Black Basketball: A false start

Chapter 146 Weight
"Hey, did you hear? The basketball club won by more than three times the score of Poseidon!" a boy said happily to the girl sitting at the same table with him.

"Is this true? But I heard that Poseidon High School is a team that has won 16 consecutive championships... shouldn't they be very strong?" The girl sitting next to me obviously didn't pay much attention to basketball.

"Why would I lie to you? Look, the top ten hot searches on your phone are all about yesterday's game!" As if to prove himself, the boy quickly took out his phone to show the girl.

"Who allowed you to bring a cell phone to school? Fujino!" Before the girl could say anything, the teacher next to her confiscated the boy's cell phone and said, "Tell your parents to come to school tomorrow to take the phone away!"

The day after Shonan defeated Poseidon, similar discussions were heard all over the campus of Shonan High School, and these discussions naturally reached the ears of Ogihara Seihiro.

"Did Shonan... win?" Ogihara Chenghao looked out the window in confusion, then laughed at himself, "What does this have to do with me... Anyway, I've already decided not to play basketball..."

Yes, before that, at the entrance of the gym, Ogihara Narihiro hesitated for a long time, and finally failed to follow Kaneki Ken into the gate of the basketball gym. All he could think about was Akashi Seijuro's cold eyes.

"Hey~ Ogihara~" Just when Ogihara Chenghao was in a daze, the voice of his deskmate came from the side and interrupted his thoughts.

"Oh, it's Sugita-kun." Ogiwara Narihiro looked at his deskmate Sugita Yoshiki's sunny, cheerful, and hot-blooded expression and couldn't help but think of his past self.

"Hey, Ogiwara-kun!" Sugita Yoshiki took out a copy of Tokyo Sports from his schoolbag, "Look what I brought! Tokyo Sports Special Edition! Look, this photo of Kaneki is so handsome! I never thought that Shonan would be able to beat Poseidon High School one day~ Maybe we can really win the national championship this year!"

"Ah, yes..." Ogihara Chenghao forced a smile, "Maybe..."

"What? You're so unimpressive!" Sugita Yoshiki frowned in dissatisfaction, "I really want to join the basketball club. If I didn't have a heart disease, maybe I could play..."

"Well, basketball... is it interesting?" Ogiwara Narihiro asked as if he was inexplicably looking at Sugita Yoshiki who was looking expectant.

"Of course it's fun!" Sugita Yoshiki answered without hesitation, "Working hard with everyone, growing together, defeating opponents together, listening to the sound of the basketball hitting the net... It's exciting just to think about it, okay?"

"Then...if you encounter an enemy you are completely unable to defeat...no, or even an enemy who deliberately humiliates you, is it okay?" Ogiwara Seihiro seemed to be asking Sugita Yoshiki, but also seemed to be asking himself.

"Well...if we really meet such an opponent..." Sugita Yoshiki said with his right hand supporting his chin, "I can only say that such an opponent is indeed very bad, but what we like is basketball, right? If we really meet such an opponent, in a sense, we might win...We are sad to lose because we still have a love for basketball, but they must be very numb to win, because people who love basketball will not regard basketball as a humiliating game!"

“People who love basketball…will not treat basketball as a game of humiliation!”

"I won't treat basketball as a game of humiliation..."

Sugita Yoshiki's words were like a thunderbolt hitting Ogiwara Shigehiro's head. Suddenly, Ogiwara Shigehiro felt that he had reconciled with his own heart.

"You're right! Sugita!" Ogiwara Narihiro tried his best to remain calm, but the tears in his eyes kept dripping down.

"Um..." Are you okay, Ogiwara-kun? " Sugita Yoshiki was a little overwhelmed when he saw Ogiwara Chenghao with tears streaming down his face.

"It's okay, Sugita-kun." Ogihara Narihiro looked at Sugita Yoshiki with tears in his eyes, "I just think it's great to be able to play basketball..."

……

"Your light... is too dim..."

"Ah!!" Kagami Daigo woke up from a nightmare again. In the dream, Aomine Daiki defeated him easily again and again, and then whispered in his ear the words that would wake him up in the middle of the night.

Unfortunately, it is not midnight now, but daytime. Even more unfortunately, it is class time now.

"Vulcan is great!" The math teacher on the stage angrily broke the chalk in his hand, "This is the ninth time you have fallen asleep and yelled in my class! Get out and stand!"

"Yes, teacher..." Kagami Daiga lowered his head in shame and slowly walked out of the classroom.

"Really? I don't know what kids these days are thinking about all day long!" The teacher on the stage shook his head unhappily, then turned around and started talking about the topic. "I want to help you defeat all the Generation of Miracles and become the number one in Japan..."

"Do your best and wait for fate, but you are weak with your back, your face is not well framed, your hands are messy, your steps are loose, none of you are decent..."

"Kuroko is a shadow. Only a bright enough light can make him effective..."

"Your light is too dim..."

In Kagami Taigo's mind, scenes of the games he experienced after meeting Kuroko Tetsuya flashed through his mind like a movie.

"The Generation of Miracles... If we don't defeat them, becoming the best in Japan will be just empty talk..." Kagami Taiga recalled the scene of defeat and clenched his fists involuntarily, "I am Seirin's trump card, I want to become stronger... become the same as them... no, become stronger than them!"

"Hey, isn't this Kagami? You're standing in the corner again?" Hinata Junpei, who was about to go downstairs for physical education class, saw Kagami Taiga standing in the corner. He took out a crumpled flyer from his pocket and handed it to Kagami Taiga, saying jokingly, "I was just about to inform you that we're going to have a training camp this summer. The coach's father prepared a training plan for us. I didn't expect you to take the initiative to come out and practice. Very good."

After saying that, Hinata Junpei smiled slyly, patted Kagami Daigo on the shoulder, and turned away.

"Tsk, this guy..." Kagami Daiga looked at Hinata Junpei's back with an unhappy face, spread out the flyer in his hand and took a look, muttering, "The beach...what's the point of training on the beach...never mind, let's go and take a look first, as long as I can become stronger, I can do anything!"

At the end of the corridor, Hyuga Junpei, who was supposed to go down to the physical education class, was standing next to a tall boy and quietly looking at Kagami Taiga.

"Is this what you said, our new ace Kagami Dawo?" The tall boy commented with a look of satisfaction, "Isn't this not bad? Not as unremarkable as you said, he looks quite impressive!"

"Where do you get the courage to judge others? Do you think you are a decent person? Master Tiexin..." Hinata Junpei adjusted his glasses helplessly, "I've taken you to see the person you want to see. Anyway, you can't go to the intensive training during the summer vacation. You should finish your recovery training first."

"Haha, I don't really want to go~" Kiyoshi Teppei smiled and patted Hinata Junpei's shoulder, "Anyway, thank you very much, I'll go find Reiko first."

"Really? You're already a sophomore in high school, but you're still as childish as a junior high school student..." Hinata Junpei shook his head helplessly, looking at Kagami Daigo with a hint of expectation in his eyes, "Come on, Kagami... The weight of an ace is sometimes not so easy to carry..."

……

"So you mean, you want to join the basketball team." In the evening at the basketball gym of Shonan High School, Kaneki Ken looked at Ogiwara Shigehiro who was looking forward to it and said slowly, "Give me a reason to agree to your joining."

"Ah?" Ogiwara Naruhiro was confused by Kaneki Ken's question.

"You don't think that anyone can join the Shonan High School Basketball Team now?" Kaneki Ken glanced at Ogiwara Narihiro and said, "For Kuroko's sake, I gave you a chance, but you gave up. Now I need you to convince me to let you join the basketball team."

"I..." Ogiwara Narihiro looked into Kaneki Ken's eyes. He clearly wanted to say something but didn't know where to start.

"If there is nothing else, go back first and come back after you have thought it over. Shonan High School does not need a deserter who may give up basketball at any time." Kaneki Ken stood up and walked to his exclusive training court and started today's basketball training.

"I'm not a deserter!" Ogiwara Narihiro looked at Kaneki Ken with red eyes, "I admit that I have been afraid, discouraged, and given up... But because of this, I understand the importance of basketball in my heart! I must join the basketball team of Shonan High School! Even if I can be a student who picks up balls, even if I just deliver towels! This time I will never leave basketball again!"

"There are many people who can play basketball in Shonan now, so maybe you won't have much playing time." Kaneki Ken said lightly.

"It doesn't matter! If the team needs me to wave the towel, I'll do it!" Ogiwara Seihiro said while staring at Kaneki Ken.

"Maybe your training is very hard, harder than anything you have ever experienced." Kaneki Ken spoke again.

"It doesn't matter! I can bear it!" Ogiwara Chenghao's voice was trembling a little.

"Okay..." Kaneki Ken sighed, turned around and looked at Ogiwara Chenghao and said, "Then let me weigh the weight of your dream!"

(End of this chapter)