At this time, Coach Shirogane came down from the second-floor office and announced that their opponent in three days would be Fukuda Middle School. To prepare the team, Coach Shirogane continued with the current training schedule.
The three days passed quickly.
The Teiko team gathered and headed to the match venue. Just as they finished changing into their uniforms and were about to enter the court, Satsuki brought Chizuru in. The others tactfully left the locker room first. Shidou had been with the team for a while now; every time he went home, Chizuru would wait at the Basketball Club entrance so they could walk back together, never going inside to disturb training. Aomine and the others more or less understood the situation.
"What are you doing here?"
Shidou asked in his usual blunt manner. This infuriated Chizuru, and all the words she had prepared turned into something completely different.
"This is for you, idiot!"
Chizuru handed him a wristband—entirely gold, with pink circles embroidered on the edges and Shidou's name stitched in the middle.
Looking at the wristband, Shidou suddenly felt uncomfortable, as if he had committed some terrible crime.
"Ah~, so annoying!"
Unable to understand the feeling, he stopped thinking about it and put the wristband on anyway.
"The game is finally starting!"
"Yeah, the last time these two teams faced each other was in the finals. I didn't expect them to meet so early this time!"
"Who's that guy wearing number 12? I didn't see him last year. Is he new?"
(The jersey number is 12 because the first chapter of this book was released on January 12th.)
"I don't know, but look at his hair color—it's so strange. He's tall though, looks about 180 cm. And his arms are so muscular! I'd love to have his babies!"
Because of Shidou, Chizuru was also seated near the bench. Hearing the suggestive comments from the stands made her face flush as she occasionally glanced at Shidou from the corner of her eye.
Meanwhile, Shidou was excitedly chatting with Aomine, completely oblivious to everything around him.
"Look, Fukuda Middle School's players are coming out too! The one in the back is Hayama Kotaro, right?"
"That's right. I heard his dribbling sounds like thunder."
"Yeah, he's pretty amazing."
Fukuda's center, Kimizhima Rii, looked toward Teiko and noticed Shidou. Turning to Hayama, he said, "Captain, there's a new face on their side."
Hayama glanced over, saw Shidou, and dismissed him as someone brought in just to fill the roster.
"Ignore him. Our goal is to win this game and get revenge for last year."
Lineup introductions:
Fukuda Middle School: PG: Hoshino Gen
SG: Saki Kazuhiko
SF: Hayama Kotaro
PF: Tsukimi Itsuki
C: Kimizhima Rii
Teiko Middle School: PG: Akashi Seijuro
SG: Midorima Shintaro
SF: Shidou Ryusei
PF: Aomine Daiki
C: Murasakibara Atsushi
After warming up, both teams stood at center court. Hayama realized the player in front of him was the same Shidou he thought was just there to make up the numbers.
"What's this? A substitution? Is your team's Aomine scared?"
"Oh? And who are you?"
It was Shidou's first time meeting Hayama, and he genuinely didn't know who he was.
To Hayama, though, it sounded like mockery.
"You'll know who I am soon enough!"
Murasakibara and Kimizhima jumped for the tip-off. As expected, Murasakibara won and tipped the ball to Akashi, who immediately passed it to Shidou, wanting to see his true ability.
Receiving the pass, Shidou unleashed his full aura. His sudden burst of speed left Hayama frozen.
"Blond kid, just stay there and witness the birth of something new!"
His voice came from behind Hayama, who realized too late that he had been blown past.
"Damn it! Some nobody dares mock me!"
Hayama chased, but Shidou was already inside the three-point line, driving to the free-throw line and leaping for a dunk.
"Hey! Pink-haired freak, do you think I'm invisible?"
Kimizhima stepped in to block, but Shidou's violent aura exploded as he dunked with full force, knocking Kimizhima to the floor.
Shidou hung on the rim, swinging while staring down at Kimizhima.
Teiko took the lead.
Tweet! Tweet! Tweet!
The referee immediately called a foul on Shidou.
"Huh? Why? You want to fight?"
The referee issued another foul warning.
Enraged, Shidou raised his fist toward the referee, but Aomine quickly restrained him while Akashi hurried to apologize.
"Calm down, Shidou. In Japan, hanging on the rim after a dunk is considered unsportsmanlike conduct."
"What kind of stupid rule is that?!"
After calming the situation, Akashi sent Shidou to the bench and substituted Kise in his place.
To Akashi, Shidou was an unpredictable variable he could not tolerate.
Hearing he was being benched, Shidou grabbed Akashi's jersey.
"Hey, why are you doing this, midget captain?"
Even Akashi lost his composure. "If you can't control yourself, you'll drag the team down. I'm aiming for a three-peat, and we cannot lose. Right now, you're hurting the team."
Shidou punched Akashi, tore off his jersey, threw it down, and stormed off the court.
Chizuru quickly bowed in apology and chased after him.
Everyone was stunned by the sudden chaos, though the game continued without Shidou.
"Shidou! Wait!"
Chizuru caught up with him but didn't know how to comfort him. In the end, she simply followed him to a street court and sat nearby in silence.
Shidou stayed there until nightfall before going home. Chizuru remained with him the entire time.
After the game, Aomine later informed her that Shidou had been expelled from the Basketball Club.
From then on, Shidou stopped going to school. However, he could always be found playing on street courts.
Among Teiko's players, only Aomine kept in touch with him. They agreed to play one-on-one every weekend, and by mutual understanding, never mentioned that game again.
This continued until the end of their second year. Teiko won another championship, and most people forgot there had ever been a troublesome player named Shidou Ryusei.
On the day the school year ended, Chizuru's biological mother, Yoshizawa Masako, returned from the United States and reconciled with her. She planned to take Chizuru back to the U.S. to study, but Chizuru refused because she wouldn't leave Shidou behind.
Only when Masako offered to take Shidou as well did she agree.
At first, Shidou refused, but after much persuasion from Chizuru, he finally agreed.
In the end, the three of them left for the United States together.