"AAAAAH!"
BOOM!!!
Taiga Kagami shouted as he finished the play with a powerful reverse dunk.
At that very moment, the second quarter came to an end.
"Beep! End of the second quarter! Halftime!"
"Huff… huff… huff… Does this guy have springs in his shoes or something?"
Kosuke Wakamatsu panted heavily, irritation clear in his voice.
Shoichi Imayoshi was also slightly out of breath, though his narrowed eyes revealed nothing.
Taiga Kagami wasn't in great shape either. After going all out for two straight quarters, his stamina had taken a serious hit.
He stared at the scoreboard while catching his breath.
43–43. A tie.
Kagami wiped the sweat from his forehead, his thoughts in turmoil.
'Damn it… Even without Aomine, they're this tough?!'
He hadn't expected Tōō to be this difficult to handle without Daiki Aomine.
If Aomine showed up in the second half… wouldn't they be completely overwhelmed?
Most people would have their fighting spirit shaken in a situation like this.
But he was Taiga Kagami.
A full-blooded hothead.
'Interesting. This is seriously interesting! So Japan has opponents this strong too!'
'I'm going to win!'
An unprecedented excitement flashed across Kagami's face, a wide grin spreading across his lips.
...
Inside Tōō's locker room.
Kosuke Wakamatsu took the lemon slices Ryo Sakurai handed him and popped one into his mouth.
Instead of the expected sour bite, there was a hint of sweetness.
The flavor made him light up immediately.
"Mmm! This is good! Sakurai, did you make this yourself?"
Ryo Sakurai scratched his head shyly.
"Yeah, I made it… I wasn't sure if it'd taste okay."
Wakamatsu quickly grabbed a few more slices and stuffed them into his mouth, giving a big thumbs-up.
"It's great! Seriously good!"
Seeing that, Shoichi Imayoshi spoke up.
"Wakamatsu, give me some."
Wakamatsu grabbed a few slices and handed the plate over.
Imayoshi picked one up and put it in his mouth.
The moment the lemon touched his tongue, his half-closed eyes snapped open.
"Th-this is really good!"
He muttered instinctively.
The next second—
"Hey! Imayoshi! Leave some for me!"
"Aba aba aba." (eating sounds)
"Imayoshi!!!"
"Aba aba aba."
Wakamatsu tried to snatch some slices back, but it was useless.
All he could do was watch as Imayoshi finished them off.
After swallowing the last piece, Imayoshi sighed in satisfaction.
"Ah, that was good."
Wakamatsu looked like he was about to cry.
"Imayoshi… my lemons…"
Imayoshi waved his hand casually and chuckled.
"It's fine, it's fine. You can have more next time."
"By the way, hasn't Aomine shown up yet?"
Wakamatsu snapped back to reality, his face darkening with anger.
"That guy! He's probably just messing with us!"
Click…
The sound of the locker room door opening echoed behind him.
Everyone instinctively turned toward the door.
Step… step… step…
Slow footsteps approached.
A tall figure appeared in the doorway, speaking lazily.
"Hm? You're all here?"
When they saw who it was, everyone shouted at once.
"Aomine!!!"
Wakamatsu's face turned sour immediately.
"Aomine! Don't you know we have a game today? You skip games every time—what exactly are you trying to do?!"
Daiki Aomine casually dug at his ear with his right hand and replied in a lazy tone.
"Oh? You mean today's game… I forgot."
"As for what I want to do, I don't think you're in a position to ask."
Wakamatsu's anger spiked. He was about to charge forward.
"Wakamatsu!"
Imayoshi grabbed him and held him back.
Aomine watched with a faint, mocking smirk.
"What? You guys can't even handle Seirin?"
Wakamatsu's expression twisted.
"You—!"
Imayoshi quickly pulled him behind his back.
With their backs turned to Aomine, they began speaking in low voices.
"Wakamatsu, that's enough," Imayoshi said seriously.
"But Imayoshi, Aomine—"
Imayoshi's eyes suddenly opened fully, his tone firm.
"Wakamatsu, stop worrying about Aomine."
"Didn't you see those TV interviews?"
"Isn't that how star players usually act?"
"If you put it bluntly, it's arrogance. If you put it nicely, it's confidence."
"As long as we win, personality doesn't matter."
"If you had Aomine's level of ability, you could act like that too. It's not a privilege we gave him—it's the coach's decision."
Wakamatsu fell silent.
He didn't have Aomine's talent.
What frustrated him most was that Aomine possessed ability he himself envied—yet acted like he couldn't be bothered to play, as if that talent meant nothing.
He just couldn't understand it.
Seeing Wakamatsu calm down, Imayoshi straightened up and turned back toward Aomine.
"Aomine, you'll be playing in the second half, right?"
Aomine nodded slightly, indifferent.
"Yeah. I'll go in and mess around a bit. It's getting kind of boring anyway."
Tōō's coach, Katsunori Harasawa, clapped his hands.
Clap! Clap! Clap!
"Alright, everyone. Stay focused. Let me go over our second-half strategy."
Aomine had no interest in listening to tactical talk. He turned away and waved his hand lazily.
"You guys talk. I'm going to walk around."
Wakamatsu couldn't hold back again.
"Aomine, you're going to—"
"Enough, Wakamatsu!"
Aida's sharp shout cut him off instantly, the rest of his words dying in his throat.
Twisting a strand of hair around his finger, Aida looked at Aomine.
"If you're not going to listen, at least do a light warm-up. Don't get yourself injured."
Aomine didn't even turn around. He just waved casually.
"No need. I'm already warmed up…"
...
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