Teiko's basketball

Pleasant surprise

Chapter 31:

Pleasant surprise

It was their homeroom period. Ritsuko sensei was late. Sora and Akira were industriously playing tic tac toe in the back of their notebook. Midorima was watching them play. Their game ended in a draw.

"Leo and Aquarius are both in the fifth position. This was to be expected, nanodayo."

"Oh, a tie... Shall we go again, Akira-san?"

"You bet!"

"Sunako sensei is really late today..." observed Sora.

"Concentrate!" said Akira, "Otherwise you'll end up losing."

"Yeah right...." said Sora, "Anyway isn't this unusual?"

Akira shrugged. "Even if she does come, she'll just probably lecture us about the hazards of corridor running or something like that..."

"It is odd, nanodayo. But Capricorn is in the last position today. I wouldn't be surprised at anything, nanodayo."

Sora and Akira looked up in surprise. "Midorima-kun, do you know the zodiac signs of the teachers as well?" inquired Sora.

Midorima shrugged. "So this is called hardcore..." muttered Akira.

Just then, Sunako sensei entered carrying a huge pile of papers. The class which had previously been in a state of complete disarray settled down. Sensei waited.

"Right, class," she said, "I am going to make an announcement. After that, there will be no screaming from your side. Is that clear?"

"Yes sensei," they chroused.

"You will be taken on a field trip next month," she said and paused as if waiting for their response. The entire class was silent.

Sora nudged Akira. "I actually thought she said field trip..." she said with a low laugh.

"Well, what do you know... I heard the same thing."

Sunako sensei who was suspicious due to the lack of response repeated her statement. "We'll be going in a month. For this year's trip, we'll be visiting a shrine in a village."

And then all hell broke loose.

"Field trip?"

"--An actual field trip!"

"--yeah, but a shrine--"

"--Who cares if the location is boring! We're going on a trip dammit!"

"Quiet!" said sensei raising her voice. The class subsided as quickly as they could.

"We'll be going for two days. Get these forms signed. I'll pass them around."

--------------------------------------------------------------

Akira and Sora couldn't stop talking about it. They were chatting even when they went to practice.

"What's up?" asked Chihaya suspiciously, "To what do I owe the pleasure of looking at these bright, charming faces?"

Sora and Akira both eager to explain ended up talking at the same time.

"Slow down!" said Chihaya closing her ears, "You'll give me a headache at this rate."

Both of them took deep breaths and told her the story as coherently as they could.

"Hmm... But wasn't senpai going to drill as for the tournament at that time? The match is two months from now you know... I don't mean to dampen your hopes but..."

Akira and Sora looked absolutely crushed.

"Why don't you go ask her... Maybe she'll let you..." suggested Chihaya in a doubtful tone.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

"Senpai!" said Sora and Akira running to Honami as soon as she entered.

"What's with this overflowing affection..."

Both of them related their tale of woe to her.

"Look, I understand. But the tournament will be coming up. The qualifier will be nothing like the prelims... Trust me. We need to work hard."

Sora tried out her puppy eye strategy. Honami sighed and rubbed her forehead.

"You two really want to go don't you?"

They nodded.

"But you can't do badly in the tournament can you... You are regulars..."

They shook their heads.

"Hmm... I can't ask you to miss the trip. Afterall, you can go only once."

They nodded vigorously.

"Fine I guess... You can go as long as you are willing to take additional practice by yourself. But you have to practice sincerely. The rest of us can't stay behind for you two."

"Yay! Senpai you are the best!"

"You two start today..."

"Thank you!"