As promised, Umi and I, along with Amami-san, went to the usual park where Nitori-san and Houjou-san were waiting for us.
"C'mon, Umi-chan, Yuu-chan, you guys call that a pass?"
"You want to win, don't you?~ Why are you guys playing like babies?~"
"Ugh… One more time!"
"I can still go on, Sana-chan, Mana-chan!"
It had been a while since the four of them hung out together like this on a weekday. Maybe that was why they seemed to be more energetic than usual.
Their sweat scattered around the court as they moved around, it reflected in the light coming from the lamps and illuminated the court, creating a hot yet refreshing atmosphere.
The practice was even more intense than usual. I had to give it my all to support them, but it wasn't all that bad. I was happy that I could help both Umi and Amami-san like this. Hell, I didn't even feel that tired.
My stamina had improved since we started this training, but that wasn't the only reason I haven't collapsed yet.
They said that other than stamina, your mentality was also a factor for being able to hold on for so long. I enjoyed helping them both like this, which was probably the main reason why I could keep going.
The practice lasted for two hours and everyone was giving their all and ran around the court energetically like children.
By the time they were done, they were covered in sweat, but they had refreshing expressions.
This was all thanks to Nitori-san and Houjou-san, who listened to Umi's and Amami-san's requests and came up with a training course for both of them.
I also had to thank them for listening to that request of mine.
"Here you go, Maehara-kun. Everything is in the tablet and the notes. The game tape is on that tablet, you can check them out."
"Thank you… You even have videos? As expected of the strongest school in the prefecture."
"We don't have much time to practice, so we have to get creative, y'see? Also, keep the videos a secret, okay? Don't give it to anyone other than Umi-chan and Yuu-chan!"
I flipped through the notes they gave me. They were filled with detailed descriptions of their daily practice, assignments and performance reviews. Since I felt that it would be rude to look through everything closely, I decided to just skim through them. But I could tell that they were really serious about basketball.
"What are you looking at, Maki?"
"Show me, Maki-kun~"
Amami-san and Umi came over after they were done resting, so the five of us decided to read the notes together.
After some more skimming, we finally got to the page about the prefectural tournament's semifinal.
In the column about the opponent, I saw Arae-san's name.
"The Captain of Joutou Higashi Middle High, Nagisa Arae. So she was the captain, huh?"
"Mhm. It's been two years since that match happened, but I remember her. She was a kind girl back then, I can't believe that she would treat Yuu-chan like that."
"Right? Back then, she was a really charismatic girl. She was so skilled and her playmaking was spot on."
The notes were filled with detailed descriptions of players they needed to watch out for, even their habits were listed here. But for this team in particular, the pages were filled with information about Arae-san.
Apparently, before Arae-san joined the team, it wasn't a particularly strong team, but after she joined, their performance skyrocketed to the point that they were able to reach the final four of the prefectural tournament.
I checked the videos related to her team.
At the forefront of her team, Arae-san was smiling cheerfully. It was surprising to see her like this since she always put on a sour face in front of Amami-san.
"Woah…"
"Hmm."
We were currently watching Arae-san's team playing in the top 8 match, the match before they faced Tachibana Junior High. There, Arae-san played as the ace of the team.
Whenever her team was in trouble, she would utilize both her leadership and ability to rouse their spirits.
There was no sound in the video, but her gestures and expressions looked so impactful that I could imagine what she was saying to her teammates.
Her hair was shorter back then and she tied it to a ponytail. She seemed completely different than the Arae-san I knew. She looked like she genuinely loved what she was doing.
Also, she looked way more dignified.
"Woah, she's really good… Back then, she was probably better than you two, huh?"
"Mm, she was better than us. She was at least on the level of our captain."
"Yeah. She was normally a rather straightforward player, but she would throw in some nasty plays when we least expected it, I remember discussing with Sanae on how to beat her~"
The video showed Arae-san, who was surrounded by three people. She managed to pierce through her opponent's defense and score from that position.
She made a guts pose after that and for a moment, her appearance overlapped with someone else.
"…She reminds me of you, Amami-san."
"You thought so too, Maki?"
"Mhm. What do you think, everyone?"
Not only Umi, both Nitori-san and Houjou-san also agreed with me.
I remembered the match between Amami-san and Umi back in the arcade.
Amami-san's figure and play resembled Arae-san's.
They had a similar atmosphere even though their faces were clearly different.
"Hm… I guess I can see where you're coming from… The way we played and the gut pose…"
Even Amami-san herself agreed.
"But, I wonder why she decided to quit? She looked so cool…"
Everyone nodded to Amami-san's words.
Of course, everyone was free to quit. Arae-san should have her own reason to quit and whatever that was, I respected it.
However, I couldn't help but think about her words back when she was arguing with Amami-san inside the gym.
'…The people who'll just slow me down don't deserve to be called teammates…'
Would someone who played so well and retired willingly say such a thing?
In any case, it was inexcusable for her to hate and criticize Amami-san for no reason.
One day, I would try to make her apologize. Though I couldn't help but wonder if there was something deeper behind her actions.