"Hey, Aomine, you're way too late."
Atsushi Murasakibara sat on a stool, his tone carrying a hint of grievance.
Since Daiki Aomine hadn't arrived yet, Miyamoto Tokima hadn't allowed Atsushi Murasakibara to start eating.
"Sorry I'm late."
Daiki Aomine rushed into the restaurant, panting.
Miyamoto Tokima, seated beside Satsuki Momoi, smiled and said,
"You're not late. Akashi and the others just got here too. Come on over."
Daiki Aomine nodded and walked over to sit next to Shintaro Midorima.
Once Daiki Aomine sat down, Atsushi Murasakibara turned to Miyamoto Tokima and asked,
"Miyamoto, can we eat now?"
Miyamoto Tokima nodded.
"Since everyone's here, let's start."
"Awesome!"
Atsushi Murasakibara immediately lit up and began devouring the food on the table. Miyamoto Tokima watched with a smile.
Everyone ate together happily, chatting about interesting moments from the court. During the meal, Shintaro Midorima casually brought up something from earlier that evening.
"By the way, Miyamoto… do you know that person?"
Miyamoto Tokima swallowed his food and asked,
"Who?"
Atsushi Murasakibara spoke with his mouth full, his words muffled.
"You know, that guy from the Third Team."
Shintaro Midorima nodded.
As soon as Miyamoto Tokima heard "Third Team," he understood who they were talking about.
'Looks like Tetsuya already talked with Akashi.'
Thinking this, Miyamoto Tokima nodded and said,
"You mean Tetsuya, right? I know him. What about him?"
Seijuro Akashi explained calmly,
"It's nothing serious. I just spoke with him today. Whether he can change depends on him."
Miyamoto Tokima nodded.
"I see."
"Miyamoto, I'm still hungry."
Atsushi Murasakibara suddenly interrupted the conversation.
Miyamoto Tokima laughed helplessly and called the waiter to order more dishes.
With the topic interrupted, no one continued that line of conversation. Instead, they talked about other things while finishing their meal.
After dinner, Miyamoto Tokima walked home with Satsuki Momoi and Daiki Aomine, while the others each headed back to their own homes.
After safely seeing Satsuki Momoi home, Miyamoto Tokima returned to his house.
When he opened the door, he found his father in the middle of a phone call.
"Is it urgent? … Can't you stay a few more years? … I understand. I'll talk about it when the time comes…"
Seeing his father deeply engaged in the call, Miyamoto Tokima didn't interrupt. He took a shower and then lay down on his bed to rest.
After hanging up, Miyamoto Tokima's father glanced toward his son's room and sighed quietly.
...
Five days passed in the blink of an eye, and the remaining preliminary matches arrived.
Miyamoto Tokima and the others arrived at the venue.
"They're here! It's Teikō!"
"As expected of Teikō, their presence is overwhelming."
"Yeah, that aura is terrifying."
"Ah! Miyamoto-sama! I want to have your children!"
After several matches, Miyamoto Tokima and the others had gained quite a bit of fame. Everyone knew Teikō had several monstrous first-years—especially the five first-years on the starting lineup, whose strength was downright frightening.
The team remained calm. With experience from previous games, scenes like this no longer made them nervous.
They entered the locker room, changed, and began warming up.
After warm-ups, Teikō's starting lineup was the same as always: Atsushi Murasakibara, Daiki Aomine, Miyamoto Tokima, Shintaro Midorima, and Seijuro Akashi.
Because of his father's situation, Shuzo Nijimura only appeared for especially important matches and spent most of his time accompanying him. As a result, he didn't come to this game either.
Even without him, Teikō dominated completely—the opponents were simply far too weak.
By midway through the second quarter, the score difference had already exceeded thirty points. The opposing players gave up entirely, running back-and-forth drills on the court instead.
Seeing this, the coach subbed out Miyamoto Tokima and the rest of the starters, sending in Shogo Haizaki and four substitutes.
"This is so boring. Opponents like this just don't get me fired up at all."
Daiki Aomine complained lazily from the bench.
Shintaro Midorima took a sip of water and reminded him,
"Aomine, don't get too full of yourself."
"Yeah, yeah."
Daiki Aomine waved it off.
It wasn't arrogance—he was simply bored.
With the starters off the court, Shogo Haizaki finally got plenty of playing time. He relentlessly used the opponents' own techniques against them, completely shattering their mental state.
In the end, the opposing team stood around doing nothing as the game concluded. Teikō won by a full fifty points, making it clear to everyone that even Teikō's bench players were not to be underestimated.
After this match, only one preliminary game remained.
The final preliminary match was scheduled for seven days later, as the remaining teams would battle it out for spots in the national tournament.
Teikō, having gone undefeated, had already secured qualification.
The team returned to training.
Four days passed, leaving three days until the final match.
Inside the Teikō basketball club…
Miyamoto Tokima was taking it easy during practice, while Seijuro Akashi stood on the other side of the court talking with others.
Suddenly, a first-team player ran in and said,
"Akashi, someone's here to see you."
A slender figure entered the gym—it was Tetsuya Kuroko.
Seeing Kuroko, Seijuro Akashi smiled faintly.
"It's been a week, Kuroko. Have you found your answer?"
Tetsuya Kuroko nodded.
"Yes."
Akashi replied softly,
"Then let's test it."
He turned to leave, but Kuroko stopped him.
"Um… if possible, could we test it through an actual game?"
Akashi paused to think, then walked over to Shuzo Nijimura, who was dribbling nearby.
"Nijimura-senpai."
Shuzo Nijimura turned around in confusion.
Akashi gestured toward Kuroko.
"That's the person I mentioned before."
Shuzo Nijimura followed his gaze.
"Oh? So that's him."
Miyamoto Tokima had overheard their conversation. He stood up and walked over. When he saw Kuroko at the doorway, he paused in surprise for a moment, then smiled.
"You're here, Tetsuya."
...
(40 Chapters Ahead)
p@treon com / GhostParser