Chapter 7: Day Of The Practice Match.

Yusuke and Kazuma would be walking down the hall with their bags. Kazuma squinted his eyes.

"It's quiet… Like… Unusually quiet…" Kazuma said. Yusuke nodded, looking around suspiciously. Kazuma walked over to a classroom, sliding the door open, and seeing the kids doing work. The teacher looked at them raising a brow.

"Can I help you two...?" The teacher asked. Kazuma closed the door slowly, smiling awkwardly. 

"Sorry..." Kazuma said. The two walked down the hall, 

"I guess it's just... Quiet..." Yusuke said. Kazuma nodded, walking down the stairs. They walked outside, toward the club rooms. The two walked into the club room. Hidē looked back, smiling. 

"What took ya guys so long? We need to get going..." Hidē said. Yusuke smiled, scratching the side of his head, 

"Sorry about that! Next practice match, we'll be on time!" Yusuke said, cheerfully. Kazuma nodded, grinning in agreement. 

"Come on, let's get to the bus..." Hidē said. The two nodded, walking out of the club room with him. They walked toward the front of the school seeing a bus. Yusuke noticed Ryuzaki and Coach Takeuchi talking behind the bus. Yusuke smiled as the couch put his hand on Ryuzaki's shoulder, smiling. Yusuke, Kazuma, and Hidē walked onto the bus taking seats. Coach Takeuchi stood at the front of the bus. 

"I hope everyone had a good morning and you're welcome for getting you guys out of your first periods..." Coach said. The team looked up at him nodding,

"Thanks, Coach!" Kazuma said. Kazuma and Yusuke sat next to each other on the bus. 

"On the way there, I want you guys to sit here quietly... I get that this isn't a normal game, but I still want you in the same attitude..." Coach Takeuchi explained. The team nodded. Yusuke put his headphones on and turned on his music. Yusuke closed his eyes, leaning his head on the window. 

"Yusuke... Yusuke... Yusuke!" Hanako shouted. Yusuke opened his eyes, looking around in confusion. 

"W-What...?" Yusuke asked. 

"We're here..." Hanako said. Yusuke looked surprised, looking outside. 

"Really!?" Yusuke said, running out of the bus toward his teammates. He looked around seeing Sendai Daiichi Private Academy. The school had a unique architecture and student's walked around actively. He looked at the school in astonishment. 

"Hey, Ryuzaki, weren't you originally going to go here...?" Kazuma asked, nudging his shoulder. Ryuzaki scoffed turning away,

"Come on guys, let's look for their gymnasium..." Hidē said. The team nodded, walking together. Suddenly, they ran into three tall boys wearing yellow and black tracksuits. 

"Who're you guys...?" One of the boys asked. Hidē smiled, 

"We're the Kakeru Highschool basketball team. Could you tell us where the gymnasium is? We're here for a practice match with their basketball team." Hidē said. One of the boys looked surprised, 

"Ohh, you guys are Kakeru! We're on Sendai Daiichi's basketball team. Follow us, we were just headed there..." The middle boy said. The group then started to walk together toward a large building. They entered the building, walking through a hallway. 

"Sorry bout this, our basketball gym is inside of our athletic center..." The middle boy said. Hidē smiled, shaking his head. 

"Ah, it's no big deal..." Hidē said. The boy smiled,

"I'm Hidēyoshi Sasaki, captain of the Kakeru basketball team," Hidē said. The boy nodded, smiling.

"I'm Eiji Nagata, and these are Masayuki and Sho..." Eiji said. Hidē nodded. Masayuki and Sho smiled, waving slightly. 

"So are you the captain, Nagata?" Hidē asked. Eiji shook his head, 

"Nah, I'm the vice-captain... The main captain is Teruo Ikehara..." Eiji said. Ryuzaki scoffed, 

The group then reached the basketball gymnasium. Seeing players shooting baskets and stretching. bleachers and a track on a deck around the court. 

"Follow me to the locker rooms," Eiji said. Hidē nodded and the team followed him to the locker room. 

"And this is the locker room..." Eiji said. Hidē nodded and Eiji walked out of the locker room, leaving the team to prepare. The coach sighed, pulling out a clipboard from his backpack. He cleared his throat, looking at the team while they changed out of their school uniforms. 

"So for the starting lineup, I'll have these following players on the court..." Coach Takeuchi said. Ryuzaki put a black undershirt on, under his jersey. When the rest of the team put their jerseys on, they all stood across from the coach, waiting to hear the lineup. 

"We'll have our two captains starting Sasaki and Matsuda playing Center and Power Forward..." Takeuchi said. He looked back at the list and then back at the team. 

"Then Kurosawa playing safeguard... Fujimoto playing shooting guard..." Takeuchi said. Yusuke crossed his fingers, looking down at the ground anxiously. Nakama then put his hand on Yusuke's shoulder. 

"Don't worry, doesn't mean you won't get to play the practice match at all..." Nakama said. Yusuke looked at Nakama slightly surprised before nodding and calming down. 

"And then we'll put Nakama on point guard..." Coach Takeuchi said. 

"On three!" Hidē said. The team huddled into a circle putting their arms forward. 

"One, Two, Three!" 

"KAKERU!" The team shouted in unison removing their arms from the circle. The team walked out of the locker room but Yusuke walked over to the coach. 

"Coach!..." Yusuke said. The coach turned, raising a brow. 

"What is it?" Takeuchi asked. Yusuke scratched the back of his head, hesitantly making eye contact. 

"Why am I not starting...?" Yusuke asked. Coach sighed, 

"We usually don't let most of our first years start..." Takeuchi said. Yusuke looked confused,

"But- Kurosawa's starting...?" Yusuke said. Takeuchi shook his head, 

"Just go stand on the court and thank Sendai Daiichi for allowing us to practice with them... After that wait on the bench till you get subbed in for Nakama at some point..." Coach Takeuchi said. Yusuke nodded, running onto the court and standing in a line with his teammates on their side. 

"Team! Let's thank Sendai Daiichi Private for allowing us to have a practice match this soon before the Miyagi qualifiers!!" Hidē shouted. 

"Thank you very much!" The Kakeru team said in unison, bowing. The two teams walked toward each other, high-fiving. Except one, a tall boy with straight black hair. Yusuke and the other nonstarters walked back toward the bench. 

"Who's that guy?" Yusuke asked. Keiji looked at Yusuke raising a brow,

"Remember what Kurosawa said a couple of days ago?" Keiji asked. Yusuke shook his head, 

"No, I don't..." Yusuke said. The two sat down on the bench. watching their teammates get into their positions. A referee for Sendai Daiichi Private Academy walked onto the court with a ball and another near the sideline. 

"They have their own ref's???" Yusuke whispered. Keiji nodded,

"Private school so they have the money for it..." Keiji said. Yusuke nodded,

"Got it..." Yusuke said. The ref in the middle talked to the captains of both teams. The ref the blew his whistle preparing for the tip-off. The players stood ready in their positions. The ref then whistled again, throwing the ball up.

Let the practice match begin!