Black Basketball: A false start

Chapter 7: Shirogane Kozo and the List of the Army

As the physical test came to an end, the afternoon sun gradually slanted into the empty stadium, casting mottled light and shadows. The lunch break bell rang slowly, indicating that the short break was about to end. The newcomers who participated in the physical test and the seniors who were responsible for recording all left slowly with complicated and awed feelings. Everyone had a consensus in their hearts, that is, this year's Teiko Junior High School basketball team had five eye-catching talented players at the same time for the first time - eye-catching in every sense of the word.

After everyone left, the huge stadium quickly returned to silence. Only Nijimura Shuzo was still sitting on a bench by the court. He stared blankly at the basket, as if he was still recalling the exciting scene of the physical test. After a long time, he calmed down, picked up the physical test report that had been compiled, and used a pen to focus on the data of the five talented players. These data were undoubtedly his biggest gain from this physical test, and were also the important content of his report to the coach.

Nijimura Shuzo stood up and walked towards Shirogane Kozo's office with firm steps. He came to the door of the office, knocked gently, and said respectfully: "Hello, Coach Shirogane, I'm sorry to bother you. Is it convenient for you now? I have some reports on the physical test results that I want to report to you."

A friendly voice soon came from the office: "Oh~ It's Xiuzao, please come in. Aren't you in charge of the new body measurement project? It's over so soon? Did you find anything special?"

Nijimura Shuzo walked in and handed the folder containing the physical test results to Shirogane Kozo with both hands: "Coach, there are indeed some remarkable newcomers in this physical test. Their performances are very outstanding. I think they are fully qualified to enter the first team directly."

Shirogane Kozo took the folder and smiled at Nijimura Shuzo: "Directly join the first army? This is not your usual style, Shuzo."

As soon as he finished speaking, Shirogane Kozo's eyes were attracted by several names with big red circles on the data report. His fingers gently slid over those names, and a hint of shock and surprise flashed in his eyes. He held the folder in his hands with a slight tremor, as if he was savoring something precious.

The office fell into silence for a long time. Nijimura Shuzo stood aside, silently watching Shirogane Kozo. He didn't say much. He believed that the coach knew better than he did what the physical test data meant. He was also sure that his judgment was correct - the talents of these five players were unprecedented in the history of Teiko Junior High School, and there might even be no one to surpass them.

"Haha, Xiuzou." Shirogane Kozou still had his eyes fixed on the data report in front of him. He gently stroked the corner of the document with his fingers, and said meaningfully, "You're right. They are all a group of incredible guys. Judging from the data, they really have the ability to directly enter the first army lineup."

"From the data? Coach, what do you mean?" Nijimura Shuzo asked thoughtfully.

"It's very simple. If they really have this ability, let them go and say hello in person to the seniors they are about to replace. If not, it wouldn't be a bad thing to take a year to calm down." Shirogane Kozo said to Nijimura Shuzo with a smile.

"But coach, this is not good, right?" Nijimura Shuzo said hesitantly, "After all, they are just a group of first-year students..."

"What? Don't you have confidence in the person you like? When you first joined the team, you defeated the captain at that time and directly entered the first army." Shirogane Kozo said to Nijimura Shuzo with interest.

"No, coach, you misunderstood. What I meant was that they were just a group of first-year students. If we let them beat up the entire team, it might not be easy to manage them in the future." Nijimura Shuzo's tone was still as firm.

"Haha, you, you." Shirogane Kozo smiled and pointed at Nijimura Shuzo, "Have you forgotten the purpose of our Teikou Junior High School? Apart from victory, we don't have to care about anything else!"

Perhaps no one would have thought that Teiko's feat of winning three consecutive junior high school championships in the next three years was set on a bright afternoon in a casual conversation between a teenager and a coach.

Kaneki Ken, of course, didn't know about this conversation. At this time, he was walking back to the classroom with Aomine Daiki and Momoi Satsuki. "Hey, Kaneki-san, you are so awesome!" Momoi Satsuki looked at Kaneki Ken with admiration, "I heard from the seniors that your physical test data broke the team record!"

"Hey, hey, hey, May, why are you so partial? I also broke the team record!" Aomine Daiki said unconvinced, "Why don't you come and praise me?"

"But A-Da, wasn't your record broken by Kaneki-san just five minutes later? Someone said at the beginning that he would protect Kaneki-san!" Momoi Satsuki teased with a bit of a sinister look.

"Ugh! Damn it!" Aomine Daiki's tone froze, his face flushed red, he turned and pointed at Kaneki Ken and said, "Who would have known that this guy was pretending to be a pig and eating the tiger? Who would have known that this guy said that the fighting was not very good, the kind of 'plus one more I am not very good at fighting' not very good!"

"Haha, May, Aomine-san is also very good. Didn't you see that after he finished his technical test, the seniors looked at him differently?" Kaneki Ken squinted his eyes and laughed, "I was just lucky. I was in better physical condition today."

"Tsk, who wants your praise?" Qingfeng Daihui turned his head away, looked at the ground and said unconvincedly, "Don't leave after school. After training tonight, I will definitely beat you."

The three of them chatted and laughed all the way until they said goodbye in the corridor of the teaching building. Momoi Satsuki and Aomine Daiki returned to their classes, while Kaneki Ken came to the teacher's office and waited to be recognized by the teacher.

Soon, a kind-looking old man came to him with a document in his hand. He carefully examined it and said, "You are Kaneki Ken, right?"

"Hello, teacher. My name is Kaneki Ken. It's our first meeting. Thank you for your guidance." Kaneki Ken stood up and bowed.

"Hahaha, don't be so restrained, kid. I'm your head teacher (similar to the Chinese class teacher) Fangcun Gongshan. I'll take you to your class." The old man in front said with a smile.

"Okay, thank you for your help, Mr. Yoshimura." Kaneki Ken stood up and followed Yoshimura Kousen to his own class D.

"Dear students, this is Kaneki Ken, the new transfer student. You should get along well with each other in the future." Yoshimura Kousen took Kaneki Ken to the podium and introduced him, "Please introduce yourself, Kaneki Ken."

"Hello everyone! I'm Kaneki Ken, the new transfer student. Thank you for your guidance in the future." Kaneki Ken introduced himself briefly, but his eyes involuntarily drifted to the huge figure sitting in the corner.

"Okay, Kaneki-san, from now on you will sit with Murasakibara Atsushi-san." Yoshimura Kousen said as he looked at Kaneki Ken's tall figure.

(End of this chapter)