*Joichiro Hyakuzawa's POV*
//August 3, 2035//Friday//
"..."
I arrived at my school and took a deep breath before going in. The birds were chirping everywhere, and the sun was blinding me. As usual, our school is huge, and it can make any first-year student overwhelmed when they see this scene for the first time.
My school life was not that different from everybody else. As soon as I took my first step at the entrance, four students came rushing towards me, and those students are someone who I really know really well.
"JOICHIROOOOO!!!"
One of them tackled me, and he just collided like he hit a brick wall.
"OUCH!!! THAT HURTSSSS!!!"
"Hahahaha, what the hell are you doing, Daisuke?"
This guy who is full of energy is my friend, and teammate. His name is Daisuke, and this person usually greets me with a tackle every time he sees me.
"Hahahahaha! That's what you get for being stupid, Daisuke!"
"Shut up, Itsuki!"
Another person who was full of vigor, and was laughing at Daisuke is Itsuki. He is my friend and my teammate at basketball as well.
"Goodmorning, Joichiro-senpai!"
"Jeez, I told you to drop the honorifics, Souta."
The one who just greeted me right now was Souta. He is the only one on our team who was an underclassman. But because of how good his shooting is, he got into our team, and we became friends as time passed by.
"I'm hungry."
"Didn't you have your breakfast, Genkei?" I asked.
"Yes."
"Umm… did you have it or not?" I asked again out of confusion.
"Yes."
"..."
The weird guy who I was talking to is Genkei, he has the same height as me, and he is an airhead. The four of us do not know what is going on in his mind, but because of his personality, many find him funny, especially Daisuke, and that is how he got into our circle of friends. Oh yeah, he is our teammate as well.
"HEY! HEY! WANNA PLAY BASKETBALL WHILE WE WAIT FOR CLASSES TO START?!" Daisuke asked.
"Hahahaha! Do you even need to ask that? Let's go!" Itsuki said energetically.
"Yes…"
"Nah, I'm going to pass."
"Huh? Joichiro you don't want to play basketball? You? Our ace? DOESN'T WANT TO PLAY BASKETBALL?" Daisuke said with a surprised expression written all over his face.
"Daisuke is right, Joichiro-senpai. Come on! let's play just a quick match."
"HEY! WHERE IS THE SENPAI IN MY NAME, SOUTA?!"
When I looked around, students were staring at us because of how noisy my teammates are. I gave a long sigh and walked past them.
"We can do a quick match later after school. Let's go."
"AAH! WAIT JOICHIRO!"
The four of them followed me, and we entered the school.
I do not want to cause any trouble to the teachers by being late or whatsoever since I am just a scholar in this school. Bad remarks will get me in trouble.
Besides, I only get mediocre grades in my subjects, and the only thing I can do to compensate is to follow the school rules.
Genkei, Itsuki, Daisuke, and I went inside our classroom while Souta went to his room downstairs since he is a grade lower than us.
And when I entered the room, my classmates were welcoming me with bliss.
"JOICHIRO!!! GOOD MORNING!!!"
"HOW HAVE YOU BEEN, JOICHIRO?!"
"YOU WERE SO COOL AT YOUR BASKETBALL PRACTICE YESTERDAY, JOICHIRO!!!"
And as usual, I gave them a big smile.
"I'm fine! Thanks!"
"Tch, look at Joichiro getting all the girls." Daisuke said.
"WELL, YOU ARE NOT COOL AT ALL, DAISUKE!" One of our girl classmates said with disgust.
"HUUUUUUUUUH?! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?! WITHOUT ME! JOICHIRO WILL NOT BE COOL!! I AM THE OFFICIAL COOL KID ON OUR TEAM!!!"
"The hell are you talking about? You sound like a little brat." I said.
Everyone in the class laughed because of the chaos that was going around. I immediately went to my seat, and the same goes for my teammates as well.
I was about to take a nap while waiting for classes to start, but I noticed my seatmate who looked like she was stressed out about something.
"Asami, Good morning."
"O-OH! J-JOICHIRO! G-GOOD MORNING!"
The girl was flustered by my sudden appearance.
Small in stature, She has brown bob-cut hair and was wearing glasses. This girl has been my classmate ever since we were in middle school. She was like a little animal hiding her presence from everybody else. She always has high grades and is always at the top of the class. She was always nervous and got flustered every time we tried calling her.
She is Asami Ueda, our Class President, and I secretly had a crush on her since middle school.
It was obvious that she didn't mind the noise that Daisuke, and the others were making earlier because she was so focused on the things she is doing.
As I sat down beside Asami, I looked at the notes that she was reading through, and I knew right away what to say to her.
"Do you need any help with work before class starts?" I asked.
I noticed that she is keeping a list of all the things she needs to do for today. Class requirements, projects need to be done and work as our class president.
Being the class representative is tough.
"N-No! Thanks for the offer though…"
Like usual, a sudden rejection. Asami doesn't want to bother anyone even if we are lending some help.
"Don't mind it! Let me see!"
"Ah! Joichiro!"
Asami got flustered again as soon as I moved closer to her when I checked her notes.
"This one, I think we can do it today." I said after I checked everything on her to-do list.
One of the things that Asami needs to do is to distribute the tour guide books to us before the end of the day for our field trip.
Usually, this school gives thick guidebooks every time there is an upcoming field trip which could be a pain in the ass for the class president to carry, and distribute to the class. What's worse is that there are 27 students in our class, and I couldn't imagine Asami carrying 27 guidebooks by herself.
"Come on let's go."
I stood up and lent her a hand.
"B-But, I don't want to bother you. You had basketball practice yesterday, right? You need some rest-."
"Don't mind me! I'm willing to help you!"
She got flustered once again and was hesitant at first. But after a few seconds, she took my hand and stood up as well.
"Oh! Joichiro! Going to another date with Asami again?" Itsuki said.
"Sigh… That's none of your business." I replied
"S-Sorry!" Asami bowed her head down.
"Don't mind it."
I patted her back, and the two of us went outside then we went straight towards the faculty to get those thick pain-in-the-ass guidebooks that we need to distribute to the class.
After that, we went back to our classroom and gave everyone a guidebook for the field trip.
Basically, this is the day of my life in class. I am usually energetic, and I greet everyone with a smile. My friends were always bringing chaos every time they were with me, and it was fun to be with them. And of course, I usually help Asami with whatever she needs to do because that is what classmates do.
But, of course, what comes after class is the best part of my day.
"JOICHIRO!"
As soon as Daisuke got blocked by two players who were double-teaming on him, he passed the ball to me by using his elbow from his back.
Daisuke is our point guard, and he is usually all over the place inside the court which is an advantage for him.
He usually doesn't score points, but his passes are amazing.
"SHIT!"
One of our opponents disregarded Itsuki, and went towards me. I dribbled the ball twice which produced a booming sound, and jumped from the free throw lane passing the two players that were blocking me while raising my right hand high up in the air. It felt like I was flying, and after savoring the slow moment like time had stopped which I have experienced countless times, I dunked the ball with a lot of explosive force.
*BANG*
"PIIIIIITTTT"
The referee blew the whistle after I scored, and the students who were watching us were cheering loudly.
"KYAAAH!!! JOICHIROOO!!!"
"SO COOL!!!"
I approached Daisuke while we were heading straight towards the other side of the court to defend.
"Nice pass!" I said while patting Daisuke's back.
"JEEZ! WHY ARE YOU GETTING ALL THE ATTENTION AND NOT ME?! I DON'T WANT YOU, BRO! I WANT THE GIRLS WHO ARE WATCHING US!"
"HAHAHAHA!"
And at the end of the practice match, we won, and I scored a lot of points again.
"Joichiro-senpai! Congrats on getting 53 points on the game!"
"Cool…" Genkei said with a blank face
I don't want to say the score I made on our practice match earlier because it was embarrassing but Souta just said it.
And yeah, that's my school life ever since middle school, and I am pretty much happy with what is happening even though me, and Rui went through a lot in the past.
And then the time comes when this school year finally ends.
******** TO BE CONTINUED ********