🕛 2nd Quarter Begins – Kaizen Down 13–6
Drift wipes sweat off his brow.Renji cracks his neck.Souta stares at the court like it's a math puzzle someone set on fire.
Coach Tanaka?He just points.
"Burn it down."
⚡ Drift Starts Playing Off-Script
First possession.
No playcall.No signals.
Just silence.
Drift dribbles slow.
Then—
BOOM.
Sudden explosion to the right.The defender bites.
Drift spins back —behind-the-back no-look dish to Renji coming baseline.
Layup. Bucket.
Commentator: "That wasn't a set. That was pure feel."
🔥 Renji Feeds the Rhythm
Next play.
Drift fakes another drive.Renji drifts out to the corner.
Eye contact.
No words.
Drift lobs it high.
Renji times it —catches mid-air — reverse lay.
Swish.
Crowd wakes up.
🧠 Souta Cracks the Code
Souta watches Kurosei's spacing.
Then he sees it:
"They're all watching the conductor guy."
He looks at the headphone kid on the sideline.
Still hasn't played.Still hasn't spoken.
But his hand signals direct the entire defense.
"That's not a player," Souta mutters."That's a puppeteer."
🎧 NAME DROP – The Puppetmaster
Riku whispers to Coach Tanaka:
"Who is that?"
Coach replies:
"His name is Itsuki Hoshima.Third-year.Cut from the team last year for being too 'slow.'"
Riku narrows his eyes.
"Looks like he just rewrote their defense from the outside."
💥 Kaizen Hits Back – The First Highlight
Drift brings it up.
No hesi.
Blows past the guard — splits two defenders.
Amagata rotates over —but Drift flips it over his shoulder without looking.
Keigo catches it in full stride.
SLAM.
The rim shakes.
The crowd gasps.
Kaizen's bench erupts.
"AND KAIZEN IS BACK IN IT!"
🧢 Riku's Bench Signals Begin
Riku taps the bench three times.Souta sees it.Nods.
Next play?
Souta doesn't run the motion.
He runs something else.
Something Kaizen's never shown.
A ghost cut behind the trap.
Daiki catches.And-one.
🕓 Halftime Whistle
Score: Kaizen 28 – Kurosei 27
The lead is almost gone.
The gym?Now fully alive.
Kurosei heads to the locker room — quiet, rattled.
Drift walks past them.
Whispers:
"Prediction only works…if you think we're playing the same game."