CHAPTER 1 – Practice Session

"Dai-Chan! Listen up, will you! This is important!" Momoi Satsuki scolded as she chased after Aomine, although he flatly ignores her. "What's your problem man? It's just Akashi…" Aomine muttered nonchalantly, but Momoi expression only grew worse.

"What do mean 'just Akashi'?!" the peach-haired manager exclaimed. "Even if you don't want to admit it, he is one of the strongest, no in fact the strongest contender in this tournament!" Aomine turned around to face her with a bored expression, looking straight down into Momoi's fierce eyes. He sighed, and then relented. "Right… go on then…"

Momoi finally smiled, and started her report. "Akashi Seijuuro, captain of Rakuzan High. His main skills are – ", "Emperor Eye, I know," Aomine interjected, and he continued, "predicts movement, and his other skill, perfect rhythm plays, which puts his teammates 90% into the ZONE."

Momoi frowned and nodded seriously, "And how are you going to deal with him? At this point, you only have ZONE," she stated flatly. "Even if you have the most control of the ZONE right now – eh, Dai-Chan!" But Aomine clearly lost interest, and quickly disappeared around the corner. Momoi sighed deeply. How is he really going to go against Aka-kun?

Aomine stood outside of the Too Academy Gym, his brows furrowed. Annoying, he thought, but the reality was laid bare, and he couldn't ignore it. From what he observed at last year's Winter Cup game, Akashi really isn't someone he could underestimate the slightest without risking his match. His base stats are already above average, and for a 173 cm player, he could dunk without much difficulty. If they were going to compare speed, Aomine is probably faster than Akashi. Even the Generation of Miracles agreed that no one could match Aomine in terms of agility. However, with the Emperor Eye that could predict his movements, not even he was sure whether he could outmatch Akashi in a one-on-one. However, in terms of base stats, Aomine was confident that he was better than Akashi in nearly all aspects, apart from the Emperor Eye which was the real problem.

The second issue was the ZONE. Both of them could access the ZONE, although Aomine was more skilled in entering than Akashi for sure. In the ZONE, both of their skills would improve drastically. For Aomine, his speed would almost double, and his ability to score from anywhere including behind the backboard became even more pronounced. However, the same could be said for Akashi, as his speed would also increase drastically, and he could even use it in conjunction with the Emperor Eye, making a one-on-one in that state truly a difficult situation, even with Aomine's speed. To matters worse, with Akashi's true personality, he could perform his perfect rhythm plays to induce his teammates into the almost 90% of the ZONE, and his teammates were mostly Uncrowned Kings – players which would have been labeled "Miracles" themselves if it weren't for the presence of the Teiko Players. As a result, this would surely put his team at a severe disadvantage. Aomine frowned, and sighed. He would have to find some way to overcome this obstacle if he wanted to advance past the first round.

Rakuzan High's motto was "Accomplishment in both letters and arms"; meaning exceptional performance in the aspects of studies and sports, and an exemplary example of one such student is Akashi Seijuuro, a first year and captain of the Rakuzan Basketball team. No matter the occasion, this team would always be seen practicing extremely passionately in order to maintain their position as the Champions. Even though they did experience their first loss last year, it only served to further fuel their drive to win again this year, and naturally this fire burned ever so fiercely in all the players on the court in their gym.

"Nice pass!" a deep voice shouted as Akashi smoothly passed a Rakuzan first-string player and passed it to Nebuya Eikichi, an Uncrowned King known for his monstrous strength, and he performed a two handed dunk.

"Nice one, Nebuya!" Akashi commented, "Let's try again. First-string players! Your movements are getting better no doubt; however, your coordination could definitely be better!" He said sternly. The players nodded without question and quickly shifted to their original positions.

The score was now at a 103 -20, with Akashi and the other three Uncrowned Kings against the team of first-string players. Apparently, they were still trying to find a fifth member for their team.

Akashi started with the balls in his hands, and observed his surroundings. Kotaro and Nebuya being double teamed huh, he thought as he observed the player guarding him. He sighed, they still have so much to improve on, and he shifted his gaze towards the left, to which the first-string player attempted to follow, and without warning the ball already landed perfectly in Reo Mibuchi's hands. The Uncrowned King known for his shooting abilities easily made a three pointer despite two players from Kotaro and Nebuya leaving their marks to block him. It was apparent even to an elementary grade school of the difference in skill.

"Alright, let's take a break; we have been practicing for over an hour already," Akashi said serenely. "Good Job guys!"

Akashi made his way towards the water cooler, in deep thought about his current team. They were good no doubt, but he nevertheless was still worried about him fighting Aomine. After all, the one that could truly fight against him was the other "him", and using "his" skill did not suit him well. So how's the team, the other voice spoke. I thought you could see it already, Akashi said to him. But against Daiki, it'll have to be me that will fight against him, no? The voice pressed. Akashi frowned; it was true, the only one who might have a real chance at beating Aomine one-on-one would be the one who is the true owner of the Emperor Eye. The other him seemed to sense his unease, and simply said, it's up to you. At this point, I'll leave it up to you. Whether you want me to play, it's your choice. And with that, the voice faded away.

Akashi sprayed water on his face and looked up. Even though his relationship with his other self wasn't exactly pleasant, but it wasn't exactly rocky as well. After all it's still him: Akashi. In that way, he knew he could trust him as much as the other Akashi trusted him, albeit the other Akashi might need some restraint due his more violent tendencies and obsessive compulsion for winning. Although Akashi could not truly forgive his actions, he still sympathized with him as he was simply an extension of his own feelings. As he made his way back into the gym, he thought to himself that maybe just this once, he could rely on his other self just this once.

"Guys, let's start again!" And the referee blew his whistle.

Despite being deep in thought, Akashi's basketball skills were still as masterful as ever. As soon as he found a slight opening, he took it. With that, he quickly passed to ball to Kotaro Hayama, another Uncrowned King known for his extremely fast dribbles.

"Level three is enough, I guess?" Kotaro mumbled to himself, before making his usual confident grin. From a commoner's perspective trying to follow the ball, it seemed as though the ball had disappeared, but then before one could even realize it, Kotaro would already be a few meters ahead of you, having already made three to four dribbles in that few seconds. His lightning dribble skill was certainly formidable. Without much difficulty, he made a basket.

The game continued with the team dominating the first string players, but yet they were hardly complaining, for being able to play with such strong players is a privilege for them.

Reo Mibuchi received the ball from Akashi, who made his signature elbow pass. He gripped the ball and aimed at the hoop, not before noticing a first year player jumping in front of him. He smirked to himself.

"Arara~ so it's an Earth Shot then?" The 188cm shooting guard said, and he took the opportunity to jump towards the first-string player. He made contact, initiating a foul, or known as foul drawing where one creates contact with the defending player to call a foul and allowing for free throws. However, the Uncrowned King took it a step further with his masterful accuracy and made a three pointer. Hence, he could easily score another free point through the free throw, dubbing his play as a four-point play.

The referee blew his whistle, and Mibuchi easily made his free throw shot, earning his team 4 points in total.

"Beautiful shot, Mibuchi," Akashi commented, causing Mibuchi to do a mini-dance akin to a playful toddler, and affectionately call out "Thanks, Sei-Chan!"

The match continued, with the point gap increasing sharply. Before they knew it, it was already half past six. "Let's play one last time before we end this, okay?" The captain called out, and everyone nodded.

With Akashi dribbling towards the hoop, he was taken aback by the sudden appearance of three first string players in front of him. He smiled, and accepted the challenge. Akashi dribbled forward, one of them attempted a steal, but failed when Akashi made a behind the back crossover, then as he tried to advance towards the hoop, the second player raised his hands in attempt to block him. Instinctively, Akashi easily made another crossover to his right and spun around to avoid him, and then encountered the third player. Upon this, Akashi attempted to drive past him before noticing the first player from before reaching the ball from behind. At the same time, the second player was at his left, and he realized he was already nearing the side line, making it quite impossible to escape this situation. Not bad, he thought, after all usually he would not allow himself to be in this position. Perhaps he was distracted from his thought of Aomine.

"Akashi!" the other Uncrowned King shouted, as the Akashi seemed to fall closer and closer out of the court.

Then, Akashi smiled and made a pass to a first string player through a small opening he found. Everyone on the court was bewildered at his action, and then suddenly the ball curved upwards towards the hoop, to which Nebuya appeared and made an alley-oop dunk, ending the game.

Everyone turned towards the space to find out the identity of the mysterious passer. Kotaro and Mibuchi smiled. Everyone else barely noticed the young man standing in the middle of the court, with grey hair, a rather skinny build, as well as empty-looking desolate eyes. Akashi walked towards him.

"Playing as an alumnus, eh?" The young man smiled.

Hours had already passed from his practice, but yet Aomine stood in the court, before the hoop. Everyone had already gone back home, except for him and Momoi. She was sitting down, observing her close friend seriously. Aomine took a deep breath, and then grabbed a basketball lying nearby. He fiddled with the ball for a while, and took on a serious stance. His face was full of concentration and focus. Sweat dripped from the contours of his arms and face.

"Now," Aomine said quietly.

His eyes flashed opened and blue streaks of lightning flashed from his eyes. Right now, he was in the ZONE. He agilely dribbled to the hoop and made a dunk, causing a loud crashing sound to echo around the empty gym. Without wasting any time, Aomine rushed to pick up another ball near the sideline, and with one swift motion, he turned around and made a one handed signature formless short, which went into the hoop easily. Aomine continued this non-stop, continuously picking up basketballs around the court and making all sorts of shots and dunks while Momoi observed him quietly. His speed was really impressive, she thought, and even though she sees this kind of movement from him all the time ever since they were kids, seeing them again but in the ZONE is really something else. Apart from that, she was also really elated that Dai-Chan was practicing seriously again, after losing to Tetsuya-Kun and Kagami-Kun.

The news of his match against his former captain days ago still remained in his mind. The primary question of whether he was able to defeat Akashi kept bugging him constantly. In the ZONE, it is said that the athlete in question becomes so immersed in their play, that all unnecessary thoughts disappear, but yet even in the ZONE, when Aomine was fully concentrated on making his shots, occasional thoughts of his future battle with Akashi would make him suddenly agitated and dunk or dribble more aggressively. He made crossovers look so easily, and even without an opponent, keeping track of the ball might even be difficult for a non-basketball player due his unchanging pace and unpredictable style. Aomine dribbled and jumped past the base line. While it would seem absurd why he would do this, Aomine would defy common sense by simply throwing the ball upwards without looking and the ball would follow through in a perfect arc and land into the hoop. Clearly, it wasn't a bluff when people say he can score from anywhere he wants.

After his 50th shot, Aomine suddenly stopped and fell on his knees. His body was completely drenched in sweat and his legs were shaking. The blue streaks of lightning faded away as he exited from the ZONE, while Momoi quickly rushed to him with a bottle of sports drinks and a towel. Aomine sat on the floor completely exhausted with his legs stretched out and downed the bottle, while Momoi massaged his calves.

"How long was that?" He asked. Momoi gave him a rather gleeful look.

"8 Minutes and about 30 seconds, I think? It's about 10 seconds per shot, although there were dunks too!" Momoi said excitedly while holding up her stopwatch. "It's a record Dai-Chan! I'm really proud of you, hehe!"

Aomine however look disgruntled. So for now, his limit is 8 minutes in the ZONE? It has improved by about 2 minutes from back then when his limit was about 6 minutes during his game with Seirin High, but is it really enough? He thought deeply. Furthermore, for this session, he was playing by himself, and there were basketballs scattered all over the court, and after these 8 minutes, it would be unlikely that he could continue playing since his fatigue was at his peak. It's not enough, Aomine concluded, I need to actually train with an actual player…

"Satsuki, pass me my phone," Aomine said to Momoi. Momoi gave a confused expression and passed it to him.

"What're you doing?" She asked.

"Getting a trainer," Aomine answered solemnly. He didn't want to do this, but if he really wanted to improve, he did not have much of choice. He unlocked his phone, dialed a certain number and put the phone to his ears. After a moment, the person on the other end picked up.

"Aomine-cchi?"