Me: Hey hey hey! I'm BACK!
Friend: Huh? Oh, you really are back.
Me: What kind of response is that?!
Friend: What? Oh I just thought you were gonna wait another three months before updating anything again.
Me: Hmph! Well I haven't done that because I'm turning over a new leaf!
Friend: You mean that one chapter a week promise?
Me: Yep!
Friend: Well, good luck with that. It's already been two. *leaves to go eat*
Me: Hey! Come back here you jerkface! I'll just extend it to be one chapter per two weeks then!
Other Friend: Uhh….Me?
Me: Go on without me Other Friend, I got a Friend to beat up. *leaves to go look for Friend*
Other Friend: O…K…then? Anyways, eternalfire123 does not own anything except the idea of making this fic. Please read, review, and don't flame.
Chapter 2: A Basketball Player's Love
"What time does the match start?" Teppei asked as the group of 4 ran toward the basketball courts.
"At 3:30, the courts open up to the players and the audience at 3," Nijimura answered, still running with a calm face.
"What!" Izuki shouted, "It's already 3:20!"
Nijimura responds with a smile, "That's alright. The team I'm playing with doesn't go until the second match."
"Ehhh!" Izuki shouted again, "Second? That's still pretty early!"
"Less talking, more running!" Hyuga shouts.
After a few more minutes of running, the group managed to reach the basketball courts.
"We made it!" Teppei shouts in happiness.
The group pauses for a few minutes to catch their breath.
Izuki looks around the courts full of players and audience members, feeling a little tense he says, "The tension you feel before each match is everywhere, street basketball or not. I'm starting to get a little nervous."
"You're not even playing, Izuki," Hyuga says, annoyed at having been successfully dragged to a basketball court.
"Well, I have to go this way," Nijimura said, pointing to a group of people that had both boys and girls of all ages ranging from elementary school to high school.
Hyuga was shocked at the members of the team. Even though street basketball was more lenient on the rules than professional, it was still surprising to see girls and elementary kids on a basketball team with the older guys. What was more surprising was the fact that the team seemed to genuinely get along with each other regardless of age and gender.
"C'mon Hyuga," Teppei said, "We need to go this way."
Hyuga was broken out of his thoughts as he saw Izuki and Teppei standing near the entrance of the observer's area.
"Y-yeah," Junpei said as his hand slightly shook with nervousness.
A flash of the bottom have a person's face wearing a sneer saying, "You are to weak to even think about playing basketball."
Izuki noticed Junpei's hand shaking and frowns slightly.
The trio walk toward the crowd that has already gathered to view the upcoming games. As the three walked on, whispers could be heard as the crowd who recognized the basketball players, especially Teppei, whispered behind their backs.
"Hey, isn't that the Iron Heart? One of the Uncrowned Kings?"
"Yeah it is!"
"Who are those two?"
"Oh! I recognize them from that one close match with the Generation of Miracles!"
"Seriously?"
"Yeah. The one with the glasses is a clutch shooter and the other guy aparently has the Eagle Eye."
"They must be pretty good to be able to have a close match with the GOM."
"Yeah they are, but I heard that the glasses guy can't play anymore."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Apparently he can't even hold a basketball anymore."
"Seriously? That must be rough."
Junpei narrowed his eyes and began to walk farther away from the gossiping crowd.
He then turned to Izuki and said with an accusing glare, "You! You knew and yet you kept it to yourself! You said we would only be meeting him!"
Izuki gives Junpei a sympathetic smile, "Because, if you knew….you wouldn't have come Junpei. That's why Teppei and I hid it from you."
Junpei only continues to give Izuki an accusatory glare.
Izuki's smile becomes sad, "Does basketball really only give you nothing but bad feelings?"
Suddenly, the crowd began to go quiet.
"The street ball competition will now begin."
Two teams walked onto the court, both filled with a mismatch of people though the theme was common.
One team full of male teenagers facing off against a team of female teenagers. The differences were obvious, but the match up seemed rather interesting.
As the match began, Junpei watched with nostalgic eyes.
'It's been awhile since I've seen a basketball match,' Junpei thought before a small frown crossed his face, 'I wonder why…I feel so restless.'
"They keep doing the same old tricks," Izuki said, complaining about the lack of playing going on during the first match.
'You're the one who brought me here,' Junpei thought while sweatdropping.
"But I'm surprised," Izuki said with a small grin, turning his head to Junpei, "But there are quite a few people here for such a small competition."
"Well this is a newly established street ball competition purely made to allow everyone who wants to play to play to their hearts content," Junpei said, "I heard that the top 3 team gets to play against more professional basketball teams and try to make it to the international stage."
'Hmm? International stage?' Izuki thought, 'There's a short cut for that?'
Just then one of the girls on the all female team made a mistake that allowed the male team to get in the lead.
'Ah!' Junpei thought, 'She made a mistake.'
The girl's teammates tried hard to compensate for her mistake but it was obvious that they were falling severely behind.
"They kind of suck," Izuki whispered to Junpei.
However his words fell on deaf ears as Junpei closely watched the match, his hands twitching and moving slightly to pantomime dribbles and passes.
Do you best…You can do it…
Izuki caught sight of Junpei's hands and gave a little smile. All hope was not lost for his friend yet.
In the end, the girls' team lost to the male's team by 20 points. The audience applauded politely for the teams as they shook hands with each other. If one were to look around, one would see that many were beginning to fall asleep as there was nothing interesting about the match that just occurred. If things continued to carry on like this, many of the audience members would leave.
"Ah! Next up is Nijimura," Izuki said.
Izuki then turned to Teppei who was arms were crossed across his chest as he continued to lightly snore, completely dead to the world.
"Wake up, Teppei!"
Teppei woke up just in time to see Nijimura and his misfit team walk onto the courts with another team full of bored, arrogant yet tough looking teens.
Nijimura turned to look at the audience, 'I wonder if my plays will reach them.'
He then turned his attention to his team, "Don't forget to have fun out there alright?"
"Yeah!" everyone on his team shouted with happy and eager faces.
Nijimura smiled and turned to face the opposing team. Taking a deep breath, he quietly chanted, "Elohim, Essaim, Elohim, Essaim, We request and appeal…"
The match started and everybody's breathes were drawn away with the first movement from Nijimura's team.
Everyone on his team was running around, passing, dribbling, and trying to score like any other team. However, unlike the all teams who playing competitive basketball, everyone had their own style.
No one on the team played in a uniform way or used any movements that conformed to what basketball was known the general population. As the audience continued to watch the plays being made, they couldn't help but be drawn in. Even the opposing team was drawn into the vortex that was Nijimura's team.
Junpei stared at Nijimura in shock.
This is still basketball but…this doesn't belong to any known player in the world.
Nijimura is passing the ball to a young girl by throwing it between his opponent's legs.
Now without a doubt, it belongs to him. This basketball is…all his.
His plays begin to become more erratic, his teammates struggling to catch up and the opposing team continuing to struggle to score.
He's extremely violent…and his has a bad personality…he gave the worst first impression.
But…
The game ends with a three pointer from Nijimura. His team cheers with excitement while the opposing team groans in defeat.
Nijimura is covered in sweat as he smiles brilliantly at the few young children in his team, giving them high fives as they continue to celebrate.
He's beautiful.
With the game over, the audience stood up and cheered like they never had before. This spectacle, this play, this brilliant performance that had just been put on before them allowed them to view basketball in a whole new brilliant light.
Even the opposing team was smiling at their defeat. They no longer had arrogance in their face and high fived the young children and congratulated them for a job well done.
"Awesome!" Izuki said, "That was the best basketball match I have ever seen! I wonder if Nijimura's will win the tournament!"
Junpei shook his head, "That's impossible."
"Huh?" Izuki asked.
"All the play were drawn out and erratic," Junepi responded, "Add to the fact that most of Nijimura's team consists of elementary and middle schoolers, there is no way they will get far."
"Hah," Izuki sighed, "I guess it can't be helped…even though everyone liked it, including the opponents."
"If this were a practice match, it would be okay," Junepi said.
'But I'm sure, that he probably wasn't aiming to win in the first place,' Junpei thought, then his eyes took on a depressing look, 'I wonder how he can be so happy when he's playing?'
After the tournament, an well-known street basketball team won and Nijimura's team unfortunately did not reach the top four…not that it seemed like they cared. Many of the audience members were talking about the matches and players they had just seen.
"That grey eyed teen was awesome right?"
"You mean Nijimura Shuzou? I've memorized his name!"
"I've turned into a fan of his!"
"How has he not been known this entire time? I feel like he deserves a title like the Uncrowned Kings."
"I know right?"
"Wow," Izuki looked around in wonder, "Everyone's talking about Nijimura. He really is awesome isn't he?"
"It felt like I was at the Nationals," Teppei said, "It was the only match I stayed awake for."
"Hey that's rude," Izuki said.
Junpei caught sight of Nijimura who was being handed a small bundle of flowers by two young girls.
"We were touched by your match," one of the girls said.
"Flowers for you," the other girl said.
"Thank you," Nijimura responded, accepting the flowers with a smile.
"Ahh! Nijimura-san," one of the officials said, running up to Nijimura, "The results will be posted in 10 minutes."
"It's ok," Nijimura said, beginning to walk away, "I don't care about things like that."
That statement struck Junpei harder than lightning.
The bottom half of a sneering teen's face, 'Being anything other than the best is meaningless. That's the kind of world we live in.'
Nijimura turned his head and noticed the trio standing a ways off.
"Nijimura!" Izuki and Teppei shouted while waving their hands.
Nijimura waved toward the group and began to walk toward them.
Izuki's voice echos in Junpei's mind, 'Nijimura likes Kiyoshi. Today, you are a supporting character. Your role is Friend A.'
'I know that,' Junpei thought.
After the match, the basketball player…he will come running to be with the person waiting for him.
Weaving through the crowds, carrying a bouquet of flowers, ignoring the side character…
Just like a scene in a movie.
"Hey," Teppei said, "You were really awesome out there."
"Thanks," Nijimura said with a smile.
Nijimura then turns his head toward Junpei and moved toward him.
"Well, what do you think?" Nijimura aksed.
'Me?' Junpei thought.
Nijimura repeated the question, "What…did you think? I was amazing right?"
"Eh…umm…" Junpei said, caught off guard.
"It was okay," Junpei began before catching sight of Nijimura's shaking hand.
He pauses briefly before starting again, "…It was my first time, seeing someone receive flowers right after the matches. And you didn't know them right? They couldn't have possibly prepared those beforehand. For you, those girls, after watching your performance, they rushed and bought those flowers to give to you. Today…is a day they'll never forget. Perhaps, it was that kind of basketball…" Junpei finished with a small smile.
A smile gradually appears on Nijimura's face, "Ah, I see!"
He then turns to talk to Teppei again and Junpei is left alone in the background.
Just like a scene from a movie.
My–my…role might be Best Friend A, but…
"We shall now announce those who have qualified to move on to the next round of the streetball tournaments."
Many people were crowding around the paper, hoping against hope that they managed to qualify despite not being in the top three.
A closeup of the paper shows the name of the top three teams that day and an extra category called Audience Recommendation.
The name of the team that was written next to it was Nijimura's team.
Me: OMG I AM FINALLY DONE. MY EYEBALLS FUCKING HURT!
Friend: Congratulations. You barely made the two week mark you set for yourself at the beginning of the chapter.
Me: Shut up! You know who lazy I get sometimes.
Friend: Yes I know. You even have a shirt that says, "To Lazy, Can't Move"
Me: But I seriously can't!
Friend: Whatever. Just remember to update on time without barely making the deadline like so many writers and mangakas….especially mangakas.
Me: But the famous ones are always late.
Friend: Just type!
Me: Geez…fine. No need to get your panties in a twist. Anywho, Other Friend?
Other Friend: Of course. Please review and don't flame. Thank you for reading.
