Yukio passed the basketball to Tetsuo, stepping back quickly into a defensive stance. His sneakers squeaked against the polished court as he shifted his weight forward, knees bent and arms raised.
Tetsuo caught the ball securely with both hands and without hesitation, snapped a pass over to Shino near the wing. As soon as the ball left his hands, Tetsuo hustled into the low post, his footsteps steady and deliberate. Yukio trailed him, sticking close, reading his body language.
"Pass me the ball," said Tetsuo, his voice sharp but composed.
Shino, gripping the ball tightly, gave a small nod and tossed a crisp bounce pass back to him.
Tetsuo turned with fluid footwork, pivoted on his left foot, and lifted into a fadeaway shot. The ball left his fingers in a clean, arcing motion, spinning backward through the air before swishing through the net.
"How did he score from that position? This kid..." Yukio muttered under his breath, eyes narrowing with interest.
"That's Tetsuo, right?" asked a girl from the edge of the gym, her voice rising with excitement.
"Yes, it is him."
"Nice shot, Kawaguchi! My name is Harumi Kurosawa from class 1H. We can hang out sometime!" shouted Harumi, waving her arm high.
"Yes, nice shot! That was amazing!" called another classmate beside her, cupping her hands around her mouth.
"Keep up the good work!" said another girl cheerfully.
Noboru, who had been bouncing slightly on his heels waiting for the ball, scowled as his eyes darted toward the spectators.
"Who the hell are those girls? And why are they cheering for Tetsuo and not me?" he muttered, clearly agitated.
"Looks like Tetsuo got himself some fans," said Hayato, smirking as he stretched out an arm and rolled his shoulder.
"Yeah, looks like the match we played yesterday circulated throughout the whole school already," said Takahiro, adjusting his headband as he glanced up at the stands.
Hayato dribbled the basketball once before passing it over to Noboru. As Noboru caught it, he immediately started sizing up Hayato in front of him.
"Just wait and see. I'm going to leave these girls speechless," said Noboru confidently, gripping the ball tight as he began dribbling toward the hoop. His footfalls were sharp and quick.
But Hayato's read was sharp. He lunged, arms low and controlled, and knocked the ball clean out of Noboru's hands.
"Crap, you ruined my moment, Hayato."
Hayato didn't respond—he spun away and passed to Takahiro, who caught the ball in stride. Shino stepped forward, planting his feet to guard him.
"He's not much taller, but he's way bigger than me and more experienced, how will I stop him?" Shino asked himself, his heart thumping as he shuffled backward, trying to anticipate Takahiro's next move.
Takahiro faked a shot. Shino reacted instinctively, jumping up with arms flailing—only to realize he'd been baited. Takahiro drove past him and surged toward the basket. Under the hoop, Tetsuo leaped to block, his hands extending high—but Takahiro flicked the ball upward mid-air.
Yukio sprinted in from the side, caught the lob effortlessly, and dunked the ball with a clean slam. The backboard trembled slightly.
The ball bounced once on the court, echoing sharply.
From the stands, screams rang out.
"Hamaguchi-senpai, you're so cool! Nice slam dunk!" cried a girl.
"Keep it up, captain, I'm rooting for you!" shouted another.
Noboru, watching all this unfold, groaned under his breath. "Even Yukio is getting cheered on. This sucks," he muttered, frustrated.
Tetsuo picked up the ball and passed it in to Yukio, who took a few slow dribbles forward. Tetsuo quickly set into his defensive stance, eyes locked on him.
But Yukio swung a pass to Hayato at the arc. Hayato caught it, rose into a jump shot, and released the ball cleanly.
The swish echoed as it went through the net.
"What do you think of that shot, ladies?" said Hayato to himself with a cocky grin, glancing upward toward the crowd.
"Who is that guy?" asked a girl.
"I don't know. His picture wasn't in the newspaper."
"Yeah, so it seems. Oh well, he's not important, just ignore him," said one of the girls dismissively.
"For some reason, I feel offended by that," said Hayato to himself as his expression fell slightly.
Yukio passed the ball to Takahiro, who drove hard and scored a smooth layup. The sweat on his forehead dripped down as he jogged back, breathing steadily.
A quick inbound from Hayato to Yukio set up another possession, and once again, Takahiro cut inside for a clean finish at the rim.
"We can't win, they're too good," said Shino to himself, panting as he kept pace.
"They're taking advantage of your inexperience. It's not like we can't win, it's just that they have the edge in terms of strategy," said Tetsuo calmly, adjusting his footing and watching the ball.
Hayato passed to Yukio. Tetsuo stepped up, arms wide.
"A one-on-one with Tetsuo so soon? Let's see what you've got, freshmen," said Yukio, lowering his stance and pushing forward.
Tetsuo stayed tight on him, moving his feet quickly. As Yukio spun off his shoulder and went up for a layup, Tetsuo jumped with precise timing and slapped the ball off course.
"Tetsuo sure can jump. If I'm not careful, I won't score a thing," thought Yukio as he landed and looked back.
The ball was recovered. Tetsuo quickly passed to Noboru. Shino ran over and set a firm screen, his shoulders squared, giving Tetsuo time to cut.
Noboru passed to Tetsuo on the move. Without breaking stride, Tetsuo rose up and launched a three-pointer that splashed through the net.
"Amazing, nice shot, Kawaguchi!" shouted Harumi.
"Yeah, nice shot!" echoed another girl from behind her.
Noboru, gaining momentum, drove down the court and scored a fast layup, narrowing the gap.
Later, Tetsuo pushed in for a layup but was met at the rim—Yukio timed it well and swatted the ball away with a clean block. He then took the ball downcourt and slammed it with authority.
Hayato followed with a quick cut and scored an uncontested layup.
But Tetsuo wasn't done. He baited Hayato into relaxing, poked the ball loose, recovered it, and stepped back behind the arc.
He fired—and once again, the ball sank perfectly into the net.
"I'm finally here, guys. Class was surprisingly boring today. I couldn't wait for it to... Wait, who gave you permission to play games?" Nanaho's voice cut through the gym, sharp and cold.
The gym fell silent.
"The captain did," said Noboru quickly, his finger shooting toward Yukio without pause.
He didn't even hesitate. What a snitch, thought both Hayato and Takahiro at the same time, exchanging a side glance.
"I just thought that we could occupy our time with a friendly three-on-three until you were ready," said Yukio with a calm expression.
"I see, well, as long as you can do my training regimens without complaining, then I see no problem," said Nanaho, brushing her bangs aside.
"Why did they stop? Come on, Tetsuo, I want to see you play some more!" shouted Harumi.
"Yeah, please, you're so cool!" added another girl, gripping the railing.
"Shut the hell up and get outta here! Can't you see that we are busy?" snapped Noboru, clearly irritated.
"How rude! How dare you talk to me like that, pipsqueak!" shouted one of the girls.
"I dare you to come down here and say that to me with those freckles on your face!" Noboru shot back.
"How could you say such a thing about her? That's mean!" cried another.
"Just shut up and—"
Before he could finish, Nanaho appeared beside him and slammed a punch into his shoulder.
"Ouch! What was that for?!"
"Just you wait until training starts. You'll wish you didn't say that to a lady," said Nanaho with a dark, unblinking stare.
"I'm screwed. This girl is going to kill me for sure," muttered Noboru as he gulped.
"That was quite the warm-up," said Yukio as he wiped the sweat off his neck with a towel, breathing slowly.
"Yukio-senpai, I love you! Please go out with me!" squealed a second-year girl from the upper stands.
Nanaho, eyebrows twitching, grabbed a basketball and hurled it at the group.
"Hey, that hurt! Why did you do that?" the girl yelped, holding her shoulder.
"I'm going to kindly ask you to leave unless you want to play dodge the basketball for the rest of the day," Nanaho said, her tone eerily calm, face blank.
The girls all screamed and scrambled out of the gym.
"And she punched me for setting them straight. Serves them right," said Noboru, laughing to himself.
Nanaho blew out a sigh and turned back toward the group.
"Alright, so after our match against Yokonan the other day, I had determined what each and every one of you needs to work on.
"I'll start with Shino. You performed admirably despite not knowing much about the game. You didn't travel or carry in the game, and your passing wasn't as precise, but they were decent enough. Your defense wasn't half bad, and you were even able to score some points. From here on out, you'll be working on shooting free throws, making layups, scoring mid-range shots, and also the usual like dribbling and passing."
"Next will be Noboru. You have a great understanding of your role on this team. You're a great runner and you're good at making layups in transition. However, you lack the necessary endurance to keep up in a high-paced game and were unable to play when we needed you the most. So, I prepared a training regimen specifically for you. With the approval of the track coach, you are now able to spend an hour after school doing stamina training with the girl's track team," said Nanaho.
"What, no way! I will not be training with no girl!" shouted Noboru, aghast.
"Well, the boy's track team training is more rigorous, so if you want to do it, I'll make the necessary arrangements," said Nanaho firmly.
"I'll stick with the girl's training" Noboru reacted quickly.
"Good, after you finish stamina training, you will be working on your shooting, practicing your free throws, and going back to dribbling and passing."
"Takahiro, Yukio, and Hayato, you guys are good, and I see no problem with you. So you guys will be sticking to the previous training," said Nanaho.
"Sweet, we can rest easy then," said Hayato, visibly relieved.
"And lastly, Tetsuo, you are really good at everything, and there is no problem or issue with your play style. However, you shoot way more than you drive. You should try and change that up to be less predictable."
"Understood," said Tetsuo, nodding calmly.