Looking for a Miracle | Kuroko no Basket

08. Championship

 Looking for a Miracle
Chapter Eight
Championship

If the district tournaments passed in a blur, it was nothing compared to the national tournament.

All participating teams had a week's break to train and prepare for the upcoming tournament. Of course, Teiko took this seriously. With their policy of victory, anything else but the gold was considered a failure. I barely had time to talk to Sei or anyone else during practice, only afterward. But no one was complaining. Everyone was seeking to win.

While they were practicing, I was brushing up on how the tournament was organised. When the tournament commenced, the twenty-four teams that advanced from the preliminaries were divided into eight groups, each group compiling of three teams. This formed the group stage, which took place on day one of the tournament. The teams played against each other to determine the top team, and that team advanced to play-offs, which occurred in a standard single-elimination bracket, with each team having to play two matches in a day. This processed over the last two days of the tournament, and the final match determined the overall winner.

It was a demanding schedule, but no one was worried. Everyone in the team had good stamina, and there were plentiful options on the bench to continue subbing people in and out to avoid anyone from becoming too tired. Everyone on the team was highly skilled, so it wasn't like the team put itself at a disadvantage by subbing in a player. These people hadn't made it to Teiko's first string for nothing.

The day of the tournament got closer. Momoi and I were kept busy looking after and overseeing the team as they practiced, their skills only continuing to progress and sharpen. Practices were brutal and everyone walked away gasping for breath at the end, but still determined to win. Sei told me about many of the team's strategies and set plays for the upcoming matches. They all sounded impressive, well, to me at least. If they saw Teiko to victory, then they must have been pretty good.

Then, finally, the first day of the national championships arrived.

Sei and I arrived at the venue together, but had to serperate when we walked through the doors. I wasn't scheduled to be the match manager until the third day. I'd be in the stands until then. I quickly wished Sei good luck before I walked off.

The stadium was huge, larger than any I'd been in before. I grabbed myself a seat in the front row and watched from the stands as the opening ceremonies commenced. My eyes glanced over all the teams in their different coloured uniforms, but always returned to Teiko. The speeches were short, and soon the tournament was underway.

The first day was a breeze. Teiko won easily against both their opponents, putting them into the play-offs. The second day proceeded in the same fashion. There had been plentiful good matches and several heated contests between players, but in the end Teiko always pulled through with a solid, convincing win.

And then, it was the last day of the tournament.

Teiko won their semi-final. It had been a heavily contested match, and at times I'd feared that they'd lose. But they pulled through in the end with a seven-goal victory.

Then, all of a sudden, they'd moved on to a new court for the finals, the stands filled with supporters from school and family and friends as they cheered the two teams on as they prepared for the match that would determine the overall winner of the national championships.

I found myself on the bench again as the team's allocated manager. I couldn't remain still. My legs shook slightly, and my hands always found something to fiddle with. The atmosphere in the stadium was electric, and it was impossible not to get caught up in the hype.