Chapter 82: Chapter 82 : Alex Garcia
"No offense to you and her, Kagami-kun, but are you sure she is capable?" Hyuga asked, voicing the doubt the others have about Alex being their new head coach. Instead of answering his doubt, Alex turned her glance to Kagami, and the red-haired boy explained what Hyuga just said to her in English.
"Sorry about that." Kagami rubbed his head slightly. "Even though she learned Japanese a lot, she didn't get enough practice in America, so it is still difficult for her to have a casual conversation with a native speaker."
That….. Makes the others doubt her more. If she couldn't communicate well enough with the players, how could she train them to be better? However, Alex, knowing their doubt about her, answered Hyuga's question immediately.
"Don't worry, Captain-san." Hyuga blushed a little when Alex called him Captain with her heavy accent, making a frown visible once again on Riko's face. "I have confidence in my ability to teach you. After all, I am the one who introduced basketball to Tiger-chan here and trained him at the early stage. And not to mention my reputation in America which is pretty good, I doubt you will find someone better than me easily."
The fact that a woman trained Kagami in such a brutish playing style is surprising enough for the others to accept. But the way she spoke, filled them with full confidence, making Seirin players start thinking, maybe it could work.
'And speaking of her reputation…' Furihata muttered inwardly, racking his brain hard. 'Why the hell is her name seems familiar? Where did I hear that before?' It took him to meet eyes-to-eyes with Alex to trigger his memories of where he found her name, as he widened his eyes in shock.
"Aaaaah! You are Alex Garcia!"
The smile on Alex's face widened more as she knows someone on the team recognized her name.
"So you have heard about my name before?"
"Yeah. That's why your name and your face seem familiar before. I cannot believe you are the one that trained Red though. His playing style is way too different than yours."
His remark elicited a giggle from Alex and a snort from Kagami.
"Oh, believe me.. I tried to train him in my playing style. But he was way too stubborn to accept it and insisted to play more like Lebron. I am fortunate enough that his childhood friend was more attentive than Tiger-chan, or I would have no disciples to inherit my style."
Furihata raised his eyebrows slightly. 'Red had a childhood friend and they were trained by the same person? Is he Japanese or American? And will he come here too? Knowing Red's luck, he probably will.. Interesting..' However, before he could ask any questions, Riko interrupted their conversation with a cough.
"Care to explain how you know her, Furihata-kun?" By the look of the terrifying smile on her face, Furihata gulped a little, knowing that his coach had a bad mood right now. It was a smile that promised painful training later, so he decided to answer quickly to ease her temper.
"Well, her name, as Red introduced earlier, is Alex Garcia. But what he didn't tell you is she is quite a legend in the WNBA. She was the backcourt partner of Diana Taurasi, one of the WNBA GOAT, when they won the championship in 2009 with the Phoenix Mercury. She averaged 16.6 points per game with 4.7 three points made per game before she got injured in the last game of the final which forced her to retire from her career at such a young age. I believe that was when you were 27 years old, right?"
"Yup!" Alex nodded her head as she keeps hearing Kagami translate what Furihata said to his teammates, happy that the first-year point guard knows her story. "And the injury I suffered that time was a knee injury, very similar to what Tiger-chan experienced before. That's why when I heard about his injury, I assumed the worst and took a flight here immediately. Fortunately, my fear is for nothing.."
Now, knowing the story of Alex Garcia, All the Seirin players couldn't help but have their mouths gaped wide in astonishment. They couldn't believe such a great player was the one who taught Kagami how to play.
"You are right. It is hard to believe she was the one who taught him his brutish play style.' Hyuga muttered lowly, earning snickers from the others.
Now that they all know her story, they were able to make a joke like that, especially to Kagami. Well, not everyone, as Riko still had her eyes narrowed at Furihata and Alex. It seems there is some animosity between Riko and Alex, or maybe it was just Riko who didn't like the older woman in front of her.
"And you know this, how?" Riko asked wryly at Furihata. The first-year point guard shrugged a little before giving her a straightforward answer. "One of my best weapons is my three-point shoot, so, of course, I would do a lot of research to make it better. And she was one of the best shooters in the WNBA, so it is natural for me to stumble upon her name somewhere."
Riko nodded her head slightly, but Furihata feels that even though his answer is reasonable, it still annoyed his coach so much.
"Well, that still doesn't explain how she could become our new head coach." She pointed out much to her own annoyance.
Riko hates herself right now for sounding like a brat, but she couldn't help it. This was the team she groomed herself from the start, and she even thought of using her dad's name as a puppet to solve the head coach's problem. So, the mere thought of giving control to a stranger doesn't fit right in her mind, especially to a bimbo-like woman in front of her! Look at her, showing off her busty body with a sultry smile to win over her players' hearts. And to make it worse, all of her players are blushing and drooling hard like a fool! How the hell could this happen?!
And no, if you asked her, she is not petty. Her feeling is reasonable, and she is not jealous of Alex at all. Anyone who dares to speak otherwise would receive her wrath, for that, she is sure.
"Oh, that? I applied directly to the headmaster, of course!" Alex answered Riko's question happily. "Imagine my surprise that your headmaster accepted my application immediately after he confirmed that my CV is true, even without interviewing me first! I don't know if that shows how bad Japan's job recruitment system is, or how bad your situation is right now. But don't worry, little girl. Other than in the official match, I will only offer my advice as a former player. You can still act like a head coach for them, and just treat me like an advisor, alright?"
Riko clenched her fists tightly, causing everyone near her to take a step back knowing that her temper could explode anytime now. But to her surprise, Riko took a deep breath and regained her calm right the moment after that.
"Thank you." The younger girl said. "You are right. With how much the official tournament pushing me to give up the head coach position to someone older and more 'responsible', your appearance would relieve some of my stress. And I really appreciate you still giving me the power of this team, so thank you very much."
Even though she still doesn't like Alex, Riko is willing to open her heart and think of the benefit for the club first rather than pushing her own agenda, especially one that was driven out of jealousy. And it seems Alex knows about her thought as well, as the older woman gives her a teasing smile.
"Don't worry, Dear. You know the players better than me. But I expect no more jealousy in the future, okay?"
And this time, Riko blushes hard in an embarrassed manner, making the other's jaw drop hard.
'The ever boyish and brutish Riko blushes like a normal teenage girl? What the hell?! Is the hell frozen right now?!'
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Author note:
The history of the WNBA 2009 is half-true. Diana Taurasi was indeed the main force of the Phoenix Mercury to win the title that year. But Alex Garcia's part is made up, so you will not find it anywhere but here.
Also, sorry for another short chapter. If you want to support me more, you can visit my Patreon page on patreon(.)com/ZetaFaes
You can also read this fanfiction up to chapter 102 on that page.
Also, please support my original story, The Children of The Sky, in the fantasy section of the original novel. or you can see it on my page. Please give that story your review and power stone. Thank you! :)
-Zeta Faes-
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