Hikoichi Aida's Inferiority Complex (1)

Inside the Basketball Gym, cheers rose and fell, the squeak of sneakers against the floor and the thump of basketballs striking the rim weaving together into Ryonan's uniquely fiery rhythm.

Xiangtian Yanyi stood in a corner with a stack of clean towels in her arms, watching her teammates repeatedly practice their tactics under Chi Tong's lead.

Yu Zhu battled for position beneath the basket again and again, the muscles in his arms pulled tight.

Fukuda Kiccho drove forward with the ball, swift as a cheetah. Even Sendoh, who was usually somewhat laid-back, seriously worked with his teammates to pass the ball, his eyes filled with focus.

The corners of Xiangtian Yanyi's lips rose unconsciously, her heart full of pride.

This was the Ryonan she belonged to, a powerful team that had defeated Hainan and was about to compete in the National Tournament.

She was proud of her teammates' strength, and grateful to be part of this team.

But that pride did not last long before it was replaced by an indescribable bitterness. She lowered her head to look at her hands, then quietly compared her height to that of the players on the court.

At 165 centimeters, she was especially inconspicuous in a basketball club whose average height exceeded 180 centimeters.

In ball handling, she could not match Uekusa Tomoyuki. In defense, she could not compete with Tsukino Hiroaki. In offense, she could not compare to Fukuda Kicchou, let alone Yu Zhu, Sendoh, and Chi Tong, the team's three core pillars.

Even in basic shooting percentage, she could only rank near the bottom of the team.

Whenever they split into groups for practice, she was always picked last. Even when she occasionally got a chance to play as a substitute, she could only run a few laps around the court