Inside Too Academy's Basketball Gym
"You're so annoying. Just because you have some 'valid reason' doesn't mean you can skip practice" said Wakamatsu, clearly irritated.
Aomine slapped his shoulder nonchalantly and replied, "I left my gravure magazine of Mai Horikita in the classroom. If I don't grab it now, a teacher might confiscate it… Happy now?"
Wakamatsu stared at him like he'd just heard the dumbest thing in the universe. Was this guy serious? Was this supposed to be a joke?
But Aomine didn't even bother explaining — he just turned and walked straight out of the gym.
"Hey, you jerk! Get back here!" Wakamatsu snapped back to his senses and rushed over, grabbing Aomine by the collar.
"I'll let that slide just this once. Now let go."
Before Wakamatsu could say anything else, Aomine kneed him in the gut — hard.
"Wakamatsu!" The rest of the team rushed over to check on their fallen teammate… but not a single one dared confront Aomine or question why he just decked a teammate in the middle of practice.
"I was gonna say something… Oh yeah—if you want to lecture me, show me some results first" Aomine said, walking away.
Imayoshi watched him leave. He, too, had problems with Aomine's attitude, but… well, what could he say? As Too Academy's undisputed No.1, Aomine could get away with this kind of behavior. None of them had enough clout to challenge him seriously.
"Sorry about that, Wakamatsu" Imayoshi said, apologizing sincerely.
Wakamatsu looked confused. "Why are you apologizing, Captain?"
"…I'm begging you, man—just don't try to deal with Aomine anymore."
...
"Let's see… if we're heading to Too, I think it's this way" said Kise, greeting passing girls with a smile and a wink while chatting with Kota.
Kota had long gotten used to this weird combo of flirting and talking about serious stuff. He shot Kise a glance, trying to get more info about Aomine Daiki. After all, reality might differ a bit from the manga he remembered, and he couldn't recall every detail anyway.
"Kise, what kind of guy was Aomine back in middle school?"
Kise blinked. He gave Kota a curious look, then shrugged and replied, "Back in Teiko? He was the strongest out of all of us."
Kota didn't react outwardly. He already knew Aomine was insanely strong. Whether he was stronger than Akashi was still up for debate in the manga, but Aomine was definitely one of the most dangerous members of the Generation of Miracles. If Akashi's Rakuzan was a trained army, then Aomine's Too was a one-man nuke.
"You're acting kinda weird today, Kota."
Kise tilted his head suspiciously. Kota just brushed it off with some half-hearted excuse.
Recently, their coach had approved a practice match against Too. Kise, hyped beyond reason, wanted to show up early to say hi and "casually" drop the news. Kota, for his part, was curious to finally meet the Generation of Miracles' so-called "Ace" in person.
Before Kise could ask more questions, a deep voice called out:
"Kise?"
"Oh! Aominecchi! What're you doing here, not at Too? We were just on our way to see you. Don't you guys have practice?"
"Practice? Meh, who cares" Aomine replied, stretching his arms.
Kota watched him silently. Even from a distance, Aomine gave off a suffocating pressure. Yeah, this guy was definitely going to be a pain.
"So what? You came all the way here for a one-on-one? Or is this some weird nostalgic trip?" Aomine asked lazily, glancing at Kota.
"Nope, we came to challenge you guys to a practice match" Kise replied with a confident smile. Ever since teaming up with Kota, Kise had picked up his habit of smiling even when throwing down the gauntlet.
"Oh? Sounds like a drag… but I guess if you're the opponent, it might be interesting."
Aomine's eyes sharpened suddenly. "Been a while since we played, huh, Kise? I hope you've gotten better. Let's see if you can entertain me."
"That's the plan."
Kise didn't back down. Aomine had always been the benchmark he aimed to surpass. And now, given the chance, he wasn't going to hesitate.
.....
"I'm Coach Takeuchi from Kaijo. Just wanted to ask if you're open to a practice game. Yeah, the team with Kise—you know, the former Generation of Miracles member. Great, we'll come over to your place. We're not in the same region anyway, so it's fine. Just a friendly scrimmage. Alright, talk soon."
Takeuchi hung up the phone, sighing.
"Seriously, is there any point in these practice games? Just Kise alone's already a nightmare. Add Kota to the mix? We might as well keep our strategies under wraps until Nationals."
Even against other Miracles, Kise and Kota were on another level. With Kota's tactics and Kaijo's current form, Takeuchi was borderline convinced they could win Nationals already. Too Academy? Please.
...
"That was fun, Kise. But you still don't have what it takes to beat me."
Aomine wiped the sweat from his face. Truth be told, he was a little surprised. Kise had improved a lot—and a few of his moves even caught Aomine off guard.
Kise panted, hands on his knees.
"Damn, this guy's a monster… I've come far, but I'm still not there yet."
Kota sat on the sidelines, keeping score. Aomine still looked like he had gas in the tank, while Kise had pulled out all the stops. That gap was terrifying.
"Dai-chan! What are you doing here?" a sweet voice called out.
A girl with pink hair jogged up to them, cheerful as ever.
"Oh, Kise-chan's here too!"
"Momocchi! Long time no see" Kise beamed.
Momoi turned her curious gaze toward Kota, clearly trying to figure out if he was someone from their Teiko days.
"This is Kota" Kise explained. "My current teammate."
Then he pointed at Momoi. "And this is Momoi Satsuki — former Teiko team manager and professional Aomine babysitter."
Momoi gave Kota a polite bow, which he returned with a nod.
Then she turned to Aomine and puffed her cheeks. "Why are you skipping practice again? The team's getting really fed up with you, you know!"
Aomine lazily scratched his ear. "Practice is overrated. Doesn't matter what they think. I can win games by myself anyway."
Momoi pouted harder but then remembered the real reason she came.
"We've got a practice match against Kaijo this weekend—Kise's team!"
"Yeah, I know."
Aomine nodded, then looked at Kise and smirked. "Honestly though, no point playing. I already know your level, Kise. Still not good enough. Think I'll sit this one out."
Before Momoi could reply, Kise snapped, a vein popping on his forehead.
"Hey! I'm not letting that slide. Sure, I can't beat you yet—but basketball's a five-on-five game!"
Kota nodded in satisfaction.
"Finally. Took long enough to fix that twisted mindset of his."
"You're not seriously throwing the whole 'teamwork' thing at me, are you?"
Aomine's expression turned cold.
"I thought you'd grown, Kise. But I guess this is as far as you go. Teamwork's a joke when you're up against absolute power. You think adding four extras makes a difference? Don't be naive."
He glanced at Kota before turning to leave.
"Let's go, Satsuki."
"Wha—wait for me, Daiki! That was way too harsh! And Kise has a point, you know!"
She gave Kise and Kota an apologetic look and hurried after Aomine.
Kise muttered,
"Same old Aomine… Hey, Kota—wait, what's with that face?!"
Kota was sitting calmly, smiling… but with such a menacing aura around him that even Kise felt a chill.
"Aomine Daiki, huh? So you're the one with the pre-game trash talk habit. Cute."