Mr Shirogane and Mr Tsukishima's team ended up bringing breakfast to the group of frustrated teenagers after half an hour of Matsushita whining. It wasn't just him, but if there was any way to rally the members of three different teams it was their mutual hunger, and desire for smoothies from their machines in the dining hall. The breakfast was less extravagant, steaming metal serving troughs of scrambled eggs sat on a rickety table, next to a wagon, which was piled high with paper plates, mismatched silverware and a few empty trays. Akane had helped them carry in small single boxes of cereal from the reserve's pantry.
Basketball was long forgotten as everyone shovelled food in their mouths. Kaho had eggs, and all but melted into the waxy floor at the beautiful texture. Whoever was cooking that vat of food had done a spectacular job. But as Matsushita had to be ousted from the self-service queue for his fourth helping of eggs, Taiga cleared his throat, "I want Team Hanagawa over with me when you've finished eating. We'll have to find something to do while we digest this bounty. And don't forget to thank Mr. Shirogane and Mr.Tsukishima when they stop by later. They've gone above and beyond for you this morning."
"Taiga's right," Coach Tomogawa added, "I expect each and every one of you boys to thank them for their kindness and accommodations this morning. Do I make myself clear?"
"Same here," Coach Itomi said, crossing his arms, "As for not killing you all with indigestion, I think we should do some team building, Team Kuroyama."
As the teams finished their meals, they sat around their respective coaches. Taiga headed to the bench, where he had placed his backpack and produced a neon orange folder, and a dozen clipboards, all emblazoned with vinyl stickers that had the resort logo on them. He handed each member of his team a clipboard as they joined him. Each held a crudely pinned booklet. The cover page was decorated in ClipArt images of basketballs, and stars and sparkles. Kaho signed her name and opened the booklet. Inside was a series of quiz questions.
Meanwhile Taiga went to the farthest corner of the gym and made a call. He was quiet when he nodded along with this mystery person, perhaps their mother, though more likely the Principal. Kaho didn't have a clue what he was saying specifically, but it probably had something to do with the death on-site and the potential implications on the original schedule for rentals and authorised absences. Very grown up of him.
"Uh, Kaho?" Fumiko said, waving a hand in front of her face.
Kaho snapped to attention, "Sorry."
Fumiko sighed and handed her an orange pen, she had two boxes of felt-tip pens, and Matsushita and Omura were fighting over the school colours from their own box. Beside her, Ryota was writing in a hot pink pen. Kaho prised the lid off and filled in the first handful of questions.
'What is your name?', 'What Year are you in', and 'Do you know your personality type (if not use your phone, you heathen)' were easy enough for her to fill in. But then the questions got more random.
'Do you dream of the past or the future at night?'
Kaho scowled at her sheet of paper. Did she dream of either? The only dream she could remember from the top of her head was that one of her in that wasteland. Surely that was just her imagination. She turned and glanced at the boys around her, most were skimming the definitions of the personality types at the back – likely able to remember if they were an 'EN' or an 'IN' and one of the other letters, but not the order. Kaho sighed and pursed her lips.
'I dream random stuff', she wrote non-committedly.
She let out a frustrated huff when she glanced at the next one of the questions:
'Which would you rather have, hands for feet or feet for hands?'
Was he serious?
Kaho rolled her eyes and answered she would rather have hands for feet since we evolved from apes with dexterous hand-like feet anyways.
"Coach?" Captain Hirano asked, holding a teal felt tip between his crossed fingers, "What is this even for?"
Captain Hirano was sitting across from her, so Kaho couldn't see what question he had reached. Had he even gotten to the questions, or was he still trying to work out the answers to his personality type quiz.
Beside him, Konoishi was pursing his lips, balancing the purple pen between his lips and his nose. Fumiko rolled her eyes and frowned at her questions.
Taiga hung up the call and rolled his eyes, "I admire your ability to question authority, it gives me some pride to know that as much as you respect me, you can call me out for chatting shit. It means you still have common sense. You can lose that in a game. Now. Azumi. Would you rather have feet for hands or hands for feet?"
"Hands for feet," Captain Hirano said, "Would anyone actually want feet hands?"
"Very good, Azumi," Taiga said, crossing his arms and puffing out his chest.
"Coach? What does being an ENFP have to do with basketball?" Matsushita asked, raising his hand.
Taiga grinned and put his hands on his hips, "Gather around, children, I have a story to tell."
He got on his knees and beckoned the team to surround him in the circle, closing any distance between them. He grinned.
"Back when I was on the Kenjoku Kaijus, my coach, Coach Takamura was a genius. She gave us these papers to fill in. I've added some of my Taiga Pazazz to it while I've trained to be this fantastic specimen you see before you."
"The humble specimen," Kaho muttered rolling her eyes.
"As I was saying, Kaho!" Taiga said with a grin, "Coach Takamura gave us some questions to answer so she could work out what she needed to push us towards. Some is just for funsies, and hey, maybe it will help you reflect on yourselves and whatever, but the answers you give me are going to inform how I use you on the court – so no lying."
Matsushita and Omura raised their hands, lowering their heads. Taiga rolled his eyes and produced two plastic wallets from within the orange plastic envelope file, a bright pink post-it note sat on the front labelled 'In case of Matsushita's and or Omura's BS'.
Taiga slid the plastic wallet across the gym floor. The pair glanced at the post-it and back to Taiga, eyes wide and mouths falling open.
"It is my job as your coach to know you. I need to know you so well I'll know what flavour candied mints to bring to settle Iwao's nerves when we play real games, I'll know what brand of knee supports you need to play Nobuyuki, and what colour your lucky underwear is, Michio."
The team sat awestruck, gawking at Taiga.
He got to his feet, "I already know, of course, that Satoru is allergic to latex, and according to your old coach, Coach Shinohara, you all ate bland food on the night before a match. Remember those food diaries he used to make you keep?"
A collective groan.
"Exactly. But I want to know you. I want to be able to support you in the best way possible," Taiga said, holding a hand over his heart, "I pledge my mind, body and soul to your success."
"Thanks, Coach." Captain Hirano said.
"So, I expect thorough answers."
The team nodded, and returned to their sheets. Taiga wasn't wrong about wanting to know the team – there were half a dozen would you rather questions on the next two pages – and yet, when Kaho turned over to the third, the worksheet Taiga had abridged from Coach Takamura were laid out plain and clear. Unlike the previous pages, which had questions for them to answer, the next page was a series of circles, interconnected in a spider diagram. In the centre circle, in bold font was 'The Dream', followed by different things that needed to be achieved being indicated in the various bubbles: Short-Term, Mid-Term, and Long-Term Goals, alongside bubbles for Personal Development and Technical Skill Development. Beneath the diagram was an explanation, likely copied word-by-word from Coach Takamura's papers.
'The Otani Model of goals, coined by Otani Shohei exists to outline specific goals with your primary dream in mind – what do you want from your life, and how can you achieve it? Do you want to succeed in school? Do we need to give you an extra day off for prep classes? Or do you desire a future on the court? Write what you want, and how you think you can get there.'
Kaho sighed and glanced over at the third years. Most had discarded their clipboards. Nitta was still cursing at his.
"Coach can't you just email our homeroom teachers for this?" Nitta asked.
"When you write for Furakawa Sensei, do you write like you speak?" Taiga quipped.
Nitta shook his head.
"Exactly. When you write for the eyes of The Man you sound all put together and professional. If you want to write 'Fuck' on the paper, write 'Fuck' on the paper. And not because I'm a groovalicious, stupendous and attractive Coach that's young enough to be your brother – hint hint Kaho, hint hint, literally my sister, you can treat me like a friend. A friend whose been there. A friend who has kicked ass and will help you get to the top of the league because I can. Do I make myself clear."
"Uh, Taiga?" Coach Tomogawa said, "You're getting a bit tetchy and hateful. I know you're angry, and boy should you feel it, but dial it down several notches, will ya? My kids are trying to do trust falls here."
"Sorry Goro, I'm just in my feelings!"
Coach Itomi and Coach Tomogawa rolled their eyes.
Kaho pursed her lips and glanced across the circle. Ryota was already writing 'Go Pro' in big block letters on his paper. Naseru's however, was blank.
"You stuck too?" Kaho asked with a smile.
Naseru didn't return the look.
"Not really," he muttered, closing his booklet.
Kaho frowned. His page was empty, what did he mean he wasn't stuck? Kaho opened her mouth to object, but as she did so, a shrill beeping sound echoed through the gym – it had been an hour. The teams could return to their drills and games.
Taiga blew his whistle, "Okay, Hanagawa, pass back your clipboards. Don't worry if you didn't finish this right now, you can have them back later. Fumiko, can you hand out the balls please?"
Fumiko nodded, getting up from her spot on the floor and went to where a trolley of basketballs lay on the floor. She crossed the room, and passed out half a dozen balls among the Hanagawa team before wheeling the trolley across and over to Akane.
"I want you boys to focus on your defence okay," Taiga said, "So I want you to double-team each other. Matsuoka? Want to demonstrate."
Naseru said nothing.
"Fine. Be that way. Eiji? Ren? Want to double-team someone? Hmm. Let's say Michio."
The boys each got to their feet. Kaho noted the clear choice not to invite Yuta to play with Eiji. Clearly, Eiji and Yuta's language was something Taiga wanted to keep under wraps.
Nitta picked up a ball and bounced it a few paces away from the rest of the group. Eiji and Yuta clambered to their feet and flailed their arms, shuffling back with each dribble Nitta did.
Taiga blew his whistle.
"Nope. You're moving with him, not against him. You are the tide fighting for control. He is driftwood. You should be able to move him, and get control of the ball. Okay? Try again, boys. Michio, when you're ready."
Nitta pivoted on his left foot and jerked back to the right, his shoes squeaking with him as he went. A noisy feint. But it did the trick; he'd broken away from both of his defenders and made a show of tossing a futile three from a few steps off the half-court line. Yamada bolted for the ball and caught it.
"Nice rebound, Ren!" Taiga said, giving Yamada a thumbs up.
Across the gym, Kuroyama was practising shooting, using a similar drill to what Fumiko had implemented the previous day, shooting and stepping back until the people missed. Kaho watched Kuroyama do this, while Fumiko's gaze was on Seiran. They were the farthest away from Hanagawa, and were essentially playing hot potato, passing the ball quickly between them. Fumiko clicked her pen and scrawled a note on a piece of paper.
Akane was making a brazen show of watching Yamada and Eiji attempt to block Nitta as he crossed the court. Taiga was laser-focused on his team. He shadowed Eiji as he attempted to swat the ball out of Nitta's arms.
"Michio, stop going easy on them," Sunada said.
Nitta turned his head and Yamada jabbed the ball out from Nitta's hands.
"Nice one, Ren! Sneaky bastard," Nitta grinned, slinging an arm around Yamada's shoulder. He then slapped the ball out of Yamada's relaxed arms, and sent it rolling to Taiga.
Taiga grinned, crossing his arms.
"I'm no referee, but I'm gonna say that was a foul," Taiga grinned, "Michio – if Iwao is saying you're going easy on them, I'm inclined to trust him. So. Enough of that. Ren, good job. Eiji. It was like you weren't even on the court, get into the thick of it, yeah? Take a quick breath, and we'll try again."
Kaho watched, as did the rest of the team, who slowly broke off together and began practicing together. The team were moving in a sequence of pushes and pulls. Friction and tension. Taiga floated amongst them, correcting their form and making jokes. He compared Konoishi to an inflatable tube man, and how sloppy his form was.
Ryota and Yuta proceeded to stop attempting to dribble and block and proceeded to attempt to copy each of Konoishi's flailing movements. The trio burst into fits of giggles. Just as Matsushita gave Omura a wedgie, and wrenched the ball out of his hands, passing to Tomohiro. Hanagawa was full of laughter. Kaho couldn't help but stifle a giggle as Ryota turned to her and waved his arms. She did it back and Konoishi ran a hand through his hair.
"I get it! Can we try again?"
"Of course," Yuta said, waving his arms. Ryota grabbed the ball and began dribbling again. He made it two steps and snorted, clutching his sides. The image of Konoishi as an inflatable tube man had evidently not yet escaped him.
Kaho lost track of time watching the players on Hanagawa swap places and orders, so they could keep practicing. Defence was a minefield for prospective fouls, and the last thing they wanted, was to gain those while they played real games.
Taiga glanced at Fumiko and she nodded. She had notes. Of course, she had notes. Should Kaho be taking notes? She turned her head. There was one player who was barely moving while he played, shuffling to the left and to the right with a ball between his fingers. Naseru.
He was dulled by the monotony of the drill, each movement was robotic, like it had been hard-wired into each muscle in his body. His face was blank, impassive, while Sunada and Captain Hirano tried to gain control of the ball.
Kaho frowned as she watched him. He was like a completely different person doing these drills compared to his gameplay in P.E. during his one-on-one, or when Kaho had faced him in the park. She sighed and got her phone out, sending Taiga a text.
"Matsuoka's not into it."
Taiga glanced at his phone and blew his whistle. Kaho frowned, and glanced back at the screen of her phone – it was noon. Time for lunch.