One and half an hour later, the gymnasium building next to the Tsunemori High had been crowded by people already. While most of them were students from the school who wanted to support their favorite team, there were also so who ca from the neighborhood to spend their ti with family, and so even ca with a cara and a notebook on their hand.
This ga attracted so much attention since this was the first ga of this round, and whoever won today would ensure the first spot in the Tokyo tropolitan Gymnasium earlier than any other team in Tokyo. More than that, as the teams left in the tournant kept getting fewer, people also started to notice the uprising team too, since only those who were strong enough were able to survive the first four rounds of the tournant.
"Oi, Yuki, how is the team's preparation today?!" A boy from the senior year, Shimada, if Yuki rembered correctly, greeted him when he was about to enter the building.
"Not bad, Senpai. Everyone is on fire today, ready to grab the ticket to the top 8," Yuki answered honestly.
"Attaboy! That is the spirit that our school's pride has to show!" Shimada grinned widely. "Just go out and play with your heart! Don't worry, we have your back!" Then, the senpai walked away, leaving Yuki alone with his thoughts.
Honestly, even though he didn't know a lot about his senpai, this kind of interaction was not sothing strange at all for Yuki. As his reputation inside the school kept growing, the number of people who in the past always ignored him decreased, and in return, almost all of them turned into a bunch of polite dudes who always greeted him whenever they crossed into each other.
However, unlike the other students, Shimada belonged to a different group, a group that had a special spot in the team's heart. Shimada was the forr captain of the basketball team and one of the fifty people who ca together with Arina Sugawara to support them in Tsukiji High's ho court, fighting bravely even when their number was far smaller compared to the ho team supporters that at that ti reached 600 people.
That was why Shimada could have a conversation with him pretty comfortably earlier.
"What's wrong, Yuki?" Ogawa asked when he saw his kouhai walk into the building in a dazed state.
"No, nothing, Jimmy-senpai." Yuki shook his head. "Just have a small chat with Shimada-senpai before he wishes us good luck."
"Oh? Shimada? The forr basketball team's captain?" Kaede perked up a little when he heard the na, his expression told the other that he had sothing about the student for them to gossip around. "Is he still with the archery club's forr captain?" He whispered in a 'I know sothing you don't' tone.
"He is with her?! The great beauty from the 3 – A who is said that her beauty is at the sa level as gumi-senpai and Sugawara-senpai?" This ti, it was Okamura who chid in with shock on his face.
"Well, I heard those two are childhood friends. You know, the type who in ani would always end up as the winner, not as the female protagonist's stepping stone?" Kaede wiggled his eyebrows knowingly.
"Oh, damn! Shimada hits a jackpot then!"
"I cannot believe such a great beauty would fall into the hand of a brute like him!"
"Hey, you underestimate the power of being a childhood friend!"
"What are you guys doing here?" Akira suddenly appeared out of nowhere, furrowing his brows at their lax attitude.
"No, nothing, Sensei! Just talking about the nice weather outside, right?!" Kaede changed the topic instantly, which elicited an eye roll for his obvious attempt to avoid the question.
The frown on Akira's face was getting intensified, making the players in front of him shrink under it. In the end, he just sighed and said, "Just go and start your warmup! If I catch you all slacking off in the middle of the ga…" He didn't finish his sentence, but the fist he showed was enough to threaten all of them.
"Yes, Sensei!"
Akira could only sigh as he watched his players scampered away from him. This was sothing that he was worried about. After winning two easy gas in the first two rounds and escaping from a tough ga against Tsukiji High in the last round, the players started to slack off and underestimate their opponents. This was sothing that would hit an underdog team sooner or later, and even though Akira knew about it, that didn't an he had to like it.
'Well, I just hope that it won't take too long for them to wake up and back to reality.' He muttered.
-0-
Fifteen minutes later, their opponent, Oyama High, finally arrived with their bus. They entered the building with the bright yellow jerseys, standing in front of the door in awe when they saw the full-house situation inside the gymnasium.
"TSUNEMORI HIGH! TSUNEMORI HIGH!"
"WE ARE THE BEST TEAM! TSuNEMORI HIGH!"
With most of the people on the stand chanting and singing for the team while wearing the dark green the shirt that was also the color of Tsunemori High's ho jersey, the atmosphere inside the building was very lively. So of the Oyama High players gulped nervously while the others even had their legs shaking in fear. They knew that this ga would be tough, but for them to be defeated even before the ga started was not sothing they had ever thought of before.
"Co on, everyone! I will greet Tsunemori's head coach first, you all go and warm up your body!" Their coach, and old man who was about 50 years old spoke.
"Yes, Sir!"
It was twenty minutes before the ga started, and all the Oyama players tried their best to use that short ti to adapt to such a high-pressure atmosphere. After all, just like Tsunemori High, they were one of the rising star teams in Tokyo, but they didn't have the support that Tsunemori had here. It wasn't often for them to play under so many eyes like this, so it was no wonder that so of them made a few silly mistakes due to their nervousness.
"Co on, everyone! No need to be so tensed like that!" Kotaro, the team's captain and middle blocker clapped his hands vigorously, encouraging his teammates to play more freely. "Just treat this ga like ordinary training! It is just us and our opponent on the court, don't think about the distractions outside! Stay positive! Just think, if we won this ga, our journey would be legendary! Co on!"
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