"Ahhh~~~ this is just too good!"
It had been three days since the final match of the preliminaries. As summer gradually approached, the temperature outside was rising fast.
And lately,
Akashi Asuka was more convinced than ever that indoor pools were truly the best places in the world.
After every training session, soaking in the water washed away all the fatigue and heat from the entire day…
"Hey! Finally caught you, you damn liar! How dare you trick me?!"
A sudden rush of hurried footsteps echoed from the entrance of the pool, shattering the peaceful silence. Before Asuka could even turn around to see what was going on, an angry voice burst across the room.
When he looked back, Akashi Asuka saw Aida Riko storming toward him, her face practically radiating fury. Behind her trailed a whole group of students wearing Seirin uniforms.
"To think I trusted you! You were lying to me from the start, weren't you? Last time, the practice match between Seiho and Shutoku, Seiho won, didn't they?! And yet you told me it was Shutoku!"
"Calm down, Aida-san."
Seeing her expression that looked ready to bite his head off, Akashi quietly swam a little farther into the center of the pool before replying in an even tone, "Don't forget, we're opponents. Isn't it natural for me, as your rival, to feed you a little false information?"
Riko froze for a second.
The fact that this infuriating man could justify lying with such confidence only made her more furious, yet she couldn't even refute his reasoning.
After a moment, the rest of Seirin's basketball team entered as well. With their help, Riko finally managed to cool down a little.
Seeing that, Akashi slowly climbed out of the pool.
His tall, well-built physique came fully into view, his evenly proportioned, sharply defined muscles catching the light. Even Riko, with her "data eyes," was stunned, and the other players were no less shocked.
That kind of physical build, so overwhelmingly powerful, could be felt even without any special analysis.
"So strong… we've only been apart for a few days, and this monster's improved again."
In Riko's eyes, numbers began scrolling rapidly, displaying Akashi Asuka's physical stats, and her face changed at once.
In her database:
An average high school student's physical stats typically ranged from 3000 to 5000.
A well-trained player from a powerhouse school like Kaijo, Shutoku, or Seiho usually scored between 5000 and 6000.
Someone with innate talent, like Kagami Taiga, reached around 8000.
Up to this point, the highest numbers Riko had ever recorded belonged to Kaijo's Kise Ryouta, whose peak stats even surpassed 9500.
She had thought Kagami and Kise were already monsters beyond reason.
After all, anyone breaking eight or nine thousand was far beyond a normal high schooler's limits.
But to her shock, today she saw someone even more terrifying. On Akashi Asuka's body, three different attributes had already exceeded 8000, and one of them had even broken past 10,000.
What kind of inhuman physical prowess was that?!
"Yo! Nice to see you guys!"
While Riko was still processing the data before her eyes, Akashi greeted the Seirin team with a cheerful smile.
"Ah? Oh, uh, nice to meet you!" The Seirin players froze for a moment before hastily returning the greeting.
"By the way, I watched your match against Shutoku, it was really amazing! Both Kagami-kun and Kuroko-kun were incredible out there!"
Then, glancing around curiously, Akashi asked, "Speaking of which, where is Kuroko-kun? Didn't he come with you guys?"
"I'm right here."
The moment the words left Akashi's mouth, a faint silhouette suddenly appeared beside him.
Even though he'd half expected it, Akashi still jumped in surprise and blurted out a very elegant exclamation,
"Holy sh!"
"Long time no see, Akashi-kun," Kuroko greeted politely.
"Ah… yeah, long time no see. Your lack of presence is still as magical as ever. You really gave our team trouble back in middle school."
"You flatter me."
Man, after dealing with all those lunatics from the Generation of Miracles, running into someone actually normal feels… weird.
Trying to shake off the awkwardness, Akashi changed the subject. "So, what are all of you doing here anyway? Don't tell me you're planning to train at this hour."
He glanced at the sky outside. Summer was approaching, and sunset was getting later each day. Though it wasn't completely dark yet, it was already getting late.
At his question, awkward expressions instantly appeared on everyone's faces.
"Well… actually, about that…"
After Hyuga Junpei's explanation, Akashi finally understood, Seirin wasn't here to train. They'd gathered to help Kagami catch up on his studies.
Once he heard that, Akashi immediately got the picture.
After all, Seiho had just gone through something similar. The final-round matches were set to begin in a week, but before that, every high schooler had to face a monthly challenge, the dreaded Academic Proficiency Test.
At Seiho, one of Tokyo's top preparatory schools, students generally had strong grades, but the academic standards were just as high.
Seirin was no different.
Seiho would be holding its weekend make-up sessions at the same time as the final-round games.
And the criteria for being sent to those make-up classes wasn't about failing scores, it was purely ranking-based.
In other words, with around 350 students per grade, anyone who ranked in the bottom 150 would be forcibly enrolled in the remedial sessions.
Naturally, Akashi Asuka had nothing to worry about, but the same couldn't be said for his teammates.
"So that's how it is, huh?"
After listening to their explanation, Akashi sighed regretfully, then walked over to Kagami and patted him on the shoulder.
"What a shame. I was actually looking forward to playing a match with you. But now it seems…" He shook his head with a teasing smile. "Ahh, what a pity, what a pity."
His casual remark struck Kagami right in the gut.
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?! Get back here, you jerk!"
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