As June approaches, the sun is already a little hot at noon, and most of the students who choose to eat bento boxes in the atrium are hiding under the shade of trees.

The sun is blazing outside, and in the gymnasium, the enthusiasm on and off the field is not much better than the scorching sun outside.

Bang! Bang!

Successfully snatching the basketball from a Class A player, Class B's Hexi held the ball forward and attacked, actively seeking a breakthrough to try to change the situation that his side was already trailing by nearly 30 points.

The defenders of Class A had already gathered around, and he quickly glanced at another teammate who had broken through to the empty right flank.

Pretending to attack, he turned around with the ball, deceived the passive defense of several people in Class A with a feint, and then immediately passed the ball to that teammate.

Syllable.

As soon as the basketball flew halfway, it was stopped by someone raising his hand, and Hexi was so angry that he died.

Aren't there two people staring at him, why did they let him out again!

There was a burst of cheers from the sidelines.

"Naruse! Naruse! ”

“……”

Hexi had no time to be distracted, but the sound of cheers continued to drill into his ears, making him upset.

Bang! Bang!

And Naruse, who got the ball, strode the ball and ran to the basket of Class B.

Several players in Class B were about to stop him, but he suddenly stopped and jumped on the spot.

The basketball was thrown in an arc in mid-air and hit it accurately, scoring another three points for Class A.

"Ahhh Naruse! Naruse—"

A group of girls on the sidelines were boiling again.

"I can't stand ......"

Mori saw that his ears were itching when he was screamed, and he leaned to the side and bumped into the starfish standing on the other side, only to find that she was also clenched into fists, with irrepressible excitement on her face.

"Starfish simply shouted out like those girls, and their faces turned red."

“……”

She came back to her senses, sensed her excitement, her face turned even redder, and she quickly changed the subject.

"Who are the girls next to you, why are you so excited?"

Morimi sighed.

"Most of them are from Class A, and they take the initiative to support the Class A players or Naruse, and the rest of the ...... It seems to be the opposite class B. ”

"Eh......"

Starfish turned his head to look again, only to notice that the audience of this basketball game was several times larger than the other games, and it was already surrounded by people.

"That's a lot of people."

"This is the first game of second-year boys' basketball, and it has attracted a lot of people, not to mention that he is still ...... If you look closely, it's all girls crowded in front. ”

Starfish looked around the basketball court and saw that it was the case, and that the ties of all three colors could be seen.

There was a conversation between a few girls with unfamiliar faces next to them.

"That No. 9 is Naruse, the first in the second grade? It turns out that he is also so good at sports. ”

"So handsome~"

"He's scored a lot of goals by himself."

"yes, yes."

"I have no resistance to guys who are handsome and can play basketball."

"Ahhh

“……”

Starfish turned to look at the field and briefly exchanged a glance with Player 9.

He seemed to just glance at it, and quickly returned to the game, saying something to his teammate next to him.

Around basketball, a new round of fierce competition has begun again.

Bang! Bang!

On the court, the sound of basketball hitting the floor and the sound of shoes rubbing against the ground were mixed, and off the court, cheers and inexplicable sighs were endless, and the atmosphere in the stadium became more and more enthusiastic.

"Class A has won, right?" Starfish asks Hikaru Takikawa, who is standing next to Morimi.

She laughed, "Twenty minutes ago, I could have said that. ”

"Can't really catch up?"

"If you keep it this way, you won't have a chance."

Starfish smiled reassuringly.

The fierce competition on the field continued, and from a certain moment, the gap in the score suddenly began to narrow.

Class B scored in quick succession, while the players in Class A seemed to suddenly lose their motivation and spent most of their time defending, rarely taking the initiative to attack unless there was a good opportunity.

"What's going on...... starfish didn't understand basketball, and looked at Hikaru Takigawa again.

She frowned slightly, and quickly shook her head again.

"It's okay, the people in Class A are starting to conserve their strength."

"It must have been Naruse's idea." Morimi said, "Seeing that Class B couldn't catch up with the score, I started to relax. It's too contemptuous of people. ”

Hikaru Takikawa smiled.

"Chunhai wants to win the championship...... I also have a little itchy hands. ”

"It's too late to regret it now."

"There's no girls' basketball in the second-grade competition."

Several people were chatting on the sidelines, and the game on the field finally came to an end.

Class B caught up with more than a dozen points, but the final 20-point gap could not be filled.

Phew-

With a whistle, the game between the two teams ended here.

Although Class A tended to be defensive in the last ten minutes, Class B's attack was just as exciting, and by the end of the day, the atmosphere on the pitch was still hot.

The players on both sides lined up, staggered, and bumped fists one by one.

"It's too early to start conserving your strength." Kawanishi glared at Naruse and said.

Some viewers may not be able to see the change in the situation on the field, but as the opponent who has trained the most with Class A, he understood their intentions almost instantly.

Naruse smiled and touched his fist, "What if you get to Class E in one round." ”

"It's better to draw class E...... Still, you have to win. ”

"Do your best."

Bumping fists with several players from Class B one by one, Naruse and his teammates bowed slightly, receiving warm applause from outside the field.

The next round was about to begin, and the players quickly left the field, and Naruse walked straight to Naoko's side and took the water glass from her hand.

Naoko could clearly feel countless lines of sight converging towards her, but she didn't care, and leaned closer.

"Good work."

"It's okay." Naruse took a sip of water, "It's just Class B." ”

“……”

Glancing at the Class B player who was looking at him next to him, Naoko smiled under her voice and didn't say anything.

"It was a great first half." Hikaru Takikawa said next to him.

'I thought the defense in the second half was pretty good.

"It's too much of a bully."

"The gap is here."

"Who's next?"

"Class C to your class."

Naruse took a few sips of water and looked at Naoko again, "Your game is about to start." ”

"Yes."

Naoko looked at the volleyball court on the other side, and most of the attention in the gymnasium was focused on the basketball game just now, but in fact, the second round of women's volleyball knockout matches was also underway.

"The next round is us."

"Come on." He took her hand and squeezed it, then looked at the starfish again, "You too." ”

"Hmmm......"

His gaze drifted, and he met Morimi again.

"You too...... You don't seem to be playing anymore? ”

“……”

She glanced at him, ignoring him.

"Naoko, starfish—"

As he spoke, the women's volleyball team of Class C began to assemble.

Naoko took his hand, not quite wanting to let go, "We're over." ”

"Go ahead."

Naruse glanced back, and there was still a place on the high platform above, so he pointed.

"I'm up there cheering you guys."

"Uh-huh."

Separated from Naoko and the starfish, Naruse went up the stairs next to him, and Hikaru Takikawa and Morimi also came up and stood together by the guardrail of the high platform.

Standing at this height, the games on the basketball court and volleyball court can be seen.

"There are four more games left in the second grade, so Chunhai can rest for a while."

"Hmm."

"Do you want to see it all?"

"Just look at your class."

Hikaru Takikawa leaned aside, "Today's game was a little more intense than I thought." ”

"After all, if you don't show all your strength today, you won't have a chance."

"Haha, that's right."

"Your boys' basketball team doesn't have any hidden tactics, right?"

"Eh, can you still inquire about this kind of thing?"

"Well, it seems that you don't know either."

"Who said that, I watched them train last time ......"

Morimi suddenly bumped her arm, "He's talking to you." ”

“…… Yes! ”

Naruse was dissatisfied, "What class are you in?" ”

She just snorted.

"Chunhai is really getting more and more cunning." Hikaru Takikawa also hit him with his arm.

On the volleyball court, after a few minutes of preparation, the match between the second year C class and the second year F class is about to begin.

The number of people on the high platform gradually increased.

"I can't see ...... here"

Morimi muttered in a low voice, walked away from Hikaru Takikawa, and squeezed to the other side of Naruse.

"Is there a difference?" He said, looking underneath.

With her arms together, she didn't look at him, "I can see it more clearly here." ”

He didn't say much.

Hikaru Takikawa looked at the two of them, then looked at the field, raised his arm and waved.

"Naoko, starfish - come on—"

(End of chapter)