7 Chapter 7__: Top 16 games, the situation in Group C! (3)

AN__: This will be the end of the groupings. Although I wanted to make it longer, I couldn't find any way to do that. Thank you for reading, though.

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"Give me the ball!" Demanded Shinji as he ran to the top of the key, his defender closely following behind him.

*Sound of someone catching the ball!*

Catching the ball and waiting for his opponent to stand before him, Shinji finally started dribbling as his opposition continued talking. "You trash, bruv! The second half started, and you only got 6 points. I got you in my pockets." Finished the man, violently patting the area his pockets should be.

Hearing the man's words, Shinji couldn't help but smile as he remembered how the first half unfolded. He's the only person who hasn't scored more than 10 points among the starting members. However, he has already delivered 9 assists. Every time he caught the ball, Satsue Junior High's players would double-team him, not knowing how deadly his passing ability was.

With 9 assists, they don't dare double-team anymore. Otherwise, they might let him give more than 20 assists in a game, the record in a junior high game. The record was set by Seijuro Akashi from Teiko Junior High. 

Still, No player or team would want the world to witness a record being broken against them. So, they adopted man-to-man defense at the beginning of the second half instead of the zone defense they usually play.

Even Hideki, arguably one of the best point guards in the junior high circle and one of the only two PGs Akashi Seijuro pays attention to, felt threatened by the man's passing. 'Is he trying to take my place?' He thought before throwing it away after remembering Shinji's explosive scoring ability.

In his cognition, people who can score the rock like that would never play the PG position. 'Why would I get assists when I can score 30 points every game?' He asked himself, feeling dumb. Unfortunately, he didn't know Shinji was a PG in his previous life.

However, Shinji decided to play as a swingman during his Junior High and High School career. He's tall enough in the junior high scene and will be taller in the high school scene to have an advantage over the others.

Plus the two of them will not be on the same team after this tournament. So, it wouldn't change their relationship too much. They might become better friends as Shinji could help the young man improve due to his expansive experience.

The game continued as Shinji held the ball at the top of the key.

With 3 minutes remaining in the third quarter, Yuuki was 19 points ahead of their competition. The win was guaranteed, so Shinji wanted to shut his opponent up before getting replaced. He's not the type of person to be bullied. If Kimura hadn't asked him to pass the ball and not force shots when being double-teamed, he would've been the game's highest scorer.

As a former professional, he has always despised players who used trash-talk to hide their clumsiness on the court. 'If you're not a good player, why are you talking to me like that.' Always thought of Shinji when facing these types of opponents.

Although such tactics wouldn't work against him, most players use them to hide their inability to compete fairly. Of course, ridiculing and taunting your opponent after scoring on them is a must for every basketball player, and he does it sometimes. However, talking all game without being able to back it up is one of the greatest sins in basketball history.

Shinji will give you his dearest respect If you can back you're trash-talking up. One of his favorite players, Kevin Garnett, is such a player. Although he talks a lot, he's skillful enough to burst anybody on the court. You're a bum in Shinji's eyes if you can't do that, and the player before him has been put in the bum category by Shinji.

Dribbling the ball while looking at his bench, Shinji noticed Kimura nod, prompting a broad smile to appear on his face.

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Shinji waited until there were 10 seconds of possession time remaining before attacking. Continuously dribbling the ball from his left to his right hand and vice versa, he suddenly accelerated his dribbling rhythm before forcefully trying to drive past his opponent on the right. The latter hurriedly stepped back, tightly following Shinji. Unfortunately, Shinji suddenly stopped by dribbling the ball behind his back while slightly pushing the teenager forward.

*Sound of someone falling to the ground!* followed by *loud cheering sounds!*

Looking at the man who embarrassedly fell to the ground, Shinji shook his head before shooting the ball devoid of any defender trying to interfere with him.

*Sound of the ball going through the hoop!* followed by *even louder cheering sounds!*

"You can't see me!" Exclaimed Shinji, Shaking his right hand in front of his face while looking at his opposition, the famous John Cena celebration.

*Louder cheering sounds!*

Seeing such an iconic celebration after an ankle breaker, the spectators became more excited. Although they knew Yuuki Junior High would win the game, they couldn't help but fill the venue to see Shinji's performance.

After his outstanding performance against Sayo Junior High, he gained a lot of fans, making the usually bland Yuuki Junior High's games highly anticipated. His fantastic personal performances throughout the games earned the team a lot of fans, showing his value as the team's recognized scorer and star player.

His newly opened Instagram and Twitter accounts gained more than 5,000 followers each, making him the biggest winner in terms of popularity.

Looking at the sideline, Shinji pointed at his hired professional cameraman, signaling him to pay close attention. He was going to take over the game.

Going back to defense, Shinji closely followed his opponent, not giving him the space to ask for the ball. With 30 seconds of possession time, Satsue's player tried to find open-shot opportunities. However, Yuuki's defense could be considered the best in the middle school circle after Teiko and Shoei. So, Satsue Junior High's SG was forced to shoot as the clock was about to reach 0.

*Clang*

Seeing the ball bounce off the rim, Mitobe stood in front of the opposing team's C, boxing him out and allowing Shinji to swoop in before quickly jumping and grabbing the ball, getting his 9th rebound of the game.

Descending with the ball in his hands, Shinji lifted it to avoid getting it stolen from him before passing it to Hideki, wanting the latter to dribble the ball up the court. After reaching the frontcourt, Hideki held a finger up before doing a Zero signal, calling a play, and making all his teammates move.

Noticing Hideki's intention, Shinji, who was originally in the corner, suddenly accelerated alongside the baseline, using the screen from Mitobe to reach the paint. Arriving at the 3-second zone, he set a pick for his SG to let him go to the other corner before quickly running to the wing and asking for the ball.

*Sound of someone catching the ball!*

After Shinji caught the ball on the wing, he looked at the court and noticed that all the other players were on the other side, isolating the two on the left side. Smiling, he adopted his triple-threat position before looking at his opponent in the eyes and seeing the fear in them.

'Weak a*s! I don't even want to play with him anymore.' Thought Shinji, his enthusiasm slightly lowering. He's the type of person that likes challenges. The better his opponent is, the more enthusiastic he becomes about the game. He might not win the game, but he'll do his best and make you work harder to win.

Because of that quirk, he hates playing against people who give up quickly. That's one of the things he despises the most. In his opinion, a person who gives up against a stronger opponent will never improve. However, if that person is also a trash-talker, that's the epitome of a trash player. At least, in Shinji's opinion.

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'How does this work?' Internally asked the teenager as he looked at Shinji. This was his first time defending someone faster than him, who could shoot the ball and dribble like a guard, the most challenging game in his short basketball career.

As he considered how to defend against Shinji, the latter did a quick but realistic jab step, making his center of gravity shift toward the left before driving past him on the right. Using his speed, Shinji blew past the opposite SF after shrugging off the arm that tried to hold him.

Reaching the paint, he saw Satsue's Center coming to help his teammate defend and stop Shinji from scoring an easy basket. The latter just shrugged before jumping, avoiding the C's large hands in the air and laying the ball into the basket, scoring four points in a row.

"Let's f*cking go!" Yelled Shinji as he faced the fans, swinging his hands up and down, making the cheers even louder than they were before.

Bumping into the opposite C provocatively, Shinji quickly ran back to his side of the court, a smirk on his face.

A couple of seconds later, the opposite team's SF held the ball on the wing and asked for a screen from his C. The latter effectively blocked Shinji, using his large build and swished defense.

Satsue's SF knew he couldn't isolate Mitobe as the latter was one of the most athletic C's in the country. So, he passed the ball to his team's C, who had already backed Shinji down to the post. "You don't want these problems!" He spoke, bumping into Shinji, forcing him to step back.

Feeling the force hitting him on the chest, Shinji slightly regretted provoking the teenager. However, his helpless expression soo changed as he lowered his stance and withstood the big man's next hit.

Seeing the shorter man not move after he bumped into him, Satsue's C got mad and prepared to use all his strength for the following. Dribbling the ball powerfully, the teenager pushed back, hitting only air. Staggering, he saw Shinji snatch the ball from his hand before quickly running toward the front court.

After backing up to let the opponent fall and snatching the ball, Shinji quickly dribbled the ball toward the opponent's basket, Satsue's SF tightly following behind him.

Arriving from the right side of the basket, Shinji took two steps and jumped, tightening his abdominal muscles to stay longer in the air as his direct opponent also jumped, trying to block him. Shinji bumped into the teenager in the air, drawing the foul and throwing the ball into the basket, scoring another two points.

*Loud cheering sound!*

The crowd got excited and cheered harder after witnessing Shinji's series of actions. From his perfect defense on Satsue's big to his 'and 1', the spectators hardly saw such things in the middle school basketball circle. They were happy and proud to witness the birth of another Japanese genius as they chanted Shinji's name as he stood on the free throw line, ready to shoot the ball.

"Koganei!"

"Koganei!"

"Koganei!"

They yelled his name like an NBA crowd would chant 'MVP' to their best player.

Every person on the court, from Satsue Junior High's players to Yuuki Junior High's players to the referee, had goosebumps while hearing the crowd chanting Shinji Koganei's name. Only Shinji, the person concerned, looked calm as he caught the ball thrown to him by the shaky referee.

As a former professional, although he wasn't the object of worship, he still witnessed tens of thousands of people yelling a person's name. So, this scene didn't make him nervous. On the contrary, it affirmed that his hard work was paying off, firming his attitude to continue training and reach the top.

Dribbling the ball two times, Shinji took a deep breath to calm himself down before shooting the ball, scoring seven points in a row.

The game continued as Shinji and his teammates managed to make another stop, getting back possession of the ball. Mitobe passed the ball to Hideki after he grabbed a rebound from a missed three-pointer by Satsue's SG.

Running up the field, Shinji looked at his sad opponents and couldn't help shaking his head. 'This why most talents don't make it out. They're not challenged enough.' Thought Shinji as he remembered the number of talents he saw being buried because of a lack of competition.

Catching the ball after running from one corner to the other, Shinji successfully gained space thanks to Mitobe's solid screen in the paint.

*Swish!*

Shinji scored another three-pointer and got ten points in this quarter alone.

The game continued as Shinji scored 14 points on his opponent's head and gave one more assist, leading his team to a clean 16-03 before the end of the third quarter.

'It looks like I found a signature celebration!' Thought Shinji, a smile on his face as he walked past the trash-talker and shook his hand in front of his face. "You'll never be able to see me, b*tch!" He commented, quickly walking to his teammates before getting reprimanded by Kimura for taunting.

While he walked to the bench, he noticed the stadium applauding him: every spectator, even Satsue Junior High's supporters, approved of his performance.

Smiling, Shinji also applauded and thanked the crowd for coming by performing a gentleman's bow in every direction. After doing that, he looked at his cameraman and gave him a thumbs-up.

'Knowing people in the entertainment industry is kinda useful.' Thought Shinji, happy that he got such a professional cameraman. Although he pays the man 500,000 Yen every month, Shinji feels it's worth it. His parents own a studio, earning a lot of money through music videos, short movies, and ads.

However, instead of getting paid with a fee, they chose to get paid through shares of the videos they had filmed. That became the best decision they've ever made, as they're still making money off some ads and music videos they made in the past.

That's also why they have a lot of connections in the entertainment industry and approved of Shinji's decision to start a YouTube channel.

The cameraman is part of the family's studio. Their studio will be the one editing the videos for Shinji.

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