As their practice ended, both teams were exhausted, and Nanaho, still flabbergasted, looked at them in awe.
"It looks like my team has won, Hiroki," said Seiji.
"No, Seiji. Yukio and I are the victors of today's game," said Hiroki.
"I was keeping score in my head, and the game ended seventy-nine to seventy-six in our favor," said Hayato.
"That's real funny, kid, because last time I checked, I scored thirty-two points and Yukio had about twenty, so we definitely didn't lose," said Hiroki.
"Well, I scored thirty-seven points, and Hayato made about twenty, so your point is?" asked Seiji.
"We should have kept score," said Takahiro.
"Yeah, Hiroki and the captain always get like this when they're competing. They will never stop arguing at this rate. None of them like losing, so it always ends up like this when we don't keep score," said Yukio.
"I see. They are so determined to win, and they both have the fighting spirit. I want to see how far they'll go. I really want to," said Nanaho to herself, excited.
After that day, I continued training them, assisting in developing their weaknesses into strengths and pointing out the areas where they lacked teamwork. They were doing really well. I was impressed with the work they put in, their ethics, progression, and adaptability. It was astounding to the point where I decided to set a practice match for them against the second-strongest team in the prefecture, Yokonan High School. However, that's when everything fell into ruins.
The point guard for Yokonan at the time was a third-year, Jintaro Kyousuke, and he was a talented athlete. Despite being a year younger than Jintaro, Keichiro Yamada was the captain of the team and played center. Ryuu was in his first year; however, he was a starter. Finally, they managed to get their hands on the junior high MVP, Kogure Kobayashi.
"I see, so this is where you've been, Kogure," said Yukio.
"Yeah, I'm not going to make any excuses because I chose to attend Yokonan, and I'm going to crush both you and your brother," said Kogure.
"Pass me the ball, Jintaro!!" shouted Keichiro as he posted up on Seiji in the paint.
Jintaro faked a crossover to the right, which caught Hayato by surprise, and made a pass to Keichiro.
"Bring it on, come at me," said Seiji.
Keichiro bounced the ball on the ground and spun off of Seiji. He then attempted to slam dunk the ball; however, Seiji met him in the air and blocked him.
"Wow, that was the fifth block since the game started," whispered a Yokonan player.
"That guy from Toshigawa has been keeping Keichiro in check for two quarters now. I'm really surprised our captain has scored zero points," said another player.
"What kind of monster is he, keeping someone as strong as the captain in check?"
Jirou caught the ball and made a pass to Hiroki, who dribbled the basketball upcourt. Kogure, who was enjoying the game, stepped up to guard him.
"Time to teach the MVP that he's not the only talented one on the court," said Hiroki as he smirked and set up to shoot a three-pointer.
Kogure quickly attempted to block him; however, he was unable to do so, and the ball swished.
"Wow! We took the lead by two points! We are actually leading Yokonan! I can't believe it!" said Nanaho, surprised and happy.
"Damn that player, Seiji. He's been keeping Keichiro in check this whole time. His defense is remarkable. The score is now sixty-three to sixty-one, so I'm not really worried," said Coach Arimoto to himself.
Kogure, intrigued, hurriedly made his way to the other half of the court and crossed to get by Hiroki. He then jumped into the air and slammed the ball into the hoop.
"Whoa! It's all tied up now! Kogure is a monster," said Takahiro.
"He's only in his first year, yet he still plays on a different level than regular players like us," said Jirou.
As the ball was dribbled upcourt, it was passed to Seiji, who was guarded by Keichiro. Seiji faked a spin to the right, catching Keichiro off guard. He then bounced the ball on the floor and spun off of Keichiro. Keichiro recovered and jumped into the air in an attempt to block him; however, Seiji faked him out. He then went up and slammed the basketball into the rim above Keichiro.
"Whoa! Seiji dunked on Keichiro!" said everyone on both teams, shocked.
"God damn it, Seiji! This whole game, I haven't scored a single point because of you, and now this?!" said Keichiro to himself in an angered tone.
"Kogure, catch!!" shouted Jintaro as he quickly made a pass.
Hiroki stepped up to guard Kogure. Kogure crossed to the right, which Hiroki instantly reacted to; however, he then spun to the left, easily getting by his defense. He drove to the rim and jumped into the air to attempt a dunk, but Seiji reacted in time and blocked him.
Jirou grabbed the ball and quickly passed it to Hayato, who was already running toward the rim. As he took his two steps and attempted a layup, Keichiro, who was trailing him, jumped into the air and blocked him from behind. The two of them came tumbling down to the floor, with Hayato's knee hitting the ground, absorbing all of the impact with Keichiro's weight.
Hayato clutched his leg and cried out in pain.
"Crap, Hayato! Are you okay?!" asked Jirou as he ran toward him.
The rest of the team immediately rushed to Hayato, who was on the ground in pain.
"I'm sorry, I didn't… mean for this," said Keichiro.
"His knee bone looks like it's fractured. God damn it!" said Seiji, angered.
"Quickly, one of you, get some ice and my first aid kit!" said Nanaho.
"You heard the girl. Go get some ice, Ryuu," said Coach Arimoto.
After applying the ice and wrapping it up, Seiji and Hiroki lifted Hayato and placed him on the bench.
"This seems to be a very tragic outcome. I apologize for what happened," said Coach Arimoto.
"No, it's not your fault. It wasn't something that could be controlled. These things happen in this kind of game," said Seiji.
"So, do you still want to continue this match, or do you want to call it off?" asked the coach.
"No, we will continue the game until the sound of the whistle," said Seiji.
"Junpei, you'll be subbing in for Hayato. Get warmed up," said Nanaho.
"Right," Junpei said as he started stretching.
"Nanaho, please don't sub me out! I can still play!" said Hayato, with tears in his eyes.
"Absolutely not. Your injury is really bad, and it might get worse or be damaged beyond repair. I don't want that," said Nanaho.
"Then tell me… will I be able to play basketball with the team this season?" he asked.
"I'm not sure, but based on your injury, it might not be possible."
"God damn it! Why did this have to happen to me?! Why?! I don't deserve this!" said Hayato, covering his eyes while lying on the floor.
I felt hurt by Hayato's situation and for the team because, for the remainder of the game, Yokonan maintained a steady lead, and we lost to them with a score of ninety-five to eighty-four, with Kogure scoring forty-seven points.
After the game, Hayato was taken to the hospital, and we called his parents to inform them of the situation.
We received tragic news as the doctor informed us that it would take six months for him to recover.
Although the loss of a good player like Hayato decreased the team's morale, we still had a strong enough team to at least go far—or so I thought until that day.
"Jirou, you bastard!!" shouted Hiroki as he rushed over and punched Jirou in the face, sending him flying. He then continued punching Jirou in the face, creating a bloody mess.
Seiji, Yukio, and Takahiro managed to get Hiroki off a beaten and unconscious Jirou.
"Let me go, Seiji! I'm going to kill this scum!" said Hiroki.
"What the hell is wrong with you, Hiroki?! Why would you do that to Jirou?"
"That bastard tried to touch my sister and forced himself onto her! He even hit her! How dare you!!"
Jirou was hospitalized that day due to a broken shoulder bone, and his jawbone had slipped out of socket. The following day, officers were sent to the school by Jirou's parents to escort Hiroki to the police station.
"How could you do this to me, Hiroki?! This year was supposed to be our year, god damn it!!" said Seiji, as angry tears came to his eyes.
"Do you think I would have just thrown our dream away for nothing?! That bastard—he tried to have his way with my little sister! What if he had done something to her that would traumatize and scar her for life?!" shouted Hiroki.
"That's enough out of you! Get in the car," said an officer as they drove off with him.
I could sense the hurt in Seiji's voice and the tears that Yukio shed that day. The whole team was in shambles, and the dream they had seemed so far out of reach. The students didn't stop talking about what had happened, and Tomoe had to bear the burden of losing her brother and facing criticism. Of course, we tried to help her, but she pushed us away.
We played our games to the best of our abilities with my strategy, and both Yukio and his older brother running a two-man team. We won every game until the fourth round, where we lost by a single point against Seisen International with a score of seventy-eight to seventy-seven. That day was the last game Seiji played. Marube, Junpei, Akira, and the others graduated along with him, leaving only Takahiro and Yukio.