Daiki Aomine stood there stiffly, completely at a loss for how to respond.
Dicky Anthony seemed to notice and asked again,
"Do you speak English?" (in English)
Aomine couldn't even understand that sentence.
With no other choice, he pretended he hadn't heard anything and turned to leave on his own.
But Dicky Anthony misunderstood completely.
In his mind, Aomine's action clearly meant:
[Follow me.]
Dicky Anthony smiled to himself.
"Man, I should've asked someone to come with me. Good thing I ran into a nice guy today. Otherwise I'd really be stuck."
The reason Dicky Anthony had come to watch this game was because of what Makoto Hanamiya had told him.
Makoto Hanamiya had mentioned the Generation of Miracles, which instantly sparked Dicky Anthony's curiosity.
He wanted to see for himself just how strong the Generation of Miracles really were—
strong enough to catch the interest of Miyamoto Tokima and Shuzo Nijimura.
So Dicky Anthony casually followed behind Aomine.
Aomine quickly noticed.
'Damn it. What's this foreigner trying to do? Rob me?'
'Why is he still following me?'
His expression darkened as he instinctively grew alert.
He kept walking, glancing back from time to time to check if Dicky Anthony was still there.
But in Dicky Anthony's eyes, those glances meant something entirely different.
'What a good guy. He keeps looking back to make sure I haven't fallen behind.'
'Guess I'm lucky today.'
A smile spread across Dicky Anthony's face.
Unfortunately, that smile looked completely different to Aomine.
With his lip piercing, sunglasses, hands shoved into his pockets, and a venomous snake tattoo curling around his neck, Dicky Anthony looked like a full-blown gangster.
'Damn it… what does he want?'
Aomine had already started calculating whether he could win in a fight.
The guy was absurdly tall.
Combined with his intimidating appearance and relaxed posture, he gave off the impression that he could definitely handle himself in a brawl.
And Aomine still had a game to play. If he got held up here, things would be bad.
With that thought, Aomine subtly quickened his pace.
Dicky Anthony noticed and felt even more touched.
'What a saint. He knows I'm in a hurry, so he's speeding up.'
He was already late—the game had started.
'If only he'd start running…'
And then, to his surprise, Aomine suddenly broke into a run.
'No way. Is this telepathy? If this guy plays basketball, I'm definitely making friends with him!'
Dicky Anthony's grin widened as he matched Aomine's speed and began running too.
Aomine's face was now pitch black with dread, curses already exploding in his mind.
'What the hell?! What does he want? Why is he running too?!'
When he saw Dicky Anthony's increasingly intense expression and terrifying grin, panic surged through him.
'Damn it! He's not some international criminal, is he? Human trafficking or something?!'
At that thought, Aomine stopped holding back. He exploded into a full sprint—
and then…
he activated Animal Instincts.
A faint blue glow shimmered around him as the phantom of a black panther appeared behind his back.
Dicky Anthony froze in shock.
'Animal Instincts?! He has Animal Instincts?! What the hell is going on?!'
He had randomly stopped someone on the street—and that person actually possessed Animal Instincts?
With Animal Instincts unleashed, Aomine's speed shot to its absolute peak. In the blink of an eye, he vanished from Dicky Anthony's sight.
Dicky Anthony gradually slowed to a stop, standing there in utter confusion.
He looked around in all directions, completely lost.
'What the hell—where did he go?!'
Questions flooded his mind.
Why did the guy guiding him have Animal Instincts?
Why did he suddenly run off?
Was I being messed with???
Realization dawned—he thought he'd been played.
His expression darkened immediately.
'Damn it! I got tricked!'
He hated being toyed with more than anything, and now anger simmered inside him.
'Animal Instincts… If you have Animal Instincts, then you must play basketball. Don't let me see you again. If I do, I'll tear you apart!'
He took more than ten deep breaths before his emotions finally settled.
Once calm, he looked around again and muttered,
"Wait… where am I?"
...
Meanwhile, after shaking off Dicky Anthony, Aomine finally arrived outside the arena.
He glanced back once more to confirm the man wasn't following him before stepping inside.
'Good thing I lost him. Damn it… are international criminals really this bold now? Just operating in broad daylight?'
He muttered curses under his breath, convinced criminals were getting more brazen by the day.
Thankfully, he'd gotten away.
Instead of heading straight to change into his uniform, Aomine went directly to the stands.
The moment he entered, he saw a familiar scene unfold on the court.
On the court.
Kuroko Tetsuya flicked his right hand—
and the basketball shot forward like a guided missile straight into Kagami Taiga's hands.
Kagami soared into the air, twisting midair.
Kosuke Wakamatsu and Yoshinori Susa both jumped to contest.
But then something absurd happened—
the two who jumped later landed before Kagami did.
Wakamatsu's face tightened in shock.
'Damn it… what is with that hang time?!'
All they could do was watch as Kagami slammed the ball through the hoop.
From the stands, Aomine's expression shifted slightly.
'Interesting.'
He glanced at the scoreboard. The score was still tight.
'So it's this close, huh… Tetsu, the light you chose isn't weak at all.'
'Let's see if you can spark a little interest in me.'
...