81 Chapter 81 : An Old & A New Face

It was five in the Monday evening, when Furihata found himself back in Seirin gymnasium again, running along with his teammates to prepare for the next game. Even though the gloomy atmosphere of the bitter loss against Too is still there, it was covered by the appearance of a new player who hasn't joined them for a while, Teppei Kiyoshi.

-Little flashback before training-

"For anyone who still doesn't know, this is Teppei Kiyoshi, our main power forward last year," Riko spoke to her players. Although except for Furihata, all the first-year players don't have a clue about him, all their senpai greeted their last year's ace excitedly.

"Good to see you again, Kiyoshi!"

"How about your injury? Has your doctor finally given you the green light to play again?"

"Ahaha~" The second-year power forward just rubbed his head sheepishly. "The recovery is successful. I still have to take it easy, but there is no problem to play again. But the main focus right now is to get back in shape first before I could play. I hope I don't lose my touch."

Hearing that, all of the players who know him personally laughed and slapped his back playfully.

"Don't worry, Junpei. We have a really competitive team right now. With you on the team, we would go further than before!"

"Ahaha…"

Seeing the blank and dumbfounded expressions on the first-year players, Riko gave them brief information about the power forward.

"He was our ace last year, with the statistics of 29.8 points per game, 11.2 rebounds per game, and 2.2 blocks per game." Hearing the stats, the first-year players widened their eyes in shock, couldn't believe that their team have a superstar like him. "He was also one of the candidates to win the best players in the tournament. It was just a pity he was injured in a game against Kirisaki Daiichi High."

Hearing the last part, almost all the senior members of the team scowled.

"Oh yeah, that bastard huh? What happened to them this year?"

"They lost against Too and Aomine before the final league, so you don't have to worry." Riko waved her hand at Hyuga's question, dissolving the tension that suddenly arose in the gymnasium. It was also a good move to prevent the nosy first-year from poking the other's business, although she doubted Furihata didn't know about it.

'Well, as long as he knows how to close his mouth, we will not have any problem here.'

As for now, she was tempted to let Kiyoshi bond with the kouhai first before she turned her gaze to the outside of the gym, ready to drop the second bombshell.

"Kagami-kun is also here today, and he will join the practice later."

Now, all of the players snapped their heads at the same time, joy could be seen on their faces.

"Really?!" Seeing the nod from the coach, excitement arose in the gym. "Damn! With Kagami-kun and Kiyoshi, we would be stronger than ever! I cannot wait for the next game! Maybe we could also get our revenge against Too in the future!"

"Nah, man.. Don't joke like that. Kagami is awesome but in front of Aomine?"

"Hey, don't be pessimistic like that!"

"So, where is he?" Hyuga asked before his teammates could say anything about it. He knows that if they were given a chance, it would need a long time for them to get their attention back.

Surprisingly though, it was not Riko who answered his question, but Kiyoshi who rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Aaah… Kagami-kun said he needs to go home first because his relative comes from America. He would be late today."

There was silence for a moment before it was popped by the collective shout from the other.

"AMERICA?!!"

Furihata couldn't help but roll his eyes.

"Why is your reaction always exaggerated like that? Did you all forget that Red spent the rest of his life in America before he came here?" Seeing the sheepish grin from his teammates and the amusement on his coach's face, he let out a deep sigh. "Whatever."

"And since when did you know Kagami-kun, Teppei?" Hyuga asked, changing the topic of conversation quickly.

"Aah.. It is because yesterday, we began to practice together. You could also ask Riko-chan, you know?" A thick vein popped out from the coach's temple. "Call me Coach here, Teppei!"

All the players snickered, amused that even their best player get the same treatment from Riko.

"Okay, everyone!" Riko clapped her hands loud, stopping the chatter among the players. "Enough for the chit-chat! We waste a lot of our time here! Let's begin our training! Start running, all of you! Don't stop until I said so!"

And with that, all of them leave their positions one by one, obeying the order of their coach.

-End of the flashback-

"Kuroko-kun, try to cooperate with your movement and pass with Teppei. We can incorporate low-post games much more with him here."

"Yes, Coach!"

"Teppei, Furihata likes to ask a big to come forward, so you better stay in the high post often if he is there. And always have your eyes on Kagami-kun. If the one who comes for the screen is him, you drop down to the paint area."

"Yes, Coach!"

Because of the addition of Kiyoshi, the training plan today is a bit different. More than half the time of the training was spent for the team to get familiarized with Kiyoshi again, especially with the first-year players. If before, the ball didn't go to the paint area so often because of Mitobe's silent nature, now with Kiyoshi here, their offensive option would hopefully be more diverse and harder for the opponent to stop.

"And speaking of Kagami-kun, where the hell is that bastard? I know that he has his relative coming from America, but he said himself he would only be late for the first fifteen minutes! If he has no good reason why he is this late, he can say hello to my hellish punishment!"

All of the players who heard what their coach just said shivered at the mention of the hellish punishment, praying for Kagami to arrive quickly. If only they could just watch their teammate receive their coach's wrath, it would be amusing. Unfortunately, Riko implemented the rule of 'one gets punishment, everyone will receive the same consequence', That's why breaking the rule is something taboo for Seirin players, because not only they would receive Riko's wrath, but also the others' irk.

Fortunately, no longer than five minutes later, the red-haired power forward finally arrived at the gym, even though his breath panted erratically and sweat rolled down profusely on his face.

"Sorry, I am late!"

All the players gulped and took a step back when they saw the dark aura emerging from their coach.

"You better have a good reason for this, you brat!"

However, the one who answered her question is not Kagami, but a mature woman with a heavy Japanese accent from behind the power forward.

"Please, don't be too harsh on Tiger, Coach-chan~"

When they all turned around to the source of the voice, all the males inside the gym could feel the blood rise on their faces, threatening to fall comically from their noses. Even Furihata who is always calm couldn't help but blush at the appearance of the woman in front of him.

'Damn, the charm of the mature woman sure hits differently.'

There, standing in front of them is a blonde woman with a pair of glasses hanging on her face, wearing a leather jacket and tight jeans, showing off her cleavage pretty well. Hell, Furihata swore he could see a trace of blood on the nose of his teammates when they saw the busty body of that woman, making him roll his eyes.

'Damn teenage hormone strike again.'

And it seems Riko has the same sentiment, even though he has a feeling that it was for a different reason. She stepped forward with a frown on her face, asking the woman in front of her.

"Excuse me, but who are you?"

The woman just gives her a small smile before hugging Kagami from behind, making the red-haired boy groan at the envious glare of his teammates.

"I am sorry, coach. This is Alex Garcia, my acquaintance from America who will live with me." Furihata furrowed his brows for a bit, swearing to himself that the name is somehow familiar in his ears. But before he could remember anything and before Kagami could finish the introduction, the blonde woman that was identified as Alex Garcia chimed in with her heavy Japanese accent.

"On a side note, I will also be your official head coach until Tiger-chan graduates three years from now. Please, take care of me!"

There is silence for a moment inside the gym, as everyone tried to digest what the strange woman that they just met not five minutes ago said. However, it was broken immediately by the collective shout from the players.

"WHAAAAT?!!!!"

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Author note :

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-Zeta Faes-