As soon as Himuro Tatsuya stepped onto the court, the first person he noticed was his younger brother, Kagami Taiga—and only after that did he acknowledge his mentor, Alexandra Garcia.
The three of them had known each other since their time in the U.S., where they'd shared many happy memories.
At first, it was just Himuro and Kagami.
Since they were both Japanese, and Kagami was often bullied, Himuro stepped in to protect him. That's how their bond was formed.
For the record, Himuro Tatsuya was the one who introduced Kagami Taiga to basketball.
He personally led him onto the court and down this path.
The irony?
Himuro eventually distanced himself from Kagami—not because of hatred, but because he grew fearful of Kagami's immense potential.
The two of them made a promise: to one day settle things with a match on the court.
If Himuro lost, he'd no longer consider himself qualified to be Kagami's "older brother."
Then, something ridiculous happened—Kagami, not wanting to lose his brother, intentionally threw the match.
But his acting was so bad that Himuro saw right through it. Feeling his pride shattered, he punched his beloved brother square in the face.
It was a punch backed by twenty years of emotion, knocking Kagami straight into the past.
And Himuro, in a ridiculously melodramatic fashion, chased after him afterward…
Honestly, just the story between Himuro and Kagami would be enough material for countless drama authors to spin off into emotional side plots.
...
Warm-up Phase.
After retracting his gaze, Himuro approached Tendou.
"You beat Taiga. So… if I beat you, does that mean I've beaten him too?"
"I heard from Momoi that you two are brothers," Tendou said, turning around and slowly extending his right hand. "Whatever promises you two made, that's none of my business. But if you want to find out…"
Boom!
Himuro followed in his younger brother's footsteps and was sent kneeling under the gaze of 20,000 spectators.
Only after that did Tendou speak again.
"I'll tell you right now—your unrealistic fantasy will never happen."
"If Taiga couldn't beat me, there's even less chance that you will."
"TAIGA!!"
Kagami immediately jumped to his feet in the stands and shouted.
That shout made Himuro feel even worse. He stood up abruptly and slapped away Tendou's hand.
"I won't know unless I try!"
Tendou was completely unfazed. His eyes shifted past Himuro to someone behind him.
Seeing his teammate getting provoked, the giant idiot Murasakibara had already wandered over.
"Don't worry, Atsushi, I didn't hurt him," Tendou said casually.
"I wasn't coming over for that."
"Then what are you here for? Trying to threaten me?"
"Uhhhh..."
Murasakibara's face scrunched up awkwardly.
He wasn't very good at threatening people—especially not his friends.
"Get ready, Atsushi. I won't go easy on you."
"This time, it's not a scrimmage. It's a real match."
With those words, Tendou turned and jogged back to warm up.
...
People have all kinds of reasons for first getting into basketball.
Some do it because of a crush.
Some are inspired by a game they stumbled upon.
Some were drawn in by a favorite player.
Others started playing because of a gift from their parents…
But Murasakibara?
He played basketball simply because his physical condition was too good.
The coach brought him into the team, and this big lug—who didn't know how to say no—just kept playing ever since.
...
"Calm down, Tatsuya. Don't let him get to you."
During the pre-game pep talk, Araki Masako didn't go over any tactics—those had already been drilled in the day before.
Now, her focus was on making sure each player could perform at or above their usual level.
"I'm fine, Coach." Himuro took a deep breath.
He had lost his composure earlier, embarrassed himself in front of his brother, and nearly shattered his own focus.
Lesson learned: never provoke a control-type player.
"Good. Just remember—your opponent today is a normal enemy. He's not your brother. Got it?"
Araki Masako really was worried that Himuro might lose his head and go all out against Tendou.
That wouldn't be a smart move.
That monster from Kirisaki Daiichi… should be left for Akashi to deal with.
...
Soon, the referee entered the court with the ball. The game was about to begin.
The two teams faced each other across the center line.
From a sheer height perspective, Kirisaki Daiichi was clearly at a disadvantage.
Himuro kept his eyes locked on Tendou the entire time—clearly ignoring his coach's advice.
"Stop staring," Tendou said coldly. "No lion tolerates a mutt's provocation."
Himuro's face turned cold. "I'll make you eat those words."
"You've got it backwards," Tendou replied. "What you should be doing… is making me remember your name."
Himuro's expression visibly darkened.
Verbal sparring was never his strong suit—while Tendou was basically a master.
Trying to out-talk a battlefield tactician like him? Not happening.
...
BEEP!
The referee's whistle blew. The ball soared high into the air.
This time, Murasakibara didn't mess up.
Araki Masako had clearly warned him before the match.
With overwhelming presence, he leapt up and won the tip-off like a towering war god.
Seto Kentaro didn't even have a chance.
He was barely off the ground when Murasakibara had already smacked the ball away.
What was the point of even jumping?
The ball landed in Fukui Kensuke's hands. He took control and began signaling with a hand gesture.
It was the play Yōsen had prepared in advance.
However…
Before his hand was fully raised, a white flash tore through the crowd.
"Nani?!"
Fukui's eyes widened in shock, and he had no time to react.
Tendou's hand shot out like a spear—precise and deadly—intercepting the ball mid-motion.
Smack!
He swiped the ball cleanly.
"Dammit, don't just stand there—get back on defense!" Araki Masako bellowed from the sidelines.
The Yōsen players snapped out of their daze.
They had been heading toward the offensive end, but now frantically turned around to defend.
But how could these lumbering giants ever catch up to Tendou's lightning-fast burst?
Whoosh!
Like a comet, Tendou blazed through Yōsen's paint.
Then—BOOM!
The rim cried out as he slammed the ball through with a one-handed dunk.
Before the game, people had wondered:
How long would it take Kirisaki Daiichi to crack Yōsen's "absolute defense"?
Now, they had the answer.
Three seconds.
That's all it took for them to tear it apart.
Unbelievably fast.
Araki Masako's face didn't look great.
It wasn't that she had hoped to shut out Kirisaki Daiichi—she'd never expected that to be realistic.
But she hadn't anticipated that her meticulously crafted lineup and defensive scheme would be torn to shreds in just a few seconds.
They were supposed to win the tip, then calmly run their offense and score first.
Instead, the opponent had drawn first blood.
The game had gone off-script from the very first possession.
That was never a good sign.
Silently, she muttered Tendou's name:
"The Miracles' Tendou Kageyoshi..."
...
They'd never played a match like this before.
Yōsen's players looked toward Kirisaki Daiichi's number 14 as if he were a monster.
So calm and composed—he jogged back on defense as if he were out for a stroll in the park.
As if to say, "Absolute defense? Is that what you were talking about?"
"…He saw through our entire setup… from the moment we went for the tip-off," Fukui Kensuke muttered, gritting his teeth.
...
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