Chapter 12: Finals, Ahead
It was Day 4 of the Tokyo preliminaries, and Shin had just returned from school, the coach had ordered them to take the day off. They had played two matches yesterday and needed the rest.
Shin did his piled-up homework from yesterday and today and proceeded to do some chores around the house. When his mother returned, he served her tea, and they talked about their day, as usual.
Mom: "A new family is going to be moving in next door in a few days. We will be getting new neighbors. I wonder what kind of people they are."
Shin was a little surprised to hear that someone was moving in next door, and he too wondered what kind of people would they be.
Shin: "Do you want me to go buy a gift for them, it is a Saturday tomorrow, and I am free. I could go shopping."
Mom: 'Yes, that is a great idea. How about you go to a florist and buy a house plant. We will go greet them when they arrive.'
Houseplants were a good welcoming gift they were easy to care for and brought some natural feel and brought some natural feel and color to the house.
Shin:"Ok, then it is decided I will buy a houseplant tomorrow."
When Shin's father came home, and they told him about the new neighbor while eating dinner, he decided to contribute by making a list of useful places around the neigborhood.
Shin went for a short run while his parents went for their daily couple's walk.
As Shin had returned from school without going to the club, he didn't get the chance to collect Teiko's match video from the coach, but even if he did have the recordings, Shin decided not to watch them.
Shin: 'My next opponent is not Teiko but Shoei. I shouldn't care about Teiko and focus on Shoei. I shouldn't become conceited by thinking that only Teiko is the only team that could be any challenge."
Shin went to sleep with his mind free any thoughts about Teiko.
On Day 5, while Shin was busy buying a Houseplant for his new neighbors, Kiyoshi Teppei and Nakamura Taichi, from Shoei Middle School were reviewing Yoyogi's match video at Nakamura's house.
Nakamura: "So, how about it Teppei, do you think you can go against Otsubo Taisuke."
Kiyoshi: "Otsubo is taller than me, but I am faster than him. It might be a little troublesome in competing against him for rebounds, but I won't loose in blocks and scoring. How about you do you think you can compete with Aone Takanbu and that first-year rookie, Yukimura Shin.
Nakamura: "So, how about it Teppei, do you think you can go against Otsubo Taisuke."
Kiyoshi: "Otsubo is taller than me, but I am faster than him. It might be a little troublesome in competing against him for rebounds, but I won't lose in blocks and scoring. How about you do you think you can compete and that first-year rookie, Yukimura Shin.
Nakamura: "Good! That the spirit, there is no reason to assume defeat just because they are reigning champions. As for Aone and Yukimura, I think Aone and I are at the same level, but we don't know much about Yukimura Shin. True the last five minutes against Iwatobi were amazing, and his scoring in the semi-finals was also great for a first-year, but from what I can see, he plays like a point guard."
Nakamura looked at Kiyoshi and continued with a sigh,
Nakamura: "I think he is similar to you, he plays as the small forward, but probably wants to play as the point guard. Just in your case a center."
Kiyoshi looked at the screen, which was playing the Round 3 game between Sagami and Yoyogi Middle School.
Kiyoshi: "You are right; look at how he just assumed the point guard position after Ishida was substituted. I guess that he is waiting for next year to switch to point guard, but unlike me, he can set u plays even as the small forward."
Nakamura looked at his friend and felt sad for him, Kiyoshi wanted to play point guard, but because he was so tall he was more useful to the team as a center.
Nakamura was also worried about Kiyoshi as he knew that Kiyoshi was pushing himself in practice.
Kiyoshi: " They are not the only people that we need to be careful about, look at Mibuchi Reo's performance in the semi-finals, he showed a dangerous move; a high fadeaway jumper. That will be difficult to block, by the time you know Mibuchi is already above and out of reach."
Kiyoshi was worried that their defense wouldn't be enough to keep up with Yoyogi's offense, Kiyoshi was confident that he could hold himself in the post, but Shoei's current members were more focused on offense than defense.
Kiyoshi's main worry was if Shoei was capable of outscoring Yoyogi if the match becomes an offensive scoring game.
Kiyoshi Teppei like to play basketball, he always considered his large body as a hindrance, but when Nakamura invited him to play basketball, he found that his body was not a hindrance but an asset.
Basketball was a sport of height, taller and stronger players were strong, but what made Kiyoshi different from other big men was that he gave importance to skill than just brute strength.
Kiyoshi was a complete novice to basketball when he joined the club in middle school, even though he was big, he couldn't handle the ball well.
When he saw his peers handle the ball better than him, he concluded that if he combined his power with better skill, then he would become even better at the sport that he started to love.
Kiyoshi smiled as he remembered the days, when he fumbled the ball on multiple occasions, he always messed up and had a traveling violation called upon him.
But now he was in love with the hardwood floor and the leather ball that wasn't like the small things that he had difficulty handling, and more importantly, he loved his teammates, he had found a different kind of family than his grandparents.
A basketball court was the place the belonged, and he wanted to stay on the court longer than anyone else.
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