Prologue Chapter – The Blue Ace's Introduction
"The only one who can defeat me is me."
Aomine Daiki stood in the empty basketball court, bathed in blue moonlight. His eyes were closed, and he took a deep breath, with his grip on the basketball that he has been playing with for so long tightened. He searched within himself for the answer to the question that has plagued him since last year's Winter Cup Tournament: What is he playing this damn game for?
Ever since he was a child, his skills with this sport has always been exceptional, with his level at its peak two years ago in Teiko Middle School, and because of that, he was labelled as the ace of the Generation of Miracles, a basketball team for that school that possess incredible – no, unfathomable skill that could literally put most high school basketball teams to shame. However, Aomine was described as having limitless potential, even when compared to the rest of the Miracles, for his natural agility transcends the rest, and he even being profiled as a player that could literally score from anywhere on the court he wanted with his formless shots, and last but not least, having an unchanging pace and unpredictable play style that utilised street basketball skills. As such, he believed that no one could ever beat him after his talent blossomed back then, where he single-handedly crushed countless players. A true testament to his skills was that fact that he hardly practised even after coming to high school, meaning that his abilities were slightly above middle school level, and yet he could overpower strong players effortlessly. Finally, he could access the ZONE, a state of intense concentration which the "chosen" – exceptionally strong players with an intense passion for their sport – could enter whenever he willed it even though this state occurs randomly without warning. As a result, whenever he defeats people who dares challenge him, he would always say "The only one who can defeat me is me.", although deep down, even if he would not admit it due his arrogance, he truly wishes for a strong opponent.
However, everything changed last year, when he was defeated by former teammate and phantom member of the Generation of Miracles Kuroko Tetsuya, along with his Seirin's ace Kagami Taiga during the Winter Cup's first round. In that fateful game, even Aomine was truly shocked at Kagami's improvement from the previous Summer Interhigh game where he crushed him completely, and as a result, Aomine even entered ZONE to truly finally fight a "worthy opponent". It was a close game of 100-101, where Too Academy lost to Seirin High, and this was truly a wakeup call for Aomine to start practicing basketball seriously again. Ever since then, he started to practice intensely during training, which his already masterful skills continue to sharpen.
"That's right… I'm playing… to find a worthy opponent", Aomine mumbled, "Because that's what makes it truly entertaining…" Now, months later, it was time for the Summer Interhigh again, and when he saw the team matchups, he could not believe his eyes: Too Academy vs Rakuzan High, which meant he would be facing off against his former captain, Akashi Seijuuro. To be honest, even back in Teiko, Aomine could not truly identify which one of them is stronger, although it was agreed that these two players were definitely the strongest out of the Generation of Miracles. He did not see eye-to-eye with Akashi back then, due to rebellious nature and arrogant attitude, but to suddenly pitch them together, this might truly be a chance to find out who's stronger: The emperor, or the Ace.
With such an exciting thought in mind, Aomine smiled and opened his eyes. He would not leave this game to chance this time. With that, blue streaks of lightning flashed from his eyes as he agilely dribbled to the hoop, and slammed the basketball in.
Prologue Chapter – The Red Emperor's Introduction
"Victory is everything in this world. The victory is acknowledged, and the vanquished is disavowed. Because I am victorious overall, I am always the just."
Akashi opened his eyes. He just had a dream of his match against Seirin High last year, where he lost against them. He got up from his bed and looked at the time. "3:00 AM, huh?" He mumbled, before falling back to his pillow. Ever since he found out about his first match against former Ace of the Generation of Miracles, he could not sleep well. Was it the excitement of facing his former teammate, or something else? It's not you, a voice spoke, it's more of me, and I want to fight him. Akashi frowned, but said nothing. He knew he could not fully suppress the other "him", and because of that he felt disconcerted. He closed his eyes, although from time to time, he would keep hearing that voice over and over again.
The other "me", yes, I won't deny it, there is in fact two of us, although you probably can't tell the difference between us. It all started back in Teiko Middle School, no actually way before that. Teiko was simply the trigger for my first true interaction with the real world. Before we go any further, allow me tell you abit about myself. My name is Akashi Seijuuro, the only child of the Akashi Family. My family's motto is "Perfect is everything for an Akashi", which was strictly emphasised by my father. As a result, my childhood wasn't exactly like a child's. Back then, I would spend most of my time revising my work to achieve the perfect scores I was meant to achieve, as well as practice my violin, a "hobby" that is required when you are of a certain social position to look better in society. "Perfection…" That was my father's firm belief, and I was trapped within his grasp for a long time. Back then, my only escape from the cruel reality was basketball, something I felt I could truly better myself with as well as relieve my pent-up stress, and my mother, who was the only person I could latch onto for support. Because of her, she would often convince my father to lessen the workload, and try to make me happy whenever she could. However, everything changed when she died. I couldn't remember it much now, but I must have broke, and my reality crumbled into dust. It was got to me: the stress… the pain…, and the perfectionist attitude even got into my basketball, where a part of me would never be satisfied no matter how good I was.
Then, in Teiko Middle School, I became part of the Generation of Miracles, which made me truly happy as I could find people to mix with and be real friends with. Again, my life took a full turn then as well when in our second year, talents from different members started to blossom, in which Aomine Daiki was the first. The team started to become shaky, as the foundations that we were standing started to grow weak. We were simply getting too strong for our own good. Also, presence of members such as Haizaki, a talented but yet slacker basketball player, challenged my values on choosing between what's right and what's best. Then, an opening came before my eyes. One of the Miracles Atsushi Murasakibara challenged me to a One-on-One as he wanted to skip practices after noticing Aomine's arrogant attitude, and for the first time in my life, I was losing. Akashi Seijuuro, the perfectionist, was losing? Impossible… Never… and he cracked. So, I took my chance and came out. I had the ability "Emperor Eye", which could predict an opponent's next move by analysing their movements with extreme precision, and with it I defeated Atsushi 5-4. And then… but wait, you know the story already right? I suffered another defeat, now by a truly talented player called Kagami Taiga, and former phantom member of the Generation of Miracle Kuroko Tetsuya, and my other-self regained control. Rakuzan High lost to Seirin High at the finals, a truly regretful event. Was it perhaps Karma? For my own actions? For simply wanting Perfection? Perhaps so. But I quickly regained my motivation when I found out I would be playing against Daiki this year. After all, out of all the Generation of Miracles, he was the one that I really wanted to face. In fact, during last year's Summer Interhigh, I might have played if Daiki was playing as well, although my overwhelming team could crush them easily. Oh? I must be getting ahead of myself now, but I am really excited for the match that I could not stop bothering my other me. But until then, I guess I'd have to hold it in, huh?