Chapter 32 - Finals; Tokiwadai vs. Teiko (1/2)

Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium a beautiful sporting complex located in Tokyo.

The gymnasium was built in a prime position; it was a one-minute walk from the nearest train station.

Originally built in 1954 for the World Wrestling Championship, but as time passed more sports, were added to the gymnasium.

Now, it hosted the Nationals for the middle school division and the Winter Cup for the highschool level basketball.

Today, the main event in the gymnasium was the finals for Middle School Nationals. Tokiwadai Middle School and Teiko Middle School were going to play against each other to decide which team was the best at the Middle School level.

Tokiwadai Middle School, the defending champions, were going to defend their title. They would also try their hand at achieving a consecutive championship title.

Playing against the champions was Teiko Middle School, a National powerhouse that visits the Nationals regularly. They were an unusual team with no third-year students in their roster, and on top of that, four of the five starter players were first-year students.

Teiko Middle School had made it to the finals with a lineup full of first-year students, no matter what the result of the finals was, the middle school scene was sure that Teiko Middle School was going to be a top contender for the coming two years.

Both teams were given the signal to enter the court for the official warmups.

After the warmups, the coaches from both teams decided to let the players from both teams to interact to promote sportsmanship.

Both teams lead by their captains met at half-court. The captain both shook hands.

Otsubo: ”Nijimura you have gained quite a name for yourself, the best forward in the middle school level is not an easy feat to achieve.”

Nijimura was already among the best forwards before the Nationals, but after his performance in the Nationals, he cemented his name at that spot.

Nijimura thanked Otsubo for his compliment with a smile.

Nijimura: ”Thank you. Well, you are no different, the captain of the defending champions, standing tall at 190 cm, and able to dunk.

You are also attracting attention from everybody. You might not have noticed, but when you dunk, the crowd goes wild.”

Nijimura looked at his team members who were interacting with members of Tokiwadai and sighed.

Nijiumra: ”I might not be able to hold on to the title of the best forward for much longer, the little monsters in my team are far too talented, and I think they might leave me behind soon.”

Otsubo looked at Teiko's members and saw Aomine Daiki. Aomine Daiki had an excellent performance in the Nationals, and his scoring ability was staggering for a rookie.

Otsubo's eyes also caught the figure of Murasakibara Atsushi.

Otsubo: 'The first year who is already frighteningly tall for his age, if he continued to grow at the same rate, he might evolve from a little monster to a real Avant-grade monster.'

Otsubo looked at the members of his team and smile,

Otsubo: ”Well, you are not wrong to assume that, even I have the same kind in my team.”

This time it was Nijimura's turn to look at Tokiwadai's team, he saw two people on the team that would be a serious threat if they grew, Kageyama Shun and Mibuchi Reo.

Nijiumara: 'Mibuchi Reo might not have the insane accuracy of Midorima, but that fadeaway shot and his ability to draw in fouls is a serious problem.

Then there is Kageyama Shun, he is more dangerous than Aomine in scoring, and Akashi in terms of support.'

Nijimura then heard Otsubo say something,

Otsubo: ”They sure look like monsters, but you shouldn't take this is as a negative you should see them as a motivation to work harder. For me, the little monsters on my team are all the motivation I need.”

Nijimura, who heard this, smiled.

Nijimura: ”Yes, you might be right.”

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While the captains were talking to each other, the first-years of both teams were also mingling with each other.

Aomine, who saw Shun waved his hand towards him.

Aomine: ”Kageyama, who do you think is going to score more today.”

Shun smiled at the enthusiastic Aomine and replied.

Shun: ”Of course, I am going to be the one to score the most in this game.”

Shun smiled at Aomine and put up a deal for him.

Shun: ”How about this, if you score more than me then, I would stop calling you Dai-chan~.”

Aomine was extremely suspicious of the deal.

Aomine: ”What is it in for you.”

Shun made a face with an expression of extreme surprise. Aomine who saw it asked.

Aomine: ”What? Why are you making that face?”

Shun: ”Dai-chan, I didn't think you would be smart enough to ask that. I thought you would accept the deal in a heartbeat.”

The others who were listening to the conversation laughed at Aomine.

Aomine, who heard the laughs became angry and barked at Shun.

Aomine: ”Ok, what do you want if you win.”

A smile that looked sinister to Aomine appeared on Shun's face.

Shun: ”If I win, I want you to eat one meal a day for a week of Momoi-san's cooking. I will ask Momoi-san to be there for every meal, so don't think of getting out of it.”

Aomine's body began shaking, and he said.

Aomine: ”O-one week t-that means s-seven meals of Satsuki's cooking. K-Kageyama, please change your request I will do anything else but not this Satsuki's cooking sucks.”

Satsuki, who was nearby, yelled.