35 Chapter 34

"I still can't believe that I'm going to be teammates with Ichigo Takai, the King of Miracles and a legend in his own right," exclaimed Takao with excitement. We were walking together, side by side, on our way to the basketball club. "Man, I'm like your biggest fan, you don't understand how much of a dream come true it is for me to play beside you," he continued.

I embarrassingly scratch the back of my head and say to him, "Are you just joking with me? I mean, I do appear in magazines, but I highly doubt I already have fans at this stage of my career."

"No, really, I'm a fan, man," he looked at me with such seriousness that even I started thinking that I'm a fan of myself. "Since the day you beat Teiko and the Generation of Miracles, I've always imagined how amazing it would be to play alongside you. It's like a dream come true, you know?" he added.

"Actually, I joined Shutoku High because they're already a strong team. By being a part of that strong team, we'll have a high chance of making it to the National Tournament. My plan was always to at least have the opportunity to play against you in the National Tournament," he said enthusiastically, sharing the reason behind his choice to play for Shutoku.

"Imagine how shocked and excited I was when I saw you walk into the classroom. It was like meeting Michael Jordan in real life!" he exclaimed, his face beaming with emotion.

Hearing his words brings a big smile to my face. I never realized that I had a fan, simply because I had defeated the Generation of Miracles in middle school. I understand that they were an incredibly strong team, perhaps even the strongest in middle school history.

However, that was only during our time in middle school. The gap between middle school and high school basketball is immense. I was able to defeat them because of Akirah Sendoh's template, who was widely regarded as one of the best high school players in Slamdunk.

When Takao expressed that he became my fan because of that achievement, it filled me with joy and happiness. It's always gratifying to have someone recognize and appreciate your accomplishments, especially when it's someone you didn't even know existed.

As we continued our walk towards the basketball club's gym, Takao opened up to me about his past. He revealed that during his time in middle school, he had stopped playing basketball because his team was badly beaten by Teiko. In order to seek revenge, Takao temporarily retired from the sport and focused on honing his skills for high school. And you won't believe who he wanted to get revenge on the most - none other than Midorima himself.

Hearing this revelation left me speechless. It was quite ironic because while Takao desired to seek revenge from Midorima, they ended up becoming teammates in high school. And in my previous conversation with Midorima, I learned that he had also trained extensively during middle school to seek revenge against me. It's quite a surprising turn of events, isn't it? You could even call our team a sort of "failed Avengers."

The thought running through my mind halted me in my tracks and evoked a hearty laugh. My laughter echoed through the air as Takao narrated his story, leaving him unsure whether to be angered or disappointed that someone had the audacity to laugh at his tale. Meanwhile, Midorima, who had been eavesdropping on our conversation, simply shook his head in understanding, fully aware of the reason behind my amusement.

I stopped laughing when I saw Takao's face scrunch up, but I still had a smile on my face as I said, "Sorry about that." I apologized to him.

Seeing Takao's continued frown, it was clear that he wasn't buying my apology. "I wasn't really laughing at you. I was laughing because I know someone who has the exact same story as you," I said apologetically, still smiling.

Intrigued, Takao asked who I was talking about. "Actually, you know him very well, and you were 'close' to him," I replied, searching for Midorima ahead of us. However, as I looked ahead, Midorima was nowhere in sight. It was obvious that he knew where my story was heading and rushed ahead to avoid embarrassing himself.

Seeing me look ahead, Takao already had an idea of who I was talking about. "Was it Midorima?" he asked.

"Yeah, but sadly, he's not here to confirm it," I replied with a shrug, disappointed that I didn't get the chance to tease and embarrass Midorima like that. He always wore this serious face that tempted me to tease him and get a reaction out of him.

Hearing my confirmation, Takao had a mischievous smile on his face, as if he couldn't wait to get to the club and tease Midorima about finding themselves in the same situation.

I looked at Takao and noticed a mischievous glint in his eyes. I smiled and nodded, knowing that we were thinking the same thing. His smile widened as he realized that we were on the same wavelength. So, in sync, we hurried to the basketball gym, hoping to catch Midorima.

Unfortunately, when we arrived, we hadn't seen him along the way. We went to the lockers and quickly changed into our basketball training gear. I was the first one to get ready, so I didn't wait for Takao as I made my way into the gym.

I stepped onto the court and saw many students scattered around. Some were shooting, others were practicing their dribbling, and a few were engaged in conversations. I wasn't sure if all of them were freshmen like me or if there were also senior players trying to make it into the main lineup.

I looked around, trying to spot Midorima, and finally found him on one of the half courts, focused on his shooting drills. Despite being the best shooter I knew, he never neglected his practice.

That's one of the reasons why I respect him more than the other members of the Generation of Miracles. While the others were complacent and disappointed about not being challenged in middle school, Midorima remained dedicated to his routine.

According to what I know from the show and what I heard from other people, he would always continue practicing his shot even after club hours were over. Unlike the other members of the Generation of Miracles who played against each other during games, he took every game seriously, even if the opposing team was clearly outmatched. In my perspective, it's like he was showing some basic respect for his opponents, and that's what I admired about him.

Just as I was about to go to where Midorima was, I heard a whistle, signaling the scattered players to line up in the middle. As I approached, I saw the main players of the team standing side by side.

Among them were the familiar faces from the anime: the captain, Otsubo Taisuke a third year, who played as the team's center; Kimura Shinsuke also a third year, the team's power forward and vice captain; Miyaji Kiyoshi a third year also, the team's small forward who always seemed irritated; and Miyaji Yuya, his little brother who was in his second year.

They introduced themselves one by one, and after their introductions, they immediately began the first round of player screenings. The first screening involved running drills to determine who was in shape and who was not. We were made to run up and down the court for thirty minutes.

In the first ten minutes, some of the players started to give up, gasping for air. Most of them were freshmen who hadn't had much time to develop their bodies. By the 20-minute mark, almost 60 percent of the students who came to try out had already given up.

At the 25-minute mark, only five freshmen were left, including me, Takao, and Midorima. Finally, after 30 minutes, the senpais from the maim line up stopped us. Among the freshmen, only the three of us remained, alongside the other seniors.

After the run, the seniors allowed us time to rest and rehydrate. Thankfully, the drill didn't affect me too much because of Hanamichi Sakuragi's template, which I had already fully assimilated.

Since I had assimilated Hanamichi Sakuragi's Assimilation Card completely, my assimilation slot was left vacant. However, my luck was as terrible as ever, and I didn't receive a useful card to assimilate, so I left the slot empty for now.

As I looked around, I noticed Takao lying on the floor, gasping for air. It was evident that he wasn't yet accustomed to this intense level of drills. I scanned the area and noticed other senior players struggling to catch their breath, although not as intensely as Takao.

The most surprising sight was Midorima, who appeared to be breathing heavily but seemed relatively unaffected by the running drill. Clearly, he had been working on his stamina for quite some time.

This made me imagine the incredible improvement the other members of the Generation of Miracles must have made. Just thinking about it filled me with excitement as I eagerly awaited the start of the Interhigh Tournament.