The following morning, Kiyoshi led the basketball team to the rooftop where they would swear an oath to win in the national basketball tournament. With five minutes left before the assembly started, all four of them yelled to the crowd their names, classes and their numbers. Riko was among the crowd as she watched the boys. Once they were done, Hyuga joined them, with his hair dyed back to his natural hair colour and cut short, after giving in to what Kiyoshi had told him on the previous night. He stood at the railing and declared that they would be the best in Japan.
After he had declared his goal, the teachers burst through the door, and caught them red-handed, mocking them on not being able to be the best in Japan if they couldn't follow the rules. Out of irritation, Hyuga yelled that if the team didn't achieve their goal, they would strip butt naked and confess, which was heard by the entire school. Hence, the birth of the Seirin basketball tradition. That was when Riko decided to be in the team.
The following day, the team had their first training with Riko's training regime. Running outside more than three laps, three sets of footwork, practising their shots for at least twenty times, one-on-one, two-on-two, three-on-three, free throws practice, shuttle run, weight training; Riko gave a very detailed schedule that Kiyoshi acknowledged she had put in a lot of effort. They at first appointed him as the captain, but he picked Hyuga instead. And that was when Hyuga was chosen as team captain. And so, the Seirin basketball team trained hard for the Inter-High according to the training regime planned by Riko and with her guidance.
They participated in the preliminaries and dominated them, being the team known for their run-and-gun style. In the last preliminary game, they were against Kirisaki Dai Ichi. Kiyoshi suddenly felt a pain in his left knee, but he ignored it and continued playing. Hanamiya Makoto, one of the Uncrowned Kings, was on the bench for the most part of the match and finally entered the game at the end of the fourth quarter.
The match restarted, but the new player did nothing special. When he was in the possession of the ball, he simply passed the ball around. The other players scored and Kirisaki Dai Ichi got back in defense, while Hanamiya motivated them to show what they've got, after noticing Kiyoshi's leg tremble in pain.
Seirin used their run-and-gun style and Koganei eventually shot, but it bounced off the rim. Kiyoshi and a center from Kirisaki Dai Ichi were both clashing for the rebound. But from the corner of Hyuga's eyes, he saw Hanamiya made some sort of sign by snapping his fingers, and the Kirisaki Dai Ichi center intentionally delayed Kiyoshi's jump. Kiyoshi grabbed the ball, but the Kirisaki center landed on Kiyoshi's knee, making him fall in pain.
Though Hanamiya pretended to care by asking if he was alright, Hyūga saw though his trick and grabbed him by the jersey, but Hanamiya sneered that he didn't have any evidence. After Kiyoshi was taken away, Seirin eventually won with a point ahead of Kirisaki Dai Ichi. Hanamiya said that he knew that they'd lose, and threatened Hyuga, saying that he was lucky he didn't get hurt.
After the team changed from their jersey, they visited Kiyoshi in the general hospital. "How'd the game go?" he asked when they entered his room and brought something for him.
"We won." replied Riko.
"That's great." he said. "Now we-"
"That doesn't matter." said Hyuga, interrupting him. "How's your injury?"
Kiyoshi stared his teammates for a moment before looking down. "Well..." he began grimly. "Sorry. About that..." His expression suddenly changed, and gave them a goofy smile. "It turns out it wasn't a big deal after all. It's just a sprain."
"What?" responded Izuki with relief lacing his tone. "You scared us."
"When they said you were going to the hospital, we thought..." said Tsuchida, trailing off.
"It's just for today." assured Kiyoshi. "I'll be better by next week's championship league. Sorry for making a big deal over nothing." Everyone let out a sigh of relief, except for Riko and Hyuga, who seemed to have noticed something off about Kiyoshi.
"Well, see you at school." said Izuki.
"Later." said Koganei.
"Yeah." said Kiyoshi as he watched his teammates leave.
Later that evening, he was staring out the window, letting his thoughts wander about his future in basketball. He was so occupied in his own thoughts that he suddenly felt something landed in his lap. He looked down to see a canned coffee. "Sheesh." said the visitor, which turned out to be Hyuga. "That's some obvious bravado." Hyuga sat on the floor, next to Kiyoshi's bed.
"Hyuga." said the latter as he stared at the said boy.
"You'd never abandon a game over a sprain." he noted.
"No, I'm fine." assured Kiyoshi while holding the canned coffee. "It'll heal by next week. Besides, they say sickness and health starts with the mind."
"Don't make fun of me!" scolded Hyuga before looking at him. "You're even hiding things from your captain?"
Kiyoshi stared at him before turning away and sighed, knowing that he wouldn't be able to hide the truth from Hyuga. "I've been feeling something is off for a while." he began. Unbeknown to them, Riko was standing outside door eavesdropping the entire conversation. "After surgery and rehabilitation, they said I'll have fully recovered by the time I graduated from high school."
"What?" she quietly gasped.
"It's possible to skip the surgery and stick with just rehabilitation, but it'll still be a year before I can come back." he continued.
"Even if I try to stop you, you'll still do the latter, right?" said Hyuga.
"Yeah." replied Kiyoshi before looking at the sunset again. "But I wish I could have played all three years with you. If I only do rehabilitation, I'll keep accumulating damage as long as I play basketball. Even if I come back, at most I'll be only able to play one year. We'll only be able to play next year."
"I see." said Hyuga. "Well, it can't be helped. We'll become the best team in Japan next year."
"What?" responded the surprised Kiyoshi as he looked at the captain.
"What's that face?" he scoffed. "Are you saying we can't do it?"
"No, I didn't mean..." trailed off Kiyoshi.
"By the way, when we were on the roof, you didn't say we'd become the best in Japan." noted Hyuga, remembering what he had swore on the roof before the morning assembly. This surprised Kiyoshi, but Hyuga continued, "You were shocked by Riko's words because you felt the same way. You're still suffering from the trauma you experienced in middle school." He then stood on his feet and made his way towards the window, looking out at the evening sky.
"Maybe you're the one who doesn't think we can be the best. We only have one more year together. The team that plays the most games is the one that makes it to the top and becomes the best in Japan. If you don't believe we can be the best in Japan, fine, then. I'll believe. Just follow me. So come back soon, idiot."
Kiyoshi was silent as he digested everything Hyuga had said to him. He looked down at the canned coffee in his hands, gripping it tightly. "Sorry." he muttered as tears dripped down from his eyes. "Then... Wait for me. I'll be back, soon."
"Don't apologise to me." said Hyuga, with his back still facing him. "We're teammates."
~Flashback ends~
"After that, without Kiyoshi, we were crushed by the Three Kings in the championship league." said Hyuga after he had told Kiyoshi's story to Kuroko and Kagami, whose moods were dampened by what happened to their senior, while walking down the walkway. "Though Yasu lost contact with Kiyoshi until now, Riko had to tell her because she's the manager, and with her special eyes, she was even more aware of the condition of his legs. That's that."
He turned to look at the first-years who looked depressed. "Come on, don't take it so seriously. It's just an old story. You don't need to worry about it." He then stopped walking. "This is the only year I'll get to play with Kiyoshi. I don't want to have any regrets." Kuroko and Kagami only stared at his back, without uttering a word.
YOU ARE READING
That Manager - Kuroko no Basuke (Book 2)
Fanfiction(Second Book of "That Manager") Yukimura Yasu was the manager of the Teiko Junior High basketball team, a team that consisted of six team players each with special skills and abilities. However, during her Senior year, she had to move to another cou...
