After the examination, the team gathered to have breakfast at the dining hall.
The breakfast was very substantial, with rice, miso soup, rolled omelet, bacon, sausages and pickled daikon.
The cook was very fond of the All Star Team, and had prepared extra portions for them.
After the fast, all of the boys were hungry and chomped down the food eagerly. Everyone of them having 2 to 3 helping of rice and miso soup each, except Fujima and Jin, who ate like birds.
Akagi, Sakuragi and Sendoh gobbled up any leftover remaining. Everyone wondered how the trio could eat so much.
After breakfast, there was still sometime before the boys had to do the weightlessness training in the pool, so they decided to play a practice match against each other.
The coaches summoned both the captains to them.
"Any instructions, sensei?" asked Akagi as he stood to attention in front of Coach Anzai.
"Maki-kun, Akagi-kun," Coach Anzai addressed both of them with his usual anticipated smile, "Split the team, will you?"
"Sensei…?"
"Make sure all the teams are split, try to let the team get used to working with the each other. Ho ho ho"
"Any preference, sensei?" Maki asked now.
"Put Rukawa-kun together with Sendoh-kun, these two need to work together instead of being rival."
"Hai, sensei!"
Akagi thought this was definitely a good idea. So did Maki.
"And Sakuragi-kun with Kiyota-kun."
"Are you sure this is a good…"
"You guys are very strong… if you work together as a team."
There was no point in arguing. Besides, the coach had a point.
"Hai sensei!" they both chimed.
Then Maki and Akagi returned to the court, Sakuragi and Kiyota were arguing who could do the best dunk.
"You are just a monkey jumping wildly at random!"
"What did you say you amateur?"
"You, you wild monkey!"
"Red-haired monkey!"
"Grrrr…..!"
"OKAY- Enoguh! Everyone!" roared Maki. The sternness in his voice made everyone cringed, stopped what they were doing and looked his way.
"Hurdle-up!"
All eight members of the All Star Team came to form a semi-circle around their captains.
"OK," Akagi started, "We will play a practice match, five-on-five. Maki and I will now assign you to your team."
Everyone waited patiently.
"OK, Red team first!" Akagi called out loudly, "Hanagata – Center, Maki – Point Guard, Mitsui – Shooting Guard, Rukawa – Small Forward, Sendoh – Power Forward."
The called out members looked at each other. Rukawa frowned; he had hoped to have a one-on-one match with Sendoh; his wish wasn't granted this time.
"OK, White Team now!" said Akagi now, "Akagi – Center, Fujima – Point Guard, Jin – Shooting Guard, Kiyota – Small Forward, Sakuragi – Power Forward!"
"No, Gori…" Sakuragi was shocked, "I don't want to play with that wild mon…"
But before he could finish, Akagi already landed a knock on his head.
"You idiot! We are one team now! One Team! Get over your own problem, all of you!" his roar was so angry that even Maki shuddered.
Rukawa thought he would better keep quiet for now than to anger his vice-captain further.
Sendoh was pulled aside by Maki at once, "Sendoh, I need you to be a scorer this time too. OK?"
"But I like playing point guard." pouted Sendoh.
"I. Am. The. Point. Guard! Got it?" gritted Maki through his teeth.
Sendoh shuddered, and thought Maki had a point. He prepared himself mentally to become the scoring machine.
And with that their friendly match started.
It was a game not to be reckoned with. Jin beautiful 3 points, AKagi's Gorilla Dunk, Sakuragi's possessive rebound, Maki's expertly executed play, Kiyota's alley-loop, Fujima's lightning speed, Hanagata's elegant shot, Rukawa's explosive power and determination to win, and Sendoh's magnificent scoring techniques.
The three coaches stood there and gapped in amazement.
They knew the team they have picked was good. So good, in fact, that they believe they had a chance at the quarter-final.
However, what they saw right there and then had gone beyond their imagination of how good their team actually was.
They were invincible.
The three most strategic persons on the team were Maki, Fujima and Sendoh, though the latter sometimes lacked concentration.
If his star player didn't play so wonderfully, Coach Taoka would probably have strangled his ace, and toss his lifeless body into the sea to be with the fishes Sendoh liked so much.
Rukawa, with his explosive power and eagerness to win, could score under almost any circumstances.
Jin's silent willfulness and determination, he could hit a 3-pointers almost anywhere on the court.
Akagi and Hanagata were the pillars under the basket.
Loud and driven, Mitsui and Kiyota were extremely competitive, both a strong scorer and a defender, at the same time.
Combined with the rebounding power of Sakuragi, this was the team that the coaches had always dreamt of.
They noticed themselves wiping away the droplet of tear that was now gathering at the corner of their eyes.
The game ended with the red team winning by 6 points, the combined scoring power of Rukawa and Sendoh was plain scary, with the latter almost always trying to trick his opponent to foul to gain a free throw.
Sakuragi and Kiyota swore revenge for their next match.