

"I don't believe in family."

"Neither do I."

He meant it. Neil finally understood that look Wymack sent him in Millport, that perfect understanding that undid Neil's defenses. Neil searched his face, looking for the story behind that exhaustion. Whatever broke Wymack happened so long ago he wasn't even bitter over it anymore, but he was definitely still cracked if he poured so much time into the Foxhole Court.

"Why doesn't anyone else know what Riko did?" Neil asked.

"Because Riko is a Moriyama," Wymack said tiredly. "This is where it starts getting messy."

He thought for a minute, then held up his index fingers. "The Moriyama family is broken in half: the main family and the branch family. The main consists of the first-born sons and the branch is for everyone else. Coach Moriyama—Tetsuji—heads the branch family and his older brother Kengo heads the main. Kengo has two sons, Ichirou and Riko. Because Ichirou was born first, he stayed with Kengo in the main family. Riko was born second, so Tetsuji became his legal guardian and Riko became part of the branch family. Follow?"

"I think so."

"The families are estranged," Wymack said. "Kengo and the main family are up in New York City, where Kengo is CEO of an international trading company. One day he'll pass the business to Ichirou. Tetsuji and Riko get a kickback of the profits, but they're considered unimportant and have no say in any business decisions. That's how Tetsuji had the freedom to study in Japan and develop Exy. So long as he doesn't do anything to damage the family's reputation, he is free to do what he likes, and what he likes is to create the most awful and powerful team in the nation. This all is public knowledge."