Trent-or now Kaede Kamina had yet to get used to his new body and this foreign language that came natural to him.
Who was Kaede Kamina originally?
He was the son of a rich couple who spent their time working around the world. His life had been normal thus far, though it did seem his predecessor struggled with severe anxiety.
On his own time, away from peering eyes, the boy would often practice and touch up on his basketball skills. Not that he was very good. But that was what he practiced for, to get better.
He wished to one day be on a grand stage with millions cheering his name. It was commendable.
If he hadn't died from a heart attack he may have succeeded in that dream.
Black hair, dark eyes, and slightly tanned skin typical of a Japanese man. That was who Kamina was.
As to this place he was sent to-he hadn't quite familiarize himself yet, but from the patched memories he gathered, it was another earth.
Here, athletes were more dominant, strong, agile, and explosive. That was what set it apart from his old world. In fact, some athletes were so freakish they were said to have superpowers.
Which could have been true.
He halted his steps and took a glance at the morning view beyond the bridge. It was breathtaking. At least he thought it was. The people walking past didn't seem to appreciate it as much.
Kamina was in uniform. It consisted of a purple blazer over a white button shirt and a tie. Though, Kamina chose not to wear his tie and instead left a couple of buttons loose.
He also donned black pants and shoes that fit the color scheme rather nicely.
'She's cute.'
Walking the same direction, he spotted a girl across the bridge riding on a bike. She wore a similar uniform to his minus the pants and her black hair curled to her shoulders.
He had underestimated the amount of students walking to school. There were at least thirty students all around him, and he guessed there would only be more as he neared this school.
"Man, I feel like a freshman all over again."
And then reality hit him… he was.
Ugh.
-
"Come join our Judo team!"
"Our soccer team is recruiting, our goal is to be number one in the country so if you are interested join us!"
"You're pretty tall, you would fit right into our volleyball team! All you have to do is just sign here…"
Offers on top of offers and more offers. It was chaotic. Students crowded Yosen High's entrance gates, and every sports club wanted to recruit anyone who stood out from the crowd.
And this meant Kamina was not safe.
"Finally found it," He strolled and maneuvered through the dense pack of students, making his way towards a large man holding a banner of sorts. "This is the basketball club right? I want to join."
Kenichi Okamura gazed down at the new arrival. His large 6'7 frame overshadowing the young freshman as he continued to scrutinize him.
'A pretty boy, I don't like pretty boys. Tsk.'
But he smiled regardless, "Of course. Your face is new to me, are you a freshman?"
"Y-"
"Don't care. Just write your name on this sheet of paper here and make sure to come to tryouts today, after school," Okamura said unfolding a paper from his wide pockets. With a grave expression he continued, "I will give you a little warning from a senpai to his kouhai. The coach is a madman so take care to not piss her off or you might be in for the spanking of your life. Speaking from experience. And, never under any circumstances mention her age."
Kamina nodded at Okamura's words. The image of a seven foot woman with the body of a weight lifter formed in his mind. "She must be one scary woman."
"Woman? She's the devil!"
Okamura was sure of that. She had given him and the team hell last year, and she was sure to do it again this year.
"I'll keep that in mind."
After he finished writing his name, Kamina directly went to find his classroom. He couldn't be late on the first day of school otherwise it would leave a bad impression. And that was the last thing he wanted.
After he waved Kamina off, Okamura looked at his name, grade, and age on the form. "Kaede Kamina… Himuro Tatsuya… if only I had their looks then I would get any girl I want. I wouldn't be single right now dammit!"
He sighed.
Such was the life of a muscle bound idiot.
But it wasn't like he was hopeless.
Probably.
-
"Shall we all introduce ourselves before the teacher arrives?"
'God… no.'
Kamina mentally protested against the black-haired boy in glasses. He could practically see the glistening of his pupils as he spoke.
"My name is Shinji Nakamura. I'm going to be running for class representative this year-"
'Go figure.'
"-and my interests are soccer, I also like to swim in my free time and often go fishing with my uncle in the spring. Anyone want to go next?"
"I'll go!" A girl stood from her desk raising a hand. "I'm Morioka Asuka and I would like to become friends with everyone, so take care of me!"
After the initial ice was broken more students gained the confidence to speak about themselves and their hobbies. Some were interesting, and others not so much. However, one in particular captured Kamina's waning attention.
"The names Himuro Tatsuya. I like to play basketball and hope to get along with everyone."
Did he now?
Kamina observed the young man. His eyes were black with a tint of grey and he was expressionless. He also was taller than the average Japanese man. Significantly so as he stood at a height of 6'0, just an inch shorter than he was.
Even if Kamina didn't have sensitive ears, he would have still been able to hear the whispers and gossips among the girls. It was the same wherever he went. Attractive people always stood out from a crowd.
From the seat to his right, a girl stood. His eyes trailed her from all the way to her shapely legs, slim waist, and up to the last curl of her onyx hair. He set his neck on his left palm as their gazes clashed briefly before she looked away.
"My name is Araki Ayako and similar to Himuro-San I also enjoy basketball. If anyone ever needs help with anything pertaining to schoolwork, please do not be shy to ask for my help, that's the one thing I pride myself on."
"Wow, so you're pretty smart then?" Kamina spoke as she sat down, in a voice neither too loud nor soft.
Ayako brushed her hair to the side. "So and so. Will you not introduce yourself to the class? Everyone's looking at you, you're the only one left."
Kamina roughly sighed. Unlike the others he didn't have any plans of standing up, so he simply waved in his seat. "Kaede Kamina. Greetings."
"Thats it?" Ayako asked, slightly amused.
"What more do I have to say? I'm a very boring person."
"That seems to be the case."
After his short and rather plain introduction, the classroom door slid open as a teacher walked in. His eyes were wrinkled, and he was desperately holding on to the last few strands sitting on top of his hair, like an island surrounded by water.
He pushed his glasses further up his nose. "Alright, you've had more than enough time to introduce yourselves. Let's get this school year underway. I am Kaneshiro Eiji, and as long as you pay attention in my class you will have a wonderful school year."
-
Actually, that was the last thing Kamina did. In fact, he had slept through nearly all of his periods, only waking up for lunch and the end of the day.
It was the first day of school so not much material was covered. In any case, Kamina picked up his bag and tapped Himuro's shoulder right as he was leaving the classroom. "Do you know where the gym is?"
Himuro nodded, "Yes, follow me. I'm headed there right now."
"Sounds good to me."
On their way around Yosen's wide and decorated hallways, Kamina asked simple conversation questions from what he already knew about Himuro.
"So, you grew up in America?"
"Yes." Himuro confirmed.
"What made you want to move all the way out here?"
It was known that even on this earth America dominated basketball. Although, the rest of the world was closing in and hoped to turn that around in the future.
Still, Kamina didn't understand as to why Himuro would come to play basketball in Japan with better competition and growth opportunity in America.
"We're here."
They came upon two already opened purple doors. Kamina shook his head as Himuro strolled in, completely disregarding his question.
"Nice court." Kamina rubbed his shoe against the ground. It was smooth and still had grip.
Perfect.
He then gazed around, seeing the familiar face of Okamura already in shorts and his basketball shoes. Surrounding Okamura were a few unfamiliar faces. Actually, the whole gym was encompassed of students he didn't know.
'There has to be at least fifty people in here.'
It was packed, but luckily there was multiple courts so everyone wasn't in the same area fighting over the court.
Changing hadn't taken a long time. He walked out of the locker room now wearing black sweatpants, with the bottom tucked into his socks. He presented a white T-shirt and black basketball shoes with a headband as well.
A whistle was blown and a woman standing next to a girl with a clipboard waved a bokken around. "Get over here idiots! If everyone isn't gathered here in thirty seconds, I'll make you all do thirty push-ups!"
'She's not quite what I imagined.'
After thirty seconds a group of fifty or so boys were gathered around the strict coach. She looked around as if searching for someone and then sighed in disappointment.
"Theres a lot of you here. But sadly only thirty of you can stay. Ten on our first string, second string, and third string."
Crossing her arms, she continued, "For tryouts we will be hosting a three versus three tournament. There are three courts, and games will be played with only half a court so that means six games will be going on at all times."
"Games will be played to twenty one, two's and three's. You will be evaluated based on your individual skill and ability to work with your team. Understand?"
"""Yes coach!"""
"In that case, go on and create your teams. Once your all finished with that, begin playing. Disperse."
Teams were decided before long. Himuro and Kamina banded together as they were the only ones not part of a clique along with a short second year who was obviously new to basketball.
Games were going to start soon, and they would be up first. Against the third years no less.
This was purposely done by both Himuro and Kamina as they always looked for the top competition, although the second year- Yamamoto Takeshi, wasn't quite with the same mind.
"Oh?" Okamura raised an eyebrow. "You want to play us first, do you kids have a death-wish?"
By 'us' Okamura had meant himself, 6'8 small forward Wei Liu, and 5'9 Kensuke Fukui.
It was a well known fact that these three were regulars for the Yosen team. Their defense was said to be impenetrable, an iron fortress.
"Less talk, more action. Check the ball up."
And so, the first games were underway.