Chapter 45: CH 45

“I’ll just practice my three-pointers today and then go home. I won’t be jumping that high with jump shots otherwise my skirt will flutter about.”

“Yeah, I think it’ll be fine.”

With that, Sei-chan picked up the ball and walked away from the hoop.

She stood at the three-pointer line and bounced the ball lightly on the ground.

“Well, I’ll go under the hoop and pick up the ones you threw and pass it back to you.”

“Ahh, thank you.”

“That’s what I’m here for.”

It would be more efficient to have another person pick up the ball and pass it back, rather than to just practice shooting all alone.

If she misses a shot and it hits the ring, it can go in any direction. So it would be more efficient if I went around to pick up the ball for her.

“I’ll pick up the balls.”

“Thank you, I’m sorry that you have to move around so much.”

“It’s fine.”

“So if I score all of them, then Hisamura wouldn’t have to move at all right?”

Sei-chan laughed and did a jump shot with a beautiful form.

The ball was released in a beautiful arc and was sucked into the ring with a crisp sound.

Too cool!

I was so mesmerized that I forgot to pick up the ball as it fell through the ring.

“Hisamura, weren’t you supposed to pick up the ball for me?”

“Ah, sorry.”

“Nah, it’s fine. I already have the ball.”

Just as she said, the ball fell and went back to her.

If the ball did not hit the hoop in a perfect rotation, it wouldn’t return to the thrower cleanly.

It’s not normal for an amateur to hit the first shot and have it go in so cleanly after all.

“I’ll pick it up next time.”

If this keeps up, the ball will keep coming back to Sei-chan over and over again, but it will go back slowly, and it won’t go in that cleanly every time.

I need to do my job well.

“Ahh, please do.”

Then, once again, Sei-chan with her beautiful form shot another three-pointer.

Ahh… Seriously.

“That’s so cool…”

“HMM?!”

Her form instantly collapsed the moment she shot the ball, it bounced off the ring with a clang.

“Hi-Hisamura, d-don’t say things like that out of the blue. It breaks my concentration.”

“I’m sorry, it just came out unintentionally.”

“G-Guess it can’t be helped.”

I went to pick up the ball that missed and threw it back to Sei-chan.

“Try not to disturb me too much, okay?”

“Un, got it.”

Sei-chan’s cheeks were a little red, but she took a deep breath to calm herself down.

She then started to hit three-pointers again.

One, two in a row, three in a row!

It’s possible for an amateur to hit a three-pointer and pass it off as a lucky shot, but hitting three in a row is no longer considered as just luck.

Sei-chan is hitting almost all her shots.

She missed her fourth shot, and with that she nodded to herself.

“I’ve figured it out. Now, let’s do a hundred in a row without you moving at all, Hisamura.”

“If you manage to pull that off, that would be amazing.”

With that, Sei-chan shot in rapid succession with perfect form.

In just a few minutes… she failed to achieve her goal.

“Damn it, I missed the seventy-second one.”

Sei-chan muttered with a look of regret, but in reality, she hit so many shots that it’s surreal.

Let’s not even compare an amateur, not even an experienced player can hit 72 shots in a row.

Sei-chan is so good at sports, that the word ‘athletic’ can’t even begin to fully describe her.

“That’s more than enough, you’re too good at this.”

“But every little shot counts in a match.”

“Yeah, well, maybe so.”

No one, not even professional basketball players hit a hundred percent of their shots.

“I want to practice a bit more but it’s too late now.”

“Yeah, it’s about 6 now.”

Since we were supposed to just hang out in the cafe, we went out late.

We’ve only been here for a short while, but the sky is already getting pretty dark.

“But I wanna hit a few more, just for practice.”

“Eh? Really?”

“Ahh, It would be a shame to stop now that I finally got the feel of it. It’s fine Hisamura, you don’t need to accompany me anymore, you can go home.”

With that, Sei-chan shot another three-pointer.

It went in beautifully, and I picked up the ball as it went under the ring and passed it back to Sei-chan.

“Nah, I’ll stay.”

“Are you sure? Thanks, but you really don’t have to.”

“I’m only staying because I want to be with you, so don’t worry about it.”

“Ku…W-Well… T-Thank you.”

Sei-chan’s face was dyed scarlet red. She shot another shot as if she was trying to hide her embarrassment within.

The earlier shot when she was embarrassed didn’t go in, but now, it went in perfectly.

“Naisu.”

I picked up the ball and passed it back to her whilst complimenting her,

To be honest, I couldn’t wait to see how cool Sei-chan actually is. I’d love to spend hours at this place with her.

With that, Sei-chan and I practiced shooting around the court.

It was about nine o’clock at night, When Sei-chan and I left the Around One.

Of course, it was already pitch black, and if it weren’t for the streetlights, we wouldn’t be able to see anything.

“It would be safer for you to leave if I stayed back with you, wouldn’t it?”

As I pedaled my bike, I talked to Sei-chan, who was riding behind me.

“I won’t deny it… It’s not like I wanted you to stay to send me home.”

“I mean, I know that, but did you want me to stay?”

“Ah… y-yeah. I-It’s way more fun to do it with Hisamura than just doing it all alone…”

“I-I see…”

I feel like I’ve been hit with a hell of a counterpunch from Sei-chan.

I didn’t expect Sei-chan to tell me that it would be more fun to do it with me, so I was too happy to speak for a moment.

After that, things got a little awkward, and we stayed silent for a while. It was just me on the bike and Sei-chan with her hand on my shoulder.

It wasn’t awkward, but rather, it was a bit embarrassing and a little difficult to talk about.

“S-So, how were the shots?”

“Oh, Ahh, y-yeah, well, it’s not bad, but not good enough to decide everything in a match.”

“Well, that’s difficult to say then.”

The reason why Sei-chan practiced basketball this time was to beat Tojoin-san in the upcoming match.

Sei-chan was on a rant about how she can win if she manages to hit all the three-pointers, but I guess it will be difficult to do so.

“That’s why I’m going to practice some more tomorrow”

“Ah, really?”

“Of course. The day after tomorrow is the big day, how could I not practice the day before?”

“That’s amazing… I’ll go with you tomorrow too.”

“Really?! It might be longer than today, you know?”

“I-Is that so… Well, that’s fine.”

We’ve been shooting for almost four hours straight today, and we will be playing more than that tomorrow.

I didn’t expect her to be so serious about the match at all.

She probably just doesn’t want to lose to Tojoin-san.

“What do you feel about Tojoin-san, Sei-chan?”

“Huh? Why so suddenly.”

“No, you’re practicing basketball because you don’t want to lose to Tojoin-san. That’s how serious you are about Tojoin-san, so I was wondering how you felt about her.”

“Hmmm… I don’t hate her. At first, I thought she was just a stalker.”

“Ah, that’s right.”

That’s actually true, so there’s nothing to deny there.

“I used to think that she was the one who interfered with Shiho’s love life, but then I realized that Tojoin-san is just another clumsy girl who likes Shigemoto. Now that we’re eating lunch together, I don’t really hate her.”

“I see.”

“Though… It does get annoying when she teases me from time to time. You didn’t tell her, did you?”

“Tell her what?”

“T-That w-we’re dating.”

I heard her say shyly from behind me, and I felt a bit of agony all of a sudden, but I held back from stopping my bike.

“I didn’t say anything per say, but she probably sensed something within the atmosphere.”

“Ahh, I think you might be right. She told me so in the amusement park after all.”

“Huh? Did you and Tojoin-san talk about something at the amusement park?”

“Ah… no… It’s nothing.”

“Is that so…”

She probably talked to Tojoin-san about something, but Sei-chan was too shy to tell me about it, so I didn’t pursue it any further.

As we were talking about this, I came to the place where Sei-chan and I always split up.

“Well, you can drop me off here.”

“Nah, it’s late. I’ll walk you home.”

“I’m sorry you have to go that far. But I’ll be fine here.”

That’s what Sei-chan said, but I can’t compromise here either.

“I can’t let you go alone this late at night. It’s not safe. I’ll take you home.”

“I-Is that so? I’ll spoil you with words then”

“Yes, Spoil me. I’d be happy if you spoil me with words and attitude.”

“I-I’ll think about it.”

“Eh? U-Un, I look forward to a positive response.”

I didn’t expect her to really think about spoiling me, so I became respectful all of a sudden.

If Sei-chan actually spoiled me, I might just die but that might be the best way to go out.

I’m still a little nervous about the conversation we just had. But I followed Sei-chan’s lead and took her home.

I followed her direction and arrived at an ordinary house.

But when I think of it as Sei-chan’s house, I feel like it’s a very special house.

“Thanks for today, Hisamura. For staying up late and taking me back home.”

Sei-chan said as she got off the back of her bike and stood next to me.

“I just wanted to be with you, so don’t worry about it. Besides, it was fun to watch you play basketball, too.”

“Y-Yeah… That’s good to hear… but…”

Sei-chan stood right next to me and looked up at me as if she wanted to say something.

Her cheeks turned red and she closed her mouth immediately after.

“Hmm? What’s wrong?”

“N-No, I mean, thank you so much for today. You’ve been very helpful.”

“Yeah, I had a good time too.”

“See you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow, good night.”

We waved to each other and then I started pedaling back home.

It’s cute to see Sei-chan waving so discreetly.

With that in mind, I headed back home, thinking that I had a good day today.

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Author note:

(In reality, there was a professional basketball player who made over 100 three-pointers in a row.

Of course, it was practice, but yikes.)