After dinner, Yusuke walked up to his bedroom, putting his headphones on. He laid down on his bed, staring at the ceiling. His hands were in his pockets, as his music played.
He looked at a rubber ball on the floor.
"I…" Yusuke said. He continued to stare at the ball.
"I hate Basketball…" Yusuke said. Yusuke removed his headphones, lay down in his bed, and fell asleep.
The next morning, Yusuke sat at school on his phone.
"Yusuke-Kun!" Hanako shouted. Yusuke looked at Hanako slightly confused.
"Y-Yo…" Yusuke greeted. Hanako looked at Yusuke in confusion.
"Why do you look so down..?" Hanako asked. Yusuke sighed, handing her a piece of paper. Hanako looked at the paper surprised.
"B-But Yusuke, you just joined?" Hanako said. Yusuke nodded,
"I know… But I just remembered why I can't be in a club…" Yusuke said. Hanako looked disappointed,
"But Yusuke…" Hanako muttered. She turned walking toward the exit of the classroom.
Yusuke watched Hanako leave with a look of sadness on his face. He remembered Ryuzaki's words,
"Let's win nationals." Yusuke thought. He scratched the side of his head, putting his headphones back on.
Class began and the teacher entered.
"Good Morning class, does anyone have a good quote of the day?" The Teacher asked. The teacher looked around before a student up front raised their hand.
"Takenaka?" The teacher asked.
A girl with short black hair stood up,
"Uhm… 'Don't quit, suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion'… Said Muhammed Ali…" Takenaka said.
The teacher nodded,
"Great quote Ms. Takenaka, now pull out your books." The Teacher said. Yusuke looked at his book,
"'Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion'…" Yusuke repeated to himself in his head.
Forty-five minutes later, Yusuke sat at lunch. Suddenly, Hidē stood next to him. Yusuke looked at Hidē with a confused look on his face.
"So… You're quitting..?" Hidē asked. Yusuke opened his mouth but the words wouldn't come out.
"If so I'll tell the team…" Hidē said.
Hidē and Yusuke looked at each other for a few seconds before Hidē nodded.
"Fine… If that's what you want…" Hidē said. He turned walking toward the exit of the cafeteria. Hidē walked outside next to the cafeteria.
"N-No!!" Yusuke shouted.
Hidē looked surprised as he turned to see Yusuke.
"I…" Yusuke faltered. Hidē looked confused,
"I WANT TO PLAY BASKETBALL!!" Yusuke shouted. Yusuke breathed heavily with a glow in his eyes Hidē had never seen before.
Hidē walked over putting his hand on Yusuke's shoulder. Yusuke looked up at Hidē,
"How…" Yusuke muttered. Hidē looked slightly confused, and Yusuke inhaled.
"… How do we become the greatest team?" Yusuke asked. Hidē smiled,
"You'll see!" Hidē said, putting his hand on top of Yusuke's head.
After school, they were scrimmaging in the basketball gym. Yusuke dribbled the ball up the court. He passed the ball to Kazuma at the three-point line. Kazuma shot the ball toward the net as it bounced off the backboard. Yusuke jumped up to the ball, dunking it in the hoop.
Yusuke landed on the ground, Hidē walked over patting him on the back.
"Nice dunk, Yusuke!" Kazuma shouted. Yusuke grinned, "Thank you!" Yusuke shouted back.
The door to the gym opened as Haruto & Hanako walked in. Hanako looked at the team confused. Hanako looked at Yusuke even more confused,
"Y-Yusuke-Kun?" Hanako asked. Yusuke grinned.
"Yo!" Yusuke said, running over to Hanako. Hanako giggled,
"Of course, you didn't actually quit, idiot." Hanako said. Suddenly, a man in his 20s walked in with a cardboard box. The team ran over,
"Yusuke!" Hidē shouted. Yusuke walked over looking slightly confused.
"What's up?" Yusuke asked. Everyone moved out of the way making a path toward the opened box. Yusuke walked toward the box, seeing a singular Orange, Blue & white jersey inside.
The number on the Jersey was 10. Above the number was his last name in all caps: 'Chisaka'. Yusuke grabbed the Jersey, looking at his name.
"Oh!!" Keiji said. Everyone looked at Keiji confused,
"That's where I've heard your last name before!" Keiji said.
Yusuke sighed,
"Cause of my older brother… Koushi Chisaka..?" Yusuke asked. Everyone looked at Yusuke in shock.
"Older..?" Kazuma said.
"Brother..?" Takahashi said. Yusuke nodded,
"WHAT!!??" The whole team shouted in shock. Ryuzaki looked at Yusuke,
"I never would've known… He's cool… And you're well…" Ryuzaki said. Yusuke grinned,
"I'm cool too~" Yusuke said.
Ryuzaki shook his head,
"No… I was going to say that you're lame…" Ryuzaki said. A whistle was then blown.
"Alright, Alright… Mr. Sunada and I have to talk to you all about something!" Coach Haruto said. The man in his mid-20s had a welcoming smile on his face.
"For our first practice match, we'll be practicing against Sendai Daiichi!" Sunada said. Everyone looked shocked except, Yusuke, Ryuzaki, and Hide.
"S-Sendai Daiichi!!??" Kazuma shouted. Mr. Sunada nodded,
"Indeed." He said. Yusuke scratched the back of his head.
"What's so great about them?" Yusuke asked. Everyone glared at Yusuke,
"What's so great about them..?" Kazuma asked in a deep voice. Yusuke gulped, as a sweat drop appeared behind his head.
"Not only are they a great team… They're the number two team in our prefecture…" Kazuma said. Yusuke grinned,
"Then let's just beat them!!" Yusuke said.
The team looked over at Ryuzaki. Ryuzaki shrugged,
"I didn't say anything…" Ryuzaki said. Kazuma nodded,
"You've played with one of these guys, haven't you..?" Kazuma asked. Ryuzaki shook his head,
"No, but I played against their captain," Ryuzaki said.
Even Hidē was interested now, as he looked over at Ryuzaki.
"Who?" Hidē asked. Ryuzaki shrugged,
"Does it matter..?" Ryuzaki said. Hidē nodded,
"I mean… We are playing him tomorrow…" Hidē said. Ryuzaki sighed,
"His name is Teruo Ikehara… He plays Shooting Guard and he's their captain. Is that what you wanted me to tell you?"
Hidē nodded, turning to look to the team.
"He and his team are probably strong, we can't underestimate them..." Hidē said. The team nodded,
"We're gonna do some scrimmages..." Coach Takeuchi said. The team nodded, lining up next to each other.
"Hide will obviously be a captain of one of the teams..." The Coach said. Hide nodded, walking over to the coach and standing on his right. The coach looked back at his clipboard, scratching the side of his head.
"And the captain for the other team will be..." The coach said. Yusuke looked at the coach, smiling slightly. The coach nodded, looking up at the team.
"... Juro Kuse." The coach said. Yusuke sighed, shrugging. Juro walked over to the coach, standing on his left.
"Alright... Now, pick your teams." Coach Takeuchi said. The two captains nodded.
"You can pick first..." Juro said. Hiro nodded, looking at the line of teammates. The coach cleared his throat.
"Ryuzaki," Hide said. Ryuzaki walked over to Hide, standing next to him. Juro looked at the team, crossing his arms.
"Kuba..." Juro said. Nobuyuki walked over to Juro, standing by his side.
Yusuke looked at the ground, crossing his fingers with a nervous looking on his face.