"And that's the end of the game! 121–109! Congratulations to Kaijō for winning the championship!!"
Inside the live broadcast booth, Bobo held his microphone with both hands, voice full of energy as he addressed the viewers.
"For today's game: Kise scored 36 points, 3 assists, 8 rebounds, 2 steals. Yuki scored 32 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds, 1 steal. Kota finished with 30 points, 12 assists, 3 rebounds, and 4 steals."
"The three of them combined for 98 points! This breaks the current record for highest combined scoring by a trio in an official match!"
"And with this, Kaijō becomes the first team in history to win all national tournaments for two consecutive years! Congratulations!"
The camera switched to the players on court, where the starters of Kaijō and Rakuzan had just finished exchanging post-game respects.
Though the Rakuzan players wore expressions filled with frustration, under Akashi's lead they still offered Kaijō a sincere round of applause.
Kota and Akashi locked eyes for a few seconds, shared a knowing smile, and Kota even gave him a playful wink.
Akashi nodded knowingly, then turned around and led the Rakuzan roster back into the tunnel — leaving the stage of celebration entirely to Kaijō.
And as Rakuzan exited, the crowd's cheers grew even louder.
Kota let out a loud whistle, then dove straight onto Kise's back. Kise wasn't prepared at all; his center of gravity collapsed instantly, and he stumbled toward the sideline.
Time had passed, and Kota's weight had gone from 70 kg when he first arrived in the KNB world to a full 80 kg now. At this point, Kise simply couldn't tank his flying tackles anymore.
Unsurprisingly, the two of them crashed to the ground together.
Kise rubbed his backside and complained, "Hey! Kota! Do you even know how heavy you are now!? You trying to kill me out here!?"
Kota rolled his eyes and gave him a look of pure disdain.
"What's wrong, skinny boy? Can't handle one friendly tackle?"
Kise: &%$#@!!
While Kota and Kise were fooling around, Takeuchi wasn't standing idle.
By halftime he had already sprinted to the locker room to change into a sharp, perfectly fitted suit. His face still shined with that trademark oil-sheen, and his slicked-back hair gleamed under the arena lights, not a strand out of place.
"Yes, yes, I always tell them — success is never accidental! It takes years of polish and effort beyond ordinary people. I'm proud of them — no, proud of us! We are the champions!"
During his courtside interview, Takeuchi delivered a passionate, dramatic speech, earning himself the "Outstanding Coach" title from the reporters.
Then, during the tactical breakdown segment, he openly stated that every strategy Kaijō used today had been developed by him and Kota together… and that he even sacrificed his dating life for it.
Standing nearby and overhearing the entire thing, Kota's forehead twitched. He looked at Takeuchi's radiant, confident expression and swallowed the sarcastic comments he wanted to spit out.
To be fair, during the first Interhigh, every tactic Kota proposed was met with genuinely good feedback from Takeuchi. So calling Kaijō's strategies a joint creation wasn't exactly wrong.
But that last part…
"Sorry, Coach… but even without me, you and Araki probably wouldn't have worked out anyway."
Lost in thought, Kota reached back and pulled Yuki to the front.
Sure, Kota had "buffed" Yuki's growth a bit, but even so, there was no denying it: Kaijō being able to close the Finals in just three quarters owed quite a lot to Yuki this year.
"Come on, come on, don't be shy! You played great today!"
Kota dragged Yuki toward the stands. Before Yuki could escape, the audience had already started cheering.
"You were awesome, Yuki!"
"Best Rookie was well-deserved, hahaha!"
"Keep it up next year! The future of Kaijō's in your hands!"
Perhaps great teams really do create great fans. Even with Yuki's shy personality, when he stepped up to the sideline, Kaijō's supporters didn't hold back their applause for him.
The wave of compliments turned Yuki's ears bright red. He shrank his neck and stiffly waved at the crowd.
Watching this, Kota shook his head with a soft laugh.
"Unbelievable… this kid really needs to work on his mentality."
"He's so sharp during games, yet the moment it ends he becomes a totally different person."
Kota clicked his tongue and slung an arm over Yuki's shoulder, throwing a peace sign toward the stands as he stood beside him receiving the cheers.
Just then, a staff member from the technical table approached Takeuchi and whispered,
"Coach Takeuchi, as per the usual procedure after the Finals, we need to select the Final MVP based on player stats… but Kaijō's three players have extremely close numbers, and all three are very popular, so…"
Takeuchi blinked, about to respond—when a sudden voice cut him off.
"Give the MVP to Kise."
Kota said this casually, one arm still around Yuki, pointing with the other toward Kise.
Kise was still hyped up, interacting with the crowd, completely unaware of what was being discussed.
The staff member hesitated, then looked at Takeuchi—after all, choosing the team's MVP was technically the coach's decision.
But Takeuchi pretended not to see him at all, straightened his suit, and returned to the cameras.
Staff member: …
Left with no choice, he turned back to Kota.
"You're certain, Mr. Kota? Statistically speaking, you, Kise, and Yuki all have almost identical numbers. Objectively, any of you could be MVP."
Kota shrugged. "I'm sure."
Then he ruffled Yuki's hair and added, "And this kid agrees too. Just give it to Kise."
After checking that Yuki indeed had no objections, the staffer returned to the technical table.
Yuki looked up at Kota and finally asked, "Kota-senpai… don't you want the Finals MVP?"
Kota froze for a moment, then smiled and shot back, "Do you want it?"
Yuki hesitated, then quietly admitted, "Yeah."
Kota wasn't surprised. He stretched lazily. "Of course I want it too."
"But this year is special. So let your senpai Kise have it."
Kota patted Yuki's head, leaned closer, and whispered:
"Next summer, Kise won't be on Kaijō's roster."
"…What???"
Yuki's eyes widened in shock. He grabbed Kota's arm, forgetting his honorifics completely.
"Why!? Did Kise-senpai get expelled!?"
Sweat beaded on Yuki's forehead as he stared at Kota, hoping to hear, "Relax, it's a joke."
But Kota wasn't the type to joke like that.
"Pfft—what are you imagining?"
Kota chuckled, shaking his head.
"Kise is leveling up. He's going to join the national team's training camp. If nothing goes wrong, he'll be returning in winter as an official national player."
"Relax. He's only missing next summer. If you want to talk to him, it's easy—national training isn't lockdown prison. He can still answer calls."
Hearing that, Yuki finally understood and nodded. "So that means for next Interhigh…"
"For next Interhigh, it'll be up to you and me to carry Kaijō to the championship."
Kota picked up the sentence smoothly, eyes gleaming with excitement.
"Single-core carry, huh… I've played second fiddle for so long I got used to it."
Just as Kota was imagining next year's bracket, Yuki asked again,
"Kota-senpai, aren't you going to the national training camp? Don't tell me…"
"You already made the national team!?"
Kota: …
He stared at Yuki's innocent face, eye twitching, trying to calm himself down.
"Breathe… he didn't mean anything by that…"
"Well, you're not wrong. I was selected to a national team."
Just… not Japan's.
"Hey! Kota! Yuki! Come take the championship photo!"
Kise called out from across the court, hands cupped around his mouth.
For the photo, one player stands at center holding the trophy—and usually, that's the Finals MVP.
Kota kicked Kise lightly on the butt, signaling him to step forward and hold the trophy. Kise didn't argue, striding forward and lifting it high above his head.
"Hehehe, sorry everyone — C-position is mine today!"
Kise shook his head proudly, parting his front bangs a little to make the photo look better.
Kota just rolled his eyes. Instead of teasing him, he placed one hand on Kise's shoulder and held up a peace sign with the other.
Yuki stood on the side, hands folded nervously in front of him. But when the camera pointed their way, he stealthily raised his right hand and made a tiny peace sign as well.
Behind them stood Takumi, silent as ever but positioned just a little closer to Kota.
And Hayakawa struck a classic bodybuilder pose, marking his final tournament with Kaijō in dramatic fashion.
With that, the Winter Cup championship of Year Two once again belonged to Kaijō!