Chapter 34 : Preparation Against Seiho

Two weeks after their first win, Furihata found himself sitting in his classroom, staring at his watch intently while waiting for the school bell to ring to end the day.

It has been two weeks, and they have already played four more times since their first game against Shinkyo. They won the first three games easily against Jitsuzen High 118-51, Kinga High 92-71, Meijo Academy 108-41, and a very close game against Hakuryo High 89-87. Only two more wins to get the ticket for the Tokyo final league.

They became quite a commotion among the other top contenders, with how they beat their opponents with such a huge score. However, their last game against Hakuryo really showed them their glaring weakness.

Their endurance.

Yesterday was their first time playing two games in a day. The first game against Meijo Academy was easy. But when they played against Hakuryo, the accumulated tiredness was displayed in such an obvious manner by how much their shooting percentage dropped.

Their field goal percentage usually touched almost 50% in a game. However, against Hakuryo, it dropped drastically to 34% which kind of make Riko worried. Fortunately, nobody gets unnecessary injuries that game, and that was the only comfort she took besides the win.

Right after the school bell rang, he stood up from his chair and went to the basketball team's room quickly. Yeah, even though most of the time basketball team would use the gym as their place, the school still provide them with a room to gather for any off-the-court business. That was the benefit all of the sports teams gained in Seirin.

And this time, they would use this room for the first time to gather intelligence about their next opponent, Seihou High.

When Furihata arrived at the room, he could see Fukuda, Kawahara, Tsuchida, and Hyuga waiting in front of the door.

"The room's key is in Riko's hand. I forgot to ask about it, so we need to wait for her to arrive first." The captain answered his unasked question.

Furihata nodded before asking another question, "How is your condition today?"

Hyuga pondered for a moment while rotating his shoulder a bit before replying, "Not bad. My muscles still aching a bit, but I didn't suffer any cramps yesterday. I should be alright."

Furihata nodded before he turned around and ask the same question to everyone.

"We are good," Kawahara replied for him and Fukuda. "We only played in the last quarter against Meijo, so we didn't suffer any tiredness from yesterday."

"I also feel the same." Added Tsuchida. "While my playing minutes are still better than Fukuda-kun and Kawahara-kun, my stamina is one of the best in the team. And I didn't really contribute anything in offense, so no big deal for me."

Furihata nodded before asking once again, "How about Izuki-senpai?" Out of everyone on the team, Izuki is the one who suffered the most. Playing for almost 50 minutes in two games, he got a bad cramp in the last quarter against Hakuryo that forced the team to substitute the point guard at a crucial time.

"Don't worry about him," Hyuga replied nonchalantly. "I saw him earlier in the class, throwing a joke with his classmates. There is no sign of injuries that I could see. There must be no problem with him."

Furihata sighed in relief after hearing that. If anyone gets hurt in time like this, it would put Seirin in a disadvantageous position for their next game. After all, they would face Seiho High and Shutoku High, two of the three Tokyo Kings, on the same day and they have to win against them if they want to go to the final league. They need all their players to be healthy for the next confrontation.

After waiting in front of the room, Riko finally arrived with Izuki, Kuroko, and Kagami behind her carrying huge boxes behind her.

"How long have you been waiting?" Riko asked amusedly.

"For about fifteen minutes, I guess." Hyuga shrugged. However, before anyone could say anything, they were interrupted by Izuki's whimpering voice.

"R-Riko-chan.. My muscles hurt a lot here.. Can you o-pun the door please?" All the senpai groaned at the lame pun thrown by Izuki while the point guard grinned foolishly.

"Well, if you still have the strength to throw such a lame pun, it should not be too hurt, right? I guess you can wait for another five minutes more here." Izuki's face paled after hearing that.

"W-Wait, Riko-chan! I am sorry, okay! I cannot help it!"

Riko sighed as she took a key from her pocket and opened the door.

"Finally!" Furihata suddenly shouted. "Just waiting on the door really makes my board (bored)." And then, everyone was frozen for a second before Riko groaned more.

"Really, Furihata-kun? Another lame pun? Do you really want to be like Izuki?" Riko asked in annoyance.

"Hey, what's wrong with me!" Izuki tries to protest. "Don't worry, Furihata-kun. That was a nice pun. We can discuss it further in the future. It would be a pun-apocalypse for the team." He grinned proudly at Furihata. The fellow point guard mirrored his expression, and if Izuki's hand is free, they would have a fist bump for their consecutive puns.

That was something that Furihata and Izuki developed as a way to bond with each other. They were united by their lame puns, and it really irritates their teammates.

"Whatever." Riko gave up, decided to just enter the room. "I am not dealing with you two." Everyone did the same, ignoring both point guards in front of the room.

After everyone is settled, Riko took a tape from the box Kagami carried.

"Okay, since we have no training today, we will spend our time analyzing our next opponent, Seiho High," Riko spoke. "They are a defensive-minded team. If you look at all their final results during this tournament, no team could score more than 35 against them, and it should tell you a lot about their capability. And senior members, you have already tasted their strength, right? I hope you still remember it."

The senior members nodded silently. Meanwhile, Riko started playing with the tape she took from the box.

"This is the game they played two days ago in their match against Kitawada High. I will mark the players I deem dangerous, and I want all of you to observe carefully." After getting the nod from her players, she pointed her finger at Seiho #4.

"This man is the core of the team, their captain, Tsutomu Iwamura. He was the best center in Tokyo last year, only second to Otsubo from Shutoku. However, in terms of interior defense, Iwamura is clearly better than Otsubo. Just look at here."

She played the clip that shows Kitawada's attack against Seiho. Kitawada's point guard managed to force Seiho to switch their defense with a pick-and-roll attack. However, even though he was guarding a guard, Iwamura was still able to chase him into the paint area. When the point guard finally managed to get himself into the paint area with a quick change of pace, when he released the ball for a layup, it was swatted hard by Iwamura from behind.

"Woah, that was scary." Fukuda gulped nervously. Furihata nodded, admitted that the clip was indeed impressive.

"His reaction is as fast as Red, isn't it?" His question was able to gain Kagami's attention. However, before the red-hair could say anything, Riko nodded her head.

"Yeah. But unlike Kagami, he has more experience and knows how to use his body. Look at this."

Now, the clip changed into a new play when Iwamura had to defend in a low-post situation.

"Observe carefully. His opponent couldn't even push him for a second. His balance is unshakable, and when his opponent gave up on getting near to the basket and went for a fadeaway jump shoot, Iwamura jumped right before his opponent did. He could predict what his opponent wants to do and act according to it. His basketball IQ is no joke."

Everyone was immersed in Iwamura's play. However, Riko changed the clip once again into a new player.

"And besides Iwamura, they also have a new player that could be proven troublesome. His name is Tomoki Tsugawa."

And then, the clip turned into a bald player wearing jersey number 4.

"He is a master of the one-on-one situation. You would find it impossible to trick him. He is tough as nuts. And he would pressure you right after you get the ball. Other than that, I really don't know about him."

"Anoo.." Kuroko who is silent since the beginning raised his hand. "Actually, we played against his team in our last year." Now, he has the attention of his teammates.

"Really? What happened?" Riko leaned forward, interested in the confrontation between the Generation of Miracles against tough defenders like Tomoki Tsugawa.

"Well, his team was no match to ours, so it was not a hard game. But I still remember he was assigned to be Kise's guard, and it was a nightmare for Kise-kun. At the end of the game, Kise-kun could only score 11 points, getting 6 turnovers and he was getting blocked three times by him alone."

Now, all of Seirin players were stunned after hearing the achievement.

"Really? Locking down Kise for the entire game? He is that tough?"

"Yeah, and now that he joined a defensive-minded team like Seiho, it would be a disaster for us."

They all whispered to each other for a while, a gloomy atmosphere hanging in the room.

"Okay, that's enough, all of you!" Riko clapped her hands, preventing everyone from getting too depressed.

"We will have to face them sooner or later, alright? No need to cry over the spilled milk. Let's just think how we should win the game."

Everyone nodded at her. However, seeing that the gloomy atmosphere is still here, Riko couldn't help but sigh.

"Anyway, Kuroko-kun, is there anything you want to speak about him?"

After thinking for a second,

"He was quite chatty, even during the game." He spoke. "I don't know what he was talking about, but it provoked Kise-kun a few times to do something stupid. And he was also a player who get excited when he played against tough players. But that was all I know."

All of Seirin players stares at Kuroko in disbelief, as they shifted their eyes from Kuroko and Furihata for a few seconds.

"A tough defender and a trash talker? Remind us of someone, right, Kagami-kun?" Riko smirked a little. Kagami scowled in irritation before he muttered,

"Of course, we will meet another bastard. I bet they would be a best friend after the game."

However, it was not low enough that everyone could hear what he said. Furihata just raised his eyebrows slightly before saying,

"Is that a challenge, Red?"

"Not really." Kagami shrugged. "However, does any of you find their movement kinda strange?" He shifted back the topic to Seiho's video. Furihata who noticed the same nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, I noticed that too. They are too light-weighted, and all their running form is way too strange and similar as if they were trained to do that. Any reason for that? Some sort of military training?"

Riko nodded at them.

"I have no doubt you would notice that. They also had the same form last year, and the reason behind it was because they are trained in martial arts."

"Really?"

Furihata was dubious at this, but when he saw the seriousness behind Riko's voice, he knows it is true.

"It is unbelievable, right? However, it is indeed true. They trained in a lot of multiple martial arts techniques that make them able to not lose their balance easily and to still use their strength even when outbalanced. And their running form is called Namba Run. I tried to search on Google to find out what the hell is that, but I couldn't understand a single bit of the explanation. The only thing I could read without getting a headache was the benefit of this running form, which is to reduce the amount of stamina needed during the run."

Now, all the rookies in the room were looking at her with disbelief faces. And it was broken by Koganei, who suddenly snickered out of nowhere.

"Yeah, that was our first reaction too when Riko told us about it." He murmured. "I mean, who the hell has the idea to train martial arts to get better at basketball? Who are they, Zlatan?"

However, not a lot knows about what Koganei refers to.

"Who is Zlatan?" Fukuda asked, voicing the confusion that the other feels. Furihata just rolled his eyes in exasperation before he provided a quick explanation.

"His full name is Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and he is a footballer from Sweden, and he is quite a legend in the meme world. Don't worry about it."

"Oh, a fellow meme lover!" Koganei exclaimed with a happy face. "Finally someone who will not look at me like I am an alien!"

The senior members rolled their eyes in exasperation. Koganei is really the joker of the team.

"You are exaggerating, Koganei-kun." Riko spoke. "Anyway, Furihata-kun, do you have any idea of how to deal with Seiho?"

Now, everyone turned their attention to the first-year point guard. After pondering for a minute, he began to speak,

"Well, it is like this…"

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Author note :

The next chapter would be the game against Seiho, and after that, it would be against Shutoku. It would be full of action until at least chapter 55. I hope you all will enjoy it.

If you want to support me more, you can visit my Patreon page on patreon(.)com/ZetaFaes

You can also read this fanfiction up to chapter 54 on that page. Thank you! :)