Chapter 22 Basketball 21
"This seems to be the first time Kurikawa-san has approached me."
The sky-blue-haired boy stared at her calmly, his fair and handsome face so calm that no emotion could be seen.
"Ah? Is, is that so..." Kurikawa Sana was surprised herself. It turned out that she had never taken the initiative to talk to Kuroko before?
System: [Hmm? You just realized that if the opponent can't provide health points, you never spend an extra minute. Hui Qi is a good example.]
Kurikawa Sana: [...System, you're making me sound so disgusting.]
System: [You can remove the word "seemingly".]
Kurikawa Sana choked up and looked up at Kuroko with some shame: "I'm sorry, Kuroko, it's my fault."
"...It doesn't matter." Kuroko Tetsuya shook his head gently, still looking at her quietly, with a gentle light flashing in his eyes.
"Sana! Tetsu-kun!" Momoi Satsuki's bright and cheerful voice suddenly rang out behind them. "I finally found you. The fireworks display is about to begin. Let's go watch it together!"
Aomine Daiki and Kise Ryota also walked in. Seeing the rare scene of Kurikawa Sana and Kuroko Tetsuya alone together, Aomine Daiki couldn't help but be stunned for a moment.
"Eh? Okay..."
Kurikawa Sana came to her senses and walked out hand in hand with Momoi Satsuki. The best viewing spot outside the hot spring hotel was already crowded with people.
In the crowd, a tall, black-haired boy turned around as if realizing something. Nijimura Shuzo raised his chin and said, "You're so slow! The place is already packed. Luckily, I saved a spot for you guys early on."
Murasakihara Atsushi and Akashi Seijuro were already there. When he saw Kurikawa Sana appear with Kuroko Tetsuya, Murasakihara Atsushi immediately frowned.
Akashi Seijuro just kept his gaze on her for a moment, but didn't say anything.
"It's so lively! It's worthy of being the Daimonjiyaki Fireworks Festival, one of Hakone's three major festivals." Momoi Satsuki excitedly pulled Kurikawa Sana to sit down. "We're so lucky that this hot spring vacation that Coach Platinum arranged for us happened to coincide with the fireworks!"
Nijimura Shuzo thoughtfully prepared a seat in the middle for them to see the fireworks most clearly. After the two girls sat down, Murasakibara Atsushi originally wanted to occupy the seat next to Sana, but he didn't expect that Nijimura Shuzo was faster than him and sat down on the right side of Kurikawa Sana first.
Murasakibara Atsushi:?
Looking at Murasakibara Atsushi's angry expression that said, "Why are there more? How many are there?!" Nijimura Shuzo almost laughed out loud.
He is about to quit the basketball team and go to the United States. At this time, he should give way to his seniors.
Akashi Seijuro's eyes swept over them, and finally he sat down to the right of Nijimura Shuzo. The others also found their seats and sat down.
Everyone sat in a row, their hair colors were extremely eye-catching, and passers-by who were walking by were all shocked by the colorful hair colors.
"What dazzling hair..."
“Can you see rainbows at night?”
"Have the fireworks been set off yet? Are they being illuminated by the light? Their hair is colorful."
Listening to the complaints coming from passers-by behind them, the Teiko regulars and the pink-haired Momoi Satsuki: “…………”
Nijimura Shuzo: "Hahahahahahaha!!!"
Kurikawa Sana: “Pfft…”
As one of the only two people with plain black hair present, Kurikawa Sana also had a hard time holding back her laughter.
Akashi Seijuro sighed, "Laugh if you want, Kurikawa."
Kurikawa Sana: "Yes! Minister!"
Aomine Daiki changed the subject with a dark face, "Why haven't the fireworks started yet?"
Kise Ryouta also laughed and said, "As expected, a fireworks display should be accompanied by snacks to be more interesting, right? Murasakibara, did you bring your snacks?"
Murasakibara Atsushi yawned lazily, "Kuri-chan has already eaten all my snacks. I don't have any more."
Kise Ryota: "..."
Midorima Shintaro adjusted his glasses and said, "It's better not to have snacks, otherwise Murasakibara will definitely eat them all over the place."
"I'll crush you, Green Boy."
Kuroko Tetsuya calmly complained, "Whenever it's like this, Midorima-kun and Murasakibara-kun feel like they're less than five years old in total."
"Heizi!"
“…Little Blackie!”
"Hahahaha!" Momoi Satsuki fell on Kurikawa Sana with laughter. She wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. "Sana, I always feel... the atmosphere right now is so great."
Outside of club activities, training, and competitions, everyone gathered together for the first time in a long time. Although there were some bickering and noise, the smiles on everyone's faces were full of sincerity and warmth.
Kurikawa Sana also felt a warm current flowing through her heart, "I feel the same way, May."
In fact, the atmosphere of the team has changed recently, and the two of them as managers can see it clearly.
Murasakibara is getting taller and taller, and his physical fitness is terrifyingly strong. Midorima's three-point shooting range is getting longer and longer, and Aomine's scoring ability is getting stronger and stronger... The ball possession during the game has become seriously unevenly distributed - the fun they can get from playing basketball is rapidly decreasing.
The most obvious manifestation was that before, after every game, everyone would be jubilant and celebrate by eating popsicles together after school. But now, after every game, except for Heizi, everyone else was indifferent and would just leave in silence.
No matter how many games they win, they seem to have lost the feeling.
Because victory has become so easy, the real difficulty for them now is to find the joy of competition and confrontation in the increasingly boring games.
In the past, Coach Platinum would always provide correct guidance at this time to maintain the balance of this highly capable team. However, recently Coach Platinum has been ill and unable to do his best, and the team's atmosphere has fluctuated accordingly.
This time, Coach Platinum paid for everyone to travel to Hakone Hot Springs, as if to tell everyone that winning a game with all your strength is still something worth celebrating. Just enjoy it all, don't think too much, just follow your heart and play happy basketball.
"Sana, do you think we'll always be together?" Tao Jing Mayu asked softly in a voice only she could hear. "Will we always be as happy as we are now?"
Kurikawa Sana squeezed her hand and said, "I will, May."
…
"The fireworks have started!" Exclamations rang out all around.
A red-orange "大" character is lit on the top of a mountain in the distance, and it is always bright. It is Hakone's unique "大MONJIYAKI", which is the most gorgeous scenery in Hakone's summer nights.
Surrounding the "Big" character formed by the golden flames on the top of the mountain, with a "whoosh" sound, colorful fireworks of various colors ignited in the night sky, blooming with dazzling light.
The fireworks were brilliant and beautiful, but Kurikawa Sana felt her eyes sore for a moment.
The last time she watched a fireworks display was with her brother and parents, but that was many years ago.
To this day, she still can't figure out what she did wrong to make her parents so indifferent to her.
…
The black-haired girl looked up at the night sky. The bright and brilliant light of the fireworks made her already exquisite and beautiful face even more unreal, as if it would disappear in the next second.
There seemed to be a flash of water in those clear blue eyes, which disappeared with the summer evening breeze.
Momoi Satsuki was closest to her, and seeing Sana like this, Momoi was stunned for a moment.
She subconsciously looked away, but caught the gazes of others on her right looking at Sana.
Akashi looked thoughtful, while Midorima turned his head away the moment he was discovered, his movements somewhat stiff and unnatural.
As for Aomine and Murasakibara on the left, Momoi Satsuki knew what expressions her childhood friend and Murasakibara would have without even looking.
She subconsciously tightened her hand, which was already held by Sana, in an attempt to liven up the atmosphere: "Everyone, make a wish!"
"Making a wish under fireworks is the most effective—I'll make a wish first." Tao Jing Satsuki held Kurikawa Sana's hand with one hand, placed the other hand on her chest, closed her eyes and said, "I hope we can always be together and happy."
"That's a bit hard to come true, isn't it? I'm leaving soon," Nijimura Shuzo said with a helpless smile. "And even if I don't leave, everyone will definitely go to different schools in the future."
"At least we're all still together before graduation, and even if we go to different schools in the future, we can still play together—as long as we still love basketball, our hearts are connected."
After thinking for a while, Kuroko Tetsuya also spoke up: "As for me, my wish is the same as Momoi-san's."
"Huh? Zhe and Wuyue, are you both idiots? Your wish won't come true just by saying it."
"Stupid Ah Da, tell me your wish!"
Aomine Daiki frowned, "Then... I hope to meet a stronger opponent, at least it will make the competition less boring for me."
Kise Ryouta smiled brightly: "Then my wish is to be the starter in every game!"
"As for me... I hope that the snacks I finish eating will automatically become full again." Murasakibara Atsushi said with a long tone.
Midorima Shintaro said calmly, "I've always done my best and left the rest to fate. There's no need to make a wish."
Kurikawa Sana looked curiously at Akashi, the only one who hadn't spoken yet.
"Then my wish is to win the Teiko Championship three times in a row."
And, forever, absolute victory.
Akashi Seijuro stared at the black-haired girl calmly, his crimson pupils reflecting her figure.
Whether it's a competition or anything else... he will grab absolute victory.
"As expected of you, Minister Akashi!" Momoi Satsuki turned aside, "So, Sana, what is your wish?"
"My wish is... good health." When making this wish, Kurikawa Sana was extremely pious.
But just as she said this, the fireworks in the night sky stopped.
It's burned out.
It was as if her wish could not be fulfilled.
Kurikawa Sana stood there in a daze.
"Eh? Are the fireworks over? What a coincidence..." Momoi Satsuki was also surprised. Why did the fireworks stop when Sana's turn came?
And I didn't expect that Sana's wish would be so simple.
"This is easy, just wait a moment." Kise Ryota jumped off the lawn with a smile, ran to the temple fair stall to buy a bunch of firework sticks, and gave a firework stick to everyone except Sana.
"Look, Kurikawa—the fireworks in the sky have stopped, but the fireworks we give you won't."
With a "clang" sound.
Kurikawa Sana opened her eyes wide in surprise.
The young men lit the fireworks sticks in their hands, and the fireworks sticks of the same color as their hair burst into brilliant light, illuminating the smiles on their faces, which was no less impressive than the fireworks in the night sky at the previous fireworks display.
Even more brilliant and brighter than that.
They said in unison, smiling, "Make a wish, Kurikawa."
"……good."
Kurikawa Sana raised her hand and covered her heart.
She seemed to suddenly understand strongly the wish May had just made.
The softest part deep in my heart was touched.
If only I could stay in this moment...
If only it could remain warm forever.
Even later, Kurikawa Sana would still think of this brilliant scene of fireworks from time to time.
This moment was so warm and beautiful that for a long time afterwards, she still couldn't understand why they had changed.
as well as……
In the end, why did it end up like that?
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