Stealing Spree

Bringing Marika with me didn't mean all our time would be spent flirting. As much as I wanted to do that to all of my girls here, we're still in a public space.

Furthermore, that's not the reason we're here in the first place.

It's to show our support to Satsuki and the Girls' Basketball Club, much like everyone from our school.

And with the match resuming, our attention was immediately drawn to it.

"I've never thought our school excelled in any kind of sport. This is an eye-opener." Shizu commented as the ball once again dropped down the net after a jump shot from Kawakami-senpai.

With gleeful expressions on their faces, they quickly ran back to establish their defense.

"Hmm? Are there no other precedents before this?" I asked.

Marika and the other girls were also interested to hear about it.

As the Student Council President, Shizu had more access to the history of the clubs existing in our school. There are surely records of it from her predecessors. But with our school really focusing more on enriching students' academic scores than sports, it will truly be a miracle for a club to achieve a great result.

"Of course, there are. But for the past five years, none of the sports clubs reached the next level. The track and field team getting third place two years ago was the highest we've gotten."

Track and field, huh? Although there are singular events for it, the competition for that category is being held as a separate event. The ones in the Interhigh are mostly team-based.

That's also how it will be in boxing and tennis for Sena and Fuyu.

Aika's club also participated earlier this morning. Regrettably, I couldn't be there to watch.

Otoha, on the other hand, didn't participate as a member of the Kendo Club. She only took that up as a hobby. Furthermore, she's actually more skilled than an average high schooler -- thanks to Hitomi's guidance. If she took that seriously, it's not impossible for her to carry their club to the Nationals.

"I see. It must've been a headache trying to allocate the sports clubs' budgets."

"Numbskull, how did you arrive at that conclusion? You're not wrong though. They're all requesting a higher budget when they're not even getting good results from it. And that's why, I'm thoroughly impressed by how much this club has improved. If they win this match, I'll approve an increase in their budget."

Casually adding a condition like that unbeknownst to the club members in question, Shizu thoughtfully tapped her cheek, a small gesture she often does when she's in a good mood while working.

It already became a habit of hers.

"Shizu-san. What about our club?" Marika interjected. Given the way she said that, it's more playful than a serious inquiry.

Shizu picked up on that and she replied with an impish grin.

"Marika-san, your Theater Club has yet to produce a play worthy of the increase. Show me something like that in the upcoming cultural festival and I'll consider it. Cast Ruki for bonus points."

"Oh! Great idea! Ruki-kun, what do you think?"

"Uh. As much as I welcome that idea, I'll also be busy with my club, Marika-senpai. We have a bet to settle with Shizu."

Not to mention, I'm not even part of their club. In any case, this kind of conversation was rather great for our current situation.

At the moment, we had observers watching us from a distance. Mostly Jun and Marika's followers and some busybodies who had been trying to fish for some fresh gossip.

Thanks to Shizu's presence, it would be difficult for them to figure anything out.

Anyway, just like this, while our eyes were fascinated at the gradual dominance of our team against the second seed, my girls and I continued with our little conversations on the side.

As for my attempt to dote on them, they were all done sneakily.

Time quickly passed and the second half of the match had finally arrived at the last five minutes.

With bated breaths, the whole venue became witnesses to the rising dark horse for this year's competition.

Right.

If the first half ended with a ten-point lead, the 4th High Basketball Club almost doubled it within the ten minutes of the second half.

Compared to the match against the Seven Stars, Satsuki became a literal wall under the basket in this game.

That's how much she improved within the few weeks after their loss.

With the girl acting like a literal wall that prevented anyone from breaking past her defenses, the Kitarai High had no choice but to shoot outside her reach.

Due to that, their field goals dropped and more often than not, Satsuki would be the one taking the rebound.

In short, even with her skill still not at the level of Kanno-senpai, she truly became an excellent substitute.

"This is... We're going to win?" Hina muttered as she blinked her eyes at the scoreboard.

78-60

"Satsuki is amazing. I think Ruki coming to cheer for her amplified her skill." Saki added, even painting me like some kind of energy booster for the girl.

But she's probably not wrong. I mean, not only Satsuki, even Kawakami-senpai and the other seniors got freed from the tension of playing against a strong team. They all managed to give their 100% in this match.

"Do you hear that? No one's cheering from that side anymore. They know that they're doomed to lose. Five minutes won't be enough to close the gap." Chii, alongside Sumire, Umi also added as she pointed at the Kitarai High students who were a little overwhelming earlier.

Some of them had even started to leave the venue with disappointed looks on their faces.

On the other hand, our side had become more active as our voices already melded into one from the chants we were shouting.

In any case, Satsuki, having played for 15 minutes was already exhausted. She got subbed out and the re-energized Kanno-senpai took her place in the court again.

With that, the chances of coming from behind were completely crushed.

Soon enough, when the last whistle and the buzzer which signified the end of the match rang out, Eguchi-sensei, Satsuki, and the other club members immediately stood up in celebration of their win. They excitedly welcomed back the exhausted seniors who closed the game by only dropping two points.

Likewise, we also erupted in more triumphant cheers, congratulating them.

Compared to how I sang and danced earlier at the karaoke, my throat became quite dry from my constant cheering.

The girls on my side also got so influenced that once we calmed down, laughter erupted from us.

For sure, they're not just happy for the win, seeing me acting like that was also another factor. It's rare to see me without my usual cool and enigmatic disposition, after all.

As for the Kitarai High basketball team, they naturally looked like they had just eaten a very bitter pill. Some of them were even crying.

They did their best. But even so, they're aware that they suffered a legitimate loss against our team.

Then, from where we were sitting, I couldn't help but hear the clamor created by this unexpected outcome. Most especially the ones from sports columnists and college scouts.

"Are you sure that substitute is only a first year? This is big news!"

"Write down that student's name and try to contact this team later. There are promising players from them that went under our radar. It'll be a waste to have them be poached by others."

Those were just a few of what I heard but they're all in the same essence.

From this win, our school's basketball club would definitely become a hot topic.

It's a great thing but at the same time, they'd be playing the semifinals with added pressure tomorrow.