JSWGAS Chapter 47

47.

“Who is that kid?”

Maki asked.

Shiroiwa stood next to him, tossing a basketball in his hand. Unlike the gloomy Maki, his naturally smiling lips always had a faint smile.

“Never seen him before. He must be a first-year student promoted from the third string during this test.”

Maki clicked his tongue impatiently, “Another first-year?”

“Don’t say that.”

Shiroiwa stood outside the three-point line, squinting, his lower body slightly squatting, his fingers and palms exerting force. The basketball drew a perfect parabola in the air, going in cleanly.

The basketball landed, bounced up due to the reaction force, and then rolled to the side under the gaze of the two. Shiroiwa glanced at the silent second-string members on the adjacent court. Many of them were also first-year students. “There are still many first-year students who are polite and don’t cause trouble for their seniors.”

Maki took a basketball from the side, “Say something I can understand.”

Shiroiwa turned his gaze back, his smile deepening.

“Enthusiastic and humble underclassmen will definitely help us, telling disobedient underclassmen what to do. How to respect seniors is also a kind of knowledge.”

“Oh — I get it. You mean use the same methods we used to deal with Nijimura and Yabaomoto to deal with this idiot today?”

Shiroiwa just smiled without saying a word, neither admitting nor denying.

Contrary to the smile, his eyes swept over Maki.

Idiot.

If the captain hadn’t suddenly wanted to promote two first-years to the first string, he wouldn’t want to cooperate with an idiot like Maki.

Shiroiwa took another ball from the ball basket next to him, stepped back again, squinted, and aimed at the basket.

Another goal.

…The starting position will definitely be mine.

…

Kokonoe Taka and Yabaomoto Suzume saw each other in silence for quite a long time. They left the gymnasium together and went to the activity room. Along the way, they maintained a safe distance between them.

Yabaomoto Suzume secretly glanced at the person next to him who was taking big steps. The other person’s expression was very calm, as if he wasn’t the one who publicly embarrassed Maki.

Maki was a well-known delinquent in the second grade, dominating the basketball club’s second string. The upperclassmen didn’t want to interfere, and the lowerclassmen felt they couldn’t afford to provoke him, so they were all submissive to him. Yabaomoto had a few minor conflicts with Maki when he was promoted to the second string. Later, because the first string was short of manpower and needed to replenish players, Maki regarded him as a thorn in his side even more.

Not only did he deliberately fail to register his completed training tasks, but he also deliberately blocked positions and stole the ball in friendly matches with other schools, using the matches to make underhanded moves. This has intensified recently.

The reason he was late today was because he was carelessly locked in an empty classroom by a group of delinquents on the way here. He finally pried the door open before barely making it. As a result, when he went to the activity room to change clothes, he found that his locker door was wide open, and everything inside was gone.

Kokonoe Taka and Yabaomoto entered the activity room together, and the latter suddenly said, “Actually, you didn’t have to help me.”

Kokonoe Taka didn’t look at him, but asked, “Did I meddle in other people’s business?” He shrugged and handed him the spare clothes in his bag. Yabaomoto took it, hesitated, and said very honestly: “No, if you help me, Maki and the others will target you too.”

He paused, “And I won’t always be like this…”

Kokonoe Taka asked with great interest, “What are you going to do?”

“Take revenge? I told the teachers about this kind of thing before, but they didn’t care.” Yabaomoto took off his school uniform neatly, revealing a large area of skin. Kokonoe Taka keenly noticed the blue and purple bruises on Yabaomoto’s back and elbows.

He stared at it for too long, and Yabaomoto thoughtfully glanced at the wound on his body: “Ah, this was left behind when Nijimura and I were bullied before.”

Yabaomoto Suzume had a delicate and sunny appearance, with gentle features, more like a good student welcomed by teachers. Kokonoe Taka raised his eyebrows in surprise and asked, “Did you win?”

“…You’re really strange. Others would avoid me like the plague if they knew I was fighting against delinquents.” Yabaomoto Suzume changed his clothes, “Thanks, but it’s best not to get too close to me if you don’t want to get into trouble.”

“Too late.” Kokonoe Taka said calmly, “I want to become a formal member, and Maki will be in the way.”

“…You’re reallyDare to say?” Yabaomoto Suzume laughed, “You’ve only been promoted to the second string not long ago, you don’t know that getting into the first string isn’t that easy.”

“But you’re not worried that Maki will prevent you from entering the first string.” He pointed out.

“Well, that’s because I’m strong.”

Yabaomoto’s tone was unquestionable when he said this, he was extremely confident in his own strength. Kokonoe Taka didn’t say anything else and left the activity room at Yabaomoto’s urging.

After he left, Yabaomoto Suzume moved his neck and found Maki’s locker.

…

Training, training, training.

And observation.

Maki, not far away, occasionally cast malicious glances, and the person next to him who was always smiling also harbored hostility. Kokonoe Taka finished a set of shooting training, glancing at the others who were also training.

Hayakawa and Aida stopped approaching him after he returned from the activity room, and they quickly integrated into the other first-year students’ small group. This was something that had been foreshadowed.

They turned into another path.

Kokonoe Taka withdrew his gaze and began to repeat the boring training again. Not long after, the coach clapped his hands, gathered everyone together, and announced a free combination to play two 3v3 matches.

Not long after he finished speaking, the team members hugged each other and quickly determined their combinations. Hayakawa hesitated, wanting to invite Kokonoe to join this group, but was stopped by Aida, “Why do you think no one is going to be with him and Yabaomoto?” He said in a low voice, “Don’t bring trouble on yourself.”

On the other side, Yabaomoto Suzume walked over helplessly, touching his head, “I knew I would be left out.”

On the court, only Yabaomoto Suzume and Kokonoe Taka had not found a team, and on the opposite side, Maki and Shiroiwa were eyeing them covetously.

“We’re missing one person.”

“Nijimura was detained by the teacher, but he should be able to make it.” Yabaomoto Suzume said.

“Have you been left out before?”

“Often.” Yabaomoto didn’t want to say more, “We haven’t cooperated before, let’s talk about our habits and get to know each other? I don’t want to lose to Maki and the others.”

“Actually,” Kokonoe Taka’s eyes revealed a strange smile, “I haven’t been playing basketball for long.”

Yabaomoto Suzume was originally baring his teeth at Maki, but when he heard this, his head turned around instantly, “Huh?!”

He dragged Kokonoe Taka over: “How did you pass the second string test?!”

Basketball powerhouses aren’t just for show. The second string test at Teiko Middle School is something that can be achieved with effort for skilled players. But for novices, it’s as difficult as climbing to the sky without three to five months of accumulation.

“I used to play tennis.” Kokonoe Taka was a head taller than Yabaomoto, and he had to bend over slightly when he was being pressed by him. The latter was puzzled, “Then why didn’t you continue?”

“I think basketball is more interesting now.” Kokonoe Taka said frankly, “So I want to try to see what I can do.”

Yabaomoto let go of him: “You’re really Dare to say…” He frowned and pondered for a moment, “Then I’ll talk about me first. My position is point guard, usually organizing offense, controlling the ball, passing the ball, and my shooting and three-point accuracy is also relatively high.”

“Nijimura – he’s a power forward, very offensive, but his defensive ability isn’t weak either. If you can’t get past someone, you can pass the ball to him, and he’ll handle it.”

“In Maki’s team, Maki is a small forward, his dribbling and breakthrough skills are very good, and he’s very fast, but he’s not good at long-distance shooting; Shiroiwa is a center, don’t look at him being a little shorter than Maki, but he jumps very high and his hang time is also very strong. He actually started out as a shooting guard, but later the coach discovered that his rebounding ability was excellent, so he switched him to center. Therefore, Shiroiwa’s scoring ability is also very strong.”

“There’s also Domo, a shooting guard, whose level is worse than Maki and Shiroiwa, but his development is more balanced.”

Kokonoe Taka carefully noted these down, “I’ve played small forward in 3v3 in my previous team, and my level is okay.”

The 3v3 in the third string actually doesn’t have much reference value, but Yabaomoto still nodded, “Maki will come to block me, Shiroiwa will go find Nijimura, and you should be facing Domo. His defense isn’t very good, so try to break through him and wait for support.”

While they were talking, someone suddenly spoke up behind them: “Yo!”

Kokonoe Taka only trembled, but Yabaomoto was so frightened that he almost jumped up. He turned around and angrily kicked the person who came, “What are you doing!”

This person was about the same height as Kokonoe Taka, with black hair and band-aids on his face. Hearing the question, he spread his hands with a smile: “I didn’t expect you to be so serious, you didn’t even notice me coming.”

Yabaomoto introduced unhappily: “This is Nijimura.”

Nijimura Shuzo turned to Kokonoe Taka, raising his eyebrows in surprise: “Isn’t this the next tennis club leader that Komura was talking about a while ago? How did you run to our basketball club?”

When Komura invited him to join the tennis club, he only said that he would definitely be a starter if he went, but he didn’t mention this. Nijimura Shuzo didn’t need his answer either, “Well, now that you’ve come to this pirate ship called the basketball club, don’t even think about getting off.”

“Extremely honored.” Kokonoe Taka shrugged.

The few chatted a few more words. In the distance, the coach blew his whistle and called them over.

“Detained by the teacher again?” He first looked at the suddenly appearing Nijimura. After Nijimura Shuzo honestly admitted it, the coach waved his hand with a headache, “Get ready to warm up. You’re the last group of 3v3.”

Nijimura Shuzo met Shiroiwa’s gaze, the latter’s eyes were cold and his smile gradually disappeared. Nijimura said quietly with a toothache, “Why is it them again.”

Yabaomoto was glaring at Maki. He saw Maki making a concealed throat-slitting gesture at them and turned around to answer in a low voice, “Who knows!”

Compared to the tense atmosphere of these four people, Kokonoe Taka was as indifferent as if this game had nothing to do with him. Domo passed by him while warming up and said provocatively: “Don’t cry to your mom if I block you to death?”

Kokonoe Taka was squatting down to stretch his legs. Hearing this, he didn’t even raise his head and said: “Thank you for your kind words.”

“Huh?”

A trace of contempt had just appeared on Domo’s face when he suddenly tripped over something under his feet and almost fell headfirst.

Kokonoe Taka withdrew his calf, which was extended just in front of Domo, and stood up in surprise: “Senior Domo, you have to look carefully at the road under your feet when you walk, how can you be so careless?”

“Are you okay? Can you continue the game?” His tone was concerned. Before Domo could react, he saw the black-haired boy returning his provocation intact.

“Do we need to pause the game first and let the senior who almost fell go back to find his mom to comfort him?”

“You little brat?!”

Domo’s expression suddenly became ferocious. He took two steps forward, wanting to grab Kokonoe Taka’s collar. But as soon as his hand was raised, he was stopped by the coach’s long whistle.

“Domo! What are you doing over there?”

Domo gritted his teeth: “…Nothing.” He put down his hand and rushed angrily towards Maki and Shiroiwa.

Nijimura Shuzo watched Domo slink away and elbowed Yabaomoto Suzume.

“Gee, our new teammate seems to be able to spit venom, Domo’s going to be pissed to death, right?”

Yabaomoto Suzume punched him back, thoughtfully: “But it’s veryCool.”

“Agreed.”

The result of the coin toss was that Yabaomoto’s team had possession of the ball.

Yabaomoto Suzume moved his feet lightly, dribbling the ball in a crossover, not panicking when Maki blocked him. When he was on the court, Yabaomoto Suzume’s vision was extremely broad, as if he was looking down on the court from a high latitude.

He stared at Maki’s movements. Maki was very obsessed with him. When Yabaomoto first joined the second string, the other party had brought people to invite him to join Maki’s “small group”. After being rejected, the two looked at each other with disgust.

Yabaomoto felt that Maki’s behavior of forcing people to form groups was superfluous and bad, and Maki felt that Yabaomoto was too arrogant and didn’t understand what it meant to “respect seniors.”

The first ball, I should say hello properly, right?

The basketball obediently struck the ground from his palm, Yabaomoto slightly turned his wrist, and suddenly faked a move to shake Maki. The latter was completely fooled, and then quickly reacted and continued to intercept!

But Yabaomoto wasn’t trying to break through from the beginning. He suddenly rotated his wrist, and the basketball passed through the path that Maki had just given way to, instantly reaching Nijimura’s hands, who had been waiting for a long time!

Shiroiwa secretly said it was bad when Yabaomoto pretended to break through. This delicate-looking first-year was as cunning as a fox on the court, using various feints and inductions at will! Maki, you idiot, you’ve been fooled by him so many times and you still haven’t learned anything!

But he was powerless to stop the basketball that was already in Nijimura Shuzo’s hands. The latter’s strength and speed were astonishing. Shiroiwa, who had only switched to center this year, couldn’t stop him at all.

Nijimura Shuzo jumped high. His palms were large, easily able to wrap around the ball. The passing route and feel were also very good.

“Bang!”

There was a loud noise, followed by the creaking groan of the iron basketball hoop. This was a very beautiful dunk!

“That’s scary.”

Kokonoe Taka shook his head and looked again at Domo standing in front of him. In the brief confrontation just now, neither of them had directly participated in the offense or defense.

Domo thought darkly in his heart: You must be uncomfortable now, right? You must feel it’s unfair, right? Your teammates aren’t passing the ball to you at all, right? I want to see how long you can keep that annoying face calm!

His unfriendly gaze only made Kokonoe Taka frown slightly, then there was no further reaction. The black-haired boy moved his gaze away and instead stared at the basketball in Maki’s hands at this time. When he moved slightly, Domo immediately blocked him in front: “Don’t treat me like air!” he shouted.

Kokonoe Taka looked back at him because of his words, “Senior Domo, do you know you have a habit?” he said suddenly.

“What?”

“You subconsciously lean to the left.”

What does that mean?

Domo didn’t study national language very well, and this sentence was even more aimless, making him unable to continue provoking him. He was sincerely wondering if the person in front of him had given up on himself? That’s why he said such strange things.

“I don’t understand what you mean…”

Kokonoe Taka chuckled.

“What I mean is, the opening is too big – senior.”

If there were girls here, they would definitely scream excitedly for this deliberately lowered voice.

It was difficult to understand what happened at that moment, Domo thought. It seemed that Kokonoe had just said something he understood but didn’t understand, and the next second he seemed to flicker past him like a instant transmission! He was stunned for a full five or six seconds before he sluggishly realized that there was no one in front of him!

Not only was he extremely shocked, but Maki, who was pulling with Nijimura, also didn’t expect that someone would suddenly reach out from behind and hook the ball away! He didn’t expect that the rookie who had been silent for half the game would appear in the back position so cunningly – “What is this?!”

Nijimura quickly turned around and blocked Maki who wanted to chase. Although he was also a little unresponsive, he still shouted immediately, “Nice!”

Shiroiwa was also surprised, but his position could still block Kokonoe! He rushed towards Kokonoe Taka without hesitation, and the latter quickly retreated. This position was a perfect shooting position.

Jump shot!

The basketball drew a beautiful arc in the air, perfectly smashing on the backboard of the basketball hoop.

Shiroiwa: “…?”

Nijimura: “…Gah?”

Yabaomoto: “…Pfft.”

Then, in the silence of the crowd, the basketball rolled to the coach’s feet sitting on the sidelines!