The time comes in the afternoon.

Inside the gymnasium.

Although there is still some time before the start of the football skills competition, students from all classes have already arrived here under the guidance of teachers and sat down in the stands on the second floor according to the areas assigned in advance.

Boys wearing loose T-shirts and half-length pants are warming up on the field. They are the members of Class 1 and Class 3 who will be on the field later. The former is black and the latter is red.

The black and red jerseys clearly divide the two sides into two teams.

Chirp, chirp, thump.

It has a unique sound in the style of a basketball club, emitting a rhythmic melody in the venue.

Team members from both sides occupy one side and stand or sit at their own base.

Misaki-sensei and Shibata-sensei, who are the coaches, are communicating with their respective team members.

However, compared to the relaxed atmosphere in Class 3, the atmosphere in Class 1 was obviously a bit relaxed, and it was so obvious that even the audience noticed it.

As the coach of the women's basketball club, Mr. Misaki, the women's basketball team under his leadership is indeed very strong, and even reached the top four in the prefecture, only to fail in the finals.

If the competition is based on women's basketball, Class 1, which has assembled a large number of the main players of the basketball club, is absolutely unstoppable. Almost all students will admit this.

However, once you switch to men's basketball, the situation is completely reversed.

Perhaps because the girls in the class are so outstanding, the boys in Class 1 have nothing outstanding.

In contrast, the combination of small forward and guard composed of Saito and Taniguchi from Class 3 is well-known even in the prefecture.

In particular, the strength of the former cannot be underestimated. At 1.8 meters tall, he is not only very fast, but also has full explosive power. He is a strong player who is expected to compete in national competitions.

As time went by, the number of people in the venue gradually increased.

The lively hustle and bustle swept away the dullness of the campus.

Although not everyone is interested in basketball, this rare time without classes still makes students excited.

They chatted animatedly one after another, showing the lively side of high school students.

But in the auditorium of Class 2, Class 3, two girls seemed to have been forgotten by the group, sitting quietly in the corner.

"Hey, Sayu-chan."

"Um?"

"Well, this is just my idea. I hope you won't be angry after hearing this?"

"Angry? Why?"

"That's Iwanami-san. I don't think he's a bad person."

Yuko Masaka scratched her cheek as if she was embarrassed and said, "Although that person's behavior is a bit strange, I think he really wants to be friends with Sayu-chan."

"Why does Yuko think so?" After hearing this, Sayuda frowned slightly, reached out to hold her hand, and said in a warning tone: "We can't let down our guard. We just need to trust each other."

Looking at her little face that was slightly tense due to worry, Yuko's eyes couldn't help but darken slightly, smiled bitterly, and murmured inaudibly, "Sayu-chan, you don't have to be like this..."

"Hey, did you say something? Yuko."

"Hmm...nothing. I just feel that Iwanami-san doesn't have many friends, so he's a bit like us."

"Even if this is the case, you should go find a boy to play with. What if he comes to approach us?"

"Maybe it's because Sayu-chan is cute, right?"

Masaka Yuko narrowed her eyes slightly and smiled, gently held her hand, and continued: "Just like me, I think Iwanami-san must be attracted to Sayu like this."

"What about attraction..." Sayu relaxed his expression slightly and responded with some embarrassment: "As long as I have Yuko by my side, I don't want to think about other things for the time being."

"...Sayu-chan is really gentle."

"Of course, because we are friends, right?"

"Yeah...but Iwanami-san is very pitiful."

"Really, what's wrong with him?"

Seeing the angry look on her face, Yuuko couldn't help but cover her mouth to suppress laughter.

"If you don't know, I can tell you, but Sayu-chan must understand. That is already a confession of love~~"

"Is this the mouth you're talking about? Watch me sew it up!"

"It hurts! Please don't...!"

The two laughed and played around, a little happiness condensed between them, enjoying a rare happy time.

Unconsciously, the stands on both sides were filled with people. Almost all the students came to the venue, and the originally spacious space became crowded.

In the bustling stadium, there was noise everywhere.

It was under such circumstances that the football competition finally slowly opened its curtain.

Buzz——

Some sharp microphone hums came from the surrounding speakers, causing many people to cover their ears and the venue became quiet.

The host's voice sounded the next second.

"Then - in the match between Class 1 of the second year and Class 3 of the second year, players from both sides will be invited to appear."

Amidst the applause, the starting players of the two teams walked onto the court one after another, and lined up on the court with the center line as the center line, with a certain distance between the two sides.

The first to introduce are the members of Class 1.

Although the host tried his best to incite, the effect was frankly not very good. The audience only gave some sparse applause.

This reaction not only made the five boys from Class 1 look a little embarrassed, but even the student in charge of the host sighed inwardly, then quickly changed the focus and began to introduce the members of Class 3.

"Well, here are the contestants from Class 3."

"——"

"——"

"——"

Every time a name is read, the corresponding player will step forward and wave, nod, or wave to the audience.

"Taniguchi."

A boy with long hair came out and gave a coquettish thumbs up to the stands. He received a lot of applause and boos. He was obviously very popular.

After a few beats.

"Saito——"

Crash--

When the host just pronounced the first syllable, the audience burst into warm applause and cheers, and the decibel level exceeded that of everyone before.

Like a star, Saito, wearing a black jersey, walked up to Taniguchi, smiled and waved to the audience.

Pah pah pah pah——

The applause became more intense.

There are even many girls who put their hands to their mouths like loudspeakers and enthusiastically shouted words such as "Saito~ Come on——!" It is extremely popular.

With a height of 1.8 meters, he looks very tall in the team. His fashionable middle-parted hairstyle is very finely trimmed, with obvious traces of a professional hairdresser.

A black T-shirt with shorts, as well as black wristbands and basketball shoes.

The toned physique is shrouded in black, exuding frightening courage.

On the back of the black team uniform, the characters "Glee and Thunder" are written in vigorous strokes. It seems to be a title, and it looks quite extraordinary.

The strong and slender hands and feet have muscles developed through hard training, and there is a unique and powerful aura in his movements, as if he was born to be the focus of the court, and people are unconsciously attracted to his posture.

Yusuke, who silently looked at Saito for a while, came to the above conclusion. He was sitting quietly in the contestant seat belonging to Class 1 without anyone paying attention.

There is another boy sitting next to him, but Yusuke has no intention of talking, and the other boy is looking at his teammates on the field with a worried look, with an anxious look on his face.

Although both of them are substitutes, their treatment is obviously different.

This can be seen from the fact that Misaki-sensei did not assign tasks to him before.

…

The game started soon, with both sides taking their respective positions.

The physical education teacher who was the sole referee walked to the center of the court with a basketball and blew the whistle with a "whoosh" sound.

The blue ball was thrown from his hand and flew into the sky.

The center players on both sides stared at the basketball in the air and jumped up together.

——Paji.

Gu Dao

Black gets the ball first.

Chie, chie, boom.
To be continued...