Yukio passes the basketball to Tetsuo and starts playing defense. Tetsuo immediately passes the basketball to Shino, then goes into the post where Yukio plays defense on him.
"Pass me the ball," said Tetsuo as Shino passes the ball to him.
Tetsuo then shoots a fadeaway post shot that swishes.
"How did he score from that position? This kid..." said Yukio, intrigued.
"That's Tetsuo, right?" asked a girl.
"Yes, it is him."
"Nice shot, Kawaguchi! My name is Harumi Kurosawa from class 1H. We can hang out sometime!" shouted Harumi.
"Yes, nice shot! That was amazing!" shouted another girl from Harumi's class.
"Keep up the good work!" said another.
"Who the hell are those girls? And why are they cheering for Tetsuo and not me?" asked Noboru.
"Looks like Tetsuo got himself some fans," said Hayato.
"Yeah, looks like the match we played yesterday circulated throughout the whole school already," said Takahiro.
Hayato passes the basketball to Noboru and starts playing defense.
"Just wait and see. I'm going to leave these girls speechless," said Noboru as he dribbles to the hoop.
Hayato then intercepts and steals the basketball.
"Crap, you ruined my moment, Hayato."
Hayato then passes to Takahiro, and Shino steps up to guard him.
"He's way bigger than me, how will I stop him?" Shino asked himself.
Takahiro fakes a shot, making Shino jump. He then drives to the hoop and goes up for a layup. Tetsuo, who was under the basket, attempts to block. However, in mid-air, Takahiro passes a lob to Yukio, and Yukio catches it and dunks.
As the ball bounces on the floor, the girls spectating the game start screaming.
"Hamaguchi-senpai, you're so cool! Nice slam dunk!" said a girl.
"Keep it up, captain, I'm rooting for you!"
"Even Yukio is getting cheered on. This sucks," said Noboru to himself.
Tetsuo passes the basketball to Yukio and plays defense. However, Yukio passes the basketball to Hayato, who shoots a three-pointer that swishes.
"What do you think of that shot, ladies?" said Hayato to himself as he looked up at the girls.
"Who is that guy?" asked a girl.
"I don't know. His picture wasn't in the newspaper."
"Yeah, so it seems. Oh well, he's not important, just ignore him," said one of the girls bluntly.
"For some reason, I feel offended by that," said Hayato to himself.
Yukio passes the basketball to Takahiro, and Takahiro scores a layup.
Hayato passes the basketball to Yukio, and Yukio passes the basketball to Takahiro, who scores another layup.
"We can't win, they're too good," said Shino to himself.
"They're taking advantage of your inexperience. It's not like we can't win, it's just that they have the edge in terms of strategy," said Tetsuo.
Hayato passes the basketball to Yukio, and Tetsuo steps up to guard him.
"A one-on-one with Tetsuo so soon? Let's see what you've got, freshmen," said Yukio as he drives.
Tetsuo manages to catch up to Yukio, and Yukio then spins off him and goes for a layup.
Tetsuo then jumps and blocks the layup.
"Tetsuo sure can jump. If I'm not careful, I won't score a thing," said Yukio to himself.
Tetsuo passes the basketball to Noboru, and Shino sets a screen for Tetsuo, who runs to the ball.
Noboru passes the basketball to Tetsuo, and Tetsuo shoots a three-pointer that swishes.
"Amazing, nice shot, Kawaguchi!" shouted Harumi.
"Yeah, nice shot!" said another girl.
Noboru scores a layup to put Team Tetsuo one point closer to Yukio's team.
Tetsuo attempts a layup but is blocked by Yukio.
Yukio dunks the basketball once more, and Hayato scores a layup.
Tetsuo steals the ball from Hayato and shoots a three-pointer that swishes.
"I'm finally here, guys. Class was surprisingly boring today. I couldn't wait for it to... Wait, who gave you permission to play games?" asked Nanaho angrily.
"The captain did," said Noboru quickly as he pointed.
He didn't even hesitate, what a snitch, thought both Hayato and Takahiro to themselves.
"I just thought that we could occupy our time with a friendly three-on-three until you were ready," said Yukio.
"I see, well, as long as you can do my training regimens without complaining, then I see no problem," said Nanaho.
"Why did they stop? Come on, Tetsuo, I want to see you play some more!" shouted Harumi.
"Yeah, please, you're so cool!" said another girl.
"Shut the hell up and get outta here! Can't you see that we are busy?" said Noboru.
"How rude! How dare you talk to me like that, pipsqueak!" said a girl.
"I dare you to come down here and say that to me with those freckles on your face!" said Noboru.
"How could you say such a thing about her? That's mean!" said another girl.
"Just shut up and..."
Before he could finish his statement, Nanaho punches him on his shoulders.
"Ouch! What was that for?"
"Just you wait until training starts. You'll wish you didn't say that to a lady," said Nanaho with a dark look on her face.
"I'm screwed. This girl is going to kill me for sure," said Noboru as he gulped.
"That was quite the warm-up," said Yukio as he wiped the sweat from his body.
"Yukio-senpai, I love you! Please go out with me!" said a girl in her second year.
Nanaho, who got angry because of the girl's words, threw a basketball at them.
"Hey, that hurt! Why did you do that?" asked the girl.
"I'm going to kindly ask you to leave unless you want to play dodge the basketball for the rest of the day," said Nanaho with a blank and dark expression.
The girls, startled, got scared and ran away.
"And she punched me for setting them straight. Serves them right," said Noboru as he laughed.
"Alright, so after our match against Yokonan the other day, I had determined what each and every one of you needs to work on.
"I'll start with Shino. You performed admirably despite not knowing much about the game. You didn't travel or carry in the game, and your passing wasn't as precise, but they were decent enough. Your defense wasn't half bad, and you were even able to score some points. From here on out, you'll be working on shooting free throws, making layups, scoring mid-range shots, and also the usual like dribbling and passing."
"Next will be Noboru. You have a great understanding of your role on this team. You're a great runner and you're good at making layups in transition. However, you lack the necessary endurance to keep up in a high-paced game and were unable to play when we needed you the most. So, I prepared a training regimen specifically for you. With the approval of the track coach, you are now able to spend an hour after school doing stamina training with the girl's track team," said Nanaho.
"What, no way! I will not be training with no girl!" said Noboru.
"Well, the boy's track team training is more rigorous, so if you want to do it, I'll make the necessary arrangements," said Nanaho in a serious tone.
"I'll stick with the girl's training. After you finish stamina training, you will be working on your shooting, practicing your free throws, and going back to dribbling and passing."
"Takahiro, Yukio, and Hayato, you guys are good, and I see no problem with you. So you guys will be sticking to the previous training," said Nanaho.
"Sweet, we can rest easy then," said Hayato.
"And lastly, Tetsuo, you are really good at everything, and there is no problem or issue with your play style. However, you shoot way more than you drive. You should try and change that up to be less predictable."
"Understood," said Tetsuo.