Black Basketball: A false start

Chapter 227 Second Battle

After the first round of the game, Shutoku High School and Shonan High School, with their respective captains leading by example, worked overtime to conduct intensive training. Obviously, both sides were determined to win this game. Time flew by in the full swing of training, and soon it was time to the opening day of the second round of the game.

"It's time to go, Yan-kun."

In the Shonan High School Gymnasium, Momoi Satsuki, who was standing on the sidelines, looked at Kaneki Ken who was doing shooting training and spoke softly.

"What time is it?" Kaneki Ken asked softly after throwing the last basketball in the cart.

"It's four o'clock, Ken-kun." Taoi Satsuki took out her phone and looked at it and said, "The Tokyo Stadium is not close to here. If we don't leave now, it will be too late."

"Huh... Four more hours? I'm really looking forward to it... Midorima Shintaro." Kaneki Ken let out a long sigh of relief, wiped the sweat off his body with a towel, then walked to Momoi Satsuki and took over the backpack. He glanced at his teammates who were watching him with a relaxed look and said, "Let's go, come with me... and take down Shutoku High School!"

"Yes, captain!" The players of Shonan High School roared, nodded heavily, and followed Kaneki Ken onto the bus.

"A surprise?" After sitting down, Kaneki Ken murmured to himself while looking at the scenery outside the window, with an expectant smile on his lips.

"What's wrong with Kaneki? He seems to be worried..." Miyagi Ryouta poked Izawa Shuji's arm and asked, "Midorima Shintaro is not that good, right? Let's not talk about IH, we have won many times even in the summer training games..."

"Don't worry." Izawa Shuji looked at Kaneki Ken's expression and said with a smile, "Generally speaking, when Captain Kaneki shows this kind of expression, it means he is in good condition!"

……

"Damn it, it's only five o'clock, why is it so congested?" Aida Miko complained angrily as she looked at the clogged road, "Did these guys skip work early?"

"Ms. Aida..." Nakamura whispered on the road, "The news just said that there was a traffic accident ahead, so there's such a traffic jam..."

"You knew there was a traffic accident ahead? Then why did you still take this road?" asked Aida Yako unhappily.

"You were the one who said this road is close to Tokyo Gymnasium, so we took this road..." Nakamura explained timidly, looking straight at the road ahead, not daring to look at Aida Yako's ugly face.

"...Just drive your car." Aida Yako shook her legs subconsciously, looking at her watch from time to time, and her peripheral vision inadvertently caught a glimpse of a familiar bus.

"Shutoku High School?" Aida Yako frowned, "Are they also blocking this road?"

"It looks like we're not very lucky today, Shin-chan..." Takao Kazunari, who came back from the front of the bus, sat down next to Midorima Shintaro and said, "There was a car accident ahead, and we don't know how long the traffic jam will last."

"It will be fine soon." Midorima Shintaro's tone was full of confidence, "Cancer has the best fortune today."

"Really, I hope so..." Takao Kazunari sighed softly. The meaningful tone made Midorima Shintaro feel inexplicably irritated, and his hand holding the lucky pencil became tighter and tighter.

"It's moving..." A surprised voice came from the front of the bus, and Midorima Shintaro's expression suddenly relaxed, and a barely perceptible smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. As the bus slowly started moving, the smile on Midorima Shintaro's face became more and more obvious.

"Why do you suddenly become so happy, Xiaozhen?" Takao Kazunari asked puzzledly as he looked at Midorima Shintaro's expression.

"Nothing. I just feel that I am really lucky today." A gleam of light flashed in Midorima Shintaro's eyes.

……

“Crunch~~”

With the sharp friction sound of brake pads, the bus of Shonan High School slowly stopped at the entrance of Tokyo Gymnasium. Kaneki Ken took a deep breath, stood up first and walked out of the car.

"Hello, Kaneki-san..."

As soon as the bus door opened, countless microphones popped out like mushrooms after rain, and reporters rushed forward. Kaneki Ken was blinded by the camera flash and simply put on sunglasses.

"It's really enviable..."

At this moment, the bus of Xiude High School also slowly stopped. Gao Weihe looked at the scene where no one was interested in Xiude High School and said, "It would be great if we could be so popular someday..."

"Yeah." Midorima Shintaro agreed.

"Hey, Xiaozhen, you're making people jealous, don't you know that?" Gaowei and Chengcheng said unhappily, "As a shooter of the Generation of Miracles, you've never lacked traffic, right?"

"But as the ace of Shutoku High School, I've never received so much attention from people." Midorima Shintaro sighed and turned to walk towards the gym. As he walked, he said, "It's good that no one is interviewing me. I'll take this opportunity to go in and warm up early."

"There's no need to work so hard, Xiaozhen. You'll make it impossible for me to survive if you keep on being so stubborn..." Takao Kazunari complained, but he was the first to follow Midorima Shintaro's footsteps and said.

"Nice to meet you again, Kaneki." Midorima Shintaro turned around and looked in the direction of Kaneki Ken, just in time to meet Kaneki Ken's eyes looking over here.

"See you on the court later, Midorima." Although Midorima Shintaro could not see Kaneki Ken's eyes through his sunglasses, he felt that Kaneki Ken would definitely say this.

"Everyone will be able to see my performance on the court in a while. As for other questions, please ask during the post-match interview, okay?" Kaneki Ken answered a few familiar reporters and ended the interview in a forceful manner. He pushed through the crowd of reporters and walked towards the stadium with the players of Shonan High School.

"It's all your fault, Nakamura!" Aida Miko, who arrived late, looked at Kaneki Ken's back and knocked on Nakamura's head angrily, saying, "How can you be a reporter if you drive so slowly!"

"I personally think safety is more important..." Nakamura whispered on the way.

"You..." Aida Yako was disappointed when she saw Nakamura's cowardly expression, and said helplessly, "Forget it, hurry up and get in. Otherwise, there will be no seats left in a while..."

"Yes, Ms. Aida." Nakamura picked up the camera and ran towards the gymnasium.

"I don't know why..." Aida Yako muttered to herself, "I feel like this game will be more intense than the one in the IH League..."

.........

"Oh oh oh oh!!!"

"Shonan!", "Shonan!", "Shonan!"

“Xiu De!”, “Xiu De!”, “Xiu De!”

As soon as the players of both teams entered the stadium, they heard thunderous cheers from the sidelines. The fans of both teams were very clear about their actions. The fans of Shude High School even tied a yellow ribbon on their heads. In the middle of the ribbon was the school emblem of Shude High School, with "Shude" and "Must Win" written on both sides of the emblem.

"It's a lively atmosphere... Xiaozhen." Takao Kazunari heard something from the cheers from the sidelines before he even entered the court. "I heard from Ootsuki-senpai that all the members of our school's alumni club (non-staff members of the basketball team) have taken leave to support our game..." "So this time, we can't let them down." Tsuchiya Jun also stood up at this time, "Is it okay, Ace?"

"Yes." Midorima Shintaro nodded and said, "Today, destiny is in my hands."

……

At this time, in the locker room of Shonan High School.

"The information about Shutoku High School has been distributed. I don't think you need to remind me what to do on the field." Kaneki Ken, wearing a sports jacket, folded his hands in front of his chest, looked at his teammates with a firm look and said, "I emphasize again that this time Shutoku High School may be very different from the past. No matter what the results of the previous confrontation were, we must not underestimate the opponent as the winner."

"Understood!" Everyone was infected by Kaneki Ken's aura and their expressions became serious.

"The second round of the Winter Cup National Tournament, the match between Shonan High School and Shutoku High School is about to begin. Players from both teams please prepare to enter the field."

"Check if there is any problem with your sports equipment and prepare to go in for warm-up."

As the broadcast above the stadium sounded, Kaneki Ken ended the pre-war mobilization.

"Xiao Zhen, let's go." Takao Kazunari stood up and said to Midorima Shintaro.

"Okay, I'll do it right away..." Midorima Shintaro was tying his shoelaces as usual. Suddenly, the shoelaces snapped when he pulled them, causing him to fall silent involuntarily.

"What's wrong, Xiaozhen?" Takao Kazunari saw that Midorima Shintaro's face suddenly became a little ugly, so he walked up and asked with concern.

"Nothing, I just wore these shoes for a long time." Midorima Shintaro shook his head, took out a pair of spare shoes from his backpack and put them on, then stood up and jumped, stretched his muscles and said, "Let's go, it's time to go on stage."

"Okay..." Takao Kazunari looked at Midorima Shintaro thoughtfully, opened the door of the locker room, and walked towards the player passage.

"boom!"

As the door to the player tunnel opened, the players from both sides lined up and walked into the court. The spectators cheered even harder when they saw the players entering the court.

"Are you here?" Midorima Shintaro walked out of the line and came to Shonan High School, staring at Kaneki Ken and stretching out his hand, "I will definitely beat you this time."

"I'm looking forward to... the surprise you have prepared for me." Kaneki Ken said with a smile, holding Midorima Shintaro's hand.

"Such a strong sense of oppression..." In the square formation of Rakuzan High School on the sidelines, Mibuchi Reo was shocked by the momentum of Kaneki Ken and the other player on the field and swallowed her saliva and said, "Both Kaneki and Midorima are more oppressive than during the IH League..."

"Although I don't mean to brag..." Akashi Seijuro said with a smile as he looked at the two people in the field, "But the evolution speed of the Generation of Miracles can be measured in seconds!"

After the two teams' ace players greeted each other, the players on both sides went to their own half and began pre-match warm-ups.

"It's a bit strange..." As the warm-up progressed, Izawa Shuji looked at Midorima Shintaro's back with some confusion and muttered to himself.

"What's wrong, Izawa?" Mitsui Shou walked up to Izawa Shuji and asked curiously.

"Don't you think that Midorima's shot is a bit... weird?" Izawa Shuji said, pointing at Midorima Shintaro who was shooting.

"Now that you mention it..." Mitsui Shou put the basketball under his armpit, touched his chin suspiciously and said, "It seems that the movement has become a little faster?"

"Don't meddle in other people's business." Kaneki Ken said, "Leave Midorima Shintaro to me."

"Oh..." Izawa Shuji looked at Kaneki Ken's serious expression, shook his head to throw away the distracting thoughts in his mind, and devoted himself to warming up again.

"I was looking at you just now, Shin." Takao Kazunari took in the situation at Shonan High School, smiled and walked over to Midorima Shintaro and said, "Is your secret weapon exposed?"

"It's exposed, so what?" Midorima Shintaro said indifferently, "Just do our own thing, Takao."

"Oh..." Takao Kazunari curled his lips and walked aside to continue his shooting training.

"Buzz..."

As the countdown ended, the buzzing sound of the radio above the stadium began to sound.

"Warm-up time is over, please ask the relevant players to leave the field as soon as possible."

At the urging of the broadcast, substitute players from both sides walked off the court one after another. At this moment, the court was filled with a solemn atmosphere, and the referee also walked to the center line with a basketball.

"Both sides, line up and salute!" said the referee holding the basketball and picking up the whistle.

"Please give me some advice!"

"Please give me some advice!"

The players on both sides stared at their opponents, their hearts beating faster and faster, almost to the point where they could hear their own heartbeats. Kabata Shigehiro and Ohtsubo Taisuke came to the center line, their eyes fixed on the basketball in the referee's hand.

"Beep beep~"

With a whistle, the referee threw the basketball high into the air. Shigehiro Kabaji and Taisuke Ohtsubo jumped up, and finally, Shigehiro Kabaji won the ball for Shonan High School with a half-arm height advantage.

"Back to defense!" Midorima Shintaro looked at Kaneki Ken who took the basketball and reminded his teammates around him.

"What a quick response!" Mibuchi Reo exclaimed as she watched Shutoku High School quickly check out of their hotel rooms. "The strength of the three major families in Tokyo cannot be underestimated..."

"But if there is no way to deal with Kaneki Ken..." Akashi Seijuro stared at Midorima Shintaro worriedly and said, "The so-called victory is like a mirage..."

"Relax a little, Midorima." Kaneki Ken said with a smile as he looked at Midorima Shintaro who was facing a formidable enemy, "Otherwise you will be easily knocked down by me."

"I don't care about this kind of thing." Midorima Shintaro chuckled and said, "My teammates behind me are a group of trustworthy guys."

"Then let me see it." Kaneki Ken raised his eyebrows slightly, and the pace of dribbling the ball in his hand became faster and faster.

(End of this chapter)