BANG!
Akashi Asuka leapt straight into Tsutomu Iwamura and Omuro Yoshikasu, slamming the ball into the hoop with a thunderous dunk that sent both of them flying.
"Ehh~~~"
"So scary! So scary!"
"Whoa! Is this guy really in the same grade as us? Feels like he's on a whole different level!"
============
BEEP~~~
That final dunk marked the end of the game.
Right up until the whistle, the scoreboard froze at 76 to 50.
The rookie team had taken the win, by a margin no one had ever expected, in this selection match.
In the full game, Akashi Asuka alone scored 28 points, grabbed 15 rebounds, and blocked 10 shots.
He had, more or less, completely dominated the match with overwhelming power.
"Sorry about that, senpai."
After the game, Akashi reached down to the fallen Tsutomu Iwamura and Omuro Yoshikasu. The two hesitated, but eventually clasped his hand.
"Ahhh, I give up! This year's rookies are insane. Seriously, are you sure you're not one of the 'Generation of Miracles'?" Kasuga Ryuhei came over, hands on hips, giving Akashi's back a hearty slap.
Akashi shook his head and said honestly, "I'm not. In fact, back in middle school, our team lost to Teiko by almost double their score."
"You're kidding. Even if you weren't a match for them?"
"It's true. Compared to the Generation of Miracles, the gap is huge. I only have a bit of talent in basketball, but those guys? They're real geniuses."
That was no false modesty. Aside from his height, this body didn't have much in the way of natural basketball ability.
That is… without the 'cheat.'
"A bit of talent?"
Kasuga's mouth twitched. He glanced at the scoreboard, then at Akashi, already 205 cm as a first-year, and felt an almost irresistible urge to punch him.
If this guy's only got 'a bit of talent'… then what the hell are we? Born defective?
"Akashi-kun's telling the truth, Kasuga-kun!"
The clear, light voice came from behind, Kitayama Yuzuki.
"In middle school, Akashi-kun and Tsugawa-kun were on Kaijo Affiliated, and in the national tournament quarterfinals, they faced Teiko. They lost by almost double the score. In that sense, Akashi-kun really isn't lying."
"What?"
Some of Seiho's main players already knew about Akashi's and Tsugawa's middle school records, but others didn't.
And whether they'd heard or not, when Yuzuki said that out loud, everyone's expression changed.
After all, even if they'd known the score, double didn't mean much until now.
But now, after seeing Akashi and Tsugawa team up to crush Seiho's starting lineup by over twenty points, they could feel just how terrifying it was that Teiko had beaten these two by double that margin.
"No way…"
"If even Akashi-kun couldn't handle them… what'll we do in the nationals if we run into the Generation of Miracles?"
============
"Yuzuki, that joke was a little too much."
Seeing how a single sentence had nearly crushed the morale of both Seiho's main squad and the rookies before the real battle had even started, Iwamura quickly spoke up.
"Ahahaha, sorry, sorry. I just didn't want you guys down after losing, so I thought I'd lighten the mood."
Yuzuki gave an awkward smile, then added, "Oh, but Iwamura-kun, how do you know I was joking? Because everything I just said… was the truth."
Iwamura's expression didn't waver. "I don't know exactly what kind of monsters the Generation of Miracles are, but I do know one thing, no high school player, no matter how strong, can be that far above this guy."
"In the match just now, this kid was already playing at a level above a national-class center. But… I don't think that was your real strength, was it?"
Iwamura turned toward Akashi, and his words immediately made everyone's faces change again.
"What? This brat was holding back just now? You've got to be kidding me."
Akashi looked at him in surprise, then smiled. "Why would you say that, Iwamura-senpai? I was working really hard out there."
Iwamura shot him a sidelong glance. "If you'd really been going all out, there's no way you'd finish a full game without even your breathing getting rough."
…Crap.
Slipped up. Didn't dodge that one.
"You bastard, are you looking down on Seiho?"
Before Akashi could react, Kasuga had grabbed him by the collar. Even when Tsugawa and Akashi had taunted him earlier, and even after losing, Kasuga hadn't gotten truly angry. But now… his temper flared for real.
And it was no wonder, on the court, an opponent holding back could be even more insulting than losing outright.
"Calm down, Kasuga-senpai. Don't listen to Iwamura-senpai's nonsense. I'm not strong enough to just hold back on purpose. I only… maybe took it easy for a bit in the latter half of the fourth quarter."
Akashi pried Kasuga's hands off him, looking helpless.
Against a national powerhouse like Seiho, even Akashi couldn't just coast. He'd used nearly all of his standard skills in this match.
He'd only kept a few unorthodox moves in reserve, and hadn't gone all-out on his inside plays.
But that wasn't really "holding back."
No one uses their trump cards when they're already winning, and for a player of Akashi's build, managing stamina is a required skill.
"Hmph. Better be that way," Kasuga grunted, finally letting go.
Thinking it over, even he realized Akashi probably wasn't truly holding back. After all, Seiho had earned its place among the "Three Kings of Tokyo" for a reason.
And no matter how strong Akashi was as a rookie, there was no way he could still have room to deliberately hold back.
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