"Honestly, let's forget it. And that girl… doesn't she feel kind of scary? Way too strict, right?"
Koganei Shinji, still shaken by Aida Riko's overwhelming aura, recalled the earlier scene with lingering fear.
But Kiyoshi Teppei didn't see it that way.
The very first thing he said…
The example he gave was a little odd.
"Monsters are way scarier!"
"That's not"
"That's not even close to the same thing! What are you talking about!?"
Kiyoshi laughed, "Well, I feel reassured, actually. If she joins us, it should be great. What Riko really expressed just now was that she can't stand people who give up halfway, right?"
At those words
Izuki, Koganei, and even Mitobe, who hadn't spoken a single word until now, all froze.
"Huh?"
"Did I say something wrong?"
"No…"
"You're right, that's exactly it."
With everyone's agreement, Kiyoshi nodded.
"So the only question left is, how do we seriously convey it to her? Our determination?"
At the side, Izuki Shun thought for a moment.
"Yeah… I think you're right. Riko's personality really might be just as you say. Back in junior high, when Hyūga finished training, he'd still go back to the Aida family gym and continue. The one who saw that the most was Riko."
"So what she said earlier was probably her true feelings."
"It almost sounded like she was talking about Hyūga himself."
After school.
The core members of Seirin's basketball club went to a burger shop to get to know each other better and continue discussing Aida Riko and Hyūga Junpei.
Meanwhile
At a game arcade, Hyūga Junpei was caught red-handed by Riko herself.
"Hey…"
"What are you doing in a place like this?"
Hyūga turned around, meeting Riko's probing gaze. Her expression shifted from stern to crumbling… until she suddenly burst into laughter.
"Pfft!"
"Ah…!"
"Sorry, but your hairstyle!"
"Hey, hey!"
"Cut it out already!"
After leaving the arcade together, Riko brought up lunchtime.
"Izuki and the others came to find you at lunch break. They had some weird tall guy with them."
"They said something about creating a basketball club?"
"Ah…"
"Yeah, sounds like it."
Riko shot him a sharp look.
"By the way, compared to me, you seem awfully free, don't you think? I'm a girl, but you're the one who's supposed to be playing basketball."
"Hah?"
"I've got tons of things I do every day!"
"Like gaming…"
"Reading manga…"
"And what else?"
"Collecting Sengoku warlords lately. By the way, my favorite is Date Masamune!!"
With a smug face, Hyūga pulled out his prized Sengoku figure. But Riko had zero interest.
The first thing she noticed was that the long-haired design looked exactly like Hyūga himself.
"Seriously… just how much do you like this hairstyle?"
Then silence.
Riko sighed.
"You're obviously forcing yourself."
"Huh?"
"It's not that you've got a mountain of things you want to do. It's that you don't even know what you should be doing, right?"
Hyūga: "…"
At the burger shop.
The not-yet-official basketball club's four members discussed their positions.
"I'm PG, Hyūga's SG," Izuki said.
For Koganei, still completely new to basketball, he immediately turned to Mitobe, "So Mitobe's the center, right?"
Izuki: "…"
Mitobe hadn't even spoken!
What, were they communicating telepathically?
"Oh! Then I'll be a guard!" Koganei raised his hand eagerly.
Izuki had no choice but to calm him down, telling him to try things out first before deciding on a position.
The conversation, of course, circled back to Hyūga.
"To be honest, Hyūga's shooting ability is already amazing. The biggest reason we still can't win is because the rest of us just aren't strong enough."
"Yeah…"
"Forget it… That guy's already given up, hasn't he?"
Kiyoshi shook his head.
"No, he hasn't. It's not just about filling numbers. I have to make him join, because that guy, more than anyone else…"
But before he could finish, a figure suddenly appeared.
Hyūga Junpei.
The two of them locked eyes in shock.
And then
Whoosh!
Hyūga bolted!
Kiyoshi sprinted after him!
While running, he called back, "Izuki, sorry! Pay for me first, I'll pay you back tomorrow!"
Watching them chase each other down the street, Koganei tilted his head, "Is that guy really that amazing?"
"Hmm?"
"Probably…"
"At the very least, he used to be just as serious as Teppei."
At that moment, nearby office workers were chatting.
One off-hand pun reached Izuki's ears, striking him like a bolt of lightning.
"Eh? Izuki, what's wrong?"
"That pun just now… wasn't it hilarious?"
"Eh!?"
"Izuki…"
"Your sense of humor is pretty weird."
Later, at the Aida family gym.
Thanks to Aida Kagetora, a former national player, plenty of members came for his training sessions after school.
"I'm back…"
"Oh. You're early today."
As usual, Kagetora guided members while casually greeting his daughter. But today, Riko seemed distracted, completely absorbed in her thoughts.
Kiyoshi's words echoed in her mind.
"Can you join our basketball club?"
She lifted her head.
In the distance
the equipment Hyūga used to train on. He wasn't there anymore.
Instead… someone else.
"…!?"
"Eh!?"
Her eyes widened.
In that instant, she was dragged into the world of data. The boy on the bike, shirtless, every part of his body was glowing with terrifying, quantifiable numbers.
Height: 188 cm
Weight: 82 kg
Lv. ? / ?
Neck – 8844
Shoulders – 9212
Arms – 9232
Chest – 8821
Thighs – 9334
What is this!?
Judging from his muscles, he was definitely a high schooler. But every stat was ridiculously high. Terrifying numbers, and his potential growth… she couldn't even see the limit!
Since gaining this ability, this was the first time she'd ever seen…
A talent like this!
And then
"Oi, Nijimura, let's go. Aida said we can spar in a bit."
Riko turned her head.
Height: 196 cm
Weight: 89 kg
Lv. ? / ?
Neck – 10988
Shoulders – 11087
Arms – 11669
Chest – 10605
Thighs – 11788
Riko: "…"
Another monster?!
END OF CHAPTER
CROWN BEFORE THE MIRACLES
🔥 Rookie Recruit – Read 15 chapters ahead
🔥 Starting Five – Jump 35 chapters ahead + 6 bonus chapters!
Huge thanks to everyone already on Patreon—you're the real MVPs! 🙌Bonus chapters, early access, and all the good stuff are live. 👀✨
And for the rest—it's not too late to be part of the team. 🚀
👉 patreon.com/MrBehringer