A/N: Hello, readers! Another chapter is here! Enjoy!

edited on may 28th, 2022 @ 1:08pm

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CHAPTER FIFTEEN - THERE IS ONLY ONE ANSWER

SHUTOKU, SENSHINKAN, AND KIRISAKI DAI ICHI HIGH all passed through towards the championship league as Seirin was currently walking after the day was over.

"For better or for worse, we only have three games left."

"The Winter Cup preliminaries went by in a flash."

"What are you idiots talking about?" Hyuga questioned.

"Huh?"

"It's just the opposite. We're just getting started." Hyuga told them.

"Have you forgotten already? Only the top eight schools out of over three hundred from the summer have been allowed to participate." Riko reminded them. "In other words, the Winter Cup preliminaries began with the Inter-High preliminaries. It's one long qualifier that's been going on since this summer."

"Our first opponent in the championship league is Senshinkan. We've lost to them twice already." Hyuga added on. "Let's win this time!"

"Yeah!"

"Kagami-kun..." Kuroko began, making Kagami look back at him.

Daigo let out a tired sigh before deciding to leave them alone.

"So Taiga was able to open the door only prodigies could enter, huh?" Daigo looked up, staring at the night sky.

"If he could do something that big, I'm quite certain he can acheive the Zone... He just needs that push to do so. As do I."

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The next day, Daiki entered the rooftop as he climbed up the ladder tiredly, but stopped when Momoi blocked his way.

"Aomine-kun!"

"Satsuki, get out of the way. I'm sleeping now." Daiki informed.

"Don't tell me to move! I told you we're going to see the championship league today!" Momoi said.

"I've already beaten them. What's the point of watching them play?" Daiki questioned.

"Oh, come on." Momoi sighed.

"Anyway, Satsuki, are those your lucky panties?" Daiki then asked. "You wear some crazy stuff."

An irk mark appeared on Momoi's head. "You pervert!" She screeched, trying to kick him as Daiki easily dodged before he fell to the ground.

"Sheesh. Midorin aside, Tetsu-kun and Daigo-chan's opponent is the king of the west, Senshinkan." Momoi informed.

"The king? That title's worthless." Daiki stated. "Seirin will obviously win. The results are apparent based on their performance. What's there to be interested in?"

"What?"

"If there's anything worth watching, it's Tetsu and Daigo's match with Midorima. That, or..." Daiki paused.

"Huh?"

"Never mind."

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Seirin and Senshinkan's match was currently happening as Izuki passed the ball over towards Hyuga, who catches it and scores a point.

"Damn it! These guys... They're nothing like they were this summer!"

"Go!" Riko cheered.

"Don't let No. 4 shoot!"

Hyuga then passed over towards Kuroko, who throws it up to Kagami, who jumps up.

"Jam it in, Kagami!" Hyuga shouted.

Kagami slams the ball in the hoop. Seirin had 76 points while Senshinkan had 61, making Seirin the victor.

"Yeah!"

"We won!"

"Amazing! They destroyed the king, Senshinkan!"

"Seirin's really strong!"

"Oh, they won? This game's over, too." Takao thinks to himself. "I'd like to say this is what we expected, but I don't see any of their key players. Did they throw this game?"

Takao passes the ball over towards Midorima, who releases the ball and scores a point.

"Hey, isn't that Kirisaki Dai Ichi's first string?"

"What? Where?"

"They should be playing Shutoku right now."

"Why are they watching Seirin's game?"

"We lost to Shutoku, but our remaining two wins have been decided. We're done analyzing here."

Shutoku eventually won their game against Kirisaki Dai Ichi.

"Looks like Shutoku won, too." Izuki pointed out.

"Which means we'll finally get to play them." Kagami thinks to himself.

"We both have one win. If we win another game, we'll secure a spot in the Winter Cup. If we lose, our chance will fall far out of reach." Riko spoke.

Daigo looked over to see that Shutoku was staring at them as they stared back.

Soon enough, everyone was in the locker room. "There's no time to celebrate. Our next game is sure to be a difficult one." Hyuga announced.

"But we have Kiyoshi-senpai. We're better than we were before. We beat them last time."

"I wouldn't be so sure." Kuroko stated.

"Huh?"

"That's precisely why I think the next game will be difficult." Kuroko informed.

"Kuroko-kun seems to have the right idea. Our previous victory was too good to be true. They're absolutely better than us." Riko agreed.

"But they don't think so. They should be looking down on us as the superior team, but they'll be coming at us with everything they have." Hyuga pointed out. "On top of that, we'll be facing a member of the Generation of Miracles. This won't be easy."

Seirin then began walking out. "Sorry, everyone. You guys go on ahead." Kiyoshi suddenly said.

"Okay." Hyuga nodded as everyone began walking again.

"Did Kiyoshi-senpai forget something?" Furihata asked.

"Yeah, something like that." Hyuga replied.

"Is it about that guy at the corner?" Kagami questioned.

"So it seems I wasn't the only one who spotted him." Daigo added on.

"Oh, you noticed?" Hyuga asked.

"Just that he's pretty good." Kagami responded.

Hyuga looked down. "Well, it's nothing to hide. In the world of middle school basketball, Teiko's Generation of Miracles were the best. Needless to say, they're the five prodigies whose stunning power led to three national championships. However, there were others one year older." He began. "Five talented players capable of going head-to-head with the Generation of Miracles."

"If they had been born in another era, they may have been called the Generation of Miracles. Including Kiyoshi, the five of them are known as the Uncrowned Kings." Hyuga turned around. "That guy was one of them. The Bad Boy Hanamiya Makoto."

"If he stayed behind to greet him, they must be friends, right?" Furihata asked, causing Daigo to hum.

"I think they're far from friends, actually." Daigo responded, causing Furihata to let out a confused noise as Daigo turned to Hyuga. "I'm right, aren't I?"

Hyuga nodded. "You're correct. It's just the opposite. You could say he's the antithesis of Kiyoshi. If Kiyoshi's the most honest basketball player, he's the most dishonest." He replied.

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The game between Seirin and Shutoku was about to begin as the audience cheered.

"Seirin and Shutoku are here!"

"They're the teams to watch in the championship league!"

Kise was wearing his school uniform as he had arrived to watch the game. "Kagami-kun." Kuroko called his name.

"What?"

"Did you see Midorima-kun's face when he came in?" Kuroko asked.

"Yeah, he seems like a different person now." Kagami replied.

"The members of the Generation of Miracles we've played until now were undefeated and intelligent." Kiyoshi spoke up as he was tying his shoes. "They say some defeats are meaningful and losing makes you stronger. Do you understand what that means?"

"For living creatures, victory is life, and defeat means death. It's an extreme example, but humans retain that instinct. Those who know the terror of defeat hunger for victory." Kiyoshi answered his own question.

"They're not the only ones who've suffered a terrible lost." Hyuga claimed, standing up as the rest of his team followed.

"You're right." Kiyoshi said.

"One defeat is enough for me." Kagami declared. "They're not the only ones..."

"...who are starving." Kuroko finished.

Both teams walked onto the court.

"Just as we expected, they're not showing any signs of carelessness. If Shutoku's strategy hasn't changed, we'll need to shut down Midorima-kun to win." Riko said. "There's most likely a limit on how many times he can shoot super-long three-pointers."

"What?"

"You've seen how long they are. Just making the ball reach the net requires his entire body's strength. Furthermore, after reviewing our last game, I noticed he spends a little more time winding up with each shot he takes. Even if we can't block all his shots, if we push him to his limit, we'll reduce his accuracy drastically." Riko explained.

"In that case, we've got someone on our team who gave Midorima one hell of a hard time. And this time, he's at full power." Koganei informed, referring to Kagami.

"The second championship game of the Winter Cup preliminaries between Seirin High and Shutoku High will now begin. Bow!"

"Thank you for the game!"

"Jump, jump, Otsubo! Jump!"

"This is our first high school game." Kiyoshi said.

"Yeah, and I won't go easy on you." Otsubo declared.

"Kagami-kun." Kuroko scooted closer to Kagami. "Midorima-kun is looking for a one-on-one against you. You're the only one who can handle him. Can I ask you to handle Midorima-kun yourself?"

"Of course." Kagami responded. "I planned to do that all along."

The ball was then tossed up into the air as both Kiyoshi and Otsubo jumped up. "It's close!" Furihata exclaimed.

"Where's the ball?"

Izuki quickly caught the ball but Takao easily stole it from him.

"All right! Nice, Takao!"

"There's no one under the net!"

Kuroko then ended up stealing the ball from Kimura. "Where did he come from? We can't stop this guy without Takao!" Kimura thinks to himself.

"Yeah!"

"Nice work!" Riko complimented.

Midorima soon had the ball in his hands. He released the ball but Kagami ended up knocking the ball out of his hands.

"What?!" Takao exclaimed.

"All right! Nice block!" Hyuga praised.

"Out of bounds! Orange ball!"

"S-Sparks are flying already." Koganei commented.

"I forgot to breathe." Furihata sighed out.

"Don't think you can make any slow shots while I'm around." Kagami claimed as Midorima didn't respond to him.

Kimura passes the ball over towards Takao, who catches it as Izuki blocked him. The ball eventually reached back to Midorima.

"I told you!" Kagami jumped up and blocked Midorima. "It's no use!"

"Out of bounds! Orange ball!"

"Kagami's amazing." Furihata stated.

"He blocked Midorima again."

"That's it, Kagami! Just like that!" Koganei cheered. "Keep blocking those shots!"

"What's going on?" Riko wondered.

"I thought he'd pick up a new skill or make some kind of change. He's playing exactly like he did before." Kagami noted.

"Just so you know, I have no new skills. The only thing I've done until now is endurance training. You may be a bad match up for me, but don't underestimate me. My shots aren't so cheap, that I need some kind of stopgap for you." Midorima said, pushing up his glasses as Riko stood up in alarm.

"I'm sure you've noticed, but I can't take those shots endlessly. However, the same is true of your jumps. There is only one thing for me to do. I simply need to keep shooting until you can't jump anymore, whether that's ten thousand or a hundred million shots." Midorima stated.

Kagami smirked. "Bring it on." He challenged, clenching his fist. "In other words, it's a test of endurance."

"That's odd." Kuroko suddenly said, getting Kiyoshi and Daigo's attention.

"What is?" Kiyoshi asked.

"I'm not sure how to put it, but Midorima-kun isn't acting like himself." Kuroko replied.

"I hate to admit it, but..." Daigo paused. "Tetsu's absolutely right."

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A/N: Another chapter is finally completed! Thanks for reading!

Word Count: 1874 words.