Side by side, the monsters of Teiko—one dark, one gray—strode across the court.
"Ahh~"
A brown-haired boy from Kamata Nishi suddenly spoke in a mocking, sing-song tone.
"They really are amazing…"
"Though, if they're this amazing, shouldn't it count as a foul?" chimed in another boy who looked exactly like him. He draped an arm over the first boy's shoulder, tilted his head, and chuckled slyly.
"Ha~ there's no way we can beat them~" Number 9 tugged at his collar, wiped off his sweat, and smirked playfully.
Off-court, Nijimura Shuzo's eyes sharpened, locking onto those two players from Kamata Nishi. He turned to Momoi.
"Momoi, what do you have on those two?"
Momoi May, caught off guard, quickly flipped through her scouting notes.
"This… their records are completely blank," she said with a puzzled frown. "Nothing really stands out."
"…I see."
If even Momoi couldn't dig up anything, that meant these two had been hiding themselves well. Or maybe, just maybe, his instincts were wrong about them?
But right then—on court—Haizaki stole the ball cleanly. He barely took a few steps before the whistle shrieked.
"White No. 7! Offensive foul!"
Haizaki froze.
"Hah?!"
He hadn't even touched the guy, yet somehow the opponent had flown halfway across the floor.
"You've gotta be kidding me?!"
"Hey!"
"Haizaki!"
Aomine quickly grabbed Haizaki by the shoulder, holding him back before things escalated.
On the bench, Nijimura nodded knowingly. So that was it—this type of player. Aside from the exaggerated distance of the fall, the rest of the act was disturbingly convincing.
The impact, the timing, even the pained expression after the fall…
"Number 7! Raise your hand!"
Under the referee's demand, Haizaki scowled but reluctantly lifted his hand. Still, he glared at the opponent who had flopped.
"Nice acting, huh?!"
"Phew…" The brown-haired boy who had been 'knocked down' slowly got up, a faint, elusive smile curling on his lips.
Kamata Nishi's offense resumed.
"White No. 6! Defensive foul!"
Another whistle. This time it was Aomine. Not just in raw performance, even in foul counts, he and Haizaki were keeping pace with each other.
"What's going on…?"
"Teiko's racking up fouls fast…"
Aomine raised his hand with a scowl, glancing sideways at No. 8 jogging away.
That guy had clearly run into him.
Akashi's gaze followed the twins. Their footwork wasn't particularly fast, but they were extremely skilled at manipulating the distance between themselves and their opponents' bodies.
"Drawing fouls is a skill too," Nijimura muttered, raising an eyebrow. "But to refine it to this level… now that's rare."
"Those twins…"
"…are going to be more troublesome than most."
Still.
In this final match, it wasn't so bad to let the juniors face such peculiar opponents.
…
With Kamata Nishi's twins constantly baiting fouls, Teiko was forced to slow down. Caution crept into their play, and foul counts kept piling up. For the first time this tournament, their opponent managed to score double digits in the opening quarter.
35–11.
It wasn't much of a difference in the grand scheme, but to the Generation of Miracles—who wanted nothing more than to deliver a flawless farewell performance for their seniors—it was unacceptable.
Every one of them wore a dark scowl, Akashi included.
Even so, it was their first time encountering such opponents. By the end of the second quarter, they still hadn't found a proper solution. They relied purely on raw ability to stretch the lead.
But the fouls kept adding up.
Before the second half began
Shigure Akihito studied the scowling faces of the Miracles. Compared to the "original timeline," they were doing far better—back then, Teiko had even trailed after the first quarter.
Still, as a senior, he spoke up.
"Aikido?!"
The Miracles blinked.
Shigure nodded, explaining further.
"Those twins must have trained in Aikido. It's a martial art that flows with the opponent's movement, redirecting their force while evading. That's how they can draw fouls with such precision."
The realization shocked everyone. Once again, their senpai's uncanny eye for technique left them in awe. The word "technician" all but glowed above his head.
Nijimura nodded.
"The way they control the point of contact—it's unnaturally precise. So it really is Aikido, huh?"
But even with this knowledge, the Miracles had no clue how to counter it.
"What should we do? Maybe use screens and passing to avoid one-on-one situations"
"No."
Nijimura shook his head firmly.
"No passing."
"Play them one-on-one."
"?!"
The team stared, stunned. That didn't sound like something their captain would say. But Nijimura quickly explained:
"Use at least three fakes per possession. Their Aikido is sharp, but their actual basketball ability is no better than our average first-string—or maybe even lower. If Aikido is all about matching rhythm, then basketball is about disrupting it. Grind them down. And besides…"
He turned toward Haizaki.
"You must be furious, right?"
Haizaki smirked.
"You sure know your stuff, violent maniac."
…
Halftime ended. The final stretch of the championship was about to begin.
At that moment, Kuroko Tetsuya suddenly spoke up.
"Coach, may I go in for the second half?"
Both Nijimura and Shigure froze in surprise.
This was the first time Kuroko had ever volunteered to play—especially in a final. Shigure instinctively scanned the stands for Ogiwara, but he wasn't anywhere in sight.
Coach Sanada Naoto considered for a moment.
"…Alright. That's fine. If everyone's isolated in one-on-ones, the flow gets too fragmented. You can serve as the connector. Also—Haizaki, you're already at four fouls, but you're still going in. We'll start the second half by going on the attack."
Akashi nodded.
"Let's go."
"Yes!"
"Ou!"
The crowd buzzed as Kuroko stepped onto the court. Meanwhile, the Kamata Nishi twins grinned wickedly at the sight of him and Haizaki.
"This kind of guy can actually play for Teiko?" sneered No. 8, openly disdainful.
No. 9 smirked even wider.
"If a guy with four fouls can stay in, then anything's possible… Let's see him get fouled out!"
Akashi's rose-colored eyes gleamed sharply.
"A word of advice—forget about trying to bait fouls. Focus on defense instead. That way, at least this match might stay worth watching."
"…Hah?"
"If someone does foul out, and our seniors sub in, tell me—how exactly do you plan to deal with that?"
END OF CHAPTER
CROWN BEFORE THE MIRACLES
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