Chapter 67: Chapter 67 : Scouting Toō Academy
Author note :
Sorry for taking too much slice of life here. The next chapter would be a time skip to the match against Toō Academy. Thank you!
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"It's good to see you again, Ryou!" Godai opened his arms, inviting Sakurai for a hug. "I thought you were moving away with your parents, what are you doing here?"
"I am sorry, Godai-san" The shy boy bowed his head slightly. "I am just passing by. It's been lonely and there is no basketball community near my new home. And I have never seen you practice with Godai-san, Furihata-san. Are you preparing for your next game?"
Furihata nodded his head slightly.
"Yeah, I will be playing against fucking Daiki Aomine. I need to get used to his street basketball, so who is better to train me other than the man who was dethroned by Aomine himself?"
"Oi, don't joke like that! I am still sensitive, you know?"
Furihata and Sakurai snickered at the comical reaction that Godai displayed.
"Anyway," Furihata turned around to Sakurai. "What about you, Sakurai-kun? With your skill, I don't think you will have a hard time being on the first team except if you joined Midorima's team. What team do you join?"
"Aaah…" Sakurai just rubbed his head sheepishly. "I joined Toō Academy, Aomine-san's team. We will be your next opponent, Furihata-san."
Furihata was startled for a moment by the sudden revelation. But it didn't last long as now, he bounced in excitement.
"Really?! I cannot wait for it!"
And true, Furihata is excited to play against his friend in an official match like that. Ryou Sakurai is one of the first students along with Furihata who trained in this basketball community since it was founded. They also shared the same fate, joining the middle school that didn't have a basketball team, so they couldn't participate in the national tournament. He just didn't expect his friend would go to the most uprising team in Tokyo right now.
"Me too, Furihata-san." Sakurai just smiles gently at him. However, it changed quickly in a second, surprising both Furihata and Godai "But I have to say I am sorry first because I don't think you can win against us."
Godai let out a burst of laughter after hearing what Sakurai said.
"That's some confidence you said, Ryou!" He patted his back. "You finally grow some spine! I am so proud of you!"
"Aaah… Please don't tease me like that, Godai-san.."
Furihata just snickered at how those two behaved. However, deep down, he knows that what Sakurai said is true. Aomine alone is almost impossible to stop. And coupled with Sakurai and whomever the rest of their players are, the next game would be a nightmare for Seirin.
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The next day, Furihata joined back to the training with the first team, and to say it is awkward is an understatement. The other players are trying to exchange some conversations with him. However, they didn't dare to touch the last subject which caused Furihata to walk out from their training.
Well, Furihata didn't really mind it. He wouldn't start any conversation though, considering they all are turning their back on him, even when he knows he was on the wrong side the last time. Yeah, he is just feeling petty right now, and nothing could change that.
A stubborn teenager, indeed.
"Hello, everyone!" Riko suddenly popped up from the outside of the gym, addressing her players. "Good to see you back, Furihata-kun. But today, we will watch the tape of Toō's last game, so you know what to expect against them. Kagami-kun and Kuroko-kun have already been in the room, so Let's go!"
She left the gym immediately, leaving all her players speechless at her short speech. They were impressed though, about how Riko acted as if there is nothing wrong with the team right now. They just decided to follow her example and do the same.
Five minutes later, Furihata found himself sitting in the corner of the room, waiting for Riko to play the tape.
"Okay, everyone. This is their last game against Teitan High School. Watch carefully."
All the players straightened their backs, putting all their focus on the television.
"The first player you have to be careful about is their point guard, third-year, Shoichi Imayoshi." Riko pointed her finger at the player with glasses. "He is an all-around player, decent at everything and outstanding at playmaking. And he likes to toy with his opponent a lot. He knows where and when to hit hard, right to damage your mentality. He will probably be the most annoying player you have ever met, even more than Tsugawa."
Hearing the description of Imayoshi, they all couldn't help but turn around at Furihata.
"What?!" The first-year point guard snarked unpleasantly, causing all the heads on him to turn back to the tape.
"Nothing!"
Riko just looked at them amusedly, clearly knowing why they turned around to Furihata, especially when she overheard Kagami mutter, 'Of course, it would be another bastard.'
"Well, let's watch the rest first." She played the tape once again, showing Toō's shooting guard, Sakurai. "This is their shooting guard, first year, Ryou Sakurai." She let her players observe the tape for a minute before she continued,
"You can see his shooting form is solid, he can hit pretty accurately, and his release speed is as fast as Furihata-kun, maybe even faster. If you played against him, don't let him get enough space to pull up a shoot comfortably. Other than that, I don't find any notable skill from him."
"It is more than that." Furihata suddenly spoke, gaining the other's attention. "Sakurai has a lot to offer for the team, not just his shooting ability."
"Oh?" Riko raised her eyebrows slightly. "Interesting. How do you know about that?"
Furihata let out a deep sigh as he answered the question.
"It is because we grew up and trained in the same basketball community." He ignored the sudden gasp he received from the others. "And I know him the best because we were the first two students after that community was founded."
"Hmm…" Riko nodded her head, pondering something. "Well, Furihata-kun, since you know him the best among us, care to share some information?"
Furihata put his hand on the chin, trying to jog his memories about Sakurai.
"Well.. As you said before, Sakurai is a very sharpshooter. However, he also trained himself as a point guard too. He only stopped that after our coach decided I would be the point guard for the team. But that doesn't change the fact that he is a decent playmaker, even though he doesn't do that often."
The other players have their expressions changed into serious ones as they realized how troublesome the next game would be. Meanwhile, Riko just writes down all Furihata said and makes notes to research him more.
"As for defense…" Furihata's voice trailed for a moment, letting the expense grows in the room. "Well, you see how I do my defense. You should also expect the same from him. We are trained by the coach who prefers defensive play, after all. Once he locked you down, it would be hard to get away from him."
"Great, more trouble for us," Hyuga grumbled under his breath, voicing the sentiments all the players share. However, Riko still has her eyes on her note.
"Anything else, Furihata-kun?"
Furihata nodded his head firmly.
"Yeah, even though he is really amazing player, he has a very major weakness that I think we can exploit." Now, all his teammates looked at him eagerly. "He is a very meek player, and he couldn't handle a lot of pressure from the people around him. That's why he gave up on being the point guard in the first place and that is probably the reason why he is Toō's second or even third scorer in this tournament. If we target him from the start, he will crumble in the third or fourth quarter."
Honestly, Furihata feels bad to expose Sakurai like that. His friend is just a sweet gentle boy who lacks the confidence to do anything on his own. But Furihata also knows with Momoi on the other teams, they would do the same, exposing any weakness Seirin has.
Riko nodded her head repeatedly before asking again,
"Thank you for the information, Furihata-kun. We can take advantage of that. Anything else?"
"Nothing that I can think about." Furihata shook his head.
"Okay, let's go back to the topic. For their next player, the third-year small forward, Yoshinori Susa." She pointed her finger at the player with jersey number #7. "He is a veteran player like Imayoshi and has a very solid foundation. He doesn't show up often in the offense. But he is Toō's defensive anchor and the one who covers Aomine's spot if he feels lazy. So, you can get the image of how tough his defense would be."
All her players grimaced as they are not looking forward to play against another tough defender. Well, they couldn't protest, as the higher they stand, the tougher the opponent would be.
"As for their center, Kosuke Wakamatsu, well… You survived Otsubo-san, so I don't think he would be a huge problem." All the players in the room sweatdropped at how easy Riko dismissing one of Toō's players. "His playing style is a bit similar to Otsubo-san, but he doesn't have his power and experience. He likes to play aggressively in the low-post area and snatches offensive rebounds from time to time. But defensively, he is the easiest player to be a target for us. He was fouling his opponents almost five times per game, making it the most out of all players in the tournament. So, playing inside the paint would probably be our weapons against them now."
Riko paused for a moment to see her players' reaction. She is not disappointed as they all have thoughtful expressions on their face, thinking about how to exploit this information.
"And the last and the most dangerous player of all them, Daiki Aomine." Now, the atmosphere turned grim as they all watched Aomine's clip. "We have talked a lot about him, yet I still don't know how to stop him completely. The only thing I could think about is to let them have the lead deliberately until Aomine feels bored and decided to not play anymore. But we heard what Kuroko-kun said yesterday. He would go with the intention to destroy him because Kuroko-kun is his former teammate. We need to think of a way to stop him. Any idea, everyone?"
Seeing the clueless expressions on her players, Riko could only sigh tiredly.
"I will think about it until we can find a good enough strategy to stop him. Does anyone want to add something? Yes. Furihata-kun?" She nodded at Furihata who raised his hand.
"You forget about that troublesome girl, Momoi." Furihata rolled his eyes when he saw Kuroko's posture tensed for a moment. "Relax, Phantom. I am not here to badmouth her. But you have to admit she can be annoying and nosy, right? While Aomine might not hear what she said, the other players will definitely do that. So, we better prepared as they would also know our strengths and weakness."
Yeah, while Kuroko hated to admit it, Furihata is right. Momoi could be the biggest threat for them if not for Aomine. He knows firsthand how scarily accurate Momoi's information is, and now, he would be the one who is on the opposite side, he had to admit that it was quite scary. Not that he would say it out loud, though.
"Thank you for the reminder, Furihata-kun." Riko spoke, snapping everyone from their thought. We will think about it tomorrow. For now, it is already late, so we better close the meeting now. Dismissed!"
"Yes, Coach!"
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Author note :
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You can also read this fanfiction up to chapter 87 on that page. Thank you! :)
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