Curious, Hayato Takahashi pushed open his office door and entered the basketball club.
Then he saw Hibari practicing his shot on the empty court.
Off to the side sat a girl so beautiful she looked as though she had stepped out of a painting, slowly eating her lunch one small bite at a time.
“Isn’t that the girl named Yukinoshita?” Yukino was extremely popular at school.
She was Chiba Middle School’s resident beauty.
Her grades were already outstanding, and with a family background like the Yukinoshitas’, every halo above her head shone brighter than the last.
It was difficult not to know who she was.
However, he had no interest in Yukino.
His attention was entirely focused on Hibari practicing his shot.
“Hibari, why are you here instead of eating lunch during the break?” “Huh?!
Coach, you’re here too?” “My office is right nearby.” “Oh, sorry for disturbing you.” He said the words, but his attitude wasn’t particularly sincere.
Hayato Takahashi didn’t mind.
If anything, he admired Hibari’s single-minded focus on basketball.
“It’s still a long time before basketball club activities begin.” “I know, but whenever I think about how far behind I still am, I don’t want to waste any time.” Hibari bricked another shot.
Basketball in this world was no simple matter.
Even setting Teiko aside, the original story still featured many talented players who were currently competing at the middle school level.
Yosen, Shutoku, Touou, Kaijo, Rakuzan, and others.
The future core players of those powerhouse teams were all currently fighting through the national tournament at the middle school level.
Having Eikichi Nebuya on the team was certainly good, but there were at least four other players of his caliber out there.
Not to mention geniuses like Yukio Kasamatsu and Taisuke Otsubo, who weren’t far behind the Uncrowned Kings.
With Eikichi Nebuya alone, they might not even earn the right to face Teiko.
“Right, Coach.
There’s something I’d like to discuss with you.” Hibari suddenly remembered something and stopped.
“Go ahead.
What is it?” Hayato Takahashi thought Hibari might be asking for a starting position.
But Hibari’s next words caught him completely by surprise.
“During our future intrasquad scrimmages, I don’t want you putting me on the same team as that guy Eikichi Nebuya.” “Why?” “I want to challenge his defense.” In other words: turn up the intensity for me.
Shooting was a technical skill that required accumulated experience.
If Hibari couldn’t improve it in a short period, then he could only work on the comparatively simpler task of finishing at the basket.
Eikichi Nebuya was clearly an excellent opponent.
If Hibari could score 20 or more points over Eikichi Nebuya every game, then his scoring ability would be more than enough for the national tournament.
“Putting you and Eikichi in different groups…
isn’t impossible.
But you need to be prepared.
Having Eikichi as a teammate and facing him as an opponent are two completely different things.” “I know.
Please do it.” This wasn’t a sudden whim on Hibari’s part.
After recognizing his weaknesses, this was the solution he had come up with.
That musclehead Eikichi Nebuya had version-T0 physicality.
Before Atsushi Murasakibara awakened, Nebuya’s physical strength was among the best.
If Hibari could maintain a 60% success rate at the rim through Eikichi Nebuya’s contact, then he would no longer need to worry about his finishing.
“All right.
I’ll arrange it for the upcoming three-on-three and five-on-five scrimmages.” Hayato Takahashi had no reason to refuse such a request.
He loved players who dared to confront their opponents head-on.
Now this was a damn good player.
That passion, that pure obsession with basketball—it was rarely seen in young people these days.
Whether or not Hibari managed to make something of himself, Hayato Takahashi was willing to give the young man a chance to try.
“Then I’ll leave you two alone.” “Oh, and remember not to do anything strange in the basketball club.” “I know young people your age are full of curiosity about the opposite sex, but it isn’t time for that yet.” He left Hibari and Yukino with a suggestive look before returning to his office.
By now, even the tips of Yukino’s ears had turned red.
“…Coach was joking with you.” Hibari gave an awkward laugh.
“He was telling the truth.
It’s only natural for an outstanding girl like me to attract boys’ attention.” She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, doing her best to hide her embarrassment.
If the tips of her ears hadn’t been as red as heated iron, Hibari might have believed her.
He didn’t expose her and instead asked, “Right, have you thought about what I mentioned before?
Do you want to become our basketball club manager?” “Mother disagreed.” “I knew it…” “But Father agreed.” Seeing the disappointed look on Hibari’s face, the corner of Yukino’s mouth curved upward.
She looked like a child whose prank had succeeded.
“Yukinoshita, aren’t you being childish?!” “Not as childish as you.” Yukino mercilessly brought up the past.
“I wonder who got barked at as a child, then immediately bought laxatives to torment the poor dog.” Yukino’s meaning was clear: you have so many embarrassing stories that I could spend all day telling them.
“Now that you mention it, I remember something too.
Who was it in kindergarten who cried because I wouldn’t play house with her?
Who could that have been?
It’s so hard to guess.” “You…” Yukino’s pretty face rapidly heated up.
It was unclear whether she was ashamed or angry.
But thinking back, Hibari really had been different from other children.
He never played house with anyone else.
Every time, she had to be reduced to tears before he reluctantly agreed to play with her.
Perhaps…
she had been the more childish one?
Yukino suddenly stopped acknowledging him.
After finishing her lunch, she swung her ponytail and walked out of the basketball club.
Hibari didn’t stop her and continued practicing his shot.
He was still fairly confident in himself.
As a first-year middle school student, he already stood 1.79 meters tall and had a wingspan of 1.90 meters.
That wingspan was nowhere near gibbon territory.
His proportions were about the same as Kobe Bryant’s.
Short arms had always been one of Kobe’s weaknesses.
In a league overflowing with geniuses, his wingspan could only be considered average.
But that was when compared with NBA talents.
In a place like Japan, Hibari’s wingspan was already among the best.
Combined with his great strength and decent speed, even if he couldn’t reach the level of the Generation of Miracles, he was still at Yukio Kasamatsu’s level.
Right now, his fundamentals were simply a little poor.
Given a few years, Hibari believed that with enough effort, he could reach the level of a near-Generation-of-Miracles player like Tatsuya Himuro.
Of course.
Hibari’s goal couldn’t possibly stop at merely approaching the Generation of Miracles.
Now that he had a system, he had to play a game against those maniacs from Teiko someday!
Only when lunch break ended did Hibari briefly wash up and return to class.
After school, he went back to the basketball club for specialized training, then put in a certain amount of extra practice at night.
For the days that followed, this was how he spent almost every day.
Hayato Takahashi kept his word.
That very day, he began arranging the groups so Hibari would face Eikichi Nebuya.
At first, Eikichi Nebuya’s group continued winning easily, just as always.
But gradually, the situation began to change.
Hibari started leading his team in a counterattack.
…
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