Chương 15: Nothing but Net
Basketball… Well how hard could that be really? Kouji ran over to where the hoops were set up. There he was met with the almost dozen girls getting their warm ups done. It was interesting to see their uniforms here. They were what you would expect one would wear on a basketball team.
Which is precisely why that was interesting to him. So there were different types of uniforms across the different sport? Except, while his was for boys, it also was a generic one. Probably to allow him to participate in the multiple sports he was going to be required to do.
Looking around for the girl he was supposed to help, his eyes finally landed on his target. There was Yuma, just sitting on the ground all by herself. Was she sad? Kouji walked up to her, getting her attention.
"Hey." He said to her. She turned her head up, looking at him for a moment. He could never tell how she was feeling with those eyes of hers. They seemed very emotionless, like a dead look. If she said his face was scary, then her eyes were that times 10.
"It's you." She said, smiling lightly. Probably wasn't sad, but why was she just sitting here? "What are you doing here?" She asked him.
"Well I'm here to help you out." He answered. "Um, shouldn't you be warming up?" Yuma got up without answering him, then while thinking of something she finally responded.
"Warming up how?" She responded with a question of her own. Apparently the reason she was just sitting around is because she didn't understand the direction. Odd that no one brought that up, or that she didn't ask for clarification. "It's already pretty hot today."
"Uh, with some stretches." He did one, bending down to touch his toes, to show an example. "Like this."
"Oh okay." She finally got it. Yuma then imitated him and did the same. Bending over and touching the floor. "Is this fine?"
"Well you only needed to get to your toes, but pretty much like that." While he was telling her what she should be doing, a teacher walked up to them to inform him of something.
"Just to let you know, you will not be playing in the scrimmage game." She said. "It wouldn't be fair to the girls if you participated." Apparently he was fine to play Tennis, but not basketball with the girls. Probably because there wasn't any contact involved with tennis.
"That's fine, I can coach on the sideline though, right?"
"Correct, don't worry. You've already done tennis, and we're all aware of your job here today." Not really a surprise to him that the faculty was aware of his condition. Considering how tired he was from the last game. A break here wasn't bad at all.
"So." Once his discussion was over, he returned to his main subject. "Are you ready, or is there anything else you want to work on?"
"...I want to do that stretch." She pointed to what the rest of the girls were doing. He was fine with it, or at least he was until he saw what they were doing. It just had to be one of those stretches, didn't it.
"You want me to… push you?" It just had to be that one. The one where someone got behind you while you pressed yourself forward from a sitting position.
"Yes? Is there something wrong with that?" She said, tilting her head at him.
"Nothing, let's just do it." As the rest of the girls were doing, he got behind her. It was weird that he was more apprehensive about this after what he did with Himawari. Probably because unlike before, this wasn't a girl he disliked. Other than her apparent slowness.
She bent over, while he pushed her back. Keeping his distance from her while being able to perform what she asked of him. From the way that Yuma was acting, this didn't seem like a big deal to her. He was trying to keep it from being one for him.
Finally they were done. Now it was time to start playing some ball. First some shooting around for getting people ready, followed by the scrimmage. There was one problem that Kouji could clearly see. Yuma was not actually doing anything, again.
She didn't have a ball, nor did she speak up to anyone to pass one to her. Instead, she just stood on the court rather awkwardly.
"Hey." He yelled out to a couple of the girls. "Uh, can someone throw a ball to Onodera over there?" They complied to his request, probably more for Yuma than for him.
Finally with a ball, she could get some practice in. As it turned out, he could see why she wanted to play the sport. Her handles were solid and her ability to shoot from range was also rather strong. If this school had a basketball team, then she'd be their best player. At least from what he was seeing here.
Soon, it was time for the girls to get into teams. The captains each picked one at a time. Sadly, Yuma was the last person chosen, which he considered a shame. Meanwhile, since Kouji wasn't playing. He was going to take a coaching spot to make sure the girls played fairly and well.
Standing alongside the teachers also spectating, there was one girl that Kouji's eyes always wandered on. That would be Yuma, since she was the most important girl for him at the moment. After all, if she failed here, then that would mean failure for him too.
Which is why her lagging behind was an issue, along with never having the ball on offense, along with missing defensive assignments. Hopefully there was a problem he was seeing by now.
Nervously, he looked over to the faculty watching this. Whatever they were writing on their notepad were causing him to sweat. It was time to act like a coach here.
"Hey!" He called out to the girl with the ball. "She's open." He pointed over to Yuma, who was by her lonesome on the corner of the court. The girl listened, passing the ball to her. That was great, now she could show off that three-point skill she had earlier. Which is precisely what she didn't do.
Yuma just stood there like a deer caught in the headlights. Though she had plenty of time to set up and shoot. She didn't take the opportunity and was soon double teamed by her opponents. Overwhelmed, she lost control of the ball and it went out of bound. A turnover.
"Time out." He called out, signaling Yuma to come to him. The rest of the girls weren't looking too bad, so giving them advice wasn't needed. "What's wrong?" He asked her, as she ran up to him.
"…Sorry." She apologized to him for her mistake.
"Don't worry about that." This girl almost always asked for forgiveness. While he knew she messed up, it was pointless to be concerned over it now. "But why didn't you take the shot? You were open."
"I… Don't know." She answered. "I just didn't know if I could do it."
"I know you can." He offered words of encouragement. "You were fine during the practice, so I know you can hit those shots. Besides, it's really no big deal if you miss either." That was the truth. The participation and show of improvement was what these teachers were looking for.
"I'll try." Her words didn't fill him with confidence, so he had one more thing to say.
"Look, if you have the ball again. Just do it, don't think about it." She nodded her head and returned to the court. It was game time again. On the defensive side, she was handling herself much better now. At least by sticking to the person she was guarding like glue.
Not the best work, but good enough for him. She seemed to be taking that advice of not thinking, just staying focused. However, the other side of the field had yet to improve. Still, she was failing to get the attention of the ball holder. Even though she wasn't being guarded.
"Onodera, you gotta speak up!" He yelled out to her. She stood still, looking around her surroundings. There wasn't anyone near her, and she had a clear look at the basket. However, words weren't coming from her mouth.
She was frozen in time. Her legs were betraying her, they didn't want to move. Her mind was filled with too much information, she couldn't think on any one subject.
"Onodera!" Kouji yelled out once more. "I know you can do it, but you have to do it! Don't think about it!" His words of encouragement brought her back to earth. Focusing on what was in front of her, she was able to finally say the words she was wanting to say.
"I-I'm open. Over here!" She called out, waving her hands. The girl saw her, bouncing a pass underneath her two defenders. Yuma corralled the pass, getting it set in her hands. Her body was moving on its own, there was no thought placed into what she was doing.
This feeling was new to her. Her instincts were taking over, and it knew exactly what it wanted to do. She turned, facing the net. Her arms took the motion of shot. Up she went, the ball went flying. Swish.
The girls cheered for her as she hit her first shot. Thankfully not her only shot either, as the game went on. Yuma found herself in a groove, receiving the ball and going for uncontested shots.
Soon enough, the game ended. With Yuma's team becoming the victors.
"Nice job." He ran up to her. She was exhausted from all the action, standing there breathing heavily. "I knew you could do it." He gave her a head pat in glee. He was successful here, so there was still hope for him yet.
"...Thanks." She tilted her head down, feeling shy about what he was doing. "But, I should be the one saying you did a good job." She told him.
"Me? But I didn't do anything." She shook her head in response.
"It's hard to say, but I think that you were really helpful." Kouji didn't agree, not that he'd say that out loud. Except, he didn't think he really did anything more than what a parent would do for their kid in a sports game.
"You don't really have the time for idle conversation." He jolted back by the surprise appearance of Isako behind him. "Shiba and Enokida are both doing the track and field section. They'll be running soon."
"Understood." He began to run off to their location. "I'll go run over there now… Heh, get it? Because-"
"Just go or you'll be late." She interrupted. He did as she said. Leaving the two of them. "It was a little funny…" She commented to Yuma with a chuckle.
"…" Yuma didn't replied, until she puffed out a laugh. "Oh I get it now."
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