Chapter 45: Coach, I Want to Play Basketball
The moment Riko finished speaking, she suddenly felt her cheeks grow warm.
It almost felt like she was bringing a new boyfriend to meet her friends.
If I really were with Kira… but he's way too amazing, I… ugh, what am I even thinking?!
She slapped those strange thoughts out of her mind and quickly guided Kira into the gym.
The moment she pushed open the door, they were greeted by the basketball club members standing neatly in formation.
"Good afternoon, Coach Riko!"
"Welcome, Kira-san! Thank you for visiting Seirin Basketball Club!"
"Welcome, welcome!"
After shouting their greetings, they bowed deeply toward both Riko and Kira.
To them, anyone connected to Riko — especially someone as famous as Kira — was an extremely important guest who must be treated with utmost respect.
"..."
Kira had never seen anything quite like this.
For a moment, he had no idea what part of this he should even comment on.
Still, he smiled politely, introduced himself, and exchanged greetings with the team.
While they introduced themselves, Hyuga, Kagami, and especially Teppei Kiyoshi observed Kira carefully.
His physique — solid, balanced, explosive — clearly came from tremendous, disciplined training.
They had heard that the program Riko created for him was brutal.
Even Seirin players struggled with it; most would collapse within days.
And yet, Kira completed it.
That alone proved his overwhelming willpower — no wonder he became a star athlete.
Meanwhile, the veins on Riko's forehead were bulging.
Right now, she was this close to grabbing everyone present and slamming them into the floor.
But with Kira next to her, she forced herself to push down her fury, speaking in the gentlest voice she could muster:
"So… did everyone finish the training I assigned earlier?"
"Yes! All done!"
"Coach Riko suddenly being this gentle feels weird…"
"I'm scared…"
"In that case, let's add a little extra training!"
Riko said sweetly — too sweetly — but the killing intent beneath her tone was unmistakable.
"I suddenly have a really bad feeling about this…"
"I told you something was wrong!"
"Save me!!"
...
An hour later, training moved from conditioning to ball-handling drills and tactical exercises.
Kira sat on the side, watching intently.
To his surprise, many of these drills could be adapted into his daily soccer training.
"Alright, next we're doing some scrimmage work. But since we only have nine people today, let's run three teams and do half-court 3v3."
After a full session, Riko decided it was time for practical training.
"Only nine people?"
Teppei Kiyoshi glanced over and noticed Kira sitting at the side.
"Kira-kun, do you know how to play basketball? Want to join us for a bit?"
"Me? I haven't really played before. I only know the basic rules."
Kira scratched his cheek, smiling.
He planned to decline; he only had basic knowledge — mostly from anime he watched long ago.
But then—
A sudden thought flashed through his mind.
His Thunder Breathing skills were specialized for athletic performance.
If they enhanced soccer…
Could they also enhance basketball?
If so, their usefulness might be even greater than he originally imagined.
And even if basketball and soccer were different sports, their fundamentals weren't completely unrelated.
He might even learn things here that he could apply to soccer.
Plus, he could treat it as a light warm-up.
"I'm terrible though. Go easy on me."
"Haha, it's fine! We're just fooling around anyway."
Kiyoshi smiled and brought Kira onto the court.
He fully believed Kira was telling the truth — after all, Kira was a soccer player; he likely invested almost all his time into soccer training. Basketball wasn't something he'd practice much.
Teams were quickly formed:
Team A: Seirin's regular starting five
Team B: Four bench members + Kira
Normally, scrimmages were starters vs substitutes anyway. Winning didn't matter — practicing coordination did.
So even if Kira wasn't good, it wouldn't disrupt much.
The match began. Both centers stepped into the middle circle for the tip-off.
"Um… excuse me. Can I try doing the tip-off?"
Before the match officially started, Kira politely asked.
"You… want to jump against Kiyoshi?"
Everyone blinked in surprise.
Then they all laughed, thinking Kira was joking.
Sure, Kira was tall — around 180cm.
But Kiyoshi Teppei was nearly 200 cms tall with exceptional athleticism.
It wasn't a fair contest at all.
[TL: Bruh even fictional characters are taller than me TT_TT]
But to Kira… it might not be impossible.
Earlier, while watching the basketball drills, a thought struck him:
If Thunderclap and Flash enhanced running and shooting…
could it enhance jumping?
In soccer, vertical leap was crucial — especially for aerial duels and headers.
If he could use the technique for jumping, it would be extremely valuable.
This tip-off was the perfect test — a simulation of a contested header.
"Sure. Doesn't matter to me."
Kiyoshi smiled and nodded.
It was just practice anyway.
"Is he serious…?"
Riko blinked in confusion.
But since no one objected, she simply signaled the two to step into the circle.
She raised the ball, took a breath, and tossed it into the air—
Both Kiyoshi and Kira jumped at the exact same moment.