The air in the gym seemed frozen, leaving only the monotonous echo of the basketball pounding against the floor and the sound of heavy breathing. This wasn't an important game against another school, but merely a high-intensity scrimmage within Teikō's First Team. Yet the tension and oppressive atmosphere on the court were more intense than those of any official game.
Bai Ze You stood beyond the three-point line, sweat sliding down from his temples as he breathed faintly. His eyes remained fixed on the opposite end of the court. There, Aomine Daiki was like a black cheetah that had broken free of every restraint, tearing through the defense formed by three First Team players with heart-stopping speed and savage movements. His actions were completely unstructured, yet possessed a primitive, unpredictable beauty. Every change of direction left the defenders in disarray.
"Too slow!" Aomine's growl cut through the noise of the court. With an unbelievable behind-the-back dribble, he slipped straight through the gap between two defenders, twisted his body dramatically in midair to evade the third man's block, then slammed the ball into the hoop with almost brutish force! The basket support let out a pained groan.
"Clang!"
After scoring, Aomine didn't even glance at the teammates he'd left behind. He merely shook his wrist casually and swept his cold gaze across the court. Burning in his eyes was an almost obsessive possessiveness toward basketball, along with... a deep weariness. His pursuit of victory seemed to have warped into the ultimate flaunting of his own ability and contempt for everyone else's weakness.
On the sidelines, Akashi Seijūrō watched everything calmly. There wasn't a ripple in the depths of his heterochromatic eyes, only the icy control of someone who held the entire situation in his grasp. To him, Aomine's method of ignoring