This is supposed to be a reorientation not a f**king drill. We're here to play basketball not to sign up for the military, Eren thought as their head coach Keith Shadis shouted over their heads.
"NOW YOU MAGGOTS", Shadis shouted to the trainees, "YOU ARE HERE TO PLAY BASKETBALL AND I EXPECT YOU TO GIVE YOUR HEART AND SOUL INTO IT!. NOW SALUTE!!!".
Eren couldn't have been more pissed at the obnoxious barking of the head coach. He glanced towards Armin and saw a bit of nervousness in him but it wasn't only him, other trainees were also shaking nervously as the head coach crushed everything they knew about basketball including their ideals and goals.
"YOU ARE THE 104th BASKETBALL TRAINEES AND WHATEVER YOU THOUGHT YOU KNEW ABOUT BASKETBALL SHOULD BE THROWN ASIDE BECAUSE YOU KNOW NOTHING!!!".
This statement made by Shadis had already crushed the mindset of most of the trainees. After Shadis had spoken, he walked around staring into the eyes of each of the trainees, assessing them and criticizing their looks, speeches and actions.
"WHAT IS YOUR NAME ROOKIE?"
"Marco Bodt, Sir"
"AM I TALKING TO A POLE, I ASKED YOU WHAT IS YOUR NAME ROOKIE?!!"
"MARCO BODT, SIR!"
"WHY ARE YOU HERE BODT?"
"TO PLAY BASKETBALL AND SERVE THE COLLEGE TEAM TO VICTORY!!"
"Let me tell you a secret Bodt", Shadis whispered as he leaned closer to Marco's ear, "the college doesn't want you", he whispered and left to interrogate the next person.
As he was doing that, a short black haired man with an undercut hairstyle and grayish-black eyes stood beside a tall man with blond hair and blue eyes, thick eyebrows and his hair shaped neatly. They were watching the interrogation of the trainees and how Shadis bypassed some of them without questioning them.
"Tch, must he always do this every year", said the man with black hair.
"You know as much as I do that it's necessary for him to do this. He has to prove to the kids that here we only accept the best and what better way to do that than by destroying what they already know", replied the blond haired man.
"You sound like a military commander Erwin"
"As always Levi".
They were interrupted by Shadis grabbing the head of an almost bald boy and dangling him in the air.
"IS THIS OUR SALUTE SPRINGER?, IS YOUR HEART ON YOUR RIGHT SIDE FREAK?, CORRECT IT BEFORE I CHANGE MY MIND!!"
"Y-yes Sir", poor Connie replied as he was dangling in the air.
A snicker was heard and Shadis dropped Connie to go to the person who made such a sound.
"CAN YOU TELL ME HORSEY WHAT WAS SO FUNNY?!!", Shadis shouted to Jean who had a smug look on his face.
Eren could only feel sorry for the poor bastard.
"NOTHING SIR!!", Jean replied
"YOU MUST THINK YOU'RE SO FUNNY, COCKY BRAT", Shadis said and head butted Jean right between the eyes.
"WHO GAVE YOU THE PERMISSION TO SIT DOWN KIRSTEIN CAUSE IT SURE AS HELL WASN'T ME", Shadis said and walked away from Jean who was scrambling to his feet while massaging his head.
After the reorientation, the blond haired man, Erwin, came up to the front and announced "I'm Erwin Smith and I'm going to be your assistant head coach. Just as Keith Shadis has said you are here to play basketball and if I may add you are also here to win. This trial game is to select the best from the best, those who will represent us at the national and international levels and bring honor to the college. Standing beside me is Levi Ackerman who is one of the various coaches who will be involved in training you to bring out your maximum best. Need I remind you that even those who achieved scholarship in basketball will still be discarded if their performance isn't up to expectations. So without delay may I call forth Eren Jaeger, Armin Arlert, Finn Ryder, Jean Kirstein, Reiner Braun and Bertholt Hoover.".
The following stepped up and stood at the front with their right hand curled up in a fist against the left side of their chest and their left hand behind their back.
"These are the students who got a scholarship on the basis of their basketball performance but I tell you it will be more difficult for you to make the team than the others", Erwin said.
"Are we supposed to be scared, coach?", Finn said.
Oi Oi Oi What the hell is he doing?, does he want to be disqualified, Eren thought.
"Seems to me that we don't even have to do much. After all we're here because our performance was top notch. Isn't that right, Smith?", Finn said with that sinister smile on his face.
"Indeed you are right Mr Ryder but I was not the one who offered you the scholarship so as far as I'm concerned you're a normal, weak player and I have my own expectations from you. I expect you to give your best or else you'll be discarded", Erwin said, "and the same goes for all of you as well!!".
"You make it sound like we're objects", Finn spoke once again.
"It's time you kept your mouth shut brat", Levi spoke.
"Calm down Levi", Erwin said with an amused expression, "That will be all concerning your orientation. We will divide you into teams to evaluate you. A paper will be passed indicating your teammates and you will join up with them. Each team has a number and when we call the number you and your teammates are to come to the court to begin your match. You are dismissed!!".
Everyone scattered waiting for the papers to be passed around then suddenly a woman with dark reddish-brown hair tied up in a ponytail, wearing glasses or goggles to be exact with an energetic smile showed up behind a table with papers in her hands and announced "Hey everyone I'm Hange Zoe and I'm the head medic. Here are the papers so make a line and collect your papers orderly".
When everyone heard this they headed over to the table and began to pick a paper each.
Hmm I got a 3, Armin thought.
"Yo Armin, which number did you get", Eren shouted from across the court.
"A three"
"Me too"
"Oi don't forget us"
Eren and Armin turned towards the source of the voice and it came from Connie, who was walking towards them with Bertholt and Jean.
"So I'm guess we're all on the same team", Eren asked.
"Yeah yeah", waved Jean
"Bastard"
"Bastard"
"Ohh you want to play that copycat game. I'll kick your ass if you say one more word", Eren threatened
"I'll kick your ass blah blah blah", Jean mimicked, "bring it on!"
"That's enough guys. Shadis is back", Connie said which stopped their bickering at once.
"I'M BACK FROM THE DEAD BRATS. IT IS TIME FOR THE GAME. DUE TO TIME EACH MATCH WILL LAST FOR TEN MINUTES WITH A 5 MINUTE BREAK IN-BETWEEN. SO TEAM 1 AND 2 STEP FORWARD AND BEGIN YOUR MATCH", Keith shouted.
The first and second team came to the court and the match began with the other trainees sitting as the audience and watching the match.
The two teams got in the middle of the court, bowed and took their positions. One member from each team remained in the middle with the referee between them. The referee blew his whistle and and threw the ball in the air and the match began.
The match was a bit slow in Armin's perspective as the players were playing nervously and constantly slipping up on openings. Armin figured that they were scared of being discarded and that Erwin's words had sunk in which was affecting their play. Halftime reached and teams rested on the benches with the score 10-11.
Armin looked around for familiar faces and saw Finn and Reiner sitting on the same row. By Finn's expression it looked like he was asleep. Armin couldn't believe it and just chuckled inwardly at his behavior secretly hoping that Keith does not catch him.
At the end of the game the score was 17-20 with team 2 winning the match.
Erwin came up and called for Team 3 and 4 which was Armin's team(team 3).
Armin, Eren, Jean, Bertholt and Connie came to the court and they were a bit surprised at who team 4, their opponents were. Finn, Reiner, Marco, Thomas and Marlowe made up team 4.
The teams stood opposite each other in a straight line, bowed their heads and went to their positions while Eren and Reiner remained in the middle to catch the jump ball.
As the referee came, threw the ball and blew the whistle, the game started.
Eren and Reiner both jumped but Eren hit the ball first which passed on to Connie who caught the ball.
Connie began to run towards their opponents a bit nervous as he had only played basketball once. As he got to the middle he stopped, bounced the ball and passed to Bertholt who immediately shot a three into the basket.
"Woaah!!", cries of surprise went up from the audience who were impressed at the shot that Bertholt made.
So that's their plan, Finn thought, to score first and keep on the lead with us at a disadvantage. Hehe interesting and if I guess right Armin's the one who came up with it.
After the first basket, Thomas held the ball and passed it to Reiner who bounced the ball while looking around and passed it to Marco. Now Marco has a special sense that allowed him to view the court from an eagle's vision for a short while which enables him to pass effectively and steal the ball from other opponents. As Marco held the ball Eren ran towards him in an attempt to steal the ball but Marco made a surprising move by faking a pass to Finn but passing it the other way towards Marlowe who was within the 2 points range. This caught Eren off guard but surprisingly Jean caught the ball before it could reach Marlowe and passed it to Bertholt who shot another three into the basket.
Woaah, another set of cries went up from the audience.
"Say Reiner, how far can Bertholt shoot on the court", Finn asked
"From about half court", Reiner replied
"In that case, Thomas change your mark to Bertholt and Marlowe let your mark be Eren".
"Got it", said individuals replied.
"Reiner mark Armin and don't let him leave your sight"
"Wait what?", Reiner said.
Exactly the reaction I was looking for.
"Never mind Reiner I'll handle Armin", Finn responded, "take care of Jean".
"Okkaayy", Reiner replied skeptically.
As Marlowe ran with the ball he passed to Reiner who cut through Connie and passed through. On getting to the two point line he stopped and passed to Marlowe who made a shot within the two point range.
"Alright regroup", Reiner shouted and they fell back to their positions.
"We're late", Anna said as she and Mikasa arrived at the entrance to the court.
"Don't worry it's just the second minute into the game. We still have plenty of time to see them play", replied Mikasa, who stood beside her looking at the scoreboard.
"6-2, it's like Armin's team is in the lead"
"Seems like it"
"Isn't that Annie over there?", Anna said. "Hey Annie", Anna waved as she and Mikasa made their way over to her.
"Hey", Annie replied.
"I take it you're here to see Reiner and Bertholt"
"Not really. They forced me to come"
"Hmm, well let's sit and watch them", Mikasa said as they took their seats and watched the match.
Armin was getting a bit nervous about the match as Finn saw right through his plan and already provided counter measures.
"Armin catch", Connie's voice rang through as he passed. Armin caught the ball and began to move towards the opposite basket. As he was running, he was stopped by Finn who had his head down and his eyes covered by his bangs.
"It's just you and me now Armin", Finn said with a sinister and deep voice.
Armin being the klutz he is managed to slip a bit and lost the ball to Reiner who made a dunk over Jean.
"What a dunk!!!", shouts were heard from the audience above.
Jean looked at Armin with an incredulous expression but just shrugged it off and went back to his position.
"Armin you alright?", Eren asked and pulled Armin to his feet.
"I-I'm fine", replied Armin.
As he stood up, he glanced at Finn who had a small smirk on his face but disregarded it nonetheless.
"Reiner, as much as possible, do not underestimate Armin", Finn told Reiner.
"I'll try but he isn't much. How the hell did he even get a scholarship", Reiner replied.
The smile turned even more sinister, "You've been warned Reiner", Finn said, then walked away.
"They're good", Mike said.
"Indeed. They are definitely impressive", Erwin replied.
As the match went on, team 4 were just making dunks left and right. It was so easy as they "figured" that Armin couldn't play shit and targeted him using his weakness to their advantage.
The whistle was blown, "halftime", shouted the referee.
The score is 11-16 with Team 4 in the lead.
As they sat down, Marlowe and Thomas began to talk of how weak and easy it was to score against team 3. Marco kept quiet because he was suspicious of how the game was going and the fact that Jean wasn't really playing up to speed. Reiner also had his suspicions but didn't say anything about it. Finn on the other hand already had an idea of what was happening but didn't bother to feel worried.
"Yo Armin, how long are we gonna keep this up?", Jean asked.
"Don't worry, everything is going smoothly, a little too smooth, but during the next half we're going all out", Armin said, "so everyone next half give it your best".
"About damn time", Eren said, "now we can get some real action".
Eren and Armin shared a look between themselves and nodded to each other.
The second half started.
Connie bounced the ball and passed it to Jean who was about to give it to Bertholt but was intercepted by Marco who passed the ball to Thomas.
As the ball made its way to Thomas it happened all of a sudden, Armin showed up from nowhere and shot the ball towards the basket which hit the rim and was in the air. But as Reiner was about to catch the rebound Eren jumped in the air and slammed the ball right through the basket.
"Wow! An alley-oop", "Amazing", the crowd shouted.
Finn was caught by surprise, he did not see this coming.
Thomas looked back to his front but Armin wasn't there, "where did he go?", Thomas asked.
"Nice one Armin", Eren said and gave Armin a high five.
"Thanks", Armin replied.
Misdirection, a rare style of basketball that a person who lacks presence or is ignored uses to play. It involves taking attention from yourself and directing it elsewhere making an opponent to lose sight of you till you come in contact with something that is of higher presence. In this case Armin is the one who lacks presence and was being ignored because of inability to perform. Really interesting, but still, Anna thought.
"Mikasa, it's misdirection isn't it?", Anna asked.
"So you know", Mikasa said
"Yeah. It's very rare but it is still a style of basketball"
"This might prove fatal for Reiner", Annie said, "the meat head doesn't observe, he just plays to win".
"But I'm impressed with Armin. I didn't expect him to be able to do that", Annie continued.
"That is his style that brings out the best in him, Eren and his team", Mikasa said.
"Hmm well it doesn't matter. It will take more than that to stop Finn. Look at him", Anna said.
They turned and looked at him a bit shocked at his face. He was smiling with his bangs covering his eyes and back bent over a bit.
"Hmhmhm", everyone in the court looked at him, "hahahahaha", he continued to laugh.
"This is great, this is great, this is the best!! Eren, Armin, you guys are the best!!. But the outcome will remain the same because the only one who can beat me is me!", Finn said, "If you want to even have a chance at winning, come at me like you want to kill me".
Eren and Armin stood looking at him with only one goal in mind. To beat him! They both said.
To be continued....
Good grief, another late update. Please don't kill me. Anyway how was this chapter and let me hear your reviews and comments concerning this chapter. This is my first basketball scene that I've written and I hope it was good enough to read and understand. More on the way and the next chapter hopefully will be better than this one as we enter the peak of the game. How was the description of Armin's misdirection and Marco's eagle eye. More skills to come in the next chapter. As always criticism is appreciated so let me know of your opinions and views.
Thanks for reading 🙏 and I'll see ya 👋 in the next chapter.
(Next chapter (hopefully 😅) : 29th of April).