"The Ball and the Basket" is the nineteenth chapter in Ahiru no Sora.
Chapter Summary
Momoharu and Yoshino at the Nurse's Office
While going for a layup in the school's gym, Kenji knocks down one of the Kuzuryu High girls' team members. The name of the injured team member is Yoshino, and she is a sophomore at Kuzuryu High. At the nurse's office, Yoshino, accompanied by her teammate, and Momoharu get checked for her head injury. The nurse informs it is just a light traumatic brain injury with some bruises on the face and nothing serious. Momoharu is relieved to hear that and apologizes to them on behalf of Kenji.
Meanwhile, in the locker room, Sora is furious at Kenji's behavior and tells his teammates he hates individuals who don't listen to other people's opinions and gets into unnecessary fights. Sora further explained if Kenji joined, their teams' discipline would be disturbed. Sora then finds a bruised basketball in their locker room. Yasuhara informs Sora that it belongs to Kenji. Nabe tells Sora to throw that ball away because it reminds him of Natsume.
Later at the outside schools' basketball court, Kenji, in the dark, tries to find his lost basketball. Sora sees Natsume and returns the basketball to him. Kurumatani informs him that the basketball leather has worn out, and later Sora tries to invite Natsume to join their team. Upon hearing that, Kenji punches Sora in the face. Kurumatani doesn't fight back and responds that it didn't hurt, and he doesn't mind being hit several times. Sora then requests Natsume to apologize to Yasuhara and the Kuzuryu High girls' team members. Kenji informs Sora that he hates being around people in general, and his basketball only needs him, the ball, and the basket.
Madoka slaps Natsume for his rude behaviour
The next day in the locker room, Nabe informs Momoharu that if Hanazono had been strict with Kenji in the first place, the incident at the basketball court would not have happened. Sora tells Nabe that he believes Kenji is a good person, and through his talent and skill, their basketball team can become better. Two of the girls' team member complains that Kenji got into another fight in the schools' gym. Sora and his teammates head towards the schools' court and see injured seniors of Kuzuryu High lying on the ground. A furious Sora questions Kenji why he keeps getting into fights and further explains that any more fighting will result in getting the basketball team disbanded.
Kenji responds to Sora that he doesn't care about the basketball teams' club status because he is not an official member of the team. Upon hearing that, Madoka also gets furious and slaps Kenji in the face. Meanwhile, the basketball club's new advisor Satsuki enters the schools' gym and sees a dispute. Momoharu is shocked to see Satsuki because he's known as a strict and disciplined teacher at their school. Upon witnessing the horrible display of violence in the school's basketball court, Satsuki announces that he is disbanding the boys' basketball team.
Characters
- Sora Kurumatani
- Momoharu Hanazono
- Yoshino
- Madoka Yabuchi
- Yasuhara Shinichi
- Ryuuhei Nabeshima
- Chiaki Hanazono
- Masahiro Saki
- Kenji Natsume
- Masayoshi Satsuki (debut)
