Sora

Shun snuck into the second-string gym without anyone noticing. He got up to the second-floor corridor and sat down so that he was less visible.

Shun rubbed his hands and chuckled.

Shun: "Let's see who in the second-string has the potential to be promoted to first-string in the future."

Shun was here to scout the first-years, who had the potential to be in the first-string in the future. He didn't want the members in the second-string to behave any differently, so he made sure that none of them noticed him.

He was here just in time to see the second-string's mini-games.

Shun: 'Nothing is better than watching players playing in a game. You can see their performance without any filters.'

There were a reason scouts and coaches based their reports on actual games rather than just stats. A player's true worth could be decided on the court. No matter how good they were in practice, it all amounted to nothing if they didn't perform in games.

Shun also had an ability that helped him perform exemplary as a scout. Shun's copy ability's application perfect profile could help him to understand a player better than they did themselves.

Sure he didn't have Aida Riko's physical scouter or Satsuki's analytical ability, but Shun could still discern players' skill and potential at a high level.

Shun rested his chin on his hand and started to absorb the information that his eyes saw. Every players' skills, timing, habits, which area of the court they preferred, which move did they preferred in clutch time, what made them tick, their ability to work with a team, every single detail was being recorded and stored by Shun.

Shun had been coming to second-string mini-games for a while. According to Shun.

Shun: "There is no way watching the player once would be enough. Everybody has their ups and downs. I need to observe them for a while to make a decision that would satisfy me."

Today was Shun's last day coming to the second-string for a while. He was going to make a recommendation to the coach, which would be later taken into consideration when promotions would be decided.

Shun was watching when he saw something unusual that he had not seen before from a certain player.

Shun looked towards a first-year. He had been playing as the shooting guard for the time Shun had been watching him play, but know he was playing as the point guard.

The first-year junior had lowered his scoring from his previous games and was now focusing on playmaking. He continued watching all the players with first-year on a high priority.

As he was watching Shun's eyes widened, he had to turn all his attention to the first-year that was playing point guard.

Shun stopped watching everybody and turned all his attention to that game.

The first-year was extremely short.

He was shorter than Kaitaini, and that was saying something. But despite that, he had something that attracted Shun's attention to him.

Shun: 'I didn't think someone other than me would have that ability in Tokiwadai. He can see it, the court.'

Shun looked at the plays been made by the first-year, he looked at the passes, and he could see what everyone was missing.

Shun: 'He has it. The court vision and spatial aptitude. Those could only be provided by those eyes.'

Shun had noticed that after the game against Aiwa, his court vision and spatial aptitude had been raised to the level of Hawk Eyes.

Shun looked at the wielder of the Hawk Eyes and smiled till his lips couldn't skip anymore.

Shun: 'This could be a game-changer.'

-*-*-*-*-*-

Shun's smile turned upside down as he continued to watch, a frown appeared on Shun's normally relaxed face.

Shun kept looking at his target and saw skill, decent speed, enough stamina to last a game, but he also saw piss-poor quality plays that weren't worthy of a player with the wielder of the Hawk Eyes.

Shun: "What is he doing? Why is he doing no-look passes if he can't position the pass correctly."

Shun also saw attempts to be tricky backfiring splendidly.

Shun: "Don't do passes in positions that your teammates can't catch."

As he kept looking, he found a player that had good personal skills, played with teamwork, but all of that ruined by piss-poor passing skills.

Shun: "He is completely screwing up his gifts."

Shun tried to stay still until the game was over, but it was getting difficult to stay still. Shun started to rock back and forth to release some frustration he was feeling.

Shun: "Don't shout. Don't shout. Don't shout..."

Shun kept repeating the same words again and again. For Shun, who aspired to be the best playmaker out there, this was too hard to look at.

If it had been a different person who didn't have the Hawk Eyes, he wouldn't have been bothered, but a player who had the ability, but was screwing up royally, was too much for Shun to watch.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-

When the game was finally over, he got up and banged his hands on the railings, and yelled.

Shun: "FINALLY!"

Everybody in the second-string looked up to find Shun standing there looking like he had escaped hell.

The members started to whisper amongst them, trying to figure out what Shun was doing there.

Shun had been so stealthy that no one knew that he had been there. Real ninja-level stuff.

Shun glared at the first-year and pointed at him.

Shun: "You!"

The first-year looked around him, trying to figure out who Shun was pointing at.

Shun: "Where in the world are you looking at? I am talking to you, shrimpy."

The first-year got scared when he realized that Shun was talking to him. He pointed at himself and asked.

First-year: "S-Shrimpy?"

Shun moved along the corridor and said.

Shun: "Yeah, you! Wait right there, don't move! I am coming down there."

Shun got down and stomped his way to the first-year.

The first-year was shaking in his shoes as he saw Shun making his way towards him. He had heard about Shun.

First-year: 'The best player in the whole school. The player who scored a hundred points in a game.'

The one thing about strong players was that they could be misunderstood as egoistic, and the current Shun was looking the part.

Shun stopped in front of him and growled.

Shun: "You can see it, can't you?"

The first-year was scared and confused.

First-year: "S-See what?"

Shun growled yet again.

Shun: "The court. You can see the full-court and the positions of the players on it, can't you?"

The first-year nodded hurriedly, not wanting to make Shun any madder.

First-year: "Y-Yes, I can see it."

Shun harumphed and asked.

Shun: "Why did you make those, no-look and behind the back passes."

The first-year was a little surprised when he thought that Shun was looking at his game.

First-year: "I passed the ball that way so that it won't be stolen plus the tricky pass throws off the other teams."

Shun nodded and then looked at the person in front of him like he understood nothing.

Shun: "You are correct, but at the same time, you understand nothing.

The sole purpose of a pass is to make sure the ball goes into the basket. It doesn't matter if it's flashy or tricky. In my view, as long as the pass makes the chances of scoring higher, it doesn't matter if it is flashy or bland.

What your passes were doing was decreasing the chances of scoring. You made tricky pass plays, but your accuracy sucked so bad that your teammates had to alter their course to catch the ball, disrupting the flow of the offense.

You made passes that would trick the opponent, but at the same time, you made those passes difficult for your teammates to catch.

You may have won the match, but that was because your coach balanced the team by adding strong players in your team."

The first-year lowered his head, feeling ashamed in Shun's opinion of his playmaking.

Shun sighed and said.

Shun: "Do you understand what I am saying?"

The first-year nodded.

Shun shook his head and said.

Shun: "You suck even though you have a great ability. Do you know what is going to happen now?"

A lot of things went through the first-year's mind, and the conclusion that he came to was that he was going to be demoted. But what he heard was.

Shun: "If I leave you alone, you are going to screw everything. I am going to talk to the coach, you are going to come to the first-string."

The first-year squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his fists, he waited to hear the words, but the words he was waiting didn't come. He looked up and looked at Shun with his jaw hanging low.

First-year: "Eh! W-What?"

Shun patted the first-year's shoulders and said.

Shun: "You are coming to the first-string the moment my coach gives me the green light."

First-year was experiencing a maelstrom of emotions and could only manage to blurt out.

First-year: "But why me?"

Shun sighed and spoke the whole truth.

Shun: "I am inviting you because you are needed. If the team didn't need you, then we would have waited till you were good enough. To be honest, I am inviting you just for a single game.

I have the same ability as you, but because I need someone to do the job that would have otherwise occupied me for a big portion of the game."

Shun paused and added the warning that the first-year needed to know.

Shun: "One more thing, I need to tell you. The first-string is going to be a lot different and tough from the second-string. You might just feel that you want to quit because of the sudden rise of skill and difficulty gap.

So think about it before you decide that you want to join the first-string. Sometimes sports can be crushing. You can take your time and get back to me in a week. It will also give me time to convince the coach."

The first-year nodded.

Shun said goodbye and turned back to leave, but when he got to the door, he turned back and ran back to the first-year.

Shun cleared his throat and scratched the back of his head.

Shun: "Hey. I forgot to ask, but what's your name?"

The first-year straightened up and said.

Kurumatani: "Kuramatani Sora, first year, section C. Sir!" [1]

Shun ruffled Kurumatani's hair and said.

Shun: "Don't call me sir. Senpai will do."

Kurumatani: "Yes!"

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

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A/N [1]: Kurumatani Sora is a character from the series Ahiru No Sora. The link to his profile will be in the comment section.

]