I think we all once watched a sport anime and thought fully motivated,

"I will start doing this sport!"

But most of the time we didn't even start or quit after a few days.

I thought this time would be the same. I start but end up giving up because it would be to hard or I wasn't talented.

But this time it should be different.

"Mike are you sure you gonna start playing basketball just because of Kuroko no basket?" my friend Junior asked sceptically while putting back on his glasses he just cleaned.

"Yes 100%!" I answered confidently.

"And you won't stop after a few days like every time?"

"No, I am totally convinced that basketball is my sport. Besides I already bought a basketball yesterday and I don't want it to be a waste."

I showed him my new basketball with a wide smile on my face. I knew it was a good ball because an experienced basketball player helped me to pick this one. But to my surprise Junior didn't really react.

"But why did you came in gym clothes? It's not even hot today. You are really looking like a clown."

"Don't I look like a real basketball player now?Just call me Michael Jordan," I stated laughing.

"Just because you're black and your name is Mike doesn't mean you're Jordan,"he sighed.

"You really aren't fun. The reason I came in gym clothes is that I want to play basketball in the break."

As I said that Junior looked shocked and instantly became serious.

"Mike are you for real?The whole school knows that the basketball court on our school is basically reserved for the ninth graders from the basketball club!"

"Of course I know that I ain't stupid but I don't care.I will just be there before them."

"Mike please don't start something stupid. You know that this wont work."

"We will see."

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"Mike please we can still go back they aren't here yet," Junior begged while looking around scared.

"We are already on the court let's just play," I answered not minding his scared behavior.

"HEY!You guys leave the court, we're playing here now!" someone shouted.

"Fuck they are already here? Mike this are the ninth graders!"

A group of ninth graders walked up to us. There were really a lot of them like ten but still some of them stood out.

"Hey are you deaf! We're playing here now." One of the ninth grader shouted.

"Why don't we play together?"

I asked them politely. I just wanted to play basketball so it didn't really matter if I just play with Junior or together with them. Besides I'm not trying to pick a fight with them.

"You are way too bad to play with us," a ninth grader stated,"Besides, there are already ten of us, so we can play 5v5 perfectly."

The person who spoke was one of the ninth graders who stood out. With his short dyed blonde hair and eyebrow cuts he really looked dangerous.

But I just sighed.

"If that's the case we probably have no other choice...Lets play 1v1!!! The winner can stay on the court."

As I said this everybody looked shocked.It was like they couldn't believe what I've just said.But after realizing that I wasn't joking they started laughing.

"Hey did you all hear that.He just said he wants to play 1v1 for the court,"the ninth grader shouted laughing.

"Are you accepting the challenge or a you too afraid to loose to a six grader?"I made sure too sound as cocky and provoking as I could.

"Arrogant brat,"he shouted angrily,"Alright let's play but don't cry after I beat you!"

'It worked,' I thought.

"Mike, what are you doing?" Junior asked worriedly, "You've never really played basketball and you want to mess with a ninth grader ?!

"Don't worry I will handle it. Also after buying the ball yesterday I couldn't wait to play so I played at a court near to my house."

"You think you can beat a member of the basketball club just because you played a little bit yesterday?"

"Don't worry I said. I have a plan."

He still looked worried but accepted my decision.

"Don't loose!"

"I won't"

"Are you finished with your chat? Or are you perhaps scared, little one?" the ninth grader said.

"Stop joking.Just come here! "

"Before we play we should agree on the rules. You know the normal basketball rules, don't you?"the ninth grader asked skeptically.

"Of course what do you think? "I answered confidently.

I sounded confident, but I wasn't so sure at all. I only knew the rules from KnB (Kuroko no basket), but that should be enough for the basic rules, I hope.

"Okay, we'll play until five. But to make it a little more fun, we'll do it like this: If you score a point, you win. I, on the other hand, need five points," he announced confidently.

"You will regret this decision very soon!"

"Hahaha,we will see."

"Who got ball?" I asked.

"Shoot for it."

I smiled.

I shot the ball but airballed. All ninth graders started laughing.

"Hahaha airball, just give up immediately!" laughed my opponent, "give me the ball."

In the first possession I was defense. We played make it take it so I had to stop him for me to get the ball.We checked up and started the game.

"Try to guard me!"

He dribbled the ball very loosely but nevertheless safe. Suddenly there was a change of pace. He started dribbling faster and blow full speed by me. He went to the basket and made an easy layup.

I couldn't even react.

'Fuck!'

So this a basketball player!I really underestimated him.

"One to zero."

We checked up again and continued our game. He dribbled again very loosely with his right hand and used his left to protect the ball. He started to drive again, but instead of going over the right, he made a crossover and went to the left, but this time I was still there. I was still standing in front of him. Out of nowhere he made a quick crossover between the legs and went over right. This time I could react but still not prevent him from scoring.

"Two to zero." 

“Nothing has been decided yet!” I shouted.

I said that but I knew that he was superior to me. He was bigger, faster and stronger than me and he also had very good ball handling. But everyone has a weakness and I just had to figure his out.

This time I left a little more space between us so I would be able to defend a drive better.I know that if he could shoot well I would be fucked, but a shot is more difficult than a drive,so I took the risk. He seemed to notice that he had enough space to shoot so he started trying to shoot. I raised my hand and jumped in the air hoping to block his shot when I realized it.

"It's a fake!!"Junior shouted.

But it was already too late. The ninth grader took his chance and drove to the basket. He again made an easy layup and took a 3-0 lead.

"3 to 0. If this continues you won't even touch the ball," he asserted confidently.

I didn't answer because he was right.

If it continued like this I would have no chance to win, but with the last attack I realized something.

He can't shoot!

He scored all of his points through layups, and even when I gave him enough room to shoot, he didn't. Any good shooter would have taken this chance.In other words I have to get him to shoot!

This time I left even more space between us so that he had no choice but to shoot.

"What are you doing?!To let me that wide open do you think I can't shoot?!"he shouted angrily.

"That's exactly what I'm thinking.Shoot if you can," I provoked.

"Arrogant brat you will regret your decision!"

My provocation seemed to have worked because he threw the ball and missed.

"Why are you shooting Hans?! Everyone knows you can't shoot," shouted a ninth grader

"Shut up!" he answered angrily.

'So I was right,' I thought.

"Now I'm finally on offense!"

"You have no chance anyway."

"We will see!"

This time I had the ball but it seemed as if Hans wasn't taking me seriously, he gave me even more space to shoot than I just gave him.

"You are pretty sure that I can't shoot."

"You shoot even worse than me.We all just saw how you airballed" he laughed.

"If you think so."

I took a deep breath and looked at the rim. I was a little bit behind the free throw line but I knew I could make the shot. Using my full concentration I shot the ball and...

I splashed it!!!

Everything was quite. Nobody realized what just happened. I made the shot. You could see their disbelieving faces wondering how the person who just airballed splashed this shot.

But one person stood out. It was Hans.The look in his face was priceless. The self-confident and haughty Hans looked in horror after the ball went through the ring. You could see the despair in his eyes. Like he was about to explode.

What a beautiful sight.

"That can't be! How?! How?! Howww?!" he shouted desperately.

"Quite simple," I said, "you underestimated me!"

"I underestimated you?! Don't be ridiculous, that was just luck. Yes, that was just luck, what else, beginners' luck."

"It wasn't," I replied, "you thought I couldn't shoot because I missed the first shot. But what if I tell you that I missed the first shot on purpose so that you underestimate me?"

"That can't be why should you do something like that."

"Because you are better than me. I only started playing basketball yesterday, of course, I don't have a chance against someone who is physically superior to me and who also has basketball experience. That's why the rule that I only needed one Point was relatively good for me too. I made it look like I couldn't shoot at all so I could get a chance to shoot later in the game. But without a little bit of luck I still would have missed, "I explained casually.

"Typical Mike. He is always a few steps ahead of his opponent," Junior said who was now with me again.

"But I think you had more than a little luck with this shot," he added with a smile.

"Of course I was lucky, but I noticed that I can shoot relatively well for a beginner. As I mentioned earlier I played a little on the court near my home yesterday. There I realized that many of my shots go in. That's why I even dared this plan,"I explained.

"Damn, I really lost,"Hans shouted angrily, "that means we have to leave the court.Fuck!"

"That's the way it is. And now get out of here,"Junior stated.

I really don't know why he was so confident all of the sudden. Ten minutes ago he was scared as hell.

"HEY, WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?!" a powerful voice shouted.

All ninth grader were trembling in fear as they heard this voice. They all started sweating and stopped their talking.It was like they were fearing what was about to come. And the person with the most fear in his face was Hans. I searched for the source of the voice when I saw him. He walked to the court with the look of someone superior.

The person who just talked is now standing before me. He wasn't that much taller than me he was like 5'8 but it felt like he was way bigger than me. His pitch black hair and eyes just made his cold glance more threatening. Even with his jacket on you could see that he was well trained.

"What happened Hans?"he just asked.

Hans was trembling.

"I'm sorry!I'm sorry! Please forgive me captain!"

'Captain?' I wondered.

"Mike,"Junior said shocked, "this is ... this is the CAPTAIN of the basketball club!!"