The commotion of the National Tournament had temporarily died down, and Teikō Junior High basked in the warm afternoon sunlight. Faint sounds of training drifted from the direction of the basketball gym, but for Momoi Satsuki, her "battlefield" had temporarily shifted to the quiet records room. The heavy curtains were half-drawn, and sunlight cut the floor into alternating bands of light and shadow. The air was thick with the scent of paper and ink. She sat before a table piled with videotapes, data sheets, and record boards, her brows faintly furrowed as her fingers absently toyed with a sharply honed pencil.
Spread out before her was the heavy record board documenting all of Teikō's core members, especially that white figure. The detailed data on their narrow victory over Snow Peak Academy in the semifinals had long since been organized, and the tactical analysis and assessment of their opponents were laid out clearly. Yet her gaze lingered on the blank space at the edge of the board, on the creases in the pages that had been torn out and carefully glued back in place—traces left when she had written down Bai Ze You's data incorrectly because her thoughts had been in turmoil.
Her thoughts had long since left the cold data behind. Akashi Seijūrō's icy declaration about the "absoluteness of victory" in the locker room lingered in her mind like a nightmare. She clearly remembered Bai Ze You's lowered head, his clenched fists, and the confusion and struggle emanating from his silent back. She remembered the suffocating pressure that descended when Akashi's emotionless red eyes swept across the court. Even more clearly, she remembered the heavy worry that had settled between Captain Nijimura's brows after Akashi left.
What happened beyond the court worried her far more than the ever-changing situation on it.
"Absolute Victory..." Momoi murmured. Her pencil unconsciously drew circles beside the name "Bai Ze You." "'Personally finish them... Give them no chance... Yū-kun..." She could not imagine that the boy who moved like a White Phantom on the court, always wearing a calm smile, and who trusted his teammates enough to pass them the ball at crucial moments, would be forced to become a merciless machine that had to "destroy" everything the instant an opportunity appeared. Was that still the Yū-kun she knew? Was that still the "phantom" that made her heart race despite herself?
Her mind uncontrollably replayed every little detail about Bai Ze You:
* During the rookie selection, the excitement flashing in his eyes and the unwavering focus with which he faced Aomine's wild assault.
* After his one-on-one match against Aomine, the stubbornness in his bright eyes as he held his head high despite collapsing in defeat from exhaustion.
* During team practice, his sincere smile as he precisely found Kuroko cutting to the basket and gave him a brilliant pass before raising his thumb.
* Against Toyotama, the confident light burning in his eyes after he danced through the "Triple Chain" and broke through with astonishing flexibility.
* And... in the family restaurant, the focused profile and occasional gentle gaze that made her heart skip a beat as he quietly listened to her analyze the data...
All those scenes carried warmth, carrying the unique, heart-stirring radiance that belonged to Bai Ze You. That radiance was completely at odds with the cold and lonely path of "destruction" toward "Absolute Victory" that Akashi had described!
"Yū-kun must be troubled..." Momoi set down her pencil and propped her chin on both hands, her long pink hair sliding from her shoulders. She could almost see Bai Ze You training alone, repeating the basic movements over and over, trying to find that infinitesimal point of balance between Akashi's "absolute" and the "trust" in his own heart. The understanding and heartache weighed heavily on her chest.
Just then, someone gently knocked on the records room door.
"Come in." Momoi hurriedly straightened and composed her expression.
The door opened, and Satō Rie, the manager of Snow Peak Academy's team, entered. She was a capable-looking girl with short hair and equally sharp eyes. The fierce semifinal clash had allowed the two managers to develop a strange sense of mutual appreciation through their exchange of data.
"Momoi, sorry to disturb you." Satō Rie gave her a polite nod, a USB drive in hand. "The coach asked me to pass this on to you. It's a complete video analysis of Fujiwara Ken's technical traits and habits. We hope it will help you prepare for the finals."
"Ah, thank you so much! Satō, please also give my thanks to your coach!" Momoi hurriedly rose to accept the USB drive and thanked her sincerely. Snow Peak Academy's magnanimity earned her respect.
"It's nothing. It's only natural." Satō Rie waved her hand, her eyes sweeping over the record board spread across Momoi's desk. They paused especially on the name "Bai Ze You" and the dense data beside it. She hesitated, but finally spoke. "Momoi, there's something I'd like to say... though I'm not sure whether I should."
"Go ahead." Momoi was somewhat curious.
Satō Rie carefully considered her words, her expression serious. "It's about Bai Ze, your team's player. In the semifinals... he caused us a great deal of trouble."
Momoi nodded, indicating that she should continue.
"His style... is very unique." Satō Rie seemed to be searching for the right description. "Unlike Aomine's explosive impact, and unlike Midori's machine-like precision. He's like... White Mist flowing across the court. You can see him, but you can't catch him. You think you've seen through him, and the next second he appears somewhere unexpected, scoring or assisting in a way you could never have imagined."
"White Mist..." Momoi repeated softly. The description stirred something in her heart.
"Yes, mist." Satō Rie nodded firmly. "His flexibility, balance, and deceptive Rhythm Change combine into a trait that's impossible to predict and difficult to counter. Our ace, Fujiwara, even said after the game that Bai Ze was one of the trickiest opponents he had ever faced—not because of absolute superiority in strength or speed, but because of that slippery, impossible-to-read feeling, as if you could never guess what he would do next. His passing choices are also incredibly bold and creative, like that final pass to Midori..."
Satō Rie paused and looked into Momoi's eyes, her tone filled with emotion and pure admiration.
"Momoi, please protect him. Protect that unique 'mist' of his, and protect the courage and creativity that allow him to trust his teammates at crucial moments. A player like that, with a style like that, is a rare, imaginative light in this basketball era that pursues strength and efficiency. If something causes him to become 'certain' and 'cold,' it will be a loss for the entire basketball world."
Satō Rie's words exploded in Momoi Satsuki's heart like a thunderclap. She stood there blankly, the USB drive in her hand seeming to weigh a thousand pounds.
Protect... him?
Protect his "mist"?
Protect his trust and creativity?
Those words struck precisely at Momoi's deepest, most secret worries and most intense wishes. That was right. Yū-kun's "phantom," his uniqueness, and his trust in his teammates at crucial moments—weren't those the parts of him that shone brightest and made her heart race the most? If they were erased and twisted by Akashi's "Absolute Victory"... would he still be himself?
A powerful impulse surged through Momoi's heart. She was not merely a manager who recorded data. She was also... Bai Ze You's observer, one of the people closest to him and most familiar with both his basketball and his heart. She could not stand by and watch him be shackled by a cold ideology!
"Satō..." Momoi's voice trembled slightly, but her eyes were unusually resolute. "Thank you! Truly... thank you so much for saying that! I... I'll remember it! I definitely will... protect his basketball!" She tightened her grip on the USB drive.
Seeing the light shining in Momoi's eyes, Satō Rie gave her an understanding smile. "Do your best, Momoi. And I hope Teikō does well in the finals. Of course, win honorably." She waved and turned to leave the records room.
The door closed softly, and silence returned to the records room. But Momoi Satsuki's heart was like a lake struck by a stone, rippling restlessly and unable to calm down.
Satō Rie's words were like a key, opening the door in her heart marked "responsibility" and "courage." She sat back down at the desk and stared intently at Bai Ze You's name and the detailed data on the record board. Her fingers no longer drew circles absently. Instead, she firmly picked up her pencil.
Beneath the name "Bai Ze You," she created an entirely new section and wrote the title in clear, forceful strokes:
"Core Protection Objectives:"
1. "Phantom Traits": Flexibility, balance, deceptive rhythm, and creativity in confined spaces. (Maintain S+ rank)
2. "Bond of Trust": Passing choices based on judgment and trust at crucial moments. (Not blind, but the courage must be preserved)
3. "Court Imagination": Unconventional offensive methods and passing inspiration. (Do not let "absolute certainty" smother it)
Then she wrote an action plan beside it:
* Data Support: Strengthen the collection of cases in which Bai Ze You used his "Phantom Traits" to create efficient scoring opportunities and assists, and quantify their value.
* Psychological Guidance: Find an appropriate opportunity to affirm the value of his style through data analysis and ease the pressure caused by Akashi's words.
* Tactical Suggestions: Carefully propose to Captain Nijimura and Akashi that Bai Ze You retain tactical freedom as a "Speed shifter" and source of creativity, rather than having his role reduced to that of a "finisher."
* ... (To be added)
As she wrote, Momoi's cheeks flushed faintly. She turned to the final pages of the record board, where she had tucked her "private observation section" among the data analyses. There were chibi drawings of Bai Ze You shooting, simple sketches of his exhausted yet satisfied expression after a certain practice session, and... the sentence that had been torn out and glued back in place, the one that made her cheeks burn:
"Observer's subjective note: Heart rate... multiple abnormal fluctuations occurred during the observation period. Further... analysis of the cause required."
She looked at the sentence, her fingertips gently brushing over the handwriting, her eyes gentle yet resolute. Protecting Yū-kun's basketball and his one-of-a-kind "phantom" was not merely for Teikō's victory, nor merely for the diversity of basketball. It was also for... the boy himself, the one who made her heart beat abnormally.
She drew a deep breath and, beside "Further... analysis of the cause required," quietly added an answer in letters so tiny that only she could read them:
"Preliminary cause analysis: An uncontrollable variable named 'love' has entered the observation."
After writing it, she hurriedly closed the record board, as if afraid someone might see it. Her cheeks were red as ripe apples. Yet her eyes were brighter than ever, filled with resolve.
At this moment, her concern beyond the court rose from simple worry and heartache into a heavy responsibility brimming with courage. Momoi Satsuki, Teikō's data queen, had decided to protect the White Mist known as "Bai Ze You" in her own way, never allowing any cold "absolute" to dispel it. Her worries concerned basketball, but even more, they concerned the one-of-a-kind boy in her heart.
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