The sports complex owned by my family could be seen as the driver stopped at the red light. I started to panic the closer we drove to the complex as I thought about the amount of people that I would be seeing again after a very long time. I mean, sure, I haven't been to Japan for 2 years but I haven't seen this people since I graduated from high school. I skipped part of middle school and high school so when I was still living in Japan, my family encouraged me to go to complete both. They were basically saying to me that I needed to socialize more.
Finally, the car pulled up to the gates of the sports complex. Sure, I was a couple hours late but I think it was best to not get to the camp that quickly after landing. It may take the normal person at least a day to adjust to the environment of the country they're visiting because of the time difference and jet lag. I, however, am not a normal person because sleep doesn't really affect my performance.
Luckily, while on the way to the complex, I asked the driver to stop by a small breakfast shop and bought breakfast for myself and the driver as well. That was 2 hours ago so I should be alright with running to where the camp is while the driver brings my stuff to the dorms near the indoor basketball courts.
I got out of the car with my sports bag after telling my driver what my plan was, well, not really my plan because the coaches there were the ones who suggested I do it. I sorted out some documents with the security officers and finally got to step foot inside the gates. Nodding to the driver, I started to run towards the indoor court where they were warming up in. It was approximately a 2km run which I consider a warm up but I'll still warm up more later at the basketball court. Getting there was actually easy as I was the one who helped my cousin design this place after all.
The indoor basketball court came into my view a couple minutes later. I then transitioned into a slow jog before stopping to catch my breath a few meters away from the court. Actually, I was lying to myself by saying that I needed to catch my breath when in reality, I was mentally preparing myself for what was going to happen the moment I went into the indoor basketball court.
Sighing at my coming predicament, I walked reluctantly towards the indoor basketball court that was labelled Indoor B-Ball Court 1. Nearing the indoor court, I stopped in front of the doors leading inside. I hovered my hand over the door handle before pulling it back again, still questioning my being here at the basketball camp. I slapped myself before putting my hand on the handle and sliding the door open slowly, but aggressively to make sure I don't attract any attention.
Once the doors were open enough for me to pass through to go in, I took of my shoes and stepped inside. I quietly closed the doors and turned only to make eye contact with Riko-senpai, who was briefing all the attending basketball players except me. With my appearance, she quickly finishes her briefing and lets all the guys get ready for warm-ups before approaching me. The other coaches who coached the opposing teams' high schools while I attended Seirin for a while also approached me.
"Yo Nyx-san! You're finally here!" Riko-senpai's father said out loud while waving frantically at me. I tensed up when he did that. There goes my plan of not attracting attention from everyone.
The moment he yelled out my name, all eyes were on me. I stopped breathing momentarily and looked down so my hair would cover my face. I didn't know how long I stood there for under their stars but my breathing continued normally only after Riko-senpai dragged me up to the spectators' stand by my arm. Once there, I noticed that the coaches were all there too.
"Sorry kid. Didn't realize that you were tryna keep a low profile till warm- up started," Aida-san said to me.
I just shrugged and tried to get away from the stand's ledge to make sure the guys can't see me. He then introduced me to the other coaches, Araki-san, Takeuchi-san and Shirogane-san. When it got to his introduction, his name was sort of familiar. He shared the same surname as my middle school basketball coach. I dismissed that thought, could just be a coincidence.
Riko-senpai then summarized the briefing for me so I knew what was going on. The coaches then left me alone up in the stands so I could prepare what I needed before going down to warm up. I decided to do most of my stretches while I was still up in the spectator stand so I could postpone my inevitable fate of interacting with them.
Yas. Another chapter upload. Hope you people enjoy it. I feel like with every chapter my writing gets worse LOL. Byeeeeeeee
~The Author
