Chapter 176 - Seirin: Origin Story, Part-One (1/2)

e Seirin High was a new school located in Tokyo.

It had been two years since the Seirin High started operating as a fully functional school. [1]

The school was smaller in size compared to the top-tier schools in Japan, but because it was new, the facilities and infrastructure were top of the class. And over that, the school was strategically placed near a train station, which made it easily accessible to students and thus made it a legit option for students.

Seirin High, on its core, was just like any other standard school you would find all around the country.

In the two years of its inauguration, students had formed many clubs to spend their time after school, but Seirin High lacked in sports clubs.

Because the school was new, it lacked the base of a standing sports club.

A few sports club like Baseball Club, Tennis Club, Swimming Club, were formed, but Seirin High lacked the diversity in the sports club.

If the students wanted to participate in a sport of their liking, they had to be the one to form it, and many students dropped the idea after thinking all the trouble it would take to form a brand new club.

But, in the third year of the school, a person wanted to play basketball, so he picked up a standard club admission form.

He had no idea that his school didn't have a basketball club. To him, the sport of basketball was fun and interesting, so he assumed that there would be a basketball club in the school.

From his view, why wouldn't there be a club for a sport that he loved?

If someone who played basketball at the Middle School Level in Tokyo saw this person, they would recognize the person instantly.

He was an Uncrowned King, the player titled as the Iron Heart.

He was Kiyoshi Teppei.

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Hyuuga Junpei, a first-year high schooler at Seirin High, was a brash man.

He played basketball in Middle School and played as the shooting guard.

He started playing basketball when he joined the basketball club at his Middle School. The reason he started playing basketball was simple; it was because it seemed like the most entertaining sport.

In his first year, he was terrible. Hyuuga was a complete novice and struggled to learn how to play the game, so in his first year at middle school, he wasn't even on the bench.

Hyuuga's school lost in their first game of Tokyo Preliminaries.

Then came the second year, he became used to playing the game, and now it was time to choose a position to specialize in, and he chose to play as a shooter.

Hyuuga knew that he neither had the height and power to play as the center or power forward nor the speed and agility to play as a small forward, and he didn't have the playmaking aptitude for a point guard. So, by the process of elimination, he became a shooter.

Around that time, Hyuuga became a fan of NBA player Ray Allen and tried to imitate his style of shooting. [2]

But, that didn't turn out well. Hyuuga kept on missing the hoop, and his shooting was terrible.

And, even though he was a second-year, he still couldn't become a starter on the team or even a regular substitute sixth-man. The only reason he was on the bench was that he was a second-year.

But, he didn't give up and kept on practicing.

In the second year, Hyuuga's school once again lost in the first game of the preliminaries. Another season of their ending in a single game.

But, it was in the same preliminaries that he saw Mibuchi Reo of Tokiwadai play. [3]

Hyuuga was mesmerized by the shooting style of a player that was the same age as him. He couldn't believe that someone the same age as him could be so good.

And, so the change began.

The next day after losing in the preliminaries, he began building up his shooting style from the ground up. He used Mibuchi Reo's shooting form as inspiration and built his unique form.

He started to visit the Aida Sports Gym to practice shooting, which was owned by his childhood friend's family.

By the time he entered his third-year preliminaries, he had become a good shooter.

At the Tokyo Preliminaries in his third year, Hyuuga's school once again lost in the first round.

Even though Hyuuga had gotten better, and he had a dependable point guard to guide his team, the rest of his team wasn't good or serious.

After two years of losing in the first round, the third-year members had lost all motivation. The second-year members were also affected by the vibe of the club, so except two players, no one practiced seriously.

Hyuuga was mildly depressed after his game, but then the next day, he heard something that affected him deep within.