Let's Talk

Oh right, MC picture. Here.

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Before going to sleep Jun opened the character cards of what was available. Unsurprisingly the twins had identical cards with the only thing changing being their name. 

The only noteworthy skill to be spoken of is. 

[ Foul Drawing and Flopping Style (B): Talent in exploiting the rules by expertly manipulating contact to draw fouls from opponents. Whether it's a subtle lean or a dramatic reaction, they can make minimal contact appear more impactful. ]

Jun isn't a fan of such things, but they do come in handy. Just in case he stocked 1 of them while he Acquired the other. It was a lackluster skill set if you count how renowned the twins were in the country scene. 'The Genius Twins, yet they don't have anything so amazing to them, only dirty play specialists.' 

Jun sighed as he went to sleep, he was disappointed by the lackluster skill. 

The following school day was hectic. Jun had begun to receive a lot of stares since the beginning of the year, majorly female-oriented. But after the match, Jun felt like someone was looking at him everywhere and commenting. It was something he wasn't used to after all, he hadn't even gotten used to the female stares and now adding everything up was rather uncomfortable. 

'Being pretty is a sin.' Jun thought to himself as he looked at his reflection in the mirror. He proceeded to chuckle as that was a line he said quite a bit in his prime time. 

Eating lunch with Tooru in the classroom and playing video games with her, did ease his uneasiness throughout the day because of all the stares. 

Jun like always was the first to arrive at the gym, not thinking about anything he did his stretches and did some light ball handling exercises by himself. 

Soon everyone poured in and unsurprisingly they were all smiles, and friendly with Jun. Something Jun had already thought would happen, breaking the 'curse' of losing in the first game, the youths felt full of confidence and the main character of the game had been Jun. 

Not to mention that Jun showed another side when he played. Although people just misunderstood him a bit, or so he felt. In a game, the mental state of the players is very important. Although there are exceptions, outright telling someone their mistakes in the middle of a match, will either cause a fight or the other person will lose motivation and be defensive. Jun had learned through experience what people who didn't want to try would be like and to avoid such a thing he understood his assignment. 

Throughout the training, Jun saw Yukio extra sluggish and making more mistakes than normal. 

''Okay everyone training is over. Tomorrow there is more.'' The elderly coach voiced as he shakily went out. 

''Hey Jun-san, do you want to go to the arcade with us?'' Jun looked at 2 teammates who approached him. 

'?' Jun was confused by the invite but he answered them. ''No, thank you.'' 

''Oh I see...Then see you tomorrow then...'' The youths quickly went on with their life. Meanwhile, Jun stared at their leaving backs while with his eyes narrowed. 

''Is it okay to not go with them?'' Yoshi approached Jun after seeing him stare so much at the leaving members. Perhaps assuming that Jun wanted to go. 

Jun shook his head. ''It doesn't matter, by the way, has Yukio-senpai left already?'' 

''No, he still should be in the locker room, last time I saw him he was completly out of it. Why?'' 

''I just wanted to have a few words with him,'' Jun spoke as he went to the locker room, as he was ready to open the door, the door opened and the person in question could be seen staring at Jun. 

''See you tomorrow...'' Yukio gave a light bow as he got ready to go home. But he felt a hand on his shoulder. 

''One second. Can you follow me for a second?''Jun asked, in response, Yukio nodded and followed behind Jun. 

''I can see that you haven't been doing that well ever since you played against me.'' Jun spoke, but he didn't face Yukio, walking slowly ahead of him through places where he saw no one walking. 

Yukio awkwardly answered. ''Well yeah...'' 

''Why is that? From what I saw you were a decent player.'' 

Yukio's eyes twitched as he heard decent. ''I just feel like I am not fit.'' 

''For?'' 

''To play basketball, I started playing and I was training it was fun, but when I played against you and once I saw the gap between us and the seriousness you place in the sport, I began to doubt, coupled with yesterday I can say that I am not fit to play basketball or even be captain.'' Yukio looked downward. 

''Oh, I see.'' Jun turned around as he stared at Yukio who didn't look him in the eyes. Sighing he followed up. ''You see. I can see you are inexperienced, so I assume you've been playing basketball for a year maybe two?''

''Yeah, two years now.'' 

''I have played basketball for 9 years now. Besides your gifted height and physique, look at you, you're made to play basketball.'' Jun smiled at Yukio. ''You're trying to compare yourself with me when our strengths lay in completely different places, besides you still haven't matured and you can only mature while playing more and more.'' 

'Isn't he younger than me?' Yukio was puzzled as he thought about the advice given. 

''You like to play basketball?'' Jun asked seriously. 

''Yeah, it is fun to play.'' 

''Then there you go. That is all you need, you have potential and with discipline, you'll become a player people will be afraid of. Don't focus only on your shortcomings.'' Jun said. ''Having someone like you under the rim to rebound is reassuring so cheer up.'' With those words, Jun left a pondering Yukio behind. 

Jun still had to complete his 3-point basket quota after all. 

'Seriously... I really ain't fit to be captain.' Yukio thought to himself as he stared at the leaving white-haired youth. But not long before this thought he felt a hand on his back. 

''Is everything good?'' he heard the voice ask.

Things progressed as usual, through the week nothing outside of usual happened. He did greet Kiyoko and spoke briefly with her, although she seemed cold and aloof, she was a gem as a person. 

She seemed troubled about something, but after asking once and not receiving a definitive answer from her, he decided to give her space and time for herself.