1.3 Intrests

During the first quarter, the only thing Shu XinYi was thinking of was, that being 6ft was actually a relatively small height in a basketball court. The players in the court right now should be at an average height of 6.6ft, "Basketball is a scam, how in the hell do you even get that tall? what if a short person wants to play? Surely Mr.CEO should not be that tall otherwise I am quitting on him."

Shu XinYi said with a sour mood. He was the one of the shortest ones on his team, and it really got to his nerves since he can't even jump that high for today's match because of his injury, "Master, isn't it essential for the best kind of players to be selected? If a short person wants to play they can play, that is if they can survive on the court. Even a tall person who can't survive on the court won't be able to play." snow replied.

Snow didn't know what caused this random height dysphoria for Master and continued "What does the CEO's height have to do with it, he isn't even a player. But if you really want to know his height, he is 196cm (6.45ft)." Shu XinYi heard this and was content, his dysphoria calmed. "Umm it was just a hollow question, nothing else, I don't really care about anyone's height. That no.42 from team 3 is bad news.I have to stay clear on the feild. Make sure to warn me if someone is close to my hand, I don't want to worsen the injury any further." Shu XinYi changed the topic smoothly. Snow agreed to his command, thinking, what hollow question he is still peeking at the CEO.

Shu XinYi really was looking towards the CEO. Shu XinYi was sitting on the opposite end of the court directly across the sponsors, So it made it easier to peek without getting caught. He saw beside the CEO, there was a man standing who was currently bent down lending his ear to the CEO and the CEO had turned his head saying something to him, while his left hand shuffled around a pen.

Shu XinYi saw the tilted neck and the defined neck lines and collar bones peeking out from his black shirt, wondering what must the CEO be saying and what would his voice sound like. While Shu XinYi was looking at him in daze, the CEO tilted his head and caught Shu XinYi's eyes. No, more like directly hooked onto him.

The CEO, Ken Arai, naturally knew the boy's antics, he was always vigilant from a young age and was wary of people and situations around him. That the boy was staring at him from the beginning and so obtusely at that was not a stunning news, since he was not the only one, many others in the audience and from other teams were looking at him. But to Ken this was all air, he knew better than anyone else the position he held and the benefits he could bring to anyone if he wanted, so it was natural why people would look at him and would be eager to talk to him. Ken was bored with all of this, he was exhausted to no ends. Although he did his work diligently, he was still always unrelaxed and uninterested.

When he saw the boy look over to him even when their team was playing, he was suddenly in a playful mood. This came as a surprise to Ken, he was always vigilant and serious throughout his life, So when he was in a playful mood he concluded that it must be because of the lively and young environment. Ken wanted to see the boy's reaction while he was caught staring, and really, it was a sight to see. The boy first widened his eyes in shock, then his face turned normal, but Ken saw that the boy was desperately hiding his embarrassment, he hid it well, but Ken didn't miss his any reactions. Then the boy's peach blossom eyes upturned and stared.. No. glared back at him like an angered cat. As if Ken was the one caught staring. Amazing, Ken thought and kept staring.

Shu XinYi's mind was in turmoil, why was the CEO suddenly glaring at him, his eyes are so focused and sharp, and they are looking at me. Shu XinYi was so embarrassed he wanted to hide somewhere, but he also liked being looked at by the CEO, so he glared back. That's right, what you looking at me for. Shu XinYi saw the CEO do a light, barely noticeable smirk. Huh? why did he smirk? is he mocking me ? Before he could observe the CEO's other reactions to figure this out, A player in court stopped right in between them, breaking the staring contest.

Shu XinYi moved his eyes to take in the situation on the court. The first quarter was over, and 10 minutes had already passed. The coach replaced Haruto with the point guard and the other players rested for two minutes. In the start of second quarter, Shu Xinyi stayed away from the ball as planned for the first three minutes. Although he was not standing in one place, he never touched the ball. At this point, team 3 had 30 points and the academy had 29 points. Shu XinYi had anticipated the other 3 teams to be good, otherwise they won't be present in the section trials. After 3 minutes, he moved in to play.

He smoothly snatched the ball from the opponent's shooting guard without much difficulty, and dribbled it through half the court, gave a quick bounce pass to the center who was near the basket and went up to the basket ready to deflect the rebound. The center easily scored. The game quickly moved forward after this,and Shu XinYi easily became the coach in the feild. He guided the game with his momentum clearing the way for a sweet victory. The opponent team soon became wary of him and started covering him. Shu XinYi wasn't worried, he had accomplished what he wanted.

Shu XinYi looked at Akihiko who was looked like he had seen a ghost, and was satisfied with this reaction. Then after some internal struggle, he looked at the CEO and saw him looking his way. The CEO was looking at him as if saying is this the best you can do? Shu XinYi smirked, and his eyes shined like he accepted a challenge and just before the second quarter ended, He dodged the 3 players covering him and dribbled the ball to the basket, he stopped exactly outside the 3 pointer line and threw the ball directly into the hoop perfectly passing it through the ring with a swish. This was done in less than 3 seconds, the players who were covering him were in daze seeing that he had already scored. Even the coach was surprised, his movements were so natural, like he was born for this.

Akihiko saw his throw perfectly angled and the arrogant look on his face as if telling everyone you're not my competition. He was confused, didn't his throw barely made it to the hoop from close range, so how is he suddenly making perfect half court shots using only one hand. So then Haruto was just pretending in front him, no there is no reason for him to pretend unless he intentionally wants to come off as weak. He didn't fully understand his actions and didn't think that Haruto had been practicing for two days, and he was more than familiar with the game rhythm, so he was able to improve.

Akihiko just thought this was Haruto mocking him, telling him that he is not weak without him. Akihiko was furious, Ishida was true. He is a lying and manipulating bastard who knows what new game he is playing.

Shu XinYi on the other hand wasn't concerned about that narcissist and was busy taking in the CEO's reaction. He was still non chalant . tsk what is this piece of wood, Shu XinYi thought and wiped the sweat off his face with a towel and drank some water. During the 15-minute break Akihiko just sat there not talking to anyone, Shu XinYi thought that the narcissist must be mad since he could still played well, but he didn't give him any face and was busy talking to the coach. Shu XinYi would not be entering the court for the Second half because he couldn't move around a lot, so the coach had only allowed him to be in only 1 quarter.

While the second half continued the score of 54 and 49, the academy having the lead, Shu XinYi witnessed something interesting. He saw Ishida go around the court to where the sponsors were. He approached his father, who was now sitting in the academy's dean seat. His father listened to Ishida, he then stood up and took him to the young CEO and the daughter of the yama group's president, Anzu. Ishida's father was well known in the business groups and so when his son said he wanted him to introduce him to Ken and Anzu, he was more than happy.

Shu XinYi saw Ishida shake hands with Anzu. He then shook hand with the CEO and kept holding on while they talked, looking at the CEO with beaming eyes and a smiling face. He talked about probably normal things, but his body movement was more than suggestive. What ... Is that scum trying to seduce the CEO? For the first time Shu XinYi really looked at Ishida, he was around 187cm(6.1ft) he had fairly slim but muscular built and a slender waist. He had a seductive face and sharp fox eyes, if not for his trash personality Shu XinYi would give him 2 points. But now that he saw the CEO looking at Ishida and behaving well and listening to him, He felt a bit uneasy, No .. very uneasy. "Huh? doesn't he already have the protagonist, why is he trying to seduce the CEO? what a pure bit*h (⋋▂⋌)"

Snow heard his master's complaints and replied "That is his character, Ishida would do whatever he can to insure his position in the society and improve it, Since the protagonist's loyalty is wavering he wants to naturally find someone better." Shu XinYi was still looking at their joined hands, and his disgust and unease was showing a little on his face. Then he saw the CEO pull his hands back, as if he just realized he touched a disgusting thing. Shu XinYi was surprised. Why did he pull his hands back now? He looked up to the CEO's face. The CEO was staring at him with ... anticipation? huh? what does he want me to say ... I forgive you for touching that trash? From the looks of it, the CEO wanted to hear this exactly.

Shu XinYi was very confused, and so was Ken. Ken was used to people coming to meet him and introducing himself to people. He was also used to the suggestive actions and knew how to keep the atmosphere stable and reject through his actions without angering the other party. So when the young fox came to him, he did what he would always do, but when he saw the arrogant boy from before looking at their joined hands with a disgusted face, He immediately let go of the fox's hands and looked at the arrogant boy with apologetic eyes. Ken was surprised at this almost subconscious reaction, but he didn't put mind to it and only observed the boy's reaction. The boy looked like he was saying, you want to be apologized, then try harder. Then the boy humphed lightly and turned his face away. Interesting, very interesting, the CEO thought as he smirked lightly.

Ishida thought this was directed at him and Arai-San was just shy since homosexuality wasn't something everyone supported. He talked some more with Ken, making some comments about the players playing the court. Ken casually asked about the boy with the injured hand and saw Ishida's expression visibly worsen. But he quickly controlled and told him about the injury. This was the only thing that Ken listened to intently out of all the things Ishida said.

Ishida came back after the first 2 matches were over. Team 3 lost by 8 points, really shows how capable they are. Their small forward should be selected, Shu XinYi evaluated after seeing their play. From team 2 the power forward had the best play, he was basically carrying the team and if Shu XinYi noticed, the veteran players and sponsors should also have noticed. From team 1 the team play was really good, every player was doing their best So it was difficult to pick someone out from them but Shu XinYi had hoped for their center who was 6.8ft the tallest out of all of them to be chosen. After the 30-minute break, team 1 and the academy's team played the final match.

Shu XinYi didn't enter the court for the first two quarters and observed intently. He found some consistencies in the team 1 play. They switched the ball between the tallest center, the point guard and the shooting guard but none of them were focusing on scoring and were playing on defense like they were waiting for something. After the second half team 1 only changed the point guard and the academy team changed the center, point guard and the small forward.

Shu XinYi observed the opponent point guard and smiled. The score right now was team 1 25 and team 4 12. This was a really unexpected result. Now team 4 could only play offense or at least focus more on offense, so they will use the point guard to make all the shots, while they lead the team 4 players to their own half. This was exactly what happened every time team 4 shot close range, the center would use his height to his advantage and block the ball. Tapping it directly towards the point guard who would then make a long and high arched shot, not giving time to the opponent's defense to block. Shu XinYi still guided the ball, but his teammates were out of sync.

Shu XinYi was impressed by the team 1's play, it was a good technique, but it was not omnipotent since they were taking advantage of their situation, especially the center. In the last five minutes, Shu XinYi told the other players to play defense with their secret signal. Even though the players were out of Sync, they still listened to Haruto and changed their tactics. Seeing the team move in total defense, the opponents were taken aback. But they improvised and focused on attacking. Since the point guard was covered, the center and shooting guard made the shots.

Team 4 gained some control over the ball and raised the score to 42 while team 1 was 50. Shu XinYi convinced the coach in the two-minute break to allow him to play in the fourth quarter as well. He talked with the other 4 players and told them to keep the ball in their hands, and if they do lose the ball, the center and him will follow the ball and the small forward will be near the basket while the shooting guard and power forward are on full defense and cover the opponents point guard and center.

In the fourth quarter, team 4 took control over the ball and Haruto led the ball through the court passing it to the appropriate players. He made 3 3 pointer shots to raise the score while the center covered him. The match ended with team 4 trying to shoot a close range, but the center easily blocked, and the ball went out. Team 4 won by 2 points and the match ended. The sponsors were still sitting and evaluating who to select since all 4 sponsors had joined hands to sponsor the team.

They waited for a while and then informed the 4 teams and their coaches about who was selected. As expected, team 2's small forward and team 1's Power forward was sponsored by the yama group and Anzu personally congratulated them. The sponsors skipped team 3 and directly came to the academy coach. The middle-aged man spoke first and announced that his selection was the small forward. Shu XinYi was not surprised, that guy's defense was really capable if trained correctly.

Shu XinYi then looked the CEO, and he wasn't the only one.

Every one here was looking at him, although he hadn't announced his decision, nobody had the guts to ask since whoever he wanted to select was capable of being selected. Shu XinYi was also looking at him with anticipation.