Hey guys! How's everyone doing today? We're back for the next chapter where we have officially jumped back in time for the Seirin Team formation arc with Your Lie in April flavoring. We still need to build up to the official formation of the team which is a couple chapters off and I can't wait until we get there. Anyways, here's the next chapter and I hope you guys enjoy it!

Like always, I enjoy any comments, except for those that are just full of negativity and not constructive at all. Just give me something to work with instead of just "It's bad." I also appreciate any positive constructive criticism since I'm always looking to improve my writing and storytelling capabilities. Thanks for reading this story! Virtual hugs and cuddles to y'all.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything except any OC's that may come up, any world building that has not yet been officially stated by any medium, and any plot points/structures that have not been used in the anime or manga.

Warning: No beta, we die like Kaori.

Chapter 1: A Boring, Monotone World

XXXXXX

15-year-old Hyuga Junpei walked down the halls of Seirin High School, acclimating himself to the new school environment after being released from the Entrance Ceremony. It was his first year of high school and spring was in full swing to welcome the freshmen to the first day of 'the best years of their lives.'

Junpei snorted to himself at that. Whoever said high school was the best years of anyone's life was either full of shit or one of those people who peaked as a teenager.

He turned around to see his best friend who'd stuck with him through thick and thin, Izuki Shun. Shun was approaching him with a big smile, making Junpei feel melancholic, like an old man already wishing for the good ol'days when everything was younger, brighter, and more innocent.

He quietly thought to himself that Shun must still be able to see the world as colorful and bright, like something out of a Hollywood romcom or one of his stupid little joke books. Meanwhile, he was stuck with a world that was dull and monotone. Not a single hint of color in sight and only shades of grey.

He turned away with a soft scoff and a bitter feeling nestled deep within his heart.

"Hey! Junpei!" Shun called out when he saw his friend ignoring him, "Junpei!"

Junpei turned back to glare scathingly at Shun though the effect was ruined by the long dyed blonde hairstyle he was sporting. "I heard you so shut up already!"

Shun smiled calmly, taking no offense to his best friend's angry response. It was cute seeing Junpei barking up a storm like that. It felt similar to watching a Pomeranian trying to assert its dominance in front of another dog three times its size.

"Looks like we're in the same class again even in high school." Then his straight face fell apart in an instant and he kneeled over laughing. "Sorry. I can't help it."

"What're you laughing at?" Junpei sneered at him.

"That hairstyle, it's so weird. Suddenly dying your hair blonde and growing it out the moment you got accepted into high school…" Shun said in between laughs as he tried to control himself but each glimpse at that dumb hairstyle kept setting him off, "You don't look like a basketball player at all."

Junpei clicked his tongue in irritation. "That's the point, dumbass." He turned away from Shun with a dark expression. "I told you already, I quit basketball. It's just full of pain and suffering. It's no fun at all."

Shun immediately sobered up, all traces of amusement gone and replaced with concern. "Is that why you chose Seirin? Because it doesn't have a basketball team?"

Junpei scoffed. "Why else?"

"But…" Shun hesitated knowing the full context of Junpei's situation but still not understanding how it came to the present decision, "You were so into it. You never skipped any practices. You did extra training any time you could. You practically lived, breathed, and ate basketball."

"And what was the result?" Junpei asked, glaring down at the ground as his hands clenched tightly into fists that trembled from an emotion he couldn't (wouldn't) name. "In the end, we never managed to earn a single victory. The guys who beat us lost in the second round and the guys who beat them lost in the third round. Even the ones who managed to desperately survive till the end lost to Teiko with a triple digit score at the final championship. That's reality."

He laughed sardonically. "If you work hard, you'll be rewarded. Who's the fool that said such pretty words? In the end, an ordinary person's efforts are just a waste of time."

Shun looked at him in concern. "I know you don't actually think that Junpei."

"And what would you know about what I think!" Junpei whirled around and viciously rebuked.

Shun flinched in surprise at the venom in his friend's voice. Junpei turned away with a click of his tongue.

"Forget it. Why did you even follow me to Seirin if you wanted to play basketball anyways?"

"That's-" Shun started to say when spotted a familiar brown haired girl walking down the hall. He immediately perked up and called out to her. "Hey Riko! How's it going? You're in a different class right?"

Junpei looked up and saw Aida Riko walking towards them in all her sharp eyed, constant frown, and looking ready to fight the world with her bare hands glory. She ignored Shun's calls and glared accusingly at Junpei before looking away with a huff.

"I don't talk to quitters," she bitterly remarked.

Junpei gritted his teeth and clenched his fists tight enough to almost draw blood. Shun tried to jump in as a mediator between his two friends but she walked off before he could say anything.

"You okay, Junpei?" He tentatively asked.

Junpei slowly inhaled and exhaled, his fists relaxing as all the anger within him was tucked back to deal with at a later time. "If you want to do some after school activities, good luck on finding something else."

Then he stormed off, leaving Shun speechless and too stunned to follow after. Indeed, the world Shun saw must be bright and colorful. Meanwhile, all Junpei saw was a monotone landscape with the ashen taste of bitterness forever stuck in his mouth.

If only he could go back to the days of his youth when everything was still carefree and innocent. When one and a half was once two and then three…

XXXXXX

Junpei, Riko, and Shun first met when they were 5 years old and literally ran into each other on the street. After Riko scolded them for being stupid, Junpei called her bossy pants, and Shun broke up the fistfight between them, they became friends for life.

Every day, they'd meet up at the nearby park and play together without a care in the world, coming up with all sorts of adventures that their little minds imagined.

They celebrated every birthday with thoughtful presents bought with their meager pocket money and some extra financial aid from their parents. They each tried their hand at making a cake one year but after that one incident which resulted in a trip to the hospital, Riko was no longer allowed in the kitchen. She also still blamed Junpei for buying Shun the one pun book that started it all, while Junpei rebuked that she was one who thought it'd be a great gift in the first place.

They comforted and protected each other, no matter how small the conflict or tragedy. Junpei would always rush to his friends' defense whenever one of the other kids decided to make fun of them or pick a fight. Riko always joined in and quickly learned how to use the first aid kit in order to avoid their parents ire. Shun always knew what to say to help ease his friends' tears, especially when Riko's mom passed away.

They supported each other each and every day through all the highs and lows, the triumphs and the sorrows. In each stressful moment, they stood by the others' side and refused to budge for any reason.

However, the dynamics of their friendship began to change one fateful day when an 8-year-old Junpei caught sight of a flier advertising free basketball lessons at the nearby community center for kids their age. Following the whims of his childish curiosity, he decided to try it out for one day and was immediately hooked.

Shun joined him not too long after, curious to see what had gotten his best friend so excited. He couldn't help but fall in love with the sport as well given how passionate Junpei was about it.

Riko followed immediately after, wondering where the two boys went after school every day. When she saw her friends getting coached in basketball, the passion they displayed while playing the sport, she rushed home and convinced her dad to teach her about the sport. She returned the next day to nag the coach into letting her shadow him just so she could stay with her friends. There was no way she was going to be left behind and no Shun, she wasn't trying to mimic her dad just because Junpei told her she'd be good at it and he'd like her to be his coach one day.

And so, time marched on and eventually, the trio graduated from the community center lessons to a middle school team where they made quite the splash. Junpei was promoted to captain in their second year after managing to drag the rag tag team to the top of the region during his first year. Shun was made his vice captain due to his impeccable ability to corral the team together with his trusty puns by his side. Riko became the team's unofficial coach due to the actual coach's old age getting in the way of his duties.

All in all, their second year was smooth sailing and it felt like nothing could stop them from climbing higher and higher. They'd already managed to go to Nationals and place in each competition they participated in.

However, the other shoe dropped during their third year when Teiko's upstart Generation of Miracles made its appearance.

To say that their team was completely obliterated by them would be the understatement of the millennia. But what happened after was the beginning of the end for Junpei.

He could still remember it like it was yesterday.

The wood flooring of the basketball court felt unnaturally smooth under his hands. The sounds of the people were white noise in his ears. The lights of the stadium shined oppressively as a tall purple haired figure stood before him, the figure's face was shadowed ominously as he sneered down at Junpei.

"Told you, didn't I? You'll never win no matter how much hard work and effort you put in so what's the point of someone as talentless as you even trying?"

After that, Junpei could only remember things in dazed flashes.

Calm platitudes spoken by his mother ringing falsely in his ears.

An uncontrollable anger that filled him as he yelled at her to leave him alone.

The terrifying screech of tires followed by an ugly crunch of metal on metal.

A desperate call for his mother as multiple hands held him back from a gruesome scene.

His mother weakly apologizing as she was wheeled into an ambulance.

The heart stopping sound of a flat line and panicked calls to begin chest compressions.

A wheelchair being slowly pushed down sterile, white halls.

After that day, Junpei had broken down in tears before his friends and declared that he was going to quit basketball forever.

Shun was surprised and tried to ask if this was really what he wanted. Riko was angry and yelled at him for being a quitter and how there was no room in her life for quitters. She stormed home and Shun could only numbly watch as one best friend continued to breakdown and the other walked away without looking back.

The rest of the school year passed quietly and Junpei applied for Seirin High School. Shun wordlessly followed his friend and unbeknownst to the both of them at the time, so did Riko. And now the three friends were reunited and still broken but at least they were together again.

XXXXXX

Junpei continued to storm down the hall, muttering angrily under his breath when he literally ran into a brick wall of a human. He almost fell on his ass from the impact and stared at the human obstacle before him in disbelief.

'Woah! This guy looks like he's over 6 ft! What the hell did you eat to get so tall?' He thought to himself.

The human wall smiled and patted him on the back. "Sorry about that, didn't mean to almost make you fall over. I'll be more careful."

Junpei jolted at the strength behind the other teen's pats and thought, 'Damn. He's pretty strong too. Is he an athlete?'

"Junpei!" Shun called out, "So this is where you went."

Both guys turned to see Shun running over until he stopped abruptly when he saw he was about to step on Junpei's fallen phone.

"Ah! Your phone!" He bent down to pick it up. He straightened up and handed it over to Junpei who gratefully accepted it. The human wall managed to catch a glimpse of the wallpaper, which was a picture of Ray Allen in the middle of a perfect shot.

"Oh! Do you like basketball?" The wall asked.

Junpei was taken off guard by the sudden question. "Eh? Uh, yeah." Then he blinked in surprise at what he said.

Shun looked at his friend in a mixture of surprise and relief.

"Then you must be on the basketball team!" The wall happily exclaimed, "I'm Kiyoshi Teppei. Nice to meet you! I was on my way to submit the club application. Let's go together!"

Teppei flung his arm around Junpei who blinked in surprise at the guy's weird jump into conclusions. Even Shun was impressed by the mental gymnastics he just saw.

"Wha- Let me go!" Junpei shouted, pushing the other's arm off of him, "How the hell did you even come to that conclusion? I'm not on the basketball team and this school doesn't even have a team to begin with!"

"It doesn't?" Teppei asked in surprise.

"No!"

Teppei laughed, thinking that Junpei was joking. But when neither Junpei nor Shun joined in, he realized that it wasn't a joke. "Wait, seriously?"

Shun nodded. "Afraid so."

"Huh…" He said, thinking to himself until a brilliant idea came to mind, "If this school doesn't have a team then let's make one!"

Junpei and Shun were taken aback by his suggestion and wondered if all freakishly tall people were insane.

Teppei continued on, really getting into the idea. "All three of us can be the first members of the newly established Seirin Basketball team! And if we can get more people, we'll be able to have proper matches!"

Junpei froze as he remembered the oppressive aura of the purple haired teen, a car crash, and his mother weakly apologizing to him.

"HELL NO!"

Teppei and Shun flinched in surprise at the vehemence of his rejection. Even Junpei himself looked surprised so he scowled and looked away.

"Count me out of whatever delusional plan you have. I've already quit basketball and there's no way in hell you'll ever drag me back."

"Junpei, wait…" Shun reached out to his friend.

"I'll see you later, Shun," he said, turning away and walking off with a depressive aura hanging around him like a familiar coat.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make him upset," Teppei said apologetically, metaphorical dog-ears drooping sadly.

Shun sighed and shook his head. "You don't have to apologize. It wasn't even really your fault anyways."

"But he has that wallpaper of Ray Allen and his general physique, if you ignore the hair, looks like someone who loves and plays basketball," Teppei remarked in confusion.

Shun mournfully watched his friend disappear around the corner. "Looked. He looked like someone who loved and played basketball…"

XXXXXX

Junpei felt his brow twitch as he drank his juice irritably through a chewed up straw during lunch break.

"You seem to be in a bad mood these days, Junpei," Shun idly remarked as he flipped through a joke book.

"Of course I am," Junpei grumbled. He turned to see Teppei who smiled and waved at him since his desk was unfortunately right behind his so Junpei was stuck between him and Shun all the time in the classroom. "Why don't you try getting bothered by this annoying giant all the time? It'd be strange for anyone to be happy in my position."

"Don't say that. Come on, let's play basketball together," Teppei said encouragingly, clearly not understanding the meaning of 'no' to the point where Junpei was very tempted to smack him just to make his intentions clear.

"How many times do I have to tell you, no means no!" Junpei shouted angrily, restraining his desire to punch the smile off of Teppei's face, "I will never play basketball ever again!"

"Never say never," Teppei said, completely undeterred.

Junpei gritted his teeth as he felt his desire to attack slowly rise. "I already told you, I'm not going to play!" He got up and stomped out of the classroom. Before he left, he mindlessly tossed his empty juice packet into a nearby trashcan with a perfect arc.

Teppei was impressed by how smooth the throw was and sighed. "I don't understand."

"Understand what?" Shun asked.

"Why he keeps trying to deny basketball? It's clear that he still enjoys it or at the very least, has the skills to play it, so why doesn't he?"

Shun sighed and put his book down to look Teppei straight in the eyes. "Look Kiyoshi-kun…"

"You can call me Teppei."

"Alright then Teppei," he continued without missing a beat, "Why are you so persistent about this? He's already said no a million times so why are you trying so hard?"

"Well…"

"And please don't try to feed me some generic excuse. I know who you really are," Shun said with a scrutinizing gaze, "You're Iron Heart Kiyoshi, one of the Uncrowned Kings. If you really wanted to play basketball, there must've been plenty of schools calling for you. Why are you here?"

Teppei cringed and grinned uncomfortably. "Yikes. I don't really like that nickname. It's not something you should give to a middle school student."

Shun gave him an unimpressed look to stop trying to deflect and answer his questions. He chuckled sheepishly.

"There's no special reason for why I chose to come here. If I were to pick one, I guess its cause it's close to where my grandparents live. I was raised by them and they're both getting old so it's more convenient for me to attend a school nearby."

Shun nodded in understanding. "Alright, makes sense. Then what's your deal with Junpei? And I would like you to please be very mindful of your answer because he's my best friend so I take his well-being very seriously."

Teppei chuckled nervously at the sharp look Shun was giving him. As for his answer, he shrugged. "I don't really know to be honest."

Shun blinked at him in surprise. "Huh? What do you mean you don't know?"

"Well, I love basketball. It's a fun sport and there's no point in playing it if it's not fun," Teppei said.

"That still doesn't answer my question."

Teppei held a hand up for him to hold on. "Hold up, I was getting to it. When I first came across Hyuga, I thought he was also someone who found basketball fun but after that really loud rejection, I suppose my opinion of him changed."

"To what?" Shun asked, eyeing him curiously.

"To me, he looks like someone who desperately wants to hate something he loves but can't bring himself to do either and is stuck in some hole he can't claw his way out of," Teppei explained, truthfully and sincerely, "While I have been accused of being a nosy busybody who can't leave well enough alone, I can't help but want to help Hyuga out. Even if he still hates basketball in the end, at least he'll have truly decided for himself whether he loves or hates it instead of forcing himself to choose one or the other."

Shun was taken aback by his response. 'He's a celebrated athlete so I thought he'd either be super easy going or arrogant but he's actually pretty mindful of others,' he thought, 'And here I was getting ready to read him the riot act and make sure he didn't hurt Junpei with any thoughtless actions.'

"Ah! Hey! Are you the Kiyoshi who's gathering members for the basketball team?"

Shun and Teppei turned to see a freshman with cat-like features standing boldly before them with a large, silent giant of a freshman crouched shyly behind him.

"Can we both join?" The cat-featured freshman eagerly asked.

Shun and Teppei shared a look. Shun shrugged since he didn't really think he had a say in a club Teppei was trying to form. Teppei was excited by the fact that their newborn club was finally gaining some traction and getting its much needed members.

"Yeah! Of course you can!" Teppei excitedly said.

The cat-featured freshman pumped a fist into the air and turned to the shy giant with a grin. "Yes! We did it, Mitobe!" Then he realized he forgot to introduce himself. "Oh! I'm Koganei Shinji by the way. Nice to meet ya! And this is my best bud, Mitobe Rinnosuke."

"Just one question," Shun interjected, "Do you have any experience?"

Koganei nodded. "Of course!" He pointed back at Mitobe. "He definitely does!"

"And you?"

"If you walk three steps, it's cycling!" Koganei confidently stated.

Shun sighed. "I think you mean traveling. So you're a beginner then?"

"I played tennis during middle school but when I watched Mitobe play, I thought basketball looked fun too," Koganei explained in his defense.

"Well at least you seem to have some athletic experience and your physique can be easily changed into one befitting basketball," Shun conceded.

"Yay! We've gathered five members!" Teppei cheered excitedly.

"So you're still counting Junpei?" Shun wryly asked. He shook his head and sent a silent prayer for his friend. "Anyways, putting him aside for now, we'll need at least two more people to be able to practice properly and eventually hold matches."

"What about a manager? Cute and cuddly manager?" Koganei eagerly asked.

Shun looked at him in disapproval. "Seriously? Managers aren't just there to look cute and cuddly for you. That's kind of rude, don't you think?"

Koganei jerked back as if he'd been struck. "I'm sorry."

Shun shook his head and sighed. "It's fine." Then a thought came to mind, someone who was perfect for the role. "As long as you don't repeat that in front of her, I think I know someone who'd be perfect as a manager and she'd even be a good coach. A two for one deal basically. Her house doubles as a sports gym so she's quite knowledgeable about muscle training and stuff."

Teppei hummed thoughtfully and nodded. "She sounds interesting. Let's ask her!"

"Alright then," Shun nodded, "But I have to warn you. She can be quite the personality."

Teppei barked out an amused laugh. "She sounds more interesting by the minute. What's her name?"

"Aida Riko."

XXXXXX

Riko stared blankly at the group of guys before her. Without blinking, she flatly stated, "Hell no."

The guys flinched and cowered before her intimidating presence.

"She's quite the opponent," Koganei fearfully muttered.

"But you didn't even take the time to think about it," Teppei said, steeling himself to give it another go and prove why he was called 'Iron Heart', "Please join the basketball team."

"Were you even listening?" Riko said, ticked off by his pushy behavior, "I don't like basketball so I'm not gonna join." Then she took a moment to really look over Teppei's physique. "Wow, you're pretty tall and that physique…"

"But it's not like you hate the sport, right?" Teppei asked, still not willing to give up.

She looked at him in exasperation. "If you want to get technical about it, then yeah. But still, it's a no from me."

"But why?"

She sighed. "Sheesh, you're persistent, aren't you? If you want an exact reason, I guess it'll be because of the current atmosphere of school basketball. Today's scene is completely dominated by Teiko Middle School and its graduates with absolutely no competition. Because of that, everyone around them has either given up on winning before they even try or called it quits because of one bad match," she explained and clicked her tongue in distaste, "That's the part I really hate."

The guys nodded along in understanding though Shun was very thoughtful, reading between the lines of her word salad. Off to the side, one of the students still present in the classroom watched the proceedings in growing interest.

"Anyways, I'll have to say no to joining the basketball team," Riko said, waving dismissively at them, "Other sports teams have asked me to join as well but I'll only join one of them if they're actually serious and dedicated to becoming number one no matter what."

At the clear dismissal, the guys left the classroom feeling a bit dejected but Shun stayed behind.

"Hey Riko."

She sighed in exhaustion but decided to humor him. "What?"

"Are those really your true thoughts? Or are you actually just mad at a certain someone and want him to come back to basketball?" He asked, eyeing her knowingly.

She looked away with a huff. "I don't know what you're talking about and I'd greatly appreciate it if you left so I can finish my lunch in peace."

He sighed and shook his head. "Alright, fine. I'll see you later then."

Shun went to leave but before he could step out of the classroom, a hand dropped down onto his shoulder and he stopped. He turned to see who it was and saw a black haired, grey-eyed teen with an intense gaze standing behind him.

"Did you need something?" He warily asked.

The teen nodded and let go of his shoulder. "Yeah. I couldn't help but overhear your conversation with Aida. I also heard about the situation involving Hyuga and Kiyoshi about the formation of a school basketball team."

"Huh? How?" Shun asked in surprise.

The teen smiled wryly. "Teenagers love to gossip and those two caused quite the stir a few days ago."

Shun sighed in exasperation. "I figured…"

"Anyways," the teen continued, "I think I can help you out. You know, kill two or three birds with one stone and all that."

"Oh really now?" Shun asked, highly intrigued, "Tell me more."

XXXXXX

The next day, Teppei tried to approach Riko again with Shun and the others as support. However, she still denied them before he could even say a word and walked off before he could react.

"She's still as obstinate as ever," Shun sighed.

"There wasn't even any room to beg," Koganei pouted dejectedly. Mitobe nodded solemnly in agreement. "Also, she's kinda scary. She's so sharp I thought she was going to cut me down with her eyes alone."

Teppei laughed. "Honestly, I'm kind of relieved though. It means she doesn't like half assed people, right?"

Everyone looked at him in surprise for managing to find a silver lining to the whole thing.

"Am I wrong?"

Shun huffed in amusement. "No, you're absolutely right."

Teppei nodded happily. Then he crossed his arms with a look of contemplation. "Still, I can't help but feel that there's something more to her refusal to join the basketball team specifically."

Shun smiled bitterly at that. 'Of course there is. She actually wants Junpei to figure himself out and go back to playing basketball instead of wallowing around not knowing what to do because of…' He shook his head and sighed.

Teppei caught Shun's sigh but decided not to question him about it. "Anyways, our only problem seems to be on how to convey our seriousness to her. Let's see if we can get a couple more people to join and then brainstorm how to convince her afterwards."

"About that," Shun said, "I think I have an idea that can take care of all our objectives in one fell swoop."

They all looked at him, intrigued and confused by how he managed to come up with what was most likely a miracle solution.

He smiled brilliantly at them. "Are you all free this Saturday for a game of street ball?"

XXXXXX

Junpei vigorously button mashed the console of the arcade fighting game, gritting his teeth as the game's CPU began relentlessly beating up his fighter. He swore loudly when his character died and slapped at the console in anger.

As he leaned back with a sigh, he noticed someone approaching him from the corner of his eye. He turned to see Riko looking at him in exasperated disappointment.

"Riko…" he said in surprise.

"I didn't really believe it when I first saw it but now that's in front of me so clearly," she snickered, "Your hair's so lame."

"Hey!" He cried out indignantly.

She waved for him to get up and follow her. "Come on. Let's go home."

He had no choice but to listen and the two left the arcade and began the walk home together.

"So…" she casually drawled, "Care to tell me why these past few days, Shun and some weird giant puppy have been hounding me about joining a basketball team they're trying to form?"

"Don't know, don't care," he responded stiffly.

She snorted and shook her head. "Figures. Anyways, compared to them, you're kinda lame."

"What's that supposed to mean?" He cried out, looking very offended.

She smiled with melancholic nostalgia. "It's just…even though I've told them 'no' so many times I've lost count, they're still persistent and dedicated. Compared to you who's just aimlessly doing who knows what."

"Wha- I've got a ton of stuff I'm doing!" He said defensively, "Playing games, reading manga, studying…"

She looked at him, unimpressed. "And?"

He pulled out a kit for building a diorama of a historical battle out of his bag and shoved it in her face. "And this too!"

She pushed the kit out of the way and huffed at him in amusement. "That type of hobby for someone with hair like that…" His gut churned at the disappointed look she gave him. "You only look like you're forcing yourself to enjoy it."

"Huh?"

"It's not that you've got all this stuff you need to do," she elaborated at his confused look, "You just don't know what it is you actually want to do. Not after…"

She trailed off and shook her head, not wanting to say anything more and come across as insensitive. She knew how badly he was impacted by the 'incident' and refused to cross that line with him.

"Never mind. Anyways, I've already said my piece all those months ago and I've got nothing left to say to someone who can't even decide on how he wants to half ass the rest of his life."

With that, Riko turned away and walked into her house, leaving him standing alone outside and completely speechless. His hands curled into fists and it looked like he wanted to do something, say something. But his hands unclenched and he went to his own home next door with a dejected air around him.

And scene! Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. We've introduced almost all the characters except for Nijimura who, despite his brief appearance here, will be officially introduced in the next chapter! Then we've got a couple more chapters to go to build up to the team formation until it's all alternate canon from there since the only thing that will stay the same are the matches that Seirin will play and Teppei's eventual knee injury which I will build up to instead of just shoving in there like they did in canon.

In fact, did they ever give a reason why his knee started to go? I don't remember and when I was re-reading the Seirin team formation arc, I don't think it was ever said. Just that his knee was starting to give him problems, then that one match with, I believe Hanamiya, put him out of commission for the rest of the season and forced him into surgery/rehab. Anyways, doesn't matter right now but I will have a better build up to that too. Hope you guys look forward to it. Until then!