3. Tryouts (1)

"Hi, is this where we can sign up for the basketball club?" Kaito asked a second-year student. The student nodded and handed the forms to Kaito and Kiyoshi who quickly noted down their names and reasons for joining the club.

"There'll be a small trial this afternoon. I hope you have your P.E. change. Newcomers will be divided into groups and made to play against each other. The coach and advisor will assess your abilities and decide which string to place you in. Don't be late," The second-year said curtly.

The two boys nodded and left to find their friend.

"I wonder how I'll do. I haven't really played basketball before but I've seen some matches on tv." Kiyoshi wondered aloud. Kaito just patted his back. "At worst you'll be placed into third string which isn't that bad. There's always time to work your way up to first-string."

"You talk as if you'll be placed in first-string. You must be really good at basketball," Kiyoshi glanced at the boy.

Kaito smirked, "I wonder...."

Suddenly, a loud shout caught the two boys' attention and they turned around to see a familiar face running towards them with a face of panic.

"Watanabe? What are doing? What happened?" Kaito asked. Watanabe just skidded behind his tall friends and tried to gather his breath while stuttering out a response. "Ac-cidentally...m-messed with senior.."

"Eh?"

After he said that, another boy appeared from around the corner with a dirty uniform and a face of anger. The boy sported a buzz cut and looked like your average delinquent. Kaito understood right away what must of happened and shook his head at his friend.

"Damn that little...! When I catch you, I'll --!" the buzz cut kid came to halt upon seeing Kaito and Kiyoshi. Due to their tall statures that were way taller than an average 12-year-old, many felt slightly intimidated by them and this kid was no exception. He realised his target was friends with these two and stomped away muttering a few curses.

Watanabe, seeing his chaser walking away, let out a whistle and stared at his two friends.

"Wow. I should really stick with you two more often. No one will want to mess with me then."

"We're not your shields you know." Kiyoshi said amusedly. Watanabe shrugged as if he didn't care and dragged the two along to the cafeteria.

"So did you manage to sign up for the basketball club?"

"Yep. We're having a mini-match this afternoon so they can see our abilities." Kaito said. "What about you? Were you able to hand in your baseball club application?"

"Uh huh. Our manager is so pretty. No wonder so many guys signed up for it," Watanabe sighed.

"Idiots. It's disrespectful to sign-up for things half-heartedly, especially to those who genuinely love the sport." Kaito scowled. Kiyoshi agreed with him, "That's true. I was always taught to do things whole-heartedly. That's why I wasn't too sure about basketball but I guess there's no harm in trying it out."

"I'm sure you'll love it." Kaito grinned knowing full well Kiyoshi would dedicate a lot to the sport. And this time, maybe he can prevent Kiyoshi's traumatising defeat to the generation of miracles.

The three continued talking till they reached the cafeteria and went to get their food.

......

"Gather around, gather around," Coach Fuwa shouted. The students quickly stopped playing around and lined up. Kaito and Kiyoshi stood amongst the other first-years garnered attention for their tall heights.

"Welcome back students to another year of basketball and welcome first-years and newcomers. I am the official head coach of Shōei basketball team. There's not much for me to say except I'll be expecting a hundred percent effort from everyone no matter which string you're in. Now then, newcomers, please go to court four. You'll have your matches there and by the end of this week, we'll let you know which string you'll be placed in."

""Hai""

A third-year girl who was one of the managers of the club, gathered the freshmen and took them to court four where they waited for Coach Fuwa to arrive.

"Before coach arrives, is there anyone here who is playing basketball for the first time or has no knowledge of the sport?" the manager asked. Several students raised their hands including Kiyoshi.

"Alright, you guys will be in a separate lot. Please move to that side of the court."

Kiyoshi shrugged and waved at Kaito before jogging to the other side of the court. Shortly after, the coach and another man arrived both holding clipboards.

"Alrighty freshmen. I'm sure you've heard from your seniors already but we'll be having small matches to assess your abilities. Now, there is no need to feel down if you get placed into third-string as it's pretty common for newcomers. There will always be a chance to move up a string however, that will only depend on your performance and effort."

The students nodded understanding the coach's words. After that, they were divided into teams of five and used rock, paper, scissors to decide who's going first.

Kaito and his teammates were set to play in the third match. He couldn't go into the match without knowing his teammates so he took the initiative to introduce himself first.

"Hello. My name's Takahashi Kaito, I like playing center or point guard. Glad to be working with you."

The kid standing opposite him introduced himself. "Shinsuke Taichi. I play small forward mostly."

[A/N: I meant for this character to be the same one who invited Kiyoshi to play basketball in the original plot. However, he won't have a main role here.]

"Sakamoto Daichi, shooting guard."

"Sato Eiichi, point guard."

"Morita Hisao, power forward."

"So you guys must all have experience in basketball right?" Kaito asked.

"I guess." Sato shrugged. The others nodded as well and Kaito smiled.

"Great. We all play different positions so it'll be easier to figure things out. Since Sato-san can play point guard, I'll take center. Before we begin, does anyone wanna be captain?"

The group looked at each other for a minute, waiting for someone to speak up but no one did so Kaito sighed. "Alright then, I guess I'll be captain. I hope you guys won't complain if I instruct you to do something."

"I don't mind. I suck at strategies and leading people so I'll go along with what you say." Shinsuke shrugged. "I don't know about the rest of these guys though."

"I don't mind either." Morita said. The other two agreed and Kaito nodded. "Very well then. From the lots, it seems we'll be playing against that group there," he nodded in the direction of the group.

"From what I can see, they don't have any tall guys and I'm pretty confident in my blocking so you won't need to worry about guarding the inside. Leave it to me. I want you guys to focus on attacking. Sakamoto-san, from 1 to 10, how good do you think your shooting accuracy is?"

"From the inside, I'd say a solid 7 but from the outside...maybe a 4,"

Kaito rubbed his chin. "Alright. We can work with that. Any chance you get to shoot on the inside, take the shot. Sato-san, I'll need you to pass the ball around according to my instructions and make sure you look at me every now and then in case I want to change the routine."

Sato nodded.

"Shinsuke and Morita, most of the attacks will be centered around you two. Are you guys good at ball handling?"

"Kind of..."

"Sure,"

It seemed they weren't really sure themselves and Kaito resisted the urge to rub the bridge of his nose. He forgot that these were normal kids and not monsters like those generation of miracles and himself. Just looking at them, nothing really stood out and he guessed they'd be average at best for a regular 12-year-old basketball player. But if they listened to his strategy, they should be able to win this game.

Kaito started explaining what to do and before long, they heard the coach calling them.

"Alright. As long as you guys remember your roles and stick to the plan, we should be able to do this." Kaito told them. They nodded in understanding and took position on court.

___________________________

A/N: Fair warning readers. If you've read my other novel, you should know that I have no knowledge on actual basketball so I had to do a bit of research. My descriptions of actual matches probably won't make sense or it'd be super stiff. You can just skim through it if you can't read the whole thing.