A/N: So at work today I just found out that there's a national high school basketball tournament going on, and that it's the only two weeks that colleges can "recruit" high school players, or at least start looking into them to begin offering scholarships INTERNATIONALLY. These parents I were talking to while ringing up their clothes talked to me about how colleges and universities from Germany, Japan, Korea, and so on and so forth came over to this specific tournament to look at the high school boys playing in the tournament...
The ideas I now have for where this story is gonna go ARE ENDLESS!
"Don't think we're slacking off on training." Riko announced to Seirin on the bus, "As soon as we've unpacked at the hotel I have a regimen I'd like to update you all on."
"Aw, can't we go around and look at the city? When in America, do as Americans do!" Izuki looked out the windows of the bus.
"That's Rome you moron!"
"If you'd like to take a look at the city..." Riko could think of numerous training exercises, and when the team noticed this they panicked.
"Forget it!" "Izuki didn't mean it!" "I'm sure Izuki was joking, Riko."
Michelle pulled her hoodie over her face and slunk down further in her seat, only to be elbowed by Stephanie.
"So how did that match really go?" The bubbly tone hid the underlying sense of importance that Stephanie had meant to convey. It was usual for that to happen with the girl. Stephanie was rather bubbly and bouncy, and cheerful to the point where naïveté was just expected of her. Mitch knew that was far from the truth.
"Kagami broke the hoop thinking he could slam dunk his way to victory." She shrugged.
"And that trick he kept mentioning, was that your super ultra-"
"I used that double-dunk thing we talked about."
"Ohh, that little trick."
"HA! So you admit you tricked me!" Kagami jumped over his seat and pulled Michelle's hood up, pulling her up from her seat as well, "You tricky little cheater!"
"It's not cheating if you're dumb enough to fall for it." She argued, pulling her hoodie back so she could rest. She was known to be cranky when tired.
Kagami pondered her words, and realized she was right. What Mitch had done was perfectly legal in street matches and official games. In some ways, that little trick had reminded him of Kuroko's disappearing shot. It was Mitch's turn to go on the offense, and after checking the ball to Kagami she started dribbling, handling the ball like a pro- like she always had been. That is, until Kagami had suddenly lost track of which path the ball was going, she had faked her way past him, her form taking on that of a dunk. But Kagami knew as well as she did that he could very well block the shot. He jumped up, and for some reason when he blocked he had missed. And just like that the ball had reappeared into Mitch's hands, and she barely dunked the ball into the basket before landing.
"I still have to work on my vertical height." She muttered.
While she had noticed all of Kagami's flaws, she had also noticed her own. And that was something she hated- something she always hated.
They pulled up to the hotel, and after Michelle had taken care of checking into the rooms and getting everything in line she brought out a clipboard from her bag, "There are two beds to a room, as soon as you've picked a room I'd appreciate it if you signed out which room you'd taken. You'll be taking up the 11th floor. Natasha, Steph and I will also be rooming on that floor. A majority of this hotel has been taken up by the expo, and each nation has their own floor. There are still a few nations that have yet to arrive, so you won't be able to see them all at the opening ceremony tomorrow."
Everyone had noticed how basketball players were roaming the hotel, whether to check in or sit around at the lounge or cafe inside the lounge. Even the restaurant was bustling with activity of basketball players. All nationally ranked, all powerful looking. The sight of it was enough to stir up competitive emotions.
"D-did you see how tall that guy was?!" Wakamatsu asked, motioning to a German player that looked as tall as Murisakibara.
Riko's mind was overflowing with numbers and statistics as different players passed by, and she frowned.
"My regimen... I'll have to upgrade it so we can achieve the numbers I'd like."
Momoi agreed, clipboard in hand and pen tucked behind her ear, "There are so many players with information and data to acquire!"
Michelle's brow rose, "They're not jetlagged?"
Natasha shrugged, "Honestly, I didn't expect anyone to want to even consider playing basketball hours after a day long flight. Taiga proved me wrong, so I'm not surprised his friends have proved us wrong on assumptions either."
"Either way, I need a shower." Michelle shrugged, she left the clipboard she had with Kuroko, and walked towards the elevator, "The key cards are on the clipboard. Don't forget to mark who's who in the rooms. Everyone needs to be accounted for."
'I'm sticky with sweat and that damned grape soda...' Michelle thought to herself with a frown, 'But I'm seriously itching to see how these guys actually play.'
On the elevator, once she had an after thought to the day's events so far, Michelle smirked.
"Interesting already seems like an understatement."
Disclaimer: I do not own any characters/plot/etc., of the KnB manga/anime
