Chapter 9: Day 1 Continued
Approaching the stadium I see my team standing at the entrance, along with Riko. Ugh, that loud mouth is definitely going to have something to say. My shoulders drop slightly and I drag my feet the rest of the way. I wouldn't say I'm scared of Riko or anything, but she can be very exhausting when she wants to.
"Ah my team! I finally found you guys where have you been?" I show an exasperated look on my face while waving my hand.
Riko turns in my direction and glares.
"Where have YOU been!? We've been standing here waiting for you!" She yells while pointing at me. Rubbing the back of my head I give a bright smile.
"Well you see I came across this black cat, and in attempt to prevent giving us bad luck I had to take a really long route around the stadium. Then there was this old la—" I was rudely interrupted
"STOP! Please! Lets just go." Riko sighs in exasperation.
I nod with another blissful smile and take up the point as any good captain should, with his little ducklings following behind. Or would they be Ravenlings? What's a baby Raven even called? I'll have to find that out after our games today, for now they will be ducklings though.
(AN: Sorry felt like the perfect moment to add a little nod to Kakashi from Naruto (:)
Entering the gymnasium we make our way to the court, passing by numerous other schools some notable others not so much. I can see Kamata West, Shoei, which I saw Kiyoshi walking with and a few others.
On the gym floor you could see 2 courts marked side by side, one with a big "A" marked at each goal post and the other with "B". As we were in block B we had a sign with "Katagiri Junior High" written on it to mark where we would stand. Which just so happened to be right behind Teiko from where they were standing on the block A side.
I could see Kuroko at the back standing with Aomine. Poor Kiyoshi was in their block as well, but I don't guess it really matters only the top 2 teams will go on to represent Tokyo at Nationals. He didn't have a chance in either block. I wonder if with my presence there will even be any uncrowned kings? Will the GoM become the uncrowned kings if I beat them, or still be called GoM.
Oh well it's not like it really matters, also here comes the announcer.
""Welcome to the Junior High basketball Nationals Preliminary tournament! Every team will play 2 games a day except for seeded teams on the first day and for the teams that make it to day 4. The top 2 teams from the tournament will go to represent Tokyo in the National tournament, 1 from block A and 1 from block B. The first block A game will be Nambara Junior High vs Komagi Junior High. Block B's first game will be Katagiri Junior High vs Shizuka Junior High. Player please make your way to the courts. Lets have a great time and good luck to all the teams!""
"""YES!!""" All the players in the stadium bow while yelling out loud.
The rest of the teams break off to the stands that are reserved for each team if they wish to watch the matches, while the teams set to play remain on the court and begin warming up. Teiko's designated seats were conveniently in between both courts so that they could at least see half court on each court.
I look away from them and over to our opponents, surprisingly I see a familiar face. Not anybody too special skill wise, but a friendly face that I don't think anyone could have hated in the show. It was Mitobe. I remembered Koganei saying in the show that Mitobe had played middle school when I saw him, but honestly it just kind of slipped my mind before that.
I doubt his team is all that good, especially just looking at them they don't look like anything special. I'll let my teammates get some good reps in.
"Captain Aida! Aren't you excited!? It's the tournament! What we've been trying for all this time!"
A tick mark forms on my face before I smack him across the back of the head.
"Ikehara! What have I said about screaming in my ear!"
"Sorry captain!" He says as he gets into a lunge position and starts going up and then back down the court.
"Alright stop you don't want to tire out your legs before the match, but if you do it again I don't care if it's mid match. I will call a timeout and you will do lunges from one end to the other with Kawahara on your back!"
He freezes in fear and looks over to Kawahara, who is oblivious to our conversation so he can only look confused when he sees Ikehara hiding behind me looking at him with a terrified expression.
"Now that you understand gather everyone around."
"Yes!-.. I mean *yees* he whispers after seeing my annoyance. Before I could say anything he dashed off and gathered everyone in a circle. I however looked at the stands first and saw Kuroko looking at us with Momoi and Aomine sitting on either side. I give a smile and a wave, before heading to my team.
"Alright guys listen up. This is our first match of the preliminaries, even so don't take them lightly. I'm going to be on the bench at the start to see how you guys do, essentially I'll be the coach. Play how we normally do and you guys should be fine.
I know we don't really have set positions, but for the start Arata will be acting as point guard. Look to him for the plays, and Arata look at me ever so often you know the signs by now. Don't focus for too long though, while most teams won't pick it up that I'm giving you calls, some of the more perceptive ones will." He nods and then I turn to Kawahara.
"Kawahara you're the only one with a set position, being the Center. They don't have anybody as tall as you, but don't underestimate them. Lock down the paint and block out your guy so that Ikehara can help with rebounds." He nods as well and my gaze shifts between the remaining 3.
"Otake play smart, focus on locking down your guy on defense and open up Teshima for 3s. Teshima remember you have 2 great rebounders under the net, don't be afraid to shoot as much as you want. Lastly Ikehara your steals are almost as good as your rebounds, read your opponents movements like we've been practicing and be as annoying and loud as possible. And remember if you guys get into a tough spot you still have me to back you up."
I go silent as everyone is looking at me, some with smiles, others with determination, and one specifically teary eyed where you could see faint trails where he had already been crying. I give a nod and then put my arms around the Ikehara and Kawahara's shoulders.
"And don't forget to have fun!" I say as I look up smiling. Everyone wraps an arm around the shoulder of the guy to their left and right and we all lean in.
"Katagiri!" I yell
""Fight!"" They shout back
"Katagiri!"
""Win!"" We all shout and quickly rise up and put one of our fists up into the air all touching in a ring.
"""Ka-ta-gi-ri!""" With one last yell I make my way to the bench and my teammates take the court. The other team seems stunned and little frightened by our ferocity, I can only grim at that. Most games start before the tip off is ever tossed, and right now we're winning.
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Author's Note
The beginning of the preliminaries are underway and Ryosei sees a familiar face! Next chapter is going to play out from various POVs, so I hope that won't be too confusing.
Also I hope their pregame hype up wasn't too cringey.
I talked about it in this chapter when he was talking to Arata in the huddle, but you'll get more of a look at it next chapter from Momoi's perspective as she tries to figure out Arata thinking he's the real point guard of Katagiri. But she'll realize that her predictions don't match up with what he's doing.
Lastly Ryosei's team still isn't that good, they are probably a little below Teiko 2nd string in all around basketball skill, but I'll try to show what makes them strong enough to face these better teams in the coming chapters.
Fun fact: since I decided for Mitobe to be on the team we play first round I just googled "quiet in Japanese" and Shizuka popped up. Figured it went well together, mute Mitobe going to Quiet Junior High lol
Hope you enjoyed.
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