"Hello, President Kinoshita. Yes, I've watched all the semifinal matches. I've sent the list of promising talents to your email. What? Kota? Huh, didn't really pay attention. He was playing? Okay, okay, I'll keep an eye on him during the finals. Goodbye, President."
After hanging up, the No.1 scout of the National Youth Team broke into a sinister grin. The thrill of petty revenge filled his heart.
"Kota, huh... If you actually make the national team, I'll tattoo your name on my forehead!"
...
"Can't believe Aomine's actually out with us to watch a game. Is the sun rising from the west today or what?"
Imayoshi adjusted his glasses, glancing at Aomine beside him.
"Guess it's because both of us got knocked out by these two teams, huh?"
"Shut up, glasses. Like you're really focusing on your entrance exam studies anyway"
Aomine muttered. In his mind, studying was harder than unlocking the Zone.
"Oi, don't drag me down with you!" Momoi shook her head, just about to lecture him when she spotted two familiar figures approaching the stadium — Akashi and Murasakibara, walking side by side.
"Akashi! Mukkun! Eh? Don't you guys have a match today?"
Momoi jogged over to greet them, but as she got closer, she remembered — today wasn't just Kaijo vs. Seirin for the championship; Rakuzan and Yosen were supposed to play for third place.
"Yeah, we made a deal not to play today. We're just here to watch Seirin vs. Kaijo."
Akashi shrugged. As Rakuzan's captain, he didn't need permission —if he didn't want to play, no one could make him. As for Murasakibara? He always followed Akashi's lead. If Akashi said don't play, then he wasn't playing. No hesitation.
"Uh… wow. You guys are really... chill about this" Momoi muttered, internally mourning for both teams' coaches.
"Third-place playoff and the aces just nope out of it? If I were the coach, my blood pressure would've exploded!"
...
Meanwhile, in Yosen's locker room:
"Where the hell is that bastard Murasakibara?! I swear I'm gonna kill him!!"
Araki, the beautiful but furious coach, was currently venting by hacking at the lockers with a wooden sword.
...
Over in Rakuzan's locker room:
"Akashi's not playing? …Whatever, let him be..."
The middle-aged coach sighed, puffing on a cigarette to relieve his frustration.
While Momoi chatted with Akashi and Murasakibara, Aomine wandered over and gave them a nod of greeting. They nodded back. Between the Generation of Miracles, formalities were unnecessary—they just walked together toward the court.
"Who do you think will win today?" Murasakibara asked, lazily munching on a snack.
Akashi and Aomine exchanged glances, answering in unison:
"Hard to say."
"Exactly why we're watching."
"As for the third-place match though, it's Rakuzan, obviously." Akashi smiled, still confident in his team. Even now, he didn't believe they'd lose to either Kaijo or Seirin in a rematch.
"By the way, Akashi, did you ever figure out what was up with Seirin in those last few minutes against you?" Aomine scratched his nose. Ever since that game, he hadn't been able to sleep well—the power beyond the Zone… if he could unlock that…
Akashi caught onto Aomine's thoughts.
"I don't know the mechanism behind it either. But... that's Kagami for you — always pulling off things I can't predict."
Aomine nodded in agreement.
"If Seirin plays like that again today, Kaijo's in trouble."
"Don't worry. That guy will definitely have a counter prepared." Akashi smirked. He knew that the Seirin state wasn't stable yet—they couldn't control it at will. Plus, knowing that guy, he'd definitely have something up his sleeve.
"True. Maybe I should be worried for Seirin instead, hahahaha."
...
Inside the stadium—Kaijo locker room
"This is bad, this is bad, this is bad!"
Kobori slapped his cheeks over and over, hyping himself up for the upcoming finals—so much that his face was visibly swollen.
Kasamatsu rushed over to stop him before their center managed to injure himself before tip-off.
On the other side, Hayakawa stared dreamily at a photo of a girl on his phone, imagining confessing after winning the championship.
"She'd totally fall for me after that!"
Meanwhile, Takeuchi was busy answering calls. From the few words overheard, it sounded like he'd ordered a new suit—for the inevitable press conference after they won.
The Kaijo bench players were huddled together, rehearsing their celebration routine to pump up their teammates.
And Kota? He was sitting off to the side, giving Kise some last-minute mental coaching.
"Relax, relax~ Picture yourself as a free, soaring seagull! Clear your mind of everything… imagine a basketball floating in your consciousness…"
Kise interrupted, confused:
"Wait, wait, Kota — am I supposed to think about nothing, or think about the seagull and basketball? I'm lost here!"
Yes, as you can see, Kota was trying to guide Kise into unlocking the Zone. The Kaijo locker room was absolute chaos.
Finally, reliable Kasamatsu had had enough. One by one, he cleaned up the mess:
He tied up Kobori to a chair to stop him from slapping himself.
Confiscated Hayakawa's phone to halt his romantic daydreams.
Politely kicked Takeuchi out to take his calls elsewhere.
Banned the benchwarmers from making any sound above 30 decibels.
And for Kota and Kise? A solid punch each to the head to break up their "doctor and patient" routine.
Standing at the center of the locker room, Kasamatsu roared,
"Now! I don't care what you do, but KEEP IT QUIET! No more than 50 decibels in here!"
"...Hai."
Seeing their captain snap, the whole team meekly complied, sealing their lips.
The whole scene looked like a strict homeroom teacher cracking down on a rowdy class. Kota chuckled at the thought—until Kasamatsu shot him a glare, and he quickly clamped his mouth shut.
Kise, eyes still closed, was earnestly imagining himself as a free seagull.
They had watched the footage of Seirin vs. Rakuzan multiple times. Seirin's final burst of power in the fourth quarter had spooked them — that's why Kota was trying to help Kise unlock the Zone.
Of course, Kota didn't use a proper Zone technique himself — he was just winging it based on his own intuition.
But hey, one dares to teach, the other dares to learn.