After Ryota Miyagi finished speaking, the gym fell briefly silent.
Then came a chorus of gasps no one could suppress.
Everyone stared at Kawamoto Kazuki with wide eyes.
Would he agree?
"K-Kawamoto, you're not really going to play him, are you?"
Hanamichi Sakuragi, standing nearby, was the first to blurt it out.
His expression was somewhat conflicted.
He wanted to see Kawamoto teach that arrogant little runt a lesson, but he also vaguely felt that Kawamoto taking him on seemed a little like picking on someone smaller.
Takenori Akagi and Kiminobu Kogure frowned as well.
Both had played against Kawamoto in an actual intrasquad game.
Akagi, especially, knew Kawamoto's strength all too well.
Miyagi had only just left the hospital.
He seemed to have recovered pretty well, but what if...
What if Kawamoto got serious and played him physically? Miyagi might...
Takenori Akagi couldn't help speaking up.
"Kawamoto, Miyagi..."
He only wanted to smooth things over, hoping Kawamoto would give up on playing Miyagi one-on-one.
But before he could finish, Kawamoto Kazuki nodded under everyone's astonished gazes.
In that uniquely calm, even tone of his, he said, "All right. Then please show me what you've got, senpai."
Takenori Akagi froze.
He'd agreed!
He'd actually agreed!
Sakuragi froze for a moment, not having expected Kawamoto Kazuki to actually agree.
The simpleton's little concern about Kawamoto picking on someone smaller flew straight out of his head.
Then he suddenly jumped up, waving his arms and dancing with excitement. "Haha! Great! Kawamoto, teach that little runt a good lesson for me! Show him what a real slam dunk is!"
Just thinking about that arrogant Miyagi getting put in his place made him unable to contain his excitement.
And he noticed that Kawamoto wasn't wearing that heavy gear today.
That thought made Sakuragi even more excited.
Takenori Akagi looked at Kawamoto's calm face, then at Sakuragi dancing beside him, and alarm bells went off in his head.
He couldn't help imagining the terrifying sight of Kawamoto Kazuki dribbling like a heavy tank, driving against Ryota Miyagi with unstoppable force and bulldozing his way into the paint...
With Miyagi's little frame, wouldn't he...
Miyagi really had only just left the hospital!
"No!"
Akagi jolted, no longer caring about his dignity as captain.
He hurried over to Kawamoto Kazuki, lowered his voice, and spoke rapidly in an almost pleading tone. "Um... Kawamoto, Miyagi only just got out of the hospital. He hasn't fully recovered yet... When you play him... could you go a little easy? Just keep it light and stop short of going too far! The prefectural tournament is coming up, and the team really needs him. We can't have anything happen to him!"
Although Akagi's voice was very low, Miyagi still heard him.
His jaw nearly dropped.
The captain...
Was he asking Kawamoto Kazuki to go easy on him?
A first-year rookie?
And against him, the lightning-fast speedster?
Wasn't that fucking looking down on him a little too much?
"Boss Akagi, what are you talking about? Don't you know how good I am?"
Miyagi looked displeased.
Akagi didn't even look at him, thinking to himself.
I'm saying this precisely because I know how good you are.
You bastard, this is all because you went looking for trouble. Why did you have to throw your weight around with the first-years?
He had originally agreed to let them play one-on-one only so Miyagi could knock some sense into Sakuragi.
He hadn't expected things to develop this far.
Hearing this, Kawamoto Kazuki glanced at Ryota Miyagi, who was throwing a fit a short distance away, then looked back at the nervous Akagi.
He nodded calmly in understanding. "All right, Captain. Don't worry. I won't play him physically, then."
Takenori Akagi felt slightly reassured and was just about to breathe a sigh of relief.
Then he heard Kawamoto add in that same utterly even tone:
"I'll just finish him off with threes."
Takenori Akagi: "..."
Kiminobu Kogure: "..."
Kaede Rukawa: "..."
Satoru Kakuta: "..."
Everyone present: "..."
The air seemed to freeze.
The expression on Takenori Akagi's face instantly stiffened.
It was as though he had heard the most unbelievable thing in the world.
His mind went blank.
He stared dumbly at Kawamoto Kazuki's perfectly calm face.
Th-three-pointers?!
Finish Miyagi off with three-pointers?
Wait!
Akagi abruptly snapped out of it.
Kawamoto had indeed made a three-pointer in their practice game against Ryonan.
At the time, everyone, himself included, had thought it was a lucky shot.
Could it be...
That wasn't a fluke!
He...
He really could shoot threes?
A guy nearly six foot three, with terrifying strength inside, who in Akagi's eyes was absolutely the ideal mold for a top-tier center or power forward...
Could actually shoot threes!
Akagi felt his whole understanding of the world take a massive hit.
In his limited basketball knowledge, he had never seen a player like this!
Invincible strength inside...
Perfect physical attributes...
Unfathomable defensive anticipation...
Passing vision as vast as the sea...
And possibly even a reliable midrange and long-range shot?
An interior beast + a physical marvel + an iron shield on defense + a master passer + a three-point shooter.
What a fucking absurd combination!
Monster!
That word exploded through his mind once again.
Just who was this Kawamoto Kazuki?
Meanwhile, Ryota Miyagi, whom Kawamoto Kazuki had said he would finish off with threes...
First froze, then scoffed, an extremely displeased expression appearing on his face.
"Heh, finish me off with threes? Big talk, big guy."
Dribbling the ball, Miyagi walked up to Kawamoto.
He tilted his head up, his eyes full of defiance. "You think being tall means you can shoot over me whenever you want? Dream on!"
"Come on, let me see how a sluggish big guy like you shoots threes against me!"
Miyagi clearly hadn't taken Kawamoto's words seriously, dismissing them as empty boasting.
As he saw it, tall inside players like this were slow and poor ball handlers.
All he had to do was press up close and disrupt his footing.
He would have trouble even driving past him, let alone shooting threes.
Kawamoto Kazuki ignored Miyagi's provocation, quietly walked beyond the three-point line, and caught the ball Miyagi tossed over.
He simply bounced the ball a couple of times.
Ryota Miyagi crouched in front of him and spread his arms.
He had made up his mind: the moment Kawamoto dared to dribble, he would steal it.
If he dared to shoot, he would go all out to block him!
Everyone held their breath.
Akagi's palms were sweating with nerves, Sakuragi's eyes were wide with excitement, and Kaede Rukawa's expression was more serious than ever, while Kogure and the others looked curious.
Kawamoto Kazuki moved.
He didn't even use a jab step; he simply raised his hands.
He bent his knees, jumped, and gently flicked the ball away with his wrist.
The motion was plain and unadorned, even somewhat slow.
Too slow!
Miyagi sneered inwardly. Almost the instant Kawamoto jumped, he used his astonishing jumping quickness and explosiveness to leap with all his strength for the block.
He was extremely confident in his jumping ability, especially against such a slow shot.
But once he was in the air...
Something's wrong!
That release point is a little high!
No, not high-way too high!
Ridiculously high!
Even with Miyagi stretching his arm as far as he could, his fingertips were still at least a full eighty centimeters short of the basketball flying away.
That's damn near a meter!
A meter! What does that even mean?!
"What?!"
Miyagi's pupils contracted sharply, and he hurriedly looked back.
Swish!
A crisp sound rang out.
The basketball dropped cleanly through the net.
The three-pointer went in.
Clean and decisive.
The court fell deathly silent.