"Impossible..." At the sidelines, a bespectacled man with narrowed eyes watched the shattered hoop and exclaimed, "Could something like this really happen in a junior high game?"
"Whether it's possible or not, it happened, didn't it?" Beside him, a man with a crew cut and bandages wrapped around his forehead and arms spoke with a hint of fear. "It's no surprise that a brute like him could do something like this."
"Seriously, I have a feeling some incredible monsters are about to be unleashed at this year's junior high tournament~" Who else could the squint-eyed man be but Shoichi Imagawa?
"Tch, 'monstrous prodigy' and all that..." Makoto Hanamiya, standing nearby, stubbornly started to say something, but Shoichi Imagawa cut him off. "Honestly, I haven't seen whether the genius or the bad boy is any good yet. But you really did almost get beaten to death. The doctor had to shave your head to stitch up your wounds."
"Next year! Next year, I'll make them pay!" Makoto Hanamiya gritted out. Yes, after Ken Kaneki had knocked out Makoto Hanamiya and all of Kirikiri First Junior High's key players during the earlier violent altercation, Kirikiri First Junior High had been eliminated in the first round of this year's qualifiers.
"I can't do anything about what happens to you next year. I've already left the club." Shoichi Imagawa smiled. "I'll be starting high school next year. As a former teammate, I just hope Ken Kaneki doesn't beat you to death on the court."
"...When it comes to saying and doing things that piss people off, I still can't beat you, Imagawa!"
"So that's Teiko's lion... Ken Kaneki?" On the other side of the gym, Reiko Aida watched Ken Kaneki, who was aimlessly looking around at the sidelines, and murmured, "I really want to get a close look at his physical stats..."
"Hm?" Hearing his daughter mutter to herself, Kagetora Aida silently drew a little pew-pew gun from beneath his clothes and cocked it with a click. "All right, Reiko. Dad will go take care of him right now."
"Dad!" Reiko Aida turned pale with fright. "You'll go to prison!"
"Ahem." Like a mischievous child, Kagetora Aida put away the little gun and sat up straight again. "I advise you not to go check his stats right now. After you do, you'll feel like everyone you know is trash."
Kagetora Aida paused, then lifted his head and reminisced. "I suppose you really shouldn't meet someone so dazzling when you're young..."
"Don't act all profound right now, Dad!" Reiko Aida had had enough and grabbed Kagetora Aida by the hair.
"All right, all right, stop messing around! Dad still has some friends in the basketball world. Have a little mercy on me!" Kagetora Aida wailed, looking as if he were enjoying himself.
"Damn it, how are we supposed to play this game now?" The coach of Shibuya First Junior High angrily threw down his tactics board and pointed at his players. "What a load of crap, this so-called Big Three! The Big Three who got destroyed in their matchups? I was right earlier—you're all a bunch of nobodies!"
"Coach, they've already tried their best," Wei Liu stepped forward to reason with him. "We've seen what the other team can do, after all."
"You think I'm not talking about you?" The coach glared viciously at Wei Liu. "Look at how badly you got crushed! And you've got the nerve to stand there trying to mediate! You useless piece of—"
Seeing the coach start hurling insults at everyone, Wei Liu lost his temper too. He charged forward, shoved the coach, and cursed, "Reki Iizuka! Fuck you! You used to tend a boiler, and the other schools tossed you aside like trash. What gives you the right to swagger around here? You want to insult us? Fine, let me tell you: after today's game, it's either you or me in this Basketball Club!"
"All right, that's enough!" Just as Shibuya First Junior High was about to erupt into an internal brawl, Kotaro Hayama could take no more. He stood up, walked over to Reki Iizuka, and grabbed him by the collar. "Coach, this is the last time I'll call you Coach! How can anyone play basketball well alongside a worm like you? Now shut up, or Keisuke, Wei Liu, and I will all quit the club! Let's see who the school administrators try to keep!"
"Fine, fine! I'll see what kind of performance you can put on, Kotaro Hayama!" Seeing that the situation was turning against him, Reki Iizuka left the threat hanging and stormed toward the locker room.
"Kotaro, you were too impulsive." Kazuhiko Yamanaka stepped forward, worried. "The coach holds grudges."
"What's there to be afraid of? We'll all take this to the school administrators! I refuse to believe they'd abandon the starting lineup that's brought the Basketball Club such great results!" Wei Liu and Keisuke Kobayashi also spoke up.
"All right, what kind of terrible plan is that?" Kazuhiko Yamanaka scolded them. "Sit down, all of you!"
Hearing the team's ever-easygoing big brother speak up, everyone finally returned to their seats.
"That petty coach is definitely going to report this to the school administrators, so..." Kazuhiko Yamanaka lowered his head and fell silent for a long while, as if he had finally made up his mind. "I've decided to take responsibility for what happened."
"No, Captain!" Everyone present was taken aback, and they all tried to talk him out of it.
"I did it, so I'll take responsibility! I'll admit to insulting him!" Wei Liu stood up angrily. "I'll never bow to a scumbag like that!"
"Exactly! We're coming too!" The other three, including Kotaro Hayama, stepped forward as well.
"Sit down!" Kazuhiko Yamanaka rebuked them. "If you all go, the school administrators will see it as an attempt to force their hand. Even if Reki Iizuka gets fired, they'll kick you out of the Basketball Club along with him! They might even shut down the club!"
"Sorry, Captain." Now that they'd calmed down, the others murmured their apologies, regretting their actions.
"I love playing basketball. I really do." Looking at the younger players before him, Kazuhiko Yamanaka's eyes reddened too. "But I don't have the talent. In three years at Shibuya First Junior High, I haven't done anything to be proud of, and I'll have to focus on my studies once I start high school. But you're different. Kotaro, Keisuke, Daisuke—you're all talented kids. You're the future of Shibuya First Junior High's Basketball Club. I'm just an ordinary third-year Captain, and I was going to leave the club anyway. Giving up my place for the future of the club is a good deal!"
"Captain!" The eyes of everyone from Shibuya First Junior High turned red as they looked at Kazuhiko Yamanaka.
"Honestly, the fact that Shibuya First Junior High made it to the semifinals of the Prefectural Tournament last year under your leadership was something I'd never even dared to dream of." Tears glimmered in Kazuhiko Yamanaka's eyes as he bowed deeply to everyone. "I was happy. Truly happy. So, minna-san! We may be cornered right now, but please, like me, stake everything on your final game of your basketball careers. You have to win!"
"Yes, Captain!" Everyone from Shibuya First Junior High bowed deeply in return. Men's feelings didn't always need a thousand words. Sometimes, a single look was a promise that weighed more than anything.
"Tweet, tweet~" Just then, the referee's whistle blew. "The equipment has been replaced! The game will continue!"
"Kaneki, what's going on with them? Their eyes are all red. Did we make them cry? Maybe we went too hard on them?" Daiki Aomine said with a half-joking grin.
"Shut up, Aomine. Can't you see that their eyes are different now?" Shintaro Midorima's gaze sharpened. "The real game may only be starting now!"
"Midorima's right." Ken Kaneki spoke gravely. "I don't know what happened, but we should be careful. They say a desperate army will win, but we, Teiko, are the undefeated lions who've won a hundred battles!"
"Yes!" With Ken Kaneki leading them, everyone from Teiko Junior High was full of confidence. The two teams stared at each other across the court, and the air between their gazes seemed ready to catch fire.
"My, my. I don't know what happened, but I can't help feeling fired up~" Shoichi Imagawa sounded relaxed, but his furrowed brow gave away what he really thought.
"Tch. Against a gap in talent, a pep talk won't help. Not even a shot of adrenaline would do any good." Makoto Hanamiya chewed gum, watching the court listlessly.
"Looks like there might still be some game left in this match." Kagetora Aida looked as if he finally found it interesting.
"But... can they hold out against Ken Kaneki?" Reiko Aida looked at the players from Shibuya First Junior High with concern.
"This is something they have to face." Kagetora Aida's expression was serious. "In competitive sports, being bad is the original sin. Someone always loses a game. That's how cruel it is, Reiko."
"I understand, Dad."
The knowledgeable fans in the stands began cheering for Shibuya First Junior High, almost as if to stir things up.
"What's with this? They're making us look like villains in an anime." Atsushi Murasakibara sounded annoyed.
"Stay calm, Murasakibara." Ken Kaneki looked perfectly composed. "People always love a story about an underdog comeback. That's why being the king is always lonely. If this is the price of victory, I'll gladly pay it! They can be pumped full of adrenaline, or even summon a god—I'll still beat them today! Shibuya First Junior High is doomed to lose! Not even Amaterasu Omikami can help them, I'm telling you!"
With both teams fighting as if they had nothing left to lose, the game resumed. Shibuya First Junior High had possession, and Kazuhiko Yamanaka was the one bringing the ball over half court this time.
"Shuzo, you were right. I guess I was just unlucky." Looking at Shuzo Nijimura, Kazuhiko Yamanaka seemed more relaxed than ever. "Come to think of it, you're really lucky. You're incredibly talented, the best junior high forward, and every one of your juniors is a dragon among men."
"If you want to reminisce, I'll buy you ramen after the game. But let's not do that on the court." Shuzo Nijimura watched Kazuhiko Yamanaka with a grave expression. For some reason, he sensed a hint of threat from him—faint, but there.
"Hey, Shuzo!" Kazuhiko Yamanaka's expression changed. He suddenly glared and said, "I've spent three muddled years scraping by in the Basketball Club, but today, of all days, I absolutely refuse to lose!"
As the words left his mouth, Kazuhiko Yamanaka moved. With a speed he'd never shown before, he got past Shuzo Nijimura by half a step.
"What was that?" It had flashed past in an instant, but Shuzo Nijimura knew he hadn't imagined it: the afterimage of a Chinese village dog.
Kazuhiko Yamanaka was ultimately limited by his talent and couldn't get all the way past Shuzo Nijimura, but he still drew Shintaro Midorima's attention. Just then, Keisuke Kobayashi seized his chance and quickly ran to the open right corner, raising a hand and calling, "Captain, the ball!"
"Shimata!" Shintaro Midorima realized he'd left his man open. He was about to twist around and cover him when a broad figure appeared at his side, blocking his path. It was Wei Liu.
"A pick without the ball?" Shintaro Midorima quickly reacted and changed his footing to get around Wei Liu's screen, but he'd still lost some time. Keisuke Kobayashi received Kazuhiko Yamanaka's pass without trouble.
"Make it!" The first-year players on Shibuya First Junior High's bench roared with all their might.
"Yeah! Leave it to me!" Keisuke Kobayashi felt completely calm inside. The ball left his fingertips in a smooth arc, cleanly avoiding Shintaro Midorima's contest. Swish! It dropped through the hoop, bringing the score to 10–3.
"Ahhhhhhh!" Wei Liu and Keisuke Kobayashi shouted excitedly and slapped hands. The afterimages of a silverback gorilla and a venomous snake flashed behind them.
"This is..." Kōzō Shirogane narrowed his eyes at the scene on the court, seeming to notice something. He was about to head over to the officials' table and call a timeout.
Ken Kaneki noticed Kōzō Shirogane's move from the court and slowly shook his head at him.
"Not yet?" Kōzō Shirogane wondered to himself, deciding to trust Ken Kaneki's judgment.
Seeing Shibuya First Junior High finally pull off a successful play, the cheers from the sidelines grew even louder.
"Shibuya! Shibuya! Shibuya!"
With the crowd cheering them on, the players from Shibuya First Junior High surged with even greater momentum. Kazuhiko Yamanaka seemed ready to burn himself out completely, clinging to Shuzo Nijimura like a mad dog. In the end, he actually managed to block Shuzo Nijimura's shot.
"Rebound!" Kazuhiko Yamanaka roared.
"Ahhhhhhh!" Daisuke Narumi seemed ready to unleash all the strength in his body. The afterimage of a brown bear flashed above him as he planted himself beneath the hoop and held Atsushi Murasakibara off with all his might. He grabbed the rebound, passed the ball to Kazuhiko Yamanaka, and after carefully surveying the court, Kazuhiko Yamanaka passed it to Kotaro Hayama.
"Hey, you've got a lot of energy, Hayama Little Blondie." Daiki Aomine grinned at Kotaro Hayama and teased him.
Kotaro Hayama didn't dwell on the nickname Daiki Aomine had given him. Instead, he focused on the cues his instincts were giving him.
"Hayama... He's more talented than you." Kotaro Hayama stared blankly ahead, muttering to himself. "So... seize every chance!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the aura around Kotaro Hayama seemed to coalesce into a leopard. He keenly caught the instant Daiki Aomine rushed forward to steal the ball and shifted his weight. With a bang, the ball flashed like lightning as Kotaro Hayama broke through Aomine's defense. If you looked closely at his hand, you could see that all five fingers were involved.
"Bang—swish!" The sound of Kotaro Hayama's basket came from behind Daiki Aomine. The score was now 10–5.
"You were right, dark-skinned kid. I'm not much of a shooter," Kotaro Hayama said as he looked at Daiki Aomine, his eyes seemingly ablaze. "But I'm the Ace of Shibuya First Junior High, Kotaro Hayama!"
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