The Day Past
Monday.
Tuesday.
Wednesday.
Thursday.
Friday.
Every day, we trained.
Stretching.
Running plays.
Drilling tactics.
Polishing our defense.
Attacking the paint.
Sharpening every detail.
And in between all of that—we studied.
There was no room for weakness. Not in our bodies. Not in our minds.
Every day blurred into the next.
Until finally… it was Saturday.
…
We gathered early at school, bags packed, minds focused. The final was tomorrow, and this afternoon, we'd head to the stadium to check into our rooms and prepare.
Coach Tsugawa stood in front of us, his voice fiery, eyes burning with pride.
"This is it," he said. "You all know what's at stake tomorrow. Win or lose, we might still qualify—but do any of you want to qualify that way?"
Everyone shook their heads.
"This is our second match against Toyonaka. They're not just our rivals… they're brothers-in-arms."
A brief pause.
"But in the end, there will only be one winner—"
His voice rose.
