Black Basketball: A false start

Chapter 10 What kind of monster are you (Part )

By the time they finally finished 30 laps, most newcomers already felt like their legs were not their own.

"Oh, I'm so tired..." A newcomer was panting, his face flushed, and beads of sweat on his face had already hung on his eyelashes.

"Yogada (That's great) ~ I'm alive!" Another newcomer was much more straightforward and thanked God loudly for sparing his life.

"Ah~ I can't get up, let me rest for a while." The newcomer was even more vigorous. After running a lap, he lay down on the ground.

Looking at the newcomers in front of them, the veterans watching nearby seemed to recall their own miserable situations. They pointed at the newcomers in front of them and laughed at their companions' miserable appearance. But when their eyes turned to the leaders, a complicated look flashed in their eyes.

In fact, they were not the only ones who had mixed feelings. The feelings of people like Akashi Midorima were even more mixed. They were all talented teenagers who had come out of the mini basket. They had been the envy of their peers since childhood. However, in a simple warm-up, they were actually beaten by a peer! And seeing Kaneki Ken just slightly put his hands on his hips and simply adjusted his breathing, and then looking at himself, now hunched over, with a red face and thick neck, although he was better than most of the newcomers, as geniuses, it was unacceptable for them to lose to their peers.

At this time, Shirogane Kozo stepped forward, took the list from assistant coach Sanada Naoto and said, "Thank you for your hard work. The results of your physical training at noon are out now. I will announce the lineup allocation."

"First, the members selected for the three services. No. 22, Saito Toshio..." Shirogane Kozo's words were like an imperial decree, making the newcomers present both expectant and nervous.

"No. 15, Kuroko Tetsuya. The above are the newcomers entering the third army." Shirogane Kozo glanced at everyone and continued, "No newcomers have entered the second army yet. Next is the list of newcomers entering the first army."

"Number 7, Murasakibara Atsushi."

"Number 6, Aomine Daiki."

"Number 8, Midorima Shintaro."

"Number 9, Akashi Seijuro, and," Shirogane Kozo paused, looked at Kaneki Ken and said, "Number 5, Kaneki Ken."

After Shirogane Kozo finished speaking, the whole audience fell silent, and then burst into even louder exclamations.

"These monsters, although we know that these guys are not on the same level as us, we really didn't expect that they would actually be directly selected into the first team lineup."

"Yeah, those guys look very strong. Is it because of their hair color? Do you think if we dye our hair colorful, will we become stronger?"

"I don't know if she will become stronger or not, but I know my mother has some pretty good kung fu skills. She is still so young, and I don't want to be bald."

Unlike the envy and admiration of the new players, the emotions of the seniors were more complicated. On the one hand, some senior players did not participate in the physical fitness test for new recruits at noon, and on the other hand, those who were at the bottom of the first team and those who were about to be promoted to the first team from the second team felt as sour as if they had eaten a lemon.

Finally, someone couldn't hold back his emotions and stood up to the coach and said, "Coach, isn't it inappropriate to promote these new players to the first team just after they joined the basketball team? I admit that some of them may be very talented, but basketball is a team sport. Isn't it inappropriate to change the first team's lineup just like that?"

After listening to this man's opinion, the smile on Shirokane Kozo's face became even more inexplicable. He walked up to this man and said in a friendly manner: "You are Taro Sugitani, the captain of the second army, right?" "Yes, coach!" Taro Sugitani admitted bluntly.

"Taro, you know what? Actually, in a sense, you are right. Before the appearance of Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor, and David Thompson, people believed that individual basketball could never compete with team basketball." Shirogane Kozo explained slowly, as if a kind grandfather was telling a story to his grandchildren. "But it was not until Michael Jordan appeared that people realized that sometimes individual basketball is often more useful than team basketball. This is the role of genius."

"But coach, not all of these people are Michael Jordan." Taro Sugitani continued stubbornly.

Shirokane Kozo stared at Sugitani Taro for a long while, then suddenly laughed, turned around and said to Kaneki Ken and the other five people, "Look, someone is questioning your talents."

"Coach, I'm not..." Taro Sugitani wanted to explain something but was interrupted by Kozo Shirogane.

"Nothing. Being competitive is not a mistake in our Teikou. I'll give you a chance. You can pick the strongest player from the first and second armies to have a practice match with these newcomers. If you win, not only can you join the first team, I can even guarantee you a starting spot." Shirogane Kozo's tone was like a demon tempting others to sell their souls. "But if you lose, you'll have to start all over again from the third team with the newcomers over there."

Watching the farce in front of him, Aomine Daiki's instinct to entertain people was triggered again. He nudged Kaneki Ken with his shoulder, grinned, and whispered, "Hey Kaneki, that senior seems to want to pick someone from the first team to play against us. If we lose, we'll have to go to the third team. Are you afraid? If you are, pass the ball to me later."

Kaneki Ken rolled his eyes at Aomine Daiki speechlessly and retorted unhappily: "Mind your own business, you are the shortest record holder for the Teiko physical test." Just these few words made Aomine Daiki's not-so-bright brain short-circuit. It took him a long time to react and Aomine said angrily: "We are familiar with each other, but aren't you being a little too disrespectful? My heart hurts!"

"Oh, if it hurts a little, it hurts a little." Kaneki Ken joked.

Kaneki Ken was laughing and joking with Aomine Daiki, while Sugitani Taro had already made his choice: "Report to the coach, I choose to challenge this group of newcomers."

"Very good." Shirogane Kozou looked at his watch and said calmly, "You still have ten minutes to choose your lineup."

Ten minutes passed in a flash, and as everyone expected, Taro Sugitani selected all the starting players for the first team.

"Coach!" Just as Aomine Daiki and the others were warming up for the match, Kaneki Ken raised his hand and said, "No need to bother Aomine and Murasakibara. They are all very capable. I'm not very good at fighting. Just pick a few classmates to team up with me and learn a few tricks from the seniors!"

At this time, not only the general newcomers, but even Aomine Daiki and the others looked at Kaneki Ken with surprise. At this time, Shirogane Kozo looked at Kaneki Ken with even more appreciation: "Okay, let's do as you say. You can also take ten minutes..."

"No need to bother, coach." Kaneki Ken randomly pointed at a few newcomers and said, "I have formed a team, we can start."

"This arrogant guy! In order to prevent me from passing the ball, he actually came up with this trick!" Aomine Daiki gritted his teeth in anger.

"Hmph! Anyone who treats basketball so casually doesn't seem to be doing his best." Midorima Shintaro pushed his glasses, a little annoyed by Kaneki Ken's attitude.

"That's not necessarily true." Akashi Seijuro's eyes were as calm as water, "In the deepest part of that guy, he's a monster that crawled out of hell!"

(End of this chapter)