For Teiko's Twin Stars, for the Generation of Miracles, for Hagioka Kasayuki, and for the likes of Reo Mibuchi among the Five Generals, their spring began with evolution through basketball.
But for a brand-new school like Seirin…
Want to play ball?
There was no team for them to even play on.
And more than that
Their basketball wasn't grand or earth-shaking like those monsters'.
In fact
It was filled with resignation.
"Hey!"
"Hyūga!"
"I said Hyūga!"
"Hah?!"
"I heard you, Izuki!"
At fifteen, Hyūga Junpei, sporting freshly dyed blond hair, turned around with a scowl. His cocky posture carried a trace of that same wildness Haizaki had in his first year of middle school, before he was tamed.
"Yo~ Looks like we're in the same class again."
Izuki Shun's pitch-black eyes made him look serious at first glance, but in front of a familiar face his true nature surfaced immediately. "Ahahahaha… Ah man, I can't hold it in!"
"What the hell's so funny?!"
"It's weird, Hyūga. You suddenly dyed your hair blonde after entering high school—totally not a basketball club kind of look!"
"Tch."
"Of course… I'm not playing basketball anymore. That stupid sport only leaves you injured, nothing fun about it!"
"Oh yeah."
"All the delinquents in this school? I'll deal with them on the rooftop."
"Doubt there are any of those here." Izuki eyed his stubborn friend, his sarcasm flowing faster than his restraint. "If you really want to play delinquent, wouldn't another school be better?"
"… Idiot."
"If I went to one of those real delinquent schools, I'd be dead in no time."
"Wow, lame, Hyūga."
After a pause, Izuki silently followed alongside him, remembering their middle school days. Eventually, he couldn't help but speak.
"Look, Hyūga, running away like this—it's pathetic. Back in middle school, you trained so hard you didn't even rest…"
"Hmph!"
"And what came of it?"
Hyūga's voice dimmed, his face carrying a hint of gloom. "In the preliminaries we didn't even win a single game. The team that beat us lost in the next round, then the team that beat them lost in the third round. Those guys, even though they fought with everything, ended up losing by over a hundred points to Teiko in the finals. And the worst part…"
"In that last match, Teiko's Twin Stars—those monsters—didn't even play."
"That's reality."
"'Hard work will always pay off'? Who's the fool that came up with such childish nonsense? For ordinary people, effort is nothing but a waste of time."
"Well…"
"This school doesn't even seem to have a basketball club. Either way, there's nothing to do but give up. You should find another activity too."
At first, Izuki thought Hyūga was just sulking. But after hearing those words, he fell silent, unsure what to say.
From his tone, it felt like his friend was really giving up on basketball.
Even though
Once upon a time, he had poured his sweat and soul into the court.
Thud!
"Ow!"
At that moment, Hyūga, who was busy acting the part of a delinquent, was knocked into. His long blond bangs swayed as he scowled, snapping back angrily.
"Watch it, that hurt! Be careful where you're"
But his voice cut short.
Because as he turned around, all he could see was the overwhelming wall of someone's chest. The oppressive presence crushed his words in his throat.
"Hm?" With a natural aura rivaling Murasakibara's, Kiyoshi Teppei lowered his head to see the strange blond beneath him. A puzzled sound slipped from his lips.
The sheer height, that towering perspective—cold sweat trickled down Hyūga's forehead.
"….!"
So huge…
Damn it!
He's gotta be over 190 already!
What the hell does this guy eat?!
Slap, slap!
Realizing he had bumped into someone, Kiyoshi clapped Hyūga's shoulder cheerfully with his massive hand—once, twice—each pat heavy enough to make Hyūga grit his teeth in pain. He instinctively took a step back.
Then Kiyoshi's eyes drifted toward the phone that had fallen to the ground. Its screen lit up with the image of a familiar face.
Ah…
Shigure Akihito.
That guy.
From the younger face and the later jersey number, it looked like this was from Akihito's first year in middle school. The sight brought back memories.
They had once played together in a streetball game.
He could still remember Akihito's odd habit—winning games by stripping the loser of their jersey.
It was a shame.
Even though Shōei achieved some decent results on the national stage, they never once stood in front of Teiko. He never even had the chance to lose his jersey to that monster.
"Ah…"
"My phone…"
"Here you go."
"Thanks…"
"…Shigure Akihito, huh? Does that mean you like basketball?"
"Eh? No, not really…"
Damn.
He had hesitated. That brief slip was instantly caught by Kiyoshi's sharp perception.
"You're lying, aren't you? You're in the basketball club, right? Want to join me? I'm Kiyoshi Teppei. Nice to meet you!"
Kiyoshi's face beamed with pure enthusiasm as he clapped Hyūga's shoulder again, nearly lifting him off the ground.
"I'm going to hand in my application to join right now. Let's go together!"
"Let go of me!"
"I don't want to!"
"And besides—there's no basketball club!"
"This school doesn't even have one!"
The revelation didn't faze Kiyoshi. He kept smiling brightly—until a strange silence fell over them. Then, his expression suddenly turned serious.
"…What?"
"Really?"
Hyūga: "…"
Izuki: "…"
So it wasn't that he wasn't affected—it was that he had never even considered the possibility that a school might not have a basketball club.
"Tch! Idiot. There's no basketball club here. You're grinning like a fool with your application—where the hell were you planning to submit it?!"
"Oh…"
"Is that so…"
"Well, no helping it then…"
Kiyoshi scratched his head. Then his grin returned, and with absolute seriousness, he said something that stunned both Hyūga and Izuki.
"Then let's build one."
"Let's build a basketball club together!"
Izuki: "…"
Hyūga: "…"
Hah?!
"What do you mean, 'together'?! Don't just rope me in!"
"If there's no club, then we just make one. All we need are three more people and we can enter tournaments~"
"Stop including me! I told you, I'm done with basketball!"
"Oh? Is that so?"
"Yes!"
"So go find someone else. Bye!"
As Hyūga turned away, Kiyoshi caught that fleeting look in his eyes. With a calm smile, he simply followed after.
And so began Hyūga Junpei's "glorious" high school life—being tailed every single day by a giant.
As a would-be delinquent, it was an intimidating accessory.
But from the other side… being shadowed by a grinning giant every day was about as annoying as it got.
Especially when that giant kept cheerfully spouting lines like, "Hey, let's just start a basketball club together!"
Now...
Whenever Hyūga saw that sunny smile, his head hurt.
END OF CHAPTER
CROWN BEFORE THE MIRACLES
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