The crowd began buzzing with discussion.
"He's strong. Seihō is completely outmatched."
"Yeah, Kirisaki Daiichi doesn't even look like they've broken a sweat."
"Murasakibara hasn't even moved."
Indeed, Murasakibara on the court was already yawning nonstop, looking impossibly lazy.
The crowd's chatter soon drew the attention of another group.
They hurried over, only to see the miserable state of the court.
The Seihō players stood there powerless, despair filling their eyes.
Meanwhile, Murasakibara yawned and asked,
"Hey, Hanamiya, when are we eating?"
Makoto Hanamiya looked helpless as he said,
"Sigh. I thought I'd at least get to have some fun, but this is how it turned out. Sigh, let's go eat."
Murasakibara perked up a little at that.
Shogo Haizaki complained from the side,
"I told you we shouldn't come. Even if we did, we wouldn't get a proper game, but you wouldn't listen. You just had to come, and now look. That wasn't satisfying at all."
Makoto Hanamiya sighed helplessly. He was just about to speak when his gaze landed on a group of people, and the words died in his throat.
Instead, he smiled and said,
"Looks like... it won't be too boring after all."
Shogo Haizaki looked puzzled and followed Makoto Hanamiya's gaze.
Once he saw who it was, Shogo Haizaki smiled too.
"It's actually them."
The people Shogo Haizaki and Makoto Hanamiya saw were none other than Taiga Kagami, Tatsuya Himuro, and the others.
In other words, Seirin High School!
Shogo Haizaki headed over first.
"Come on, Hanamiya. Let's say hello to our old friends."
Murasakibara looked thoroughly annoyed.
"Hanamiya, weren't we going to eat?"
Makoto Hanamiya spread his hands helplessly and said,
"Murasakibara, we'll go after one more match."
Murasakibara pouted and was just about to say something when Hanamiya cut him off.
"I'll make sure you eat your fill."
Good. He had found his weak spot. Murasakibara shut up at once and followed everyone over.
Shogo Haizaki arrived first. He waved with a smile.
"Yo, Tatsuya Himuro. Long time no see."
At first, Shogo Haizaki had strongly disliked Tatsuya Himuro, thinking of him as a traitor.
But after Miyamoto Tokima explained the reason, Shogo Haizaki no longer felt that way.
After all, they were all working for Miyamoto Tokima. What did it matter where he was?
Makoto Hanamiya knew about it too, so he did not particularly dislike Tatsuya Himuro either.
Murasakibara cared even less.
As long as there was food, that was enough.
Tatsuya Himuro smiled and greeted him.
"Long time no see, Haizaki."
After that, they began chatting like old friends reunited after a long separation, completely ignoring Taiga Kagami and the others.
Taiga Kagami was furious. He looked at Shogo Haizaki and shouted,
"Haizaki! Let's have another match!"
Shogo Haizaki looked at Taiga Kagami in confusion and asked,
"You are...?"
Taiga Kagami froze for a moment, then exploded in rage.
"You bastard!!!"
Tatsuya Himuro quickly held Taiga Kagami back and apologized to Shogo Haizaki.
"Sorry, Haizaki. This is my younger brother. He's a little immature."
Shogo Haizaki did not care. He waved it off and said nothing more.
Teppei Kiyoshi fixed his gaze on Atsushi Murasakibara. He stepped forward, held out his hand, and said,
"Long time no see."
Murasakibara lowered his head slightly and looked at the man who was only a little shorter than him, then fell into thought.
After a brief stalemate, Murasakibara asked in confusion,
"Huh? Who are you...?"
Great. Now Seirin's two main players had both become strangers in front of Kirisaki Daiichi.
Teppei Kiyoshi smiled bitterly and withdrew his hand.
Taiga Kagami roared again,
"Haizaki! Let's have another match!"
Shogo Haizaki shrugged indifferently.
"I don't know who you are, but..."
Shogo Haizaki's expression turned serious, and he continued in a low voice,
"You're starting to piss me off."
Makoto Hanamiya smiled.
"In that case, everyone, why don't we have a match?"
After a brief preparation, the two teams became opponents.
Taiga Kagami glared angrily at Shogo Haizaki, looking as if he wanted to tear him apart.
Shogo Haizaki wore a serious expression as well, and his gaze toward Taiga Kagami was clearly filled with irritation.
The smell of gunpowder quietly spread through the air.
Murasakibara stood at the center line with a reluctant look on his face, preparing for the jump ball.
He really did not want to play such a low-level game.
There was no fun in it at all.
Given the choice, he would rather have a man-to-man clash of muscle with Jason Silver right now!
The game soon began.
Teppei Kiyoshi focused completely and jumped first.
Murasakibara, however, looked completely indifferent as he slowly put in some strength and jumped.
Even though he jumped later, Murasakibara still managed to tip the basketball over to his side.
Teppei Kiyoshi's gaze darkened, and his expression changed slightly.
After tipping the ball, Murasakibara casually glanced at Teppei Kiyoshi, then slowly walked toward his own basket.
He yawned as he walked, looking utterly listless, and muttered lazily,
"Haa... boring..."
The crowd began discussing it as well.
"Isn't it their possession? Why did Murasakibara go back?"
"He's probably bored."
On the court, Teppei Kiyoshi stared heavily at Murasakibara, his fists clenching unconsciously.
Taiga Kagami was furious too and said angrily,
"That damn guy. He's looking down on us!"
Slap!
Tetsuya Kuroko patted Taiga Kagami on the back and said,
"Calm down, Kagami."
Makoto Hanamiya paid no attention to Murasakibara's behavior and simply dribbled forward on his own.
"Hanamiya! Ball!"
Shogo Haizaki suddenly shouted.
Seeing this, Makoto Hanamiya passed the basketball over.
Shogo Haizaki caught it and faced Taiga Kagami head-on.
Taiga Kagami stood in front of Shogo Haizaki with a serious expression, taking a defensive stance.
Only then did Shogo Haizaki sense the aura coming from Taiga Kagami.
'This kid's got pretty good presence.'
Shogo Haizaki could not help praising Taiga Kagami inwardly, but soon, his nasty sense of fun gained the upper hand.
After following Miyamoto Tokima, Shogo Haizaki had indeed become much more obedient, but not completely.
Shogo Haizaki licked his lips, a strange glint appearing in his eyes.
Then Shogo Haizaki suddenly passed the basketball back to Makoto Hanamiya.
Makoto Hanamiya caught it, looking somewhat surprised.
He wasn't attacking?
Taiga Kagami was even more surprised.
I've already taken my pants off, and now you're saying we're not doing it???
No way!
"Haizaki! What the hell do you mean by that?!"
Taiga Kagami demanded angrily.
Shogo Haizaki curled his lip indifferently and replied,
"What's it to you?"
Taiga Kagami was momentarily speechless, unsure how to answer. In the end, he could only spit out,
"Coward!"
Shogo Haizaki cared even less.
"So what?"
"You..."
...
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