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Chapter 34

Every year, the Inter-High Championship is held to determine who the best at high school basketball is. The venue changes annually as well, but the tournament always has a fair turn out of fans the gymnasiums are close to being packed. However, this year, with Teikou's famous Generation of Miracles participating but each for different schools, many expect it to be a tournament that one must not miss.

Since there are three hundred schools participating, the tournament is thus separated into five rounds before the quarter finals. Which means, before a team can reach the top eight, they must play a total of five matches.

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Finally, it was the day of the Inter-High Tournament. A flood of people could be seen walking in the gymnasium while hundreds more were already seated. Inside, chatter and laughter were rampant in the air due to people conversing, but more so, everyone could clearly see the happiness on the players' faces.

Seirin was no exception. For the Senpai, they were the most excited, as last year; they hadn't managed to get into the leagues. This time, they were determined to make it to the finals…this time; they hoped ― wished that Kaijou would be their opponent then.

For the Blue Elites, they were in the same boat as Seirin. Kasamatsu was almost tearing up, remembering what happened in his second year. Vowing to himself to never let that happen again, he was going to make Kaijou champions…even if it killed him.

"Senpai, there's no need to be so stiff." Kuroko said, placing a hand on the captain's shoulder. "Relax; it's just the opening ceremony."

Kasamatsu sighed. "Yeah, you're right."

"Good day everyone." The two looked up to see a man, dressed in a suit that had a joyous look on his face speak into the microphone. "Thank you all for turning out today. This year, Inter-High is bound to be a spectacle as…"

"Who's that guy?" Kuroko asked Kasamatsu, totally tuning him out.

"He's the chairman. He's the one who's responsible for getting Inter-High in order."

"Oh." Kuroko then looked around to see if he could spot Seirin. The teams were grouped in their prefecture, and Kanagawa's teams were right beside Tokyo's. However, Kaijou was the first place Kanagawa team, followed by two others. Add to that, Seirin was second in Tokyo…there's no way he'd be able to spot them that easily. Kise, worse.

He then turned his attention back to the stage and the chairman as the audience had riled up.

"And now Inter-High officially begins!"

Colourful lights flashed, and music played. The teams then slowly mobilized off the court, Kaijou walking up to the stands to get a view of the first match since their match wasn't until five o'clock this evening.

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"I can't believe that we're here," Koganei said, still in awe. "We actually made it." He was sitting on one of the benches in their dressing room, leaning his back on his locker.

"Well, this is just the tip of the iceberg." Izuki said.

"Man, I can't wait to play." Kagami said as he spun a basketball on his index.

"Aren't you eager?" Kise joked.

"Of course! I really want to put that Aomine bastard in his place!"

Upon hearing Aomine's name, the temperature seemed to drop.

"You really are a Bakagami." Kise chuckled as he rose up off the locker.

"What?! You little ―"

"Kagamicchi, this is Inter-High. Not only is there a chance that we may face Aominecchi, but the other miracles as well. Plus, there are other schools with teams that may give us a hell of a time. Remember Seiho?" Kise paused, letting that question sink in. He then continued. "Did they have a miracle on their team? No, they did not. Did they give us a hard time? Yes they did. So, if we should have it in our heads that Aominecchi is who we should look out for, then we'll be confessing butt-naked."

"Yeah, you're right." Kagami reasoned.

"Plus," Kise continued. "Aominecchi is the least of our problems. The player, no, the team that will drag us into the pits of hell won't be Touou or Yosen or even Rakuzan. I think it will be Kaijou. Tetsucchi is fucking dangerous."

No one said anything after that. They knew that what Kise said was right. They haven't seen Kuroko in an official match as yet, but judging by how Kaijou played against Shutoku at the camp and remembering when Kuroko assisted them in stopping Touou in the leagues, Riko knew that he was a force that they shouldn't take lightly.

"That's right!" Hyuuga shouted, getting pumped up. "Every one of those teams out there is in the top three of their region! With every match, we're going to go out there, put Coach, Kise and Kuroko's training to good use and play like our lives depend on it!" he shouted. "And when we get a match-up against Kaijou, we're going to put our hearts and souls into it!"

"Yeah!" the others chorused.

"Don't forget! Our social and high school lives are at stake!" Kise joined in the shouting. "If we lose, we're going to confess naked! As men, we need to preserve our manliness for that special person! So, let's win this tournament!"

"Yeah!"

"Glad you remember Kise-kun!" Riko smiled. "So you know what you must do! Go out there and show those teams just what we can do!" She shouted. "Seirin FIGHT!"

"YEAH!"

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Kaijou managed to secure seats amidst the crowd, as none of the boys wanted to stand for the whole forty minutes. In one row, there were Matsumoto, Shinohara, Kobori, Nakamura and Hayakawa seated in that order from left to right. In front of them were Moriyama, Kasamatsu, Kuroko and Takeuchi.

"Who are Seirin up against?" Nakamura asked. He was seated behind Kuroko.

"Osaka Prefectural." Kuroko answered.

"They aren't that well known for their basketball, but to make it here means that they've got some power going on for them." Takeuchi said.

"Indeed, but compared to Seirin's offensive power, Osaka doesn't stand a chance once they start their run and gun." Kuroko couldn't help but grin. "This match is Seirin's."

The moment he said that, the two teams then entered the court. The audience went into a frenzy as many persons had heard about the Seirin vs. Touou match. Within a minute or two, the starters were already changed into their jersey and headed out onto the court.

"Wait, Kagami and…" Kasamatsu paused and then looked at Takeuchi. "…'Kuroko' aren't starting?"

"Nope," Kuroko answered. "There really isn't a need for them to."

The two teams then lined up facing each other; Seirin's starters were Hyuuga, Izuki, Kiyoshi, Koganei and Tsuchida. Osaka's starters' build were similar to Seirin's, number Nine was centre and he was a couple centimetres shorter than Kiyoshi but he was just as wide. Their captain was a shooting guard like Hyuuga, but of the videos that Kuroko watched, he's nowhere near Hyuuga's level. Their point guard wore number Six, however, he was abnormally tall; he towered over Izuki but the eagle eyed boy was never intimidated by his presence. Osaka's small forward lived up to his name, he was the shortest of all the players present and wore number Seven, while their power forward has a similar frame to that of Kise's original body. He wore the number Five jersey.

"Let the first match of Round one between Seirin High and Osaka Prefectural High begin!"

"Let's play a good game!" they chorused.

The referee then threw the ball into air, both Kiyoshi and Nine facing for the tip off.

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Izuki passed the ball to Hyuuga who was already waiting by the three point line.

"Nice pass Izuki!" He shouted. He then went to sink a perfect three, and as the ball made it through the net, the buzzer sounded.

Osaka's players looked distraught, and almost automatically their eyes drifted over to Seirin's bench, where Kagami and Kise were seated.

"Game over!" the referee announced. "One hundred and twenty to forty-three, Seirin!"

"Thank you very much!"

Both teams then made their way to their benches, where they took up their belongings and headed off to their dressing rooms. Even up in the audience, Kaijou could feel the happiness radiating from Seirin.

"They're pretty good," Takeuchi started. "And their duo didn't even play. They'll be a threat if we should face them."

"If?" Kuroko said. "Coach, you're mistaken right there."

"Those resilient bastards won't go down until they face us." Kasamatsu added with a grin. When Takeuchi looked at his boys, he noticed that they all had a savage grin that he's never seen (except Shinohara and Matsumoto).

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"Yay! We've made it to the second Round!" Koganei cheered.

"Now all we have to do is wait to see who our opponent will be." Tsuchida said.

They were all sitting on the benches, eating honey-soaked lemons. Strangely, the Senpai who played didn't feel that exhausted. Riko noticed this, and made a mental note of this. Training worked. She looked at her boys, but then noticed that Kagami and Kise were quiet. When her eyes locked onto the two, she saw Kise happily nibbling on his lemons with a serene smile on his face, while Kagami was beside him, looking a bit peeved and seemed to be grumbling something.

"Kagami-kun, what's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing," he mumbled.

"He really wants to play." Kise answered for him.

"Kise you bastard!" the redhead barked. He made an attempt to grab his blue hair but Kise swiftly avoided his huge hands.

The entire dressing room erupted in laughter, seeing the two and their antics, reminded them of the training camp. However, they all knew that come later this week, more so next week, it's going to be hell.

Thank you for reading! This chapter wasn't much as you know, writing games aren't easy! But fear not! The intense matches are coming up! Don't forget to leave a review!