Christmas bells were shut out beyond the deep mountains of Nagano Prefecture. There were no colored lights, no carols—only biting winds that cut like knives, carrying fine snow and lashing the faces of the Teikō Basketball Team players. The abandoned mountain sports center was like an iron beast lurking in a silver-white world. Thick dust covered the windows, reflecting not the slightest hint of holiday warmth. This was the Christmas gift Teikō Junior High had chosen—a closed-door devil training camp known as "Hellfire Quenching."
Cold was the main theme here.
Even with several high-powered heaters burning inside the gym, the bone-chilling cold still clung like a parasite to the bones, crawling from the soles of their feet up their spines. Their fingertips went numb, and their breath instantly turned into thick white mist. Captain Nijimura Shūzō stood like an iron tower at center court. His bronze face looked exceptionally stern beneath the dim yellow lights, and a lingering trace of exhaustion lay hidden deep in his eyes. Yet his voice boomed like rolling thunder through the empty gym:
"Get your spirits up! There's no Santa Claus here, only basketball and sweat! Your gift is making it out of here alive three days from now as stronger versions of yourselves! Now, run laps! Thirty! Warm up! The last three finishers will do ten extra laps and push-ups!"
The order came down like a whip. The players immediately shot forward like arrows released from a bow. Aomine Daiki took the lead, growling as if he meant to tear the cold apart and ignite his body with speed. Midōrima Shintarō's steps were precise and his breathing steady, like a perfectly calibrated machine. Murasaki-bara Atsushi's massive body pounded along with dull thuds, and the white vapor from his mouth was the thickest. Akashi Seijūrō wore an expressionless face and maintained a neither-fast-nor-slow pace with an icy steadiness. Kise Ryōta gritted his teeth and struggled to keep up with the front group, imitating Aomine's running form. Kuroko Tetsuya trailed in the middle-rear of the group like a shadow, his presence faint but his persistence extraordinary.
Bai Ze You adjusted his breathing. The icy air stabbing into his lungs quickly became bearable as he adapted to the rhythm. His steps were light and springy, and he used his excellent balance to stay steady on the slick floor, conserving every bit of strength. His gaze swept over Akashi running ahead, that cold back seeming to merge with the surrounding chill. Akashi's declaration of "Absolute Destruction" in the locker room was like a thorn driven deep into his heart. Trust and annihilation, the team and the absolute... This training camp might also be the battlefield where he found his answer.
Sweat was the only warmth.
After thirty laps, the players were already gasping like oxen. Sweat soaked through their thin training clothes, quickly turning cold in the frigid air and clinging to their skin with a bone-chilling bite. Aomine braced his hands on his knees, sweat dripping from his chin onto the floor and instantly freezing into tiny ice crystals. Midōrima leaned against the wall, his face slightly pale, but the hand pushing up his glasses remained steady. Murasaki-bara collapsed straight onto the floor like a steaming meat mountain, complaining, "I'm so cold and hungry." Kise sprawled on the ground, panting heavily as though his lungs were about to explode. Kuroko quietly walked to the side of the court for a drink, his breathing still relatively steady.
Bai Ze You was soaked through as well. His white hair had clumped together with sweat and stuck to his temples. He felt the soreness in his muscles and the stiffness brought on by the cold, but his eyes remained focused. He looked toward Captain Nijimura and noticed that the captain's brows seemed more tightly furrowed than usual. His complexion was also strangely pale, and while giving orders, he occasionally pressed a hand against his ribs as inconspicuously as possible. The captain's burden... his father's illness... Bai Ze You's heart sank slightly.
"Don't stop! Push-ups! Two hundred! The last one to finish will clean all the training equipment for the entire team!" Nijimura's voice was filled with unquestionable severity, forcibly dragging the players' attention back.
Groans rose one after another, but no one dared disobey. Bodies rose and fell on the cold, hard floor. The sound of sweat hitting the ground mingled with their rough breathing, becoming the only background noise in the gym. The burning in their muscles formed a stark contrast with the icy floor, testing the limits of everyone's willpower.
Momoi Satsuki stood in the corner by a heater at the edge of the court, wrapped in a thick down jacket and holding a clipboard. Her cheeks were flushed red from the cold, and the white vapor she exhaled formed a thin frost on her glasses. She quickly recorded everyone's physical data and reactions while training, all the while watching the court with concern. Most of the time, her gaze remained fixed on that white figure.
She saw Bai Ze You keep his core taut during the push-ups, his movements precise and rhythmic, displaying tremendous core strength and endurance. She saw his nimble footwork and agile changes of direction during the shuttle-run drills that followed, maintaining excellent balance even on the slick floor. She saw him face Aomine's wild charges during the ball-contact drills, circling around him with sliding force absorption and Fake Move. Though he was at a disadvantage in strength, his flexibility and technique were still astonishing.
However, Momoi keenly noticed that whenever the training entered high-intensity, short-decision-making finishing drills, the faintest hesitation would flash through Bai Ze You's eyes. This was especially apparent during simulated final moments, when he successfully broke through into open space while a teammate—usually Midōrima or Kise—was open in the corner. His wrist would pause for an imperceptible instant. The hesitation vanished in the blink of an eye and was nearly impossible to notice amid the fierce training, but it could not escape the eyes of the data queen, Momoi.
Akashi's words were like invisible shackles, binding his instincts.
Momoi's heart tightened. She quickly wrote on her clipboard:
"Observation Focus: Hesitation in finishing decisions (Akashi Effect emerging)"
"Situation: Simulated crucial possession, successful drive, absolute open-court finishing opportunity, with a teammate also open."
"Behavior: 0.3-second decision delay, tendency to pass (80% success rate), but a clearly weaker desire to finish than to drive."
"Potential Risk: Reduced decision-making efficiency at crucial moments, missing the optimal scoring opportunity."
She looked worriedly toward Akashi Seijūrō, who was supervising the training from the sideline. Akashi's gaze was like a cold probe, sweeping over every player with equal precision, lingering especially long on Bai Ze You. He had clearly noticed Bai Ze You's faint hesitation as well. There was not a ripple in his red eyes, only an icy coldness that saw through everything. He said nothing, but that silent stare exerted more pressure than any reprimand.
Quenched by Ice and Fire.
The intensity of the afternoon training rose again with the addition of high-intensity full-court offensive and defensive drills. The cold made their muscles stiff, and mistakes began to increase. The collisions grew more violent, and the dull thuds of body contact rang especially clearly in the frigid air.
During a fast break, Bai Ze You drove forward at high speed with the ball, facing Kishimoto Minori, the simulated Toyotama defender. He easily shifted Kishimoto's center of gravity with a change of rhythm and drove straight to the basket. Just as he prepared to leap for a layup, Murasaki-bara Atsushi—the simulated help defender—slid over like a tower, his immense shadow descending over him. At the same time, near the baseline, Midōrima Shintarō—the simulated open teammate—had already taken his position, completely unguarded!
In the blink of an eye!
Akashi's cold words exploded in his mind! Finish! Absolute Destruction!
The trusting look in his teammate's eyes—Midōrima was already ready to receive the pass—flashed before him as well!
Bai Ze You's nerves seemed to tear apart. His body forcibly folded in midair as he tried to evade Murasaki-bara's block, and his wrist instinctively made a passing Fake Move! But that instant of hesitation and distorted motion cost him the optimal shooting angle and timing. Murasaki-bara's massive palm came crashing down with a rush of wind!
"Smack!"
A solid spike block! The basketball was sent flying far away!
Bai Ze You hit the floor hard, the cold sensation instantly spreading through his entire body. He pushed himself up and looked at the rolling ball, then at Midōrima in the open space. His eyes were filled with frustration and a trace of self-doubt.
"Hesitate, and you lose." Akashi's cold voice sounded like a judgment, reaching Bai Ze You's ears clearly. "In the face of an absolute opportunity, any unnecessary movement or thought is a fatal weakness. Destruction only requires instinct."
Bai Ze You bit his lip and did not argue. He silently got up and ran back to his defensive position. Sweat mixed with dust from the floor, leaving stains on his white jersey.
Momoi's heart sank. She recorded heavily on her clipboard:
"Case Record: Hesitation in finishing led to a blocked shot."
"Akashi's Pressure Intensity: High (direct verbal intervention)."
"Bai Ze's State: Frustration + intensified self-doubt."
The training continued in an increasingly somber atmosphere. Sweat steamed in the cold air, forming patches of low-hanging white mist that shrouded the figures fighting desperately on the court. Everyone's limits were constantly being tested, their bodies suffering through the alternation of cold and heat. Irritation edged Aomine's roars, Midōrima's silence grew colder, Murasaki-bara's movements began to fall apart, Kise was so exhausted he nearly vomited, and Kuroko remained like a tireless shadow.
Nijimura Shūzō endured the waves of dull pain coming from his ribs and the exhaustion surging from deep within his body. He shouted orders, trying to drive away the cold and oppressive atmosphere with his voice. But his face grew paler and paler, and the hand pressed against his ribs moved more and more frequently. Momoi's worried gaze kept drifting toward the captain, and the unease in her heart grew stronger.
When the mountains swallowed the last sliver of sunset, the first day of the hellish training camp finally ended. The players looked as though they had been fished out of water, dragging leaden legs toward the crude dormitory while supporting one another. The cold mountain wind poured into the gym and dispersed the mist of sweat, leaving behind only biting cold and a floor strewn with disorder.
Bai Ze You was the last to leave the gym. He did not immediately go rest. Instead, he silently picked up a basketball and walked to the empty half-court. The cold stiffened his muscles, but the confusion in his heart and the pressure Akashi brought him prevented him from calming down. Again and again, he repeated the move that had been blocked that afternoon: drive, leap, face the help defender... Should he force the finish? Or pass to the open teammate? Every simulation brought Akashi's cold words and Midōrima's open figure crashing violently together in his mind.
The basketball's "thump, thump" against the cold floor echoed lonely through the vast, silent gym, like the heartbeat of his current struggle. His sweat had long since run dry, leaving only the biting cold and heavy bewilderment. The sweat of winter's cold honed not only the body, but also the heart suffering between "absolute victory" and "team trust." Momoi stood by the second-floor dormitory window, watching the faint light spilling from the gym below and listening to the lonely sound of the bouncing ball. She let out a soft sigh and wrote a heavy assessment in the "Christmas Training Camp Day 1" summary section of her clipboard:
"Sweat froze into ice, while the fire in the heart encountered a cold front. The conflict of ideals has taken concrete form, and the phantom is lost in a fog of decisions. Captain Nijimura's condition is abnormal; close attention is required." The night grew ever darker.
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