JSWGAS Chapter 50

Will lose.

If this continues.

Maki’s eyes were anxious under the basket, conveying the same message to Shiraiwa. Doma was almost exhausted, but he still couldn’t keep up with Kokonoe Taka’s movements.

Hachihonmatsu Jakumi’s voice was mixed with the sound of the basketball hitting the ground, but Shiraiwa heard it very clearly.

“You’re wavering, Shiraiwa.”

“You little brat…!”

Hachihonmatsu Jakumi generally plays the role of point guard on the court. He is not greedy for credit and does not insist on scoring himself, but uses fast and accurate passes to create scoring opportunities for his teammates.

But this does not mean that Hachihonmatsu Jakumi is not an aggressive person. He is good at using feints to deceive opponents who intercept, and he will also use words and actions to defeat the opponent’s psychological defense.

Shiraiwa knew this clearly. He said to himself, don’t be swayed by him. Calm down… but in the piercing footsteps and the sound of the basketball hitting the ground, he heard his own teeth grinding.

He glanced at the coach and Platinum Supervisor on the sidelines. Unlike the others on the court, he had already noticed that the big shot in charge of the basketball club was sitting there. This also made him grit his teeth and want to perform a little better, even better.

But when he calmed down, he found that he couldn’t keep up with Kokonoe Taka, who had entered the zone.

The three kids on the opposite side are cooperating more and more perfectly. Whether it was Nijimura giving up the opportunity to attack and blocking Maki and Doma alone, or Hachihonmatsu’s increasingly tricky passes, Shiraiwa felt even more unwilling.

He gave up switching defenses and rushed towards Kokonoe Taka, who jumped up again.

Why can you still jump? Why do you still look like you have energy to spare?

He jumped desperately, roaring, “Don’t think about scoring—!”

A tall mountain-like body blocked the ball’s path. The basketball was swatted down, hit the ground, bounced a few times, and then was picked up by Hachihonmatsu, who had rushed over. Shiraiwa could only watch as Hachihonmatsu nonchalantly jumped and shot the ball into the basket.

A long whistle came from the sidelines, and the coach announced, “27:25, Hachihonmatsu’s team wins.”

“Damn it!”

Maki cursed and walked to the sidelines with an unhappy expression. Doma’s face was also faintly pale.

Unlike their disappointment and unwillingness, Hachihonmatsu Jakumi laughed and rushed towards his teammates, giving them a fierce hug.

“Good job!” He praised without hesitation, “Nijimura, your defense has improved again? Quietly planning to do great things?”

“Not at all.” Nijimura Shuzo said modestly, “Not as good as Hachihonmatsu’s pass.”

“And Kokonoe!” Hachihonmatsu rolled his eyes at Nijimura, turned his head and said, “Amazing, I was afraid you wouldn’t be able to get past Doma a few times.”

Kokonoe Taka maintained the posture of being embraced by him somewhat awkwardly, “I did pretty well, right?”

“More than pretty good!” Hachihonmatsu gave a serious thumbs up, but quickly lost his composure and laughed, “Better than ever! Let’s play ball together next time!”

“Next time…” Kokonoe Taka thought for a while, squinting his eyes and pouring cold water on him, “You two will be going to the first team soon, right? The first team’s gymnasium is far from here…”

Hachihonmatsu twitched the corner of his mouth speechlessly, and patted him on the shoulder lightly: “Don’t be a killjoy at this time.”

“Be happy that you won the game.” Nijimura Shuzo made a funny face, “Don’t always look like a cool guy with an unhappy face.”

Kokonoe Taka looked at the two with teasing expressions, and a mischievous thought arose in his mind. His business fake smile appeared again: “Like this?”

Hachihonmatsu immediately let go of Kokonoe Taka’s shoulders and took a few steps back; Nijimura Shuzo made a sound and jumped away quickly, keeping a safe distance from him warily.

“…You better not smile…”

On the other side, Shiraiwa’s long silence attracted Maki’s attention.

“Shiraiwa, we must show those hateful kids what’s what next time!” He first comforted him with a few random words, and finally became sullen with sincere anger, gritting his teeth and issuing a challenge from afar.

“And that new kid! Ahhh, his name is Kokonoe, right! I’ve remembered him!”

He complained for two or three minutes before sluggishly realizing that Shiraiwa had been bothered by him for so long without saying a word, and hesitantly pushed his shoulder.

“Shiraiwa?”

Shiraiwa’s eyes were wide open, and the towel covering his head pressed him into a gray shadow. The smile on his lips hung with a faint arc as always, but the lines of his face were extremely stiff.

A new competitor appeared, and every step he took made Shiraiwa feel a creepy pressure and frustration. He heard Maki muttering that Kokonoe was just a beginner who hadn’t been in the club for long, which made him clench his teeth even tighter, almost tasting the fishy smell gushing from his throat.

Maki became a little impatient. He was about to walk away and go to his small group. Just then, he heard Shiraiwa, covered in a towel, say something vaguely.

“The starting position… must…”

“What did you say?”

Shiraiwa raised his head. His expression returned to his usual pleasantness.

“Nothing.”

He smiled casually.

Maki nodded blankly. He couldn’t see the stormy waves hidden under those light-colored pupils, “Oh!”

……

…………

Hachihonmatsu Jakumi’s class was next door to Kokonoe Taka’s. At first, he would run to his classroom door with his lunch box as soon as class was over, poking his head in and greeting Kokonoe Taka’s classmates, asking them to call Kokonoe out.

Later, Hachihonmatsu Jakumi, holding a spoon, said with a serious face that he wasn’t calling him out, but rescuing Little Taka from a group of fanboys and fangirls—

“Even more exaggerated than you, Nijimura.” He said to Nijimura Shuzo, who was burying his head in eating.

Nijimura had three or five grains of rice stuck to the corners of his mouth. Hearing this, he raised his head and pouted unhappily: “Huh? No matter how you look at it, I’m much more handsome than this kid, right?”

Hachihonmatsu replied, “But recently, Little Taka’s appearance rate is higher than yours, you know?”

Teiko Middle School maintains contact with many schools in Tokyo. Since that 3v3, Kokonoe Taka has become the coach’s favorite person to take out for games. In just two weeks, he has played training matches with six schools.

Sometimes Nijimura would go with him, and sometimes Hachihonmatsu would go with him. Nijimura followed Hachihonmatsu’s words and recalled it, and had to admit that this guy was indeed dazzling on the court.

He snorted, and before he could speak again to argue with Hachihonmatsu, he heard the main character in the topic ask faintly.

“Compared to that… Hachihonmatsu, why do you call me that?”

He had been concerned about it just now. The sticky nickname ‘Little Taka’ with ‘chan’ attached to it was strange no matter how you put it on him, right?

Hachihonmatsu snatched the fried shrimp from Kokonoe Taka’s lunch box with quick hands and eyes, looking happy: “So delicious… Did you make this yourself?”

Kokonoe Taka: “Don’t change the subject.”

Hachihonmatsu looked left and right, trying to avoid the topic, and started to babble about everything from the good weather today to what to buy at the convenience store tonight. Kokonoe Taka looked at his pretentious expression, picked up a meat pie from his lunch box, “Nijimura, hold him down for me!”

Nijimura was complaining that the lunch was too small and he wasn’t full. At this time, his eyes were staring at the meat pie, and he swallowed unconsciously: “Understood! Mr. Kokonoe!”

After saying that, he pounced on Hachihonmatsu with a grin on his face. The latter pretended to be delicate and weak, protecting himself, and shouted in horror: “Don’t come over here!”

“Shut up!”

“Nijimura! If you listen so obediently, you’ll become Little Taka’s dog!” Hachihonmatsu tried to resist, trying to alienate the two. Kokonoe Taka sat in place calmly. When Nijimura looked over, he pointed to the remaining meat pie in his lunch box, “All for you.”

“Since you said so!”

Nijimura looked solemnly tragic, as if going to die generously, and stretched out his devil’s claws again, “I can’t not do it!”

“Ah!!!”

The laughter and curses pierced through the clouds. The slightly hot air flew in the clouds and wind, sending the teenagers’ frolics to farther places. When Hachihonmatsu and Nijimura were both covered in sweat and panting, Kokonoe Taka walked up to the two of them. First, he moved away the corpse-like Nijimura, who desperately raised his arm, “My meat pie…”

Kokonoe Taka said in a sad tone, but all of it was ruthless in Nijimura’s ears: “Oh, that one, you were too slow, so I ate it all.”

Nijimura was filled with grief and anger, and his heart died. His arm fell with a thud.

Kokonoe Taka was like a heartless demon, and even kicked him to the other side before squatting in front of Hachihonmatsu, “Why do you call me Little Taka?” He said the title and couldn’t help but shudder. Oikawa Tōru’s title for him also included ‘chan’, and he had hypnotized himself for a long time before accepting it.

Hachihonmatsu hummed twice, dragging out his voice: “Eh, don’t you think it’s very cute—”

“…Not cute.”

He narrowed his eyes unhappily: “Change it.”

“I don’t want to!” Hachihonmatsu refused, saying plausibly, “This is a term of endearment between teammates! You have to accept it properly! Don’t be awkward!”

Kokonoe Taka stared at Hachihonmatsu Jakumi for a few minutes, long enough to make Hachihonmatsu’s goosebumps come out, before saying faintly: “Hachihonmatsu, you… sometimes you’re like a girl who has to hold hands with her friends to go to the toilet even during recess.”

Hachihonmatsu Jakumi: “…”

Nijimura heard this sentence and immediately revived with full blood, jumping up from the ground: “Hahahahaha, I didn’t expect you to be this kind of person! Our sensitive PG?”

Hachihonmatsu gritted his teeth, unwilling to show weakness: “I’ve also wanted to ask for a long time, Little Taka, do you eat poison for every meal three times a day? Why is your mouth so poisonous?”

“It’s not that frequent, is it?” Kokonoe Taka got up and sat back in his seat, “At most, seven meals a week.”

“…Don’t follow my words! And with a proud expression!”

Kokonoe Taka ignored Hachihonmatsu’s complaints and handed his lunch box to Nijimura Shuzo. The latter took it and looked at the three remaining meat pies inside. His eyes were instantly filled with tears: “Woo woo woo, I was scolding you as a nasty guy in my heart just now, but now it seems you’re not that bad! Little Taka!”

Kokonoe Taka: “…Why are you calling me that too.”

“Don’t worry about such unimportant things!”