It was a fresh spring day. I was in my third year of middle school and my school was chosen to be in the country-wide basketball championships. I was a fairly normal kid, not too tall, a little short to be a basketball player. I was fast and a strong passer but throughout the years, it had become obvious that I was a mediocre player-I had always noticed and it was no surprise to me. Everything was fine and dandy; we were winning games and we had hope that we might even win. But, we had forgotten about the biggest threat of all-Teikou Middle School.
The rain was coming down hard. Takao stared up at the sky, the rain stinging his flesh. He let out a small cry, then a cascade of tears ran down his cheeks and face. This was it-they had lost. Yukimura Middle School had lost in the semi-finals against Teikou. NO. NO. NO. It wasn't just that, they were physically and mentally over powered. There was nothing that he could have done to prevent his team's loss. The Generation of Miracles had beaten them fair and square. The Generation of Miracles had crushed them. Takao clearly knew that there was no reason to be angry at the Generation of Miracles. They were just better than him at basketball and he loathed them for that. He hated the arrogant look on their faces. The Generation of Miracles were annoyingly good. Winners were supposed to shake your hand and say: 'Good Job'. But they just stood there like they were in a pissy mood. It irritated him to no end. The black-haired boy stood there in the rain. The rain falling like buckets; like cats and dogs, like knives and daggers. But the pain hurt so good, it made him feel like he could atone for something. After losing to the Generation of Miracles, everything was normal. But for Takao, life just didn't seem right. He knew it in the back his mind, that taking a loss this hard was unreasonable. But he couldn't get over it.
Each and everyday of the summer, he would go outside-by himself-and play basket ball. He would run, dribble and train and trains and train, until he wasn't thinking straight. At about half-way through the summer, he could feel his brain start to slow and his mind beginning to become lethargic. He notices this right away, and stops playing. He doesn't hold a grudge against the sport, but he can't let himself become arrogant and weird. So, he turns on the television and watches anime.
He doesn't understand why he is so into this anime. He started on a random epsiode in the middle of godknowswhenarc and he's just hooked. Maybe it's because there's a character that acts like him. The blonde haired Italian man that trips on his own feet, Dino Cavallone. Takao admires him. The fact that he can be nice and serious at times, the fact that he tries to train Kyouya no matter what and that he tries even though he's a klutz. Takao strives to become more like him, but there so similar that it's not worth it. While he's watching this anime, he takes into account that Dino is totally awesome when his men are around but a trips over his own shoelaces by himself. 'A person that relies on other people, isn't so bad after all'
So when the new term rolls around and he's been accepted into Shutoku Highschool and one of the generation of miracles are there, he drops all the hatred that he once felt about them. And he can only feel bad for the lonely green-haired boy in front of him. So, he holds out his hand and says to Midorima, "My name's Takao Kazunari. Let's be great friends"
