"First-years, keep up!"
"Those in the back, don't fall behind! Pick up the pace…"
Most training sessions began with running, since at the high school level, jogging was one of the most common and effective warm-up exercises.
The new recruits who had just joined Seiho High's basketball team had heard all the rumors about the intensity of high school basketball training, how it was on a completely different level from junior high.
Still, none of them had expected this.
This was just the warm-up, yet Seiho had already hit them with such a brutal wake-up call.
"Huff… huff… I'm dying here… I can barely breathe."
"No way… how much longer are we supposed to run?"
"Hah… hah… the pace is insane. Is this really just the warm-up?"
On the 400-meter track, Seiho's starting lineup maintained a neat formation at the front, leading the pack.
The group of first-years trailing behind, however, was already in chaos.
Some had fallen behind by more than half a lap. Others were on the verge of being lapped entirely by the third-years coming up from behind.
And this was barely fifteen minutes into practice.
To put it in perspective: passing Seiho's entrance trials meant you were no slouch. Aside from a few prodigies, most of the rookies had endured intense training back in junior high. Their game skills varied, but physically, none of them should have been weak.
Yet here they were…
"Too strong… they're way too strong! It's only now I realize how lucky we were to win yesterday's match." One rookie, who had been on the same team as Akashi Asuka the day before, gasped between breaths as he watched the third-years pull farther ahead.
"That's what I'm saying… maybe yesterday's win didn't really have much to do with us," another muttered.
"Shut up! I don't need you rubbing it in!" the first one snapped, face red.
"But still… those two guys really are monsters. To think they could keep up with the upperclassmen from the moment they joined… I guess geniuses really are built differently."
He wasn't the only one impressed. Looking ahead, the first-years could clearly see two newcomers, one tall, one shorter, running right behind the third-years, never once dropping back.
Even veterans like Tsutomu Iwamura and the other third-years glanced over, a little surprised.
A few minutes later…
Coach Matsumoto Yukinori finally called out to the first-years.
"All right, first-years, that's enough jogging. Go do your warm-up drills. Second and third-years, keep running."
"Ahhh… thought I was going to die…"
The moment the order came, the first-years practically collapsed at the track's edge, gulping in fresh air.
"This is insane… are the second and third-years even human? They've been keeping this pace for so long, and their formation hasn't even broken!"
"I heard a rumor," one rookie said between gasps. "Apparently, Seiho's training volume is different for each grade, first-years do the baseline workload, second-years do double that, and third-years do triple."
"No way… seriously? That means Iwamura-senpai and the others are running twice as far as we are?"
"Wait, what are those two doing?" another rookie pointed.
Everyone followed his gaze.
Akashi Asuka and Tsugawa Tomoki were still running, following right behind the third-years.
"They didn't hear the coach? Should we tell them?"
"Yeah, we probably should. There's still more practice after this, they should save their stamina…"
One rookie stood up, and as the two passed by, he called out, "Hey! Akashi, Tsugawa! First-years' warm-up is over, you can stop now!"
Akashi didn't answer. He just glanced their way, waved to show he'd heard… and kept running.
The other first-years stared blankly.
"…They're not seriously planning to keep training for the third-years, are they?"
"That's impossible. Even if they're strong, training and playing in a match are completely different. The third-years have two more years of training on them. No genius could match that intensity."
"And besides… would geniuses even work this hard? Don't they just get stronger without trying?"
Silence fell.
After a while, someone asked quietly, "…So, what should we do? Should we join them?"
"I'm not going. I'm wiped out, I can't even move."
"I'm going," another said firmly. "Even if I can't match their pace, I'll do everything I can. I might not get a chance to play this year… but next year, when the upperclassmen retire, I'm taking a starting spot."
And just like that…
The rookies split into two groups.
One group got back in formation and rejoined the running. The other stayed where they were, recovering.
From a distance, Coach Matsumoto and Kitayama Yuzuki watched without interfering.
But from the faint smile on Matsumoto's face, it was clear he was pleased.
"Looks like this year's rookies are awakening earlier than usual."
"Probably because Akashi and Tsugawa are pushing them. Competing with someone your own age can light a fire under you in a way upperclassmen can't."
What the first-years saw as a random split was, in Matsumoto's eyes, the start of their future paths.
Seiho High, one of the "Three Kings of Tokyo," was not a place where survival came easily.
If the rookies had paid closer attention, they would have noticed something. Despite its status, Seiho's second- and third-year rosters were surprisingly small.
Yet the team's tryouts were incredibly lenient.
Even this year's so-called "tough" entrance trials had only eliminated two people, one who quit after seeing the others' strength, and another whose physical condition simply couldn't meet the minimum standard.
Which meant… almost everyone passed.
So why, by the time they reached their second or third year, did so few remain?
The answer was simple.
During training… they chose to quit.
==========
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