"Decent speed… and your vertical isn't bad either?"
Kota paused for two seconds, pointing toward Yuuki as he was about to speak — only to watch Fukuhara suddenly sprint forward.
"Yuki-senpai! Please play one-on-one with me!"
Kota stared at Fukuhara's back, stunned for a moment before laughing and shaking his head.
"Next."
As he spoke, Kota made a subtle mark on Fukuhara's application form.
Regardless of Fukuhara's actual level, the simple courage to challenge Yuki head-on was enough for Kota to take note of him.
"Hello, Kota-senpai. My name is Shimamura Toshiaki."
Shimamura took two stiff steps forward and tried to stand at attention like a new recruit, staring nervously at Kota.
Spinning the black pen in his fingers, Kota looked him over.
"Relax. No need to be so nervous. It's just a club tryout."
Shimamura adjusted his breathing and replied seriously, "Yes, sir!"
Once Shimamura calmed down, Kota gave him a gentle smile.
"What position do you play? Any specialties?"
"Reporting to Kota-senpai! I play point guard. My shooting is extremely stable, my court vision is excellent, and I never slack off in transition scoring. If I'm on the court, I'll give 100% every time!"
Standing stiff with both hands pressed to his sides, he looked exactly like a rookie soldier giving a report. But that confidence caught Kota's attention.
Kota took his application form, skimming it casually—until the corner of his eye caught a familiar name.
"Kitagawa Junior High… You came up from Kitagawa?"
Kota blinked. In his memory, that "delinquent genius" Hanamiya had graduated from the same school.
Sure enough, the moment Kota asked the question, Shimamura's expression turned uneasy.
"Yes, Kota-senpai… um, Hanamiya-senpai was my senior. He taught me a lot…"
Worried Kota might hold a grudge, Shimamura quickly added,
"I can vouch for him! Hanamiya-senpai is actually a really good person! It's just… in that match against Kaijo, I don't know why he—"
The more he spoke, the quieter he became. After all, no matter what the situation was, Hanamiya going after Kota on the court was wrong. Even if Hanamiya had been the one beaten up in the end.
Kota didn't show much reaction. Honestly, Hanamiya attacking him had been… kind of his fault too. But since Shimamura came from Kitagawa and had learned a lot from Hanamiya, then for both Kaijo's strength and reputation, keeping a close eye on him was necessary.
"Don't worry. I was just asking. Besides, my relationship with Hanamiya is actually… not that bad."
Kota recalled the scene of pinning Hanamiya to the floor and giving him the special treatment. His expression turned oddly nostalgic, like a guy remembering a prank he pulled on a friend.
"Alright, I'll take your application. See those two playing one-on-one over there? Go line up. Winning or losing isn't important — I just need to see what you can do."
After sending Shimamura off, Kota clapped his hands and called for the next freshman.
Meanwhile — on the other side of Tokyo
Inside an isolated training gym in the suburbs—
Kise sat cross-legged on a bench, tossing a basketball from hand to hand, staring up at the ceiling with the most bored expression imaginable.
"Man, this place sucks… Where are Aomine and Kagami? I'm seriously gonna lose my mind waiting."
Behind him, several active members of Japan's national team were collapsed on the floor in various dramatic poses, every single one wearing the expression of someone who had just survived a natural disaster.
Kise tossed the ball toward the hoop and stood up, rubbing his nose.
"You guys done resting, senpai? Shouldn't we start the next round of one-on-one training? You've been sitting there forever—I don't know what to do with you~"
Of course, Kise always had a playful tone when he spoke… but his attitude now only made the exhausted national players scoot back in terror.
"N-No! Don't come any closer!"
"You already won! We'll give you our starting spots—just please, PLEASE stop dragging us into more one-on-ones!"
Kise: …
Realizing he may have gone a little overboard, Kise sighed dramatically and muttered, "At this time… Kaijo's freshmen should've already joined the club, right?"
"Man, I wanted to help with recruitment too… Wonder what kind of interesting guys joined this year?"
…
…
Kaijo High — Basketball Club Office
Takeuchi glanced at the thick stack of application forms Kota handed him. Without even looking, he tossed them straight into a drawer.
"So? Any promising rookies this year?"
Kota sprawled lazily onto the office couch. "If by 'promising' you mean another Yuki… then my answer is: no."
Takeuchi froze mid-sip and shot Kota a glare. "Cut it with the English! I'm not expecting another you, Kise, or Yuki every year. I just mean solid rookies—someone good enough to start!"
Kota nodded in understanding. "Oh, that kind. Then yeah, we've got some. Probably because the team keeps getting better — more and more freshmen apply every year. Quite a few were even well-known back in middle school."
Hearing that, Takeuchi relaxed. He took a loud, pretentious sip of tea.
Then Kota added casually,
"Only issue is… none of the rookies this year can play power forward or center."
"PFFT!!!"
Takeuchi sprayed tea everywhere.
Kota, already standing to the side like he'd predicted it, shrugged innocently.
"You brat! You did that on purpose, didn't you?! Why are you telling me something THIS important only now!?"
Kota shrugged.
"You didn't ask."
Takeuchi had no comeback for that. Furious, he wiped his mouth and grabbed the applications, flipping through them one by one.
"Point guard… point guard… combo guard… shooting guard… … …"
The further he read, the darker his expression became. And the last application still said point guard.
Unable to hold back, Takeuchi slammed the folder down.
"Why are there so many point guards!? What is going on!?"
Kota pointed at himself in disbelief.
"You think I wanted this?! A whole pack of guys suddenly showed up to steal my job! I haven't even complained yet! I've already got Yuki chasing me, and now there's, like, fifty more! Who am I supposed to report this to!?"
Takeuchi deflated. He knew it wasn't Kota's fault.
He kept flipping through the papers anyway, refusing to accept reality. "So out of almost a hundred freshmen… only four play the four or five positions? And three of them are power forwards? We can't even get a backup center?"
Kota thought for a second. "Well… we could, if Kise were still here. He could play center, and the freshman could be his backup."
Takeuchi: …
Clutching his chest like he'd been stabbed, he croaked, "How good is this freshman center?"
Kota raised a brow. "Compared to who? If you mean someone like Murasakibara, then obviously no."
Takeuchi frowned. "What about compared to Nebuya?"
Kota, instantly: "Nope."
Takeuchi tried again. "Compared to Kiyoshi from Seirin?"
Kota hesitated. "Pre-injury Kiyoshi or post-injury?"
Takeuchi: "Post-injury. Can he match that?"
Kota: "Not even close."
Takeuchi: ****
Seeing the coach on the verge of a stroke, Kota quickly added, "Don't worry, coach. He might not compare to those three, but compared to our old center…"
Takeuchi snapped his head up, hope shining in his eyes.
If the rookie was at least comparable to Kobori, Kaijo could make it work.
Kota grinned brightly.
"He's worse."
Takeuchi froze.
"So this is it… Heaven has forsaken Kaijo…"
He collapsed into his chair. Even a basketball beginner knew how dangerous it was for a team to have no center—let alone a veteran coach like Takeuchi.
At this point, his only thought was: Can Yuki be trained to play point guard instead?
Watching his coach ready to give up on life, Kota whistled, took a notebook from his pocket, and tossed it onto Takeuchi's belly.
"Cheer up, coach. At least our guard lineup is stacked this year. When we use foul tactics, we won't have to feel bad about it."
Takeuchi glared at him, about to yell—until he noticed the notebook on his stomach.
"What's this?"
As he opened it, Kota stretched lazily and headed for the door.
"See for yourself. Let's call it… the harvest from my trip overseas."
Thud.
The office door closed behind him.
Takeuchi narrowed his eyes, reading slowly through the notebook.
Even though the handwriting was rough and the structure messy, he could tell: this was a completely new tactical system—something Kota had never shown before.
"Abandoning the traditional center-based offense… switching to a small, fast five-guard lineup… Run-and-Gun offense?"