Chapter Thirty-One: Yosen High School - Part 1
Evening of May 5th, Ryonan High School gymnasium.
Training had ended, and Ryonan's players lay sprawled across the hardwood in various states of exhaustion.
"Coach mentioned at lunch that we're playing a practice game against Yosen High School on the last day of training camp, right?" Koshino Hiroaki brought up the topic curiously. "Where are they from? Never heard of them before."
"Hikoichi, time to prove your intel skills!" Ikegami Ryoji kicked at Aida lying near his feet.
Aida Hikoichi thought for a moment. "Umm... I'm actually not too clear on this one."
"What the heck, Hikoichi, you're useless," Koshino said with disappointment.
"I'm only an intelligence expert on Kanagawa teams! How would I know about teams from other prefectures?" Aida protested indignantly.
Just then, an oppressively authoritative voice rang out from above them.
"Oh? You all seem pretty energetic? Looks like the recent training intensity is still nowhere near enough!"
"No no no!"
"Not at all! It's definitely enough!"
"Sorry! Coach, I was wrong!"
During Golden Week training camp, Coach Taoka had completely unleashed the "demon" within his heart.
Every single day, nearly every player had been tortured to complete exhaustion by his brutally demanding training regimen, finally crawling back to the locker room on willpower alone.
Moreover, even the usually composed and easygoing Sendoh Akira hadn't escaped Coach Taoka's "clutches" this time—he hadn't found time to go fishing even once during the entire holiday.
Sendoh Akira and Yagami Sorato were the primary focus of Coach Taoka's attention each day.
However, the emphasis of that attention differed slightly. Coach Taoka kept a close eye on Sendoh because he knew the ace might slack off or even skip practice at any moment. This made Sendoh, who usually trained diligently, cry out in protest at the injustice, but Coach Taoka had his own judgment on the matter.
As for Yagami Sorato, Coach Taoka worried that this player who seemingly didn't understand the meaning of fatigue during training might injure himself from excessive self-imposed practice.
In fact, after the full team training ended each day, Yagami Sorato would still stay behind alone for additional strength conditioning. His near-masochistic training intensity made the other players' hearts race just from watching.
In Yagami's own somewhat grandiose words: "I wasted this body's natural talent for too long before. Now I need to make up for lost time as quickly as possible."
Consequently, during this training camp period, "Training Maniac Yagami Sorato" had become the target of playful "ostracism" among Ryonan's players.
"Alright, everyone should be rested enough by now." Coach Taoka had the players wheel over the blackboard used for daily reviews as usual. "On the final day of Golden Week, we haven't scheduled training—only a practice game."
"You understand what I mean, right?"
"We must win it!" the players shouted in unison.
"Good, excellent fighting spirit." Coach Taoka nodded. "Then let's look at tomorrow's opponent's basic information."
"Yosen High School consistently ranks among the top four teams in Akita Prefecture—roughly equivalent to our standing within Kanagawa."
"However, this year they've recruited one of the Generation of Miracles, greatly elevating their team strength..."
"I've selected them as our opponent between the Golden Week training camp and the Inter-High prefecture preliminaries because they're quite possibly Japan's top defensive team right now."
"Tomorrow, I want to see the results of your training camp."
"YES!!!"
"Good, let's start with their returning players from last year. Number 4, captain Okamura Kenichi, six-foot-seven, plays power forward..."
As Coach Taoka's analysis continued, the night grew deeper.
May 6th, outside Yosen High School's gates, a tour bus slowly came to a stop.
Once the vehicle had fully parked, Uozumi Jun was the first to step off. Two members of Yosen's basketball team waited at the campus entrance, showing no particular reaction upon seeing Uozumi's towering frame.
Next, Sendoh Akira descended while yawning, moving leisurely as if merely sightseeing, that relaxed smile still hanging on his face.
"Oh—so this is Yosen, looks pretty big."
The players disembarked one by one. Fukuda Kicchou pursed his lips in silence, fighting spirit blazing in his eyes. Ikegami Ryoji quietly rotated his wrists, his gaze sweeping quickly across the campus before settling on the direction of the massive gymnasium.
"Is Yagami still not awake?" Taoka Moichi looked into the bus from the back of the group, his expression helpless. "This kid—don't tell me he did extra training again after going home yesterday."
"Sorato, we're here, wake up!"
Aida Hikoichi shook Yagami Sorato awake. He truly admired how Yagami could sleep at a time like this—he himself had grown progressively more nervous as they approached their destination.
"Mm—" Yagami Sorato stretched languidly. "That was a really comfortable nap."
He genuinely hadn't done extra training last night. Coach Taoka's training plan was already comprehensive enough—just adding a bit of strength work each day was more than sufficient.
It was just that when Chika Yuuki learned he was going to Akita for a practice game with another school, she immediately latched onto him. She wasn't concerned about the match outcome—instead, she insisted loudly that he bring back local specialty snacks and gifts.
Really now, he was going for a practice game, not a graduation trip.
"Coach Taoka, everyone from Ryonan, thank you for making the long journey." The Yosen player responsible for reception was polite and thorough. "We'll now escort you to the gymnasium."
Under the guidance of the Yosen players, the Ryonan group crossed the quiet campus and entered a facility roughly twice the capacity of Ryonan's gymnasium.
Since the players from both sides weren't familiar with each other, after exchanging brief greetings there wasn't much small talk. The air filled with the pre-game silence of mutual assessment and unspoken understanding.
Worth mentioning: Yosen's head coach, Araki Masako, was actually a beautiful woman with a capable demeanor and dashing presence.
Then the Ryonan players witnessed something remarkable. Coach Taoka, who had recently maintained a stern face and earth-shaking roar, instantly softened his tightly wound serious expression and voluntarily revealed what could only be described as a benevolent smile as he stepped forward to exchange pleasantries with Coach Araki.
"Tsk, Coach's expression changed way too fast..." Aida Hikoichi muttered under his breath.
Though it echoed everyone's thoughts, the Ryonan players unanimously stepped a bit farther away from him.
"Both teams, line up!"
"Please take care of us!" both teams said in unison.
Ryonan's starting lineup: point guard Uekusa Tomoyuki, shooting guard Yagami Sorato, small forward Sendoh Akira, power forward Ikegami Ryoji, center Uozumi Jun.
Yosen's starting lineup: point guard Fukui Kensuke, five-foot-nine and 148 pounds; shooting guard Himuro Tatsuya, six feet and 154 pounds; small forward Liu Wei, six-foot-eight and 192 pounds; power forward Okamura Kenichi, six-foot-seven and 209 pounds; center Murasakibara Atsushi, six-foot-ten and 218 pounds.
The reason Yosen's players showed no surprise at seeing Uozumi Jun was simple—they had three players over six-foot-seven on their roster!
"Tweet!"
With the whistle's shrill call, the Ryonan versus Yosen practice game officially began!
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