OSAKA
WHILE MAKI AND SAKURAGI WERE AT AICHI'S TOURNAMENT THERE WAS ANOTHER PERSON WHO ARRIVED AT OSAKA BY HIMSELF. THE PERSON'S NAME IS... HIKOICHI
HIKOICHI: HAVE TO PAY CLOSE ATTENTION! I CAME HERE ESPECIALLY TO SEE YOU, HE MADE IT INTO TOYOTAMA HUH... IT'S A FAMOUS SCHOOL... THIS SEEMS A LITTLE STRANGE...! HE USED TO BE MY LITTLE UNDERSTUDY... IS THIS FOR REAL... ALREADY! ENOUGH REMINDING ME OF SUCH AN UPSETTING THING!! WE WERE SO CLOSE... AGAINST KAINAN, AND AGAINST SHOHOKU TOO... WE WERE SO CLOSE... FOR THE SENIORS, THE MATCH AGAINST SHOHOKU WAS THEIR FAREWELL GAME. I HAD THOUGHT UOZUMI-SENPAI WOULD STAY BEHIND FOR THE DRAFT.
UOZUMI: I'VE TURNED 18, SO IT'S TIME FOR ME TO BEGIN MY WORK. IT'S SOMETHING I AGREED UPON WITH MY DAD EVER SINCE I WAS LITTLE. BECAUSE OF I'M THE ONLY ONE TO INHERIT AND CARRY ON THE BUSINESS.
HIKOICHI: WHAT...
KOSHINO: WHAT KIND OF WORK IS IT?
UOZUMI: IT'S MY DREAM... TO BE A CHEF!!
RYONAN'S PLAYER: A CHEF..!? SENPAI'S FATHER IS A CHEF!?
UOZUMI: ALTHOUGH WE WEREN'T ABLE TO ACHIEVE OUR DREAM AT THIS TIME...
IKEGAMI: BUT NEXT TIME, YOU ALL...
UOZUMI: NEXT TIME...
IKEGAMI: YOU ALL...
UOZOMI: HAVE... HAVE TO... HAVE TO... HAVE TO...
HIKOICHI: UOZUMI-SENPAI...
UOZUMI: YOU ARE UP... I CAN'T SAY ANYMORE...
IKEGAMI: NEXT TIME YOU ALL HAVE TO BRING BACK THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS!!
RYONAN'S PLAYER: YES!!
IKEGAMI: UNDERSTOOD!!
RYONAN'S PLAYER: THANK YOU SENPAIS!!
HIKOICHI: LOSING SENIORS FROM THE TEAM HAS A REALLY BIG IMPACT... WHICH IS WHY WE HAVE TO START WORKING HARDER THAN ANY OTHER TEAM. OUR NEW CAPTAIN SENDOH-SENPAI DIDN'T COME TODAY... IS IT GOING TO BE OK?
UOZUMI: AS LONG AS HE'S ON THE TEAM, I CAN RETIRE AT EASE. DON'T YOU WORRY!
HIKOICHI: WATCH AND SEE! RYONAN'S TIME WILL DEFINITELY COME!! WE HAVE TO MAKE IT RYONAN'S TIME!!
OSAKA'S TOURNAMENT
TERUO: HIKOICHI!! HIKOICHI!! AREN'T YOU HIKOICHI!? YOU REALLY CAME!?
HIKOICHI: TERUO... IS THAT YOU!? WAIT A SEC HERE...
TERUO: MM?
HIKOICHI: HOW TALL ARE YOU NOW!?
TERUO: 181 CM. AHHH! THAT'S RIGHT, I SWITCHED SCHOOLS IN MY SECOND YEAR IN MIDDLE SCHOOLS, SO YOU ONLY REMEMBER THE ME THAT WAS SHORT.
HIKOICHI: WHAT!?
TERUO: AFTER THAT, I GREW LIKE CRAZY... MAYBE ABOUT 2O CM. BUT... YOU SEEM LIKE YOU HAVEN'T GROWN AT ALL, HIKOICHI.
HIKOICHI: ENOUGH ALREADY!! I'VE GROWN!! TERUO WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE!? NOT ONLY YOUR BODY BUT YOUR EGO HAS ALSO GROWN PRETTY BIG!! THIS PUNK... IT USED TO BE YOU FOLLOWING ME AROUND EVERYWHERE GOING HIKOICHI-KUN, HIKOICHI-KUN! I'M ALSO THE ONE TAUGHT YOU BASKETBALL!
TERUO: THAT WAS BACK WHEN WE WERE LITTLE KIDS!
HIKOICHI: MM... EVEN THOUGH IT IS...
TERUO: THE PAST IS IN THE PAST, NOW IS NOW! COME TO THINK OF IT, DID RYONAN MAKE INTO THE NATIONALS?HIKOICHI: NO...
MAN: RYONAN? ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT RYONAN HIGH FROM KANAGAWA?
TERUO: THIS IS OUR ACE PLAYER KISHIMOTO-SENPAI. HE'S THE ONE WHO TAUGHT ME HOW TO PLAY BASKETBALL...
HIKOICHI: BASTARD...!
KISHIMOTO: DON'T YOU HAVE SENDOH-KUN ON YOUR TEAM?
HIKOICHI: YOU... YOU'VE ALSO HEARD ABOUT HIM!?
KISHIMOTO: IT WAS FROM AN ARTICLE IN HERE! ABOUT KANAGAWA'S PLAYERS... "RYONAN'S TENSAI! SENDOH AKIRA'S MAGNIFICENT BASKETBALL TECHNIQUE CANNOT BE MISSED!" "TENSAI" HUH...
NOTE: "TENSAI" MEANS GENIUS
HIKOICHI: IT'S ARTICLE WRITTEN BY MY SISTER...
KISHIMOTO: THIS DESCRIPTION, TENSAI... THERE'S VERY FEW PLAYER IN THE ENTIRE COUNTRY WHO CAN GET SUCH A LOFTY TITLE. LET ALONE A HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT! I'M REALLY HOPING I CAN FACE HIM IN THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS... SO I CAN EMBARRASS HIM!
SENDOH: HUAA... MMM... SLOWLY AND CAREFULLY, WE'LL START FROM THE BEGINNING AGAIN...
TERUO: IT SEEMS THAT THEY WEREN'T ABLE TO MAKE IT INTO THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS...
KISHIMOTO: IT'S JUST A CASE OF HARSH REALITY! ANYWAY YOU LOOK AT IT, THEY WERE EXAGGERATING IN THEIR PRAISE! THAT'S JUST REALLY ANNOYING
HIKOICHI: I HAVE SOMETHING I WANT TO TELL YOU...
KISHIMOTO: YAH?
HIKOICHI: A PIECE OF GARBAGE LIKE YOU CAN'T NEVER BE COMPARED TO SENDOH-SENPAI, STUPID!!
KISHIMOTO: WHAT DID YOU SAY!?
HIKOICHI: DAMN THAT TOYOTAMA HIGH! IT'S UNFORGIVABLE!! I WILL INVESTIGATE YOU ALL!! I WILL INVESTIGATE THE HECK OUT OF YOU!! AND THEN I'LL GIVE ALL THE INFORMATION TO KAINAN AND SHOHOKU!! HEH... HEH... HEH...!!
HOWEVER... OSAKA'S TRULY STRONGEST TEAM ISN'T TOYOTAMA...
KISHIMOTO: GET BACK! GET BACK! HURRY AND GET BACK ON D!!
NOTE: D = DEFENSE
HIKOICHI: AHHH! NICE PASS!!
CROWD: YES!!
HIKOICHI: THEY'VE GOTTEN FARTHER AHEAD!! THE LEAD IS 10 PTS!!
KISHIMOTO: BASTARD!! TSUCHIYA, ARE YOU AFRAID OF FACING ME!?
HIKOICHI: THAT BASTARD KISHIMOTO, HE'S BEING PLAYED BY THAT NUMBER 4!! SERVES YOU RIGHT!! AND TERUO IS ONLY A BENCH PLAYER TOO!!
TERUO: DAMN!! COME ON, KISHIMOTO-SENPAI!!
HIKOICHI: DAIEI HIGH... THAT NUMBER 4 IS THE HEART OF THEIR TEAM, AND WITH HIM THEIR TEAMWORK IS REALLY GOOD...!! THAT NUMBER 4, HE IS A TALL FLOOR LEADER. HIS VERY PRESENCE INSPIRES THE ENTIRE TEAM!! HE REALLY SEEMS A LOT LIKE SENDOH-SENPAI...
TSUCHIYA (NUMBER 4): AHHH!!
CROWD: YEAH, NICE PLAY!! TSUCHIYA!! AH!!
HIKOICHI: THE ONE I REALLY OUGHT TO PLAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO DAIE HIGH...!! NUMBER 4, TSUCHIYA, HMPH... HAVE TO PAY CLOSE ATTENTION!! IT'S A GOOD THING I CAME TO WATCH THE GAME...!! PERHAPS THEY WILL BECOME THE NEW RYONAN'S TARGET IN THE FUTURE...!!
THE TWO TEAMS THAT ARE REPRESENTING OSAKA ARE... DAIEI AND TOYOTAMA HIGH. ELSEWHERE, FOR AICHI IT IS AIWA HIGH, AND FOR THE FIRST TIME, MEIHOU HIGH. WITH THIS 59 TEAMS FROM AROUND THE COUNTRY HAVE BEEN ASSEMBLED. THERE IS STILL ONE MONTH BEFORE THE TOURNAMENT!!
