The next day, Hikki went to school after attending the gathering. He thought about last night as a smile graced his beautiful features.
"You seem to be in a good mood, Young Master." Sebas remarked while glancing at Hikki through the rear view mirror of the black range rover.
"...I am." Hikki replied calmly. As theh neared the elegant school gate, he requested, "Sebas, could you drop me off a bit further away from the gate. I'll walk the rest of the way."
Sebas looked concerned and hesitated, "That may not be wise, Young Master."
"Just drop me there. I don't want to attract too much attention at the gate like yesterday," Hikki insisted, closing his eyes to indicate his decision was final.
With a sigh Sebas relented, knowing that Hikki was resolute in his choice, "...Understood."
As they reached the school, Hikki met up with Asuka on the way as they walked together to their class building.
The lessons for the day went uneventful, and Hikki quietly read an advanced book for college students while the classes went on. When the final school bell rang, signalling the end of lessons, Hikigaya joined Mibuchi and Isame as they headed to the school building.
They were making their way to the basketball club practice.
Upon reaching the basketball club, Hikki recognised the familiar faces if the first string basketball members, one in particular was Ogiwara playing one on one against the current captain of Meikō's Basketball club, Kazama Shin.
After a while of watching the two go at it, the Assistant Coach, Coach Makiyama entered with a taller man who wore a black tracksuit and had grey hair and a grey beard.
Seeing Makiyama arrive with the man, Kazama stopped what he was doing immediately and walked up to them, offering a friendly greeting. After some simple pleasantries, Kazama stood in the middle of the court and instructed all the first-string members to line up in front of them.
Makiyama nodded in agreement as he observed everyone lining up. Standing beside him was the taller man sporting a warm smile stepped forward to introduce himself, "I see new faces here amongst you, so I shall introduce myself first. My name is Hiroshi Yamato, and I'm currently the Head Coach of the Meikō Basketball Club." He introduced.
"As usual, we'll start with some simple exercises for my first training session with these lovely newcomers who I'm sure you've seen their potential in tryouts and with Assistant Coach Makiyama. Also because of the great additions to the team, which I have to gauge their talents myself, we will do a practice game..."
Coach Hiroshi's charismatic speech captured the attention of all the members of Meikō Basketball Club. He gestured towards Coach Makiyama, "As for how the teams are divided, I'll let Coach Makiyama and Captain Kazama decide it."
After concluding his speech, Hiroshi excused himself, hinting at other duties to attend to. Makiyama took over the proceedings and decided to pit the freshmen against the senior players for a practice game.
The exercises continued for longer than Hikki had expected, and he noticed that the training was a thousand times more intense than what Coach Makiyama had ever put them through for a 'simple exercise'. The first string players were panting, some were drenched in sweat.
Masahiko, the towering player with a laid-back demeanour, seemed unfazed by the demanding exercises. He appeared to be effortlessly completing the drill, not breaking a sweat or showing any signs of tiredness or discomfort.
Hikki couldn't help but ask, "Are you not tired at all, Isame?"
"Huh? Not at all, this is a light exercise, right?" Masahiko nonchalantly replied when Hikki called out to him.
"You asked him such a question, but you don't seem to be tired either," Mibuchi interrupted while panting as he looked at Ryou, who seemed to be doing fine after such exercises.
"Well. While that is indeed the case, I'm used to something harder than this," Hikki explained while still doing the exercise with Mibuchi following behind him.
"However that guy," Hikki commented as he pointed at Masahiko, who seemed to be lost in thought again as he effortlessly continued doing the exercise before them. "I doubt he was used to this kind of exercise before."
Hearing this, Mibuchi could only widen his eyes in disbelief. "So, you're saying that it's just his natural physique?"
Ogiwara, who was listening to this, also widened his eyes in surprise as he looked at Masahiko in a new light. To think they had such a monster on their team.
"That's true," Hikki agreed, nodding his head as he contjnued to do the exercise. He couldn't help but keep his eyes on Masahiko, who appeared ot be lost in thought, almost as though he was on autopilot completing the exercise with ease. "But I guess it comes with a cost, huh."
As Hikki observed, he couldn't help but think that with the right coach or professional trainer, Masahiko had the potential to rival those NBA players just based on his remarkable physique. The sheer size and natural talent of Masahiko left Hikki in awe, imagining the incredible heights the lazy giant could reach in basketball with proper guidance.
———
TBC
