June 13th.
Saturday.
The Tokyo regional finals of the Summer National Tournament, the four-team, three-spot round-robin, had officially begun.
According to the match schedule, Seiho's first opponent was none other than Seirin.
As both teams bowed to each other before the game, Akashi Asuka immediately noticed Kagami Taiga glaring at him from across the court.
Damn bastard! How dare he look down on me! Just wait, I'm gonna crush you today!
Kagami's furious attitude left the Seiho players completely baffled.
They exchanged looks, then turned toward Akashi.
"Akashi, do you know that guy?"
"Ah~~ we've met once," Akashi admitted with a nod.
"What did you do to him? He looks like he wants to kill you," Kasuga Ryuhei asked, puzzled. From the look on Kagami's face, it seemed like Akashi had beaten him up or something.
"Hmm… I don't think I did anything?" Akashi tilted his head thoughtfully, then added, "Maybe it's because of his grades. I might've said something that he misunderstood."
"His… grades…"
At that, the entire Seiho team fell silent in unspoken understanding.
When the pregame rituals were done, bows, handshakes, and all, both teams returned to their courts to warm up. But just as Seirin was about to turn and leave, Kasuga suddenly called out:
"Hey, uh… you're Kagami, right?"
Kagami turned around. "Yeah, that's me. What's up?"
"Nothing major. I just wanted to give you a bit of advice," Kasuga said with a mild smile. "If you want to beat Akashi in basketball, that's fine. But when it comes to academics… I'd suggest you don't even try to compare."
"Huh? And why not?"
"Well, it's not really about why not," Kasuga said, scratching his head awkwardly. "It's just that the difficulty level's way too high. During the last proficiency test, Akashi ranked first in his entire year, and forty-eighth in all of Tokyo. So if you think you can top that, then… good luck!"
With a casual wave, Kasuga turned and walked off.
Behind him, Kagami stood frozen in place, along with the entire Seirin team who had been eavesdropping. Every one of them looked like a statue.
============
Fifteen minutes later.
Warm-ups finished. The match began.
Both teams stood at center court, ready for the tip-off. But before the whistle even blew, Seiho's players noticed something strange.
When they'd bowed earlier, Seirin's players had all been blazing with energy and fighting spirit.
Yet now, just ten minutes later, they looked utterly deflated, like withered autumn grass.
"What's wrong with Seirin?"
"Who knows? Maybe they're just… overwhelmed by sheer IQ," Kasuga said dryly after glancing at the other side.
BEEP!
The referee's whistle echoed. The ball was tossed high into the air, Akashi Asuka and Kagami Taiga both leapt at once.
PAH!
Akashi's hand reached higher, by more than a full palm's length, snatching the opening tip and securing Seiho's first possession.
"So high! Even in terms of vertical reach, Kagami can't match him?!"
On the sidelines, Aida Riko's eyes widened in shock. Even though her "Data Eye" had already warned her that Akashi's physical stats were monstrous, seeing it with her own eyes was still astonishing.
Kasuga took control of the ball and dribbled past half court.
"Alright, let's take it slow and steady, score one point at a time…"
BOOM!
Before he could even finish the sentence, a ghostly figure appeared out of nowhere, swat!, stealing the ball cleanly. Kagami instantly bolted toward Seiho's basket, launching a fast break.
"What the hell?!" Kasuga yelped.
So this is what it feels like to face him in person… he's unreal!
Before the match, Akashi had already warned his teammates about Kuroko Tetsuya's unique playstyle. But only now did Seiho truly understand what it meant to face the "Phantom Sixth Man."
Kagami stormed into the paint, leapt high, and raised the ball for a ferocious dunk, striking first blood.
But in the split second before the ball could reach the rim,
A massive shadow loomed from behind.
Before Kagami could react, a large hand came down from above. SMACK!
"Wha?!"
Kagami's pupils contracted in disbelief.
When he landed, he finally saw it, the towering figure that had appeared behind him at some point.
"To score against Seiho isn't going to be that easy, Kagami!"
The one who'd blocked him was Akashi Asuka himself. Seiho quickly seized the rebound, launching a swift counterattack, and, with Kagami momentarily out of position, easily scored the first basket of the game.
2–0.
============
"As expected of him… his jumping power, strength, and speed, all incredible. There's not even a trace of the sluggishness you usually see in players with large builds. Compared to him, 'Papa's' physical condition looks like that of a toddler next to an adult."
From the sidelines, Riko silently analyzed Akashi and the entire Seiho team using her "Data Eye."
The "Papa" she referred to wasn't her own father, but rather a player they'd faced earlier.
Papa Mbaye Siki.
A foreign exchange player, two meters tall, who had been Seirin's first opponent in the preliminaries.
Though his technical skills were average, his sheer height had caused Seirin plenty of trouble back then.
But the opponent they faced now, Akashi Asuka, surpassed Papa in every aspect: physique, skill, even height.
Seirin had spent a lot of time preparing tactics specifically to deal with him.
"It's all up to you now, Kagami…"
Riko's gaze locked onto Kagami on the court. In their strategy to counter Akashi, Kagami was the most crucial piece.
But a moment later,
Her eyes widened in shock.
Because the player currently marking Kagami wasn't Akashi Asuka at all,
It was another Seiho player, a bald-headed boy she hadn't expected to see in that matchup…
=============
108+ Advance Chapters Available on Patreon.com/Veltoria
100 Power Stones = Bonus Chapter
Add to Library to support