Tonight’s update will be dedicated to three voice actresses: Reina Kondō (January 28), Ayane Sakura (January 29), Asami Shimoda (January 30). Reina is the voice actress of Suzuka Nagami (My Sister, My Writer); Ayane is the voice actress of Cocoa Hoto (Is the Order a Rabbit?), Hijiri Kuina (Ro-Kyu-Bu!), Arisa Ayase (Love Live!), Tear Lightning (Unlimited Fafnir), Gasper Vladi (High School DxD), Ai Yashajin (The Ryuo’s Work is Never Done!) and Yotsuba Nakano (The Quintessential Quintuplets); and Asami is the voice actress of Nana Yotsuya (Ro-Kyu-Bu!) and the Futami twins, Ami and Mami (The IDOLM@STER). Hopefully, they’ll have their successful voice acting careers for them, especially for Ayane, who will reprise both Cocoa and Yotsuba in the upcoming seasons of Is the Order a Rabbit? and The Quintessential Quintuplets this year! Belated happy birthday, Reina, and happy birthday, Ayane and Asami!
In the last two chapters, the Bravehearts of Fukuoka have returned to Tokyo for another visit to meet with the Bravehearts of Ōta again. The main questions are “Why are they returned?” and “Why are they doing for the last two days of the Fuchsia and Celadon Week?” Those answers will be revealed in tonight’s update as this chapter will be focused on the friendship between the two ‘braveheart’ groups: the Bravehearts of Ōta and the Bravehearts of Fukuoka. If you don’t know what’s going on, the Bravehearts of Fukuoka is the first ‘braveheart’ group that is existed in the series. Now, since they are back for their second visit, they’ll be with the members of the Stormred Higabana, a group that is composed of the friends of Keiko Kakuma. So, get ready to see both ‘braveheart’ groups getting along with each other as here comes the penultimate chapter of the first part of Volume 8, which is Chapter 161, with the title, “Shine High with The Spider Lily and The Sakura”! Enjoy reading Chapter 161!:)
During the general assembly of the Homewrecking Dragons, the girls of the Bravehearts of Fukuoka, led by Keiko Kakuma, have returned to meet with Tomoka and the Bravehearts of Ōta. While Keiko and her friends will be hanging out with Tomoka and her friends at the mansion of the Misawa Resort Hotel, Kazuhiro Hatakenaka and his friends from the Blue Verdant Fukuoka will be competing at the Blue Wind Cup. When Tomoka and Keiko met with each other at the balcony, Keiko shared to Tomoka the things about her friends from the Stormred Higabana, a group that is composed of the former’s friends from her school, the Kashii Gakuen Middle School. Aside from being closed to her fellow Bravehearts, Keiko wanted to make friends with those who were living in her neighborhood in Kashii, which resulted in the creation of the Stormred Higabana. The Stormred Higabana had also formed their extended group known as the Chihashii Valor Reds. The Bravehearts of Fukuoka have expanded their friendship with their allies because they have a lot of connections based on each member’s hometown. For example, Keiko was born in Kashii, which means that her friends are coming from Kashii. The next day, both ‘braveheart’ groups would clash with each other in a friendly match at the Outdoor Basketball Court of the Misawa Resort Hotel where Tomoka and Keiko show their moves in the court. At the end of the match, it was Tomoka and her team walking away with the win when she performs the Sakura Drive on Keiko to drive her out of the way and then, shoots the ball with the Shiny Gift. The two ‘braveheart’ groups have been closed with each other due to their personalities and ambitions, in which Tomoka and Keiko are very expressive with one’s feelings to their friends. They eventually do their first collaboration when they meet the members of the Fuchsia and Soul, which is led by Katsuhito Tanguchi. They asked Katsuhito and his friends if they’ll find the former members of the Dragons of Ōta, so that they’ll contribute for the search to progress, which Katsuhito and his friends accept. With both ‘braveheart’ groups have started their partnership, they have developed their friendship quickly, which means that they’ll planning to continue working together, so that they’ll bless their allies with their blessings and keep their pride and courage through their hearts.
After the general assembly of the Homewrecking Dragons had been ended, the members of the Homewrecking Dragons would get along with their allies such as those from the Family of Angels and the groups that are part of the Rainbow Angels.
Megumi and the members of the Periwinkle Storm Lions made their agreement, which leads to the addition of the Periwinkle Storm Lions to the Rainbow Angels.
“Welcome to the Rainbow Angels, Yurika-san! You’re now part of the family!” said Megumi Kadokawa.
“Oh, thank you, Megumi-san! I can’t believe that we’ll be blessed with a lot of members going to do their best to make our community brighter!” said Yurika Kirishima, a first year middle school student from the Tōho Middle School and the leader of the Periwinkle Storm Lions.
“That’s great, Megumi-san! Now, I won’t worry about my former schoolmates anymore because we have them!” said Hitomi.
“You got it, Hitomi-san!” said Megumi.
“So, what should we do, Megumi-san?” asked Yurika.
“Well, we need you to find more former members of the Dragons of Ōta. I believe that your group’s color would be suited for you to find those members coming from the blue group, even you aren’t part of the Dragons of Ōta.
“Yes, we will, Megumi-san! We’ll try our best!” said Yurika and the members of the Periwinkle Storm Lions.
“That’s more I like it, Yurika-san! I’m glad that you will be ready to make those former members smile when you will meet them” said Hitomi.
“Those former members aren’t found yet, but hopefully, they’ll finally remember anything about that group” said Masami Nojima.
“Yes, of course, Hitomi-san and Masami-san! I’ll make sure that I’ll introduce you to them if you want to see them for sure” said Yurika.
“Yeah!” said Hitomi and Masami Nojima.
“Now, I wonder what the other former members of the Homewrecking Dragons doing” said Megumi.
“Well, they are meeting with Tomoka and the other members of the Family of Angels. I think that they have planned on something” said Hitomi.
“I think that it might be interesting to make some changes for the residential policy in the mansion” said Masami Nojima.
“How come about that policy, Masami-san?” asked Yurika.
“You see, the Bravehearts and most of the members of the Family of Angels have permanently stayed in the mansion. However, there are some members who aren’t permanent residents yet. When the expansion of the Bravehearts began with the creation of the extended groups, I was thinking about the Family of Angels may finally add their new members, so that they can stay at the mansion permanently” said Megumi.
“Well, that is interesting. Since I’m a former member of the Homewrecking Dragons, can I stay here permanently?” said Yurika.
“Yes, you can, but you need to attend the meetings for the Alumni Association of our club” said Hitomi.
“That way, you’ll be able to get to know about the information about the Homewrecking Dragons” said Masanobu Yamada.
“Okay!” said Yurika.
“I hope that you’re ready for the future activities within our Family and I’m sure that you’re going to like it!” said Anzu.
“Yes, I will!” said Yurika.
Next, the members of the executive board of the Shiromidai Elementary School Student Council, composed of Kurumi Nukui (Kōsaten-hatsu, president), Kanae Nakata (Independent, vice president), Jun Gotō (Kōsaten-hatsu, secretary), Mamoru Kobayashi (Kōsaten-hatsu, treasurer), Nobuko Matsushita (Kōsaten-hatsu, auditor), Yūmi Yamanaka (Kōsaten-hatsu, public relations officer) and Moeko Araki (Kōsaten-hatsu, chief of staff), are walking with each other outside the mansion.
“Kurumi-chan, I wonder what we’re going to plan for the school festival this coming September” said Jun.
“Well, I was thinking about setting up a week where we will celebrate the culture of our school, which will showcase art and music in our school” said Kurumi.
“That would be interesting, Kurumi-chan. Since we got Lien de Famille, then we need some other young bands in our school to join with, so that we’ll have a concert for our school” said Jun.
“Good idea, Jun-chan! Since our school is public, even we have some students coming from the middle-class families in Den-en-chōfu, we should get enough accommodations to organize that learning exhibition” said Kurumi.
“Yeah!” said Jun.
“You know, Kurumi, the school had organized a painting competition every month of September. We can showcase their masterpiece to the public, so that everyone will see the amazing colors of their artworks they made” said Kanae Nakata.
“I think that I like that one, Kanae-chan. As far as the Arts Department needed our support, we would be set to have the artworks going to be viewed around the school” said Kurumi.
“Yeah!” said Kanae.
“So, what about the sporting competitions? Usually, we have that event before the school festival” said Mamoru Kobayashi.
“Ah, yes, the intramurals. We might want to have that during the school festival, which may be a good sign of it. As always, there will be an invitational tournament to be held in early August, which is the Den-en-chōfu Invitationals. I think that we need the community groups in our school to participate, which may be more expected to have more than 30 teams to participate just like last year” said Kurumi.
“I’m sure that they will participate at that competition because the Den-en-chōfu Invitationals usually have a lot of teams to participate in different divisions, which is mostly between 30 and 40” said Nobuko Matsushita.
“Yeah, that’s right, Nobuko-chan. The Den-en-chōfu Invitationals had been popular in the Ōta League for many years, which produced a lot of teams to advance to their best finish every year” said Mamoru.
“It means that hopefully, we’ll see more teams producing themselves to make the best finishes for next year’s Ōta League Cup” said Kurumi.
“Oh, I see! I think that you’re right about what happened last year, Kurumi. It would be expected that the upcoming Den-en-chōfu Invitationals will be a lot of competition out there, thanks to the formation of the Rainbow Angels” said Nobuko.
“Yeah, that’s true, Nobuko-chan” said Kurumi.
“The other idea what we’re going to organize for the school festival is that we’re going to organize the Lavender and Cerise Children’s Forum where the young students will attend the seminars about advanced art such as digital art and animation” said Yūmi Yamanaka.
“We can second that, Yūmi!” said Kanae.
“It will be perfect for the aspiring young students to know about art and animation. A few of the graduates have been into animation” said Jun.
“Of course, Jun-chan! I’m sure that we need some aspirants of becoming a good artist in animation” said Yūmi.
“Yeah, I agree, Yūmi-chan! We should be more grateful to have young artists in our school because they have their own talents to share with” said Kurumi.
“Yeah!” said Kanae, Jun, Mamoru, Nobuko, Yūmi and Moeko Araki.
“So, when are we going to start forming the school festival committee?” asked Moeko Araki, the younger cousin of Sayuri Araki.
“It will be right after the summer break and hopefully, we’ll start working on that. I would be expected that the school festival will be held either on September 25 or 26” said Kurumi.
“Well, there will be four months to go before the school festival and I believe that we need to focus on the activities for the first term” said Moeko.
“You got it!” said Kurumi.
“Hopefully, we’ll be ready to organize the school festival once we’re done with the first term, Kurumi-chan” said Jun.
“Yeah, Jun-chan!” said Kurumi.
“Now that we have done the conversation about the future plans in our Children’s Association, we should take a look at the hotel to see the events at the function room!” said Moeko.
“Okay!” said Kurumi, Kanae, Jun, Mamoru, Nobuko and Yūmi.
A few minutes later, the Bravehearts of Fukuoka have arrived back at the mansion of the Misawa Resort Hotel where they would be staying there for two nights and two days. The Bravehearts of Fukuoka will be leaving back to Fukuoka on May 9 (Sunday).
Aoi, Saori, Satsuki, Tae, Aoba, Masayo, Natsuko and Junko are getting along at the mansion where they are staying at the living room for a break. The boys like Subaru and Kazuhiro aren’t present because they’re busy at the Recreational Center to watch the rest of the night of the Blue Wind Cup.
“By the way, Aoba, since tonight is your birthday, I got a surprise gift for you!” said Aoi.
“Oh, I’m sure that this is going to be so good just like how Chihiro have on his birthday last night” said Aoba.
“You got it!” said Aoi as she gives out the birthday gift to Aoba. “Here you go!”
“Thank you very much, Aoi-san! You’re so kind to me!” said Aoba.
“You’re welcome!” said Aoi.
“Now, I’m going to open this present!” said Aoba as she unwraps her birthday gift. She was surprised when she revealed her birthday and then, showed it to her friends.
“Wow!” said Aoi, Saori, Satsuki, Tae, Masayo, Natsuko and Junko Tomioka.
“It’s a plush rabbit!” said Masayo.
“That one was so cute!” said Natsuko.
“It’s a comfortable item to take care of as a lucky charm” said Junko Tomioka.
“Yep. This plush rabbit matched my favorite color!” said Aoba. The color of Aoba’s new plush rabbit is green, which is also her hair color.
“That’s color green, Aoba-san! I hope you like it!” said Saori.
“Yeah, I like it, Saori-san!” said Aoba.
“I’m glad that you have celebrated your birthday ever since we get along with each other at the rooftop of our school” said Satsuki.
“I believe that you are very respectful to us. Hopefully, our friends in our Luminous Camellia will be ready to make the difference in order to shine our way to get high grades in every subject and pass the school in flying colors” said Tae.
“Yes, of course, Tae! I believe that it will our time to shine and I’m confident to do that just for us!” said Aoba.
“Hopefully, we’ll be able to keep our friendship, Aoba, because you had been a helper for our group” said Aoi.
“Of course, I will, Aoi-san! Let’s keep our friendship stable for all of us!” said Aoba.
“Yeah!” said Aoi, Saori, Satsuki and Tae.
“By the way, Aoi, after their match against Team Hiyama of Tosu, they’re going to take on the Taniyama United Roses where they’re representing the Suzumida Gakuen High School” said Masayo.
“Yep. They’re very different, compared to those from Team Hiyama of Tosu. I think that this might gonna be a different challenge for Kazuhiro and his boys because Tsuyoshi Matsushita is an athletic shooting guard and he loves to create stamina strategies to make themselves formidable with their offense and defense” said Aoi.
“Also, they’re surrounding with their red and blue auras with their eyes are on fire like in Mount Fuji” said Saori.
“I guess so, Saori. They came from Kagoshima, which is the southern end of Kyushu” said Masayo.
“Unlike different locations in Kyushu, Kagoshima is a strong place for people who have better stamina and acceleration” said Natsuko.
“So, guys like Tsuyoshi Matsushita, Tsukihiko Matsuzawa, Jitsuo Tsushima, Kentarō Atsuzawa and Shinzō Wakatake have been good in doing accelerating moves to the test. It’s so nice that they’re not gonna waste their stamina once they accelerate in the court” said Junko Tomioka.
“Well, they’re not bad in using their stamina and acceleration and because they’re formidable with their offense and defense, they’re most likely enduring their stamina to prevent them from getting serious fatigue” said Aoba.
“Yes, it is, Aoba-san” said Masayo. “Also, there are some girls who have the guts to show their stamina and acceleration too in Kagoshima such as Saki Akao, Haruka Tsuzura, Mimina Ohzora, Sachiko Kasuga and Noa Fuchigami.”
“Are they on the same group?” asked Satsuki.
“Yep. These girls came from the Bravehearts of Kagoshima and they like to stand out to show their beautiful violet aura” said Natsuko.
“Violet is for strong determination to share their hearts with everyone. That was symbolized when we’re in Tokyo” said Aoba.
“However, it’s not always everyone to get strong determination because they are more enduring with their interests of being brave” said Tae.
“That’s right, Tae. In Fukuoka, violet symbolizes serene blessing, but in Kagoshima, according to Tsuyoshi Matsushita, violet stands for humility and calmness” said Junko Tomioka.
“I believe that they’re not hot-headed because they’re careful with their feelings being humble as if” said Saori.
“If they’re determined to work together, they should keep their wisdom throughout the match” said Satsuki.
“Yeah, I agree, Satsuki-san! That’s why their violet auras are strong through their acceleration and stamina. It can bring shocking moves that emit their auras to be played at the same time” said Masayo.
“When they move, they play like rushing through the woods to appear and surprise their opponents with their eyes” said Natsuko.
“Well, I’m sure that Kazuhiro and his boys are ready to match their opponents’ stamina and acceleration with their own, so that this might be intense with both players going to shine like they’re battling between the wave and the shadow” said Aoi.
“Yes, they will, Aoi. It’s going to be a great one because Kazuhiro and Tsuyoshi are good in shooting easy shots in the inside and they endure their stamina while playing with their acceleration moves” said Masayo.
“I think that once both guys will clash with each other, this might be more thrilling to see and the more they use their special moves, the better to create their own auras quickly” said Saori.
“You got it, Saori!” said Masayo.
“It’s going to be a beautiful night to see you back, Masayo, Natsuko and Junko Tomioka. I hope that you’ll be comfortable to stay with us for some time” said Satsuki.
“Yeah, it will be a good pleasure that you can come along with us for excitement and hopefully, you’ll be more blessed with our blessings” said Tae.
“Yeah!” said Masayo, Natsuko and Junko Tomioka.
“I hope that our second visit would be beautiful and marvelous than the first visit” said Masayo.
“The first visit would have been beautiful if Ryuuichi didn’t do mistakes to fight against our friend Kazuhiro” said Natsuko.
“I’m sure that this time, we’ll never gonna see that incident again” said Junko Tomioka.
“Yeah, we agree” said Satsuki and Tae.
“But anyway, once we’ll get along for the last day of the Fuchsia and Celadon Week, we’ll watch the next match for Kazuhiro and his team” said Aoi.
“And then, the closing event at the garden where everyone is gathered to see the moon shining above the sea” said Saori.
“Followed by the fireworks display to end the festivity” said Aoba.
“Yeah!” said Masayo, Natsuko and Junko Tomioka.
“Now, let’s go upstairs to have some fun!” said Aoi.
“Okay!” said Masayo, Natsuko and Junko Tomioka.
At the balcony, Tomoka and Keiko are looking at the moon while the lights are shining in the garden and the park in the Misawa Resort Hotel.
“So, how’s the match for Kazuhiro’s team, Keiko-san?” asked Tomoka.
“They won their match against Team Hiyama of Tosu, a team from Saga, and they’re going to the quarterfinals” said Keiko.
“That’s awesome, Keiko-san! How many teams did participate in that tournament?” said Tomoka.
“Well, there are 22 teams participating in the Blue Wind Cup. Earlier, the play-in rounds were held in the afternoon, which Team Hiyama of Tosu won their match earlier against a team from Ogi, the Camphor Yellows of Ogi, led by Akihisa Tateyama” said Keiko.
“Are they have good players?” asked Tomoka.
“Yes, it is, Tomoka-san. Team Hiyama of Tosu is led by the captain of the Tosu Commercial High School, Yatsunori Ohara. They also have four members being good players and their names are Yosei Aiso, Motoyasu Kichise, Motoyuki Ogata and Kenichi Toyoshima” said Keiko.
“I never expect to see those members coming around to play hard, Keiko-san. They’re very good in using their shooting manifestations, but they have lack of interior defense” said Tomoka.
“That’s right, Tomoka-san. Kazuhiro had bested the five players without wasting his stamina. He should be on a good shape when he made the moves against them” said Keiko.
“That was fantastic for him! I’m sure that he’s going to take over the court when his teammates need him to storm out to rally” said Tomoka.
“Yeah, that’s true, Tomoka-san. Their next opponents will be from Kagoshima, the Taniyama United Roses, led by Tsuyoshi Matsushita. Tsuyoshi is also the leader of the Bravehearts of Kagoshima and the captain of the Suzumida Gakuen High School, a private high school that was part of the Suzumida School System” said Keiko.
“Well, that would be an interesting match for Kazuhiro to battle against a Braveheart from Kagoshima. Are the Taniyama United Roses have produced players?” said Tomoka.
“Yes, they have. As a matter of fact, Tsuyoshi’s teammates are the same as Kazuhiro’s teammates based on their size and strength, but the main difference is that Tsuyoshi’s have their own formation, which is the Sagan Suzumida Triangle. It is a formation that allows the players to work on athletic players that can get steals and fast breaks while putting their stamina to be in stable mode” said Keiko.
“I think that their formation was basically the same as the one in the Den-en-chōfu High School. It looks like they have been focused on the inside while catching shots with their force” said Tomoka.
“You got it!” said Keiko.
“So, Keiko-san, if I want to let you know, how did you start making friends with those from your own group? It will be better to make it resembled to my group” said Tomoka.
“Uh, I believe that I have started making friends to those who are in my neighborhood in Chihaya. That’s where Miyuki Matsuzaki was born there alongside Katsuko Yoda. We used to live together while Kazuhiro was playing for Kashii Gakuen in middle school. If I remember correctly, Mika told me that in Kashii and Chihaya, they have large population of red-haired residents. Although my hair is partly reddish, my friends have different hair colors, especially the blue-haired friends of mine” said Keiko.
“So, why you named your group, the Stormred Higabana?” asked Tomoka.
“Good question, Tomoka-san. You see, before I formed that group, I saw higabanas or spider lilies in the gardens of Kashii. I never touched those when I was a little girl. Now that I remembered that those spider lilies are beautiful, I decided to name my group, the Stormred Higabana. Stormred comes from the storm and red, which is based on why my friends have sported their hair colors red or blue. Then, higabana comes from a flower. The big thing is that the Stormred Higabana had been associated with my family and Miyuki’s family because we were living in the same street” said Keiko.
“I believe that you have adapted your own name to make it shine, Keiko-san. I would say that you have adapted your own set of friends in your childhood” said Tomoka.
“Well, there are still my friends, Tomoka-san, and I’m currently a first year middle school student” said Keiko.
“Oh, okay. I believe that you are in the same year as mine” said Tomoka.
“That’s right, Tomoka-san. Since we’re in first year middle school, this is just the beginning of a new journey for us, but hopefully, we should be ready to face new challenges in our careers” said Keiko.
“Yeah, Keiko-san!” said Tomoka. “What are the other things you have gotten along with your friends from your own group?”
“We’re the first group to create an extended group right after Kazuhiro had created the Bravehearts of Fukuoka. Because Kazuhiro was my first close friend, I decided to adopt my own circle. That’s why the Stormred Higabana had been partnered with different groups in both Kashii and Chihaya. So, the leaders and I have formed the Chihashii Valor Reds, a network of groups that were based in both Kashii and Chihaya” said Keiko.
“That’s a nice name of your extended group, Keiko-san! I never expect that you have a lot of yours just like Kazuhiro-san!” said Tomoka.
“Yeah, Tomoka-san! Most of the teams in our network have competed for both Kashii Invitationals and Chihaya Invitationals where we were able to control both tournaments with the help of Kazuhiro’s friends from Chihaya” said Keiko.
“Well, not only Kazuhiro had been friends of you and your teammates, but he had been friends to those who were compatible with each other” said Tomoka.
“You got that right!” said Keiko.
“So, what I’m going to say is that you have been connected with your neighbors in your hometown” said Tomoka.
“You got it! While Kazuhiro was born near the border of Higashi and Hakata, I was born in Chihaya. Which means, my group had been the home of my friends, which was very coincidental that you have your group, the Family of Angels” said Keiko.
“Yeah, Keiko-san! With the expansion of our Bravehearts, we’ll be planning to add new members while welcoming new groups that would boost our reputation to bring more blessings in our community. What about your Bravehearts in Fukuoka?” said Tomoka.
“Ever since my school had won the National Middle School Boys’ Basketball Championship two years ago, the Bravehearts of Fukuoka had a lot of connections based on our hometown. Kazuhiro and I were able to have our friends form their own group of friends before making an extended group just like mine” said Keiko.
“Wow! I believe that being the first ‘braveheart’ group in the country wasn’t meant to be stronger, but the bonds of friendship continue to grow altogether” said Tomoka.
“Yeah, I agree, Tomoka-san. That’s why the Bravehearts of Fukuoka will continue to be together and hopefully, we will work together like the storm shines above the sea” said Keiko.
“Well, I like that idiom of your group. It feels like your group had been popular recently, thanks to that development of your group by expanding your circle of friends” said Tomoka.
“You bet!” said Keiko. “By the way, tomorrow, while our friends are busy for the Blue Wind Cup, we should battle with each other. Just like I promised to you last time?”
“Oh, yeah! It will be a great pleasure to have a match against me, Keiko-san! I’m ready whatever you are!” said Tomoka.
“Yeah, Tomoka-san! A battle of girly bravehearts would be great to start off a new season!” said Keiko.
“That’s right, Keiko-san! So, get ready to see who the best girly braveheart is!” said Tomoka.
“Okay, I’ll be glad to” said Keiko.
Later, Kōme, who is still wearing her miko that was used for the general assembly, arrives from her room, smiling on her face, to meet both Tomoka and Keiko.
“Oh! I see what you are sharing about, Tomoka and Keiko. It seems that you have talked about the Blue Wind Cup” said Kōme.
“Yep, Kōme-san. Keiko and I were talking about what happened in the Blue Wind Cup where Kazuhiro and his team have won their match to advance to the quarterfinals. Kazuhiro had been shining his way to the court just like Subaru did and Keiko had impressed him when she watched his moves” said Tomoka.
“That’s right, Tomoka-san. Right now, his team will battle against Tsuyoshi Matsushita and the Taniyama United Roses. Tsuyoshi is a second year high school student just like Kazuhiro and Subaru and he’s also the leader of the Bravehearts of Kagoshima” said Keiko.
“So, wait, that Matsushita guy is the leader of a different ‘braveheart’ group?” asked Kōme.
“Yeah, Kōme-san. He came from Kagoshima, which is a far away place from my home. It will take the whole day to get there. Also, aside from him, the Bravehearts of Kagoshima had Saki Akao, a first year middle school student, studying in the Suzumida Gakuen Middle School” said Keiko.
“I don’t know if she has relations on you, Keiko-san. I heard that she had a relative in your hometown” said Kōme.
“Ah, yes. My friend Yūsei Maeno is the relative of Saki. Yūsei had been the leader of the Rosefernos, a group based in Chihaya” said Keiko.
“Is he basketball player too?” asked Tomoka.
“Yes, he was, Tomoka-san. He is studying in Tatara Chuo Middle School and joined their basketball team. I believe that he had worked hard to be a basketball player while helping his groupmates to improve their academics to have high grades” said Keiko.
“I would be delighted if we can have a relative of one of our friends to be part of our organization, but of course, we have one from the Fuchsia and Blue Soul. Their leader Katsuhito Taniguchi is the cousin of Ryōtarō Makihara” said Kōme.
“Yeah, Kōme-san! Katsuhito lived in Nishina after he finished middle school in Fukuoka. When he transferred to Nishina, he started to create his own group that focused on supporting the lifestyle of the people of the Ōta that were coming from Fukuoka” said Tomoka.
“Ah, yes, he’s such a good friend of Kazuhiro. If I remember correctly, Ryōtarō is currently a second year high school student, which means that he and Katsuhito were on the same level at the same time” said Keiko.
“That’s right, Keiko-san. I’m sure that there might be some bloodlines related to those from Fukuoka, which may be interesting to see ever since Ginga worked in Fukuoka for his research” said Tomoka.
“Well, that would be more interested to see something new about this, but I hope that there might be more information about when my groupmates will about to start their activities in our group soon” said Kōme.
“Yeah!” said Tomoka and Keiko.
“Oh, by the way, I had a question. What does the teams in the Blue Wind Cup would be like?” said Kōme.
“It’s composed of the best high school basketball teams in every city in Kyushu battling with each other. They represent their players who have been part of the team, but some teams have fielded some extra players such as those from their ‘braveheart’ groups they originated” said Keiko.
“I’m sure that they’re going to meet with us very soon once they’re going to be here for the summer” said Kōme.
“Yeah, I agree, Kōme-san. Hopefully, we’ll see if it goes, but I believe that it will be a speculation for a while” said Keiko.
“Just like what the meeting between the Bravehearts of Ōta and the Bravehearts of Nagoya, we’ll be waiting until it’s going to be announced very soon” said Tomoka.
“Yeah, I believe so, Tomoka” said Kōme before she smiles to both Tomoka and Keiko. “So, Tomoka and Keiko, I think that we should go to bed now.”
“Yeah!” said Tomoka and Keiko.
“I’m so excited about tomorrow, Tomoka-san! It’s great that the activities are doing great right now” said Keiko.
“Yep. Tomorrow will be the last day of the festivities and hopefully, we’ll be able to continue to give blessings to the community” said Tomoka.
“And also, let’s make the last day of the festivity more angelic!” said Kōme.
“You got it!” said Tomoka and Keiko.
The next day, at the Outdoor Basketball Court #6, the Bravehearts of Ōta and Fukuoka are present as Tomoka and her teammates would battle against Keiko’s team in a practice match. The montage shows Tomoka and Keiko battling against each other. Tomoka would shine her way with her acceleration drive to increase her chance of shooting easy layups. On the other hand, Keiko had been playing like a storm as she was able to gain her pressure to do crossover moves against Tomoka and perform driving layups.
When Tomoka is on defense, Keiko performs the crossover move on Tomoka. Keiko had performed the Perfect Blue Storm, a special move that allows Keiko to create patterns while dribbling the ball.
“You think that I’m going to get easy on you, Tomoka-san?” asked Keiko.
“Well, you asked for it, Keiko-san. We battled against each other with our moves and then, you think that you’re going to get easy on me? I think that I will watch out for your move” said Tomoka.
“Wow. That sounds like you’re determined, Tomoka-san. Observing me when I’m battling you means that I’m so excited that I will make my moves against you” said Keiko.
“Then, go ahead” said Tomoka.
“Sure!” said Keiko as she gives her way to perform her special move, the Perfect Blue Stor, as she goes for the crossover move on Tomoka. Then, Keiko steps back before driving past Tomoka with the Resurrecting Higabana Drive.
“Wow! You’re so good!” said Tomoka while seeing Keiko’s blue aura.
“Yeah, Tomoka-san! I got my moves to shine over you!” said Keiko before shooting the ball with the Blue Crescent Layup, a variant of a driving layup. The layup was good, gives two points for Keiko’s team.
“Well, I haven’t seen that move before, Keiko-san, but we’ll see if my Shine Gift has the better move against your move” said Tomoka.
“Okay, then, I’ll be looking forward to it!” said Keiko.
“Okay!” said Tomoka.
Later, Maho passes the ball to Tomoka with the Spark Light Pass. “Mokkan! Go!”
Tomoka grabs the ball with her right hand before battling against Keiko. Tomoka goes for the crossover move against Keiko. Tomoka’s pattern is looked like a camellia, which create pink auras on her feet.
“That was fast paced acceleration, Tomoka-san!” said Keiko.
“Yep! I’m firing up to make sure that I’ll be making my move!” said Tomoka. “You think that you’re going to stop me?”
“Well, of course, I am! Try not to lose your stamina while battling against me!” said Keiko.
“You got it!” said Tomoka as she goes with the spin move before doing the escape move against Keiko. Keiko tries to get back to stop Tomoka, but Tomoka performs the Sakura Drive to drive past Keiko.
“Hisako-san!” said Miwako Tanaka.
“What is it, Miwako?” asked Hisako Uehara.
“Tomoka is doing the acceleration drive against our own Keiko!” said Miwako.
“Well, I see that fact that she’s very strong with her own pattern out there” said Hisako.
“I believe that it’s the same move that Keiko did, girls!” said Miho Kumada.
“Oh, I see!” said Hisako.
“You’re not kidding, Miho-san” said Miwako.
“Of course!” said Miho.
“Tomoka has the same level as Keiko, remember?” asked Sana Kushibiki.
“Yes, she was, Sana! If Kazuhiro’s equivalent is Subaru, then Keiko’s equivalent would be Tomoka. That’s why both Keiko and Tomoka have the position captains from last year when we’re in the sixth grade” said Hisako.
“Yep. I’m happy to have Tomoka and her friends battling against us to see who the best team is!” said Sana.
“You got that right, Sana-san! This practice match made me excited to prepare for the future matches for our team, but hopefully, it will boost our attributes and tendencies when we finished the game. Don’t we agree?” said Miho.
“Yeah!” said Hisako, Sana and Miwako.
After driving past Keiko, Tomoka would go to the paint to shoot the ball with the Shiny Gift and the ball drives to the basket.
“Alright! Nice shot, Tomoka-san!” said Maho.
“You proved her that you have a good shot!” said Saki.
“That was an amazing move that you battled against Keiko-san! The Sakura Drive doesn’t stop you from moving in different directions in the court” said Airi.
“Oh! What a nice combination of the Sakura Drive and the Shiny Gift!” said Hinata.
“Thanks, girls! It’s great to have my moves being improved, thanks to my performance at the Fuchsia and Celadon Dragons Tournament. Now, I can continue to shine myself to score more points” said Tomoka.
“Yeah!” said Maho, Saki, Airi and Hinata.
“Well, you are a good shooter, Tomoka-san. I really like your playing style too! I think that you are an all-around shooter” said Keiko.
“That’s right, Keiko-san! As I had done this before in our first year in our elementary school girls’ basketball team, I had been a good shooter in the inside, which makes me motivate to do some special moves” said Tomoka.
“I agree, Tomoka-san. Now that we have shown our moves, then let’s see who will walk away with the win at the end of the match” said Keiko.
“Of course, Keiko-san!” said Tomoka.
The practice match between Team Minato and Team Kakuma-Nakano had been continued with different members from both teams battling against each other to determine who the best group is. Tomoka and Keiko have clashed with each other in between the inside and the outside area where they have performed their moves, which becomes shinier than the other players. Tomoka shoots the floater after doing the spin move against Keiko and then, Keiko performs the fake on Tomoka before shooting the ball with the jump shot in the post.
In the closing minutes of the match, Tomoka and Keiko would battle once again. Keiko tries to drive past Tomoka with the Perfect Blue Storm after doing her own pattern. Tomoka would go on defense with her special move, the Sakura Bloom Defender.
“Going to shoot that ball, Keiko-san? I don’t think so” said Tomoka.
“Oh, really. Now, I’ll try my best to stop you now, Tomoka-san!” said Keiko.
“You’re tougher just what I’m expected, but we’ll see about that, Keiko-san!” said Tomoka as she keeps her resiliency in trying to stop Keiko. Keiko goes with the stepback spin move to get away from Tomoka and tries to shoot the ball with the fadeaway version of the Blue Crescent Shot.
“There’s no way you can stop my shot, Tomoka-san!” said Keiko.
Tomoka would go for the shot contest with her left hand while jumping from the court. “Oh no, you don’t! You don’t have one!”
The ball would bounce off from the backboard hoop before Keiko gasps in horror as he shot was missed. “No way! I missed my shot!”
Tomoka smiles on her face to Keiko, who is surprised about her shot being missed. “Told you that I’m good with my defense!”
“Well, not bad at all, Tomoka-san! I like that strategic move!” said Keiko, even she’s not angry at Tomoka for missing her shot earlier.
Airi grabs the ball with the Prismatic Hustler. “I got that ball, Tomoka-san!”
“Now, it’s time to finish the match!” said Tomoka while she and Keiko are about to run for the final possession.
“You got it, Tomoka-chan!” said Airi as she passes the ball to Tomoka with the Butterfly Pass.
The final possession would be contested as Tomoka tries to finish the match with her last shot. So, Tomoka would pass first to Hinata, who would perform the Pink Charm Rush against Miwako.
Hinata goes for the spin move to get away from Miwako before passing the ball to Saki. “Oh! Saki-chan! Catch!”
Saki grabs the ball with her left hand before doing the Blue Ray Accelerator to boost her dribbling moves. When she battled against Hisako, Saki performs the crossover move before switching it to behind the back move.
“Wow! Saki had a nice combination move when she’s possessing that ball” said Sana.
“Yeah, Sana-chan! Saki was a good shooter and she can do whatever she wants to make us blessed” said Airi.
“Well, I hope that she’s going to be a contributor when she’s stepping up into the court with you and your fellow teammates in Keishin. I want to see her if I want to” said Sana.
“Yeah!” said Airi.
Hisako tries to stop Saki with her defense, which worked well, preventing Saki to shoot the ball. Saki looks at Tomoka, who was in the perimeter.
“There’s no way you can shoot or pass, Saki! I’m a lockdown defender!” said Hisako.
“Nice try, Hisako, but I don’t want to let my team lose!” said Saki as she passes the ball to Tomoka with the Ice Bliss Pass. “Now, Tomoka!”
“You got it!” said Tomoka while smiling on her face. Then, Tomoka clashes against Keiko one more time. Keiko tries to stop Tomoka, who had performed the between the legs move.
“In a few seconds, you’ll not gonna win!” said Keiko.
“Oh, yeah? I will make sure that I will stop the storm now, Keiko-san!” said Tomoka as she does the Sakura Drive, driving past Keiko quickly.
“Wow! That was too good! I can’t stop her!” said Keiko.
“The last shot would belong to me, Keiko-san, because I’m gonna shine my way to score!” said Tomoka as she would shoot the ball with the Shiny Gift and the ball drives to the basket. Nami blows her whistle, signaling the match would be over.
“Game over! Team Minato wins the match!” said Nami while the scoreboard was displayed with the final score, 47-45, in favor of Team Minato.
“We did it, Tomoka-san! You made the last shot!” said Maho.
“Oh! That was a great finish, Tomoka-san! You have showed Keiko who the best girly braveheart is!” said Hinata.
“Yep! It wasn’t easy to battle Keiko-san, but Keiko was very good with her defense. She had been a great player with her acceleration and intelligence being her best attributes” said Tomoka.
“That’s true, Tomoka. I’m glad that we have won this practice match against the girls from Fukuoka, but I believe that we’re getting better right now with our performance” said Saki.
“Which means that we’re good enough to show our willpower to dominate!” said Airi.
“Yeah, that’s right, Airi-san!” said Tomoka while giving her teammates a smile. “We worked together as one group of bravehearts! Right, girls?”
“Yeah!” said Maho, Saki, Airi and Hinata.
Keiko shakes hands with Tomoka as the former accepts the defeat against the latter. “I lost, Tomoka-san, but I’m feeling happy that I had battled you.”
“Yeah, Keiko-san. It’s great that we have battled against each other for the first time, unlike the other bravehearts did in the west” said Tomoka.
“Of course, Tomoka-san! When the first ‘braveheart’ groups being formed after the victory of Kazuhiro’s team in the National Middle School Boys’ Basketball Championship, they finally battle against each other in a friendly tournament, which was held last year. However, there are no ‘braveheart’ groups being formed outside the western and southern parts of our country like in Tokyo, Nagoya, Saitama and Maebashi” said Keiko.
“Yeah, I agree! Now that we have the Bravehearts of Ōta and the Bravehearts of Nagoya, I don’t know if there’ll be another friendly tournament with a lot of ‘braveheart’ groups or not” said Tomoka.
“Me neither, Tomoka-san. I don’t know if Kenjirō will have plans for that since your group was formed lately” said Keiko.
“Yeah” said Tomoka.
Mimi and Mika would appear to talk with Tomoka and Keiko.
“If I remember correctly, there will be a friendly tournament that would be held for the areas that are near to our hometown” said Mimi.
“Oh, yeah! I remember that! That’s what you said in the last meeting with the Bravehearts of Nagoya” said Tomoka.
“Yeah, Tomoka! I think that it will be better to keep the tradition of that friendly tournament while giving the other ‘braveheart’ groups to battle against each other in a separate set of tournaments, based on the order of formation” said Mimi.
“Also, since Fukuoka had been the first city to form a ‘braveheart’ group, the other cities that have formed in the same year may end up battling against each other including Fukuoka, of course” said Mika.
“That’s right, Mika-san. I think that it will keep the traditional friendly tournament for the first ‘braveheart’ groups while the ‘braveheart’ groups that were formed outside of it will be have their own, based on the order of formation and the geographical representation. It will be better to make the best summer friendly tournament ever once it’s going to be held again” said Keiko.
“Yeah, I agree, Keiko! I’m sure that Kazuhiro and his boys will play once again. They have won the first tournament last year, which boost their chances to keep their title this year” said Mika.
“Yes, they will, Mika-san! I’m sure that we’re going to watch out on that tournament too!” said Keiko.
“Of course!” said Mika before she speaks to her fellow groupmates. “Right, team?”
“Yeah!” said the members of Team Kakuma-Nakano.
Tomoka smiles to the members of Team Kakuma-Nakano while saying to them. “I hope that we’ll be having another round of friendly matches against your team again, but hopefully, we’ll try our best to improve ourselves to make sure that we’re able to dominate.”
“Yeah, we will, Tomoka!” said the members of Team Kakuma-Nakano.
Tomoka speaks to her fellow groupmates from her own group, Team Minato. “That means, you’ll do the same thing to make sure that we’ll become stronger this time.”
“You got it!” said the members of Team Minato.
Part 2 will be on the next post.
In the last two chapters, the Bravehearts of Fukuoka have returned to Tokyo for another visit to meet with the Bravehearts of Ōta again. The main questions are “Why are they returned?” and “Why are they doing for the last two days of the Fuchsia and Celadon Week?” Those answers will be revealed in tonight’s update as this chapter will be focused on the friendship between the two ‘braveheart’ groups: the Bravehearts of Ōta and the Bravehearts of Fukuoka. If you don’t know what’s going on, the Bravehearts of Fukuoka is the first ‘braveheart’ group that is existed in the series. Now, since they are back for their second visit, they’ll be with the members of the Stormred Higabana, a group that is composed of the friends of Keiko Kakuma. So, get ready to see both ‘braveheart’ groups getting along with each other as here comes the penultimate chapter of the first part of Volume 8, which is Chapter 161, with the title, “Shine High with The Spider Lily and The Sakura”! Enjoy reading Chapter 161!:)
During the general assembly of the Homewrecking Dragons, the girls of the Bravehearts of Fukuoka, led by Keiko Kakuma, have returned to meet with Tomoka and the Bravehearts of Ōta. While Keiko and her friends will be hanging out with Tomoka and her friends at the mansion of the Misawa Resort Hotel, Kazuhiro Hatakenaka and his friends from the Blue Verdant Fukuoka will be competing at the Blue Wind Cup. When Tomoka and Keiko met with each other at the balcony, Keiko shared to Tomoka the things about her friends from the Stormred Higabana, a group that is composed of the former’s friends from her school, the Kashii Gakuen Middle School. Aside from being closed to her fellow Bravehearts, Keiko wanted to make friends with those who were living in her neighborhood in Kashii, which resulted in the creation of the Stormred Higabana. The Stormred Higabana had also formed their extended group known as the Chihashii Valor Reds. The Bravehearts of Fukuoka have expanded their friendship with their allies because they have a lot of connections based on each member’s hometown. For example, Keiko was born in Kashii, which means that her friends are coming from Kashii. The next day, both ‘braveheart’ groups would clash with each other in a friendly match at the Outdoor Basketball Court of the Misawa Resort Hotel where Tomoka and Keiko show their moves in the court. At the end of the match, it was Tomoka and her team walking away with the win when she performs the Sakura Drive on Keiko to drive her out of the way and then, shoots the ball with the Shiny Gift. The two ‘braveheart’ groups have been closed with each other due to their personalities and ambitions, in which Tomoka and Keiko are very expressive with one’s feelings to their friends. They eventually do their first collaboration when they meet the members of the Fuchsia and Soul, which is led by Katsuhito Tanguchi. They asked Katsuhito and his friends if they’ll find the former members of the Dragons of Ōta, so that they’ll contribute for the search to progress, which Katsuhito and his friends accept. With both ‘braveheart’ groups have started their partnership, they have developed their friendship quickly, which means that they’ll planning to continue working together, so that they’ll bless their allies with their blessings and keep their pride and courage through their hearts.
[OPENING: Ro-Kyu-Bu! OP: 「SHOOT! 」 by RO-KYU-BU!]
VOLUME 8: “A NEW ANGELIC AND HARMONIOUS ERA IN ŌTA”
CHAPTER 161: “SHINE HIGH WITH THE SPIDER LILY AND THE SAKURA”
VOLUME 8: “A NEW ANGELIC AND HARMONIOUS ERA IN ŌTA”
CHAPTER 161: “SHINE HIGH WITH THE SPIDER LILY AND THE SAKURA”
After the general assembly of the Homewrecking Dragons had been ended, the members of the Homewrecking Dragons would get along with their allies such as those from the Family of Angels and the groups that are part of the Rainbow Angels.
Megumi and the members of the Periwinkle Storm Lions made their agreement, which leads to the addition of the Periwinkle Storm Lions to the Rainbow Angels.
“Welcome to the Rainbow Angels, Yurika-san! You’re now part of the family!” said Megumi Kadokawa.
“Oh, thank you, Megumi-san! I can’t believe that we’ll be blessed with a lot of members going to do their best to make our community brighter!” said Yurika Kirishima, a first year middle school student from the Tōho Middle School and the leader of the Periwinkle Storm Lions.
“That’s great, Megumi-san! Now, I won’t worry about my former schoolmates anymore because we have them!” said Hitomi.
“You got it, Hitomi-san!” said Megumi.
“So, what should we do, Megumi-san?” asked Yurika.
“Well, we need you to find more former members of the Dragons of Ōta. I believe that your group’s color would be suited for you to find those members coming from the blue group, even you aren’t part of the Dragons of Ōta.
“Yes, we will, Megumi-san! We’ll try our best!” said Yurika and the members of the Periwinkle Storm Lions.
“That’s more I like it, Yurika-san! I’m glad that you will be ready to make those former members smile when you will meet them” said Hitomi.
“Those former members aren’t found yet, but hopefully, they’ll finally remember anything about that group” said Masami Nojima.
“Yes, of course, Hitomi-san and Masami-san! I’ll make sure that I’ll introduce you to them if you want to see them for sure” said Yurika.
“Yeah!” said Hitomi and Masami Nojima.
“Now, I wonder what the other former members of the Homewrecking Dragons doing” said Megumi.
“Well, they are meeting with Tomoka and the other members of the Family of Angels. I think that they have planned on something” said Hitomi.
“I think that it might be interesting to make some changes for the residential policy in the mansion” said Masami Nojima.
“How come about that policy, Masami-san?” asked Yurika.
“You see, the Bravehearts and most of the members of the Family of Angels have permanently stayed in the mansion. However, there are some members who aren’t permanent residents yet. When the expansion of the Bravehearts began with the creation of the extended groups, I was thinking about the Family of Angels may finally add their new members, so that they can stay at the mansion permanently” said Megumi.
“Well, that is interesting. Since I’m a former member of the Homewrecking Dragons, can I stay here permanently?” said Yurika.
“Yes, you can, but you need to attend the meetings for the Alumni Association of our club” said Hitomi.
“That way, you’ll be able to get to know about the information about the Homewrecking Dragons” said Masanobu Yamada.
“Okay!” said Yurika.
“I hope that you’re ready for the future activities within our Family and I’m sure that you’re going to like it!” said Anzu.
“Yes, I will!” said Yurika.
Next, the members of the executive board of the Shiromidai Elementary School Student Council, composed of Kurumi Nukui (Kōsaten-hatsu, president), Kanae Nakata (Independent, vice president), Jun Gotō (Kōsaten-hatsu, secretary), Mamoru Kobayashi (Kōsaten-hatsu, treasurer), Nobuko Matsushita (Kōsaten-hatsu, auditor), Yūmi Yamanaka (Kōsaten-hatsu, public relations officer) and Moeko Araki (Kōsaten-hatsu, chief of staff), are walking with each other outside the mansion.
“Kurumi-chan, I wonder what we’re going to plan for the school festival this coming September” said Jun.
“Well, I was thinking about setting up a week where we will celebrate the culture of our school, which will showcase art and music in our school” said Kurumi.
“That would be interesting, Kurumi-chan. Since we got Lien de Famille, then we need some other young bands in our school to join with, so that we’ll have a concert for our school” said Jun.
“Good idea, Jun-chan! Since our school is public, even we have some students coming from the middle-class families in Den-en-chōfu, we should get enough accommodations to organize that learning exhibition” said Kurumi.
“Yeah!” said Jun.
“You know, Kurumi, the school had organized a painting competition every month of September. We can showcase their masterpiece to the public, so that everyone will see the amazing colors of their artworks they made” said Kanae Nakata.
“I think that I like that one, Kanae-chan. As far as the Arts Department needed our support, we would be set to have the artworks going to be viewed around the school” said Kurumi.
“Yeah!” said Kanae.
“So, what about the sporting competitions? Usually, we have that event before the school festival” said Mamoru Kobayashi.
“Ah, yes, the intramurals. We might want to have that during the school festival, which may be a good sign of it. As always, there will be an invitational tournament to be held in early August, which is the Den-en-chōfu Invitationals. I think that we need the community groups in our school to participate, which may be more expected to have more than 30 teams to participate just like last year” said Kurumi.
“I’m sure that they will participate at that competition because the Den-en-chōfu Invitationals usually have a lot of teams to participate in different divisions, which is mostly between 30 and 40” said Nobuko Matsushita.
“Yeah, that’s right, Nobuko-chan. The Den-en-chōfu Invitationals had been popular in the Ōta League for many years, which produced a lot of teams to advance to their best finish every year” said Mamoru.
“It means that hopefully, we’ll see more teams producing themselves to make the best finishes for next year’s Ōta League Cup” said Kurumi.
“Oh, I see! I think that you’re right about what happened last year, Kurumi. It would be expected that the upcoming Den-en-chōfu Invitationals will be a lot of competition out there, thanks to the formation of the Rainbow Angels” said Nobuko.
“Yeah, that’s true, Nobuko-chan” said Kurumi.
“The other idea what we’re going to organize for the school festival is that we’re going to organize the Lavender and Cerise Children’s Forum where the young students will attend the seminars about advanced art such as digital art and animation” said Yūmi Yamanaka.
“We can second that, Yūmi!” said Kanae.
“It will be perfect for the aspiring young students to know about art and animation. A few of the graduates have been into animation” said Jun.
“Of course, Jun-chan! I’m sure that we need some aspirants of becoming a good artist in animation” said Yūmi.
“Yeah, I agree, Yūmi-chan! We should be more grateful to have young artists in our school because they have their own talents to share with” said Kurumi.
“Yeah!” said Kanae, Jun, Mamoru, Nobuko, Yūmi and Moeko Araki.
“So, when are we going to start forming the school festival committee?” asked Moeko Araki, the younger cousin of Sayuri Araki.
“It will be right after the summer break and hopefully, we’ll start working on that. I would be expected that the school festival will be held either on September 25 or 26” said Kurumi.
“Well, there will be four months to go before the school festival and I believe that we need to focus on the activities for the first term” said Moeko.
“You got it!” said Kurumi.
“Hopefully, we’ll be ready to organize the school festival once we’re done with the first term, Kurumi-chan” said Jun.
“Yeah, Jun-chan!” said Kurumi.
“Now that we have done the conversation about the future plans in our Children’s Association, we should take a look at the hotel to see the events at the function room!” said Moeko.
“Okay!” said Kurumi, Kanae, Jun, Mamoru, Nobuko and Yūmi.
A few minutes later, the Bravehearts of Fukuoka have arrived back at the mansion of the Misawa Resort Hotel where they would be staying there for two nights and two days. The Bravehearts of Fukuoka will be leaving back to Fukuoka on May 9 (Sunday).
Aoi, Saori, Satsuki, Tae, Aoba, Masayo, Natsuko and Junko are getting along at the mansion where they are staying at the living room for a break. The boys like Subaru and Kazuhiro aren’t present because they’re busy at the Recreational Center to watch the rest of the night of the Blue Wind Cup.
“By the way, Aoba, since tonight is your birthday, I got a surprise gift for you!” said Aoi.
“Oh, I’m sure that this is going to be so good just like how Chihiro have on his birthday last night” said Aoba.
“You got it!” said Aoi as she gives out the birthday gift to Aoba. “Here you go!”
“Thank you very much, Aoi-san! You’re so kind to me!” said Aoba.
“You’re welcome!” said Aoi.
“Now, I’m going to open this present!” said Aoba as she unwraps her birthday gift. She was surprised when she revealed her birthday and then, showed it to her friends.
“Wow!” said Aoi, Saori, Satsuki, Tae, Masayo, Natsuko and Junko Tomioka.
“It’s a plush rabbit!” said Masayo.
“That one was so cute!” said Natsuko.
“It’s a comfortable item to take care of as a lucky charm” said Junko Tomioka.
“Yep. This plush rabbit matched my favorite color!” said Aoba. The color of Aoba’s new plush rabbit is green, which is also her hair color.
“That’s color green, Aoba-san! I hope you like it!” said Saori.
“Yeah, I like it, Saori-san!” said Aoba.
“I’m glad that you have celebrated your birthday ever since we get along with each other at the rooftop of our school” said Satsuki.
“I believe that you are very respectful to us. Hopefully, our friends in our Luminous Camellia will be ready to make the difference in order to shine our way to get high grades in every subject and pass the school in flying colors” said Tae.
“Yes, of course, Tae! I believe that it will our time to shine and I’m confident to do that just for us!” said Aoba.
“Hopefully, we’ll be able to keep our friendship, Aoba, because you had been a helper for our group” said Aoi.
“Of course, I will, Aoi-san! Let’s keep our friendship stable for all of us!” said Aoba.
“Yeah!” said Aoi, Saori, Satsuki and Tae.
“By the way, Aoi, after their match against Team Hiyama of Tosu, they’re going to take on the Taniyama United Roses where they’re representing the Suzumida Gakuen High School” said Masayo.
“Yep. They’re very different, compared to those from Team Hiyama of Tosu. I think that this might gonna be a different challenge for Kazuhiro and his boys because Tsuyoshi Matsushita is an athletic shooting guard and he loves to create stamina strategies to make themselves formidable with their offense and defense” said Aoi.
“Also, they’re surrounding with their red and blue auras with their eyes are on fire like in Mount Fuji” said Saori.
“I guess so, Saori. They came from Kagoshima, which is the southern end of Kyushu” said Masayo.
“Unlike different locations in Kyushu, Kagoshima is a strong place for people who have better stamina and acceleration” said Natsuko.
“So, guys like Tsuyoshi Matsushita, Tsukihiko Matsuzawa, Jitsuo Tsushima, Kentarō Atsuzawa and Shinzō Wakatake have been good in doing accelerating moves to the test. It’s so nice that they’re not gonna waste their stamina once they accelerate in the court” said Junko Tomioka.
“Well, they’re not bad in using their stamina and acceleration and because they’re formidable with their offense and defense, they’re most likely enduring their stamina to prevent them from getting serious fatigue” said Aoba.
“Yes, it is, Aoba-san” said Masayo. “Also, there are some girls who have the guts to show their stamina and acceleration too in Kagoshima such as Saki Akao, Haruka Tsuzura, Mimina Ohzora, Sachiko Kasuga and Noa Fuchigami.”
“Are they on the same group?” asked Satsuki.
“Yep. These girls came from the Bravehearts of Kagoshima and they like to stand out to show their beautiful violet aura” said Natsuko.
“Violet is for strong determination to share their hearts with everyone. That was symbolized when we’re in Tokyo” said Aoba.
“However, it’s not always everyone to get strong determination because they are more enduring with their interests of being brave” said Tae.
“That’s right, Tae. In Fukuoka, violet symbolizes serene blessing, but in Kagoshima, according to Tsuyoshi Matsushita, violet stands for humility and calmness” said Junko Tomioka.
“I believe that they’re not hot-headed because they’re careful with their feelings being humble as if” said Saori.
“If they’re determined to work together, they should keep their wisdom throughout the match” said Satsuki.
“Yeah, I agree, Satsuki-san! That’s why their violet auras are strong through their acceleration and stamina. It can bring shocking moves that emit their auras to be played at the same time” said Masayo.
“When they move, they play like rushing through the woods to appear and surprise their opponents with their eyes” said Natsuko.
“Well, I’m sure that Kazuhiro and his boys are ready to match their opponents’ stamina and acceleration with their own, so that this might be intense with both players going to shine like they’re battling between the wave and the shadow” said Aoi.
“Yes, they will, Aoi. It’s going to be a great one because Kazuhiro and Tsuyoshi are good in shooting easy shots in the inside and they endure their stamina while playing with their acceleration moves” said Masayo.
“I think that once both guys will clash with each other, this might be more thrilling to see and the more they use their special moves, the better to create their own auras quickly” said Saori.
“You got it, Saori!” said Masayo.
“It’s going to be a beautiful night to see you back, Masayo, Natsuko and Junko Tomioka. I hope that you’ll be comfortable to stay with us for some time” said Satsuki.
“Yeah, it will be a good pleasure that you can come along with us for excitement and hopefully, you’ll be more blessed with our blessings” said Tae.
“Yeah!” said Masayo, Natsuko and Junko Tomioka.
“I hope that our second visit would be beautiful and marvelous than the first visit” said Masayo.
“The first visit would have been beautiful if Ryuuichi didn’t do mistakes to fight against our friend Kazuhiro” said Natsuko.
“I’m sure that this time, we’ll never gonna see that incident again” said Junko Tomioka.
“Yeah, we agree” said Satsuki and Tae.
“But anyway, once we’ll get along for the last day of the Fuchsia and Celadon Week, we’ll watch the next match for Kazuhiro and his team” said Aoi.
“And then, the closing event at the garden where everyone is gathered to see the moon shining above the sea” said Saori.
“Followed by the fireworks display to end the festivity” said Aoba.
“Yeah!” said Masayo, Natsuko and Junko Tomioka.
“Now, let’s go upstairs to have some fun!” said Aoi.
“Okay!” said Masayo, Natsuko and Junko Tomioka.
At the balcony, Tomoka and Keiko are looking at the moon while the lights are shining in the garden and the park in the Misawa Resort Hotel.
“So, how’s the match for Kazuhiro’s team, Keiko-san?” asked Tomoka.
“They won their match against Team Hiyama of Tosu, a team from Saga, and they’re going to the quarterfinals” said Keiko.
“That’s awesome, Keiko-san! How many teams did participate in that tournament?” said Tomoka.
“Well, there are 22 teams participating in the Blue Wind Cup. Earlier, the play-in rounds were held in the afternoon, which Team Hiyama of Tosu won their match earlier against a team from Ogi, the Camphor Yellows of Ogi, led by Akihisa Tateyama” said Keiko.
“Are they have good players?” asked Tomoka.
“Yes, it is, Tomoka-san. Team Hiyama of Tosu is led by the captain of the Tosu Commercial High School, Yatsunori Ohara. They also have four members being good players and their names are Yosei Aiso, Motoyasu Kichise, Motoyuki Ogata and Kenichi Toyoshima” said Keiko.
“I never expect to see those members coming around to play hard, Keiko-san. They’re very good in using their shooting manifestations, but they have lack of interior defense” said Tomoka.
“That’s right, Tomoka-san. Kazuhiro had bested the five players without wasting his stamina. He should be on a good shape when he made the moves against them” said Keiko.
“That was fantastic for him! I’m sure that he’s going to take over the court when his teammates need him to storm out to rally” said Tomoka.
“Yeah, that’s true, Tomoka-san. Their next opponents will be from Kagoshima, the Taniyama United Roses, led by Tsuyoshi Matsushita. Tsuyoshi is also the leader of the Bravehearts of Kagoshima and the captain of the Suzumida Gakuen High School, a private high school that was part of the Suzumida School System” said Keiko.
“Well, that would be an interesting match for Kazuhiro to battle against a Braveheart from Kagoshima. Are the Taniyama United Roses have produced players?” said Tomoka.
“Yes, they have. As a matter of fact, Tsuyoshi’s teammates are the same as Kazuhiro’s teammates based on their size and strength, but the main difference is that Tsuyoshi’s have their own formation, which is the Sagan Suzumida Triangle. It is a formation that allows the players to work on athletic players that can get steals and fast breaks while putting their stamina to be in stable mode” said Keiko.
“I think that their formation was basically the same as the one in the Den-en-chōfu High School. It looks like they have been focused on the inside while catching shots with their force” said Tomoka.
“You got it!” said Keiko.
“So, Keiko-san, if I want to let you know, how did you start making friends with those from your own group? It will be better to make it resembled to my group” said Tomoka.
“Uh, I believe that I have started making friends to those who are in my neighborhood in Chihaya. That’s where Miyuki Matsuzaki was born there alongside Katsuko Yoda. We used to live together while Kazuhiro was playing for Kashii Gakuen in middle school. If I remember correctly, Mika told me that in Kashii and Chihaya, they have large population of red-haired residents. Although my hair is partly reddish, my friends have different hair colors, especially the blue-haired friends of mine” said Keiko.
“So, why you named your group, the Stormred Higabana?” asked Tomoka.
“Good question, Tomoka-san. You see, before I formed that group, I saw higabanas or spider lilies in the gardens of Kashii. I never touched those when I was a little girl. Now that I remembered that those spider lilies are beautiful, I decided to name my group, the Stormred Higabana. Stormred comes from the storm and red, which is based on why my friends have sported their hair colors red or blue. Then, higabana comes from a flower. The big thing is that the Stormred Higabana had been associated with my family and Miyuki’s family because we were living in the same street” said Keiko.
“I believe that you have adapted your own name to make it shine, Keiko-san. I would say that you have adapted your own set of friends in your childhood” said Tomoka.
“Well, there are still my friends, Tomoka-san, and I’m currently a first year middle school student” said Keiko.
“Oh, okay. I believe that you are in the same year as mine” said Tomoka.
“That’s right, Tomoka-san. Since we’re in first year middle school, this is just the beginning of a new journey for us, but hopefully, we should be ready to face new challenges in our careers” said Keiko.
“Yeah, Keiko-san!” said Tomoka. “What are the other things you have gotten along with your friends from your own group?”
“We’re the first group to create an extended group right after Kazuhiro had created the Bravehearts of Fukuoka. Because Kazuhiro was my first close friend, I decided to adopt my own circle. That’s why the Stormred Higabana had been partnered with different groups in both Kashii and Chihaya. So, the leaders and I have formed the Chihashii Valor Reds, a network of groups that were based in both Kashii and Chihaya” said Keiko.
“That’s a nice name of your extended group, Keiko-san! I never expect that you have a lot of yours just like Kazuhiro-san!” said Tomoka.
“Yeah, Tomoka-san! Most of the teams in our network have competed for both Kashii Invitationals and Chihaya Invitationals where we were able to control both tournaments with the help of Kazuhiro’s friends from Chihaya” said Keiko.
“Well, not only Kazuhiro had been friends of you and your teammates, but he had been friends to those who were compatible with each other” said Tomoka.
“You got that right!” said Keiko.
“So, what I’m going to say is that you have been connected with your neighbors in your hometown” said Tomoka.
“You got it! While Kazuhiro was born near the border of Higashi and Hakata, I was born in Chihaya. Which means, my group had been the home of my friends, which was very coincidental that you have your group, the Family of Angels” said Keiko.
“Yeah, Keiko-san! With the expansion of our Bravehearts, we’ll be planning to add new members while welcoming new groups that would boost our reputation to bring more blessings in our community. What about your Bravehearts in Fukuoka?” said Tomoka.
“Ever since my school had won the National Middle School Boys’ Basketball Championship two years ago, the Bravehearts of Fukuoka had a lot of connections based on our hometown. Kazuhiro and I were able to have our friends form their own group of friends before making an extended group just like mine” said Keiko.
“Wow! I believe that being the first ‘braveheart’ group in the country wasn’t meant to be stronger, but the bonds of friendship continue to grow altogether” said Tomoka.
“Yeah, I agree, Tomoka-san. That’s why the Bravehearts of Fukuoka will continue to be together and hopefully, we will work together like the storm shines above the sea” said Keiko.
“Well, I like that idiom of your group. It feels like your group had been popular recently, thanks to that development of your group by expanding your circle of friends” said Tomoka.
“You bet!” said Keiko. “By the way, tomorrow, while our friends are busy for the Blue Wind Cup, we should battle with each other. Just like I promised to you last time?”
“Oh, yeah! It will be a great pleasure to have a match against me, Keiko-san! I’m ready whatever you are!” said Tomoka.
“Yeah, Tomoka-san! A battle of girly bravehearts would be great to start off a new season!” said Keiko.
“That’s right, Keiko-san! So, get ready to see who the best girly braveheart is!” said Tomoka.
“Okay, I’ll be glad to” said Keiko.
Later, Kōme, who is still wearing her miko that was used for the general assembly, arrives from her room, smiling on her face, to meet both Tomoka and Keiko.
“Oh! I see what you are sharing about, Tomoka and Keiko. It seems that you have talked about the Blue Wind Cup” said Kōme.
“Yep, Kōme-san. Keiko and I were talking about what happened in the Blue Wind Cup where Kazuhiro and his team have won their match to advance to the quarterfinals. Kazuhiro had been shining his way to the court just like Subaru did and Keiko had impressed him when she watched his moves” said Tomoka.
“That’s right, Tomoka-san. Right now, his team will battle against Tsuyoshi Matsushita and the Taniyama United Roses. Tsuyoshi is a second year high school student just like Kazuhiro and Subaru and he’s also the leader of the Bravehearts of Kagoshima” said Keiko.
“So, wait, that Matsushita guy is the leader of a different ‘braveheart’ group?” asked Kōme.
“Yeah, Kōme-san. He came from Kagoshima, which is a far away place from my home. It will take the whole day to get there. Also, aside from him, the Bravehearts of Kagoshima had Saki Akao, a first year middle school student, studying in the Suzumida Gakuen Middle School” said Keiko.
“I don’t know if she has relations on you, Keiko-san. I heard that she had a relative in your hometown” said Kōme.
“Ah, yes. My friend Yūsei Maeno is the relative of Saki. Yūsei had been the leader of the Rosefernos, a group based in Chihaya” said Keiko.
“Is he basketball player too?” asked Tomoka.
“Yes, he was, Tomoka-san. He is studying in Tatara Chuo Middle School and joined their basketball team. I believe that he had worked hard to be a basketball player while helping his groupmates to improve their academics to have high grades” said Keiko.
“I would be delighted if we can have a relative of one of our friends to be part of our organization, but of course, we have one from the Fuchsia and Blue Soul. Their leader Katsuhito Taniguchi is the cousin of Ryōtarō Makihara” said Kōme.
“Yeah, Kōme-san! Katsuhito lived in Nishina after he finished middle school in Fukuoka. When he transferred to Nishina, he started to create his own group that focused on supporting the lifestyle of the people of the Ōta that were coming from Fukuoka” said Tomoka.
“Ah, yes, he’s such a good friend of Kazuhiro. If I remember correctly, Ryōtarō is currently a second year high school student, which means that he and Katsuhito were on the same level at the same time” said Keiko.
“That’s right, Keiko-san. I’m sure that there might be some bloodlines related to those from Fukuoka, which may be interesting to see ever since Ginga worked in Fukuoka for his research” said Tomoka.
“Well, that would be more interested to see something new about this, but I hope that there might be more information about when my groupmates will about to start their activities in our group soon” said Kōme.
“Yeah!” said Tomoka and Keiko.
“Oh, by the way, I had a question. What does the teams in the Blue Wind Cup would be like?” said Kōme.
“It’s composed of the best high school basketball teams in every city in Kyushu battling with each other. They represent their players who have been part of the team, but some teams have fielded some extra players such as those from their ‘braveheart’ groups they originated” said Keiko.
“I’m sure that they’re going to meet with us very soon once they’re going to be here for the summer” said Kōme.
“Yeah, I agree, Kōme-san. Hopefully, we’ll see if it goes, but I believe that it will be a speculation for a while” said Keiko.
“Just like what the meeting between the Bravehearts of Ōta and the Bravehearts of Nagoya, we’ll be waiting until it’s going to be announced very soon” said Tomoka.
“Yeah, I believe so, Tomoka” said Kōme before she smiles to both Tomoka and Keiko. “So, Tomoka and Keiko, I think that we should go to bed now.”
“Yeah!” said Tomoka and Keiko.
“I’m so excited about tomorrow, Tomoka-san! It’s great that the activities are doing great right now” said Keiko.
“Yep. Tomorrow will be the last day of the festivities and hopefully, we’ll be able to continue to give blessings to the community” said Tomoka.
“And also, let’s make the last day of the festivity more angelic!” said Kōme.
“You got it!” said Tomoka and Keiko.
The next day, at the Outdoor Basketball Court #6, the Bravehearts of Ōta and Fukuoka are present as Tomoka and her teammates would battle against Keiko’s team in a practice match. The montage shows Tomoka and Keiko battling against each other. Tomoka would shine her way with her acceleration drive to increase her chance of shooting easy layups. On the other hand, Keiko had been playing like a storm as she was able to gain her pressure to do crossover moves against Tomoka and perform driving layups.
When Tomoka is on defense, Keiko performs the crossover move on Tomoka. Keiko had performed the Perfect Blue Storm, a special move that allows Keiko to create patterns while dribbling the ball.
“You think that I’m going to get easy on you, Tomoka-san?” asked Keiko.
“Well, you asked for it, Keiko-san. We battled against each other with our moves and then, you think that you’re going to get easy on me? I think that I will watch out for your move” said Tomoka.
“Wow. That sounds like you’re determined, Tomoka-san. Observing me when I’m battling you means that I’m so excited that I will make my moves against you” said Keiko.
“Then, go ahead” said Tomoka.
“Sure!” said Keiko as she gives her way to perform her special move, the Perfect Blue Stor, as she goes for the crossover move on Tomoka. Then, Keiko steps back before driving past Tomoka with the Resurrecting Higabana Drive.
“Wow! You’re so good!” said Tomoka while seeing Keiko’s blue aura.
“Yeah, Tomoka-san! I got my moves to shine over you!” said Keiko before shooting the ball with the Blue Crescent Layup, a variant of a driving layup. The layup was good, gives two points for Keiko’s team.
“Well, I haven’t seen that move before, Keiko-san, but we’ll see if my Shine Gift has the better move against your move” said Tomoka.
“Okay, then, I’ll be looking forward to it!” said Keiko.
“Okay!” said Tomoka.
Later, Maho passes the ball to Tomoka with the Spark Light Pass. “Mokkan! Go!”
Tomoka grabs the ball with her right hand before battling against Keiko. Tomoka goes for the crossover move against Keiko. Tomoka’s pattern is looked like a camellia, which create pink auras on her feet.
“That was fast paced acceleration, Tomoka-san!” said Keiko.
“Yep! I’m firing up to make sure that I’ll be making my move!” said Tomoka. “You think that you’re going to stop me?”
“Well, of course, I am! Try not to lose your stamina while battling against me!” said Keiko.
“You got it!” said Tomoka as she goes with the spin move before doing the escape move against Keiko. Keiko tries to get back to stop Tomoka, but Tomoka performs the Sakura Drive to drive past Keiko.
“Hisako-san!” said Miwako Tanaka.
“What is it, Miwako?” asked Hisako Uehara.
“Tomoka is doing the acceleration drive against our own Keiko!” said Miwako.
“Well, I see that fact that she’s very strong with her own pattern out there” said Hisako.
“I believe that it’s the same move that Keiko did, girls!” said Miho Kumada.
“Oh, I see!” said Hisako.
“You’re not kidding, Miho-san” said Miwako.
“Of course!” said Miho.
“Tomoka has the same level as Keiko, remember?” asked Sana Kushibiki.
“Yes, she was, Sana! If Kazuhiro’s equivalent is Subaru, then Keiko’s equivalent would be Tomoka. That’s why both Keiko and Tomoka have the position captains from last year when we’re in the sixth grade” said Hisako.
“Yep. I’m happy to have Tomoka and her friends battling against us to see who the best team is!” said Sana.
“You got that right, Sana-san! This practice match made me excited to prepare for the future matches for our team, but hopefully, it will boost our attributes and tendencies when we finished the game. Don’t we agree?” said Miho.
“Yeah!” said Hisako, Sana and Miwako.
After driving past Keiko, Tomoka would go to the paint to shoot the ball with the Shiny Gift and the ball drives to the basket.
“Alright! Nice shot, Tomoka-san!” said Maho.
“You proved her that you have a good shot!” said Saki.
“That was an amazing move that you battled against Keiko-san! The Sakura Drive doesn’t stop you from moving in different directions in the court” said Airi.
“Oh! What a nice combination of the Sakura Drive and the Shiny Gift!” said Hinata.
“Thanks, girls! It’s great to have my moves being improved, thanks to my performance at the Fuchsia and Celadon Dragons Tournament. Now, I can continue to shine myself to score more points” said Tomoka.
“Yeah!” said Maho, Saki, Airi and Hinata.
“Well, you are a good shooter, Tomoka-san. I really like your playing style too! I think that you are an all-around shooter” said Keiko.
“That’s right, Keiko-san! As I had done this before in our first year in our elementary school girls’ basketball team, I had been a good shooter in the inside, which makes me motivate to do some special moves” said Tomoka.
“I agree, Tomoka-san. Now that we have shown our moves, then let’s see who will walk away with the win at the end of the match” said Keiko.
“Of course, Keiko-san!” said Tomoka.
The practice match between Team Minato and Team Kakuma-Nakano had been continued with different members from both teams battling against each other to determine who the best group is. Tomoka and Keiko have clashed with each other in between the inside and the outside area where they have performed their moves, which becomes shinier than the other players. Tomoka shoots the floater after doing the spin move against Keiko and then, Keiko performs the fake on Tomoka before shooting the ball with the jump shot in the post.
In the closing minutes of the match, Tomoka and Keiko would battle once again. Keiko tries to drive past Tomoka with the Perfect Blue Storm after doing her own pattern. Tomoka would go on defense with her special move, the Sakura Bloom Defender.
“Going to shoot that ball, Keiko-san? I don’t think so” said Tomoka.
“Oh, really. Now, I’ll try my best to stop you now, Tomoka-san!” said Keiko.
“You’re tougher just what I’m expected, but we’ll see about that, Keiko-san!” said Tomoka as she keeps her resiliency in trying to stop Keiko. Keiko goes with the stepback spin move to get away from Tomoka and tries to shoot the ball with the fadeaway version of the Blue Crescent Shot.
“There’s no way you can stop my shot, Tomoka-san!” said Keiko.
Tomoka would go for the shot contest with her left hand while jumping from the court. “Oh no, you don’t! You don’t have one!”
The ball would bounce off from the backboard hoop before Keiko gasps in horror as he shot was missed. “No way! I missed my shot!”
Tomoka smiles on her face to Keiko, who is surprised about her shot being missed. “Told you that I’m good with my defense!”
“Well, not bad at all, Tomoka-san! I like that strategic move!” said Keiko, even she’s not angry at Tomoka for missing her shot earlier.
Airi grabs the ball with the Prismatic Hustler. “I got that ball, Tomoka-san!”
“Now, it’s time to finish the match!” said Tomoka while she and Keiko are about to run for the final possession.
“You got it, Tomoka-chan!” said Airi as she passes the ball to Tomoka with the Butterfly Pass.
The final possession would be contested as Tomoka tries to finish the match with her last shot. So, Tomoka would pass first to Hinata, who would perform the Pink Charm Rush against Miwako.
Hinata goes for the spin move to get away from Miwako before passing the ball to Saki. “Oh! Saki-chan! Catch!”
Saki grabs the ball with her left hand before doing the Blue Ray Accelerator to boost her dribbling moves. When she battled against Hisako, Saki performs the crossover move before switching it to behind the back move.
“Wow! Saki had a nice combination move when she’s possessing that ball” said Sana.
“Yeah, Sana-chan! Saki was a good shooter and she can do whatever she wants to make us blessed” said Airi.
“Well, I hope that she’s going to be a contributor when she’s stepping up into the court with you and your fellow teammates in Keishin. I want to see her if I want to” said Sana.
“Yeah!” said Airi.
Hisako tries to stop Saki with her defense, which worked well, preventing Saki to shoot the ball. Saki looks at Tomoka, who was in the perimeter.
“There’s no way you can shoot or pass, Saki! I’m a lockdown defender!” said Hisako.
“Nice try, Hisako, but I don’t want to let my team lose!” said Saki as she passes the ball to Tomoka with the Ice Bliss Pass. “Now, Tomoka!”
“You got it!” said Tomoka while smiling on her face. Then, Tomoka clashes against Keiko one more time. Keiko tries to stop Tomoka, who had performed the between the legs move.
“In a few seconds, you’ll not gonna win!” said Keiko.
“Oh, yeah? I will make sure that I will stop the storm now, Keiko-san!” said Tomoka as she does the Sakura Drive, driving past Keiko quickly.
“Wow! That was too good! I can’t stop her!” said Keiko.
“The last shot would belong to me, Keiko-san, because I’m gonna shine my way to score!” said Tomoka as she would shoot the ball with the Shiny Gift and the ball drives to the basket. Nami blows her whistle, signaling the match would be over.
“Game over! Team Minato wins the match!” said Nami while the scoreboard was displayed with the final score, 47-45, in favor of Team Minato.
“We did it, Tomoka-san! You made the last shot!” said Maho.
“Oh! That was a great finish, Tomoka-san! You have showed Keiko who the best girly braveheart is!” said Hinata.
“Yep! It wasn’t easy to battle Keiko-san, but Keiko was very good with her defense. She had been a great player with her acceleration and intelligence being her best attributes” said Tomoka.
“That’s true, Tomoka. I’m glad that we have won this practice match against the girls from Fukuoka, but I believe that we’re getting better right now with our performance” said Saki.
“Which means that we’re good enough to show our willpower to dominate!” said Airi.
“Yeah, that’s right, Airi-san!” said Tomoka while giving her teammates a smile. “We worked together as one group of bravehearts! Right, girls?”
“Yeah!” said Maho, Saki, Airi and Hinata.
Keiko shakes hands with Tomoka as the former accepts the defeat against the latter. “I lost, Tomoka-san, but I’m feeling happy that I had battled you.”
“Yeah, Keiko-san. It’s great that we have battled against each other for the first time, unlike the other bravehearts did in the west” said Tomoka.
“Of course, Tomoka-san! When the first ‘braveheart’ groups being formed after the victory of Kazuhiro’s team in the National Middle School Boys’ Basketball Championship, they finally battle against each other in a friendly tournament, which was held last year. However, there are no ‘braveheart’ groups being formed outside the western and southern parts of our country like in Tokyo, Nagoya, Saitama and Maebashi” said Keiko.
“Yeah, I agree! Now that we have the Bravehearts of Ōta and the Bravehearts of Nagoya, I don’t know if there’ll be another friendly tournament with a lot of ‘braveheart’ groups or not” said Tomoka.
“Me neither, Tomoka-san. I don’t know if Kenjirō will have plans for that since your group was formed lately” said Keiko.
“Yeah” said Tomoka.
Mimi and Mika would appear to talk with Tomoka and Keiko.
“If I remember correctly, there will be a friendly tournament that would be held for the areas that are near to our hometown” said Mimi.
“Oh, yeah! I remember that! That’s what you said in the last meeting with the Bravehearts of Nagoya” said Tomoka.
“Yeah, Tomoka! I think that it will be better to keep the tradition of that friendly tournament while giving the other ‘braveheart’ groups to battle against each other in a separate set of tournaments, based on the order of formation” said Mimi.
“Also, since Fukuoka had been the first city to form a ‘braveheart’ group, the other cities that have formed in the same year may end up battling against each other including Fukuoka, of course” said Mika.
“That’s right, Mika-san. I think that it will keep the traditional friendly tournament for the first ‘braveheart’ groups while the ‘braveheart’ groups that were formed outside of it will be have their own, based on the order of formation and the geographical representation. It will be better to make the best summer friendly tournament ever once it’s going to be held again” said Keiko.
“Yeah, I agree, Keiko! I’m sure that Kazuhiro and his boys will play once again. They have won the first tournament last year, which boost their chances to keep their title this year” said Mika.
“Yes, they will, Mika-san! I’m sure that we’re going to watch out on that tournament too!” said Keiko.
“Of course!” said Mika before she speaks to her fellow groupmates. “Right, team?”
“Yeah!” said the members of Team Kakuma-Nakano.
Tomoka smiles to the members of Team Kakuma-Nakano while saying to them. “I hope that we’ll be having another round of friendly matches against your team again, but hopefully, we’ll try our best to improve ourselves to make sure that we’re able to dominate.”
“Yeah, we will, Tomoka!” said the members of Team Kakuma-Nakano.
Tomoka speaks to her fellow groupmates from her own group, Team Minato. “That means, you’ll do the same thing to make sure that we’ll become stronger this time.”
“You got it!” said the members of Team Minato.
Part 2 will be on the next post.
