Kaijo vs. Too Academy
On the day of the match, inside Kaijo's team bus…
"Hey, Kota, what's your zodiac sign?"
Kise poked Kota in the side while fiddling with a radio in his hand.
Kota, eyes half open, replied grumpily,
"Virgo."
He had stayed up all night studying strategies to counter Akashi, and now he was feeling completely drained.
"Virgo? No way! The morning horoscope said Virgos have the best luck today!"
Kise's eyes sparkled. Ever since hanging around Midorima, he'd started diving way too deep into astrology.
"Ah… but Aomine's also a Virgo... Oh no, what do I do? Gemini's luck is just so-so today..."
Kise sighed, being a Gemini himself.
Listening to Kise ramble non-stop about horoscopes, Kota frowned, raised his right hand, and slapped it right over Kise's mouth. Smiling, he said,
"I don't care if Gemini's lucky or cursed today. If you keep yapping and stop me from sleeping, I swear I'll split you into twins myself, got it?"
Startled by Kota snapping, Kise frantically nodded, raising three fingers as if making a sacred vow to shut up.
Kota gave him a side-eye, then let go, turned around, adjusted his posture, and went back to sleep.
The rest of the bus ride was peaceful.
Arriving at the stadium…
"Wake up, Kota. We're here."
Kota opened his eyes with difficulty, yawning. Definitely not enough sleep.
"Note to self: Never stay up all night again. Not unless you wanna play like a zombie."
He rubbed his temples and followed the team off the bus.
"Ah! Kota-kun!"
At that exact moment, the Too team arrived at the venue as well. Momoi spotted Kota from afar and started waving enthusiastically, running over.
She smiled warmly at Kota, then glanced at Kise and nodded,
"Oh, hey, Ki-chan"
Just as the three were about to exchange a few words, a deep voice cut through the air—
"Satsuki. Let's go."
It was Aomine, hands stuffed into his pockets, calling out to Momoi—but his eyes were locked directly on Kota.
Kota raised an eyebrow and smirked first,
"Yo, Aomine-san. After that last practice match... did you finally learn how to spell 'Teamwork' yet?"
Classic trash talk—Kota's specialty. Aomine's eye twitched on reflex.
"Tch. I was just rusty from not practicing. I'll admit you guys aren't bad... but that's about it."
Aomine tried to sound dismissive, refusing to let Kota win the mental battle.
But when it came to trash talk, Kota was basically a licensed professional.
Kota put on a mock-surprised face and said,
"Oh, I get it now. Skipping practice all the time was part of your plan! That way, when you lose, you've got the perfect excuse. Genius."
"This guy…!"
Aomine's face went stone cold, muscles tensed. Without a word, he turned around and walked away, visibly pissed.
"Dai-chan!"
Momoi gave Kota and Kise an apologetic look, then ran after him.
Kise, curious, turned to Kota and asked,
"Hey, Kota... you've figured out how to beat Too, haven't you?"
Seeing Kota throw down trash talk like that, Kise assumed he had a winning strategy in mind.
But Kota shot him a look like are you serious? and said confidently,
"Nope. I just felt like talking trash. Never said I had a plan."
Kise broke into a cold sweat.
"Bro... You don't even have a plan, and you're still running your mouth? Aren't you afraid of jinxing us?"
Kota, however, couldn't care less.
"So what if I trash-talk and lose? Is pride edible or something? And hey, if it tilts Aomine, that's already a win."
Truth be told, Kota wasn't exactly sure they'd win. Aomine had started practicing again. That alone meant he'd be even stronger than during their last scrimmage — better stamina, longer Zone time. Honestly, Kota wasn't confident about a guaranteed win against Too.
Meanwhile, over in the stands...
"Huh? Seirin?"
Takao blinked in surprise, spotting some familiar faces in the seats next to them. Midorima turned to glance at Kagami and Kuroko as well.
"Hello."
Kuroko gave his usual polite bow.
The rest of Seirin... not quite as composed.
Kagami scratched his head,
"Why are you guys here?"
Takao gave him a bro-are-you-dumb look.
"To watch the game, obviously. After you knocked us out, what else are we supposed to do?"
Kagami awkwardly scratched his head. Fair. Dumb question.
Midorima crossed his arms, keeping up his cool-and-detached persona, but didn't say anything.
Takao glanced back at Kagami and snickered,
"Not gonna lie though… You knocked us out, then went 0-for-everything in the round robin. Makes us look kinda bad, don't you think?"
Kagami frowned slightly, but... couldn't deny it. Takao wasn't wrong. After getting stomped by Aomine, Kagami's performance cratered, and Seirin collapsed right at the doorstep of Nationals.
Then, for the first time, Midorima spoke coldly.
"That's what weaklings do. The moment they see someone stronger, their knees start shaking."
OH, IT'S ON
Kagami practically exploded, ready to throw hands, but Seirin's other members rushed to hold him back. No way they were getting kicked out before the game even started.
Takao waved his hands frantically to defuse the situation,
"Whoa, whoa! Shin-chan, chill! You know we lost to them, right? If they're weak, what does that make us?"
Midorima twitched slightly but stayed silent.
Takao turned to Seirin with a grin,
"So... what's the deal? Team-building field trip?"
Seirin's captain, Hyuga, nodded.
"Yeah. We're doing a special training camp nearby, so we figured we'd stop by and check out the game."
"Training camp, huh? Nice…"
Takao didn't push the conversation further. Even for him, small talk with the guys who just beat them was... kinda awkward.
The tension hung thick. Nobody spoke.
Thankfully, the ref's whistle blew. Game time.
"Hey, Shin-chan, who do you think's gonna win?"
Midorima pushed his glasses up. His mind flashed back to the monstrous version of Aomine that entered the Zone.
"Too. I don't see how Kise handles Aomine."
Kagami didn't say anything, but deep down... yeah. He agreed. Aomine's Zone haunted his nightmares.
Kuroko, however, glanced over at Kota warming up and quietly said,
"I think Kaijo will win."
Both teams, line up and bow.
"Let's have a good game!"
As Kota stood back up, he noticed Aomine still glaring daggers at him.
"Geez... dude holds a grudge like no one else. Chill."
Not that Kota was about to back down. Nope. He grinned, made a cutting gesture across his neck, and shot Aomine a look full of pure provocation.
As expected, Aomine's face, already dark, somehow got even darker. He swore silently he'd play at 200% today.
Meanwhile, Kise looked up at the stadium ceiling and sighed,
"Man... when's it gonna be my turn to talk trash and have Kota be the one getting punched..."
BEEEEP—
"Players, get ready for the jump ball."
Kobori and Wakamatsu stepped into the center circle.
Kota took a deep breath, steadying himself, eyes locked on the ball.
Kise's playful grin faded. His expression grew serious.
Aomine bent down, hands on knees, laser-focused.
BEEEEP—