Chapter 13 - Final, Pre-Game (1/2)

Day 6. Finals, Tokyo preliminaries, Tokyo Metropolitan Arena.

The stadium was more crowded than usual, with today being a Sunday and the finals of the Middle School preliminaries, more people had come to watch the two games.

The games were Tokiwadai Middle School vs. Shoei Middle School from Block A and Teiko Middle School vs. Kaio Middle School from Block B.

Block A's game was before lunch, and Block B's game was following lunch.

Tokiwadai Middle School and Shoei Middle School were already on the court warming up and preparing themselves for the game.

Shun looked at the part of the stadium where the members of the Tokiwadai basketball club were sitting and saw his parents, he smiled widely and waved his hands towards them.

Shun's parents saw their child smiling, and they too smiled and waved back. Shun's parents knew how much Shun loved basketball, he had been playing the sport since he was four years old.

Shun's mother adored the look on Shun's face, and the light in his eyes when he talked about basketball.

To Shun's mother, her child was too m.a.t.u.r.e for his age. Only when he talked about the sport would he seem like a child his age.

Shun's father was also glad that his son had something he loved from the bottom of his heart and the sport did bring the father and son closer as him and Shun would frequently talk about how to take care of the body and he enjoyed the look on his child's face when he looked at him when telling him something new.

It was the face of a child looking up to his father. Shun did like to talk to his father; he was very happy to learn about new things, and his father was a good conversationalist, and they both would always forget about time while talking.

Shun looked at his teammates and thought about how he could conduct his team and work together with them.

Aone and Mibuchi were scoring monsters, Aone scored from the inside, and Mibuchi from the outside. They were the spears of the team.

If they were the spears, then Otsubo was the shield of the team, even, Shun was sometimes amazed at how he by himself could pressurize the opposition's offense.

Then there was Ishida, to Shun, Ishida wasn't as 'special' in one particular field but an all-round player.

He could supplement either defense or offense when in time of need. Before Shun had entered the team, Ishida was restricted to support, but now with Shun capable of handling support, he could spread his wings wider on the court.

Coach: ”Huddle!”

Team: ”Yes, Sir!” [A/N: Deja vu?]

Coach: ”Shoei Middle School is strong; they won every game they played in these preliminaries with at least a ten-point lead. I know we won games with more than a thirty point lead, but that doesn't mean this will be an easy match. Shoei has a strong center, and well-rounded team, they work well together, and don't make any many mistakes.”

Coach: ”Kiyoshi Teppei is the cornerstone of Shoei's defense as well as offense, he works well in the paint, and coordinates well with his teammates. Otsubo-kun, I am counting on you to hinder the support and stability granted by Kiyoshi-kun.”

Otsubo: ”Yes, Sir!”

Coach: ”Mibuchi-kun, I want you to be on offense today, don't hesitate to call for passes. I want to see you lead in scoring today.”

Mibuchi: ”Yes, Sir!”

Coach: ”Aone-kun, play aggressively today, gather as much attention you can away from Mibuchi-kun so that he can score more easily.”

Aone: *Nods*

Coach: ”Ishida-kun! I want you to help out on offense from outside and blocks today. Help out anywhere you can.”