Extra Chapter II: Idiots Can't Win Part 2.0

Synopsis: After the 104 – 110 narrow loss to Rakuzan at the Interhigh finals, Kamijou Touma and the rest of the team was immediately training harder in preparation for the upcoming Winter Cup starting in December. But amidst their hard preparation and practices, they suddenly stumbled upon a familiar yet very hard roadblock in their quest for a Winter Cup 2-peat.

In its three years of existence, Seirin was a new school but it was also a new private high school with pretty high standard. Although not as high as Rakuzan but it was a school enlisting only those who can pass the entrance exam. On the other hand, it was pretty lax in regulation and rules, for part-time jobs and club activities, which was the reason why it had so many sport and cultural clubs in its first three years of operation. However when it came academic, it was very frankly strict. It's fair to say that it was at least much stricter than Touou High School, where a certain tanned ace goes to and plays for.

In other words, this was a school gave reasonable freedom to their students as long as their grades were satisfactory. Considering the standard of the school, Fukiyose Seiri was somehow relieved of it because there was no way her parents would allow her to attend a school other than a certain high school in Academy City. It's not like she enjoys how her family interferes in her personal life, including her intake of health products, as well their own standard that they're expecting but she supposed it couldn't be helped. Seirin was no Nagatenjouki or Kirigaoka (which is quite understandable since the young school isn't even located in Academy City) but at least, the institution was good enough for her family to keep their mouths shut. She guessed the fact that the crisis in Academy City just some months back helped too.

However, she didn't expect the preliminary test of the school to be a hurdle for the basketball club where she works as a manager.

Or rather, a hurdle for certain someone her team depended on.

"You three had somehow passes the test although it would be nice if you score at least a bit higher than the current." Fukiyose was checking the scores of the second year trio in Furihata, Kawahara, and Fukuda. "I guess I can leave you on your own device to review your study and feel free to come to me if you need assistance." The Forehead Deluxe offered generously to the three who nodded in gratitude. "For mathematics, you can go to me or Izuki-senpai, Mitobe-senpai for science, Hyuga-senpai for social studies and history, and Tsuchida-senpai or me for English. If you're free, I can tutor all of you."

After checking the papers of Asahina and Yagi and returning their papers to the respective owners, Fukiyose and head coach Aida Riko, as well as the Seirin seniors, turned their attention towards their other second year trio which happened to be the team's offensive core as well as the shock force as it even included the (supposed) captain of the team.

"Sup…" The Seirin ace and power forward, Kagami Taiga, looked nonchalant.

"Hello." The passing specialist and former sixth man of the Generation of Miracles, Kuroko Tetsuya, greeted rather politely.

And last but not the least…

"Do we really have to do this?" The newly-appointed captain and Falcon Eyed-point guard, Kamijou Touma, sighed as he holds his test papers.

"Great, the three players who are the least predictable…" Hyuga sighed to himself. "But the future of Seirin basketball rests on the three of them."

"Kamijou-kun, even though you're the captain, as the seniors, we still had to check your grades as insurance." Aida was weary but she had to do it. "After all, each grade has 300 students and they'll be ranked. The bottom 100 would be forced to take remedial exams and possibly, they would be suspended from their clubs."

"Hai, hai…" Kamijou sighed as he scratched his head.

After that, the seniors and Fukiyose first decided to scan the papers of their captain since he's the captain, after all, so it would be embarrassing if he had poor grades.

Science: 51

English: 49

Math: 61

Social Studies: 70

Japanese: 93

Rank: 105/308

"Well…Touma…it wasn't bad at all but…" Fukiyose was sweating hard as she particularly took noticed of the English test. "Well, somehow I understand that you're not that really good in English so I'll help you study."

"Th-Thanks…" Kamijou was stuttering while his face was deep pink at the thought that a girl other than the useless Index or the violent Misaka was going to help him.

Next, they scanned Kuroko's tests.

Science: 66

English: 49

Math: 56

Social Studies: 90

Japanese: 95

Rank: 90/308

As usual, it's so average. All the seniors grimaced mentally.

"But he got two ninety+ scores which should be good enough." Fukiyose said as she also took note of his English test. "But like this idiot Touma here, Kuroko also needs to improve his English subject."

The next student to be grilled was somehow quiet as the seniors inwardly prayed while they accepted the papers Kagami handed to them, gulping as they eyes drifted upward to see the scores. It took only a few seconds for them to begin screaming outrages and invectives that echoed through the gym the moment they laid their eyes on the scores.

Science: 8

English: 45

Math: 0

Social Studies: 10

Japanese: 5

Rank: 306/308

Fukiyose felt her head beginning to explode the moment her eyes landed upon the English test. Wasn't he supposed to be a returnee from America?! Prior to this, she always held the belief that his boyfriend, Tsuchimikado, and Aogami were the worst in terms of academics and they themselves had pretty amazing scores back in their school. But at the very least, the three of them managed to reach it to double digits for all their subjects. But this one…

"Oi Kuroko!" Hyuga suddenly shouted at the tealnette. "What happened to that pencil that Midorima gave you last year? Is it non-functioning now because of this idiot's overly-moronic brain?"

"Actually…" Kuroko raised his right hand as he explains. "Midorima-kun took it back the moment he heard that Kagami-kun used it. If I'm not mistaken, his own pencil was broken by Takao-kun so that's the reason why he demanded it for its return."

"Well…that explains Kagami-kun's very bad grades…" Aida sighed as she waves the papers. "After all, Bakagami's an idiot…"

"Who are you calling a—" Kagami tried to complain but he was shut closed by Hyuga, who landed a hard fist on his scalp. As Kagami groaned in pain, their coach can feel her head beginning to ache as they all examine the answers of their resident idiot.

Tsuchida waved Kagami's Social Studies examination. "Maybe you're lucky that you still managed to make this at least in double digits." He commented out loud. "This is kinda amazing on its own."

Fukiyose's vein began to twitch as she was scanning the answers. "I was informed that you're an idiot but I didn't expect him to be this stupid…"

Koganei piped in, "It's amazing how bad your score is, especially in Mathematics."

Mitobe reread Kagami's answers for Science examinations. For someone with the best marks in the subject, Mitobe couldn't comprehend how Kagami didn't even manage to get double digit. Some of the questions he got wrong were actually easy that even middle school student could answer it.

"And why did you still fail English! That's the last subject we expect you to fail! You live in America for most of your life until last year!" Izuki shrieked without any puns. "At least get a minimum score to pass! Is fifty points is too much?!" The Eagle Eyed point guard and Hyuga roared, waving Kagami's English test paper.

Actually, Kamijou could believe that even a home-grown Japanese student still could get bad marks in Japanese language. Even if someone was fluent in speaking a language, that didn't automatically that mean you can score well in grammar. But nevertheless, Kagami lived half of his life in California and he couldn't even get a passing mark?

"Argh! Who cares about grammar?! Japanese English is too damned formal!" Kagami scowled, pouting childishly. "I'll be fine as long as they understand me!"

"Don't argue with us, Bakagami!" Aida roared as she proceeds to kick Kagami in the face repeatedly. While their coach was constantly committing physical abuse to their ace, Hyuga was shaking his head as he checks the paper of their power forward.

"Seems like we had a lot to do to help Kagami study." Kiyoshi smiled as he tried to lighten up the mood.

"Idiot. Your smile won't help us with the current situation that we're facing now, especially since we had to bounce back from our finals loss against Rakuzan." Hyuga seemed to enter his Clutch Mode manner as his aura had changed drastically.

"We have to form a special tutor squad to combat his idiocy!" Hyuga yelled with gusto.

Kagami scowled as he didn't want another sleepless session. "Who cares about test if I can play basketball just fi…"

The redhead never got to finish his sentence as their coach strangled him angrily while further stomping him in the floor. "Even if an idiot can play basketball, the idiot can't win!"

"Kagami-kun, fail the preliminaries and you know that you can get banned from the club." Kuroko sighed at his partner's ignorance of their school's policies.

"Guys…I actually had someone I know who can teach Kagami." Everyone in the gymnasium turned towards Kamijou, who calmly raised his hand. "If you allow me as the captain, then I can get her for our ace's needs."

"Her? Who's she?" Fukiyose raised her eyebrows, looking like she wanted to kill whoever that person the spiky haired boy is talking about.

"Don't worry." Kamijou reassured her. "She's someone you probably know if you're always on track on your power level once. "We can leave it to her once our Bakagami has started under her so that you won't have to tire out yourself."

"Even you are calling me a Bakagami now!" Kagami exasperated.

"Well…you are an idiot…"

"So let me get this straight, you only called me here because your so-called ace of the team is having difficulty in his grades?"

Kamijou laughed nervously as an incensed Misaka Mikoto was standing in the front door of the studio apartment where Fukiyose is residing. It's just some blocks away from the houses of the spiky haired boy and Kuroko which means that they can actually meet up in their street at an early morning so the three can walk together towards the school.

"You're smarter than me, Misaka." Kamijou sighed as he clutched his duffel bag. "Besides, I had other things to take care off as well so good luck with him."

"H-Hey! You're just going to leave me here with them, you idiot?!" Misaka slightly panicked at the sight of the Seirin seniors and Kagami all eyeing her with intensity.

"Uh…good luck and have fun." Kamijou waved his hand as he was already exiting the door. "I'll be back shortly. We'll just have to take care of something." As Kamijou had disappeared behind door, Misaka stood in the living room of the studio apartment looking like a fool at how she was just left hanging in the air.

Feeling a bit irritated and bitter at the same time, Misaka turned around just in time to see Hyuga already starting to tutor him on History. Left with no choice, she calmly joined the special team dubbed as the "Teach Bakagami's Brain Tutor Squad" and quickly, she sat beside the taller Kagami, who only cringed upon seeing her.

"Wh-Why is this Biri-Biri here?!" The power forward shrieked unmanly as he almost fell in his back.

"That idiot asked me to teach you…" Misaka was taking all of her willpower in suppressing her urge to zap the redhead.

"Teach me?! You're a middle schooler, right?!" Kagami responded in an agitated way.

"Don't make me zap you now…" Misaka growled in a low voice as she showed her sparks as a warning, causing Kagami to flinch back in fear as he shut his mouth. Thank goodness that Misaka-san is here. Aida was relieved that she didn't need to get much stressed just to keep their resident idiot quiet. A few sparks from the Tokiwadai ace is enough to keep the power forward grounded to his butt.

Meanwhile, Kamijou and Fukiyose were both walking towards a nearby mall as the night began to descend towards the horizon. It turned out that before they were dismissed (and the spiky haired boy called the Railgun), the Forehead Deluxe was asked to buy some powdered sports juice for the next day's practice session so she had to go out. And in that processed, she asked Kamijou to accompany her and the boy didn't let her down as they both proceeded to go to the mall.

As they were nearing the establishment, Kamijou suddenly yawned as he let out a mournful voice. "Losing sucks since we gave it all we had."

"It's not like the other team didn't gave their best." Fukiyose slightly understands what the boy is saying since she witnessed it herself from the bench. "But it just happened that it went Akashi's way. That and the fact that Rakuzan had prepared very well for that final game is a reason why we didn't win. But it's not like all is lost."

"I guess you got a point." Kamijou felt better as they entered the mall. "But without Kagami, our frontline would get thinner and it's not like Kiyoshi-senpai could hold down the inside all by himself in a forty-minute game and Yagi is too inexperienced. You saw it when he got pushed back by Nebuya."

"He's just a freshman. You can't expect him to perform in the level of you three and the seniors." Fukiyose sighed as she began to scan the shelves for powdered supplements. "Give him another year and proper training and he'll at least block half of your shots."

Fukiyose, can't you at least make it euphemistic?

After buying at least five packs of powdered drinks, Fukiyose paid them using the money given to them by the Seirin's treasury department and after purchasing it, the two of them immediately left the supermarket section of the mall. Along the way, they spotted a cotton candy stand and the boy decided to purchase two treats for the two of them so they stopped for the moment. As they were waiting for their cotton candy to be prepared, they heard three familiar voiced coming towards them.

"Kami-yan!"

"Kami-yan and Fukiyose-sama!"

"Touma-kun and Seiri…"

The two pair turned south of their direction and they found Tsuchimikado, Aogami, and Himegami walking towards where they are standing. If anyone was wondering what they were doing in that place, it was because Himegami had also completed her transfer to Seirin High School and that she's only finalizing some paper works while having her things brought to the same studio where the Iron Wall Girl is staying. The case is the same with the two of the three Idiot Trio except theirs would probably take longer.

"Tsuchimikado…Aogami…and Aisa…" Kamijou didn't know what to say as he didn't expect them to show up in the same place.

"I'm glad that you're here Aisa." Fukiyose's smile didn't last however as he turned towards the idiot pair of blonde and blue. "Though I can't promise I can day the same for the two to you."

"Aww…don't you miss us, Fukiyose-sama, nya." Tsuchimikado faked crocodile tears as he prostrated himself mockingly. "We miss our moments when we are together in one class!"

"Tsuchimikado, I don't think she feels the same way...at least with the two of you…" Kamijou sighed as Fukiyose really wanted to punch the lights out of the blonde. "But don't worry, I don't have plans to cut off ties with you."

"Touma-kun, it's a tough loss…" Himegami's face looked black but she was basically sounding sympathetic to that finals game in the Interhigh championships.

"Yeah. We even lost Hamazura to that match." Kamijou grimaced as he remembered that moment where Mibuchi and the former Anti-Skill blonde collided in an attempt to get the ball off the miss from a Izuki jump shot and in the process, the latter ended up slightly hurting his leg and he had to be subbed off from the game although the injury itself isn't career-threatening. "As of now, he's recovering in Sasaki General Hospital. He would be back for the Winter Cup."

"As expected from the captain, nya!" Aogami added dramatics to his sentence. "Long live Kami-yan…"

"Seriously, shut up…" Kamijou and Fukiyose simultaneously said.

After an hour of being away since they met the three former classmates, Kamijou and Fukiyose went straight back to the studio apartment, just in time to see the whole Seirin team already exhausted while Misaka is just some seconds away from exploding just from teaching an exasperated Kagami Taiga, who is obviously struggling to answer even the basic questions.

"No matter what I do…it's hopeless…" Aida sighed as she plopped herself into Fukiyose's soft bed.

"Just Japanese alone is already a lost cause…" For a year, Misaka thought she had already spotted the biggest idiot in Kamijou Touma the moment she had met him but this year, it seemed that she just met an even bigger idiot who can't even solve a simply problem in Geometry.

Kamijou blinked owlishly before he patted their coach's back gently. "You did your best coach but may I know why it's hopeless for Kagami?"

Hyuga answered it in their coach's place. "In the first place, he didn't get kanji! He can't even read the textbook!" He moaned in despair. "It's been a year so he can't simply make the excuse of being an American returnee!"

No wonder it was hopeless. Kamijou thought as he knew he couldn't blame his seniors to give up on Japanese subject. He turned to look at Kagami, who looked so miserable. He tried and failed to comprehend Japanese textbook. Even if he and Fukiyose would join in to tutor Kagami in Japanese, this was a completely lose case to solve in a shorter period of time. The fact that even Misaka had now given up on their ace is now a sign that things is looking bleak for the team.

"I see that it would be a hard time for Kagami-kun." Kuroko sighed as he stood up. "Well, I guess it can't be helped. He then rummaged hisbag and reached out for his phone. After that, he placed a few calls and he waited before his call was replied. After that, he then put down his phone.

"Who was that?" Kamijou eyed the phone in Kuroko's hands.

"If we want Kagami-kun to play, then I have no choice but to call someone we know." Kuroko eyed the distressed redhead. "Besides, he wouldn't miss the chance the play Kagami-kun in the Winter Cup."

A few minutes had passed and while the whole study team was busy gorging on the food that Fukiyose prepared, the doorbell had rung, signifying that someone is in front of the gate. Kuroko volunteered to answer it while everyone ate dinner. After what seemed to be a an eternity, Kuroko had returned and in his hands is a simple-looking pencil.

The moment they saw it all, the rest of the team shrieked as the couple in Kamijou and Fukiyose merely blinked and Misaka stared as well.

"Kuroko!" Kagami raged as the soup in his mouth splattered in Hyuga's face. "You said you don't—" He wasn't able to finish his words as their clutch shooter smacked the ace unconscious in his head in retaliation for the spilling of the soup in his face.

"The pencil that I got from Midorima-kun isn't the same as the one he gave before." Kuroko calmly explained to his teammates as Kagami lay unconscious in their feets. "But considering the fact that there is still some two to three weeks before the preliminaries, we can still drill some notes into Kagami-kun's head and use this substitute pencil as an assurance. Just like the first one, Kagami-kun cannot let disrespect the power of this pencil."

"A simple pencil?" Kamijou looked sceptical. "How would that help him?"

"You'll see…" Kuroko deadpanned.

Somehow, it sounds wrong coming out of your mouth.

After two weeks, the dreaded preliminary exams came as expected and as expected, it didn't look good, at least in the exterior.

Looking at how miserable Kagami looked after four subjects and the last one was his worst. Kuroko didn't need his sharp awareness and exceptional observation to know that Kagami was shaking on his boots. It's as expected from him.

There was no way they could simply do their coach's original strategy to leave Japanese on pure chance and make it up from the other four subjects. In order to make up for that, they had Kagami do tests from last year and they left Misaka in charge of sharpening his poor Japanese grammar. They knew it must have been tough for the redhead when they heard sparks being emitted in the room where the two are staying.

Never in his wildest imagination did he feel relieved when he saw Kagami roll finally Midorima's special pencil through the test. Knowing Kagami's tough pride, it looked like he had to leave behind his ego to keep rolling that pencil with the thought of owing the shooting guard a favor for each roll. Though not as potent as the original one, the tealnette knew Midorima did something to actually give that pencil to their ace.

Kuroko himself decided to stop worrying for Kagami and worked on his Japanese test. Although his tests in the subject were high, it's not actually because he likes reading Japanese light novels; it's simply because he was taught from a younger age on how to write legibly.

"Let's see… choose which statement describes the protagonist's feeling…"

One hour later, Kagami looked even lifeless and for a completely different reason than before the Japanese test. "Kagami-kun… could it be that you…" He saw it of course but just to be sure, he decided to inquire it.

Kagami sounded like he wanted to cry. "Shut up…. I use it for all answers in the Japanese test… "

"I see…"

If Kagami made it, he had to think up something nice for Midorima in return for the favor.

#

The next day, practiced had commenced early in the afternoon and as expected, the seniors came running to the gymnasium as fast as they can since they knew that all of the freshmen and second years had already been practicing earlier. Opening the sliding door, they acted as if they were possessed as they all look at Kagami, who was sitting at the bench while Kuroko joined him. Kamijou is shooting some shots in the perimeter area as Fukiyose watches him.

"How is it?!"

Even before Kagami can react, the spiky haired boy replied for the somewhat blank Kagami. "He passed. Don't worry, senpais."

"Eh?!"

"Show us!" Aida demanded in desperate tone.

Kagami looked hesitant before he showed them his paper with a grin that didn't reach his eyes and the seniors gasped in shock at the results.

Science: 51

English: 71

Math: 52

Social Studies: 59

Japanese: 63

Rank: 178/300

"Thank Kami-sama…" Aida heaved a sigh as she checks the paper of their resident idiot. "At least, he didn't end up in the bottom 100."

"Although it didn't exactly have the same results as last year's proficiency, it was better than having him not play at all." Izuki commented. "At least, he made a much better score in English."

"How did he do it, by the way?" Kiyoshi asked.

"Uh…I rolled this pencil that Midorima gave me through Kuroko." Kagami explained. "But like what he said, it wasn't as effective as the first one he gave. In fact, I had to use my brain for at least half of my answers in English."

All the seniors looked at him incredulously.

"What? You actually decided to think and use your brain for once?" Koganei was genuinely amazed at the fact that their ace began to think before acting for once in his life.

"Hey! I'm not a—"

"Okay, let's practice!" Aida cut off Kagami as they didn't notice Hamazura and a few freshmen enter the gymnasium. Despite having a bandage in his leg, the blonde looked ready to go as he wears his shoes.

After five minutes, all of the players gathered in a circle as Kamijou shouts. "Seirin, fight!"

"Let's go!"