"Yo~~ long time no see, Hanamiya!"
Akashi Asuka smiled lightly, stepping forward to greet him. "How's the recovery going? Sorry about everything! But what could we do… who would've expected that incident during the match, right?"
"Recovery?"
Hanamiya Makoto didn't react at first, but Kiyoshi Teppei blinked in surprise.
Recovery? What recovery?
Hanamiya's expression slowly twisted into a snarl. Instinctively, he touched his knee, as if a phantom pain had resurfaced.
"You bastard… I won't forgive you…"
At that moment, Hanamiya's malice was no longer hidden.
But Akashi just smiled lightly, patting his shoulder. In a low voice, he said,
"Relax. Don't be so tense. Honestly, I was looking forward to meeting you on the court again. After all… seeing you back on the court makes me… not happy at all!"
The last words were whispered directly into Hanamiya's ear. Despite the low volume, Hanamiya heard them perfectly.
His pupils constricted sharply.
In that instant, he didn't know whether he, or the other guy, was the real villain.
"Hope we can meet again next year?"
Akashi patted Hanamiya's shoulder once more and then turned to leave.
If someone didn't know better, seeing the two of them like this might make them think they were longtime friends.
Hanamiya's mood completely vanished the moment Akashi appeared.
Dealing with Kiyoshi Teppei, a "pushover" who never fought back, had always been easy.
But Akashi? A single person who could hospitalize four starters from Kirisaki Daiichi and drive another four out of their basketball club, a real demon in the game.
Of course, Hanamiya felt some unease.
After Hanamiya left, Kiyoshi quickly returned to Seirin's locker room.
The players had already changed into thick clothes to keep warm and were eating honey-lemon or similar foods to restore energy.
There was still time before the next loop match, deliberately set by the organizers for recovery.
Kiyoshi put on a jacket and asked,
"By the way, Hyuga, has Kirisaki Daiichi ever faced Seiho before?"
Hearing "Kirisaki Daiichi," Hyuga Junpei, Aida Riko, and a few second-year Seirin players froze.
Last year's incident left psychological scars.
But as soon as they heard "Seiho," tension eased, and Aida Riko exclaimed:
"What? You haven't heard about that yet, Teppei?"
"That incident?"
"Yes. During last semester's national preliminaries, it became a legendary disaster in Tokyo high school basketball."
Hyuga spoke the latter part, clearly trying to stifle a laugh.
Hanamiya Makoto's reputation in high school basketball had not been small, mostly negative rumors, but as the saying goes, even haters are fans.
Before last summer's preliminaries, far more people in Tokyo (and nationwide) knew Hanamiya than Akashi.
Everything changed after the summer preliminaries.
Seiho was in training camp preparing for the nationals, so they hadn't followed up on the incident.
But Akashi's "one against five, severely injuring four opponents" incident spread faster than the preliminaries' results across the Tokyo district.
The reaction across schools?
Drums beating, fireworks exploding, flags waving, crowds surging…
No wonder.
If anyone else had been the victims of Akashi's wrath, complaints would have been filed immediately.
But it was Kirisaki Daiichi.
"Honestly, we owe it to Akashi this time! If it weren't for him, our next match against Kirisaki Daiichi could've been dangerous."
11:00 AM.
The Tokyo preliminaries' final loop match officially began.
Even before tip-off, spectators had already crowded around the Shutoku VS Tōō court.
The Seirin VS Kirisaki Daiichi match drew no attention. Everyone assumed the result was already decided.
It wasn't that Kirisaki Daiichi was weak.
Hanamiya was a member of the Uncrowned Kings, after all.
A team with one Uncrowned Kings could still fight Seirin if they played seriously.
But last semester, Akashi had already crippled the team.
Out of five starters, four were forced to leave the club.
Even Hanamiya, the "ace," had been hospitalized with serious injuries and only recently discharged. Who knew how much of his strength had returned?
In that context, if Kirisaki Daiichi could beat Seirin, it would be a shocking upset.
"Come to think of it, I think this is the first time we've faced each other directly!"
On the court, Aomine Daiki glanced at Midorima Shintaro.
"Ah~ seems like it," Midorima adjusted his glasses calmly.
"That's a shame. If I remember correctly, last summer, you didn't make it to the nationals, right?"
"So what? One can only do their best and leave the rest to fate. Even if setbacks occur, destiny will come."
"Heh~ you're still the same old superstitious type… whatever, no point in talking. If you've got the skill, then use your 'destiny' to defeat me!"
"Exactly what I plan to do!"
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Completed version available on Patreon.com/Veltoria