Black Basketball: A false start

Chapter 32: First Battle (V)

"You can eat shit, but you can't say anything, you rubbish." Seeing that Haizaki Shogo couldn't tell the difference between the big and small kings, Kaneki Ken decisively poured a basin of cold water on him, "We just feel a little awkward, but we will still score the points we deserve, whether you want to do it or not."

"...I understand. I will try my best." Looking at Kaneki Ken's face that suddenly turned cold, Haizaki Shogo once again remembered the fear of being dominated by Kaneki Ken that day, and he became honest.

"Okay, I've heard what Kaneki said. Let's take a good rest and prepare for the second half of the game. I don't need to tell you what to do, right?" Shirogane Kozo said as he looked around at everyone.

"Hi!" everyone shouted in unison.

It must be said that Kaneki Ken's idea was immoral, but it did hit the weak spot of Masakuni Middle School, because during the half-time break, the method they came up with to deal with the lag in the first half was to pressure other players and force Jikou Middle School to pass the ball to Murasakibara Atsushi or Midorima Shintaro.

At this time, in the lounge of Zhengbang Middle School.

"So everyone heard it clearly, right? With Tomonori Tsukawa and Tsutomu Iwamura as the core defense, in the first half, although we fell behind, it was obvious that the No. 7 shooter and the No. 8 center were not playing well. So the only thing we have to do in the second half is to force Teiko Junior High School to pass the ball to them as much as possible and reduce the success rate of Teiko Junior High School. Did you hear it clearly?" the coach of Zhengbang Middle School said loudly.

"I heard it clearly!" Everyone from Zhengbang High School responded in unison, among whom Tomonori Tsukawa was the most excited.

"Hey, Iwamura-senpai! The coach just said that we two should be the core!" Tomonori Tsukawa's voice trembled with excitement.

"Oh, yes. So we have to work harder in the second half and make sure to defend against them." Iwamura Tsutomu said calmly. After all, as a third-year junior high school student, he had played this role in the team countless times.

"Hey! Senior!" Tomonori Tsukawa stood at attention excitedly and assured Iwamura Tsutomu, "I will defend against them even if I die!"

"Well, come on." Iwamura rubbed Tsukawa Tomoki's little bald head, seeming to be thinking about something.

As the broadcast announcing the end of the halftime break sounded, players from both teams returned to the court and Zhengbang had possession of the ball.

"Hey, your name is Tomonori Tsukawa, right?" Shogo Haizaki, who had exchanged positions with Shintaro Midorima, asked Masakuni No. 12 in front of him.

"You know me?" Tsukawa Tomonori looked at Haizaki Shogo in surprise, then grinned and said, "Although I don't know your name, remember, I am the core of Zhengbang High School!"

"Huh? Who wants to remember that kind of stuff? I just want to remind you that it's better to get off the stage and rest early, otherwise you will be nothing soon." Haizaki Shogo said with a sinister smile.

"I don't know what you're talking about." The young and energetic Tomonori Tsukawa tried to pass the ball with a cold face, and broke through Shogo Haizaki's defense with an extremely strange rhythm, but eventually missed the layup due to the interference of Shintaro Midorima.

"I advise you to act quickly, Haizaki. I won't keep cleaning up your mess like this." Midorima Shintaro said coldly to Haizaki.

"Give me the ball, there is one round left." Haizaki Shogo said with a rogue smile while looking at Midorima Shintaro.

"Hmph, I hope so." Midorima Shintaro snorted coldly and passed the ball to Haizaki Shogo.

"Hey, bald guy, aren't you the core? Come and defend me!" Haizaki Shogo said with a grim smile, hooking his finger at Tsukawa Tomonori. Tsukawa Tomonori was fooled, and signaled Tagawa Kazuma to switch to defend Midorima Shintaro, and he himself defended Haizaki Shogo.

"Very good, very good, now he's a core player." Haizaki Shogo dribbled the ball back and forth outside the three-point line on the right side, carefully observing Tomoki Tsukawa for a while before suddenly bursting forward, breaking through Tomoki Tsukawa with the same strange rhythm as Tomoki Tsukawa, and scoring a layup. "Damn it, how could I be a step slower!" Tomoki Tsukawa looked at Haizaki Shogo's back and blamed himself a little unwillingly.

"Hey, the core, and that number four." Haizaki Shogo said, "Get out of here, stop struggling, your things are mine." After saying that, he licked his fingers arrogantly.

"Don't worry about him, let's just fight our own battle." Iwamura Tsutomu thought that Haizaki Shogo was threatening, so he said in a deep voice to comfort everyone.

"Really?" Haizaki Shogo smiled, shook his head, turned back to defense, and said nothing more.
"Captain, catch the ball!" After bringing the ball steadily across half court, Koichi Sakamoto chose to pass the ball to Tsutomu Iwamura in the inside after some observation.

After receiving the ball, Iwamura Tsutomu felt the huge force coming from his back and prepared to use his hook shot to complete the attack. But just as he habitually blasted the ball, a strange sense of disobedience filled his whole body. In the absence of confrontation, Iwamura Tsutomu, who had done a blast thousands of times in practice, actually hit the ball on his feet, causing a low-level mistake.

"I'm sorry, it's my mistake." Iwamura Tsutomu gritted his teeth in annoyance and stretched out his hand to apologize.

"It's okay, captain." Kasuga Takakatsu, who was returning to defense, seemed to notice that something was wrong with Iwamura Tsutomu, and stepped forward to encourage him softly.

"Hmm." Iwamura Tsutomu snorted and said nothing.

"You bastard, I must defend against you this time!" At this time, Tomonori Tsukawa was already so angry at Shogo Haizaki that his blood was boiling. He opened his arms and challenged Shogo Haizaki without caring about any tactical matchup.

"Interesting, little bald head." Haizaki Shogo looked at Tomoki Tsukawa in front of him with a playful smile on his face. He waved his hand to signal everyone to move away, and leaned on Tomoki Tsukawa to come to the inside. Behind him, Tomoki Tsukawa was waiting for battle.

"Hey, little bald guy, and that number four." Haizaki Shogo said with a proud smile, "Watch out, this is how you do a hook shot!"

Under the incredulous gazes of Tomonori Tsukawa and Tsutomu Iwamura, Shogo Haizaki ended the attack with a hook shot exactly the same as that of Tsutomu Iwamura.

"This... Could it be that Haizaki... has the same talent as Xiaoyan?" Looking at Haizaki Shogo who kept scoring points using the opponent's moves on the court, Taoi Satsuki said in shock.

"No, although they look similar on the outside, they are completely different on the inside." Akashi Seijuro said firmly on the bench, "Although I'm still a little unclear about the difference, one thing is certain, compared to Kaneki's talent that is like the shining sun, Haizaki Shogo's level is still too low - of course, it's enough to deal with the situation on the court."

Sure enough, just as Akashi Seijuro said, as time went on, Tomonori Tsukawa and Tsutomu Iwamura's performances on the court became more and more struggling, with constant low-level mistakes on the offensive end and strange misses on the defensive end.

"Hahahaha, you baldy, a waste should have the awareness of being a waste! I told you before, your things are already mine!" After another easy score, Haizaki Shogo said arrogantly while looking at Tomonori Tsukawa who was knocked to the ground by him.

"Haisaki, get off my stage." Looking at Haizaki Shogo who was openly and blatantly humiliating his opponent, Kaneki Ken's eyes narrowed and he said in a cold voice.

"What? But I just..." Hearing Kaneki Ken's suppressed angry voice, Haizaki Shogo trembled all over, and said to Kaneki Ken with some surprise and unwillingness.

"What did you just say? I hope you can use your talents, but I hope we can win more easily, not give you the capital to humiliate weak... opponents!" Kaneki Ken looked directly into Haizaki Shogo's eyes and said, "Teiko Junior High School is a lion that wins every battle, not a hyena that takes advantage of others' misfortunes!"

(End of this chapter)