"Volleyball? Anyone here into volleyball?"
"Nah, if you're Japanese, it's gotta be baseball!"
"Swimming's so relaxing though!"
============
Cherry blossoms fluttered through the tree-lined paths as waves of students bustled about the campus. One after another, upperclassmen acted like street vendors, energetically pitching their clubs to every passing freshman.
In just twenty meters of walking, some students had already collected seven or eight colorful flyers with completely different designs.
Then, a towering figure stepped into the crowd, and just like that, the swarm of club recruiters parted instinctively to make way.
"Whoa~ This place is buzzing!"
Tsugawa Tomoki walked ahead of Akashi Asuka, swaggering like he owned the place. He glanced around with curiosity, but not a single student dared step in his way.
"Hahaha… Yep, coming to school with you was definitely the right call. You're like a freakin' bulldozer plowing through the crowd."
"Less talking, more looking. Find where the basketball club is recruiting," Akashi Asuka said from behind, sounding mildly impatient.
"Relax, relax. Seiho High's basketball team is known as one of the 'Three Kings of Tokyo.' Tons of freshmen are gonna wanna join. We just have to look for the biggest crowd, and bingo, that's where the basketball club is... Oh, speak of the devil."
They hadn't gone far before they spotted a section of the plaza set aside for recruitment, where at least a dozen newcomers had gathered.
But the moment Akashi Asuka stepped forward, the tightly packed group suddenly cleared a path with remarkable coordination.
The student in charge of recruiting was stunned by the sudden opening, until a massive shadow loomed overhead, and he instinctively looked up.
"W-Whoa… so tall!"
"Hey, could we get an application form?"
"Huh? Oh! Yes, of course!"
Flustered, the recruiter handed them two forms. "Just fill in your name, your junior high, and why you want to join."
"Got it. Thanks."
Akashi Asuka and Tsugawa quickly filled out the forms and left the area.
Only after they were gone did the buzz return to the court.
"Whoa~ Who was that guy? He's huge, and that presence... intense."
"Was he one of the 'Generation of Miracles'?"
"Doubt it. I don't think their center looked like that…"
"Man, no wonder Seiho's a powerhouse. If that guy joins the team, he's probably getting a starting spot on day one!"
============
"Oh, Ryuhei, how'd recruitment go? Any promising newcomers this year?"
Kasuga Ryuhei had just returned from the tryout table when he bumped into a tall, broad-shouldered teen, no, a full-grown man, really.
"Ah, Iwamura! It went great this year. Got quite a few well-known junior high talents to sign up," Ryuhei said, waving the application forms with a satisfied grin.
"Is that so?"
"Yep. And one of them? Easily over two meters tall. Massive potential there."
"Two meters, huh? Is he from the 'Generation of Miracles'?"
"Nope. I checked his junior high, made it to Nationals but got crushed in the quarterfinals by Teiko. Lost by nearly double the points."
Ryuhei shook his head, a hint of regret on his face. As one of Tokyo's top three basketball schools, not landing a 'Generation of Miracles' member was a disappointment.
But Iwamura looked unfazed. He calmly took a glance at the forms and said flatly, "If he's not from the 'Miracles,' then whatever. Once you're in high school, nobody cares about your junior high record anyway."
"You've told the freshmen to come to tryouts tomorrow, right?"
"Yeah, all set."
"Good. Let's see what they've got. They need to learn the hard way, wearing the title of 'King' isn't just for show."
============
Time flew by.
The next afternoon.
Seventeen freshmen who submitted applications to the basketball club had gathered in the gym.
Most of them wore nervous expressions. After all, Seiho High's basketball team had a fearsome reputation. Even if this was just a tryout, there was no telling whether they'd make it through.
Only Akashi Asuka and Tsugawa Tomoki looked relatively calm.
Akashi had seen far too many intense scenes in his past life, something like this couldn't rattle him at all.
As for Tsugawa… well, he was just blissfully carefree by nature.
The guy wasn't nervous in the slightest. In fact, he looked like an elementary schooler walking into an arcade, wide-eyed and curious about everything.
"Hey, Akashi, what kind of test do you think they'll use?"
"Standard stuff. Shooting, dribbling, passing, basic fundamentals."
Akashi rolled his shoulder and flexed his thick elbow, then added, "But since this is Seiho, one of the 'Three Kings,' they'll probably ramp up the difficulty a bit. The most straightforward and effective test is probably still..."
"That's right. You 27 freshmen will form your own teams and face off against upperclassmen in 5v5 matches."
The club captain, Tsutomu Iwamura, stepped forward and made the announcement.
His words instantly sent the gym into chaos.
"What?!"
"We're playing against the upperclassmen? There's no way we can win!"
"They can't possibly expect us to beat them, right? I mean, Seiho's one of the best schools in Tokyo. How are a bunch of newbies supposed to win?"
Akashi looked at the confused and panicking group of freshmen, then at the upperclassmen warming up across the court, and let out a sigh.
"As expected, they're going with this kind of tryout…"
==========
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