Black Basketball: A false start

Chapter 196 The Eve of the Finals
"136...137...138..."

In a street court near the Shonan High School Hotel, Mitsui Hisashi was working hard to practice three-point shots.

Under the moonlight, Mitsui Shou was steaming all over, his shirt was soaked with sweat, and drops of sweat kept falling at his feet.

"Mitsui-san?" Anton Mitsuyoshi, who was feeling a little tight in his chest while staying in the room, happened to be out for a stroll when he passed by the court. He looked at the familiar figure shooting and shouted uncertainly.

"140!"

"Shh!"

"Coach Anton!" Mitsui Hisashi had just made his 140th three-pointer and was about to take a break.

"It's good to love training, but tomorrow we have a game, so it's not suitable for high-intensity training." Anton Mitsuyoshi sat on the bench at the sidelines and waved at Mitsui Shou, "Come and rest for a while, Mitsui-san."

"Thank you, Coach Anton." Mitsui Shou bowed slightly, said thank you and then sat down next to Anton Mitsuyoshi.

"Mitsui-san, why are you still training outside so late?" Mitsuyoshi Anton asked curiously.

"If I don't train... I can't sleep..." Mitsui scratched his head a little embarrassedly, "When I think about tomorrow being the final of the national competition, I toss and turn and can't sleep... I really didn't expect that I would actually be able to step into the national competition finals one day..."

As he spoke, Mitsui's voice became a little choked up as he recalled the past: "When I left the basketball team... I thought that this was the end of my life... I could only be a rich boy who lived a life of idleness and wait for death, and then live my life in a daze... But tomorrow... Tomorrow I can win the championship trophy with Kaneki..."

"Oh, oh, oh~" Anton Mitsuyoshi looked at Mitsui Shou who was crying and suddenly laughed. He touched Mitsui Shou's head and said, "Sometimes life is like a blind box of chocolates, Mitsui-san... every piece you eat is the process of enjoying it. It's getting late, go back and rest."

"Yes, Coach Anton!" Mitsui wiped his tears, stood up and bowed to say goodbye to Anton Mitsuyoshi.

"Oh, oh, oh, oh~" Anton Mitsuyoshi laughed happily as he watched Mitsui Hisashi's receding back. His eyes were narrowed into slits, making it impossible to tell what he was thinking.

……

"Hello, Dad!" At this moment in the hotel, Sakuragi Hanamichi could not contain his inner excitement. He picked up his mobile phone and made a video call to Sakuragi Dad. However, as soon as the call was connected, the person on the other end of the line was not the familiar little house, but an unfamiliar room.

"Dad, where are you now?" Sakuragi Hanamichi asked suspiciously, looking at his smiling father Sakuragi.

"Oh, I am here now. I am on a business trip. This is the hotel arranged for me by the company~" said Sakuragi Dad with a smile.

"Company hotel?" Sakuragi Hanamichi wanted to ask more, but was diverted by Sakuragi's father's next words.

"Is there something you want to talk to me about so late, Hanamichi?"

"Hey, nothing, Dad~" Sakuragi Hanamichi said with a proud smile, "I just can't sleep when I think about playing in the national competition finals tomorrow and having a good chance of winning. I want to talk to Dad."

"Why, are you nervous? Do you have no confidence in yourself?" asked Father Sakuragi with a smile.

"How is that possible? I'm the basketball genius Sakuragi Hanamichi!" Sakuragi Hanamichi pointed at his nose and said, "I was just thinking... If I really win the championship tomorrow, maybe famous schools like Fukasawa Sports University will make an exception to recruit me like they did with the gorilla? Maybe there will even be a professional team that will come to recruit me!"

Sakuragi Hanamichi said with anticipation of a better life in the future: "When I join a professional team, we will buy a single-family house like other families, and we won't live in that small house anymore~"

"You little brat, you don't need to worry about your father's retirement." Father Sakuragi scolded with a smile, "Just play the game well and don't embarrass Kaneki-san!"

"Don't worry, dad. Hasn't your newspaper ever reported on me?" Sakuragi Hanamichi said with a smile, "I'm the legendary 'miracle that's not a miracle'!"

"Yes, yes, you are the miracle of miracles!" Father Sakuragi's face was filled with a happy smile, "But no matter how good a player is, he still needs to get a good rest before the game! Don't stay up late, it's not good for your health!"

"Okay, I get it, Dad~" Sakuragi Hanamichi pouted, waved at the camera and said, "Good night, Dad!"

"Go to bed now!" Sakuragi's father cursed and hung up the phone.

"You've really grown up, Hanamichi!" After hanging up the phone, Sakuragi father lay on the bed, thinking back to how the editor-in-chief had let him take a leave on the pretext of a business trip and reimbursed him for the round-trip airfare and hotel expenses. He couldn't help but feel a surge of pride in his heart, "My son, Sakuragi Hanamichi, is the national champion!"

……

"Ayako, I didn't expect that we would really come to this point..."

In the hotel garden, Miyagi Ryouta and Inoue Ayako sat side by side on a bench, looking up at the bright moonlight and saying, "I thought I would never have the chance to dominate the country..."

"Yes, it's just like a dream..." Inoue Ayako also said with a smile.

"Ayako..." Miyagi Ryouta turned his head, his slightly red cheeks not so noticeable under the moonlight, "If... I mean if we can win the national championship, can you... can you..." "No ifs, we will definitely win the national championship."

The charming atmosphere was disrupted by a cold voice.

"Ahhhhhhhh!!" Miyagi Ryouta was frightened by the person coming and screamed for a long time. When he looked carefully, he found that the person was Rukawa Kaede.

"Damn, what the hell are you doing here?" Miyagi Ryouta said to Rukawa Kaede with an unhappy look on his face.

"I'm getting up to go to the bathroom." Rukawa Kaede had a cold face, and didn't seem to notice anything wrong with his appearance.

"Just go to the bathroom if you want to, why are you talking to me?" Miyagi Ryouta felt unhappy when he thought that the perfect opportunity to confess his love was ruined by Rukawa Kaede.

"I saw you and the senior sister were talking about the game, and I thought you were nervous." Rukawa Kaede said coldly, "It seems that you are not nervous at all, that's good."

After saying that, Rukawa walked towards the room without looking back.

"Hey, that's not right. Isn't there a toilet in the room?" It was not until Rukawa Kaede's figure disappeared from sight that Miyagi Ryouta came to his senses and asked Inoue Ayako.

"Do you believe such a ridiculous reason?" Inoue Ayako asked Miyagi Ryouta with a shocked look on her face.

"Damn, this evil kid Rukawa, I'm going to kill him myself..." Before Miyagi Ryouta could finish his words, Inoue Ayako's clear voice reached Miyagi Ryouta's ears.

"I don't know what you were going to say just now..." Inoue Ayako smiled and looked into Miyagi Ryouta's eyes and said, "But just like in a competition, as long as you work hard, everything is possible~"

"Ayako, what do you mean?" Miyagi Ryouta's expression instantly turned into surprise, and he asked tentatively with some disbelief.

"What do I mean? I don't mean anything~" Inoue Ayako put her hands behind her back and walked towards the room with a smile, "But if we really win the championship, I can show my appreciation~"

"Yes! Ayako! Believe me, we will definitely win!" Miyagi Ryouta shouted loudly with a happy face looking at Inoue Ayako's back.

"People downstairs, what are you screaming about? If you don't sleep, others will have to sleep too!" An impatient roar came from the room next to him. Miyagi Ryouta was so scared that he shrank his neck and went back to his room.

……

"I knew you were here right away, Akagi."

In the hotel gym, Kogure Kochi folded his hands over his chest, leaned against the door frame with a smile, and said to Akagi Takenori who was lifting weights hard.

"Ah, I couldn't sleep at night, so I came out to move around." Akagi Takenori put down the dumbbells, picked up a towel and wiped the sweat off his face.

"Are you excited?" Mugure Kochi put down his arms, walked slowly to Akagi Takenori, raised his hand and stroked the dumbbells on the equipment rack, and said thoughtfully.

"...Yeah." Akagi Takenori said after a moment of silence, "I still remember when we first joined Shonan High School, many players couldn't stand the harsh training and dropped out in less than a month... The seniors on the team didn't have any obsession with the game, they just treated basketball as an amateur hobby..."

Kogure Kochi listened silently to Akagi Takenori's story without saying a word.

"When we were in the second year of high school, there were only six members left in our class. I started playing as the team's starting center. Seeing that the seniors were doing nothing on the court, I began to point out their shortcomings..." Akagi Takenori recalled every detail of the past, "But they refuted me by saying that Shonan High School was a weak team and could not achieve any results; they said that I could only play basketball because of my height, and even a team like Poseidon High School didn't want me... Later, when we were in the third year of high school, there were only two of us left out of the sixty or seventy members in our class... Before Kaneki Ken chose to join Shonan High School, facing the menacing Generation of Miracles, I was actually a little desperate..."

"Akagi..." Kogure Kochi looked at Akagi Takenori who was in deep thought, not knowing what to say.

Only he knew what kind of sacrifices Akagi Takenori had made for this team... Not only did he voluntarily give up his starting position and captain position, he even gave up his position as a tactical finisher without reservation and voluntarily sat on the bench, turning from a team ace into a blue-collar worker...

"But fortunately, all the waiting is worth it." Akagi Takenori's words were full of determination, "Tomorrow... Tomorrow! We will be able to dominate the country!"

……

Just as everyone at Shonan High School was fantasizing about achieving success the next day, Kaneki Ken was feeling very badly.

"Fuck, what's going on..."

After dinner, Kaneki Ken felt unwell and went to his hotel room early to sleep. However, he did not expect that the more he slept, the more uncomfortable he felt, and cold sweat kept flowing down his body.

"Ken-kun~Ken-kun?" There was a knock on the door by Momoi Satsuki, but at this moment Kaneki Ken didn't even have the strength to get up and open the door.

"Damn it... I won't miss tomorrow's game, right?" This was Kaneki Ken's last thought before he completely fainted.

(End of this chapter)