The Shadow Manager: The Girl Who Controls Shohoku Basketball Club - The Manager Who Rises from a Sea of Flames

The rain was still pouring down in sheets. I, Inoue Ayako, passed through the rooftop door as if being pulled along by Sakuragi Hanamichi's large hand. The sensation of the cold, rain-soaked concrete still lingered on the soles of my shoes. With every step down the stairs, Hanamichi's back seemed to blur before my eyes. *(Until just a moment ago, I was crying.)* On the rooftop, alone, hugging my knees. The notebook I'd kept to protect the team had fallen into enemy hands. Ryota was sharing a past I knew nothing about with that woman. My entire reason for existing had been blown away somewhere. That's what I'd thought. And yet. " Ayako-san, if you're wobbling around like that, you're gonna fall down the stairs." Hanamichi said it bluntly, still facing forward. " ...I'm fine." My voice trembled. I could tell myself that my tears still hadn't dried, and it was deeply embarrassing. We descended the stairs and emerged into the school's connecting corridor. The sound of the rain grew a little more distant. The white light of the fluorescent lamps stung my eyes terribly. " ...Hanamichi. Why did you come up there?" I asked the question to his back. Hanamichi stopped dead in his tracks. The face that turned back wasn't wearing his usual stupid grin. It was an intensely serious face. " I told you before. I know. That I was always watching from the shadows when Ayako-san was working alone in the gym late at night." My eyes widened. " The time I wiped out spectacularly doing a dribble, the time I was making pathetic noises all alone 'cause my jammed finger hurt, the night I yelled that I'd beaten that damn fox — all of it." Hanamichi thumped his own chest with his fist. " It's all written in your notebook, right? How many times this genius cried, how many times I laughed, how many times I slammed a dunk. All of it's a record of me that only Ayako-san knows." Something deep in my chest tightened sharply. *(This guy... he's been watching me that closely.)* I'd always thought he was just an idiot, loud and obnoxious, making a racket by proclaiming himself a genius. But maybe, more than anyone, he truly sees people. " That Ryonan woman's data is just a bunch of numbers, isn't it! My feelings aren't written on that scrap of paper! But they *are* written in Ayako-san's notebook! That's why it's tens of thousands of times more amazing than that crap!" After shouting that, Hanamichi rubbed under his nose, looking a little embarrassed. " So, stop crying. When you cry, somehow... I get down too." " ...Hanamichi." The tears overflowed again. They weren't tears of despair. There was a warmth I'd never felt before — the realization that even someone like me could properly be at the center of someone's world. For a while, I cried without making a sound. Hanamichi said nothing. He just used the hem of his own jersey to clumsily wipe my face. It was rough, and smelled a little of sweat. But it was far warmer than the rain. ********* Before I knew it, we were in the gymnasium. The smell of the flooring, damp from the rain. Only the silence after lights-out spread around us; the sound of bouncing basketballs was gone. Hanamichi opened the door to the equipment room and gently pushed me inside. " Take your time. I'll be outside the door." " Hanamichi...?" " There are probably times when Ayako-san is better off alone, right? At times like that, I've decided I won't get in the way." He let out a small "heh heh" laugh and closed the door. Hanamichi's footsteps moved a little away, followed by the sound of him plopping down heavily on the spot. It seemed he really intended to wait there. I stood alone inside the equipment room. On the steel shelves were the mountains of notebooks I'd filled over three years. Each player's condition, practice menus, individual quirks, emotional ups and downs, small successes and failures. Until yesterday, I'd been afraid to look at these. Because I'd thought they were just a list of weaknesses that had fallen into enemy hands. But now, it was different. I took one volume from the shelf. On the cover, scrawled in rough writing: "Sakuragi Hanamichi - Basic Training Record." I opened the page. *'July 2nd: Right-hand dribble, 9 failures out of 10 attempts. Gets angry the ball won't stick to his hand and kicks the wall.'* *'July 3rd: 8 failures out of 10. Seems to be consoling himself that it's better than yesterday. Good boy.'* *'July 14th: First time 10 consecutive successes. Shouts on the spot with joy; too loud, so I get angry at him.'* In the margin of the page, there was even a doodle of Hanamichi's delighted face. I laughed. So naturally it surprised even me. *(That's right. My notebook even has things like this written in it.)* *'Mitsui-senpai: Tires easily. But absolutely never shows his tired face. His shooting success rate dropping in the second half might be a matter of pride, not stamina.'* *'Miyagi Ryota: Concerns about his left ankle. However, absolutely refuses to leave the game using that as a reason. A show of bravado.'* *'Rukawa Kaede: Only looks like he isn't thinking about anything. Probably just has no interest in things other than basketball.'* I opened one notebook after another. What was written there wasn't just physical data. *At that time, he had this expression.* *He said something like this and laughed.* *He failed, got this depressed, but the next day he was perfectly fine again.* This wasn't data. This was the very way of life of the Shohoku Basketball Club. " ...That woman doesn't understand this." I murmured. Shirakawa Kanade's analytical data. A flawless, perfect array of numbers. It was packed only with things like today's body temperature, shooting percentages, and the information necessary for what she called "efficient management." There was no emotion in it. Why a player made a mistake today. How much they were hurt, or how much they were saved, by a single word from someone. Such things were surely not written anywhere in her data. Numbers alone don't move people. It's when they feel someone is watching them, when they wish to meet someone's expectations, that people can surpass their own limits for the first time. " ...My notebook has that." Something hot welled up from deep in my chest. This wasn't despair. It was the signal fire of a counterattack. ********* After school the next day. I gathered the players in the gymnasium. Captain Akagi, Mitsui-senpai, Miyagi Ryota, Rukawa, and Hanamichi. " I'm going to tell you all the strategy." I spread the binder in my hands out on the court floor. " First, Hanamichi. You're the most important." " Alright! It's the genius's time to shine!" " No. Your role is to be the 'decoy.'" "Whaaat!?" Hanamichi's voice echoed through the gym. " There's a high probability Shirakawa Kanade has sent a spy into our team. So you're going to deliberately make the opponent think you're 'a complete amateur who still can't even dribble properly.'" " W-why do I gotta do something so embarrassing! Don't mess with a genius!" " With your simple acting skills, you'll absolutely never be found out. This is something only you can do." When I said it with a straight face, Hanamichi looked blank for a moment. " ...Simple acting skills... is that praising a genius, or what?" " I'm praising you. You're my secret weapon." "...Alright! Then leave it to me! I'll show you a genius's serious, crappy acting!" Hanamichi, though not quite understanding, seemed to have gotten motivated. Good. " Mitsui-senpai. For you, the game is decided in the second half." I said, pointing at my notebook. " The opponent will likely target your stamina running out from the first half. So don't push yourself running unnecessarily in the first half, and explode at the crucial moment in the second half." " Heh, you've gotten pretty good at handling me, haven't you, Ayako? Fine by me, that gets me more fired up." Mitsui-senpai laughed, looking amused. " Ryota. You're the team's field general. Create combinations on the court that aren't in that woman's data." " Yeah, leave it to me. I'll definitely bring this strategy Ayako-san created to life." Ryota's eyes looked straight at me. " Rukawa, same as always. Just score more points than usual." " ...Understood." He said just that and was already starting a light warm-up. As unfriendly as ever, but that was fine for now. " Listen, okay? Our data has been completely read by the enemy. That's exactly why we go 'beyond' that data. Not with our heads, but with our hearts." ********* Practice ended, and the gymnasium was empty. As I was cleaning up alone, a voice came from behind me. " Ayako-san, can we talk for a minute?" It was Ryota. He wore an uncharacteristically serious expression. " ...Sure. What is it?" " Let's change locations. Let's go to the rooftop. The rooftop." We went together, heading for the rooftop. The rain had completely stopped, and the orange light of the evening sun illuminated the wet concrete. A wind carrying the scent of the tide blew in from the direction of the sea. The ground was still wet, but Ryota leaned against the fence and gazed at the distant scenery. " You know, back in middle school, I was on the same team as Kanade." I nodded silently. " She was an amazing manager. With her data analysis, my shooting percentage went way up, and she saw through all the weaknesses of the opposing teams. But, gradually, the team started getting weird." Ryota gripped the fence tightly. " She tried to move the players exactly according to the data. Any clumsy play was considered entirely bad. She said guys who were inefficient couldn't be used, and the players got more and more timid. In the end, everyone split up after a fight. Basketball that I couldn't find fun anymore was just a job." Ryota's voice trembled faintly. " But Ayako-san is different. You don't see us as just numbers. With this team you've built, I'm able to purely enjoy basketball again. I'm way stronger now than I was back then." He turned around and looked straight at me. " That's why I want to fight using Ayako-san's methods. Believe in me." My heart leaped. *(Ryota was suffering all this time too.)* Out of jealousy, I couldn't forgive his past with that woman. But for Ryota, that too was a wound he didn't want to remember. " ...I do believe in you." I made the best smile I could. " You're the man I wanted to be captain. Do things the way you want to. Because I'll draw the map for that." " Ayako-san..." Ryota smiled, looking a little embarrassed, but incredibly happy. A manager, and a player she should trust. For us now, that relationship felt the most natural. I felt the dregs of jealousy that had been nesting in my heart transform into a transparent crystal called trust. ********* That night. I stopped my work and glanced outside. From the small window of the equipment room, I could see the gymnasium court. The lights-out time had long passed, but the lights were still on. There, two figures. Ryota and Akagi Haruko. Haruko, looking a little shy, was holding out a water bottle to Ryota. Her cheeks were flushed, and her large ribbon swayed happily. " Miyagi-senpai, please definitely win tomorrow's match! This is a special drink I made!" I couldn't hear her voice, but I could tell from the movement of her lips that she was saying that. Ryota took it, scratching his head as if troubled. " O-oh... Thanks, Haruko. Sorry for the trouble." I stared intently at that scene. A sharp pang ran through my chest. Even though just a moment ago, I'd decided to overcome my jealousy and trust him. But this was no longer a matter of logic. I quietly looked down at the notebook in my hand. And then, in its margin, I coolly wrote down: *'Haruko → Ryota. Possibility of romantic interest. Requires observation.'* The tip of my pen trembled just a little.

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Episode 6

Name: The Shadow Manager: The Girl Who Controls Shohoku Basketball Club
Author: Novelia

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