Looking at the not-so-friendly giant, Masaru chuckled and said, "Saruwatori Naoki, pleased to meet you, looks like our team aren't all miserable failures, good to see that we have one player besides me and Rikyu that has some skill, that was pretty good drills you had there. You can go first if you want Naoki-kun, this drill is nothing special," with a smile, showing something quite rare to come from Masaru. Respect. Masaru looked down the ladder, it seemed the coach was focusing on testing agility and speed of the players for day 1. Masaru could see already that Rikyu probably won't fare well for the first few practice sessions. Masaru smiled at the thought that if Rikyu had excellent all-around skills, if he had that combined with his lack of presence he would be quite brilliant, even moreso than already. Rikyu was respected by Masaru not because of his play style and the fact Masaru cannot imitate it, but because despite Rikyu had low quality normal basketball skills he had the determination of any pro level player.

Izumi an Taki line up on the foul stripe waiting the signal and when it comes they bolt forward as if shot from a gun.
At the first cone Taki is one step ahead of Izumi but she cut's his lead in half with a more efficient turn.
By their third suicide Taki's lead is five paces but each are still within the time limit.
It is in the seventh run that Izumi's more efficient style begins to regain ground as he brothers energy level drops a fraction.
When they cross the final line Taki's lead is only two steps ahead of his sister and he is visibly winded where as Izumi seems to be merely breathing deeply

"Dam sis sometimes I hate you chuckles Taki as he quickly catches his breath

"You just need to stop trying so hard bro, you're expending more energy than you need to.
I'll show you some tricks I learned form coach Yamada when we get home says Izumi her expression surprised that she could have caught him and even passed Taki if they'd gone three or five more

She lined herself up to shoot a three pointer. Replaying again and again her last basketball game she had. It made her lose focus as she shot and missed. "Darn it." She mumbled to herself as she went over to pick up the ball. Her phone rings as she pulls it out quickly reading the text and sending a reply. She drops it onto her bag, puts down the basketball as she starts to run from one side to another.

The captain was prepared on his station. His eyes were locked on the orange cones as he stood in the center of them. The exercise would usually take twelve quick staggering hops per round, but this was the captain we are talking about, so he wouldn't dare stop at twelve.

Kimura turned to Rikyu. "Fifty hops, non-stop. I'll go first, then we rotate" and with that, the captain blasted off into hops. Like a sound pulse, he busted through the laws of physics to move faster. Some would say his feet became invisible. Like Taki, Kimura was also known for his speed, but their speeds differed in many ways. From what Kimura could see, Taki had a sort of, endurance speed. This meant that he got faster as he continued to move, so the longer he ran, the faster he got. The captain on the other hand had what some would call, quick feet. His speed came from his reaction timing. It is a short distance burst of speed, but it is very well needed when it comes to the sport of basketball. This exclusive quickness made Kimura a great defender. His steals were the base line of his game, other than his layups and turnarounds. This was the reason he chose Rikyu to be his partner for the exercise. From what he knows of this 'Shadow', steals and passing is a big part of his game. Therefore, he had to help Rikyu sharpen his senses in order to progress in his speed.

Once Kimura finished his hundred, which didn't take too long, it was Rikyu's turn. "Alright Rikyu, go at your own pace, but make sure you don't trip. Keep an eye on your target, don't lose focus. Now go!"

Words of encouragement from the Captain meant he actually cared for your success, therefore Rikyu shouldn't take them for granite.

Looking at the ladders he started. Pushing off his right leg he started keeping his knees high to his chest he went through the ladders quickly his feet barely staying in one of the holes before he moved on. Once Naoki right foot reached the other side he went back words through the ladders just as quick as he went forwards.

Reasonably impressed by Kimura's take on the hexagon, Rikyu stepped up and sighed, jumping over the cones, again better than someone with no experience but for a basketball player of his status it was painful. While Rikyu's speed and strength in this lacked, it became evident Rikyu had an excellent balance, landing perfectly. Which made sense, Rikyu knew all the movements that should be made, he just lacked the raw talent to perform them with great strength. Michiko noted this from the sideline as she walked down to Izumi and Taki.

Once she reached the two, Michiko gave a smile and said, "Alright, Taki if you don't have such an efficient style you should work on some more conditioning. 5 more please. Izumi, you can go too, I want to see how well those light steps go for you, plus it'll give your brother a little motivation," then turned, walking back up. Right as she put her foot on the bottom of the sideline, Michiko yelled "Go!" with a chuckle as she continued walking up.

Masaru, smiling at this Naoki guy's performance, said, "Not bad," and displayed his specialty again, going forwards with great speed and back with matching speed, easily doing the agility ladder, and Masaru could tell he did it faster than Naoki. Groaning a bit with a smile, Masaru said, "Ow, that's uncomfortable, my legs are too much shorter than yours Naoki-kun, I think you did better," with a weak laugh, Masaru knowing that he was visibly faster on the ladder.

"You can thank these." He said motioning to his legs not giving him any context. Doing his second set he pulled out all his stops dropping to Masure's time. Reaching the end he held in his discomfort as legs trembled slightly. I guess I'm not as back to par with them as I thought. he thought balling his fist up. He knew that he was back to work but it'll take some time form him to be fully back. With a deep sigh he stretched.

Taki line up once more and this time they are more closely matched till the third run when Taki's speed actually increases spurred on by his competitive spirit.
Izumi grins as she too pushes herself. They seem to almost become blurs; two comets chasing one another through the sky.
When they pass the final foul line Taki is red faced as he sucks in air, Izumi once again finishes merely breathing more deeply than normal.

Bro one of these days you're gonna catch on fire if you run any faster says Izumi as she pats him on the back

Sis let's face it in the distance you're faster an all because of Miss Yamada's special training says Taki as he tries to catch his breath

It's all about breathing at the right moments when you run. You breath when you want to an not when your body can do so most efficiently.
There is a point in each lunge when the diaphragm is compressed and another when it is open to expand.
I use those moments to exhale and then to inhale which in turn sets up a bio rhythm that controls all aspects of my body says Izumi

You were lucky that Miss Yamada decided to help the girls team. Who'd ever think of combining the skills of a marathoner with a basketball player?
No wonder your team burned out their competition laughs Taki his wind almost restored

Michiko wasn't the only one that took note of Rikyu's lack of speed and strength, Kimura did as well. Just like in the suicide drill, Rikyu was beat when it came to anything physical. The 'Shadow' was said to be a strategic and technical player. Since his primary focus was passing, he lacked in the other aspects of basketball. That could be an issue when it came to a game situation, especially facing one-on-one defenses. But for now, Kimura wouldn't worry too much about it. He wanted to see a game scenario first before judging a player's skill in the sport.

"Alright Rikyu, rest for thirty seconds, then proceed to do another round. I'll be right back, have to speak to the coach" and with that, Kimura ran towards Michiko, interrupting her note taking session.

"Michiko can I speak to you in private?" he asked, already assuming she would follow him and exit the gym by his side.

"As you know, tomorrow we have the street back tournament. There aren't substitutions in these types of games unless a player is severely injured. We've got six players, but only five will be playing tomorrow. I know Izumi will not be able to participate during the regular season, but I don't want you to exclude her from any outside activity such as the tournament. She is, as discussed, as much of a member of the team as the next person. So tomorrow, as coach, you will have to make an executive decision on what five players will participate in the game tomorrow. Though i'm the captain, I am still a student here and want you to treat me as you do the others. I don't want special treatment just because of my status got that? Good. So tomorrow announce who will be participating. You don't have to tell us the reason, we trust you and your decision making. In addition to that, I want you to get more involved in your coaching. I know you're new to this and all, but i'm going to need you to step up to the plate. I won't be able to keep tabs on everyone at all times, so I need you to help me as much as possible. Having those drills written down was wonderful, so keep that up. Now all you have to do is tell us about it, don't let me read them off your paper."

Kimura then patted her shoulder gently and smiled. "I'm glad you signed up to be our coach, I don't know where I would be without one."

With those final words, Kimura sprinted back to his station and repeated the cone drill two more times.

After stretching while Naoki did the ladder, Masaru paid no attention to Naoki's style, deciding to do something he picked up a while ago. As Naoki finished the ladder Masaru jumped up and did a very interesting high knees style, running down side-on with high knees, making a half circle turn every step, using the momentum from the turns to put more power into each step. Despite the movement looking awkward it was easy to do it fast, and Masaru made it back to the start only a little slower than his last attempt. A great maneuver for a show-off to demonstrate. "You can't believe how well that develops leg muscles," Masaru said offhandedly as he stretched again.

Michiko started walking down to Izumi and Taki when Kimura went in front of her. "Michiko can I speak to you in private?" the captain asked, and Michiko followed him outside, a bit confused. After the captain finished talking Michiko opened her mouth to say that she was going to announce the drills after Izumi did one suicide drill, but the captain was already gone. Michiko came back inside to Izumi and Taki, saying, "Good job you two, Taki excellent speed but to make you even better you should try practicing your conditioning at home, Izumi, good job, we'll have to see your other skills to figure out what you should practice," Meanwhile, Rikyu barely finished his hexagonal obstacle course when Kimura returned, and Rikyu ducked aside quickly, acting in a fashion as to not draw attention, which has been known to work too well.

Finishing off his last ladder with a time in between his first and last Naoki yawned. Keeping tabs on what everyone else was doing he sorta tuned out to the sound of people breathing. Crouching low to the ground Naoki wanted to do something.

As Michiko walked away from the twins, she went into thought about what she should do regarding the street tournament. Rikyu would seem the obvious choice but she didn't want to judge anyone before she sees them all play. Rikyu has to have his reputation for something. Michiko called out, "Alright everyone! Izumi-san, Taki-kun, you do 2 more suicide drills! Rikyu-kun, Kimura-sempai, do 24 more jumps on the hexagonal obstacle course! Masaru-kun, Naoki-kun, one more ladder each! After that Taki-kun, Rikyu-kun and Naoki-kunwill face off in a 3 on 3 game against Izumi-san, Masaru-kun and Kimura-sempai!" and sat down, deciding to make the teams quite interesting. Taki and Naoki, players who seem to have raw strength in their plays with Rikyu, the seemingly worst player with an interesting way to make up for it.

While Michiko was in thought about the teams she selected, Masaru said casually to Naoki, "Looks like your legs need a little more development, you should try doing what I did, it'll help redevelopment of your muscles," showing that Masaru could see that Naoki's legs were far from perfect as they were.

Kimura smiled after hearing Michiko take initiative. At first he though she was joking, but when he stared into her eyes, he could see the definition if determination. "Alright Rikyu, you heard the coach, twenty-four more get then done."

As Rikyu went ahead and did the excersise, Kimura began to strategize his game plan. Naoki was tall, it was possible he could dunk with such height. Taki was one if the fastest players, but Kimura had something planned for him already. Rikyu was known as the shadow. His game was based off his passes, therefore if you remove them from the equation, then there shouldn't be a problem.

For his own little team, it would come down to execution and skill. The only obstacle in their way was probably Masaru. It is said he doesn't really utilize his team because of his raw talent, which will cause a big issue in this game. Izumi on the other hand was most likely a team player, or at least she seemed to be, so she'll do just fine. This game would most likely determine who would play in tomorrow's tournament.

With that in mind, once it was his turn to excersise the hexagonal obstacle course, Kimura went all out. A light debree of sweat wa running down the side of his face, dripping in the cold court. To prevent a puddle from firming, he used the edge of his tank to wipe away all the wet discomfort. It was time to get the game going.

Rikyu nodded at Kimura and did 24 more jumps, then again ducked away quickly. As Kimura finished his jumps Rikyu said from behind Michiko, "Coach, thank you for joining," and Michiko reacted by tripping backwards, but Rikyu quickly caught her hand before she fell. Rikyu pulled Michiko back up to a standing position, saving her from falling down the sidelines. "Sorry coach," Rikyu said, his head down. "It's fine," Michiko said, "I'm just glad you caught me. As for the thanks of me joining, don't be thankful, it's me who's glad I could join, like any of you I'm here to enjoy a good season," with a smile, still a bit in shock by the near fall.

"Okay, good to hear," Rikyu said, and then Michiko remembered something. "How do you get around so fast when people aren't looking?" Michiko asked, and for the first time since he came to this school Rikyu gave a smile. "I don't go fast at all. People just think I'm still somewhere else when I'm walking or running somewhere else, despite my tendency to appear, no matter how much someone knows about me, when someone with the ball has a person running at them from the front, they don't expect a sudden steal from the side, my steals can't be stopped no matter how skilled the player, the basketball normal people play relies on instinct, and the basketball I play relies on exploiting that instinct," he said, scaring Michiko a bit with the way he said it. Rikyu kind of sounded like a future serial killer like that.

Meanwhile, Masaru went into thought about the teams and strategies. Kimura seemed pretty fast and agile from what Masura could see on the hexagon, and Izumi had efficiency, and by her comment to Michiko about suicide drills being fun with a ball to dribble she probably had some ball handling skills. If Kimura and Izumi were good 3-point shooter they would be great for triple threat using Izumi, able to pass to Izumi for a 3-pointer, dribble around the opponent and pass to Masaru for a lay-up or maybe a dunk. Although Masaru's jumping skills are great his dunking ratio is only around 40%, a lay-up would be safer.

Meanwhile, Masaru's opposition. Naoki had a decent height and ball handling skills, those combined make a great offensive player, able to avoid most steals with his handling skills than a dunk or a fadeaway with his height would have been near impossible to block. Taki had great developing speed, but used all his raw strength in his movements, his shooting and passing skills are probably much weaker while Taki is running. And then Rikyu. Rikyu could still steal from a player with eyes in the back of his head, and could make a pass seem to curve, there has been more than one occasion Rikyu still wasn't noticed when he caught and passed a catch, making the pass seem to just curve. Masaru give a smile at the teams, and said under his breath, "Game on,"

Hearing the girl coach say to do one more and Masaru telling him to do it a certain way to build muscle back. Sighing he did it that way kinda surprised Masaru was correct. Hearing about the three on three Naoki walked towards the coach not sure if he should mention his old wound to her or not.

Izumi an Taki finished their suicide drills and began to stretch again as they waited.
Izumi ever watchful scanned the activities of the others once more. She knew it was foolish to try and quantify any player's style until she'd observed their play at least a quarter but she could form preliminary profiles.
She was teamed with the captain an the copycat whom from what little she'd seen were excellent players but worried her about the potential of egos. She knew that basketball was more than skill, it depended on chemistry as well. She'd watched olympic basketball an seen the american team which had more raw talent than any other team in the events fail because of poor chemistry.
No this little game they were about to play would have more in common with a pickup game than team play and win or lose chemistry would be the deciding factor.

Taki went over what he knew of his opposition, Izumi wasn't going to be the deciding factor in this game that she was in her former teams because she wouldn't be the captain.
Taki wasn't sure about Kimura's skill as a captain on court but he was sure of Masaru's ego. There was nothing wrong about having an ego if you were go but only so long as you knew when to tame it.
He knew his sister's style better than anyone and had she been on his team they'd have been devastating.
Oh well at least the others had no idea of her true talent which gave him an edge. He'd be sure to tell the guys on his side about how she would be quick to shift hands as she dribbled never allowing her hands to become predictable or her foot work for that matter. Izumi's passing skill would be more predictable as well because she didn't know her teammates and would need to keep her ball movement simple which cut down on her back spin english.

So it was time to begin. Kimura stood near his two teammates. "Alright, so most likely they'll have Naoki jump for the ball once we start. It's enevitable so I want you(Masaru) to play the test dummy. Once the coach releases the ball into the air, act like you're going to jump, but don't. He has a fairly large height advantage over you, let him get the ball and focus on defense. We'll be playing man-to-man, so stay on Naoki unless we change our gameplan. Izumi, you'll be on Rikyu, he's known as 'The Shadow' so try and figure out how he functions and exploit all his weaknesses. I will guard Taki"

With the plan set, Kimura tossed the ball gently to Michiko. He then resumed to half court and waited for his opponents to line up. Like during the regular season, he was prepared to hear the spectator which in this case would be his coach.

Michiko caught the ball as Rikyu walked to the two other members of his team. "Naoki, you go up to the front for the start, if Masaru just copies you he won't be able to reach the ball, so get it and quickly get the ball back to Taki. Taki, you go behind, pass it to the half line at the right side, even if you don't see me just pass it. Naoki, soon as you hit it back run forward and focus on where Taki is going to pass, I'm going to pass to you from there," Rikyu said, the most he has said for a long time. Rikyu then looked at Michiko, who was walking forward, ball in hand. "When we go on defense I'll go on the captain, Taki on Masaru, Naoki on Izumi," Rikyu said then went to the right of the center, a bit back from everyone.

Masaru simply nodded at Kimura. When Masaru was in a game it was evident his attitude changed. He was still a show-off but he got more into the zone in a game. Masaru walked up to the front, giving a chuckle as he stretched, waiting for the game to start. Michiko looked at Masaru. The Copy Cat didn't make sense for a battle of height, especially against a taller person to go against. It would seem Masaru is going to just fake his jump and have the captain or Izumi try and get a steal for a counter attack. This game would not only test everyone's all around skill but expose the skills they did have, allowing the captain and Michiko to both help form strategies. Michiko wasn't sure if the captain realized that fact, hopefully he'll be paying attention to people's play styles instead of just winning. It's too often people have too much pride to focus on the long run, the big picture.

Deciding not to he walk to the center getting ready to jump. Crouching low he stretched his legs, coming up slowly. He was ready. Naoki knew where he was going to hit the ball then sprint. Naoki was excited ready to start.

Izumi Prepped herself for the jump off as she surveyed the setup of the opposing team. She set herself close to Rikyu and stay on him was as determined as she would her brother. She knew she had a strange advantage on him because as little as she knew about him he knew as little about her. Sure they'd seen her speed but unless they'd seen her play a game they had never seen her court skills or knew that she could control the ball in same way a pool hustler controlled the cue ball.

---

Taki didn't make any comment when Rikyu seemed to assume that he'd be accepted as their captain. No Taki had played the game too long allow his ego to override his love of the sport. If he'd have been given a little time before the start he would have warned them of under estimating his sister