Training Camp Arc; Begins
Training Camp Arc; Begins
-*-*-*-*-*-
A/N 2: The participants in the Training Camp are all from taken from different sports animes, and have their names and country of origin changed.
You can look for their information in the Auxilary Chapter titled, Training Camp.
I have no bias for any country, as my country doesn't have a representation in this camp.
The players that I gave to the countries don't represent their level of basketball, and this is a work of pure fiction. I have no intention of comparing countries and their talent as I write this fanfiction.
Thank you.]
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
After ten and a half hours later, the flight landed in LAX at 5:30 am. The time difference between Tokyo and Los Angeles was a total of sixteen hours with Japan ahead of Los Angeles.
Shun looked at Hattori as they boarded a taxi from the airport.
Shun: "So, where is the training facility?"
Hattori looked at his young charge and answered the question.
Hattori: "UCLA is providing its facilities for the training camp. You guys would be training in their gyms and staying in the dorms."
University of California, Los Angeles, was a hotspot college athletics. The university was a part of a collegiate athletic conference that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level.
The conference was named Pac-12. The Pac-12 was primarily conference famous for its American Football teams, but they also had good basketball teams.
UCLA has won eleven national titles in basketball, the most of any Division I team.
Shun was excited to see college sports facilities.
In America, college sports were an influential thing. For college administrations, sports programs were a significant business opportunity.
So, the colleges put a lot of money into their facilities to get high returns.
Because it was early morning in Los Angeles, Shun and Hattori were able to reach UCLA campus quite early and avoided the LA traffic.
They reached the campus, and one of the university staff members escorted Shun to his room.
The dorm room was for accommodating two people. The room had two beds, bedside tables, closets, study tables.
The university staff gave Shun two keys and spoke to him.
Staff: "As you can see from the layout of the room, you will have a roommate staying with you.
The keys I handed to you are the keys to the door of the room and the closet. Please, keep them safe."
Shun choose a bed and put his suitcase and backpack into the closet.
He called home and informed his parents that he had reached the dorms.
Shun hadn't slept at home because of excitement for the training camp, and he wasn't able to sleep on the plane, so Shun hit the pillow top immediately and slept till noon.
Shun didn't get up on his own. He was woken up by a stranger.
Shun opened his eyes and saw a black-haired person with Asian ethnicity.
Shun sat up in his bed and looked at the person in front of him.
The person looked at Shun and extended his hand for a handshake.
???: "Hey, my name is Lin Ming. I am from China, and we will be roommates for the duration of the camp."
Shun grabbed the extended hand and introduced himself.
Shun: "Hi, my name is Kageyama Shun. I am from Japan. Let's get along.
And, you can call me Shun, I think using family names here in the west will confuse others."
Lin Ming smiled and nodded.
Lin Ming: "Alright, then you can call me Ming. It's nice to meet you, Shun."
Shun rubbed his eyes and asked.
Shun: "What time is it?"
Lin looked at his wristwatch that he had corrected to match the current time zone.
Lin: "It's noon. So, when did you get here?"
Shun stretched his up and replied.
Shun: "Around six in the morning."
Shun got up and opened his closet and pulled out his suitcase.
He looked at Ming and asked.
Shun: "I will go take a shower. Is that fine with you?"
Ming gave him a nod and spoke.
Ming: "Sure, go ahead."
Shun took out some of his clothes and toiletries and headed to the bathroom to freshen up.
-*-*-*-*-*-*-
After Shun, Ming went to have a shower, and when he came out, Shun spoke to him.
Shun: "Hey, let's go eat something. I just got a call, and the cafeteria is open for lunch."
-*-*-*-*-*-*-
Shun and Ming were walking to the cafeteria when Ming asked.
Ming: "Shun, if you don't mind me asking, how old are you? You look young."
Shun looked at Ming and replied.
Shun: "I don't mind. I am thirteen years old, but I will turn fourteen in August. How old are you?"
Ming was shocked when he heard that, and couldn't help but ask.
Ming: "Eh, isn't the camp for sixteen and above? How did you get in?"
Shun shrugged his shoulders and answered.
Shun: "My school coach submitted some of my clips to his friend in FIBA, and they ended up making up and exception."
Ming looked at Shun with impressed eyes and said.
Ming: "That is amazing. Oh, to answer your question, I am eighteen years old. So, did you come here all by yourself?"
Shun shook his head and said.
Shun: "FIBA assigned me a chaperone. The call that I told you about that was from him. So, did you come alone?"
Ming nodded and responded.
Ming: "Yeah. I think all the guys in this camp came here alone."
Both of them reached the dorm cafeteria. FIBA had booked the entire dorm building for the invitees, and the cafeteria was also for FIBA use only.
Shun and Ming loaded their plates with food and looked for a table to sit.
Shun scanned the cafeteria and saw that there were not many players in the cafeteria yet. He saw a four-person table with a player eating alone.
Shun pointed at the table and said to Ming.
Shun: "Let's sit there."
Ming looked at the table and saw a player with a close-cropped hair cut with a clear design cut completely out.
All in all, it was an intense hairstyle.
Ming looked at Shun and asked.
Ming: "That dude looks intense. Are you sure you want to sit with him?"
Shun smiled and replied.
Shun: "Looks doesn't matter. I want to meet new people, and if he doesn't want to sit with us, we can always sit at an empty table. Come on, let's go ask, there is no harm in asking."
Without waiting for a reply, Shun walked towards the table. Ming followed Shun with a wry smile.
Ming: *Sigh* "...Young kids."
Shun stood near the table and asked the person.
Shun: "Hey, can we sit here?"