Chapter 146 : Training Camp I
"Izuki, keep your pace up! You are slower than my grandma!"
"Koganei! Where is your spirit?! You cannot pick up girls and you cannot run long enough, what else can you do?!"
"Furihata-kun, don't stop! You've just run for 15 minutes! Keep up your pace!"
"Kuroko-kun! Don't be lazy! Keep running!"
It was the second day of the training camp, and the hellish day had just begun. They started the day with a set of interval runs for at least 45 minutes. Don't think it was too little. The combination of high-intensity running and low-intensity running could really put them all on the edge. Coupled with the difficulty in doing it in the sand, this was a complete torture for the players.
However, they still gritted their teeth and continued running, showing off their perseverance. They still remember what Alex said when they first made a fuss.
'Listen, I know this would be hard. But if you want to go further, you need to do this. Fact have proven that while this team is excellent, it wasn't the best. Tiger-chan and Kiyoshi-kun are good insiders, but facing a team like Yosen, they couldn't do a lot to help the team. We have good guards, but it wasn't enough on the national stage. Our advantage in the last inter-high was our fast playing style, but it required all the players to have excellent stamina. Think, how many times have you ended up losing due to the exhaustion?'
Even though it hit hard, they couldn't refute her explanation. Furihata himself remembered the game against Too and Yosen when he collapsed before the end of the game. That was a painful memory and a reminder that he was too weak and still needed to improve his physical state. The same could be said for the others who refused to give up and still insisted to run.
This happened for another thirty minutes until Riko blew the whistle, signaling that the running session was over.
"Good job, everyone!" Riko praised her players, satisfied with their attitude. However, in the eyes of the others, the smile and praise she gave was just like a devil whispered at them, trying to convince them to continue this torture. Imagining this, they couldn't help but shiver in fear. "Let's rest for 15 minutes, then Alex-san had already waited for us on the court nearby. After that, we will have a breakfast together."
Hearing that, they all couldn't help but groan.
"I know it!"
"There is no way Riko-chan would praise us that easily!"
"Devil! She is a devil!"
Furihata just closed his eyes, trying to ignore all the noises from his teammates. He took a deep breath several times, trying to regulate his breath again while wiping out all the sweat on his face. He wasn't the only one. Izuki and Kuroko who had the worst stamina on the team were even in a worse state right now. If not for their steady breathing movement, Furihata would think they lost consciousness right now.
Fifteen minutes later, Riko blew the whistle again, eliciting groans from the others. They still complied with the order though, stood up reluctantly, and went straight to the court. They were also a bit curious, wanting to see the court. However, when they realized it was a human-made court on the beach, they groaned, already knowing they would still have to run in the sand.
"Hello, everyone!" Alex greeted them cheerfully, ignoring the gloomy atmosphere from the other. "So, how was your first morning here? Still think you can keep up?"
Several of them twitched their mouth in annoyance, especially when they saw the evil smile from Riko who stood behind Alex. Fortunately, everyone was smart enough to keep silent and not be a smartass. Alex's question is definitely a trap. No matter how they answered, the portion of training would be doubled up. It is better to accept it silently.
Moreover, they all could feel something different in Riko's smile, and it gave them bad premonitions. If anything, they wanted to fly away as far as possible from the girl. Unfortunately, they couldn't do that.
"Well, since you have enough rest, let's play a game!" The blonde woman spoke. Then, she had a similar evil smile as Riko as she continued, "And since there are 11 of us, one lucky player would have a chance to get intensive physical training from Riko-chan!"
This…..
All of them had their face paled as they finally knew why Riko looked so happy. Panic started rising as they all tried to think of a reason to get out of this evil situation. Unfortunately, they were a second too late as Alex had already decided what to do next.
"Let's do a lottery! Whoever got the red paper will be the lucky one!"
Almost all of them held their breath unconsciously, gulping at each other nervously when they saw the papers that Alex offered. This would be the paper that would decide their fate today, and the unluckiest one was destined to have his body destroyed by Riko.
"Oh, stop being so pussy!" Riko snapped. "Junpei, you are the captain! Pick one and distribute the rest to the other! Quick, or the breakfast would be late!"
Not wanting to test Riko's limit, Hyuga picked one of the papers quickly and distributed the rest to the others. This continued until the last paper landed to Furihata who was on the edge of the line. He gulped nervously, opening up the paper slowly just to see the number '1' written pretty big there. Knowing he wasn't the unluckiest one, Furihata let out a relieved sigh instantly.
"So, who got the red paper?"
Everyone turned their head around, trying to find who was the unluckiest one. They found out pretty quickly as they saw all the color was drained from Koganei's face as the cat-like senpai froze on the spot. Seeing this, like a good old villain, Riko chuckled slowly, letting out a dark aura from her body.
"So, Koganei-kun… You are the lucky one, huh?"
"No, no, no!" The second-year small forward mumbled with a pale face. "No! I am not going! Begone, you evil witch!"
"Hehehe.. Koganei, you cannot run anymore! Come with me!"
"NOOOO!! HYUGA! IZUKI! ANYONE ELSE, PLEASE SAVE ME!"
Unfortunately, he was betrayed by his teammates as everyone turned deaf and blind to his plea. Seeing Koganei was dragged forcefully by Riko, they could only send their prayer silently,
"Rest in peace, Koganei!"
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"Pass the ball! Pass it! Quick!"
"Idiot! Why do you try to dribble?! We are in the sand!"
"Kagami, you idiot! You cannot jump in the sand! Shoot it!"
"Nice defense, Tsuchida-senpai!"
Even though they didn't suffer from Riko's personal treatment like Koganei, that didn't mean their training was easier. Although they just played a normal basketball game, they did it in the sand! Not only their physical ability was restricted since the ball couldn't bounce properly, but this was like playing a game in hell with difficulty for point guards like Furihata and Izuki.
In hindsight, this wasn't a basketball anymore, but the upgraded version of a handball game.
Moreover, Alex also added another rule; each sequence would only last 12 seconds, half the amount of time in the normal game. This really tests the players' ability to think and make a decision as fast as possible on the court.
Overall, this was a good rule. If all the Seirin players could maintain this pace, they could overwhelm any team with their offensive style. Having said that, it wasn't that easy for the players to do so.
*Clank!*
"Shit! Miss again?!"
"Rebound!"
Furihata clicked his tongue in annoyance. This was his fourth miss in a row. He was not foreign to this cold feeling when he wasn't able to make shots several times in a row. Every shooter would have this kind of bad day. However, this time, knowing why he couldn't make shots and couldn't do anything about it, he was a little irritated.
'Goddamnit! This sand is so annoying!'
Yeah. For a shooter like him, jumping form is one of the most important things before taking a shoot, probably only second to the shooting form. And since he played in the sand and couldn't jump properly, this messed up his shooting performance. And he wasn't the only one. Hyuga who was a shooter also had this kind of feeling, not being able to knock down even a single shoot.
"Okay, everyone! Let's stop it now!" Alex smiled when she saw her players' state. Even though they were exhausted, there was no hint of giving up there. Instead, she could see the determination burned more in their eyes. "Okay, there are still about 15 minutes before breakfast is ready. Let's do a quick evaluation. Does anyone want to comment? Yes, Izuki-kun?"
"The 12-second rule is too fast." The point guard complained. "No one could keep up with the pace, and coupled with the sand, it was almost impossible to play!"
Alex nodded slightly in understanding. "Well, I could see your point. But this rule is in line with your playing style. And for the sand, well, the essence is to pass the ball as quickly as possible. This would train your quick thinking and your off-the-ball movement. I know it's hard. But that's the reason why we train, right? Don't worry. I will let you see how much this training could improve your playing style on the normal court."
Even though Izuki was not satisfied with the answer, he just nodded silently, accepting Alex's words.
"Okay, another comment? Yes, Hyuga-kun?"
"The score is too low." The captain said. "With the 12-second rule, we, or at least I should expect at least 50 points from each team. But the final score is 20 – 17, right? We missed too much shoot."
"Yeah." Alex nodded in agreement. "I know you shooters wanted to complain you couldn't jump properly. Same with Tiger-chan who always relied on his jump. But you should notice, except for him and Kiyoshi-kun, none of you are good enough at breakthrough and confrontation under the rim. We relied too much on shooting, and here, now you see what happened when all the shooters had a cold feeling."
All the players nodded, couldn't refute Alex's words. After no one spoke again for a few minutes, the blonde woman clapped her hands happily, gaining their attention.
"Well, since we have done all the morning training, let's go back for breakfast! Don't be late, okay?!"
"Yes, Coach!"
When they all heard about breakfast, they stood up quickly as they just realized how starving they were. And when they entered the inn, they held back the tears as they were greeted by the fragrant smell of steamed rice and grilled fish. Not only that, but they also could see breakfast dishes such as miso soup, natto, tamagoyaki, and stir-fried vegetables being ready on the table. Seeing the energetic teenagers looking at the breakfast hungrily, the inn-lady smiled widely as she encouraged them all to eat.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Eat before it gets cold!"
Snapped by her reminder, all the Seirin players rushed toward the table quickly while thanking the inn-lady.
"Thank you, Auntie!"
"Ittadakimasu!"
"Hey! Wait for me!"
"Don't pick that! That's mine!"
"What do you mean that's yours?! This was closest to me!"
"Bastard!"
For a moment, the atmosphere was lively as everyone fought for their favorite food. But a second later, the sound of the wood frame door opening forcefully attracted their attention, and when they all saw who just come there, silence dropped on the room.
However, just like how the liveliness changed into silence just in a second, the dead silence vanished faster than anyone could blink as laughter broke all over the room.
"Hahahaha!"
"What happened to you, Koganei?!"
"What did Riko do to you?!"
"Did you enjoy the torture? Hahaha!"
"Shut up! You all are terrible!" The object of laughter cried miserably. "You don't know how much I suffered! Just wait until it is your turn, and you will experience it too!" All the players who laughed before suddenly blanched, knowing that the next training session was probably their turn to get tortured.
And yeah, the one who just came in was Koganei who went with Riko for a 'private' training session. He went back in a horrible state, with sweat drenched all over his shirt and a trace of bruises could be seen all over his arms.
Compared to Koganei's terrible state, even though playing on the beach was tiring and confusing, they were still grateful to not receive Riko's 'private' training.
"So, what did she do to you?" Hyuga whispered a little, trying to get information.
"Nah!" Unexpectedly, Koganei shook his head petulantly. "You will know about it too later. Let's see who will laugh the last."
"You brat…" Hyuga twitched his mouth speechlessly. "Why are you so childish?!"
"Yeah, Koganei! We are teammates, right?!" The others who tried to eavesdrop also voiced their dissatisfaction. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to shake Koganei. In fact, it only invited more disdain from the small forward.
"Tch. What kind of teammates are you? You all fed me to the wolf!"
"Hey, no need to be that angry! If you were in our position, I bet you would do the same."
"Yeah!"
"Tch." Koganei looked at his so-called 'friends' with disdain. "I hope you all suffer in the next training…"
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Author note :
If you want to support me more, you can visit my Patreon page on patreon(.)com/ZetaFaes
You can read this fanfiction up to chapter 166 on that page. Also, you can read my other fanfiction, Diamond no Ace: The Prince of Hitter up to chapter 27 too.
Thank you! :)
-Zeta Faes-