Black Basketball: A false start

Chapter 173 The Sword Seller
"What's wrong, Ken-kun?" Momoi Satsuki looked at Kaneki Ken's serious expression and asked worriedly, "Kurozuki is just a little ignorant sometimes..."

"I don't care if he's sensible or not..." Kaneki Ken suddenly laughed, "If I wasn't giving him face, I would have beaten him up today. Why should I have to fight Aomine and Midorima at the same time, while Akashi Seijuro can just sit there and pretend to be a master and easily make it to the finals? We have to give him some strength no matter what!"

"Uh...Ken-kun, what do you mean?" Momoi Satsuki was a little confused by Kaneki Ken's change of expression.

"Don't worry, Murasakibara has come to his senses." Kaneki Ken rubbed Momoi Satsuki's head with a smile, "She's just a natural idiot, easy to control!"

"This..." Taoi Satsuki wanted to ask for details, but was interrupted by Kaneki Ken.

"Okay, okay, let's talk about other things later. Now let's find a place to hold the celebration party!" Kaneki Ken said with a smile looking at everyone.

"Yeah, great!" Sakuragi Hanamichi responded immediately, "Where are we going to eat later, Jinshanshan?"

"Well..." At this moment, Mitsui Shou stepped forward and said, "How about we go to my hotel? My family has some businesses in Tokyo..."

"What, are you also a rich second generation?" Kaneki Ken looked at Mitsui Hisashi jealously and asked with gritted teeth.

"Haha, just an ordinary family, running a small business." Mitsui Shou laughed.

……

"Oh my God, I will never call you grandpa again! You don't even treat me as your grandson!" Kaneki Ken looked at the magnificent hotel and roared in jealousy, "There are so many rich second-generations in the world, what's wrong with adding one more!"

"Come on, come on, you're all welcome!" Mitsui Shou treated his teammates generously, and generously said, "All the expenses tonight will be paid by me, Mitsui Shou!"

"Eat to your heart's content!" Kaneki Ken roared, "You'd better eat up all of Mitsui's pocket money this month!"

"Yes!" everyone shouted excitedly.

Soon, a banquet carefully arranged by Mitsui Shou was brought to the table by the waiter. For a while, everyone from Shonan High School toasted and feasted.

"You guys eat first. If it's not enough, there's more. I'm going to go out for some fresh air." Mitsui Hisashi's face changed slightly when he saw Sakuragi Hanamichi who was fighting with Rukawa Kaede for food. After eating a few bites quickly, he said goodbye and left his seat.

"Huh? What's wrong with Mitsui?" Kaneki Ken was struggling with a king crab leg in his hand, and happened to see Mitsui Shou standing on the windowsill with a lonely face. He couldn't help but feel curious, so he put down the food in his hand, wiped his mouth, and followed him to the balcony.

"Hey, it's Kaneki..." Mitsui Hisashi heard a noise behind him. After seeing the person coming, he forced a smile and greeted Kaneki Ken.

"What's wrong, Mitsui-senpai?" Kaneki Ken looked at Mitsui Shou with a hint of confusion in his eyes, "When you invite guests to dinner, how can the host leave first? And your face looks so bad... What could make a rich second-generation like you so unhappy? Tell me, and make me happy."

"Ah..." Hearing Kaneki Ken's question, Mitsui Shou sighed and said, "Nothing, I just suddenly feel a little bad..."

"You... are jealous of those two guys, Sakuragi and Rukawa, right, Mitsui-senpai?" Kaneki Ken's question was a bit sharp, and Mitsui Shou didn't know how to answer for a moment.

"If you say I'm jealous, I don't think so..." Mitsui Hisashi answered, choosing his words carefully, "But I'm definitely a little envious..." "Oh? Tell me more about it!" Kaneki Ken loved gossip all his life, so of course he had to dig deeper into classic dramas like The Prodigal Son.

"Hey, don't look at me like you're watching a play like that!" Mitsui Shou complained helplessly, "You're making me very embarrassed..."

"It's okay. No matter how embarrassing it is, it won't be as embarrassing as when you came to the basketball club to challenge me and I knocked you to the ground with one punch." Kaneki Ken took out a handful of melon seeds from his pocket, fully demonstrating what professionalism is.

"In fact, I was really happy when I returned to the basketball club. I felt that I could fight for Shonan High School to dominate the country again..." Kaneki Ken's funny behavior made Mitsui Shou gradually relax, and he began to talk about his inner thoughts, "But as the game progresses to today, I feel more and more that my position in the team... is not as important as I imagined..."

As he spoke, Mitsui Shou looked at Kaneki Ken with a hint of confusion in his eyes.

"Why are you looking at me? Keep talking!" Kaneki Ken was about to ask Yasuda Yasuharu to bring over a trash can when he noticed that Mitsui Hisashi was looking at him, and he hurriedly turned to Mitsui Hisashi and continued talking.

"In order to join Coach Anton, I gave up the recruitment of Poseidon High School, thinking of leading Shonan High School to dominate the country..." Mitsui looked at Kaneki Ken, shook his head helplessly, and began to recall his past, "But constant injuries made me gradually discouraged, and finally I even went astray..."

"Excuse me, Senior Mitsui, can you please get to the point?" Kaneki Ken interrupted Mitsui Shou again, "If I continue to sit here and listen to you slowly, I guess by the time I go back, that pot of beef will have been eaten by Sakuragi alone..."

"Are you going to listen or not? If not, forget it!" Even though Mitsui has always presented himself as a good-tempered person since returning to the basketball team, he still felt annoyed by Kaneki Kenichi's repeated teasing.

"Okay, okay, don't be angry, Mitsui-senpai~ I think I understand what Mitsui-senpai means." Kaneki Ken patted his butt and stood up, looking at Mitsui Shou with a solemn look in his eyes, "If I were in Mitsui-senpai's position, watching a group of juniors fighting hard for their dreams on the court, but because of my lack of strength, I can only be a substitute player and sit on the sidelines to cheer for them, anyone might not be able to adapt, let alone Mitsui-senpai who has been praised as a basketball genius since childhood."

"..." Listening to Kaneki Ken's voice, Mitsui Hisashi lowered his head slightly and said nothing.

"If I were Mitsui-senpai, I would probably often think, if only I hadn't wasted two years, if only I had paid more attention to my health..." Kaneki Ken said seriously, "This is totally normal. For Mitsui-senpai, who quit the basketball team because of an injury and became a delinquent, it's already amazing that he just thought about it instead of giving up basketball again."

"..." Mitsui Hisashi suddenly felt that he could recommend his company's security business to Kaneki Ken, otherwise, with his foul mouth, he would be beaten to death sooner or later.

"But what about the substitute players, Mitsui-senpai?" Kaneki Ken said to Mitsui-senpai with a smile, "It is precisely because of Mitsui-senpai sitting on the sidelines that I, Izawa, and Rukawa-san can rest assured when Coach Anton takes us off the court to rest when we are tired."

"Thanks to the guidance of Senior Mitsui, the shooting accuracy of our freshmen from Shonan High School is at least 5 percentage points higher than that of other schools;"

"It is because of Mitsui-senpai that I can rest assured that Miyagi-senpai can concentrate on improving his mid- and long-distance shooting without being disturbed by tedious competitions. Mitsui-senpai's strength is undoubtedly a starter at the top level, or even a trump card. In other words, it is an honor for Shonan High School and for Kaneki Ken to have a player like Mitsui-senpai as our substitute."

"Kaneki..." Mitsui Hisashi looked at Kaneki Ken with a strange look, as if he saw a ray of holy light.

"And Senior Mitsui doesn't have to feel disappointed~" Kaneki Ken said, "Leave Shonan High School to me, just rest assured, just lie on the bench and wait for me to lead you to win the championship~ After all, Sakuragi and I are not like Senior Mitsui. If we can't play basketball well, we can only go back to inherit the family business... Alas, I was born to be a hard worker~"

"I wish I had been beaten to death by him. It's really unlucky to be his teammate..."

Mitsui Shou suddenly felt that it would be better to let Kaneki Ken be beaten to death by others.

(End of this chapter)