School is... yeah.
Yeah.
And it's only...November. What?
Chapter 17 - Preparation of the Inter-High semifinals
The next day after the 2nd match against Hakuryou High, all Seirin members were exhausted. At lunchtime, Kagami's bread hill tripled into the size of a mountain range.
"That... is a lot of food," Kuroko said. He couldn't imagine himself possibly finishing even a third of the food Kagami ate normally.
"I'm hungry," Kagami frowned. "I can't imagine that you can survive with just that much after playing two matches yesterday!"
Kuroko looked at his sandwich and juice box then to Kagami's mountain of bread.
"I'm only normal."
Kagami rolled his eyes and pointed to Hazuki with a bread in his mouth. "She's eating more than you are."
Hazuki was flailing her chopsticks to eat her rice and side dishes from her large bento.
She looks like a hamster, Kuroko thought.
"Well I'm more tired out of anything," Hazuki mumbled while chewing on her food. She swallowed and chopped her shoulder. "The matches are surprisingly much harder than coach's practice menus..."
"Now that you say that," Kagami grumbled, flexing his back. "I'm terribly sore."
"I do have proper muscle ache too," Kuroko agreed.
"Kagami-kun, Kuroko-kun, Hazuki-chan!" Riko shouted from the doorway of the classroom. "Come here for a second!"
"What is it?" Kagami groaned, getting up reluctantly.
Kuroko stood up (with some effort) and walked to the doorway in curiosity. Hazuki followed, continuing with her lunch.
"You two boys, carry these boxes for me!" Riko dumped them into Kagami and Kuroko's hands.
"Why are we carrying these!?" Kagami demanded. "Are you some demon?"
"Oh come on, don't you feel like helping a pretty girl carrying something heavy?" Riko asked.
"I don't see a pretty girl anywhere," Kagami muttered, prompting a painful punch from the coach.
"Ow! What the heck!" he yelled. "This is making me worse! And why doesn't Fujidana carry anything!?"
"Because you boys are here," Riko frowned.
"Sorry," Hazuki said, hastening the movement of her chopsticks. "I can't eat as fast as you..."
"You'll choke," Kuroko said. "There's no need for you to do that."
"It'll be fine... hack! ack!"
Kuroko put his box on top of Kagami's, (causing him to splutter complaints) and patted Hazuki's back soothingly.
As clumsy as a certain someone, Riko deadpanned in her head as she took the box from an irritated Kagami.
"I'll be fine now, thanks," Hazuki said to Kuroko and closed her bento box.
Kagami snorted and then looked at the box Riko took back with curiosity. "What's in the box?"
"They're DVDs of matches from last year and this year," she said. "We're moving this to a better place so we can analyze our opponents."
"Oh..."
"She didn't tell us to take them to torture us Kagami-kun," Kuroko said.
"...Shut up."
After another grueling practice Kagami wobbled towards the boys' locker room to get the towel he'd forgotten.
"Hello," Kuroko said.
"Gwoh!?" Kagami jumped. "When did you get here!?"
"I was here from the start."
"Say something!" Kagami face palmed, feeling himself get heart palpitations.
From outside Hazuki knocked on the door and peeked in carefully.
"Is everything alright?" she asked.
"Yes. Kagami-kun was scared of me."
"Don't say that!"
Kuroko shook his head lightly and closed his locker. His eyes caught onto a DVD left on the bench.
"It seems that the coach forgot this," he picked it up. "Seihou against Kitawada High."
"That's our next opponent," Hazuki said as she slipped in.
"Perfect timing," Kagami said.. "Let's take a look."
The TV flickered a few seconds after he put the DVD in and formed into a slightly fuzzy image of two basketball teams. Squeaks from basketball shoes and dribbling thumps filled the locker room as the match began.
Number 9 from the Seihou team, a bald tall guy, stood out. He easily maneuvered away from the opposing team and made it to the other side quickly, scoring a clean layup.
A few minutes later, Kagami noticed something odd.
"Their defense... their rhythm is weird," he said.
"It's pretty interesting," Hazuki noted.
"Interesting isn't how I would describe it..." Kagami said.
"Their pace is certainly different from what we usually see," Kuroko said.
Within two quarters the score became 39 to 8.
"They're good," Kagami said. "Especially that guy with the shaven head."
"I know him," Kuroko said.
"Huh?!" Kagami and Hazuki turned to him.
"I played against him in middle school," Kuroko said. "Kise-kun had just started, but he was stopped by this person."
Kagami opened his eyes in shock. Kise was stopped?
The buzzer of the match rang, showing a final score of 71 to 12.
"That's going to be a tough game," Kagami muttered.
"How unusual to see Kagami-kun looking somewhat dejected."
"Shut up Kuroko."
The door of the locker room opened.
"What are you guys doing here?" Hyuuga asked with the other second years behind him.
"You're not supposed to be in here Fujidana," Izuki sweatdropped.
"It was because Kagami-kun was screaming," Kuroko said.
"I was not screaming!" Kagami said.
"Oh we were just watching a DVD of Seihou High," Hazuki said.
"So that's where it was," Tsuchida said. "We were looking for it. Coach wants up to go to a classroom to watch this together."
After watching the DVD together again all of Seirin became completely silent.
"Can I say that I feel like crying?" Koganei asked. Mitobe patted him on the shoulder comfortably.
"This is going to be terribly difficult," Izuki said.
"We would lose to them or Shuutoku 9 times out of 10," Riko agreed. "But we'll just have to make those matches the ones we win in!"
"The only thing we can do..." Hyuuga trailed. "Well you can't really call this a plan, but all we can do is to watch these again and again."
Koganei groaned and sprawled himself over the desk.
"Get up!" Riko slapped him on the head with a paper fan.
It's possible that Teppei went against some members of this team during middle school too, Hazuki thought.
"Coach, do you have their team's roster?" she asked.
"Sure, but do you want with it?"
"Some research."
"Ok?" She handed her the sheet.
"Coach, stop strangling Koga..." Izuki said, trying to unlatch her from his neck.
"Ah sorry!"
"I thought I was going to die..."
Hazuki took our her phone and began typing quickly.
From: Fujidana Hazuki (Dorami)
To: Kiyoshi Teppei (Doraemon)
Subject: Do you know?
Hey Teppei~
We are researching on our next opponent, Seihou High. I have the roster of names here... do any of these people seem familiar?
Iwamura Tsutomu
Hasuga Ryuuhei
Omuro Yoshikasu
Sakamoto Kenjiro
Tsugawa Tomoki
Thanks! (=3=)/
She flipped her phone shut and put it back in her pocket. Hopefully he'll know at least one of them...
"One of my friends got a DVD of another game of them," Riko announced. "We'll be watching this too like hell!"
Koganei smacked his head onto the table in resignation.
"There there Koga..." Tsuchida said, patting him on the back.
"Pay attention!" Riko shouted inserting the DVD.
A phone began ringing loudly in the classroom with the sound of an anime voice-actor singing.
"Hime-hime, hime-hime! suki suki, daisuki hime, hime! Kira kira rin!"
Everyone turned to Hazuki who took out her phone again.
"What the hell was that ringtone!?"
"Don't mind me..."
"PAY ATTENTION!" Riko ordered, making them all turn back to the front.
From: Kiyoshi Teppei (Doraemon)
To: Fujidana Hazuki (Dorami)
Re: Do you know?
Hey Hazuki~ XD XD XD
Yes: I do know a couple of them. I played again Iwamura Tsutomu, the captain, in middle school a couple of times. He's a strong center and doesn't have much of a problem overpowering his opponents a lot of the time.
But that's impossible against you... Hazuki sweatdropped.
I also played against Kasuga once. He has a good mind and is pretty calculative. He's a point guard, but I don't remember much besides that. I don't believe I've played the other third years before. The Tsugawa guy I haven't heard before as well, but I think that's because I graduated before there was a chance for us to play.
I don't think you know, but Seihou was one of the schools that wanted to recruit me. Their coach explained a couple of their defense styles. He bases it upon mental training and a set of martial arts. He said something called' Nanba.' I don't know about it very well, but Riko might know more.
Good luck! :D
Teppei~
The buzzer from the TV rang, showing a score of 65 to 9.
"This is just making me depressed..." Hyuuga said.
"Stop doing that," Riko sighed. "All of you need to point out anything you noticed!"
"About that, I might be able to help," Hazuki said.
"Really?" Everyone turned to her.
"Hrm," she looked at her phone screen and handed it to Riko who read it quickly.
"WHY DIDN'T WE THINK OF THIS BEFORE?"
Everyone jumped in their seats.
"Good job!" Riko slapped Hazuki's back. "That's a lot of our work done!"
"What's going on?" Hyuuga asked.
"She got a lot of important information about Seihou!"
"How did you do that?" Kuroko asked.
"Hrm...connections," Hazuki said, striking a detective-like pose.
"For some reason I don't want to know..." Hyuuga said.
A couple miles away a tall brown haired boy sneezed as he walked down a hospital's hallway.
A week later it was the Inter-High semifinals. Tension filled up the air as the four strongest teams of Block A warmed up in the huge gymnasium.
As Seirin was practicing, Hazuki was getting a lot of looks.
"Is that a girl?" A player from another team muttered to his teammate.
"You didn't know? Apparently she's on the team because of some weird rule that their coach made or something."
"For real?"
"More like coach did something weird..." Izuki said.
"I think I'm being severely stared at..." Hazuki said, averting her eyes.
"Don't worry," Kuroko said. "That games will start soon and it'll stop."
Furihata looked nervously at the large number of spectators. "I'd actually rather it didn't... there are way too many people. And we have back-to-back matches too."
Kawahara nodded.
Meanwhile, Kagami was watching the Shuutoku team carefully. Midorima caught his eye and glared back.
Hyuuga wrenched his head back towards Seihou.
"Ow! Captain!"
"You're not looking at the right opponent moron!" Hyuuga scolded. "If you get ahead of yourself and lose here you'll just look like an idiot!"
"I know! I know!" Kagami protested. "I was just watching! I am focusing on the next opponent."
He turned back to the right side of the court where Seihou was practicing.
"Seihou is more normal than I expected," Fukuda commented. "They don't seem to have really tall or unusual players."
"Yes," Riko agreed. "Their tallest player is their captain, Iwamura Tsutomu."
"He around Mitobe-senpai's height..." Furihata said.
"He seems really... fat?!" Kawahara said. "Or huge? Wide?"
"That person over there is their player maker Kasuga Ryuuhei," Riko pointed. "Those two third years are the center of the team."
Hazuki spun a ball on her finger feeling a bit nervous about the game itself. She was only snapped out of her stupor when the bald player from the other team came over.
"Oh, you're Kagami-kun aren't you?" he pointed. "Whoa, your hair is really red! So scary!"
"...What?" Kagami asked.
"Hey captain, this is the guy you talked about right? Seirin's really weak but they have this one strong guy!" The bald guy shouted cheerfully.
Riko stood up, tick marks sprouting all over her forehead and her hands in claw-like formation.
"Oh you've done it now you little shit..."
"Should somebody stop coach?" Hazuki asked.
"No," Hyuuga said darkly. "For once, let her rampage."
Iwamura punched the bald guy on the head.
"OW!"
"Stop messing around you idiot," Iwamura sighed. "Sorry about that. This just can't read situations and says whatever's on his mind."
"That's alright," Hyuuga said. "Since we'll be the ones that will win this. Don't think you can look down on us like you did last year."
"That won't happen," Iwamura turned away. "You guys were just weak."
He dragged the bald guy by his collar and walked away towards the direction of their locker room.
"Wait, captain! You said the same things I did!"
"You're an idiot. I just don't sugarcoat my words."
"But..."
"You're such an idiot Tsugawa," Kasuga sighed. The other third-years looked at each other and nodded.
"Hey!" he protested.
"Stop complaining, we're at the locker room already," Iwamura said, dumping him unceremoniously onto one of the benches. "Anyways, what do you think Kasuga? Your impression of these guys this year."
"The upperclassmen seem to have improved," Kasuga said. "We probably should keep an eye on that Kagami guy."
"Since you're both freshman, Tsugawa, you should keep an eye on him. You should be able to shut anyone down," he said.
"Yes!" Tsugawa jumped off, a bright gleam in his eye accompanied with a big grin. "This is going to be so fun!"
"...And there's the Tsugawa smile," Kasuga deadpanned. "This is probably the only guy in the world who actually smiles while playing defense."
"Speaking of which, does he even remember that there's another anomaly on the court today that he needs to know?" Iwamura asked. "And the fact that she's still able to keep up with the rest of her teammates?
"That girl player from Seirin?" Kasuga asked. "I really don't think he ever pays attention to strategic meetings."
"...Of course."
Back in the Seirin locker room, all of Seirin were reduced to silence. On the most part, everyone was nervous and tense over the upcoming match. The only visible exceptions were Kuroko and Hazuki, who was trying to remember which anime character Tsugawa looked like.
Riko sighed. Everyone is too tense.
"Everyone lighten up!" she clapped her hands. "I've thought of a great reward to motivate all of you!"
Placing one hand on her hip, she put two fingers from her other hand to her lips and blew an air kiss with a wink.
"If you guys win the next game, I'll give you all a kiss on the cheek!"
Everyone looked at her with a deadpan expression.
Hazuki scratched her head. "Sure, why not?"
"Why did you do that?" Izuki asked Riko. "Please don't make that expression ever again."
"You idiots!" Hyuuga gave a whispering roar. "Pretend to be happy!"
"Captain, that was the finishing blow..." Hazuki said, looking at a dying Riko.
If I were kissed on the cheek would that count as Yuri? she thought randomly.
"Well..." Riko spluttered. "Then... then... Hazuki will give you all a kiss on the cheek!"
"!?"
The person in question choked on her own saliva and stared intensely at the nearest locker beside her.
Everyone turned and looked in her direction. And just stared, making her feel very intimidated.
"About that..." Koganei scratched his head. "Right, Mitobe?"
Mitobe nodded a bit shyly.
"He's not saying anything though!?" Tsuchida said.
The freshman trio looked at each other. "Yeah..."
"Kuroko," Kagami asked, completely oblivious. "What is going on?"
"I don't know." Kuroko frowned slightly.
"WAIT A SECOND! WHY IS THE REACTION TOTALLY DIFFERENT!?" Riko demanded.
"Well..." Izuki said. "Right everyone?"
Most of the guys nodded. "Yes."
"Well... I'm just really confused here," Hazuki raised her hand like she was in class. "I mean I don't really have a problem with it..."
Everyone turned back to her immediately causing her to jump.
"You don't!?" Furihata asked.
"I... I guess not? I'm just not sure how coach's winking style got to this conversation though..."
"Ahaha... ahaha..."
Riko began to laugh, scaring everyone immediately.
"GET IT TOGETHER YOU IDIOTS!" she exploded. "DON'T YOU WANT TO PAY THEM BACK FOR LAST YEAR!? IT'S GOING TO BE A PAYBACK FILLED WITH A YEAR'S WORTH OF INTEREST!"
Mitobe waved his arms frantically, trying to calm the angry and tearful coach down.
"Yes, yes," Hyuuga sweatdropped. "We know. We know."
He cleared his throat and turned back to the team.
"Before we go, I'll say this again. You'll know as soon as the match begins, but a year has already passed since that last match," Hyuuga said. "Seihou is strong! Honestly... after that crushing defeat last year, we came to hate basketball, almost quitting."
The freshman looked at him in despondently.
I think a large part of that was Teppei's injury... Hazuki thought. I didn't get to see their matches, but without him there... they must have had a big shock.
"Agh!" Hyuuga waved his hands at the shocked freshman frantically. "Don't be depressed! Fire up! It's something to be happy about! I'm confident that we've grown strong enough to be different from last year. Now all we need to do is win! Let's go!"
"Yeah!"
Everyone began exiting the locker room in greater spirits.
"Aren't you coming Kuroko-kun?" Hazuki asked, being the last ones to leave the room.
Kagami looked back. "Is there something wrong?"
"Kagami-kun, have you ever hated basketball?" Kuroko asked.
"What?" He raised his right eyebrow. "Well... not really I guess?"
"I have," Kuroko said honestly. "I'm pretty sure that my reason was different but I understand that feeling. They look happy right now, but hating something you love is...terrible."
An uncomfortable and familiar feeling churned in Hazuki's stomach. That's not too unfamiliar.
"When I talked to Midorima-kun I told him the past and future were separate but they aren't that unconnected," Kuroko admitted. "This match is important for the senpais to get over the past."
Kagami nodded.
"Have you hated basketball Fujidana-san?" Kuroko turned to ask her.
She tapped her feet on the floor in thought and put her hand in her detective formation.
"Hmm... well, I wouldn't use 'hate,'" she said finally. "In my opinion, 'hate' is reserved for very rare occasions and for very few people."
The other two were quiet, mulling over her philosophy.
"...Have you disliked it then?" Kuroko asked.
"I think so," she said honestly. "There have been times I have been frustrated with it for many reasons, but in the end it isn't really basketball's fault. I mean, we're all here because we like it, right? I'm still here, playing. And so are you guys."
Kagami laughed in agreement.
"That's right. We have a game to win!"
He bounded out of the door, hurriedly going after the rest of the Seirin team.
"Let's go!" Hazuki pulled Kuroko to the door, where the critical game of the day was about to take place.
A small smile flickered on the phantom player's lips.
I'm sorry for slow updates. :(