"Wait…"
"Wait…"
At that moment
Kise Ryōta couldn't help raising his hand. He glanced at Kiyoshi Teppei, then at Haizaki Shōgo, before finally settling his puzzled gaze on Midorima.
"Hey, Mido-chin…"
"The weird thing isn't that this high school team is trying to recruit Haizaki."
"The weird thing is—when exactly did Haizaki get to meet Shigure-senpai and Nijimura-senpai?"
Swish~
Swish~
Swish~
Immediately
Not just Haizaki, but all of the Generation of Miracles (except Akashi), even Murasakibara who was chewing on his snack stick, turned to look at Kise with equally strange expressions.
Finally
"Eh…?"
"No one told Kise about it? About our senpai?"
"Probably…"
"They forgot?"
"Come to think of it, when Kuroko explained it to us, wasn't Kise absent?"
"Ma~"
"Doesn't matter, does it? Kise's not really part of the Generation of Miracles anyway. He joined late, barely received any guidance from our senpai, totally an outsider, an outsider~"
At Aomine's teasing about being an "outsider," Kise puffed his cheeks in protest.
"Maybe I joined a bit late and didn't get much guidance from Shigure-senpai and the others… but… the Generation of Miracles and all that… I am one of them too, right? I mean, that's what Basketball Monthly wrote…"
"I… I am, right?"
But as he thought about the gap in ability between himself and the others, even Kise started sounding unsure of himself.
It was Kuroko Tetsuya, the old guiding light, who gave him affirmation.
"That's right, Kise."
"Not even a starter, and he dares call himself one of us?" Haizaki sneered as usual.
But
Before he could finish, Kiyoshi Teppei had already latched onto him.
To be honest, Haizaki really didn't know how to deal with this kind of overly earnest type. Something about Kiyoshi gave him the same vibe as a "super-sized Tetsuya."
On the other side
Watching Haizaki and Kiyoshi chatting away, Hyūga Junpei clicked his tongue in envy.
That kid Haizaki might not have shown it openly, but Hyūga could sense it—this subtle, oppressive feeling that came from sheer strength and status, the kind that made casual conversation nearly impossible.
Tch…
Only now did it really hit him.
No matter how carefree Kiyoshi acted, he was still one of the Uncrowned Five Generals!
In terms of strength…
A player acknowledged across the board.
With that thought, Hyūga turned his head—only to see Aida Riko's eyes blazing with a frightening aura. Scratching his head nervously, he stammered, "W-what's wrong, Riko?"
"First off"
"Call me Coach!"
"Second"
"You mean to tell me you were already interacting with the Generation of Miracles, to the point of even being recruited by them, and you never once told me?!"
Sweat trickled down Hyūga's forehead. "It's not like we ever thought about it! At that time Seirin's basketball club didn't even exist yet. We had no chance to think about stuff like that…"
"It's all because"
Right then
Because of the weather, the Generation of Miracles had tied their jackets around their waists, sitting there in just their sleeveless jerseys.
Before Hyūga could finish, he noticed Riko staring straight at the middle schoolers' physiques, muttering under her breath.
"So this is the ace of the Generation of Miracles, Aomine Daiki…"
"So strong…"
"Even stronger than Haizaki!"
"Wouldn't it be better if we tried to recruit him instead?"
"And also…"
"This is so strange…"
"From Teiko's Twin Stars to the whole Generation of Miracles, all of them are strange."
Hyūga knew this ability of his childhood friend very well. Having grown up working alongside her father, a former national player, Aida Riko had developed what was practically a set of "data eyes."
Just one glance at a normal person's body, and every detail about their physical stats would appear before her, never once inaccurate.
He probed carefully, "What is it?"
Eyes wide, Riko looked at Hyūga. "Among these guys, the taller ones—their physical abilities are already stronger than Teppei's right now!"
"But what's really weird is"
"I can't see their growth curves."
"Starting from Shigure Akihito and Nijimura Shuzo, it's been the same…"
"I can't see their past, and I can't see their future either!"
Hyūga nodded vaguely, "So basically… you mean their futures can't be predicted?"
"…?"
"Hyūga, you…"
"That was actually a good summary."
"Anyway"
"Explain everything to me properly, right now!"
While Kiyoshi's attempt to befriend Haizaki failed, and Hyūga was floundering under Riko's interrogation, once the Teiko players had all left, Seirin's members gathered eagerly.
"So what's going on?"
"Are we…"
"Recruiting Teiko players? The Generation of Miracles?"
"That sounds way too impossible, right?"
And yet
Contrary to everyone's expectations, even Riko's
Kiyoshi shook his head, then smiled proudly. "I bragged to him, you know. Told him how we built up a solid team at Seirin from scratch! He said he'd come watch our game later!"
Riko's eyes lit up instantly.
"Everyone, we have to play our best! Next year the Generation of Miracles will all be entering high school. If Seirin could somehow land one of them…! For a brand-new team to have a Miracle as its banner in its second year…"
"And from what I've heard, this one's a well-rounded scoring type—Haizaki Shōgo!"
"Maybe…"
"He could be second only to their ace, Aomine Daiki."
The more she spoke, the more excited she became.
But then Kiyoshi raised his hand. "Um… about Haizaki… that totally didn't work out. I was actually talking about… Kuroko Tetsuya."
Remembering the ability he had seen from Kuroko that night
Riko fell silent.
"…Well…"
"That works too!"
Meanwhile
"What's wrong, Haizaki?"
Haizaki bent down to pick up a student handbook that had fallen on the ground. On the back, the owner's details were neatly filled in.
Seirin High School
Hyūga Junpei
Damn it…
Why is it Seirin again?!
Even Kuroko glanced at it and looked a little surprised. Raising his hand slightly, he turned to Akashi and explained, "Haizaki picked up a student handbook. One of Seirin's players must've dropped it earlier."
Smirking at Haizaki's conflicted expression, Kuroko asked Akashi, "Can we go return this to them?"
At the word we, Akashi fell into brief thought before nodding.
"I understand. We still have a meeting later. If you're late, be sure to contact me."
"Oi!"
"Tetsuya…"
"You could just go by yourself! Why drag me along?!"
"Let's go watch Seirin's game. Don't you think, just like Shigure-senpai said, this is a strange kind of fate?"
Thinking of the student handbook in his hand, Haizaki finally gritted his teeth.
"Tch!"
"Fine, but listen"
"I'm only going to watch, nothing more!"
END OF CHAPTER
CROWN BEFORE THE MIRACLES
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