The day after the Tokyo District Qualifiers Round-Robin Finals.
Teiko Middle School Cafeteria.
Amid the excited chatter of the girls around her, Momoi could only hear a constant buzzing in her ears. At the same time, she felt like she was gradually falling out of sync with the minds of girls her own age.
Was it because she was always hanging around guys like Daiki that she'd become disconnected from her peers?
It was...strange.
Even Midorima Shintarō, with that weird habit of carrying around lucky items every day, had somehow become a "moe point." And even someone like Haizaki, a delinquent through and through, had fans.
And the rest...
So many ridiculous points...
As expected,
She just couldn't understand what girls these days saw in people.
Momoi Satsuki glanced down at her chest, which had been growing more prominent lately, and fell silent for a moment. There's no way I'm just a tomboy who's been 'turned' by hanging out with boys all the time...right?
As for yesterday's final round, unsurprisingly, the spotlight still belonged to Shigure-senpai.
Even now, the only part that stuck with her was that stretch in the second quarter where Shigure-senpai took over the game in just a few minutes.
It had turned into a one-man show.
His offensive techniques were diverse and dazzling.
His defensive range extended astonishingly to the three-point line.
Even his passing stood out.
As a player, Shigure-senpai had taken every aspect of the game to the highest possible level. The thunderous cheers from the crowd during that stretch were proof enough.
Just as Momoi was mulling over her disconnect with the girls her age,
Suddenly,
A suppressed gasp rippled out from behind her.
She glanced over her shoulder.
The first-year regulars of the basketball club, led by Akashi, were entering the cafeteria, minus Haizaki.
Momoi blinked, wordlessly.
Akashi...
Of all of them, he was probably the one she had the best impression of, or had, anyway. The way the girls whispered things like "Akashi-sama" to each other... it made that impression feel weirdly complicated.
Momoi waited a moment, but when she didn't see any of the upperclassmen from the Teiko team follow in, she looked a little disappointed and shook her head.
Moments later,
"Congratulations"
Already in her internship phase as team manager, Momoi sat down beside the four first-year regulars with a warm smile.
"You've made history for Teiko, five first-years heading to Nationals"
But her cheerful congratulations were met with... no excitement whatsoever. Aside from Murasakibara, who was happily stuffing his face, everyone else looked utterly unfazed.
"Uh..."
"There's nothing to celebrate," Aomine muttered, clicking his tongue.
He had been subbed out in the second quarter of yesterday's game, only to return in the third. Overall, he'd played about half the match.
But still...
By that point, Inoue Tomoya had already lost his rhythm completely.
He was still frustrated he didn't get to go all-out against Inoue yesterday.
Midorima, meanwhile, was gently stroking something on the table in front of him.
A small stuffed dog.
"Indeed," Midorima said coolly. "Nothing worth celebrating."
"After all, it's something Captain Nijimura and Shigure-senpai already accomplished last year. And their roles on the team were basically the same as ours now."
At that moment, having eaten about all he could, Murasakibara tilted his head in mock thought, his half-lidded purple eyes scanning the group. Then, stealthily, he reached for Aomine's tray and mumbled through a mouthful of food:
"Mmm Satsuki, don't joke around"
Tch
Our opponents are so weak.
People without talent... they're just annoying.
But then, Murasakibara's mind instinctively wandered to that gloomy senpai.
Tch!
That gloomy guy... made a point.
If someone has no talent, they shouldn't be acting all high and mighty in front of him. He wasn't like that always-smiling senpai who gave 100% even against nobodies, and never even broke them. If he could do that, then Murasakibara could, too.
Smack!
Aomine slapped away Murasakibara's hand with a scowl.
"Murasakibara! If you're still hungry, go get seconds. Don't steal from my plate!"
Momoi was caught off guard by the flat reactions, blinking in surprise.
And then,
Whoosh,
Another sneaky hand darted in and snatched a sausage from Aomine's tray.
Aomine's eyes widened. "!"
He whipped around.
"Haizaki, you bastard!"
But the moment he saw who it was, his glare eased into a mocking grin.
"Yo Took off those weird things on your ears, huh?"
Haizaki Shōgo: "..."
Just hearing that made Haizaki angry all over again.
Damn it...
That musclehead Nijimura! Always up in everyone's business!
Not wanting to give Aomine the satisfaction, he scowled and tried to change the topic.
"Why're you so mad? You're always eating other people's food, too."
And with that, he had no interest in continuing the conversation. He knew full well nothing good ever came out of talking to Aomine.
Then,
To everyone's surprise,
Haizaki suddenly turned and scanned the room with a frown.
"Where the hell's that third-stringer?! He did get my lunch, right?!"
Whack!
A sharp knock to the back of his knee made Haizaki stumble.
He turned, ready to snap, but was met with a mop of watery blue hair.
"Kuroko..." he growled.
"You're being too loud," Kuroko said flatly.
Even Akashi paused at the sound of that voice, startled, none of them had noticed when Kuroko had even arrived.
"You little third-string brat!"
"Careful, Haizaki-kun. You'll get in trouble for fighting. You've got Nationals coming up, after all... Haizaki-kun really is amazing."
"You!"
"I'm the one going, not you! Why're you so happy about it?"
Though Kuroko Tetsuya's face remained calm and serious, Haizaki could still see that flicker of amused sparkle behind his eyes.
Haizaki Shōgo: "..."
This guy... always so annoyingly earnest.
And now, he could add another to the growing list of people he couldn't handle.
Tch.
What a pain.
Was he giving off "friendly nice guy" energy or something?
He still didn't understand why Kuroko never seemed afraid of him, and why he'd even asked for help practicing that "misdirection" passing thing.
Worst of all?
The weird, impossible-sounding technique... actually started to work. Kuroko had almost nailed it by last night, after burning through multiple basketballs in the process.
"Here's your lunch, Haizaki-kun," Kuroko said, placing a tray in front of him.
"..."
"Kuroko Tetsuya, are you treating me like a bottomless pit?!"
"How am I supposed to finish a bowl that big?!"
"But I saw Murasakibara-kun with the same portion when I was in line. You're both regulars, so I figured it was standard."
"You, !"
"You did do it on purpose, didn't you?!"
"No. I even got an extra bowl myself, see?"
"You call that a bowl? Yours is a teacup, mine's a basin!"
Haizaki and Kuroko sat side-by-side, their odd exchange drawing some strange looks from the rest of the table.
That subtle tension between them... it was oddly compelling.
Then,
After a brief moment of thought, Akashi suddenly spoke up:
"In that case..."
"Everyone from the first-years is here now."
"I suppose this is a good time to say what needs to be said."
He lowered his eyes, thoughtful, the usual smile on his face fading into something more serious.
End of chapter...
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