"Huh?"
Momoi stared at Kota in shock, wondering if she had misheard him. Then she quickly realized what he meant and nodded eagerly.
"Of course! I wanted to treat you to a meal—order whatever you like!"
Kota didn't hesitate. He called over the waiter, grabbed the menu, and began ordering immediately. After all, if Momoi was the one offering, there was no need to play polite and let her go first—Kota wasn't into that kind of performative courtesy.
Momoi wasn't offended by Kota's attitude. In fact, she found it refreshing.
Ever since middle school, every guy Momoi encountered treated her like some kind of rare treasure. With her good looks, curvy figure, and outgoing personality, she had no shortage of admirers—at least a hundred or so. But none of them had ever caught her interest. Having grown up with Aomine, the average guy just didn't excite her anymore. Still, she'd met enough people to spot the patterns—most guys were like open books with sticky notes attached.
As the team's data expert, Momoi was naturally skilled at analyzing people. The types who might as well wear their ID numbers on their foreheads? Total snore.
"Hmm… this is interesting. He's like Tetsu—kind of hard to read."
She glanced at Kota, trying to figure him out: Simple-minded, blunt, no filter? No, that didn't check out—his court presence was way too sharp.
She recalled that scrimmage, watching Kota take control of the game with that cool, calculated air, as if everything was under his command. He even messed with Aomine using weird tactics and trash talk that got under his skin in seconds.
She tossed out her initial theory and tried again: Strategic, perceptive, elite-level point guard with a love for trash talk…
Kota, meanwhile, had no idea Momoi's brain was spinning like Newton under an apple tree. As soon as the food was served, he dug in without a second thought—he was genuinely hungry. Sure, he figured Momoi had a hidden reason for inviting him out, but he wasn't some kid playing guessing games. Better to eat first and think later.
Watching Kota devour his food like a starving beast, Momoi twitched a bit. He hadn't asked a single question about her purpose, and now she was rethinking things again,
"High basketball IQ, low emotional intelligence, possibly a glutton... wait, is he the same species as Murasakibara?"
"Didn't Kise mention he doesn't have a girlfriend?" she thought. "I wonder how he views girls…"
Deciding to test her theory, Momoi pretended to receive a text. She pulled out her phone, looked at it, then burst into laughter before saying between gasps,
"Kise told me to tell you—it was my idea to eat with you alone today, and that you shouldn't get revenge on him tomorrow."
While saying this, she puffed out her chest slightly and put on her best shoujo heroine expression. Any normal high school guy would've been totally flustered by the sight.
Kota, however, was in the middle of gnawing on a chicken leg. He paused, looked up at her, and slowly finished chewing the meat right off the bone. Unbothered by her gaze, he wiped his mouth with a napkin, let out a satisfying burp, and rubbed his stomach.
"No worries. I'm in a good mood now that I've eaten. You full too?"
Momoi twitched violently at the sight. She glanced at the empty table, full of nothing but scraps, and cursed internally:
"You ate everything! What am I supposed to eat now?! And what was that burp? Do you have zero awareness that I'm a cute girl sitting right here? No shame at all! Are you trying to say I don't affect you even a little, you jerk?!"
Kota wasn't the type to ignore appearances entirely — he just saw things clearly. She hadn't invited him for romance, she clearly had an agenda. So why should he act all flustered and polite? Might as well act like the VIP he knew he was. Being awkward about it would only be boring.
And besides, back in his previous life, Kota had been quite the ladies' man. Momoi's antics? Please. Amateur hour.
Momoi watched in horror as Kota pulled out a toothpick from who-knows-where and started cleaning his teeth. Her internal notes updated again:
"Rude. Sloppy. Eats like a beast. Zero romantic vibes… but plays good basketball, I guess."
In just a few minutes, Kota's image in Momoi's mind had plummeted. She was constantly revising her mental file on him—until:
"I told you, I'm in a good mood now that I'm full"
Kota said, still picking his teeth.
"So if you've got something to say, best say it now. Maybe I'll actually agree. Miss Momoi? Can I call you that?"
The chicken had been dry and stuck in his teeth, but the words he spoke made Momoi freeze slightly.
Once again, she revised her notes. She'd already lost count of how many times she'd rewritten them.
Sitting upright, Momoi began to speak seriously while studying him.
"Of course you can, Kota-kun. Actually, I asked you here today because of Daiki."
"Aomine?"
Kota raised an eyebrow. To be honest, he'd assumed she was going to ask him to teach her that "horns" play strategy.
"Guess I'm not a fortune teller after all" Kota thought to himself.
Noticing Kota didn't seem particularly surprised or annoyed, Momoi breathed a small sigh of relief.
"So he just likes trash talk and doesn't actually hate Daiki? Good…"
She took a deep breath and continued,
"After losing that match, Daiki's been fired up again—he's started training seriously! But… he still doesn't trust his teammates. He thinks the only reason he lost last time was because he ran out of stamina. He believes that if he just gets back in shape, he'll definitely win…"
She paused, biting her lip. Her voice quivered slightly:
"But during training yesterday, he got into a fight with a teammate. A real brawl. If this keeps up, Too Academy might fall apart—we might not even make it to the tournament. So… I wanted to ask you: What should I do to help him return to how he used to be? How can I get Daiki to trust his teammates again?"
Kota frowned the moment he heard Aomine was training seriously again. "Great" he thought. "That lunatic's getting strong again—our next match is gonna suck."
But hearing that Aomine had punched out a teammate? That was good news. He almost smiled. Still, seeing Momoi's worried face, he respectfully held it in. He had some decency.
Kota cleared his throat and said,
"Even if you ask me, what do you expect me to do? You don't seriously think I can change Aomine, do you?"
"Because you changed Kise" Momoi replied.
"Back in middle school, Kise and Daiki were like twins — same style, same attitude. But during the last match, I saw it clearly—Kise's changed. I don't know why, but I can feel it. And I think it's because of you. That's why I came to ask: how can I change Daiki?"
Kota looked at the hopeful girl in front of him and shook his head inwardly. Never mind whether he could do it—even assuming he could, did she really think he'd help a rival get stronger?
Sure, he didn't enjoy fighting against lazy players. But helping the enemy train harder? What was this, a shounen anime with sparkly friendship speeches?
He wasn't that guy. Not even close.
"Sorry, Miss Momoi. Can't help you there. If you really want to fix Aomine, go talk to your other boytoy — Kuroko."
With that, Kota stood up and waved lazily.
"Take care. I'd rather not have Aomine trying to kill me tomorrow."