On a new day, Shōgo woke up and felt refreshed from the inside out.
After the invigorating exercise that drained his body's strength, the satisfying feeling of sweating profusely, after a deep sleep, it was as if he had released even purer dopamine. He appeared spirited and even sharper.
Carrying his basketball and backpack, yawning, he walked into the classroom. In the delighted eyes of Rina, Shōgo took his seat.
A brand new gray-white, hefty notebook was handed over from the front, accompanied by Rina's expectant voice and expression.
"Shōgo-kun, please take a look at the materials I organized. Let me know if anything seems off."
"Oh?"
Upon hearing this, Shōgo's eyes also lit up. Rina was moving so fast with this notebook.
Taking the gray notebook, which carried a hint of orchid scent, Shōgo opened it to the first page.
The first page didn't have any information, just a sentence.
A sentence with elegant handwriting, words that concealed a hint of sharpness: "Although the firefly's light is weak, it challenges the darkness when it shines."
A resolute message. Shōgo could imagine Rina's high hopes for this notebook.
Turning to the second page, a clear pentagon-shaped data analysis chart appeared before Shōgo's eyes.
The five corners of the pentagon were labeled with speed, jumping ability, offense, defense, and special skills, describing a player's overall attributes from five perspectives.
Though still a bit rough, this first draft was already quite impressive.
"Rina-chan, what do you mean by offense, defense, and special skills here?"
"Offense refers to the scoring ability, defense is a defensive ability, and special skills are those particularly impressive abilities. Shōgo-kun, is there anything wrong?"
"Yes, Rina-chan, but it's not a big issue. I think you can look at a player from two aspects."
"Two aspects?"
"Yes, two aspects."
Shōgo pondered for a moment, looking at his virtual data panel and considering various data models in his mind before expressing his opinion.
"Rina-chan, by two aspects, I mean physical strength and skillset."
"Shōgo-kun, please enlighten me!"
Looking at the beautifully curious face before him, Shōgo couldn't resist extending his hand to touch it.
Midway, he felt his action might be impolite, so he pretended to flick away a piece of paper from Rina's hair, then earnestly explained his idea.
"I believe a basketball player's abilities can be divided into two aspects: physical strength and skillset. Physical strength refers to attributes like speed, strength, stamina, height, weight... Skillset, on the other hand, includes evaluation of shooting, rebounding, passing, dribbling, and defensive abilities."
Listening to all this, a bit dry-mouthed Shōgo took a sip of water. He noticed that Rina was looking at him with a gaze of admiration, which made him slightly embarrassed.
"Go on! If you look again, I'll eat you up!"
"Hehe!"
With the triumph of a victorious battle, Rina turned away, busy jotting down notes based on Shōgo's input.
As for Shōgo, he continued to analyze and predict the results of yesterday's game.
The prediction was Fukuda Junior High's victory, Rina's victory once again, and the count of small gifts owed to girls would increase by 1.
And the animal metaphors that followed were even more intriguing.
In Rina's notes, Shōgo was distinctly marked as the "Great Gluttonous Behemoth" team captain Arata was labeled as the "Reliable Big Ox," and the other teammates were all depicted as weary sheep.
On the opponent Seihō's side, Tomoki was tagged as the "Injured Gorilla," and the other players were labeled as robust monkeys.
Shōgo carefully read this description, feeling shocked and excited, yet keeping a straight face.
Through this depiction, Shōgo once again saw Rina's talent.
The accurate descriptions of the animals were a highlight, but what Shōgo valued, even more, were the adjectives before the animal names.
Injured, strong, weary, reliable... This was Rina's ultimate talent.
She could accurately describe a player's state, sensing it from their momentum, emotions, and actions, and then matching them with a suitable animal analogy.
Shōgo couldn't help but burst into laughter inwardly, his lips curving up.
It was great. Rina's unique skill had taken shape, and Shōgo named it the "Weakness Attack," a special ability.
Closing the gray notebook, Shōgo handed it back, patted Rina's shoulder, and whispered.
"Keep it up! I have high expectations for you, Rina-chan. You're one of a kind."
In response to Shōgo, there was a smile that turned around.
That smile was so stunning that it amazed Shōgo and stirred his heart. He couldn't help but recite a line of poetry.
"It's the downward glance and the smile that shines, Sayonara!"
Regaining his composure, Shōgo turned to look at the blue sky and white clouds outside the window. At this moment, he seemed to understand why the great poet Xu Zhimo wrote the famous poem "To the Japanese Girl."
This day quickly passed.
School, practice, building physical strength, going home, eating, taking a stroll, swimming.
Everything seemed to follow a routine, becoming calm. The scenarios of the protagonists in the stories, challenging the heavens, the earth, and even immortals, didn't appear.
Shōgo's life turned into a gradual process of accumulating strength with every bite of food.
If there was a slight disruption, it was receiving a call from Satsuki after a nighttime swim.
"Hello! This is Shōgo."
"Shōgo-kun! It's me, Satsuki."
"Hey there, Satsuki-chan. What's up?"
"Shōgo-kun, are you free this weekend? Daiki wants to play basketball with you."
Shōgo's mind quickly turned, recalling his schedule for the week. After a few seconds, he replied.
"I'm free on Saturday. I'll come to find you guys. How's Daiki doing lately?"
"Sigh, Daiki... he's been getting lonelier and lonelier. He's not attending practices or group activities. He keeps saying that the only one who can beat him is himself."
Well, hearing this, Shōgo understood.
It wasn't necessarily that Daiki wanted to play basketball with him. Rather, it was Satsuki on the other end of the line wanting Shōgo to join Daiki for a game, hoping to help him alleviate his boredom. Satsuki didn't want Daiki to be mired in his thoughts.
"All right, don't worry. I'll come to find you guys on Saturday. See you then!"
"See you then!"