Extra Chapter III: Of Seniors and Freshmen
Synopsis: After the Winter Cup, Hyuga Junpei and the rest of the third years finally graduate as the ones left behind are left to bring the school to farther heights. After that, it's another new day as Kamijou Touma formally assumes the top dad status of the team although this would be marred by a few wrinkles coming from their new first year recruits.
The morning light swept into the courtyard that was Seirin High School.
Hyuga Junpei stood in front of the gates, sighing as he looks upon his school one more time.
For this day, he'll finally graduate as a third year high school student.
In front of him was his colleague and close friend, Izuki Shun and his other friend, the annoying Kiyoshi Teppei as they caught up in the atmosphere that was similar to those who are finally a top of a tall mountain after trekking heavily for days. In some ways, they were finally ready to explode.
"Oi, Kiyoshi, move away from there."
"Come one, Hyuga…I want to be close to your seat!"
"Stop it, Kiyoshi! We're not even in the same class section!"
The three men were busy arguing as they were finally entering the auditorium where the graduation ceremony would be held. For this group of senpais who just recently departed from the club that they had founded three years back when this school was just newly-built, they can't help but think about the kouhais that they'll be leaving.
"To think Kamijou will now fully take over the club is something that I didn't expect." Hyuga let out his voice as he breathed heavily. "From someone who just walked in to becoming the captain of the team, one year does make a lot of difference."
"Now. Now. This team would be fine." Kiyoshi patted him in his back. "In fact, I don't feel any kind of nervousness seeing Kamijou take over from the club that we have established. They'll be fine and I'm pretty sure they'll be what we have become to them."
"I see. Oh by the way, Hyuga, I see that you didn't yet have that red rose on your chest. Me and Kiyoshi had already gotten one from the student council."
Hyuga stiffened up as he then realized he had just missed out one important ritual in their graduation.
This and the fact that there are a lot of people in the auditorium stemmed from one fact.
At Seirin High School, there was a ritual that was created and copied by the student council from other schools. On the morning of graduation, before everyone can take their seats, there is a practice of the graduating students wearing a small red rose on their chest as proof of being a graduating student student. Putting the roses on the graduating students was mainly the job of the student council members since after all, they're the ones who conceptualized it but they have also allowed members of the clubs the seniors became members of to put them on the senpais as a way of thanking them.
At that moment, Kiyoshi was wearing a red rose.
"Harada of the student council put it on for me," he told Hyuga as he noticed him looking at it. "By the way, the red rose is the cause of Koganei and Tsuchida's bickering."
"Huh?" The megane made a face that he clearly did not understand, and looked towards Izuki. The graduating point guard of Seirin let out a sigh and shrugged as if he was in a theatrical performance.
"It can't be helped right?" Izuki explained. "This red rose will be the proof of our graduation. It's only natural to think that they'd go ask some girls to decorate their chests with the rose rather than fellow males, right? After all, men have their own pride."
"Was that supposed to be a joke again, Izuki?"
"Don't be so rash, Hyuga." Izuki chuckled and then pointed into Hyuga's chest. "Why don't you just get your own red rose? Who knows, you might end up having to stay one more year here."
"Yeah, you're right. I think I should find one now." And with that, the Clutch Captain looked around. He thought that there'd be someone in the basketball club to give him a corsage, but unfortunately there was no one else around. He can't even found their fellow graduating coach in Aida Riko as she was busy being with her borderline-scary father, who seemed to be in tears of joy at seeing her beloved daughter graduate. Mitobe is nowhere in sight and he didn't want someone like Kagami to actually decorate it. But just when he remembered the lonely thought of having to get one from the student council, someone just came in to save his life.
"Captain."
Hearing a small and familiar voice of uncertainty from somewhere, the shooting guard looked around the area.
"What are you doing here, Kamijou? And stop calling me captain now. You're the captain already since last August. Just call me senpai, moron."
Hyuga had just spotted the point guard and the new captain of their team looking at him as if he was about to cry. The megane also noted that the spiky haired boy is in his playing shorts and black sleeveless shirt.
"I'm surprised you are here. Where is Kuroko and that Bakagami? Aren't they supposed to be with you?" Hyuga looked down at his kouhai, Kamijou Touma, the wielder of the Imagine Breaker, with a face of confusion. "And don't tell me that…"
"You're right, senpai. We're going to practice now no matter how heavy it is for this poor Kamijou-san." Kamijou scratched his head. "I ask Fukiyose to gather all the remaining players for now. Kuroko and Kagami will be there. By the way, I just wanted to say it now: I didn't expect that the seniors would vote me as captain when Kuroko is around and I just came here a year ago."
Hyuuga smiled, "What? Still thinking that you don't deserve being the captain? If I don't believe on you, then who am I supposed to trust the leadership? Bakagami? He's our ace but he's an idiot as well. You know that Kuroko's abilities aren't in line in basketball logic so I entrusted you the leadership of the club. Oh and besides, today is supposed to be a day off. Why are you already gathering them for a practice?"
"We can't just sit around when we have lots of time." Kamijou said with a hint of seriousness as he looks at his senpai straight in the eye. "It's a given that we can't let our guard down for a moment, senpai. Even Hamazura and the rest of the second years are going to be here soon." The raven said with a strong look in his eyes.
Right now, he carries the responsibility of leading the basketball team with determination.
I like the look in his face. Hyuuga thought, smiling at the fact that he didn't need to worry about the future of the club. You're much mature now, Kamijou.
"Another thing, senpai…" Kamijou suddenly interrupted his thoughts as all of the sudden, he brought out a small red rose from his duffel bag. "Since it was you whom I learned to become a leader before I even became one, I might as well return back the favor by being the one to lay the rose in your chest as the sight that you'll graduate."
Hearing Kamijou's words, Hyuuga's eyes widened. Next to their captain who showed no sign of doubt in his eyes, Izuki simply sighed as he smiles with warmth. Hyuga, don't act so awkwardly towards our kouhai. Just accept it!
Kamijou hung his head and bowed, and then suddenly raised his head back up. On his face, was a small but sincere smile.
"Hyuga-senpai! On behalf of our team, thank you very much for guiding me and the rest of the players in your three years as the alpha dogs! We won't fail you!"
"Yeah. I hope so or else, I'll kick your ass."
And then, the new captain decorated the former captain's chest with the red rose.
The day after club recruitment day, the first day of the Seirin High School Basketball Club tryouts began. Upon reaching the gym, now third year Kagami Taiga, who was a little late due to having to meet with his teachers, opened his mouth in shock. The sight that greeted him was that a more than fifty people all lined up in the center of the court. It wasn't like this during his freshmen days when he and Kuroko have barely started becoming friends and their captain was still in Academy City.
On the other side of the court, Kamijou was seen warming up as he shoots another jumper from the three point line while Fukiyose was in the sidelines talking with Kuroko, who decided to assume the role of playing coach since he realized that his misdirection would further weaken if he further uses it. Hamazura and the rest of the third and second years are sitting on the bench since they decided to run some laps outside.
On the bleachers, Tsuchimikado and Aogami are seen cheering for the team as Himegami was simply silent, watching all the hilarity ensue.
"First thing I see in the afternoon…" Kagami sighed as he put down his duffel bag before grabbing a ball to dunk it anyway. Kamijou, who is finished his fiftieth shot, only shook his head as the redhead ended up crashing down the floor—although he did made the shot alright. He jumped way too early and too strong.
"To think I'm now a senpai as well…" Hamazura commented rather loudly as he dribbled the ball between his legs. For someone who had been a part of Anti-Skill for most of his life before becoming a servant for the GROUP faction, simply being part of this team looks like a complete turnaround for the blonde and in some way, he was happy he was able to attain peace with Takitsubo.
After a few minutes, Kuroko decided to blow his whistle, signaling that the freshmen must keep down their chatter. In a span of seconds, Seirin's Big Three went in front of the lined-up freshmen and Kamijou introduced himself. "I hate this kind of attention…" He sighed to himself before he spoke louder and addressed the whole team. "Good day. I'm the captain of the basketball club, Kamijou Touma. The guy on my left is our power forward and scoring ace, Kagami Taiga, and the one in my right is our vice-captain, Kuroko Tetsuya. Nice to meet you all."
Whisperings began to be heard immediately as the name of the spiky haired boy was brought up numerous times, partly due to him being recognized as a top-notched player and because of some pretty ugly rumors concerning him. The boy only shook his head at this.
"Hey…" One of the applicants spoke with his friend as he lustily looked at Fukiyose, who didn't seem to notice the stare. "Hey, isn't the manager cute and a hottie as well?"
"She's Fukiyose-senpai, right? She sure looked like some teen model…"
"She's much prettier in a tank to—"
Twack!
Both the freshmen were immediately silence by the two incoming fists of Kuroko, who was making his rounds in order to assess the physical health of the players.
"You should keep those disgusting thoughts into your minds." The tealnette said as the two freshmen were scrubbing their scalps as they were winching in pain. "Besides…"
Kuroko's light blue eyes swiftly turned to see Kamijou and Fukiyose closely speaking to one another.
"…You shouldn't let the captain nor the manager hear that." The passing specialist reminded, getting a shocked reaction from the two applicants.
"All right, lads! Take off your clothes!" Fukiyose gave a chilling order.
"Ehhhhhhhh?!"
It took a while for the new students to process the sudden order of undressing and to let out their shout of surprise. Their startled voices were enough to show not enough people knew about the past team of the club.
"Their reaction is the same as ours last year isn't it?" Kuroko blinked.
"Yeah…" Kagami replied as he and Kuroko nodded together, finally seeing something they have in common with the new recruits.
"To make things easier and faster, we'll divide you into groups." Kamijou began to explain the mechanics. "It won't be easy, frankly speaking. We'll have a set of drills and then we'll have the scrimmage. Understood?"
"Hai!" All the applicants replied.
"Well, this should be easy enough to gain membership." Tsuchimikado whispered to himself as he leisurely watched from the bleachers.
It turned out that Tsuchimikado Motoharu's prediction was somehow incorrect.
The drills included an hour-and-a-half suicides, a fifty pushups, foot works, and jumping exercises. After personally witnessing how rigorous practice was, nearly more than half of the 50 new students decided they couldn't take it and backed out already. At the end of the drills, on the first day of tryouts, the remaining recruits were crawling towards Fukiyose across the floor like worms.
She smiled brightly and said, with her brown eyes gleaming with sadism, "By the way, this is the level of practice we'll be having tomorrow. The day after and even after that will be even harder. To go to the nationals, if you can't handle that much then it'd be impossible for you."
Just like old times. Wait…not actually that old…Kamijou scratched his head as he finished going on a one-on-one with Furihata.
Which resulted in…five recruits?
Yes, that was the number of people left that was eventually accepted to the team.
Ishida Ken
He is one of the five recruits that Fukiyose has her eyes on. He was about 180 cm tall and weighed 77 kg. He was a student with long arms extending from his body. As for basketball experience, he participated in the Interhigh Middle School Tournament while playing for Kamata West Middle School and at first, he seems like the silent type. Even during club recruitment, he came to the basketball club without any companions and only spoke what was necessary. Also, with his expressionless face, one would think he was a quiet person.
When he did opened his mouth, it was after everyone had finished running and the second and third years were doing their regular practice while the first years were doing muscle training. It was just the third day but Kuroko had already ordered them to do five sets of abdominal and back muscle training, and after he had finished his third set, Ishida stood up and spoke to her and Kuroko.
"Senpai, coach, I can do the remaining two sets just fine, so can you let me do the regular practice?"
"Huh?" Fukiyose blinked in surprise.
For someone who values manners and proper Japanese etiquette, the Forehead Deluxe didn't think someone, much less a first year student, would say such a thing. Even the other first years didn't think someone would dare talk back to a scary girl in Fukiyose Seiri. They stopped their muscle training to watch the three of them.
"But you know, this is to build stamina and stat numbers for the first years so you should try doing the full set…" Kuroko reasoned out with him.
Ishida let out a small sigh.
"There's no need for stat numbers, right?"
"Why?"
"As a manager, you should know all of the numbers from the shirtless body check we did earlier." Ishida calmly explained as he scratches his head. "We took off our shirts so you can see them properly. Otherwise there'd be no point right? Can you stop doing things that are useless and time-consuming?"
The first years as well as the second years stood in shock watching Ishida boldly ridiculing and opposing the Iron Wall Girl. Even the upperclassmen immediately froze when they sensed an unusual event was unfolding. Se-seriously?! Even I won't have the balls to do what the freshie did! Aogami stood in the bleachers, quite surprised.
It was taking every urge for Fukiyose to not use her fists to bludgeon and smack the shit out of the insolent freshman, although the tick in her forehead is signaling that her temper might not hold out for so long. Thinking that she was at a loss, Ishida continued.
"Also, I can be useful to the team. I'm better than the current people who are benchwarmers." Ishida bravely replied as he looked towards the court. Standing in his line of sight were Hamazura and the other third-year trio in Furihata, Fukuda, and Kawahara.
"Seriously! That's one brave freshman with balls of steel."
"God, I hate that guy already…"
"Kagami-kun, you have no right to talk."
Currently, the Seirin's Big Three, Fukiyose, and the idiotic pair in the Delta Force were walking home together after the practice in the gym. After the practice, the (former) Iron Wall Girl was seen breaking a water jug using plainly her bare hands and her face was exhibiting such intent of death that even Kuroko, who always have a calm and plain face even in times of harsh times, shivered in his place although no one seemed to have noticed it plainly because of his lack of presence.
Goodness, I never actually thought she could be a cute supermodel with that angry expression of hers. Kamijou didn't have any qualms while looking directly at the girl beside him. After walking in Maji Burger, Tsuchimikado and Aogami bade their farewell and went on their own way while the rest decided to hang out on the said restaurant. The three players had ordered their usual food that they purchase from Maji while Fukiyose just chose to buy a drink.
While they were eating, Kagami decided to start the conversation.
"That Ishida guy was plainly ill-mannered," The redhead ranted on as he bites his burger, "Not only that, he was even talking back to us, his seniors…"
"Kagami-kun, I think you don't have the right to speak like that," Kuroko gently reminded him, "Need I remind you that you were exactly like him when we were freshmen back then?"
"Ku-Kuroko! Stop bringing those times up!" Kagami shrieked in horror, "At least, I didn't talk back to Hyuga-senpai and the others!"
Fukiyose sighed as she watched the two of the current group's original members of the basketball club squabble, although only Kagami had the louder voice. She then turned to her boyfriend, who was thinking deeply, "Hey, what would you do about Ishida?"
Kamijou turned his gaze towards Fukiyose and didn't answer immediately. For someone who was leading a team that was only in its third year of operating, he sure had already his hands full of troubles. And as if last year isn't enough…
"To be honest, I actually though Ishida was right for the moment in terms of talent," Kamijou finally gave his verdict, much to the surprise of his three companions, "I mean, if you compare him with Hamazura, then it's fair to say that Ishida had the basics seeped in his bones and he also played in middle school as well. But on the other hand, it's not a fair thing for him to say that Hamazura or the other three is useless. The former especially managed to score against Mibuchi-senpai in the Winter Cup during the crucial stretch."
"We already know that, idiot…" Fukiyose smacked the head of the spiky haired boy, "I'm asking about what you would do since all of the players will now be fighting for the 12 open spots in the team."
"Fukiyose-san is correct, Kamijou-kun," Kuroko gave his two cents, "This wasn't a problem before since we only have exact members for training alone and there are no warm bodies to worry about so playing time isn't a problem. But now..."
"Everyone wants to have their equal minutes, I get it," Kamijou added, "But at the same time, this would probably cause the dip in minutes for the seniors who are in the bench. Like Kuroko said, it wasn't a problem for last year's team that only consisted of first years and second years unlike today, I had to decide who's going to start and who's going to be on the bench."
"Then why don't we have a scrimmage?" Kagami for once suggested something very smart in his life, "If that runt in Ishida thinks he can replace one of the starters, then let's see what he can do…"
Kuroko puts his hands in his chin before he replied, "To be honest, I was thinking about the same thing. Kamijou-kun, I think we should do it tomorrow so you can assess not only Ishida-kun but also the other freshmen."
"I guess that would be logical," Kamijou sipped his drink, "Oh right, if we're going to have a scrimmage, then I think I would have to invite someone from Academy City…"
The look into the spiky haired boy's face was enough to cause both Kuroko and Kagami to glare at him, "Oi, you don't mean you'll invite that little squirt?!" Kagami roared in disbelief, "She'll only mess up things, cappy!"
"Ah, don't worry, I have a different plan. Besides…" Kamijou concluded, "It's not a bad thing. It's also important to have competitive spirit over the positions. But that's only when both parties acknowledge each other. If there is a conflict, it'll just be troublesome for the club."
"What the hell?"
"Go onee-sama! I'm sorry Tetsu-nii but I'll support my dear onee-sama!"
"But what is the purpose of inviting her here?"
Misaka Mikoto can hear those words as she was standing in the court with her supposed teammates in Ishida and three other freshmen players of Seirin as they are up against the club's super trio of their captain and the light-and-shadow duo plus Asahina and Yagi, who'll clog the shaded area along with Kagami.
Surprising that Kamijou didn't have an actual shooting guard for this match… Yomikawa, who decided to go with the students of Academy City as guardians, didn't know what to think if this lineup. Sure, that might look disadvantageous to them but with common sense, can Misaka and company even…
"Hey!" Misaka's yell towards Kamijou Touma, who was lacing up his sneakers, broke out the Anti-Skill chief out of her thoughts, "We have won the inaugural mixed streetball tournament in the Daihaseisai. I'll add another lose into your dirtied slate!"
So cocky. Kagami was somehow agitated at the confident aura that the Level Five Esper is showing although Kamijou chose not to reply and instead, he gathered his boys, "It'll be the usual. Kuroko, take on Misaka Mikoto as usual. I'll take on Ishida."
"Yeah!" The four others replied and soon, they lined up into the center line.
"I do hope what he's planning would be good for the team," From the bench, Fukiyose is holding a printed files containing the statistics of their players as the ball was tipped in between Asahina and one of the Seirin freshman.
However, the game has been going with Kamijou and his teammates already up by twenty.
As soon as the game resumed, the third quarter had started an attack from the freshmen.
Nevertheless, Misaka was still confident that her words would become true. The third and second years were using a tight Zone Defense and her mark was Kuroko but naturally, her speed was no match for him. With her natural speed, Misaka shook off her mark and was about to raise her hand to signal to the Ishida that she was free.
"Hey…Hey!" The brunette electro-princess was waving her hands at Ishida, who just promptly looked at her before he decided to make a forced shot against Asahina.
"The hell…" Misaka can only curse to herself as she watches the ball bounce off the ring and Yagi managed to scoop the rebound. Passing it to a sweating Kamijou Touma, the latter smoothly transitions as he brings down the ball.
"Let's get one!" He raises up his right hand as everyone of his teammates go to their positions.
Suddenly, Misaka was in front of him as she lowers her posture while extending her arms. Woah, that's actually a good defense. Did she picked up a thing or two? Kamijou sighed as he keeps the ball away from the smirking Railgun, "Hand me the ball…" The Level Five was taunting the spiky haired boy, not like the latter was even affected.
Kamijou finally started to dribble the ball extremely fast but it wasn't as though he was trying to use ankle break. Finally, he shifted to the left but moved to the right instead, getting away from Misaka. He slashed towards the net with the bruntte hot on his tail. Reaching at the paint area, Misaka had caught up and blocked him but in that moment, Kamijou put the ball on the floor once before he stepped back for the moment. In a nick of time, he dribbled behind his back and when Misaka pulled in as well, he then dashed to her left, causing the stunned Railgun to land on her butt.
He then made a double clutch layup as he weaved ball through a throng of arms into the hoop, leaving everyone (minus Kuroko and Kagami) in awe. The gracefulness in which he showed when he shot the ball was on display, the onlookers thinking that he would have almost drew a foul while making a basket.
He then looked across to the sidelines, and saw Fukiyose with two thumbs up, her happy expression carving on her face. Shirai and her friends looked absolutely shocked at just what happened.
"Damn that step back and shake-and-bake…" Misaka muttered as she gets back to her feet, "It's almost like it came naturally from him…"
"Misaka…"
"Huh…what now?" She looked at Ishida, who seemed to be disappointed at her.
"You're no match for him," He tersely started, "If so, just go back defending Kuroko-senpai. I'm a much more capable defender for Captain…"
"What'd you say?!" All of the sudden, sparks began to appear in her forehead but Ishida, knowing of her status as one of Academy City's Level Fives, merely looked at her blankly before huffing and going back to try and score for the team. That bastard! He's just the same age as me so who is he to even speak, to begin with? Misaka only calmed down because Kamijou had come up to him, saying, "Neh…Misaka-san…calm down will you, hehehe…"
"What do you think of it?" All of the sudden, Himegami, who was in the bench of the seniors of the basketball club, looked at her best friend.
"That?" Fukiyose didn't understand her immediately as her mind was currently focused on the game.
"About Ishida-kun. Don't you think he's acting like that because he wanted to be in the regulars immediately?"
"Now that you mention it, both he and Ishida occupy the same position," Fukiyose explains, "If he's aiming to be a starter he'd have to fight for it with Touma and even Furihata…"
As the discussion went on, Ishida had the ball as Kamijou was in front of him, prepared to stop him at all costs. Seeing that there is no opening left as Kagami was already planted under the shaded area, he begrudgingly passed it to Misaka, who got it alright. But as soon as she was prepared to dribble, she suddenly got pressured by Kuroko, who was already preventing her from even penetrating nearer to the basket.
"Kuroko-senpai, you're really resilient," Misaka gritted her teeth.
"Why, thank you, Misaka-san…"
Seeing a sudden drop in Kuroko's focus, the Railgun's athletic abilities proved to be much superior as this time, she was finally able to get pass the tealnette with a much improved dribbling technique but as soon as she did managed to get pass the Shadow, the weight in her hands suddenly disappeared.
"What the—" Misaka saw Kamijou swooped down and instantly, he managed to scrape the ball off her fingers as she was momentarily distracted.
"I believe that you'll pass Kuroko," Kamijou smiled, "That's why I'm not taking any chances…"
Running alone, Kamijou was about to finally lay in the ball when suddenly, he felt a shadow looming over him. Ishida? Luckily, his Falcon Eyes saw the outstretched right arm of the freshmen and quickly passed mid-air to Asahina, who grabbed it and sank down a perimeter shot.
"Damn that Kamijou…" Yomikawa chuckled as they added another two points to their tally, "I thought having Misaka and her team just practice shooting in the gymnasium would be enough. Well, it was enough for the competition at Daihaseisai…"
"But not enough to even get past this kind of veteran team," Fukiyose sulked, once again admitting the fact that the basketball clubs, if any, of Academy City is light years away from even challenging the schools of the Generation of Miracles.
So this is a national level Point Guard. As expected of a member of the Japanese national team. Ishida's heart pounded at the pass that came to Asahina with timing like magic. After catching the ball, he dribbled to the side and went around Kuroko, kicked off the ground and shot. It was then that he finally faced Kamijou, once again.
Ishida was confident this time. I wanted to beat senpai with this. Dribbling the ball behind his back, he then passed the ball between the spiky haired boy's legs and once he got it back after running around the older Kamijou, Ishida was free. There was no way it would miss his fifteen-foot jumper.
"You sure…freshman…"
From behind Kamijou Touma, a big wall rose in form of Kagami Taiga, who abnormal jumping power overshadowed Ishida's shot. The redhead fiercely knocked the ball down just before it reached its highest peak.
"Nice block, Kagami!" Kamijou caught the falling ball. "Fast break!" He threw it to the opposite end of the court on the opponent's side.
All of the players ran to the other side of the court at the same time. The floor violently shook with the stomp of the basketball sneakers and the pounding of the ball as the ten players ran with all of their strength. Feeling the amount of force hidden by the vibrations at the bottom of her feet, Fukiyose, who was in charge keeping tabs with the scrimmage, knew she shouldn't be surprised but it still made her heart jumped.
"Just seeing his abnormal vertical reach is still breathtaking…." She muttered, "But then, he purposely let him pass…"
"What?"
"I think Captain had a reason why Ishida was asked to play as a guard," Fukiyose smiled, "I think it's to draw his real purpose for the whole team. Somehow, I think he'll get it alright but I think I needed to quickly give him some packs of pains if he doesn't earn his lesson."
"He sure did transformed into a fine captain," Yomikawa chuckled although eyes widened at hearing her former student's words and he was drawn back to watching Kamijou. Any person who can draw one's purpose is nothing short of a leader, much less someone who can rally the team under extreme duress. That thought was very clear. Fukiyose just smiled once again and then turned her own gaze to her hubby, who tapped the shoulders of Kuroko that just made a perfect Phantom Shot. There was one thing though that she was concerned about.
Kamijou Touma was acting weird.
There was nothing wrong with his playing style today. His speed was the same. His shooting rate was also normal. His passes are also the usual ones.
Right, it was too normal.
It was obvious that Kamijou looked like he wanted to put the insolent Ishida in his place. OIne could say he was even getting more into it. Just as she was thinking, he was so focused that it looked like he could go into the Zone, but right now, he showed no indication of that.
Rather, it was as if he was being cautious as he kept slowing down the third years.
He's up to something… The Forehead Deluxe's lips curved like she was an adventurer who had just found a hidden map.
When something becomes independent, something is born. It was as if she could watch the change in a chemical reaction. She was happy and enjoying herself. There really is nothing like raising a person to become who he us today.
Well, I wonder what he'll show us? Fukiyose watched over the game with her chest pounding in anticipation.
The game had reached its final stage in the fourth quarter.
Both Misaka and Ishida started to feel their condition already worsening. The former didn't expect she would have to run thrice as what she did back in Academy City's games while the latter was starting to grow tired from scoring much of their points.
Up until now he was able to keep up with his mark, Kamijou, but now he was becoming unable to. On the contrary, even when he's marking Kamijou, whenever he realizes he's lost sight of him for a second, a pass goes through the Imagine Breaker's hands. Furthermore, when Kamijou gets the ball, he passes to a random target as if it was already automatic and that he didn't even need to twist his body to see his passing location. Ishida has never seen anything like this before.
Senpai…what's going on….? Ishida thinks to himself in confusion as he held on to their ball. But when he looks at the third years and their captain around him, they seemed pretty normal.
"Anyhow, it seems that Touma's gotten a grasp of Ishida's pattern," Fukiyose pointed out, "Which means, it should begin soon..."
"Eh? What do you mean?" Yomikawa can't help but ask in curiosity.
"You'll see, sensei…"
Up in the bleacher's, Shirai was unsurprisingly unwavering in her loyalty to Misaka as she shouted, "Onee-sama, put that ape's team in their places!"
With the ball in his hands, Ishida then began to run when he noticed that the the person marking in front of him was Kuroko.
Taken back, looking at his surroundings, the scattered rookies on the court all had a senior player properly marking them.
All Court Man to Man Defense?
Ishida was surprised that they were able to pull out the most common defense used at the final stage of a basketball game, especially when the score has been close. However, it's because of that move that it has an effect in how he began to process things as he seemed to have forgotten that he have four other teammates with him.
"I see, so it really did begin," Fukuda said from the bench.
"Yes. They have been preparing it specifically for this game," Furihata answered nervously, "It's something not even Misaka has seen before…"
"It's guaranteed to ambush the freshmen and the Railgun," Fukiyose then barked, "Show me the results of your practice!"
"Eh? of course they'll—"
Before Kawahara could finish his words, another freshman ran and passed to Misaka. The latter received the ball and switched to a dribble.
"Hey! Give me the ball!" Ishida got away from his mark. From what he's seen in practice until now, he felt that apart from Kamijou, he was faster than Kuroko, Asahina, Yagi, and even Kagami. They weren't opponents he couldn't get away from.
However, as soon as he started running, Ishida was stopped. He should've gotten away from his mark, but before him stood someone. It was Asahina.
Asahina should've been marking one of the fellow freshmen some seconds ago. He looked over and saw that it was Kagami who was marking that freshman.
They were changing their marks.
Even though he's realized this, it shouldn't change anything for him.
No matter who comes to mark him he should just get away. If it's anyone besides Kamijou, then there was nothing to worry about. Ishida quickly made a fake and ran for a second time. Sure enough, Asahina wasn't able to follow him and Ishida was free. Then the ball was coming towards his direction as Misaka almost had it stolen and begrudgingly was forced to give the possession up.
"All right!" Ishida let out a rare shout as things went his way as he hope so. At least, he wanted to score in the end as to be able to leave an deep imprint on his seniors. But just as he lifted his hand…
Twack!
"What the—"
In the moment he saw the shadow of someone blocking in his vision, the ball cruved to a different direction.
"Nice one, Kuroko!"
The person who had caught the ball was Kamijou Touma. With that he started running towards his own side of the court.
"W—what's going on…" Ishida was dumbfounded as he watched their captain score a layup. Then he looked at the person standing in front of him, Kuroko Tetsuya.
It was like he was watching a magic show.
The mysterious player who disappears and reappears like a ghost. The one who repeatedly uses unique passes. In his confused mind, Ishida remembered hearing one ridiculous rumor when he was still in middle school.
"It can't be…"
The group who radiantly reigned the year above him: Teiko Middle School's "Generation of Miracles."
And the one that they recognized despite being relatively unknown and lacking a game record…
"The Phantom Sixth Man…." Ishida gaped at realizing this truth that was just in front of him all along.
"Please watch carefully, Ishida-kun," Kuroko said indifferently.
Without even wiping his sweat, Ishida shuddered, feeling no end to Kuroko's abilities.
With the two Miracles outside of the original GoM in Kamijou Touma, the Imagine Breaker, and Kagami Taiga, the Light banding together with the Phantom Sixth Man, the Shadow in Kuroko Tetsuya, it finally make sense why they were very hard to even put some clamps on. What are they going to show me next?
However, what Kuroko said next was different from what Ishida had expected.
"This is Seirin's way of fighting. This is the strength of Seirin High School's basketball team," Kuroko said to him and then ran off to continue the match.
"I feels so tired right now that I feel like I could eat a horse…" Once the match had finished, everyone had slumped on the floor due to fatigue while Kamijou was drinking his watered bottle, "But hey, at least we accomplished something today."
"Yes, Kamijou-kun. Today was a different day," Kuroko smiled.
"But still…" Misaka was fuming as the moment the third years had started their defensive pattern, she wasn't even able to get a clean look at the ring, "That…that Stealth All-court Man-to-man Defense was very sneaky, you idiot! Even I had to wonder what the hell you were all doing there…" She sulked as she drank lots of water that was bought by Shirai.
"Stealth All Court….?" Ishida tilted his head at the unfamiliar term.
"That's right. It's a unique All Court Man to Man move that only our basketball club can use," Kamijou explains as he stretches his legs, "It's a play that fully maximizes Kuroko's ability. However it's very hard to coordinate in that kind of play unless you mastered it pretty well," Fukiyose crossed her arms and nodded her head.
Compared to a normal All Court Man to Man Defense, in order to conceal Kuroko's presence, the players constantly change marks to play around with the opponent. And so, the players must be able to constantly keep track with their teammates' movements. The keys to that sort of cooperation are, as Kuroko would have worded, trust between teammates and experience in prediction.
During the last two Winter Cup tournaments, the starting members acquired this move but it was still incomplete among the last year's second years and the current third years ever since the progenitors of the club had already graduated. Since the last tournament, they would gather at a nearby park after practice and held special training until they mastered this technique.
"Those days of hard work and the late night dismissal really paid off, didn't it?"
"Yeah! This was a good time to display it huh?!" Kagami smiled in satisfaction at Kuroko's words.
Then he glanced at Ishida. Ever since Kagami and the others started their S.A.M. Defense, Ishida was unable to touch the ball even once.
"What do you think, Ishida? Do you understand who's much better now?" Kagami said triumphantly as if he was the one who had just overcome a strong opponent when in fact, it was their Captain who did all the dirty work to put the stops on the freshman. Before Ishida could speak, the one who opened her mouth first was Yomikawa.
"Kamijou, to think being a captain has made you this. You're really all strong. I'm impressed," The blue-haired woman can't help but comment, "Guess you winning in the last Winter Cup was no fluke at all. It also made me see the gap between your team and the team that I have formed recently…"
"I—Is that so….then that's good," Kamijou sweatdropped at his former Physical Education teacher's remarks. It was at this point that Ishida began to speak as well.
"I don't really understand what she said nor do I care but I too understand the feeling of admiration. I came to Seirin because I admire Kamijou-senpai. That's why I said the other guys on the bench should quit…"
There was a momentary silence at what Ishida had just said.
"Anou…can you repeat that again?" Kuroko was the first to break out the silence because the other hasn't recovered from their initial shock yet.
"I said that I admired Kamijou-senpai, our captain, very much…"
Ishida's words were drowned out by yells of shock.
"You came to Seirin because you admired this idiot?!" Misaka was very much stunned to hear her fellow freshman high school student gave out this kind of reasoning.
"Yes. Is there something wrong to it?"
"What part of him did you admire?!"
"Even though he started in this team only in his second year, he was the one of the aces of Seirin and one of Asia's best guards who took Japan to the number one position," Ishida recounted, "It's probably once in a life time to be with that guy on one team…"
"Rather than 'lead'….well…actually that's partially true…" Fukiyose pressed her forehead in pain at the amount of questions.
"I heard the winner of the last two Winter Cup titles wasn't the heavily-favored Rakuzan team and I didn't go see it personally so I really regretted it…"
"Eh? You didn't see it? Normally, you'd just have to go and watch the school of your choice at a basketball tournament, wouldn't you?" Furihata asked.
The expressionless Ishida let out a small pout. "In middle school, I don't exactly have the best grades so I had originally planned on going to a school much lower than Seirin but when I heard that Seirin won, I became interested. I know all about Kamijou-senpai from the social media and magazine articles. I just thought he was really cool even if an old article that I found says he's the "God of Pestilence." So I really wanted to go to Seirin no matter what and studied extra hard."
"I see. So your reason of joining this club is because you want to aspire to be like him and support him, right?" Kuroko asked.
"Yes," Ishida answered honestly, "I have made him one of my idols…"
"T-then! Why did you gave off such weird aura that we thought you're about to pick a fight?! Do you normally pick fights with people you admire?!" Kagami asked while bracing himself. Ishida just tilted his head with no expression as usual.
"What are you talking about? He's not picking a fight, from what I see," Kamijou interjected as Fukiyose was giving his back one of her secret techniques of relieving pain.
"What? Then…"
"I wasn't glaring to pick a fight. I was just staring."
"S-staring…?!" Somehow, Misaka felt uncomfortable with his choice of words.
"I wanted to mimic Kamijou-senpai's moves so I watched him and of course, I wanted to be at my best when I play against him. I'm very sorry if I caused discomfort to you, Captain," Ishida quickly bowed his head.
Kamijou waved it off, "Nah, save it for practice later. But Ishida…" He then turned serious, "I do hope this is the start of the day when you accept all of your teammates, regardless is they're benchwarmers or not. And Misaka-san…"
The Railgun tensed at her name being mentioned.
"I heard from Yomikawa-sensei that the rulebook used in Daihaseisai's mixed gender tournament was modified and weird. So is that why you hugged the ball while taking almost fifteen steps…"
"Sh-Shut up, you idiot!"
From a hidden view, a certain pair of blue and yellow was all crying crocodile tears as they watch the whole scene. Wah! So Kami-yan's disease have evolved that it can even capture males now! Wah!
"Hmmm…I wonder what happened to our juniors whom we left at Seirin…"
The cheerful voice of Aida Riko was heard in a certain college hall as she was walking towards their gymnasium, where she is now working as the team manager while the former third years in Hyuga, Kiyoshi, Mitobe, and Izuki are now all college players freshmen in the same university. Tsuchida and Koganei have gone off for a different university.
"Not that it matters…" The brunette hummed, looking at the window with a glimmer of hope, "I'm sure they're just fine…"