Black Basketball: A false start

Chapter 226: What Midorima and Kaneki have in common

"Dear passengers, this flight will soon land in Tokyo. Thank you for choosing Pan Am. We look forward to your next trip!"

Shortly after Kaneki Ken finished watching the game, the flight attendant's announcement was heard in the airport.

"Hey boy, get up!" Alex Garcia looked speechlessly at Kaneki Ken who was sleeping beside him, and patted his cheek hard and shouted.

"Huh? Are we there yet?" Kaneki Ken, who was suddenly awakened, looked at Alex Garcia with a dazed look, rubbed his eyes and said.

"If you don't wake up, your next stop will be Vietnam." Alex Garcia said speechlessly, "It will be funny if you are arrested as an illegal immigrant."

"Uhhhh..." Kaneki Ken stretched lazily, took his backpack from the luggage rack, stood up and looked at the approaching parking space, and said to Alex Garcia, "Thanks for reminding you Alex, I wish you a pleasant trip to Tokyo."

Having said that, Kaneki Ken turned around and walked towards the cabin door.

"Hey, we came here by plane after all, why do you have to leave so suddenly? Please at least help me solve the accommodation problem!" Alex Garcia shouted at Kaneki Ken's back.

"I don't care about you. Go find your apprentice." Kaneki Ken turned around and gave Alex Garcia a look, then turned around and boarded the airport shuttle bus.

"What an unromantic kid..." Alex Garcia took out his cell phone helplessly, found a phone number and dialed it.

……

"Yan-kun! Welcome back!"

The moment Kaneki Ken walked out of the VIP channel, Momoi Satsuki caught sight of his figure with her sharp eyes, opened her arms like a young swallow returning to its nest, and threw herself into Kaneki Ken's arms.

"You've gained weight again, May!" Kaneki Ken put down Momoi May and teased with a smile, "You and Sakuragi have worked hard during the time I was away."

"It's not that hard~" Taoi Satsuki chirped in Kaneki Ken's ear, "Sakuragi-san played very well in today's game!"

"I know, I watched the game." Kaneki Ken nodded with a smile, "It seems that after the Winter Cup, I can go to the United States without worry."

The reason why Kaneki Ken has the confidence to say this is because Sakuragi Hanamichi's growth rate is amazing.

就在刚刚结束的和峯皇高校的比赛中，樱木花道不仅再一次砍下了49分+21篮板+10助攻+6盖帽+5抢断的三双5x5的数据，还贡献了一记霓虹国冬季杯篮球联赛历史上前所未有的的超强扣篮。

"Ken-kun, Sakuragi and the others said they would pick you up at the airport." Taoi Satsuki took out her phone, handed it to Kaneki Ken and asked, "Should we ask them to come? Or should we go directly to the celebration party to meet them later?"

"Let's go to the celebration party later." Kaneki Ken said with a smile, "They just finished the game and need to rest well..."

As he was speaking, Kaneki Ken's cell phone suddenly rang.

"Who is it, Ken-kun?" Momoi asked Kaneki Ken with a curious look on her face.

"It's Midorima..." Kaneki Ken looked at Momoi Satsuki with some confusion, then answered the phone.

"Hello, Kaneki." The voice on the other end of the phone was as cold as ever.

"Why did you remember to call me, Midorima? What's the matter?" Kaneki Ken asked puzzledly.

"Nothing, it's just that our Shutoku's efficient first round match has also finished today..." Midorima Shintaro looked at the moon outside the window and said with mixed emotions, "According to the schedule, the next round will be our duel, so I suddenly thought of calling you."

"Are you scared?" Kaneki Ken teased with a smile, "I remember you weren't such a coward before."

"I am indeed a little scared, Kaneki." Midorima Shintaro's words once again exceeded Kaneki Ken's expectations, "I am not afraid of losing to you, I am just afraid of failing the efforts made by the seniors again."

"..."Kaneki Ken listened to Midorima Shintaro's mumbling on the other end of the phone, pursed his lips and listened quietly.

"But I'm lucky." Midorima Shintaro's voice became a little high-spirited, "The game will be next Tuesday, and that day, Cancer has the best luck. So I will definitely beat you this time."

"Which of you guys didn't say that with such confidence?" Kaneki Ken said jokingly in a lighthearted tone, "If you had to pay me a dollar for every time I heard that, Akashi's father wouldn't be enough to pay me back."

"Just wait and see, Kaneki." Midorima Shintaro's voice no longer contained any hesitation. "In the next game, I will definitely give you a surprise... a surprise specially prepared for you!"

"I'll wait and see." Kaneki Ken raised his eyebrows slightly, and smiled as he accepted the challenge sent by Midorima Shintaro across the air.

"What's wrong? What did Xiaolu say?" Tao Jing Mayu asked with a confused look on her face.

"Nothing, he just won the game, and his confidence was so high that he lost his mind." Kaneki Ken hung up the phone, put the phone back in his pocket and said, "But we have to be mentally prepared... In the next round, we may have to go through an unprecedented tough battle."

"As long as Ken-kun is here, I think we can definitely win!" Tao Jing Satsuki looked at Kaneki Ken's profile and smiled, "Let's go quickly, otherwise Sakuragi and the others will be waiting anxiously."

……

"Why did you just come here? Do you know how long I've been waiting here?"

Just as Kaneki Ken and Momoi Satsuki were sitting in a taxi on their way to the celebration banquet, Alex Garcia was poking Kagami Daiga's forehead and yelling. "Can you please be reasonable?" Kagami Daiga finally pushed away Alex Garcia's fingers, looking at the master in front of him angrily and said, "It was you who came here from the United States without telling anyone, and now you blame me for being late? I was already very fast! There was a traffic jam on the road, what can I do?"

"...What's your attitude?" Alex Garcia said unreasonably, looking at Kagami, who was taller than him, "Shouldn't you come here as soon as you get a call from your master?"

"What's going on over there?"

"It looks like she's chasing after her husband... Tsk tsk, I didn't expect that this young guy is also a scumbag..."

The noise coming from Kagami Dawo's side quickly attracted the attention of the crowd. Listening to the discussions around him, Kagami Dawo was so embarrassed that he almost dug his toes out of the three-bedroom apartment. He hurriedly pulled Alex Garcia and walked out of the airport.

"Tell me, Alex, why did you suddenly come here from the United States?" It was not until Kagami Dawo pulled Alex Garcia into a taxi that Kagami Dawo breathed a sigh of relief and asked Alex Garcia in the rearview mirror.

"I'm here to help you, Taiga." Alex Garcia looked at Kagami Taiga's puzzled expression, and his face gradually became serious as he said, "In the Generation of Miracles, there is another red-haired player who looks very similar to you... This should be very distressing to you now, right?"

"...You know everything, Alex?" Kagami Taiga was silent for a moment, then looked at Alex Garcia and asked tentatively, "Did Chen Ye tell you?"

"He told part of it." Alex Garcia folded his hands over his chest and said solemnly, "The rest is what I saw with my own eyes."

"I saw it with my own eyes... Did you meet Kaneki Ken in the United States?" Kagami Daiga was stunned at first, then he reacted immediately.

"I met him, and he's stronger than what Chen Ye said...Okay, stop talking nonsense." Alex Garcia waved his hands irritably and said, "First, arrange a place for me to stay, and then find a stadium, and I'll give you special training...I hope it's not too late..."

"Yeah." Since it was about becoming stronger, Kagami Daigo's expression became serious and he nodded heavily.

……

"To celebrate today's victory and to welcome back Captain Kaneki, cheers!" In the hotel, Mitsui Shou held up the quilt and said loudly with a smile.

"Cheers!" After the players present raised their glasses to celebrate, the celebration banquet officially began.

"Look, it's golden!" Sakuragi Hanamichi excitedly took out two heavy trophies from his backpack, handed them to Kaneki Ken and said, "This is the champion trophy of the Winter Cup County Tournament, and the one next to it is the trophy for the best player of the county tournament!"

"Very good, Sakuragi! You can be the ace of Shonan High School!" Kaneki Ken looked at Sakuragi Hanamichi's face that was full of praise, smiled and patted Sakuragi Hanamichi on the shoulder and said.

"Maybe it really works!" Miyagi Ryouta on the side also came over and said with a smile, "When you were away, thanks to Sakuragi, we were able to defeat Kise Ryouta and Mineoh High School!"

"Everyone was worried that you wouldn't be able to make it back before the finals~" Inoue Ayako on the side also smiled and said to Kaneki Ken, "Now I think the organizing committee might as well just give us the Winter Cup championship in advance!"

"Don't be so confident, Ayako-senpai..." Kaneki Ken listened to Inoue Ayako's somewhat complacent teasing, his expression changed slightly, and he put down the cup in his hand and said, "Our next round opponent is full of energy now..."

……

"I knew you were here, Zhen."

In a dark gym, Kazunari Takao looked at the back of Midorima Shintaro who kept making three-pointers and sighed, "The first round of the game just ended, don't you really want to take a break? There's no need to put so much pressure on yourself, Shin."

"I'll have plenty of time to rest after I die, but I don't want to lose again, Takao... my predecessors have done a lot, and I don't want their efforts to go to waste because of me!" Midorima Shintaro continued his shooting, and said to Takao Kazunari behind him without looking back, "This new shooting action is my only chance to defeat Kaneki Ken, so I must do my best!"

"Well, I really can't argue with you." Takao Kazunari shook his head helplessly, took off his coat, strode onto the court and said, "Come on, I'll pass the ball to you."

"Yeah." Midorima Shintaro nodded slightly, stopped what he was doing, walked to the sidelines, brought up a few dummy signs, and started simulated running training around the dummies.

"It's started!" With a roar from Midorima Shintaro, the basketball instantly turned into a flash of lightning that cut through the darkness and flew from Takao Kazunari's hands to Midorima Shintaro behind him on the left.

"Shh!"

Almost in an instant, the basketball drew a high arc in the air and fell straight towards the basket.

If there were other people present, they would definitely be surprised, because this time Midorima Shintaro not only shot with his right hand, but also did not make any preparatory movements before catching the ball.

"Well done, Xiaozhen." Takao Kazunari laughed and applauded, "Two hands, two shooting rhythms, I'm afraid Kaneki Ken will be confused for a while, right?"

"These things don't matter. I can lose to Kaneki Ken..." Midorima Shintaro's eyes flashed with determination, "But Shutoku High School must never lose to Shonan High School again!"

……

"Ken-kun, did you put too much pressure on everyone today?" On the way back to the subway, Tao Jing Satsuki looked at Kaneki Ken's profile and said carefully, "No one had the appetite to eat later..."

"Maybe..." Kaneki Ken frowned and said noncommittally, "Maybe it did disturb everyone's mood, but it's better than making this celebration party the last one of the year. Everyone's emotions are too high, so it's not a bad thing to throw some cold water on them."

"Don't be too strict with yourself, Ken-kun." Tao Jing Satsuki murmured softly, "You should always leave yourself some time to rest..."

"After I die, I'll have plenty of time to rest." Kaneki Ken's eyes revealed the same determination as Midorima Shintaro's, "But before that, I must become the best basketball player in the world!"

(End of this chapter)