Todai High School: Principal's Office
Looking at Shinkawa, who had a troubled expression on his face, Todai's principal took a drag from his cigarette and asked helplessly with a wry smile:
"Still couldn't recruit anyone?"
Shinkawa sighed, shaking his head with a bitter smile.
"No."
Seeing this, Principal Murakami didn't press further. After a moment of silence, he spoke again:
"If it really doesn't work, I'll have to think of other options. Or maybe you should just go coach at another school. It'd be a waste of your talent otherwise."
As friends of over a decade, Murakami understood Shinkawa's ambition very well. That ambition was to personally build a championship team. In Murakami's eyes, Shinkawa truly had the ability to do it. As for why Shinkawa was at Todai in the first place, it was because Murakami also wanted his school to have something to be proud of, something to make the name of Todai known. That was why he had brought Shinkawa in as the basketball coach.
But reality had fallen far short of expectations. Shinkawa had gone to many places, yet only managed to bring in a single freshman he found promising. Thinking of this, Shinkawa suddenly spoke again:
"That student, Sora Kurumatani, his family situation is a bit special. I hope you can keep an eye on him."
Murakami nodded.
"Alright. I'll pay attention."
After chatting for a while longer, Shinkawa glanced at the time and stood up.
"It's getting late. I should go check on my players."
Murakami nodded, but when he thought about the run-down basketball club, he couldn't help but smile bitterly.
"Still not considering changing schools?"
Hearing that, Shinkawa paused at the door, fell silent for a moment, and then turned back to Murakami.
"If I can't recruit anyone this year, then I'll recruit them next year." With that, he left.
Watching Shinkawa's back, Murakami felt a deep sense of guilt. Shinkawa had turned down invitations from several well-known high schools to accept his offer without hesitation. Seeing his old friend so troubled filled Murakami with remorse. He honestly couldn't understand why their school had nothing it truly excelled at.
...
On the Todai basketball court, while warming up, Ueno glanced at the visibly excited Kurumatani and, after some thought, asked:
"Sora, who else is in your family?"
Sora's expression subtly changed. After a brief pause, he smiled again.
"My mom and my dad. But my dad isn't in Tokyo." With that, Sora ended his warm-up early, picked up a fully inflated basketball, and walked alone toward the hoop. Watching his back, Ueno frowned slightly. A moment later, he let out a helpless sigh. Some things were beyond his control, even if he already knew the story.
By now, he was certain: Sora was the protagonist of Ahiru no Sora, a basketball anime he had watched in his previous life.
At the moment, only Ueno and Sora were on the court to practice. Aside from the two seniors he had met earlier, none of the other club members had shown up yet. Looking at the hoop, Ueno took a few shots. Ten shots, nine made. A 90% shooting rate. His touch was still very good. During the break after middle school, he had spent almost all his time on physical training to prepare his body for the Zone.
Nearby, Sora looked at Ueno's tall frame, thought of something, and walked over with the ball in his arms.
"Ueno, can you dunk?"
Ueno froze for a moment. Sora's question reminded him of the only dunk he had ever done: the one against the Generation of Miracles. After thinking for a bit, he nodded.
"I probably can."
The moment he said that, Kurumatani's eyes lit up.
"Really?! That's amazing! I want to dunk too, but I know that's impossible."
A trace of loneliness flashed through Sora's eyes. Anyone who loves basketball loves the idea of slamming the ball through the hoop. It is wild, fiery, and exhilarating.
Seeing Sora's dejected expression, Ueno didn't know how to comfort him. At barely over 160 cm tall, it wasn't like he could say he would eventually reach the rim. Just as Ueno was struggling to find the right words, Sora smiled at him.
"Even if I can't dunk, I'll work hard to get the ball to your hands!"
Ueno froze, then the corners of his mouth lifted.
"If that's the case, then I'll dunk your share too."
"Then it's a promise."
"It's a promise."
...
As they were talking, several people walked onto the court wearing basketball uniforms.
"We actually recruited two people this year?"
"But aren't these two a bit too..."
"One's ridiculously tall, and the other's ridiculously short!"
A man who looked like the captain stepped forward.
"Hey, you're the new guys. My name is Miyara Hajime, third year. I'm the basketball club president and the team captain. These guys here are also third-years: Murame Mae and Kimura Sato."
Murame and Kimura smiled and waved. "Nice to meet you."
"And these two are second-years: Kamigyo Ichi and Shin Yoshimori."
"Nice to meet you, senpai! I'm first-year Sora Kurumatani!"
"Ueno Juri."
Seeing Ueno's height, Miyara stepped closer to compare. He was still a few centimeters shorter than the freshman.
"Ueno?"
"Yes, Captain."
"How tall are you?"
"185 centimeters."
Everyone reacted in shock. 185 cm was definitely tall for a freshman. Their gazes then shifted to Sora. Seeing his small frame, Miyara frowned slightly but didn't say anything.
"Alright then. Let's start warming up. The coach will be here soon."
Nearby, while stretching, Kamigyo glanced at Shin. "Don't you think that Ueno guy looks really familiar?"
Shin nodded. "A little."
Kamigyo studied Ueno further. "Do you remember where we've seen him?"
Shin thought for a moment, then replied calmly: "At the preliminary tournament."
"What? When did he play against us?" Kamigyo was shocked.
Shin glanced at him. "Not against us. We didn't participate in any tournaments this year. The one against the Generation of Miracles. His school."
That instantly jogged Kamigyo's memory. "The game against those Miracle freaks? So it was him!" Suddenly realizing the truth, Kamigyo shouted out loud.
Everyone turned to look at him. Feeling a wave of embarrassment, Kamigyo instinctively glanced at Shin for support, but Shin had already moved away.
"When did that happen?!"
Turning back, Kamigyo saw that Shin had already blended into Ueno's dribbling group. Under everyone's confused gazes, Kamigyo could only laugh awkwardly.
"Just got excited all of a sudden! Sorry!"