A/N: Thank you for your reviews, faves and follows!
Enjoy!
Chapter 21
It was finally the day of the streetball competition and RimFire were in high spirits. Tanaka had pulled the car into a parking lot, after which they exited and walked to the venue which was about two-minutes away. Only two people weren't there, and they were Kotarou and Kazunari as they had gone on earlier to sign them up. At the rate at which streetball was becoming famous, they wouldn't want to be stuck in long-lines.
RimFire then went to sit on a bench under a huge tree, lining out Tanaka's homemade sandwiches while waiting for the two balls of energies to arrive. After the minutes passed, they were spotted a distance away, jogging towards them.
"Hey guys guess what?" Kotarou said as soon as he caught his breath.
"We're match one." Shouichi deadpanned.
"Yes. But ―"
"That's it! After this, Shige, you will not be playing in our opening match! Everytime we decide that, we end up being match one!" Yukio said.
"How is that my fault, though?" the brunet asked.
"I wasn't done!" Kotarou said once more to get back the attention. "Being match one isn't the issue here. It's the fact that they're having two matches played simultaneously until the quarter-finals."
"WHAT?!"
"Yeah, since, apparently there are too many teams signing up. If they don't do that, then this competition would continue into tomorrow. And, well, no one has the time for that."
"Why didn't they just close the registration after they've reached a certain amount?" Yukio asked. "That makes more sense."
"Erm…" Kazunari said while scratching the back of his neck with a humorous look on his face. "It's because we signed up with the overflow as well."
"HUH?!"
"By the time we had reached to sign up; the maximum amount had already been surpassed. But the officials said that they were hoping that RimFire would participate that's why they didn't close the registration."
The others sighed.
"So, in essence, because they wanted us to be there, they kept the registration open. Wow." Tetsuya said. "We must really mean a lot to them."
"Well, given that there are more and more teams participating just to get to play us. Of course we mean a lot to them." Shouichi said while looking in Shige's direction. "I mean, look at Kitamura. They're a school team who should be focusing on Inter-High, yet they're more pumped up to face us instead."
"You all know what this means, right?" Yukio asked with a sly smile on his face.
"Of course." Came the unison reply with the grinning faces.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
When the time had come for the competition to start, two courts were set up. After hearing the teams that were playing in the first matches, court one had far more spectators than court two. The reason was simple, RimFire was playing on court one. And whenever RimFire was playing, no one dared to miss it.
Currently, the teams had gathered on their respective courts, as usual RimFire were huddled together, giving each other a prep talk. On the other half of the court, the opposing team was looking at them with awe and respect. They called themselves 'Solar'.
"Let the first match between RimFire and Solar begin!" the referee announced.
After the two teams had lined up and bowed, they then went into their respective positions. Solar were dressed in identical bright yellow shirts and matching black shorts. Centre and Shige faced off for the ball at tip-off.
Fortunately for RimFire, Shige managed to get the ball and immediately passed it to Yukio. The moment the captain got the ball, the others ran off, but Yukio dribbled a bit slowly. He made sure that his team got into their preferred positions, and as they did so, he looked around and assessed the possibilities.
In front of him was probably their point guard. He was as tall as Kazunari or a little shorter. Over by the right and left wings were Shouichi and Kazunari and their defenders, but he couldn't deduce who was the shooting guard or the small forward or any other position for that matter.
In the paint and nearest to Kazunari is Kotarou with his defender who Yukio thought to be the power forward since Shige was by the net with Centre.
And now, looking at his options, if he were to pass to Shouichi, there might a chance where his defender would be able to block the shot. Judging by his height that is. He then looked into Kotarou's direction. The blond is swift enough to catch the ball should he pass to him but what worries him is the closeness that they have to Kazunari and his defender. If he really should pass to Kotarou, Kazunari's defender could intercept if Kazunari isn't swift enough to halt him. And of course, Shige was too far. He figured that he'd asses their centre's reach a little later.
Yukio sighed.
With a swift crossover, he faked by shifting to the left first, making Point Guard move in that direction. Then, he moved to the right and around him. He didn't want to use his full drive as yet. It was still the first match anyway.
When Yukio got around him, Shouichi shuffled into a favourable position, so too did Kazunari; Kotarou didn't move as he was fine just the way he was. Yukio then passed the ball to Shouichi, who, using a trick he learnt from Tetsuya, he redirected it to Kazunari.
With a grin, the raven-haired boy then dribbled towards the net where he bounced the ball to the left and into Kotarou's arms who had run up to them. Using an ordinary dribble, Kotarou passed his defender and made a shot. Shige kept Centre in place, allowing the boy to shoot freely.
And thus, RimFire gained two points.
RimFire then headed back to defend, awaiting Solar's offense. After Centre retrieved the ball and passed it to Point Guard, he then headed towards the top of the circle where he was blocked by Yukio. Looking at his options, he decided to make use of the overhead pass to get the ball to his power forward that was being blocked by Shouichi.
Since there was a difference in height, Point Guard thought that this would have been the best course of action. He went through with this idea, and luckily for them, it succeeded, however, one thing they have yet to learn is that the boys of RimFire get extremely pissed when others use their height against them.
When Power forward received the ball, he then thundered towards RimFire's net. When he was in range, he then jumped; seeming to make a dunk, however, a hand knocked the ball to the ground and into Shouichi's waiting arms.
"Nice block Shige-chan!" Kazunari praised as he made his way towards Solar's side of the net.
Shouichi dribbled until he reached the centre-circle where he bounced the ball to Yukio before heading towards the three-point line. Kotarou then dashed by Yukio and in the moment he'd done so, Yukio bounced the ball through Point Guard's legs to the blond, who then, after a couple of dribbles made it into the paint area. By this time, Kazunari had made it back as well, but then he switched with Yukio making the captain head down to where Kotarou was.
However, Small Forward, who was marking Kotarou was determined to not him pass. Seeing Yukio coming, Kotarou relaxed a bit and bounced the ball on the spot slowly. The moment Yukio got into position, Kotarou then made a right to left crossover using the hesitation dribble. When Small Forward lagged, he drove around him and then passed the ball to Yukio who sent it to Shouichi.
Due to the speed at which the ball moved, Power Forward who was marking Shouichi barely had enough time to react. The bespectacled teen made his shot effortlessly.
RimFire was now on five points.
They then head back to defend, but Solar was realizing that things were starting to heat up. This, they realized, that RimFire was starting to get into their groove. And when that happens, it's game over.
"Don't worry! Let's get them back!" Point Guard said.
"Alright!" the others chorused.
Centre then retrieved the ball, and passed it to Point Guard. They then headed towards RimFire; everyone except Small Forward had gone on ahead. Point Guard once again stood before Yukio; Small Forward was a few steps ahead. He was unmarked due to his position.
Seeing this set up, RimFire has an inkling of what they're trying to do. With Small Forward being so close to Point Guard, the chances of the ball reaching him is high since he's unmarked and Yukio isn't invincible. So, the others made sure to get into positions in case the ball manages to get to Small Forward.
However, what happened next shocked them. Instead of passing to Small Forward, Point Guard then made a crossover which prompted Small Forward to move up to screen out Yukio.
This action made Point Guard move freely, after which he then headed towards the net while the others get RimFire busy. He reached the net and with Centre holding Shige in place, he was able to make a layup.
"Hmm, what should we do?" Shouichi said with a playful tone in his voice.
"Let's go for some threes." Yukio said, strangely in contrast to Shouichi, his tone was serious. He then looked to Kazunari and Shige. "But that doesn't mean you can't go for some shots as well. We can't have all the fun, right?"
"Alright."
"Now let's burn up this court!" Kotarou chirped.
On the other hand, Solar felt a sudden chill run down their spines.
RimFire then restarted, and as usual, Yukio and Point Guard were facing off at the top of the circle. By the left and right wings were Shouichi and Kazunari with Power Forward and Shooting Guard, Kotarou in the paint with Small Forward and Shige with centre at the net.
Yukio then took a sudden step backwards, and then shot the ball. This caught Solar's players by surprise, but Shige knew exactly what to do. Pushing against Centre, by the time the ball bounced off the rim of the net, he caught it with ease and then threw it to Kazunari.
Grinning, the boy made a three.
Centre retrieved the ball but what he noticed left him in shock. RimFire hadn't moved. He then resorted to dribbling on the spot; however, Shige knocked the ball from his hands sending it bouncing away into Kotarou and Small Forward's direction. The two boys then moved after it, since Yukio kept Point Guard busy, Shouichi made sure to block Power Forward's way and Kazunari's defense kept Shooting Guard still.
Kotarou got the ball and without even waiting, he used his three-fingered Lightning Dribble with the crossover dribble to get by Small Forward with ease. Reaching up to the net, Centre tried to block him, but that was a foolish mistake.
Upon seeing that Centre left him, Shige didn't move from the net as he knew that Kotarou would then pass the ball to him instead of trying to get around Centre.
And so it was.
The moment Centre moved to block Kotarou, Power Forward's warning was too late; Kotarou bounced the ball through the space in between his legs, and right into Shige's arms.
"Slam it in, Shige." Kotarou smirked.
"Don't need to tell me." He answered with a light chuckle. He spun on his right leg and with a powerful jump, dunked the ball with immense force.
"How many times do we have to say that you should break it!?" Shouichi said. "Give them a warning one of these days, will you?"
"Just by wearing this uniform is a warning in of itself." Shige replied. "I mean, people know that you guys aren't to be taken lightly."
"I think you're missing something though." Kotarou said.
"What's that?"
"You said 'you guys'. Aren't you one of us as well?"
"Ah…it's just that ―"
"Defense!" Shouichi said as he slapped Shige on his back. The younger boy doubling over in agony. "We're counting on you."
They then walked off, leaving off, leaving Shige and Kotarou. "Is he a mind reader?"
"Of course he is. You didn't know all this time?" the blond laughed. "After all he is the Prince of Touou who possesses the most dangerous mind-reading magic."
Shige blanched. Is he still on about that? He then moved off to defend as Solar was restarting.
And thus, the match continued to be dominated by RimFire. Once the boys fully got into their groove nothing could stop them. And what was even worse, Tetsuya wasn't playing in that match. However, even though they were losing, Solar couldn't feel any condescending attitude coming out of RimFire. What oozed out of these boys' bodies was solely fun.
Every time Kotarou was blocked by Small Forward, he'd break out in a grin and dribbled pass the boy with ease. His dribbles varies, but for this match he only alternates between the crossover and hesitation, with very rare moments of his famous three-fingered lightning dribble.
Kazunari had fun as well, having Shooting Guard go for a loop. With his hawk-eyes, whenever he receives the ball, he'd pass it back to someone without even taking his eyes off his Shooting Guard which always throws the boy off guard. There were other times when Shooting Guard anticipates that Kazunari would pass to someone and was actually ready for it, when the raven-haired would instead go for the shot himself.
It was somewhat frustrating for Shooting Guard as he can never tell what Kazunari was going to do whenever he got the ball.
Shouichi wore a playful smile on his face throughout the match. As often as he got the ball from Yukio or anyone else for that matter, he make his threes effortlessly. And he sure made them look damn elegant. When Tetsuya saw this in the crowd, he cracked up with laughter, as sometimes, he could've sworn that he's seeing sparkles around the bespectacled teen. His releases were also quite fast, even though Power Forward has the height advantage, so he was (sometimes) unable to block Shouichi's shots. However, there were times when his fingers managed to craze the ball and it rebounds.
In that instance, this is where Shige shines the most. With him and Centre always at the net, the two tallest of their teams would be seen battling for the rebounds. Since Shige always has the advantage whenever he sees his fellow teammates shoot from an absurd range, he'd always prep himself for the rebound. However, it was no easy feat, since Centre was not to be stiffed at.
Yukio seemed to be the one who was never in a favourable position. Despite his looks, Point Guard was actually quite good. He was like a thorn in Yukio's side that was quite annoying to get rid of. However, Yukio's experience in high school basketball proved to make him the better of the two, as numerous times, he was able to manoeuvre around the (seems to be younger) boy. There were also many times when Yukio issues order to his teammates to get them in order. This is where the crazy loops would originate from.
But, even though Solar lacked the experience and the skills like that of RimFire, they were still able to produce some good plays. Against Yukio, Point Guard knows that he has inferior skills, so he uses most of his powers to block his way. It proves to work sometimes, and other times, he manages to stall the older boy.
Shooting Guard, even though Kazunari likes to troll, whenever he receives the ball from Point Guard or someone else, he doesn't hesitate to make his shots. There are times, however, when Kazunari is able to block his shots, due to them being on similar heights.
Power Forward had also had his good moments. There are times when he's able to weave through RimFire with his speed, and fortunately for him, RimFire were kept busy at this time by his other teammates. He mostly dunks and uses layups, but either way, he manages to get in some shots for his team.
Centre tries his best in defending his team's net against RimFire and often time fights with Shige for the offensive rebounds. It's always a tug-of-war between these two, and RimFire couldn't be gladder that they made Shige join.
By the time the game reached into its last leg due to RimFire on fifteen points, Solar could be seen sweating and panting profusely. It was proof that they didn't do extensive training, so upon seeing that, RimFire slowed the pace of the game to accommodate them. The spectators and the commentators could see that and for some reason, were touched by their consideration.
RimFire ending up winning the match twenty-two to fifteen.
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
After the break, Tetsuya was actually ready and rearing to go. Seeing the match prior, he felt an urge to play basketball, but a part of him wondered why he froze up in the Meisei and Senshinkan matches. This time, they played on court two and once again, there was a considerable amount of crowds there. This time, Yukio was subbed out for Tetsuya and not only would he be the usual phantom passer, he was supposed to be the point guard as well. After all, Kazunari had said to use these matches as his guinea pigs to see exactly how well he can utilize his new skills. And of course, Yukio was by the sidelines to asses that.
When RimFire saw who their opponents for Round 2 were, they laughed out loud. It was none other than SkyScraper. The two teams decided that this must be fate, as this was not the first time, since their début match that they'd been encountering each other. As a matter of fact, they encountered SkyScraper more than anyone else that they've played.
But even though SkyScraper had on a face that emitted joy, the moment they spotted Tetsuya, they blanched. They knew that this match is going to be hell indeed.
"Let the match between RimFire and SkyScraper begin!" the referee announced. The two teams got into their positions and the moment the match began, Tetsuya showed no mercy. It wasn't that he was some sort of vengeful spirit, but he was just excited and felt a bit starved of basketball.
So when he let loose, he let loose.
At first, when he wasn't in the role of the point guard, the spectators and commentators as well SkyScraper would lose sight of the ball and within an instant, someone from RimFire was shooting. Another time, SkyScraper would have the ball and in the instant that the ball was passed or a player hesitates, Tetsuya would swoop in from God knows where, steal it and redirects it to his teammates.
During this time, the match seemed a bit one-sided, as Tetsuya was relentless. Yukio and Tanaka had actually blanched at the boys' misfortune.
By the time RimFire reached fifteen, Tetsuya decided to play it cool and test out his new skills that he'd learnt from the others. It was then that Shouichi focused solely on being a shooting guard, while Tetsuya was the point guard.
This was where SkyScraper managed to get some points, as Tetsuya was still new at being a point guard. Even though he's capable of picking up mistakes and dangers, the downfall was actually so simple that Yukio had to bust with laughter.
His voice wasn't loud enough.
Due to the cheers, screams and hooting of the crowd, add to that the commentators speaking over the microphones…Tetsuya's voice was lost in all that. And what made it worse, since they trained him in the quiet streetball court, the volume that he speaks with there, is actually quite low.
"Tanaka-san, remind me to give Tetsuya some voice training when we get back." Yukio said. "He'll never survive like this."
Tanaka chuckled. "I will."
For Tetsuya, he was getting quite annoyed. Since he realized that the others couldn't hear his voice, he decided to take matters into his own hands. Whenever he ended up being blocked by Point Guard, he would swiftly navigate around him with a crossover dribble.
When Kotarou saw this, he tore up on the spot. "They grow up so fast…" he sniffed. "I find it hard to let him go…"
Seeing Kotarou like this, Power Forward pats his back in an attempt to cheer him. "It's always sad, but remember that you have a match to finish, alright?"
After that, SkyScraper's demolition continued.
Kotarou and Kazunari's partnership on the court was fatal (as always), the hawk-eyed boy would give the lightning dribbler absurd passes that he could catch, and then he'd storm in for the kill. Another time, Tetsuya worked with them as well, Kazunari had passed the ball to him and without hitch, he redirected it to the blond with frightening speed.
Shouichi as well…he made threes effortlessly and graciously, the commentators began to dub him the 'graceful shooter'. It cracked up RimFire to no end, Kazunari and Shige decided to make it their mission to tease him about later. Yukio had plans to call him that whenever he's going to watch any Touou match. Oh yes, that would be quite the day to behold indeed.
Shige was the usual, protecting their net from the opposing team's centre and getting rebounds. But that didn't mean he didn't make shots of his own. In fact, he made almost the same amount of shots as Shouichi. Since there were times when the shooting guard would be blocked, either he or Tetsuya would pass him the ball swiftly and well, he'd either make a layup or a dunk.
And as usual whenever he dunks, there are indignant shouts of 'It's about time you break the damn net!' In times like these, he wonders why they are so obsessed with him breaking the net. But, he doesn't question it. They are RimFire after all. The laws of logic don't work with them.
And thus, RimFire's second match ended with them winning, twenty-one to sixteen.
Their other matches continued on with the winning streak, Yukio and Tetsuya alternating between the matches. In their third match, they faced a team named Beasts of Fire, which strangely reminded them too much of the Fiery Beasts in appearance. However, they were the Fiery Beasts, and thus, RimFire demolished them due to that fact.
For their fourth match, this was the quarter finals. The final eight teams were decided and upon hearing Kitamura's name being announced, Shige paled. He could feel his meeting with them drawing near and also then end of his high school life. However, luckily, Kitamura was playing in quarter final one whilst they were in quarter-final two. In essence, they won't see each other play since the two matches were being played at the same time.
They played Blue Danger this time, and that match was quite the heated one. They came back with vengeance, and this got the boys of RimFire pumped up even more. Tetsuya played in this match and with the revelation of his new skills; they were left dumbfounded, to the point that they couldn't do anything.
They still managed to get some points in against RimFire, but at the end of the match, they didn't know which was worst when looking back at their past experiences, Tetsuya playing or Yukio playing. Who really was worst?
That said, RimFire the match twenty-three to eighteen.
They dominated the semi-finals as well, encountering a new team that they've never played before. They were called Amaterasu. Hearing the name and seeing them made RimFire's adrenaline soar, but when the match started, they realized that they average basketball players. Thus, they slowed the pace of the game, and limited their skills to only what was necessary; Kotarou didn't use his lightning dribble, Kazunari rarely used his hawk-eyes, and so on. It wasn't that they were looking down on them either; it was just that they wanted them to enjoy basketball as well, so they only used what they needed.
Even so, RimFire won twenty-one to twelve.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
It was nearing the time for the finals, and Shige was sweating profusely. Hearing the name of the team that they were going to play made him nervous. Yes, it was Kitamura. His high school basketball team. He sighed to himself, knowing that Mochida was probably laughing at his misfortune secretly somewhere.
Currently, they were seated on the bench under the same tree that they were this morning, but that didn't mean it was as peaceful. They were giving advice to Amaterasu, the team they had just beaten some minutes earlier. Yukio and Shouichi had picked up that they were basically amateurs and wanted to help them. Of course, their power forward was getting some help from the self-proclaimed dribble king, their shooting guard was being taught by Shouichi who was now known as the 'graceful shooter', Yukio and Tetsuya aided their point guard while Kazunari helped their small forward.
It was a good sight to see, many of the other teams somewhat jealous that Amaterasu were receiving advice from RimFire. Even though, it wasn't the first that they were giving advice. And so the minutes then flew by quickly and it was time for the finals.
The announcement was then made indicating that the finals between RimFire and Kitamura would start. The boys slowly made their way to court one, well; they had already removed court two anyway.
When RimFire and Kitamura had entered the court, the boys from Kitamura had felt two emotions ― excitement that they got to face the RimFire, and shock when they saw that Shige was in their uniform. Due to their shock, they ended up spluttering all sorts of incoherencies, causing RimFire to look at them with confusion.
"Hello!" It was Mochida who went up to talk with them. "I've heard much about you," he then looked to Shige, "although I recently found out that he was a part of the team as well."
"Well," Shouichi began. "All we've heard was that you'd probably force him to ―"
"Nothing!" Shige said as he clasped a hand over Shouichi's mouth. "Ignore him. He's a troublemaker sometimes."
"Who would have thought that Ogiwara would have been a part of RimFire?" this time it was the captain ― Yamada who spoke. "Withholding such valuable information from your Senpai? How could you?"
"Well, you never asked." He responded, pulling a Tetsuya.
"That's not the issue here." Another player spoke up. His name was Takizawa. "You're such a good player and you haven't even considered joining your high school team to help improve us! That's the issue here!" his brown eyes seemed to show two emotions ― anger and sadness. "How could you?! On Monday, I better see you in the gym practicing with us! If not…" he paused for dramatic effect. "I. Will. Hunt. You. Down!"
"It's Mochida's fault!" Shige countered quickly. His Senpai was scary. "It's not like I was a part of RimFire from the inception! We just went to watch Seirin versus Seiho and I happened to encounter Tetsu who was a part of RimFire! Plus, they were the ones who coerced me into joining them! And I had to go through hellish training! So, it's not like ―"
"Shige-kun really was hiding from you." Tetsuya said, cutting the boy off.
"Yeah, all throughout this competition he'd been on edge that you'd discover his 'secret'." Kazunari added.
"How could you?!" Shige nearly broke down in tears. Yukio just laughed at what was going on.
As for Kitamura, they didn't know what to make of this. Shige was explaining something, but on the other hand, RimFire seemed like they just sold him out. They didn't know what to say at this development, so they ended up just staring at their playful and troublesome exchanges.
Then, the referee instructed them to bow so that the match could begin. When they did so, they all got into their positions for the tip-off, Shige and another player by the name of Amano faced off for the ball.
Thank you for reading! Don't forget to leave a review!