The Generation of Miracles Reincarnated
Chapter 29
Akashi turned to stare at the bluenette who was sitting beside him on the bench. Reason being? The bench was shaking. "Tetsuya, is something the matter?" the redhead asked.
Tetsuya followed his gaze down to his shaking legs. "It's nothing, Seijūrō-kun."
"You sure?"
"I'm just excited. Momoi-san said that we can only play in the semi-finals onwards at most, though she is trying to only let us play in the finals," Tetsuya answered, eyeing the players on the court.
Akashi chuckled at the bluenette's antics. He could not blame him, since he himself was also excited to play.
Currently, it was only the second quarter between the Japan team and the Senegal team. Guess the situation? The Japan team was far ahead with a twenty-point gap between the two.
Taiga's jumping power allowed him to mark their shooting guard, and anyone for that matter who was trying to shoot. Shūzō powerful drive that allows him to drive past even the burliest players. Kotarō's lighting dribbling so that no one could even keep up, let alone steal it. Eikichi's gorilla-like strength, that even those Senegal players could not overpower. Reo's amazing three-pointers that essentially could not be blocked.
Of course, the result was inevitable. Akashi almost chuckled at the shock those Senegal players felt, even cursing in French while panicking. Of course, since he had learnt so many languages over his childhood, French was one of the basic languages if he were ever to do business with Europeans.
"Aka-Seijūrō-kun, what are they saying?" Tetsuya asked as Reo scored another three.
"Nothing much, other than cursing. They are shouting out their defense strategy, apparently not knowing that I know French too. It's amusing," Akashi replied.
Tetsuya tilted his head to the side. "How many languages do you know?"
"Hm, many. Japanese, of course, English, Chinese, French, German, Russian, Tamil, Mala—"
"Ok, ok. I get it. Seijūrō-kun is as smart as always." Akashi chuckled.
In the end, they almost doubled the Senegal's score. "Hah! That's what they get for calling us short!" Taiga yelled in glee, smirking at them. Japan had one win already.
Over the course of the preliminary round, Japan, for almost the first time ever, won every single game. Since they were in Group B, they would have a knockout stage with one of the top two from Group A. Their next opponent was Cuba.
Currently, the group was walking back all together to the convenience store nearby to get popsicles again. "Ahhh, so, we have to play in the semis too?" Kotarō whined.
Satsuki nodded. "Un! Unless there's a dire need, but if not, you guys will be playing through!"
"Whaaaaat! I want to play already!" Daiki yelled.
Satsuki sighed. "But if we throw out our trump cards, then the opponent wouldn't have a shock!"
"Meh. Whatever."
"Daiki, if you want to play basketball so badly, then I will have your training menu for tomorrow tripled, how about that?" Akashi concluded, smirking as Daiki shook with fear.
"Seijūrō-kun really likes to torture your teammates," Tetsuya deadpanned.
"Torture? I do no such thing. I am merely just preparing them for the match." Everyone sighed.
"EH WAIT. WHAT DID KUROKO CALL AKASHI?!" Kagami shouted.
Tetsuya raised an eyebrow. "Kagami-kun, are you deaf?"
"NO! I heard you, but since when were you two so intimate?!"
Both blushed slightly, though Tetsuya's one was full blown red. Akashi was fortunate that the sun was setting, allowing the orange light rays to hide his blush.
"E-eh! Kurokocchi! Call me Ryōta-kun too!"
"No."
"Why?"
"Because you are irritating." Everyone laughed, though the blonde just kept on grabbing his arm to plead him. Tetsuya just sighed as the reached the convenience store to buy popsicles.
If the gymnasium was considered as packed during the opening ceremony, then the gymnasium was overflowing with people during the semifinals.
"Whoah, the tension is so great," Reo mused as the Japan team walked to their bench. Cheers erupted at the sight of the new and powerful team of teenagers, being a first in basketball history for such a young and inexperienced team to win over and over again. And today, they were not planning to lose either.
"Look! They are so buff! Maybe even Nebuya can't beat them!" Kotarō pointed at the Cubans.
Nebuya heard that comment and yelled, "Oi, you calling me weak, you piece of shit?" Just then, he let out a big and long burp. Everyone covered their mouth, with Reo whacking him on the head, saying he was so rude.
Akashi glared at everyone, promptly shutting them up. "These people are the second in Group A. If you lose because of carelessness, you will get your punishment."
Everyone visibly gulped. When Akashi left it vague like that, they knew they were in trouble if they did not meet his expectations. "Allllllright! We're heading to the court!" Shūzō broke the silence. The five walked to the center and awaited for the games to begin.
Not wanting to face the wrath of their feared captain, they did not dare lower their guards for a second, allowing them a very big head start. Apparently, Cuba was just like Seirin, needing a 'warm-up' time before getting serious.
"Eh… Akashicchi, doesn't it seem like the Olympics isn't even as fun as the Winter Cup?" Ryōta asked.
Akashi shook his head. "They are formidable opponents, based on Satsuki's information and the previous National Team's experience. If they weren't looking down on us, then they'd be more serious."
Almost just as that time, he heard a player cursing in Spanish that they should not have gone easy on them. "See? That number five over there just said that they shouldn't have gone easy on us."
"So Seijūrō-kun knows Spanish too."
"Of course."
"Show off."
Akashi scoffed. As per expected, they beat the other team by fifty points. The whole stadium erupted in cheers once again ever since their first match. "Whoah! That Japan's team is so cool!" some others shouted.
"Go, Japan!" some cheered.
Before leaving the court, all of them waved to the audiences, earning some wolf whistles.
Two days later, the Finals were about to begin. The two contestants? Japan and the United States. The semifinals could not even compare with the amount of people in the stadium currently. Even the other countries' teams were here to take a look.
Then they heard a loud burst from the other team. "HAHAHAH CAPTAIN LOOK AT THEM! THEY'RE SO SHORT! JUST LIKE ALL THE OTHER ASIANS!" a loudmouthed player, most likely a power or small forward, yelled. Even if they were Japanese, the current school curriculum still taught them basic English.
Thus, as high school students, they picked out some words. 'Hahahah', 'captain', 'short', 'just like all the other Asians'. This time, killer intent leaked out from everyone, not just the second shortest player of their group.
"I'm sorry to interrupt your… complaint, but just so you know, you would do good not to underestimate us 'short' people," Akashi said in English, not even a hit of an accent in his voice.
The Senegal players heard that and were quaking in fear. Meanwhile, the rest were just gulping, silently grieving for the US team. Taiga started complaining that it was unfair that Akashi did not even have an accent.
Ignoring the rest, Akashi glared daggers into the US players. "Oi, shorty. We aren't underestimating you. It's just that we believe no one can beat us," the number four captain replied.
"Oh? I have the same confidence in my team as well. Let's have a good match then," Akashi growled.