บท 17: Day 4
[Ryosei POV]
Today is the final day, today we play Kamata West to see who goes to Nationals. Me and the team had already woke up and had a light breakfast to go with our team meeting. It wasn't much, just me going over game plans while they listened. Asking questions when they had them.
"Now Kamata West isn't really that strong of a team. On these sheets you should be able to find out why even though statistically they are weaker, they've been able to win." I paused to wait and see if anyone found it and the first one was Otake, the one who rarely speaks.
"Fouls." He speaks out but not giving anymore. I nod and continue for him.
"Yes, fouls. If you'll look at the amount of fouls drawn it's absurdly higher than any other teams. Which means…" I look around to see if anyone will pick it up, and Kawahara comes in.
"It means they target players and draw fouls against them, most likely taking them out of the game." He said most of it but didn't quite get all of it.
"Which is bad for us because?" I try to coax them into the right direction one last time. This time it's Arata who speaks up.
"Because we only have 6 people, so if one of us is fouled out it will put a strain on the rest of us."
"Good good. Now that we know this, we can all look out for it throughout the game. Not to worry though because I know who you need to watch out for, and that is the Twins that are on the team. Shota and Sota Sasaki. They are pretty good players all things considered, but they are even more dangerous because of their ability to draw fouls.
However this doesn't mean play scared, continue to play our game and we'll make adjustments as needed throughout." I finish earning nods from everyone as they finish off the last of their food.
For the finals we have to stand on our respective courts while an announcer lists off each of the 4 schools and their players/staff. We were saved for last, I guess since we have the smallest amount.
""And last but not least we have Katagiri Junior High. Their club supervisor is Okuda Hisashi ""
A weathered old man with a long white beard stands up and waves with a pleasant smile on his face, before retaking his seat.
""The coach is Aida Ryosei.""
I stand up and when I do I hear the stadium erupt into conversation, and many of the players from the other 3 teams look at me in shock. I calmly retake my seat.
""The Captain of Katagiri is First year number 31 Aida Ryosei.""
Once again the spectators clamor and talk amongst themselves, while the players are shocked by a first year being captain.
I once again take my seat.
""Vice-Captain 3rd year number 8 Kawahara Yoshiaki.""
""3rd year number 5 Arata Haru.""
""2nd year number 7 Otake Michio.""
""2nd year number 3 Teshima Tadashi.""
""Lastly 1st year number 6 Ikehara Kichirou.""
Each of them rose and then sat back down as their names were called, and I could see the nervousness written on their faces.
""Teiko and Shoei will play first, so please start warming up. Katagiri will play Kamata West immediately after. Good luck players and give us your best.""
"""Yes!!""" All the players on the floor yelled out. With that my team and Kamata West cleared off the floor and headed to our designated seats in the stands. All eyes were on me and my team as we walked to our seats, and we could hear the whisperings of the audience.
"Can you believe he's the coach and the captain?!"
"He's also a 1st year!"
"Not to mention they only have 6 total players."
"How did they make it this far."
"Don't listen to them, focus on this match or focus on our match after. Don't get distracted by outside influences." I said to calm my teammates down.
"""Yes Captain!""" They yelled in unison.
Ugh they still sound stiff and nervous.
"My dad said if we lose he'll prepare us some nice cold ice baths to help our bodies heal quicker so we can train harder for the Winter cup sooner. Also my sister said she would cook us a nice meal to lift your spirits." I say with a bright smile on my face.
However their reaction was the opposite, they instantly got a chill down there back and then looked like they wanted to throw up simultaneously. Before they all started releasing a fiery aura.
"""We won't lose Captain!""" They once again yelled in unison, but with more fire and determination behind it.
"Good." I reply with a nod and go back to watching Teiko.
Too bad it wasn't much of a match, it was obvious my challenge to Aomine was already showing fruits. As well as the other members of Teiko seemed to have taken it up a notch. They had the upper hand and just continued to thrash poor Kiyoshi Teppei and the Shoei players.
At halftime it was already 62-24, and you could tell most had already lost the will to play. All except Kiyoshi who was still hustling and encouraging his teammates, even though he was being constantly crushed by Murasakibara.
In the 3rd and 4th quarters the lead continued to grow, with the final score being 145- 39. Even Kiyoshi barely had any fight in him by the end of it. Sorry Kiyoshi, but you'll bounce back. However I need Teiko to be able to challenge me, besides you only have 1 more year of this and then you'll be monster free in high school for a year. Don't waste it.
"Captain, how are we supposed to beat them?" Kawahara asks me.
"Hmm? Why are you worried about them? We still have to beat Kamata West and we most likely won't play Teiko until late into the Nationals if not the finals. Get ready for our current match instead." I respond to him, though I only get a half hearted nod in return.
"Anybody thinking about the Teiko match instead of our next match will be doing lunges everywhere they go until nationals."
All of them froze and then shook their heads simultaneously, refocusing on the match we are about to play.
"Now that you aren't being idiots, come on and lets go get warmed up." I say while standing and heading for the stairs to take us to the court.
"""Yes Captain!"""
I see Kamata also descending the staircase to the floor.
""Teiko beats Shoei 145-39. They win the Block A finals and will advance to the National tournament. Now Katagiri and Kamata West will begin warmups for the finals of Block B.""
We pass Teiko as they exit the court to the locker rooms to change, and Aomine spoke to me.
"Don't lose, I expect to face you at Nationals."
"Me? Lose? Not likely, and I look forward to beating you at Nationals as well. Now watch me play, something tells me this team is going to make me mad." I finish with a savage grin as I continue past him to the court. Aomine looks back with a fierce look as well, before being pulled by Momoi to the locker room.
[3rd person POV]
Just as Teiko were returning to the stands the players were meeting in the middle before the match.
"Good they haven't started yet." Aomine said
"Mhm." Kuroko nodded in agreement.
Down on the floor Ryosei was talking to the twins.
"Sorry but your Nationals trip ends here." Shots said with a smirk.
"You may have made it this far, but you will taste despair against us." Sota adds on.
"Hmmmm, I think we will win by 20 points and if you annoy me it will be the same score as the Teiko game." Ryosei replies with his usual aloof expression and the Twins couldn't tell if he was joking or not. Before they could counter, the ref blew the whistle and called for everyone to take their place.
Ryosei went to the bench, and sat down looking impassively at the floor. Kawahara took his position at the tip off, and Kamata's center who was slightly taller than Kawahara and took his spot.
"Ryosei isn't starting, is he that confident?" Momoi ask not anyone in particular, but she still gets a response from Aomine.
"Yes, he's confident because he knows he can come in at anytime and gain the lead."
To the surprise of everyone though Midorima speaks up next.
"Not only that, but his teammates are confident in him. Which means they can play freer and not worry so much about mistakes. That's why they've been able to compete against better teams even when Ryosei doesn't play. Not to mention his strategies."
"I didn't think you would have thought so much about it Midorin." Momoi says
"Tsk, of course I have. He's a player who's as good if not better than us. A long with he reminds me of Akashi in the way he's confident in his victory." He finishes before glancing at Akashi and the rest look over at him as well.
"He's an interesting opponent." Akashi says evenly, but just that is enough to raise the eyebrows of Kuroko and Aomine. They realized he didn't say that he would defeat him.
Their attention was drawn back to the game at the sound of a foul whistle.
"Ugh, the Sasaki twins are at it again. They've won all their games by always fouling out at least one player on the opposite team. Hmmm, why is Ryosei calling for a member change already. Surely he knows about the twins." Momoi muses.
"He must have a plan." Kuroko replies.
And sure enough after Shota made his 2 free throws after the foul, Ryosei immediately got the ball and shot a 3 pointer and made it. You could see the twins staring at Ryosei with annoyance, but Ryosei ignored it and immediately called for another member change.
(Idk how member changes work honestly, just that the time has to stop meaning the ball goes out of bounds. So if this wouldn't be able to happen normally, I apologize.)
"So that's his plan." Aomine says after seeing Ryosei sub himself back out.
"What do you mean?" Momoi asks in confusion.
"The main thing with the twins is that they flop and play for fouls to try and get players out of the game. Which frustrates and annoys the team that is doing the fouling because they're not meaning too. Ryosei is reflecting that frustration back at them by showing he can score at anytime after they foul his teammates." Aomine finishes but everyone looks at him strangely. Murasakibara naively puts his hand on Aomine's forehead who immediately swats it away.
"What are you doing Murasakibara?! And why are you all looking at me like that?" Aomine yells.
"That was just surprisingly smart Aomine. It surprised us coming from you." Kuroko said
"Tsk." Aomine in annoyance ignored them and focused back on the game. The first quarter had 5 minutes left and the Twins had drawn fouls 4 different times. 3 on Teshima and 1 on Kawahara respectively. The score was currently Katagiri 18-15 Kamata.
They heard the foul whistle go off again and it was on Teshima again, bringing him up to 4 fouls and one foul away from being taken out of the game. Everyone who didn't know him would think he's crying because of that, but his teammates knew he wasn't crying anymore than usual. However they did know that someone was upset and that person was their Captain.
""Member change Katagiri.""
Ryosei entered the court and the opposing team could feel the pressure he was suddenly exerting. They also felt a chill go down their back when they saw his eyes. They were fierce, cold and sharp, and seemed to promise revenge. Ryosei hates cheesy players, not as much as he hated dirty players, but close enough.
"Ahhh, I see my warning wasn't enough." Ryosei said as he popped his neck to one side while looking at the twins.
"I hope you remember my… promise at the beginning of the match." He continued as now he stretched his arms above his head before leaning back as far as he could, which put him in a back handspring position. He popped back up and said.
"Let's play for real now." With a fierce smile on his face.
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Author's Note
Tried to incorporate more Teiko POV, and I just hope I'm getting their personalities close enough to be believable.
Also I'm sorry that everytime I've described play by plays in games it's been when he gets annoyed, but maybe that's why most of you like it lol I don't know. Anyways angry Ryosei comes out to play again next chapter, I'll try to balance it between his and Teiko's POV. Probably more of Teiko since I'd most likely be repeating a lot of stuff from his POV, but we'll see.
Hope you enjoyed.
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