Every member of the Gardening club, including the coach and the remaining 2 players of the Basketball club which was Yahseh and Onfroy, met up on the school parking lot early this morning.
It turns out that the venue of the Semi-finals of the tournament will be held at the enemy court, which was in Michigan.
So after the school bus picked us up at the school, we went straight to the small private airport owned by the school and took a plane towards the United States.
"They weren't trippin' when they said that this was a big tournament."
Darren commented from beside me while he looked out the window of the plane.
Since ICARUS High is the only highschool of the small island nation of ICARUS, going out of the country is a common occasion for the school clubs, especially for those that constantly joins contests and tournaments such as the sports clubs and the Music & Performance clubs.
While those from the Arts & Crafts clubs would often just send their works instead of actually attending the contests.
Aside from us, the plane is also boarded by the school's Volleyball club, Opera club, the Athletic Sprinting club, and of course the Journalism club.
The flight was a lot less eventful than I expected it to be. Considering that the Football club, who were very noisy the whole trip, was just a few seats from us.
So aside from Minji silencing them via threats and warning, the flight soon came to an end and we finally arrived at Detroit Michigan Wayne County Airport after 2 hours.
We first got picked up by a truck that dropped us at the hotel we'll be staying at, before we headed straight at the designated court venue.
When we got to the venue and entered the court, our ears immediately got swarmed by the cheers of hundreds of audiences.
It would not be weird if we all felt a little nervous, but I couldn't seen even a hint of anxiousness on any of my team mates eyes.
Instead, they were all brimming with confidence, including Levi who always looked like he wants to sleep.
Speaking of Levi, before we got here. The 5 of us talked earlier about the supposed practice yesterday and why it got cancelled upon Levi's inquiry. And apparently, Darren was the only one who attended. Surprisingly though, he thanked us all, contrary to our expectations of him getting mad at us. It weirded us all, but no one asked why he felt glad from being ditched by us.
Joseph said that he had family problems, thats why he couldn't attend. While Kyle reasoned that he had an important business to attend. Lastly, Levi told us with a straight face that he did not like the idea of teaming up with us on more than one occasion. While I simply went with "I forgot to wake up early".
We did not dwell on it too much since it would only result to a stupid banter. And no one particularly felt eager to discuss it.
The buzzer rang and our game had started. Its not a secret that no one liked flaunting their surname in our school. So the jersey that all of us are wearing right now only had a big number on the back, but none had surnames written on it, including Yahseh's and Onfroy's jerseys.
In fact, the majority of the Indoor Sports Clubs does not have surnames on their sports attires, except for the Football club. I learned that it was because they were confident enough to fend for themselves.
Going back to the situation at hand, me and Kyle were just sitting on the bench while Darren, Joseph, and Levi, the 3 with the most knowledge of the game played with Yahseh and Onfroy, the 2 original members of the basketball club.
The game started smoothly but was starting to turn for the worse. And it soon escalated after the first quarter, when Yahseh and Onfroy both got injured. It was clearly intentional and we had a bit of commotion when Darren started taunting and provoking the enemy team to fight him. But we soon settled it.
So me along with Kyle are now both forced to play inside.
But even before the 2 original members got substituted, we were still behind by 25 points. And now that we have lost the experts of our team. Everyone who are aware of our situation thought the same thing.
That the game was already over.
It was mostly Levi and Joseph that was doing all the work since they were the most knowledgeable ones, while Darren, Kyle, and I only focused on defense.
And if I'm going to describe the situation of our game right now as we played. Then I'd say with full certainty that it was, so fucking, lame.
"GO EVERYONE! YOU GUYS CAN WIN THIS!"
Riza cheered with all her might after Levi got another blocking-foul violation.
The game came to a pause after the 2nd half and the five of us gathered at our team bench and discussed our situation with the coach.
"You goddamn sons-of ignorant-bitches! What do y'all supposed y'all are doing out there?!"
The basketball coach shouted at us. He was fuming with anger. But it was only natural since he expected more from the 'almighty' Gardening club. But instead he got a 75 to 23 point standing, in favor of the enemy.
He continued shouting at us for 5 minutes straight up until Minji approached us from her seat.
"Coach Basil. I got this. Don't waste your saliva on these guys anymore."
"You?! You're the bitch leader of this bastards right?! You can all just go screw yourselves!"
Coach Basil exclaimed after he heard Minji's words. He decided to give us one last glare before walking away and went back to the locker room while still grumbling how embarassing we are.
We could see a vein popping out on Minji's forehead. The 5 of us all knew how mad she must've been and was expecting another barrage of insults.
But we soon realized the reason for her anger.
"Are you all done with your researches? That's enough trial and error already right?"
I was blown out of my feet when I heard Minji's questions.
'I thought that I was the only who realized the real situation at hand. Never thought Minji would actually have a great observation skills too.'
We all nodded our heads in agreement and answered in synchrony "Yes ma'am!"
"Great! Then finish this game already so I can show that bloody coach the most heinous middle finger he'll ever see!"
The buzzer rang and we all went back inside the court. Ball possesion was by the enemy's.
Its not a secret to the five of us that this was our first time playing together, so we wouldn't be able to blame each other even if we played selfishly.
And so thats how it excatly went.
Joseph, Darren, Levi, and Kyle never passed the ball and played on their own way.
Everyone that was watching our match noticed this peculiar way of playing, but no one, not even one, mocked us.
And that was because our team was actually scoring points after points.
After merely getting a foul-out, Joseph finally read the patterns of our enemies and now not a single one could shake his defense off. He made his 3rd block after the enemy once again tried to shoot the ball inside the perimeter. No one could score against him.
Levi, who received 2 travelling violations, 3 technical fouls, and 2 offensive fouls earlier, now made his 4th dunk after finally grasping the best possible way he can play the game.
Earlier on the first half, Kyle was the worst one. Whenever he got the ball he would often accidentally kick it while dribbling. And since he was supposed to be our Point Guard, he always had the ball and so we would always lose the ball possesion.
But he told us earlier that he can handle the ball much more easier now. We did not believe it at first since it was his 3rd time stating it. But we soon swallowed our doubts after witnessing him perform a cross-over to side step and jelly lay up, while also receiving a foul-counted. He was ankle-breaking anyone that wanted to defend against him.
But the most efficient scoring machine out of the 4 of them was Darren.
He did not have the chance to get the ball on the first half and was only focused on defending, but now that he finally decided to score, we realized how stupid we all had been.
We could've just handed him the ball everytime he's free and we'll immediately earn ourselves a three point score.
Darren already made his 5th basket from the three point line, and he wasn't even near it.
Like his other shots, he shot his 5th basket near the half-court line. And it went smoothly inside the ring. And since it was so far from the usual effective range, the enemy team would not have enough time to react and reach for him.
"Minji! I told you I can shoot!"
Darren shouted towards Minji's location with a smug expression on his face.
With all this offensive abilities on our team, the only problem now was our defense.
As we made our way back to the enemy half-court. Levi, Joseph, and I took the lower positions with Joseph as the Center, Levi as the power forward, and me as the Small forward. While Kyle and Darren took the upper positions, with Kyle still acting as the Point Guard.
Take note that we had no idea which position was what. We weren't trained beforehand. We only followed our own analysis and field research, and decided to take the position that was best suited for each of us.
The result was that, the enemy team failed to make another score as we defended from them.
Everytime they attempted to drive inside, Joseph would immediately block their ball as soon as it left their hands aand aimed for the ring.
And even if they try to make a risky basket or a forced dunk, Levi would dominate them. Nothing less of project atlas.
All I did inside the court was steal the ball and pass it from the enemy team's blind spots.
With the help of my ESP, I could practically see everyone inside the court and analyze their positions and movements.
I never thought I would use this ability made for battlefields, for this kind of situation.
So now that everyone had finally decided to give their bests, the enemy team would suddenly lose the ball because of me, and the next second Levi was either performing a slam dunk or Darren was shooting from the half court.
Kyle even literally broke the ankle of one of the members of the enemy team. And after the poor guy limped out of the court he was soon followed by another, courtesy of Kyle.
Our score skyrocketed after the end of the 3rd quarter, while the enemy team was still nailed at their current 75 point score.
The audience, who was jeering at us earlier, was now hyped up and started cheering again regardless of teams.
----------------
The game soon ended with a score of 134 to 75, with overwhelming odds in favor of our team.
And after wrapping everything up, we went back inside the locker room with everyone in high-spirits. Especially Joseph, who was screaming "Darren for threeee!" everytime Darren makes a shooting form while laughing.
The only exception was Levi who was coercing the dumbfounded Coach Basil, to get us back on the hotel immediately because he wanted to sleep.
Levi felt like coach Basil was not listening to him so he just went back to changing his clothes. While Kyle just finished taking a shower and was now back to wearing our school gym clothes.
As we rested inside the locker room. Minji, Ichika, and Riza suddenly entered the room.
Riza rushed at Levi and started slapping his sweaty back and praising him, ignoring the fact that he was currently only on his boxers right now.
While Ichika handed all of us clean towels and energy drinks, including Yahseh and Onfroy the original members of the basketball club who both got injured earlier.
"Hey shithead! Who's the bitch now?! Huh?!"
Minji shouted at coach Basil, with an irritated expression in her face, and a stiff middle finger on her raised hands.
Needless to say, everyone was very lively right now.
All of them did their best out there, which made everything very convenient for me and my observations.
While playing inside the court. I took the chance to analyze everyone's individual abilities and came to a startling conclusion that could one day endanger me.
Kyle had an abnormal sense of reflex and reaction time. That would also explain how he was able to dodge the bullet in time, back when he was held hostage by agent XXXI.
This also helped him perform better at handling the enemy team earlier. He could read their reactions.
As for Darren, he could make a quick, accurate, and precise calculation on his head regarding his supposed target. This was the reason why he knew the exact amount of force, pressure, and angle that was needed to shoot the ball even from across the court.
I reckon he would be a deadly gunman who'd never miss his target regardless of range. Nothing less of someone born from the strongest military family.
The least conspicuous one and also the one who gave me a very hard time analyzing, was Joseph.
At first, I thought that he simply had an accurate judgement and a quick-wit. But upon closer observation, I realized that he actually knew the exact pattern of movements of all the enemies. And that's when I realized it.
He has the ability to memorize everything he sees even if just for a second, and remember it for a long period of time.
He would be a very valuable asset if he ever trained as a spy.
But the most important thing I gained today, was the close inspection of my target's abilities.
Levi being the strongest product of NOVUS, naturally made him a formidable opponent. So I needed every bit of information on his capabilities if I want to finish him off.
'Inexhaustible stamina, abnormal amount of agility and athleticsm, and I saw his bruised cheek earlier rapidly regenerating. He also had a minor version of Enhanced Hearing Ability that was probably weaker than only mine.....Though he's weakness lies in his mental strength.'
I thought as I sat down on the truck and glimpsed at the sleeping Levi.
We were already on our way back to the hotel so everyone started relaxing now.
When we got to the hotel, everyone except for coach Basil, Yahseh, and Onfroy, met up at the lounging area upon Riza's request.
While waiting for everyone else, I sat down on one of the sofa and thought of the possible scenarios that may occur tomorrow.
My plans are already set in motion. And so was Darren's. I reckon that Kyle and Levi probably had plans of their own, that's why Kyle suddenly invited us on his turf and Levi accepted the invitation with full resolve. So I will have to keep my guard up tomorrow.
As I was thinking of my plans and strategies, everyone finally gathered together and each took a seat on the large sofa. While Riza stood on top of a center table and started announcing.
"Listen up everyone! Since we still don't have classes tomorrow, and since we would have to deal with so many things starting next week, like the murder, fraternities, and investigations. Why don't we make tomorrow a day off for everyone and treat it as our club celebration. We still haven't thrown a proper party for the new members of the club so it would be great if we could do it now before everyone gets busy with work."
Minji stood up and continued
"As the club president, I strongly agree with this. Now that we have more members, I expected us to have more free time, but we instead got more works and requests. Even now, after the Journalism club reported the details of you guys' match earlier, more clubs had started sending requests to us."
Minji paused after that and looked at all of our eyes after heaving a sigh.
"So a day of rest is a must for me."
"So in short, you just wanted to slack off. Me too! I want to slack off too! I almost lost my mind when the IT club made me memorize all that computer codes. I even dreamt of a binary version of Minji last night."
Joseph replied.
After that discussion. All members of the Gardening club agreed on meeting up at Kyle's place tomorrow. But this time, all of us promised to attend and show up. Unlike the basketball practice yesterday.