Black Basketball: A false start

Chapter 16 Practice Match (I)

"Oh, this is so annoying." On the bus, Murasakihara Atsushi muttered while holding a rice bran roll in his mouth, "It's still so hot, why do we have to go to play outside the school? If I had known earlier, I wouldn't have joined the first team."

"Okay Murasakibara, stop complaining." Kaneki Ken soothed, "After all, this is the tradition of the army. Besides, there are seniors here, so be careful of the impact."

"Hi~" Murasakibara Atsushi agreed unhappily.

"Everyone, cheer up." Sanada Naoto stood up and clapped his hands. "Today we are playing against Kiri First Affiliated Middle School. The opponent's main attacking point is the double outside shooters. Murasakihara Atsushi and Kaneki Ken will not start today. As seniors, you have to play with some momentum."

"Yoshi!" The members of the Second Army said with great momentum. Taro Sugitani, who had fought back from the Third Army to the Second Army, looked at Kaneki Ken with some pride and a provocative look on his face.

Kaneki Ken rolled his eyes, not wanting to pay attention to him, so he put on the eye mask and took a nap.

"Squeak~" As the bus brakes sounded, everyone from Teiko got off the bus. Unexpectedly, after getting off the bus, they saw a welcoming team led by the coach of Kiri First Affiliated Middle School.

"You're too polite, Coach Sanenobu." Naoto Sanada said, holding Sanenobu Kenaki's hand.

"Hey! Last year's Tokyo district champion and the runner-up team of the national competition are coming to my Wuqi First Affiliated Middle School for guidance. How can we not be serious?" Sanenobu Kenaki was also polite with a fake smile on his face.

Kaneki Ken ignored the two people who were bragging about their business, and cast his eyes to the players who came to greet Kenjiro Saneki behind him, and happened to meet the eyes of a squinting man wearing glasses. The two nodded to each other and then looked away.

"This is the Teiko Junior High School you mentioned, Xiangyi. It looks like they are well-trained indeed." said a figure with gloomy eyes and chewing gum.

"After all, it's a national-level powerhouse. Really. Teiko has made it to the national semi-finals in the past two years... Especially their captain Nijimura Shuzo, who was a killer on the field last year." Imayoshi Shoichi searched among the players of Teiko Junior High School and asked in confusion, "But I don't know what happened today, he didn't seem to come."

"Whether you come or not, it doesn't matter." Hanamiya Shinji shook his bangs and said indifferently, "It doesn't matter if you are a genius or a talented person. Once you are broken, you are just a useless waste."

"Really? Your bad character hasn't changed at all." Imayoshi Xiang said with a noncommittal smile.

"It's boring, let's go." Hua Gong Zhen blew the bubble, turned around and walked towards the campus without caring whether the coach gave any instructions.

"Haha, we two old guys have talked too much, and the kids are getting impatient." Naoto Sanada looked at the embarrassing scene in front of him and took the initiative to step forward.

"Yes, yes, yes, I didn't notice." Sanenobu Kenming quickly made a gesture of invitation and led everyone to the gymnasium of Wuqi No. 1 Affiliated Middle School.

"Okay, then let's do as we said before. The second team's lineup will start first. Murasakibara Atsushi and Kaneki Ken will be ready to fill in the gaps at any time." Naoto Sanada gave a simple pre-match instruction and waved his hand to signal everyone present to warm up.

"Shua", "Shua", "Shua"...

"Bang", "Bang", "Bang"...

The warm-up of Murasakihara Atsushi and Kaneki Ken quickly attracted everyone's attention. Kaneki Ken kept hitting three-pointers from outside the three-point line, and Murasakihara Atsushi also showed off his violent dunks in the paint. But not long after, as the whistle sounded, everyone's warm-up ended, and Kaneki Ken and Murasakihara Atsushi also came to the sidelines to watch the game.

"Beep~" The referee threw the basketball high up, and Taro Sugitani passed the ball to his own point guard.

"Hey, kid, where is your captain Nijimura Shuzo?" Hanamiya Makoto asked with a grim look at the second-team point guard who was dribbling the ball across half court.

"Hey? Captain?" The second team point guard was a little confused by the question, but he still answered truthfully, "Captains don't participate in practice games like this. They usually pick new members from the first team to participate with us from the second team."

"The second army?" Hanamiya's eyes sternly flashed, and he suddenly laughed, "Hahahaha, you really are worthy of being Teikou."

The second-team point guard looked at Hanamiya Makoto in confusion and, according to the tactics, passed the ball to Taro Sugitani in the interior. Taro Sugitani used his tall stature to squeeze past the defensive player and scored a layup.

"What's wrong, Shin?" As soon as Konji Xiang arrived in front of Hanamiya Shin, he asked Hanamiya Shin whose eyes had become even colder.

"These arrogant guys actually use the second army to deal with us!" There was no emotion in Hanamiya Makoto's words, but anyone could hear the anger in them.

"Don't get angry about this kind of thing, just beat them." Jin Jixiang said with a smile, "The strong have their own self-esteem, this is normal."

"Yeah, but when I think about being able to trample on the self-esteem of these guys, I can't help but tremble with excitement!" Hanamiya Shin revealed a ferocious smile and began the first attack on Wuqi First Affiliated Middle School.

Hanamiya Makoto was standing at the top of the arc with the ball in his hand. Facing the defender in front of him, he smiled sinisterly and tried to break through with the ball. Seeing this, the second-team point guard quickly followed Hanamiya Makoto's steps and tried to defend.

At this time, Hanamiya Makoto pretended to be casual and swung his ball-protecting hand, and hit the second-army point guard's waist with his elbow. The second-army point guard paused and was broken through by Hanamiya Makoto who made a quick stop and jump shot to score.

"What's wrong with you?" Sugitani Taro asked somewhat dissatisfiedly, "Did you let him break through so easily?"

"Senior, this guy is a bit dirty. He just hit my waist with his elbow." The second-team point guard defended himself somewhat aggrievedly.

"What are you talking about? What do you mean by dirty? How am I dirty? I've been playing like this for all these years, okay? The referee on the sidelines knows best whether I play dirty or not. Don't talk nonsense with your eyes open. Reflect on yourself. Have you worked hard in training? Why am I still in the second place after so long?" Hanamiya Makoto added fuel to the fire with a smug smile on his face.

"You bastard!" The second-team point guard was so angry that he stepped forward to beat up Hanamiya Shin, but was grabbed by Sugitani Taro.

"Don't be impulsive, fight first and see how the situation develops," Taro Sugitani stopped him.

The second-team point guard suppressed his anger, took the serve and started the second attack. This time, Hanamiya Shin came forward to press the ball, and the second-team point guard could only hold the ball tightly in his arms and look for an opportunity to pass the ball. Seeing this, Hanamiya Shin stretched out his hand to make a gesture to grab the ball, and when the second-team point guard was not paying attention, Yiji hit him on the shoulder with his elbow again. The second-team point guard let go of the ball in pain, and Hanamiya Shin took the ball and made a fast break layup to score.

"Oh my, I thought the famous Teiko was so great." Hanamiya's arrogant voice came from the front court, "It turns out they are just a bunch of guys who can't hold the ball."

(End of this chapter)