The Miya Triplets | Komori Motoya (On Pause)

Chapter 27

As quickly as finals week came around, it passed and fortunately all of the basketball and volleyball players passed. None of them had to worry about make-up exams or being taken off the starting roster for any of the nationals matches.

Summer break had begun signaling the end of the first semester, but nationwide all athletes had no time to waste. With school over and the nationals only a few weeks away, athletes could finally devote all of their undivided attention to preparation for bringing home the champion title.

The schedule for the next six weeks includes training camp, training camp, regular practice, basketball Interhigh, volleyball Interhigh, and Spring Interhigh Prefecture Qualifiers. The different tournaments don't overlap, allowing for people to attend both in support of all family and friends.

During the last two weeks of July, the basketball and volleyball teams, respectively, attended joint training camps held by other schools. The training camps consisted of neighboring schools like Fushichou High and some from other prefectures. The two weeks allowed for all athletes and coaches to gauge how they would fare during an official match. It also provided a wakeup call on what still needs to be fine-tuned to become viable or potential weapons during the tournament. By the end of it, the Inarizaki athletes felt confident they could win the whole thing.

After the two-week camp, the basketball team only had one week until Interhigh. Their remaining practices were less intense than usual to ensure no injuries or fatigue. The last thing they would want is a player sitting out for medical reasons. Meanwhile, the boys' team had two weeks until Interhigh, increasing the intensity and duration of individual practice for one week before they're forced to tone it down right before the tournament.

On the first day of the basketball Interhigh, the girls' team met up early on the school grounds before heading to the station as a large group to cut transportation costs. The tournament is held at the Nishinomiya City Central Gymnasium, about two hours by train from their school. Unlike the players, their supporters didn't have to leave as early, being able to drive there within an hour and a half instead of taking the train.

The Miya/Miyake and Ojiro households were the carpool drivers for the boys. Mama Miya and Miyake Tani took separate cars because the Miya's only have a five-seater and trying to fit four nearly six feet tall athlete boys was not an ideal for an hour and a half drive. So, Mama Miya took Atsumu and Ginjima while Miyake took Osamu and Suna. Whereas the Ojiro's had a bigger car taking Aran, Kita, Omimi, and Akagi.

When the girls arrived at the venue there were some teams already there with spectators filling up the seats or conversing outside waiting for the tournament to start. Their Interhigh consists of eight teams, two from each region north, east, south, and west. In the first round, the quarterfinals, the teams will be randomly paired, making sure teams from the same region are separated. The same region teams already competed in the preliminaries; it wouldn't make sense or be fair to have them compete again for the first round.

The winners from each match will proceed to the semifinals. After the semifinals there will be the third-place match and then finally the final match to decide the winner of the Interhigh Tournament. In total, the Interhigh will have four rounds, eight matches.

While warming up, the Inarizaki and Itachiyama teams caught sight of each other. The two teams weren't playing against one another standing on different courts, but that didn't stop the trash-talking and non-verbal intimidation between the loud foxes and highlighter weasels. The surrounding teams and audience watched on feeling the intense rivalry and closeness between all the players, primarily their captains.

In the quarterfinals, Inarizaki was matched up with a school representing the northern region. For the first years, it was their first-time experiencing nationals at the high school level, and it was unlike anything they could have imagined. It was only the first round of the tournament, and they were continuously neck and neck with their opponent. Neither of the teams were letting the other gain momentum to increase the score gap. There were many fouls committed from both sides giving the audience the impression nobody wants to lose. Every single player on the court was giving one hundred or even one hundred and twenty percent effort to win. They were all there with every intent of winning the championship title.

Over in the other quarterfinal courts, Itachiyama was playing against a southern school and Fushichou against a different Tokyo school. For Itachiyama, their game went smoother than Inarizaki's; they were able to maintain the lead throughout the entire four quarters. However, the same couldn't be said for Fushichou's game. During the preliminaries, Fushichou lost to Inarizaki by twenty plus points. Within the Hyogo prefecture, Inarizaki showed they were of a different skill level from Fushichou and neighboring schools. The skill difference of Fushichou became more apparent against the Tokyo team, who were from the capital where there's more opportunities and funding to develop high level playing. By the end of the quarterfinals, the teams to advance were Inarizaki, Itachiyama, the team against Fushichou, and a team from the south.

In the semifinals, Inarizaki and Itachiyama were placed against each other. When the two teams were setting up for the game Inarizaki's well-known orchestra and cheer squad among the high school sports world came to life. At Inarizaki's bench hearing the loud noise of support from their family, friends, peers, and alumni got their blood pumping and excitement flowing through their body. Meanwhile, at Itachiyama's bench, the loud noise from Inarizaki's cheer section made them want to win even more to stop the excited cheers of the onlookers.

The referees called for the starters of both teams to enter the court and get into position for the tip-off. On the court there was a mixture of first, second, and third years. Everyone in the audience silenced as one of the referees held the ball between the centers tossing it in the air as they simultaneously blew their whistle, signaling the beginning of what would become an intense and unforgettable match.