Seirin were in high spirits.
Their victory over Josei High in the Winter Cup preliminaries had lit a fire under them. They had advanced to the Final League, where they would face Senshinkan, Shūtoku, and Kirisaki Daiichi – the four teams battling for the two coveted Winter Cup slots.
The air inside the Seirin gym was thick with energy. Every shot, every drill, every drop of sweat carried the same thought: This year, we can win it all.
And that's when Momoi Satsuki appeared in the doorway – again.
By now, her sudden visits had become almost routine. Some of the team had started calling her a "recurring side quest" – unpredictable, but always bringing something valuable.
"Hey guys!" she greeted brightly, waving a hand. "I brought you some tapes! You'll find them… very interesting."
Kuroko looked up immediately. "Momoi-san," he said evenly, "you never do anything purely out of the kindness of your heart – especially for opponents."
Momoi puffed her cheeks in mock offense. "Kuroko-kun, you're so mean! I just wanted to help a little!"
Then, her expression shifted. The playfulness vanished. "Well… you're not completely wrong. I do need your help – actually, your coach's help."
Riko blinked, caught off guard. "Mine? Why me?"
Momoi nodded and placed a small flash drive on the scorer's table. "I've got footage of that foreigner team – the Onitsuka Tigers. The Winter Cup preliminaries in Okinawa are already over. They won everything and will represent Okinawa as one of the prefecture's two entries in the national tournament."
"Wait," said Teppei, whistling low. "They already finished all their prelims?"
"Yup," Momoi replied. "Because of the tournament's expansion this year, Okinawa ran a separate qualifying circuit – group stages with eight teams each, followed by thirty-two rounds of elimination games."
"Thirty-two rounds?!" Kagami's jaw dropped. "That's insane!"
Momoi nodded seriously. "It was. But here's what's even crazier – through the entire competition, they only had one foreign player on the court."
The room fell silent.
"One?" repeated Riko slowly. "Who?"
Momoi's eyes gleamed. "Adrian Carter. His file's on the drive too. The rest of the team were locals – all players they trained themselves."
Everyone stared at her, stunned.
They had expected the Onitsuka Tigers to dominate because of their foreign lineup. But to dominate one of Japan's toughest prefectures using mostly homegrown talent? That was something else entirely.
Teppei rubbed his chin. "So even their second string is turning into monsters, huh…"
Riko exhaled slowly, tension creeping into her voice. "If they can win Okinawa with just one import, then their development system… might already be beyond anything Japan has seen."
They booted up the laptop and plugged in the flash drive.
Inside were several folders – not just game footage, but files.
Every single player on Onitsuka's roster had a detailed profile. Some included scouting reports, stats, personality notes… and even information about the team managers – from their hobbies and favorite foods all the way down to their body measurements, like chest, waist, and hip sizes.
Koganei, ever the curious one, leaned closer. "Uh, Momoi-san… how in the world did you get all this?"
Momoi smiled like a cat caught in the act but too proud to care.
"Oh, that's easy," she said sweetly. "I just used my social networks. I searched through everyone I know – and everyone they know – for anyone living in Okinawa. Eventually, I found out that when I was in elementary school, I had a classmate from Okinawa. That girl had a friend who studied at the same middle school as one of the boys in Onitsuka's basketball club."
She placed a hand on her hip, clearly enjoying herself.
"After that, it was simple. We staged a little story – said I was a girl whose basketball-player boyfriend dumped her, and now she doesn't trust athletes anymore. Naturally, the topic came up, and they mentioned a guy from the Onitsuka team as an example of a 'good one.' They introduced us online. Now he thinks we're in a long-distance relationship…"
She tapped the screen lightly.
"…and he's been sending me all this information himself."
For a long moment, no one spoke.
Then every single member of Seirin shouted in unison: "That's terrifying!"
Momoi clasped her hands over her chest. "Don't misunderstand! My heart belongs only to Kuroko-kun!"
Teppei sighed, half amused, half horrified. "Women are scary."
From the back, one of the first-years muttered, dead serious, "…I don't trust women anymore."
"Ah, don't fret too much," Momoi said, waving a hand. "It's a pretty standard tactic. Onitsuka has an entire lineup of five very pretty managers doing the exact same thing. Imagine the amount of data they have."
Kagami immediately remembered the two girls they'd seen during the Kaijō vs. Tōō game – Arisa and Emma. His stomach tightened a little.
Riko, however, decided not to waste another second. "Alright, let's see what you've got." She opened one of the main folders labeled 'Players'.
Inside were two subfolders – 'International' and 'Local'. She clicked on 'International' first.
What she saw made her jaw drop.
Each player's stats were listed in full detail. The numbers looked almost unreal – their physical growth since the last footage was staggering.
~~~~~
- Ector Troy – 6'3", 165 lbs, wingspan 6'7", position: Point Guard.
- Novak Lazarevic – 6'5", 200 lbs, wingspan 6'9", positions: Point Guard / Shooting Guard.
- Jesus Iglesia – 6'4", 170 lbs, wingspan 6'6", position: Shooting Guard.
- Tyrone Mason – 6'7", 210 lbs, wingspan 7'0", position: Small Forward.
- Adrian Carter – 6'6", 215 lbs, wingspan 6'8", positions: Small Forward / Power Forward.
- Grigori Nevsky – 6'10", 215 lbs, wingspan 7'3", positions: Small Forward / Power Forward.
- Aliir Deng – 7'1", 230 lbs, wingspan 7'7", position: Center.
- Jean-Batiste Biha – 7'3", 265 lbs, wingspan 8'0", position: Center.
~~~~~
Riko's eyes widened the further she read. "Most of them… they've grown since Midorima's video," she said in disbelief. "That Novak guy alone – he's added two whole inches! And this Tyrone's wingspan… it's seven feet now?!"
She scrolled further down, her expression darkening.
Their muscle mass had skyrocketed. Every player looked like they'd undergone a complete physical transformation – solid, lean, and explosive.
"These aren't high schoolers anymore," Riko muttered. "They look like pros."
She exhaled, then clicked into the next folder – 'Local'.
The list opened up, showing profiles of names none of them recognized.
~~~~~
- Kenta Ishikawa – 5'9", 150 lbs, wingspan 5'11", Point Guard, 3rd Year.
- Ryusei Takahashi – 5'11", 163 lbs, wingspan 6'1", Shooting Guard, 3rd Year.
- Sota Mizuno – 6'0", 154 lbs, wingspan 6'2", Small Forward, 2nd Year.
- Daigo Arai – 6'0", 181 lbs, wingspan 6'3", Power Forward, 3rd Year.
- Takeru Hanaeda – 6'3", 194 lbs, wingspan 6'7", Power Forward / Center, 2nd Year.
- Shunpei Morita – 5'7", 134 lbs, wingspan 5'8", Point Guard / Shooting Guard, 1st Year.
- Haruto Kinoshita – 5'10", 154 lbs, wingspan 6'0", Small Forward / Power Forward, 2nd Year.
~~~~~
Riko frowned, reading through their bios. "None of these names are familiar. They weren't on any scouting reports before joining Onitsuka."
Physically, they didn't look like the type of players who would dominate a region like Okinawa. Nothing in their profiles screamed "monsters."
Riko leaned back, realization dawning.
"So that's why you came here, huh, Momoi?" she said quietly.
Momoi nodded, her expression serious.
The answer was clear to everyone now. If Onitsuka had crushed Okinawa with those players, it wasn't because of genetics or talent.
It was because of coaching.
Momoi took over the laptop and clicked the tape of their last game. "Alright, this one is Onitsuka's final match against Kubasaki."
On the screen, Adrian Carter caught the ball in the post. His defender looked tiny next to him – barely up to his shoulder. One strong dribble, shoulder bump, spin – easy finish off the glass.
Kagami whistled. "Holy crap, he's huge! That guy's a high schooler?!"
Riko folded her arms. "Yeah, and he knows it. Look at how he uses his body. No wasted motion."
Next play. Carter caught it again. This time two defenders jumped him. Without even looking, he swung the ball to the corner. The shooter caught, rose, and nailed the three.
Koganei leaned closer. "Wait – he didn't even look!"
"He doesn't have to. He knows where everyone is."
Carter posted up again – spin, pump fake, defenders collapsed, kickout, swish. Over and over.
Teppei rubbed his chin. "He's not just strong. He's reading the court. Every time he gets doubled, someone's wide open."
Riko nodded. "And those shooters – look how fast they pull up. They don't even think. Just catch and shoot."
Kagami, frowning: "That's so boring. No speed, no power moves, just passing around."
Riko, sighing: "You're the only person who thinks jumping fixes everything."
Kagami: "It works, doesn't it?!"
Teppei, chuckling: "Not when the ball's already gone before you jump."
The video rolled on. Kubasaki tried to adjust, but Carter kept drawing doubles, finding shooters, and scoring when they didn't help. He was like a magnet pulling the whole defense inside.
Onitsuka not only scored almost everything, they completely dominated on the defensive end too. Kubasaki's guard tried to drive down the middle – Onitsuka's defender forced him sideways, cutting off the lane. Another stepped up near the baseline. Trap.
The ball handler had nowhere to go. Turnover.
Riko paused the video. "See that? They never let anyone attack the center. They force everything to the sides."
Momoi: "And when the offense gets stuck near the baseline, Carter's already there waiting. He's like a wall."
Kuroko, quietly: "They're… organized. It's hard to find any opening."
Teppei nodded. "Yeah. It's not fast or flashy. But everything's clean. Everyone moves together."
The next few clips showed the same pattern – Carter scored, drew doubles, found open shooters. On defense, Onitsuka kept pushing the ball to the edges until their opponents ran out of room.
By the end, the score read: Onitsuka 127 – Kubasaki 54.
For a few seconds, no one spoke.
Kagami crossed his arms. "So that's their whole thing? Just one guy crushing everyone inside and passing out?"
Teppei: "Pretty much. But that one guy changes the whole game."
Riko nodded. "He forces the defense to panic, then the others take advantage. It's simple – but it's deadly when everyone knows their role."
Kagami, scoffing: "Tch. I still think we can take them. Just play harder."
Riko, unimpressed: "You said the same thing before losing to Tōō."
Kagami: "That was different!"
Teppei, chuckling: "Sure it was."
Riko stopped the video and stared at the frozen image of Carter, calm in the middle of the court while four teammates waited perfectly spaced around him.
"They're not like any school we've faced before," she said quietly. "They don't play Japanese basketball anymore."
Momoi took a sip of water and leaned back. "So, you're probably wondering who that guy actually is."
Riko crossed her arms. "Yeah. He doesn't look like a normal high school player. Where did Onitsuka even find him?"
Momoi opened a file on the laptop labeled Adrian Carter – Profile. "He's from Texas. Used to play American football at Allen. 6A Division."
Teppei blinked. "Allen? Hmm… No… Doesn't say anything to me…"
Momoi explained. "One of the biggest sports schools in the States. He was a wide receiver there – fast, explosive, scary good. But he broke his finger and quit football. After that, he switched to basketball."
Koganei scratched his head. "Wait, he just switched sports like that?"
Momoi shrugged. "Apparently, yeah. And the crazy part is – his football background makes him even better at basketball."
Kuroko leaned in. "How?"
Momoi smiled, flicking through clips. "First – field awareness. Wide receivers have to read space, movement, timing – and they do it while sprinting full speed. That's why he always knows where everyone is on the court. Second – his hands. Even after the injury, he can catch anything. Look at this."
She played a short clip. Carter jumped for a wild pass, one hand behind him – snatched it midair, landed, and finished through contact.
Kagami's eyes widened. "That's nuts! That's like… Odell Beckham stuff!"
Momoi chuckled. "Pretty much. His reactions are insane. Football players train to track a ball they can't even see half the time. He does the same here – senses where the pass will land before it comes."
Teppei nodded slowly. "That explains his timing. And his balance. He's built to take hits and keep moving."
Riko, thinking out loud: "So he's reading the floor like a quarterback and moving like a receiver. That's why their foreign coach built a whole system around him."
Kagami, frowning thoughtfully, said, "Yeah… I've heard something like that before. Back in the States, people always said American football players are the best raw athletes in the world. Fast, strong, explosive – everything."
Koganei, impressed: "Guess they weren't wrong."
Junpei, growled: "And now one of them is playing basketball in Japan. Great."
Riko sighed, rubbing her temples. "So not only do we have to deal with his strength and passing – he's basically trained to see the whole game at once."
Momoi closed the laptop. "Pretty much. That's what makes him dangerous. He doesn't rush, he doesn't panic – he just reacts faster than everyone else."
The room was still quiet after Momoi finished explaining. Then Riko tilted her head. "Yeah, thanks for the footage and all the info, Momoi… but why did you come here in person?"
Koganei grinned. "Yeah, usually you just drop stuff off and run away."
Momoi puffed her cheeks. "How rude! Can't I visit old friends?"
Kagami snorted. "Old friends, huh? You sure it's not because Kuroko never visits you?"
Momoi froze, then turned slowly toward Kuroko. "...You don't visit me."
Kuroko, expressionless: "I texted you once."
Momoi, dramatically clutching her heart: "Once! In six months! Do you know how lonely that is?!"
Teppei laughed. "I feel sorry for that Aomine guy now."
Momoi, frowning: "Don't. He's either sleeping in class or skipping practice somewhere on a rooftop. He's impossible!"
Riko, teasing: "So, you're saying your partner's useless and your crush ignores you?"
Momoi pouted. "That's not true!" She crossed her arms, pretending to be offended, though her ears turned pink.
Kagami, deadpan: "Sounds pretty true to me."
Momoi sighed and waved a hand. "Whatever. You're all terrible. Anyway–" she leaned forward again, voice suddenly serious, "How do you even guard someone like this? I feel like tossing the ball to Aomine and hoping for the best won't do anything this time."
…