Chapter 109 : VS Yosen High - Tip Off!

Furihata went back to the court silently, took a seat next to Alex as his eyes were locking into the court. There, he could see Tatsuya already back on the court, talking with the giant with pink hair whom he was a bit familiar, having been hanging out with Momoi all the time.

'Does having colorful hair equivalent to being good at basketball?' Furihata murmured lowly.

For all he knows, all the Generation of Miracles, Kagami, and Kuroko, all have their unique colors of hair that didn't look like it was a result of a dye. But that just sounds more ridiculous.

A natural pink hair, green hair, and blue hair somehow accidentally gathered around in the same team? What a ridiculous coincidence. And even though red hair and blonde are not as uncommon as those that he mentioned above, it was still quite a sight to see a Japanese having those hair colors.

Alex chuckled a little. Having been researching all of Seirin's potential opponents, she knows why he said it like that.

"Well, fortunately for you, no matter what you believe, it is really a coincidence for those who have colorful hair to be good at basketball. I have met a lot of players in America with more eccentric colors, yet they were terrible at the game."

Furihata snorted before he decided to change the topic.

"Speaking of which, I bumped into your other students too earlier. An interesting guy, I have to say."

Alex raised her eyebrows slightly." Did you meet Tatsuya? Really?"

"Yeah." Furihata nodded. "And his tongue is quite venomous when talking about you. I know there is a story behind it. Care to share? You don't have to if that is a sensitive topic." Furihata added the last part immediately after seeing Alex slumped a little in her seat.

They spent a few seconds in silence as Furihata gave Alex time to gather her thoughts. After a while, she sighed and finally started speaking.

"Honestly, it was a stupid mistake by me." She bowed her head. "I was just sentenced by the doctor that I couldn't play basketball anymore, and quite frankly, I was depressed at that time. So, when the offer to train two little boys knocked on my door, I grabbed it without any hesitation. And when I saw one of the boys is far more talented than the other, you can guess what route I took."

Furihata nodded, his eyes now landing on Kagami and Tatsuya who both are on the court.

"It doesn't help that it was only Tiger-chan's parents that paid attention to their kid." She continued. "You see, Tatsuya-chan's parents never agreed to his choice to play basketball. From what I heard, they wanted him to focus on his study and followed their step, and inherit their business in the future. Just the typical rich Asian people."

Furihata grimaced, couldn't refuse the last part. Indeed, that stereotype is not far from the truth. He was just glad, even though his mom is not that well-off, she didn't push him into a specific career path and give him enough freedom to choose his own way.

"So, you can see it. At that time, I felt obliged to teach Tiger-chan more, to the point I abandoned Tatsuya-chan." Her eyes now moisten as she keeps talking about the past. "It was not until they had a big fight that I realized what I have done. Tatsuya snapped at me, throwing up all the feelings he was bottling up straight to my face, of how I was a bad teacher and how I abandoned him."

She took a deep sigh, her eyes are on Tatsuya. "Up to this day, even though I tried to mend our relationship, he seems to take a distance from me. Not that I blame him, as I know it was completely my fault. If only I could rewind the time….."

And now, Furihata realized, why Alex seems to worry about his condition yesterday. It was quite familiar with her story, Kagami got favored, while he was treated like trash. She was worried that history would repeat itself and resentment would grow in his heart.

At this time, the only thing he could do right now is just pat her back, comforting her silently, as their eyes are wandering far away, to nothing but only they know where it was….

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Back on the court, the players from both teams are ready to start the game. Kagami is already standing in the middle of the court, ready for the tip-off. And when he saw the giant with pink hair coming, he couldn't help but show his feral grin.

"So, you are Murasakibara, huh?" He started a conversation. "Let's try to enjoy the game."

Hyuga's face palmed as he heard what Kagami said.

'Really? He forgot already about Riko's instruction to not provoke anyone here?'

However, surprisingly (or for anyone who knows Murasakibara, unsurprisingly), Murasakibara just sighed tiredly, ignoring Kagami's greeting and turning around to search for someone else. After a few seconds, his eyes finally landed on the blue-haired boy who was overshadowed by the other players.

"Murasakibara-kun." Kuroko greeted his former teammates shortly.

"Kuro-chin." The center nodded back. "How about you give up now so we can go home early?"

"You know I would never do that, Murasakibara-kun." Kuroko just replied with a flat face, resulting in a sigh from the pink-haired center.

"What an annoying guy." Murasakibara said lazily. "Then, I just have to make your teammates give up as soon as possible, right?"

Seeing those two communicate with each other while ignoring him, now, Kagami is irritated.

"Why, you-!"

"Enough, Kagami-kun!" Hyuga interfered before things could get worse. "Remember what Riko said. Don't provoke anyone unnecessarily."

"Tch." Kagami clicked his tongue in annoyance, yet couldn't refute what his captain said.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the court, Tatsuya who saw the interaction between Kagami and the other couldn't help but sneer inwardly.

'As expected. You cultivated someone to be an arrogant brat, and he will grow up thinking he is the owner of the world.'

However, he didn't speak anything, not even greeting his childhood friend. He just decided to disappear into the background, just to show up later when the game started.

A minute later, the referee finally walked into the court, bringing the ball for the tip-off. He glanced toward both captains, Hyuga and Okamura, and began to speak.

"I expect a clean game for both of you. Respect your opponent, and respect my final decision. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Sensei!"

The referee nodded, satisfied at the answer he received. After everything is ready, the sound of the horn could be heard ringing loudly, a sign that the game has officially started.

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He dislikes Murasakibara.

"t was Kagami's instant judgment when he saw the center for the first time through video. Just by how lazy Murasakibara even to walk, how mess up his basic is, and even how meaningless his movement on the court is, yet still could impact the entire game, the pink-haired center is everything that Kagami hates for.

A talented guy (more than him) with a lazy attitude and always looked down on his opponent.

That's why, before the game began, he vowed to himself, he would fight for every ball against him, not letting Murasakibara have an easy time today.

However, his imagination was shattered right after the tip-off, when…

*FWEEEEE!!!!*

"Yosen High #9, tip-off violation! Possession changes to Seirin High!"

When Kagami landed on the floor, he snapped his head quickly, looking toward Murasakibara with a ridiculous expression.

There are only two ways for players to violate tip-off. One, by touching the ball before it could reach its highest point, and two, by grabbing the ball instead of tipping it to the other players. And now, looking at the ball that is in Murasakibara's hand, he could guess that Yosen's center violated both rules.

'Does that mean even with my explosive jump, I couldn't even reach his highest point?'

But that is not the only thing that disheartens him and his teammates. Right after the referee announced the foul, he could hear the reaction of all the Yosen players.

"Again?"

"Seriously, Murasakibara?"

"Didn't you hear what the coach said before the game?"

No one was surprised about the foul. There is only annoyance there. And by the word 'again', Kagami suddenly realized.

'Damn! It was not his first-time violating tip-off? What the hell?!'

And just by then, right when all the players from both teams are already on the court did Kagami and his teammates noticed, except for Tatsuya and Fukui, Yosen's point guard, all of the players with white striped purple jerseys are taller than the entire Seirin team, including Kagami and Teppei.

Hyuga's mouth twitched in disbelief.

'Goddamn it! Looking at the video and witnessing it with my own eyes are clearly two different things. Three players with a height of more than 200 cm? This is not a high school basketball anymore!'

At that time, all Seirin players have dreadful feelings in their guts, telling them that this would be the hardest game they have ever played.

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"HAHAHAHAHA!"

In the audience seat, one blonde guy with a blue jacket burst out a laughter as he saw the tip-off.

"That is so Murasakibaracchi!"

Yeah, it was Kise, who will also play in the next game against Too. Kasamatsu, his captain who sat next to him widened his eyes in surprise.

"You mean it is not the first time he did that?"

"No." Kise shook his head. "As long as I could remember, he would always do that in middle school. I don't know why, but Akashicchi would always let it slide."

Kasamatsu just shook his head, knowing that it was probably just another favoritism for a strong guy like Murasakibara.

"But…." Kise suddenly furrowed his brow. "Why is Furihatacchi still on the bench? His performance in the past was better than their current point guard. Is it because of his fight with Kagamicchi?"

Kasamatsu shook his head. "That is possible, but I think it was probably not the case." Seeing the curiosity in Kise's eyes, she continued. "He is still a first-year. Not saying anything about seniority, but he is a new member of the team. Except if the team is short of players or the new members are exceptionally good like you or your former teammates, any team usually would only introduce their first-year during the winter tournament, to give the team enough time to adapt with each other."

"Hoo….

Kise nodded repeatedly before his face beamed a little with a hint of mischievousness in his eyes.

"So, Captain, you basically said I am amazing, right?"

Hearing that, a thick vein popped up into Kasamatsu's temple as the Kaijo's captain snarked harshly, "Shut up, Kise!"

However, Kise just laughed out loud, amused by his captain's reaction. No matter how scary Kasamatsu is, he would always have a fun time teasing his tsundere captain!

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Author note :

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You can also read this fanfiction up to chapter 129 on that page. Thank you! :)

-Zeta Faes-