#33 Aftermath

When the match ended, both teams went to the locker rooms and to the showers.

AT that time, most of the students began leaving, including Horikita and Chabashira-sensei who was watching the entire match from quite a distance.

However before Chabashi left the Gymnasium, she gave a last glance at Yuichi with a faint smile. She was able to see that the personal skill wasn't the only thing that Yuichi used during this match.

'What a strange student...and even stranger reason for his placement into class D...' She thought with an amused smile while leaving the Gymnasium.

'Looks like it was indeed waste of time...' Horikita thought with a calm expression however despite thinking this, she still remained till the end.

---In the locker room---

Both teams were in the same locker room and everyone was already after the shower so they were getting ready to leave.

However, before the core team left with their defeated expressions, they congratulated Yuichi, saying that he will be their new PG and even their previous PG didn't protest despite having dissatisfied expression.

"It was kinda hard but we really destroyed them at the end" Sudo said with a broad smile while looking at Yuichi.

"Yeah! You are amazing PG, Iwamura-kun. And about that promise..." The SG said before mentioning the promise with an uncertain expression.

"I am not that great, really... When you finally decided to play serious, we really destroyed them. And don't worry, I will train each one of you and try to get you into the core team." Yuichi said with a humble smile.

'...Iwamura is really strange...At that moment when he smiled...those dull green eyes that were staring at me in full apathy...what the hell was that? I knew that he was completely different person when on the court but not this much...' Sudo thought about the moment he grabbed Yuichi by his tank top and instinctively let go since he felt as if his wrist would break if he kept holding him. Recalling that scene, Sudo shuddered a bit.

.

.

.

When Iwamura walked out of the Gymnasium with his hair still a bit wet, he was immediately greeted by Hirata and many other classmates.

"Yuichi-kun! Where is Sudo-kun?" Hirata waved at Yuichi before asking with a confused expression, looking behind Yuichi.

"He said that he has something to do and that I shouldn't wait for him." Yuichi replied.

"Anyway, that was an amazing match! I didn't know you were so skilled at basketball!" Karuizawa exclaimed with an impressed tone, completely disregarding matter with Sudo.

"Yeah, it kinda pains me that you didn't join the soccer club..." Hirata said with a bit sad smile.

"Sorry about that...I actually wanted to ask Chabashira-sensei about it but...I rather focus on my studies instead of chasing after two sports once again. Even if I will try to become pro in the future, I can't be the pro in both sports at the same time." Yuichi said with an apologetic smile.

Hirata's eyes widened before he widely smiled at Yuichi.

"I see...It's alright if you know what you want to do! That's the most important thing." Hirata said with a genuine smile.

"We wanted to go hang out at the cafe, would you like to go with us?" Karuizawa asked with a smile.

"Hmm...Sure, I could use a bit of caffeine, however, let's not go crazy with the cakes, they-" Yuichi replied with a smile however before he could finish, he was interrupted.

"Yeah, they are pricey, don't worry, I still have more than half of what was given to us!" Karuizawa said before pushing Hirata to go towards the cafe while the rest of the girls followed.

Mei remained behind and approached Yuichi.

"Good match!" Mei replied with a wide grin while typing something on her phone.

"Thanks for cheering!" Yuichi replied when his phone vibrated so he took a look at it and saw that his 94.000 points were back. As for why 94.500 instead of his previous 96.980...someone had to pay for his meals and daily necessities.

Yuichi looked at his current amount of points.

[Private Points: 99.500 points]

"May I interrupt you two?" Someone approached them and asked.

"Hm? Secretary Tachibana?" Yuichi turned around and saw Tachibana, holding a few notes, looking at him with a calm expression. He nodded his head and let her talk.

"No need to add Secretary, just call me Tachibana. Iwamura, would you be so kind as to come with me? The student council president wishes to speak to you." Tachibana asked politely.

"Eh? ...Mei, would you be so kind?" Yuichi turned at Mei, asking with an apologetic smile.

"Don't worry, I will inform everyone else!" Mei said before saying farewell, following after Hirata's group.

Yuichi followed after Tachibana who led him back into the Gymnasium and then into one of the empty rooms where he saw Manabu watching something on the projector.

'That's our match, what is he trying to look at?' Yuichi thought with a smile still on his face.

"Student council president, I have heard that you are looking for me." Yuichi announced his arrival but Manabu just glanced at him before returning his sight to the screen. Tachibana went to stand right next to Manabu.

"Splendid match. To be honest with you, at first, I thought that you just wanted to make fun of them however you have skills to win yet you created that back up plan..." Manabu said with crossed arms and a faint smile.

"Thank you, I am glad you liked the match and I think it's only the right move to have a back-up plan no matter how you are confident, isn't that so?" Yuichi replied with a smile, holding his hands behind his back.

"To be honest, I don't fully understand your assortment into Class D. You had everything planned out, didn't you?" Manabu's faint smile disappeared as he turned at Yuichi and asked with a serious expression.

"Huh?" Yuichi looked at him with a confused expression.

"Your strategy, your teammates' mental state, your opponent's mental state. EVERYTHING went according to your plan...Take a look at this, for example." Manabu said before showing footage of the match from above.

It was the minute when Yuichi's teammates also started stealing passes which was for them previously completely impossible. Yuichi was always moving towards the position where he would be able to steal most of the passes which left the other team with a small number of options where to pass the ball.

"Hm? That's just called high basketball IQ, knowing when and where to be." Yuichi explained with a bit of confused expression.

Hearing his answer, Manabu just frowned down.

Yuichi and Manabu talked for a while, mostly it was Yuichi defending himself before Yuichi was finally free to leave.

---

"Kaichou, why is it so important?" Tachibana asked when Yuichi left.

"This entire match was played on the palm of his hand...He must have studied everyone's behavior, I bet even that own-goal was planned from the beginning. He was aware that they will stop playing seriously once he shows his skill. The entire strategy with the slow pace during the first half and then changing the paces between fast one and slow one. He made his opponents feel confident and careless and then finally he let them panic. The bigger they are, the harder they fall...this is what exactly happened to the core team's PG who is mostly to blame for this defeat." Manabu replied with a calm expression.

---

Yuichi went to join up with Hirata's group and Mei, spending the rest of the day with them.

"Yuichi-kun...The end of the month is just around the corner, do you really think what Horikita told you is going to happen?" Hirata asked while walking towards the dormitory together with Yuichi.

"I think it's highly probable." Yuichi nodded his head.

What he was doing by using Horikita's name wasn't meant to hide behind her name but to force her into more social interactions.

"Still, it's kinda strange how she refuses any invitation I give her...What is your secret that she speaks to you so easily, Yuichi-kun?" Hirata asked with a confused expression.

"She is sometimes tutoring me in the library so we have to sometimes communicate there. After a few days, she was fine with having a small talk with me despite it not being relevant to the school." Yuichi replied with a smile.

"So do you think she will talk to me if I join you two at the library?" Hirata asked with a curious expression.

"Hmm...You know what, it's bad to try to chase her like that. It's better if you wait until there are more people around her and then try to talk to her from time to time. If what she said is going to happen and she really saved a lot of people's points, a lot of people will most likely try to approach her, to at least thank her." Yuichi said with a thoughtful expression.

"Alright...So you say it's better if it's going to happen in a natural way..." Hirata muttered, thinking about something.

"Anyway, I noticed your grades going up, Horikita must be a good tutor. Maybe we could have her help other people." Hirata suggested.

"Eh...I wouldn't exactly say that she is a good tutor..."

"Huh?" Hirata looked at Yuichi with a confused expression.

"She isn't exactly understanding so if you can't understand something that is very simple to her, she will most likely call you out on being an idiot. She can't take it when people don't know basic things, at least that's what I observed from studying with her. She is fine tutoring me only because I have no problem keeping up with her." Yuichi explained with a forced smile.