In all honestly i've never seen the appeal to basketball a silly little game were the primary objective is to put a ball through a basket how could that possibly be even remotely pleasurable, I've always hated that simplistic game although that doesn't stop my brother from being utterly captivated by it. I speculate you could say the basketball gene skipped me all together not that I mind in the slightest, Oh please forgive my lack of manners
I haven't offered a proper introduction to myself yet have I
" Hello my name is Sakiko...Sakiko Imayoshi and i'm a student at the prestigious "Shutoku" high school."
"This is story of most unexpected and stunning love that I'm sure you'll be as mesmerised as i was, i mean man what a turn of events right?
Hell yeah! Victory is what it was a romantic victory"
"Hey Sakiko! Who exactly are you talking to?"
A short haired girl of less than ordinary height attired in the standardised issue Shutoku girls uniform stood static her arms folded her unfavourable stare lingering on the obstreperous immature women with choleric conviction.
Sakiko waved her arms back and forth frenziedly whilst spouting a deluge of imperceptible chatter that faintly resembled human speech.
Sighing heavily she trudged over to the frantic Sakiko who was still babbling incoherently and displaying no signs of stopping disregarding the considerable amount of attention her shameless antics seemed to be drawing from the ambient populace that encircled the pair. Clearly frustrated the girl hastily clocked Sakiko with her right fist, Sakiko fell to her knees i silence clutching her injured head.
Sakiko drew breath deeply and let out a hallowing scream that rang with both irritation and the obvious hint of perplexed confusion, not expecting a favourable response from her far to serious friend Sakiko quickly scrambled for something viable to say eventually settling on explaining the reasoning behind the very thing that lead her to be viciously clocked by the impatient friend in the first place.
"Never mind Kazuha...I was just rambling to myself you know like always"
Kazuha mumbled inaudibly and started roaming precipitately in the opposite direction ostensibly weary of Sakiko's air headed disposition., Evidently startled by this impulsive depature Sakiko raised her voiced even louder than her previous outburst, the prior sense of embarrassment clearly vanished as quickly as it came.
" Has anyone ever told you that violence never solves anything Kazu?"
Kazuha ignored Sakiko's valid question picking up the pace of her steps just a little
"Kazu! I'm sorry do...don't leave me here like this"
Sakiko sobbed uncontrollably distraught at the imaginary prospect of her best and only friend quashing their recently formed companionship.
Kazuha lowered her head understanding that the subtle message she was attempting to convey which just so happened to be "Follow me" fell on moronic ears.
"Sakiko only you could ever be so outlandishly stupid, i never said anything about leaving you in fact i'm waiting impatiently for you to get up of your ass"
Sakiko's eyes illuminated with a childlike sense of glee, she rapidly arose to her feet and chased the insensitive Kazuha, though improbable these two first year students have successfully solidified their intricate friendship.
"So where exactly are we heading, Kazu?"
Kazuha continued leading the way speechlessly much to the chagrin of the ever excitable and eager to converse Sakiko, time passed slowly and after a period of a fifteen minutes or so they arrived at the previously undisclosed destination.
Kazuha fixed the placement of her round rim glasses with and precise elegance perked her lips and stated the last word Sakiko ever wanted to hear
"Basketball..."
Caught off guard Sakiko stumbled backwards guiding her gaze towards the tremendous hall towering a few meters in the distance, her mouth gaped open shocked and startled from the surprise
" Kazuha! what are we doing here, You know i detest basketball more then anything right?"
Kazuha continues her trademark of sighing and quite cleverly answers Kazuha's question with a question
" I'm well aware of that Sakiko, however if you want to spend time with me you'll have to endure it now won't you?"
Sakiko's dismayed eyes fastened themselves to Kazuha's face which as per usual was impracticable to read, her destitute facial expression is just one of numerous idiosyncrasies Sakiko had come to accept
"Damn it! alright Kazuha Miyaji...you win"
Out of the blue a grin decorated her generally spiritless face obviously she had been cunningly scheming this ambush all day perhaps even longer
" I figured you would say something like that...Saki"
Sakiko jumped back a feet or two out of shock for the first time since their initially meeting she had called her by nickname.
"Kazu...what...what did you just call me?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about Sakiko Imayoshi but if we don't hurry we'll miss today practice game"
Kazuha promptly turned and began walking in the direction of the basketball hall swaying her arms from side to side in a ecstatic rhythm, Sakiko sprinted fearlessly catching up to her companion just as the later was about to make her entry inside basketball hall the former was rigorously attempting to conserve her strength and recover lost composure after her mad dash to catch underhand friend.
" Hey Kazu wait a second! Why do you want to watch basketball so bad, I've heard that our schools team is strong but even so it's just basketball"
Sakiko said in between great lumbering heavy hearted breaths she opened her eyes expecting a punctual return from Kazuha, but none was given
"My Brother..."
Sakiko ceased her rapid breathing and raised her gaze to see that Kazuha's face looked entirely melancholic usual she blinked and hesitantly spoke
"My brother...Kiyoshi is a starter on the basketball team here, he and myself...well...we don't really see eye to eye on anything and we've never really had a sibling relationship to speak of but whenever i started mentioning basketball that all changes, you see it's the only thread that ties us together as brother and sister"
Sakiko attempted the forming of soft words to comfort Kazuha but plainly ended up mumbling nonsense again
"Kazu..."
Shaking her head violently in vertical motion Kazuha's face returned to it's usual dry yet peaceful appearance though her hair was in tatters.
"Forget i said anything, if we don't hurry we'll miss the ga..."
Before she could verbalise the remainder of her sentence she was cut short by the thunderous sound of approaching footsteps, the entire Shutoku basketball club was
rushing to the basketball hall clearly emerging from a strategic lecture, there was about seventy student's dressed in blinding orange tracksuits. Though they marched in bulk it a select group stood at the head of pack marching forwards with astonishing confidence.
They had to be the Shutoku regulars Sakiko thought to herself, god how conceded is it possible to be i mean look at them i bet they're the type that go aroundstroking their pompous narcissistic egos thinking they're so "Tough" "Bad ass" and cool. Wait didn't Kazu say her brother was regular i wonder which one he is.
"Hey Kazu you said that you're brother was a regular didn't you which one is he?"
Kazuha quickly scanned the three regulars before briskly pointing her finger towards the regular on the furtherest to the left, he was a reasonably handsome boy of slighter taller than average height and build with thin and angelic strands of hair that fell just above his eyes. So this is the imfamous brother Kazu doesn't see eye to eye with.
"Hey Kazu sorry for asking but could tell me his name by any chance"
Kazuha began fidgeting with her left sleeve before answering with a dilatory response.
" Kiyoshi...h-his...name is...Ki..yoshi.."
Acting on impulse alone Sakiko began boundering towards the Shutoku basketball team who were just a foot or two away form the pair at this point, much to the shock of the team Sakiko stood in there path blocking their progression, only a moron like Sakiko could possibly be so reckless and bold. Spreading her arms out to assert to presence.
The centre member of the Shutoku regulars and prosumedily the captain of the team stepped forward, he was gigantic so large that Sakiko began to ponder if he was truly a high school student, though she could feel her knees buckling with fright it she couldn't step aside not till she'd had words with Miyaji.
The Shutoku regular coughed clearing his thought and spoke in a fa more mature and restrained voice than Sakiko had ever expected to hear, maybe high school basket ballers aren't just immature thugs after all she thought.
" I hate to trouble you but we've got a practice game to play and you don't look like your budging so is there anything i can help you with? I'm the captain
of the shutoku basketball club Taisuke Otsubo a third year."
The young man waited patiently for a reply from Sakiko who miraculously felt an overwhelming surge of energy and confidence she pointed her finger towards Miyaji and began to shout with an intensity never felt before.
"Miyaji! I want to have a few words with you, several in fact"
Miyaji kept his cocky insipid expression as a few shutoku members began spreading superfluous rumours such as "Oh is this Miyajis girlfriend" or "Did he break another girls heart"
Though these members were soon silenced by the third member of the regulars. Another giant of a man who had hardly any hair on his head but was possessed of a commanding presence that comes with the territory of being a regular she supposed.
"I don't know you so what could you conceivably want to talk to me about"
Kiyoshi snapped discourteously in a sharp domineering medium pitched voice
So this was the attitude of Kazuha's brother just as arrogant and ridiculously abrasive as she'd expected with an opener like that no wonder Kazu has no relationship with him.
Even so I'll perceiver and make Kazuha's feelings known that's the best thing i can do in this situation.
"It's about your sister Kazuha"
Miyaji closed his eyes, scoffed and walked straight past the aggrivating schoolgirl straight through to the basketball hall, before entering he paused for a brief second inhaled and spoke in a softer yet still hostile voice
" Kazuha's a tough girl who is more than capable of looking after herself if you can't understand that much than your not exactly the brightest now are you"
With that Miyaji continued onward walking out of view the rest of the regulars and the team took this as the cue to follow suit passing by Sakiko with out giving her so much as a second thought, how rude oh well i shouldn't expect civilised behaviour from those types of brutes Sakiko thought solemnly to herself.
"This definitely cements my hatred for basketball"
Sakiko turned around to greet Kazuha but she had vanished knowing her she would have started moving as soon as Sakiko blocked the basketball clubs path.
With little alternative Sakiko against her better judgement reluctantly ventured inside to watch the practice game.
Entering the two story basketball hall she noticed the majority of the shutoku team looked to be practising the fundamentals of basketball passing, dribbling & shooting as the three regulars were leaning against a wall on the far right mentally preparing themselves for the upcomming match, though it was simply a practice game their focus was just as intense as if they were competing in a crucial championship game.
Scanning the entirety of the building like lightning her eyes caught site of Kazuha leaning against the railing of the rafters content in her isolation.
Sakiko scaled the stairs rapidly reaching the area were Kazuha was standing in a matter of seconds. Overcoming her anxiety she began to speak to Kazuha
"Hey Kazu i guess i understand why you can't stand your brother, that personality of his is so contemptible and arrogant"
Shaking her head in disagreement Kazuha elaborated on the situation her voice was always deadpan never hinting at her true thoughts or feelings.
" You're misunderstanding the situation, he responded to you like that because he's stressed out of his mind i wouldn't expect you to know but our school is considered to be one of the three kings of tokyo basketball with that sense of entitlement comes a monumental amount of pressure to win consistently, so you can understand why he'd have little to listen to raving complaints like yours"
Commotion could be heard brewing from down below Miyaji and the third regular were ranting and raving to Otsubo about two first year regulars
who hadn't shown up on time and were obviously causing an unwanted stall in the game. Sakiko's mouth gaped open again.
"Wait did he just say the last two regulars were first years...Holy Shit! that's just ridiculous"
Kazuha still had half her attention lingering on the disruption below paying little mind to Sakiko surely she was still worried about her inconsiderate brother
" It's true that it's almost unheard of to have two first years as regulars but when you're as exceptional as they are it's not all that surprising"
Sakiko had to ask what she meant by exceptional, how could a bunch of first years be more exceptional third years it just didn't make any sense to a logic craving mind.
Kazuha answered straight way she had probably formulated her response while Sakiko was still speaking
" The first of the two is a fantastic point guard with significant skill in passing and ball handling and a unique ability called
the hawk eye his name is "Kazunari Takao" He's in our class so you should be atleast somewhat familiar with him, the second is an phenomenal
prodigy, probably one of the best players in the country and a member of the legendary middle school teiko's strongest team collectively called the "Generation of Miracles" Shintaro Midorima"
Prodigy! The Generation of Miracles! how pretentious can you get i can't believe someone would be arrogant enough to name themselves the generation of miracles unbelievable, well atleast i'll get to see with my own eyes how talented this so called prodigy of miracles is.
The consistently untrusting Sakiko took her place along side her friend and a slew of unknown students as two more members of the Shutoku basketball team finally showed themselves on caught, one of them was screaming at the top of his lungs and the other strolled along in silence ignoring his team mate. These must be the final two regulars Kazunari Takao was a boy of average hight with rough jet black hair the other was considerably taller his fingers on his left hand were wrapped finely in white tape, his hair and eyes were the most gorgeous and alluring shade of green Sakiko ever layed her eyes on peculiarly he was also carrying a pair of short length scissors in his right hand.
"Obnoxious, tall and eccentric just peachy"
Sakiko said half-hearted they sure look like a thrilling little team an eccletic mix of arrrogance and over confidence what a swell team our school has going for it, her thoughts could be considered harsh but she had to figure out someway of entertaining herself as basketball wasn't going to suffice.
The first year duo quickly made their way to less then pleased team mates they proceeded to bow and apologised to them for such a outlandish display of tardiness.
Taisuke roared at them for an explanation, Midorima effortlessly fixed the placement of his glasses which had slide just about to the end of his long nose and provided an explanation.
" This fool wanted to purchase some food an demanded that i accompany him despite not feeling the best I went along and he got us stuck in traffic for the last hour, that's the reason why were so untimely. However don't threat according to"Oha Asa" My sign is ranked first in the horoscopes and i have with me my lucky item our victory today is assured"
Taisuke grunted and turned his back and began walking to on to the court to meet the other team who were expectedly tired of waiting
"I'll only forgive your late arrival if you make all your shots today, got it Midorima!"
Midorima nodded and hastily removed his shirt throwing it aside underneath his standard school uniform he was wearing the shutoku high basketball uniform.
He stepped on to the court to the sounding of thunderous applause from the benched Shutoku members. Kazuha actually managed to cough up a smile for the first time
" He's really popular isn't he, my brother i mean"
Sakiko sighed angrily desiring to avoid debating the popularity and politics of high school basketball at whatever the cost.
" I..Wouldn't know they're quite inflated in my opinion if nothing else"
The two girls fell into silence once more as the bell to signify the opening of the practice game was blown and the glorious first quarter commenced