17 Before the Match

I'm back! Sorry for the long wait. I had a family emergency that took up all my free time and it took a few weeks to wrap up (Actually only one part of it finished. A few months later, the other part should pop up which will take up my free time then).

However, the bad times aren't through yet. I have exams this week and projects due next week, so times that would have normally be spent writing, would have to be spent studying and completing projects. Expect more delays.

However, I thought of some way to make up for this. I decided write out another scenario that I plan on writing in the future. This time it takes place after Akira graduates and is now attending high school. If any of you don't care for spoilers, you can once again [ctrl-f] to "Chapter Start" or "Spoiler End".

Remember, all spoilers are subject to change when the plot reaches that point.

Enjoy!

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Spoiler Start

It was the weekend and Akira was currently walking around with a note in his hands. The note was a small map Rei had given him before hand with directions towards the place he would now be frequenting.

Rei: "Although I certain that performing the moves would be fairly simple for you, it's always better if you had someone to teach you. I already contacted a place that should meet the requirements. Just learn the moves and basic techniques from them and I'll figure out the rest"

Is what she said. She was really excited for the near future.

It took a moment because the place was a bit hard to spot, but eventually Akira found the x on his map.

Akira: "She sure is something. Who would have thought that she would choose that out of all things and get me to come here to practice."

Akira was currently standing in front of a fairly normal corner building. On one side there were stairs leading down into what could be said to be the basement of the building. This basement had been converted into a studio for those that wanted to take lessons.

And what lessons were they? Ballroom dance lessons. The studio Akira was standing in front of called Ogasawara Dance Studio.

Rei planned to enter them in the Tokyo Metropolitan Standard Dance Tournament which was delayed to the end of fall for some weird reason, giving them only a few months to practice. This was already an extremely difficult tournament for any rookie to enter. Only those that have much more experience usually apply since passing the preliminaries is difficult, but it is officially open to everyone.

Akira sighed.

Akira: "Why did I ever agree to that promise?"

Spoiler End

---------- Chapter Start ----------

Because Akira stopped practicing early, he and Rei were walking home much earlier than when they normally do. The sun, although quite low, was still above the horizon and the path home was illuminated. Rei didn't have any plans today afterschool, or at least she couldn't remember, so they were walking straight towards her home.

That was not the only thing different however. While they were walking home together like usual, it was really quiet between them. Rei was constantly staring at Akira, but she didn't speak what was on her mind. Of course Akira was able to feel this and he knew what she wanted to ask, but it was hard to give her a simple answer.

Akira: "...Are you going to say something or do you want to stare at me the rest of the way home?"

Rei: "..."

She didn't respond.

Akira: "...I guess it's the latter."

They continued like this for more than halfway of the way home and they would arrive at Rei's home in a few of minutes. Only then did Rei speak up.

Rei: "...Hey..."

Akira: "Hmm?"

Rei: "Could you join the baseball team?"

Akira: "Haaaa~?"

Although he expected her to speak up eventually, he didn't predict that the first thing she wanted to do was recruit him.

Akira: "You do remember that I'm a part of the basketball club and I don't plan swapping for the next few years?"

Rei: "...If it's you, can't you do both? If I remember correctly the baseball junior preliminaries start after the basketball junior nationals."

Akira: "And what about the current team? If I play, that means that someone else would have their spot taken. This will most likely cause some discourse for the other players, making the team harder to manage."

Rei: "I'm sure that they'll come around. You did show them your skills have all."

Akira shook his head.

Akira: "That's not enough. All sports are mentally challenging, there's no way that I can just join in an already developed team. Furthermore, I don't know the rules. I understand the basic concept, but there's much I need to do in order to play as well as I would like to. I'd rather not be able to play knowing everything about the sport than to play knowing only half of it."

Rei was surprised by this. Although every sportsman has some respect for the game, that's usually limited to their sport. Not everyone can treat every sport with the same amount of respect.

Rei: "Does this mean that you will only be in the basketball club for all three years?"

Akira shrugged.

Akira: "Who know? At least I don't plan on doing anything else at the moment."

Silence again ensued between them.

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After Akira dropped Rei off at her house, he went back home at a much faster pace than he was walking at before. Once he arrived, within a few minutes he went straight back out towards the park with a basketball. Dropping his stuff to the side and taking off his weights, he immediately got onto the basketball court and started moving about much like he would do in practice.

Although he told himself that today would be a semi-rest day due to the match tomorrow, because of the breakthrough he had during the baseball catch session, he decided to get onto a court and gauge just how much he leveled up. Since reaction speed was mostly mental, it wasn't reflected on his phone and so he had to estimate his growth manually.

As he moved about, Akira constantly changed his pace from slow to explosive. Although his top speed has not changed, there was a noticeable difference in his acceleration. His body was always able to perform these movements, but without sufficient reaction speed, acceleration wasn't that valuable. With this growth, it was like experiencing a whole new world. He had much more options on the court.

However, this was not without a drawback. After playing a while, he was able to notice that his fatigue was building up much faster than how he normally plays, and he was also able to notice the difference in the amount of mental strain too. With more options available to him and his brain quickly sending signals to the rest of his body, he could imagine himself being mentally exhausted by halftime. There is no way for him to maintain his upgraded self without any injuries and this is without the extra kilograms on him.

Akira sighed at this. He knows that his current physical growth is basically the best it can be and that all that's left to improve it was time. What he needed now was some way to increase his mental capacity.

Akira: "I guess I'll need to do some research on meditation exercises."

He stopped dribbling and began contemplating his options.

???: "Nii-chan! How do you move so fast! That's so cool!"

But before he was fully engrossed in his thoughts, he was interrupted. He looked to his side to find a little boy, a few years old standing next to him.

Akira: "Who are you kid? Why are you here alone?"

The boy didn't seem to hear his question.

Boy: "Hey nii-chan! What's that you were playing just now?"

He said while pointing to the ball Akira was holding.

Akira: "...This? It's called basketball, a game where you have to get the ball through that hoop. Although, it doesn't sound that simple."

Boy: "Can you teach me? It looks really fun!"

Akira fell into his thoughts and hummed.

Boy: "C'mon nii-chan! Please~"

Akira: "...Sure. Why not. I have some time."

Boy: "Yay!"

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From there, Akira started teaching the boy the basics of basketball: dribbling, the standard form for shooting, the rules, the difference between street and regular basketball, etc. Although the boy looked excited the whole time he was playing, he was also getting tired trying to keep up with what he was saying.

Boy: "Nii-chan you really talk a lot. My head hurts."

Akira chuckled.

Akira: "That just means that basketball is a lot more difficult that it normally seems. There's a lot of things you need to learn to get good at it."

Boy: "Hmmm~."

Akira walked towards his bag to get him some water.

Boy: "Hey nii-chan? Are you the best when it comes to basketball?"

Akira: "...Yup. In terms of other boys my age, I'm probably the best player in the world right now."

The boy looked doubtful at first.

Boy: "Really?"

Akira: "Really. I haven't lost a game of basketball."

Boy: "Then if I beat you, would I be the best basketball player?"

Akira was at first a bit surprised by this statement, but he smiled.

Akira: "If you are ever able to beat me one day, then you can definitely become the best in the world."

The boy fell into thought and then made up his mind.

Boy: "Then I'll do just that. I'll beat you and then become the best basketball player in the world!"

Akira: "Sure kid. I'll be waiting for your challenge."

The boy nodded excitedly.

Boy: "Sure, it's a promise!"

The boy's mood was at an all time high, but it quickly went down by what happened next.

???: "Daiki!!! There you are! I was looking all over for you!"

Boy: "Uh-oh."

???: "I keep telling you not to run off by yourself! Do you know how worried I was!?"

The boy now identified as Daiki was now looking towards the ground. The woman, who Akira could guess was the boy's mother, turned towards him and bowed.

Mother: "Thank you for looking after my little boy. I'm sorry if he caused you any trouble."

Akira waved his hand.

Akira: "It wasn't any trouble at all. I had a good time playing with him. It's nice to meet you. My name is Akira Hayaba."

Mother: "What a polite child. My name is Yoko Suzuki and this is my son Daiki Aomine. Once again, thank you for looking after my son. I'm glad to hear that he did not bother you."

[A/N: "Completely made-up name."]

Aomine: "It's not like that Ka-chan! Nii-chan was teaching me how to play basketball!"

Yoko: "You be quiet! We'll have a long talk when we get home!"

Aomine: "Nooooo~!"

She ignored his suffering.

Yoko: "I'm sorry to cut our meeting short, but we have to go home soon. I have to start making dinner."

Akira: "If that's the case, then you should be concerned and just go. It was nice meeting you two. I hope we can meet again under more non-unexpected circumstances."

Yoko: "Me too."

She turned towards Aomine to tell him to say his goodbyes, to which he did reluctantly. He obviously hadn't have enough fun yet. Shortly after they turned away, Akira called out to Aomine.

Akira: "Aomine-kun! Catch!"

He threw his basketball to Aomine.

Akira: "A gift. If you are still playing basketball and still remember our promise when you reach my age, let's play a match again."

Aomine smiled and held the ball above his head.

Aomine: "Yeah! Let's play again!"

Akira saw them off before going to his stuff to pack his things. He accomplished his initial goal and now had a rough estimate with how much he improved and his current capabilities. Although there were no guarantees, he was confident he could still become a starter within these next few weeks.

He went home, made his dinner, did a few chores, went to sleep, and woke up the morning after. School went the same as usual and nothing different happened. All was normal towards the end of school.

Akira was in the club's dressing room, sitting on a bench. Next to him was his basketball jersey and shorts that was given to him a few days ago. He sat there for a moment with his mind empty before one of his teammates came in to tell his that it was almost time.

Pausing another moment, Akira eventually stood up and put on his uniform, his sweats over them, and his wrist and ankle weights (They were low-key enough so that people couldn't tell that they were weights at first glance). He made sure that he was fully prepared before heading towards the door and stepping out.

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