Chapter 38 - Award Ceremony (1/2)

The stands which were relatively full during the finals were, now empty with only a few people waiting for the actual award ceremony.

The people in the stands were mostly family, club members, and friends of the players on the courts.

On the other hand, the court was now almost bursting with players from all three teams.

The coaches were busy with their players, trying to get them to line up.

Shun looked around the stands, trying to find his parents, he was so absorbed in the game, that he had totally forgotten about them.

When he found them, Shun waved at them.

Shun: 'Is that Mrs. Momoi, and who is that other lady with them?'

Shun's parents waved back to their son.

-*-*-*-

Mom: ”Look, dear. Shun is waving at us; he found us.”

Dad: ”It seems, he forgot about us, and just thought for us.”

Shun's mom harumphed and leered at Shun's father.

Mom: ”He is not like you. My Shun is a good child, and wouldn't forget about me, he could forget you, but not me.”

Shun's father ended the conversation right there, he didn't want to be his wife's bad side, and his wife was extremely supportive of their child. Shun had never made a fuss when he was younger, and that made Shun's mom work very easier compared to other mothers.

Dad: 'And, even if Shun did forget about us, he would deny the accusation faster than I could say the word forget.'

-*-*-*-

Shun looked at the unknown lady waiving, so he turned around to see who she was waiving to.

When Shun saw Aomine waiving back to the unknown lady, his jaw dropped to the ground.

Shun: 'You must be kidding me. Now that I look carefully, I can see the similarity in facial features. They are definitely mother and son, but they look so different. Did he drop on his head when he was a child.'

Shun shook his head and sighed.

-*-*-*-

Announcer: *We would like to call upon Kamazaki Middle School to present them with third-place medal to the team.*

Starting with the captain, every player on the Kamazaki team received a bronze medal and a plaque for the team.

All the other players clapped when the captain received the plaque.

Shun: 'So, Nebuya Eikichi lost to Kamazaki, well Inoue from Kamazaki Middle School was able to hold back Aomine this year, and it was a close match.

Next year their match with Teiko was Aomine's breaking point.'

The next award in the docket was presenting the runner-up trophy and silver medal to Tokiwadai Middle School.

Announcer: *We would like to call upon Tokiwadai Middle School to present them with runner-up medal to the team.*

Same as Kamazaki Middle School, they too started to receive the medals from the captain.

In place of a plaque that was presented to the Kamazaki Middle School, Tokiwadai Middle School got the runner-up's trophy.

Otsubo called for Shun and handed him the trophy.

Otsubo: ”Kageyama-kun, you hold the trophy for the photograph.”

Shun looked at the whole team and the trophy that was in his hands. A smile made its way to his face.

Shun: 'A team sport, huh.'

Shun looked at Otsubo, smiled widely, and said.

Shun: ”Yes, I would be honored to.”

Shun smiled widely for the photo.

The people who saw Shun saw a different side of him. The current Shun was different from the teasing one, that made bets with Aomine, he was different from the confident one, that declared that Haizaki wouldn't be able to stop him, and he was different from the serious Shun that they had seen on the court.

The current Shun was just a happy guy who loved basketball from the bottom of his heart.

Shun's parents, who were a little worried in their hearts about Shun losing the finals, felt relieved seeing him smile.

Satsuki who was also watching Shun thought,

Satsuki: 'So, he can smile like that. That is a nice smile.'

-*-*-*-

Next in line was presenting Teiko the championship trophy and the gold medals.

Announcer: *We would like to call upon Teiko Middle School to present them with the championship trophy and the first place medals.*

Shun, who was smiling innocently until a while ago, turned his head and clicked his tongue.

Shun: ”Yeah yeah, let's get this over with quickly.”

Tokiwadai team had to stop themselves from laughing, from seeing this side of Shun.

Teiko Middle School got their gold medals and the championship trophy.

Shun: 'A normal happy smile doesn't suit Haizaki at all.'

-*-*-*-

The team awards were finally over. Now it was time for the individual awards.

Announcer: *We would like to call upon Kageyama Shun from Tokiwadai Middle School to receive the award for the Best Defense Player of this year.*

Shun was tired from the game; scoring seventy-seven points, defending, and stealing in the second half of the game had taken a huge toll on his stamina and body.

Shun hadn't thought about the individual awards at all. Currently, all he wanted to do was to go home, eat a meal, and collapse on his bed.

So when Shun heard his name being called, his brain lagged for a second.

Mibuchi had to push him out of the line to get him going.

Shun mechanically received the award, bowed to the presenter, but as he turned back towards the presenter, a smile and expression that could only be described as irritating to watch appeared on his face.

All the players wanted nothing more than to beat that smile from Shun's face.

Shun purposely went back to his team from Teiko's side. Shun looked at Murasakibara and said in a voice that only the players near them could hear.

Shun: ”Haha, see this you big purple-headed loon, if you had worked hard on blocking me, maybe you would have got this award. It sucks to be you. Hahahahaha.”

A bulging vein appeared on Murasakibara's forehead as he heard Shun's words. He wanted to say that he could block Shun, but he couldn't say it after remembering his performance against Shun in the game before.