CH 52

As soon as we got to the gym, Sei-chan walked towards the court whilst I went up the stairs.

The gymnasium is not as big as the schoolyard, so if you want to cheer, you’d have to go up to the stands.

“I’m rooting for you, Sei-chan!”

“Yeah, thanks!”

We had one last conversation, and then Sei-chan and I split up.

I got up and went to the boys from our class and huddled up with Yuuichi.

“Oh, Tsukasa, you’re here. The game is just about to start.”

“Yeah, it’s probably going to be the closest game of the tournament.”

“That’s right, we have Shimada, while the other team has Kaori.”

Both of them have played several games and have not lost a single one, and they have also won all of them by a huge margin.

“Who do you think will win, Yuuichi?”

“As a class, Kaori’s. Nine out of ten times. Shimada might be strong, but basketball can’t be won alone.”

The other team doesn’t only have Tojoin-san but other players that are from the basketball team. Meanwhile, we have none.

“We’re in the same class, though, so I hope we do well.”

“Shouldn’t you be supporting Tojoin-san though?”

“Well, it’s a tough call. They’re the enemy team, so it’s really hard to cheer for them.”

It’s true that this time they’re facing off against our own class, and normally it would be hard to root for the enemy team even if you have good friends over there.

“But Tojoin-san supported you in that situation, right?”

“That’s what I was thinking.”

“Well, she’s special.”

Tojoin-san is a Yuuichi supremacist, so she didn’t really care about the boys in her class.

“Wouldn’t it be okay if we were just rooting for one individual, that is Tojoin-san, rather than the entire enemy team?”

“Yeah, it’s just a small school event, nothing too serious.”

“Well, it’s only cheering, nothing major.”

“I’ll be sure to give her some words of support later, then.”

If Yuuichi approached Tojoin-san, I’m sure she would work extremely hard to win the match.

Just like me earlier.

No, if it’s me working hard with Sei-chan cheering me on and Tojoin-san working hard with Yuichi cheering me on, I should win in terms of the amount of hard work put into it.

That’s how hard I worked with Sei-chan’s support, so yeah.

“Well, who do you think will come out on top?”

“Hmm? What?”

“Well, who do you think will win? Our class or Kaori’s class.”

I got an answer from Yuuichi but he didn’t receive an answer from me.

But of course, my answer is obvious.

“With Sei-chan here, of course our class would win!”

“Ah, you said Sei-chan.”

“No, I said Shimada, SHIMADA!”

I was not allowed to call her that unless we were alone.

“And don’t you ever say Sei-chan or I’ll blow you away to pieces.”

“You’re being unreasonable!”

◇ ◇ ◇

A light shooting practice before the game starts.

I took a couple of shots to have a feel of the court.

All of them went in as if it was being sucked in.

“Good.”

After confirming that I hadn’t lost the feel. I heard the referee say ‘Line up’ as the first lineup began lining up. [ED: so many line ups, my head is dizzy]

Of course, I was in the starting five and so I went to the middle of the court.

Lined up in front of me was Tojoin-san.

“Good day, Shimada-san. Are you ready to lose?”

Tojoin-san, with a confident look, said that as if to provoke me.

“I’m only ready to win. Are you prepared to cry on Shigemoto’s chest after losing?”

“Ah, I would have loved to do that. Too bad that won’t happen, so I won’t.”

“If that’s the case, you’d better start preparing yourself now. Shigemoto will at least hide your crying face even if you’re not prepared for it.” [PR: yes! catfight!]

“I’m sure Yuuichi will make it easy for me. If that’s the case, is Shimada-san ready to borrow the chest from that man?”

“A-Ah, I don’t have any plans to have him do that for me at the moment.”

“Heh, I see. At the moment, yeah?”

“Ku…!”

There was a light quarrel before the game, and I couldn’t deny the feeling that Tojoin-san had gotten the better of me at the last minute.

In a basketball game, the game starts with a tip off with representatives from both teams at the beginning.

It was obvious that Sei-chan, with her height and jumping ability, would do it for her team, and the other team also seemed to have Tojoin-san as their jump ball representative.

Only the two of them were in the center circle, and the others were surrounding them.

“Oh, by the way, we haven’t decided on the loser’s punishment yet.”

“Punishment?”

I was a little confused by Tojoin-san’s sudden suggestion.

“It would be boring to play a game like this without anything at stake. Let’s say the winner can order the loser to do one single thing.”

“Well, fine then, I won’t lose.”

“Fufu, I already know what I’m going to order you when I win.”

As soon as Tojoin-san said that, the referee blew his whistle and threw the ball into the air.

“I will have you announce that you are dating Hisamura-kun.”

“WHAT?!”

Startled by Tojoin’s words, I mistimed my jump and lost the ball.

And so the game began.