Rebirth In Kurokonobasket - Chapter 158

It was a few days into the new trimester, Shun looked at the clock installed in the gym, and saw that it was time to leave for the gym.

Shun walked to the basketball cage and dumped the balls he was using into it.

He waved to Yuki and called out.

Shun: “Yuki, I am leaving. I have put the key in your bag, lock the gym before you leave.”

Yuki paused his practice and replied.

Yuki: “Yeah, sure. Take care.”

Shun nodded and was about to leave, but someone stood in front of him.

Shun saw a first-year member standing in front of him.

He was looking at Shun, so Shun addressed him.

Shun: “Hmm? Ah, Narumiya Mei-kun. Is there something I can help you with?”

Shun knew all the members of the first-string, so he recognized the latest addition to the first-string.

Narumiya looked at Shun and spoke.

Narumiya: “Kageyama-san, I want to have a contest against you. I want to see if you are as good as they say you are.”

Yuki, on the other side of the court, shook his head, and continued his practice.

Shun: “Why so suddenly?”

Narumiya crossed his arms and answered.

Narumiya: “I have been watching you for the past days, and I think that you aren’t as great as others say you to be.

Be it the mini-games or in skill drills or here, after practice, you make mistakes and errors that you wouldn’t make if you were as exceptional as people make you out to be.”

Shun sighed as he scratched the back of his head.

Shun: ‘Well, he isn’t wrong. I have been playing worse since I returned from the summer camp.’

Shun had just started integrating the moves into his style.

And, to integrate, Shun had to deconstruct the moves he wanted to copy.

The next step was to practice the moves but with forms and stances that Shun was comfortable, and that was essentially learning from the start.

-*-*-*-

Shun stared at Narumiya and sighed.

Shun: “Okay, I have five minutes. Let’s play.”

Narumiya clenched his fists and nodded.

Shun dropped his bag to the side and asked.

Shun: “So, what do you wanna play?

A one-on-one, or HORSE?

You are a shooting guard, after all.”

Narumiya immediately answered.

Narumiya: “A one-on-one would be fine.”

Shun nodded and pointed at the ball cage.

Shun: “Fetch a ball, would you.”

As Narumiya turned to fetch a ball and all expressions fell from Shun’s face.

Shun: ‘Should I revert to my stable side? Hmm, no, if I switch back to my stable style every time I have to play against someone, then I wouldn’t be able to learn.’

He looked at Narumiya and thought.

Shun: ‘Well, even with my current performance, I would still win against him with a huge margin.

He might not even be able to score once.’

Shun sighed and decided that he would play with his current unstable style.

-*-*-*-

They went to the gym that Shun and Yuki usually practiced.

When they entered the gym, they saw Narumiya and Shun at the top of the key, while Yuki was looking at them from one side.

The three walked to Yuki, and Sora asked.

Sora: “Yuki-senpai, why is Narumiya-kun playing with Kageyama-senpai?”

Yuki looked at the three and answered.

Yuki: “He wanted to see if Kageyama is as good as his reputation.”

Kaitani crossed his arms and guessed.

Kaitani: “And, let me guess. He saw Kageyama making mistakes and thought he was not that much.”

Hyakuzawa finished Kaitani’s point.

Hyakuzawa: “And, came here to challenge Kageyama.”

Yuki nodded and said.

Yuki: “Yeah, that sums it up.”

Sora looked at his year mate and captain and asked.

Sora: “Will Narumiya-kun be fine?”

Kaitani shrugged and replied.

Kaitani: “Kageyama won’t go overboard, but even then, I don’t think Narumiya would be able to contend.”

The four watched with attention as the contest between Shun and Narumiya started.

-*-*-*-

Narumiya passed the ball to Shun and said.

Narumiya: “You go first.”

Shun caught the ball and nodded.

Shun: “Sure.”

Shun faced the basket with Narumiya in front of him.

Shun slowly dribbled the ball between his hands, and when he thought the moment was right, he suddenly moved in the right direction and dribbled forward.

He wasn’t moving fast enough for Narumiya to have difficulty keeping up. Shun was emulating Carlos’s slow pace play.

When they reached the post, Shun suddenly faced his back towards the basket.

Narumiya seeing that, concluded.

Narumiya: ‘Post play?’

So, he moved closer to Shun, but the moment he did that, Shun spun to face the basket and ran towards the basket faster than before and laid the ball into the basket.

Narumiya was shocked by the sudden score.

-*-*-*-

Kaitani laughed when he saw that.

Kaitani: “Look at him standing there with his mouth open.”

Yuki nodded and commented.

Yuki: “Shun’s change of pace is difficult to defend. You never know when he would change his play speed.”

-*-*-*-

Shun retrieved the ball and walked towards the key while looking at Naurmiya.

Shun: “What are you standing there for, come on. It’s your turn.”

Narumiya snapped out of his shock and rushed towards the key for the start of another match-up.

Shun faced Nurmiya, passed him the ball, and got into the defensive posture.

Narumiya dribbled the ball and ran full speed to the left. Shun followed Narumiya with ease.

Narumiya stopped just outside the perimeter of the paint and did a shot-fake, but Shun didn’t fall for it and smacked the ball away from Narumiya.

Narumiya: “Aah!”

Shun chased the ball and used another addition to his playstyle he was currently working on to integrate.

He caught the ball, and with unusually fast speed, shot the ball, emulating Ivan’s quick draw.

The shot missed and bounced off the back of the rim.

Shun sighed as he chased after the ball.

Shun: “Ugh, that will take a lot of time to master.”

-*-*-*-

Narumiya chased after the ball and reached it first, squared to the basket, and jumped for a three-pointer, but the moment the ball left his hand, Shun appeared and spiked it away.

Shun: “Nope.”

The ball went outside of the court, so it was again Narumiya’s turn to attack.

-*-*-*-

Hyakuzawa, while feeling sorry for Narumiya, said.

Hyakuzawa: “He got stopped twice. One steal and one full out block.”

Yuki nodded and commented.

Yuki: “His shot choices were poor, so it is no wonder he got stopped twice.”

-*-*-*-

Narumiya was getting irritated.

Narumiya: ‘I got blocked twice.’

He looked at Shun and thought.

Narumiya: ‘And, it looked so effortless as well. He isn’t even trying. Dammit!’

Narumiya had entered the contest with confidence that he would be able to contest with the Shun that he had observed for the past few days.

But, now Narumiya was beginning to doubt if it would be that easy.

He looked at Shun in front of him, ready to defend.

Shun: “Come on. Let’s continue.”

Narumiya tried to think of getting past Shun and decided to go for something quick.

He stepped to the left, but the next moment he pulled back and jumped for a three-pointer on the spot, but the moment he brought the ball up, Shun attacked the ball with a steal.

Narumiya: “No!”

Shun cleared the ball past the three-point line, and as he got past Narumiya, he said.

Shun: “You are slow.”

Shun sprinted to the basket and jumped for a dunk, and put it in the rim with a powerful force behind it.

-*-*-*-

Hyakuzawa’s eyes widened at the sight of the dunk.

Hyakuzawa: “T-That dunk was strong.”

Yuki, Kaitani, and Sora nodded in agreement.

Emulating Bruno’s mid-air stance was able to provide Shun with an extra impact, which translated to stronger dunks.

-*-*-*-

Shun and Narumiya played a few more bouts, but the result was the same every time, with blocking Narumiya followed by Shun scoring.

Shun looked at the clock and found that it had been more than his intended five minutes, so he turned to Narumiya.

Shun: “Narumiya-kun, I hope you’re satisfied with this because I have to leave.”

Narumiya had his hands on his knees and was breathing heavily.

Narumiya: ‘He completely destroyed me.’

He tried everything he knew, but Shun had thwarted all his plans with ease and kept on increasing the lead.

Seeing that Narumiya wasn’t responding, Shun sighed and spoke.

Shun: “Narumiya-kun, this might not sound nice, but you aren’t ready for the first-string.”

Narumiya snapped his face towards Shun and asked.

Narumiya: “What!”

Shun crossed his arms and continued, ignoring the outburst.

Shun: “The reason you were able to enter the first-string so early was that our season ended early this year.

Usually, the promotion happens after the third years retire, which is after Nationals, but it happened early this year, so you were promoted early this year.

You might be more skilled than your peers, but you just barely scratch the surface of the first-string.”

Shun looked at Sora and spoke.

Shun: “Same goes for you, Sora.”

Sora froze at Shun’s statement.

Shun: “You might be able to support the team with your playmaking, but you don’t have any personal attack or defense skills.”

Soar lowered his head. He was familiar with the reason for his early induction to the first-string, it was to free Shun from Kuroko duty.

Even the chaos strategy needed Shun to complete the condition for it to work.

Shun continued to address the first-years.

Shun: “You both still need to work a whole lot before you can contribute to the team.

I suggest that you talk to Mibuchi-san for shooting tips. Narumiya-kun is a shooting guard, and Sora you too have shown interest in shooting, so he is the best person to guide you.

Stick close to him while he is still here. Just looking at Mibuchi-san would give you great insights into shooting.”

Shun looked at the two first-years’ lowered heads and sighed. He continued but with a softer tone.

Shun: “I am not asking you guys to improve overnight. We still have a lot of time before the next season.

So, take your time and improve your game, but don’t let me see you slacking off when others are working hard.”

Shun didn’t say anything and walked towards Yuki and whispered so only he could hear him.

Shun: “Hey, I played the bad-senpai(cop), now you swoop in with the good-senpai(cop), and lift their spirits.

I will leave the rest to you vice-captain.”

Shun patted Yuki on the shoulder and exited the gym.

Yuki rubbed his forehead, looked at his two juniors and thought.

Yuki: ‘Being a senpai is tough, and I can see Shun dumping things on me in the future.

Now, what should I do with these two?’

Yuki the new vice-captain, got to work, to raise his juniors spirits, and follow after his captain’s orders.

And thus, ended another day at Tokiwadai Middle School Basketball Club.