The stranger before him called out his name with certainty.
Inoue Tomoya froze, the apology on the tip of his tongue forgotten.
He had no idea who this person was.
Until
A furious voice thundered across the court!
"Hanamiya Makoto!"
It wasn't just one voice
A whole group surged forward!
Not far away, Shigure Akihito immediately noticed the commotion.
A mob of junior high players, their uniforms unfamiliar, all seething with anger.
What stood out most, though, were two players with obvious injuries.
One leaned on crutches.
The other had his arm in a sling.
In fact…
They were both in casts.
Shigure didn't need to guess.
His gaze turned sharply toward Hanamiya Makoto.
This guy...
Wasn't even pretending anymore, was he?
The exact timeline was fuzzy, and the manga had never described the incident in detail
But according to the official novels...
Last year, when Hanamiya was a first-year,
He'd earned a shining reputation with his supposedly noble character.
Teammates grew increasingly fond of him.
So much so…
That even Imayoshi Shouichi, known for reading people like books, once asked:
"Isn't it strange I've never heard anything bad about Hanamiya?"
To which the other first-years had laughed and said:
"What's there to be suspicious of? There aren't any rumors because there's nothing bad to say! Only twisted people would spread lies about him."
But Imayoshi—who believed "There are no saints in this world"
Of course, didn't buy it.
He didn't believe anyone could be so flawless that only praise followed them.
"Really? That just proves how unnaturally good he must be…"
No one else thought it odd, though.
And then came that moment.
Shigure could only vaguely recall the details
But he remembered Hanamiya injuring a teammate during an internal scrimmage.
The motive?
Maybe...
That player just happened to be the coach's son.
As the boy screamed in pain,
Hanamiya put on his best act—feigning shock and sympathy.
"Senpai, hang in there!"
Nobody questioned his sincerity.
In fact, his frightened expression drew sympathy from the rest.
They chalked it up as an accident.
But it was all part of Hanamiya's plan.
He didn't laugh out loud—but the upward twitch at the corner of his lips betrayed him.
Soon after…
Imayoshi, already convinced Hanamiya wasn't what he seemed, gave him a warning.
Hanamiya had underestimated the older fox.
But under Imayoshi's sharp scrutiny, he was eventually forced to drop the act.
He realized
There was no hiding from this upperclassman.
What happened next is unclear,
But one thing's for sure
Now a second-year, even under Imayoshi's shadow,
Hanamiya had twisted the basketball club into his personal playground.
The injured players?
Clear proof.
The Nationals hadn't even begun yet
So that meant...
He must've done this during the regional qualifiers.
They still made it to Nationals despite the injuries.
Which likely means
He crippled them right before the final round-robin match.
Tch.
Letting them earn a seeded spot with hope,
Only to crush that hope at the critical moment?
Truly rotten.
Hanamiya's team, Kirisaki Daiichi Academy, and the battered Teiko Middle School now stood across from each other.
Tension suffocated the gym.
Teiko's players looked ready to explode at any moment.
And sure enough, the very next second
A younger player from Teiko, unable to control his rage, broke through the line,
Charging straight at Kirisaki Daiichi's formation.
"Hanamiya, you bastard!"
"After injuring our seniors on purpose…"
"You've got some nerve showing up here!"
Several Kirisaki Daiichi players stepped up, shielding Hanamiya.
But he calmly walked forward on his own.
His face was expressionless, but a strange, mocking curiosity danced in his eyes.
"Dirty?"
"I'm sorry—I don't understand what you're talking about."
"All I remember is that we had a great final in the qualifiers. No booing. The referees saw nothing wrong."
"Was there anything illegal?"
"Doesn't ring a bell."
"Did I do something terrible?"
"If you're referring to your seniors' injuries... I'd suggest they work on their conditioning. They were surprisingly fragile~"
None of the Kirisaki Daiichi players responded to Teiko's outburst.
They'd seen this far too often this year.
Only the third-years, recently booted from the starting lineup—stood well away from Hanamiya, clearly disgusted.
One exception was Imayoshi, who had doubted Hanamiya since last year.
He casually strolled up beside him.
"So you're up against Teiko in the group stage, huh?"
"What's your game plan, Hanamiya-kun?"
Hanamiya raised a brow at the sarcasm dripping from his senpai's voice.
"Teiko? And?"
He answered nonchalantly
But inside, he still hadn't forgotten Shigure Akihito's condescending scorn from last year.
"That Teiko jersey…"
"I've been waiting a whole year for this"
Then he smiled.
"Everything will go exactly as I planned. There won't be any surprises."
"Well, except…"
His gaze drifted past Teiko's broken remnants
To the Teiko team, watching from a distance.
"Heh~ So many self-righteous types in that group... and a lot of them don't look like saints either."
"Looks like this might be fun"
As for the so-called Teiko Twin Stars?
Hmph.
Talent or smarts
Once broken, they're all just trash.
Hanamiya lowered his head slightly, letting the gym's overhead lights cast half his face in shadow beneath his dark bangs.
He grinned
And that sinister expression aimed at Teiko sent chills through the first-years.
Especially…
Haizaki Shōgo.
"...?"
"Who the hell is that idiot?"
"Can I crush him now?"
Kurokami Shinji shook his head.
"Haizaki... seriously?"
"Of course not. They're our first match in the group stage."
Haizaki grunted, then turned to glance at the tall center next to him
A sharply-featured player with short sand-colored hair.
Honestly, he'd been meaning to say this
Among the four second-years starting for Teiko,
Every single one of them was terrifying in their own way.
Shigure Akihito, Nijimura Shuzo, Kurokami Shinji, even the cold-blooded Fukaya Reiji
All monsters.
Truly—Team of Villains.
Hmph.
That Hanamiya freak? What's he even pretending for?
Just wait till the match.
You'll get yours.
Hanamiya's first public appearance since receiving the title of "One of the Five Generals" had left a deep impression on everyone
Especially when contrasted with the broken team of Teiko Middle School.
He radiated danger.
"Let's go. We'll deal with them tomorrow."
As Kirisaki Daiichi Academy walked past him, Inoue Tomoya finally snapped out of it.
At first, he'd been frozen when Hanamiya called his name—caught off guard, unable to apologize.
But now?
After hearing Teiko's furious accusations, seeing the injuries himself…
Whatever apology he'd planned was now stuck in his throat.
Then he heard Hanamiya murmur as he walked by:
"Teiko, the tournament favorites…"
"Losing in an upset on day one—that'd be fun, wouldn't it?"
"Even better if both of the Teiko Twin Stars disappeared"
Hanamiya then looked directly at him, as if noticing him for the first time.
He smiled warmly:
"I'm looking forward to facing you, Inoue Tomoya-kun~"
"Ah—sorry~"
"Though with your current skill level, I doubt you'll even make it through the group stage."
"But that's okay"
"After all…"
"You're just a first-year. Keep working hard."
Inoue Tomoya…
0.5.
Heh~
Trash like that didn't interest him one bit.
Only someone like Shigure Akihito would bother mentoring that kind of deadweight.
What was it again?
A case of trash recognizing trash?
No wonder he ignored me.
That bastard Shigure!
Hanamiya was still bitter about how Shigure had dismissed and ignored him last year.
Because their matches didn't overlap, Hanamiya had gone to watch the Tokyo finals in person
And he'd "coincidentally" overheard Shigure and Inoue talking near the player tunnels.
The content of their conversation?
Hanamiya scoffed at every word.
All he heard was someone, standing at the top, looking down on the world.
Talent.
Career.
Glory.
The peak.
Others as stepping stones.
A brief footnote in his story.
Ha!
All that stacked-up self-important nonsense was laughable.
And only a fool like Inoue Tomoya would listen to it so seriously.
"If you like reminiscing about the past so much…"
"Then tomorrow, I'll personally carve a memory into your ridiculous legacy—one you'll never forget."
"Hanamiya Makoto. Don't ever forget those three words."
End of chapter...
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