Soon enough
the day of Seirin's scheduled joint training with Kuroko Tetsuya arrived.
After a one-hour drive, the team reached their seaside destination. The moment they dropped their luggage at the beachside inn, Junpei Hyūga sighed in relief—only for Izuki Shun to immediately crack one of his awful puns, earning a chorus of groans from everyone.
But once they turned to look at the actual inn before them…
nobody had the energy left to laugh.
Because this seaside lodge for their training camp was
To put it nicely
"full of nostalgic charm."
Less politely
"a complete dump."
"Welp…"
"Guess this is all the budget could afford."
"At least…"
"...the ocean view's nice, right? The surroundings aren't bad either."
Hyūga's optimistic tone drew everyone's eyes toward the sea again, and one by one, smiles returned to their faces. Even Kiyoshi Teppei's eyes lit up a little—after all, it was his first time at a seaside camp like this.
"Where's Riko?"
"She said she'll be a bit late—something about having special training equipment delivered."
"By the way…"
"The view really is amazing~"
Thinking about the upcoming days of brutal training, Koganei Shinji's cheerful expression twisted into despair.
"Just imagining this beautiful scenery turning into training hell is terrifying…"
"Teppei…"
"You'd better brace yourself too…"
Gazing out at the deep blue horizon, Koganei wore the look of a man condemned. The rest of the team caught the mood instantly; soon, a collective air of doom hung over Seirin's players as they stared blankly toward the waves.
"Well, um…"
"Since Riko's not here yet, why don't we go play a bit first?"
"Yeah! And maybe contact Kuroko while we're at it!"
Everyone cheered
but before their feet could touch the sand, a sudden wave of voices carried over from nearby.
They turned toward the sound
and froze on the spot.
Not far away stood the entire Generation of Miracles—fully assembled.
Akashi. Aomine. Murasakibara. Midorima. Kise. Haizaki. Kuroko.
Every single one of them.
And as if that weren't enough, compared to Seirin's worn-down old inn…
the place where they were staying looked luxurious—a beachfront resort straight out of a commercial.
"Of course it's Teikō-level treatment…" Hyūga muttered, dumbfounded. "But seriously, how can two inns this different even exist side by side?"
"Maybe…"
"...they planned it that way for suckers like us."
"Yeah, maybe so."
"No!"
"Wait a second—didn't they say only Kuroko and Haizaki would be here?! Why the hell are all the Generation of Miracles here too?!"
The air around Seirin instantly froze. It took them several seconds to even process what they were seeing.
Then, with that familiar calm smile, Akashi Seijūrō stepped forward.
"Sorry for intruding on your camp, Kiyoshi-senpai."
"Ah—no, not at all," Kiyoshi said with a sheepish grin. "Actually… this might be good for us too."
Beside him, Koganei—who in the original story would've been terrified of Akashi—now found himself oddly encouraged by the redhead's warm demeanor. He gulped, then asked boldly:
"So, uh… all of you are here? You're all third-years in junior high, right? The nationals are over—don't you ever take a break?"
Akashi nodded. Then, glancing around at his teammates, he said with an amused smile:
"Honestly, training together like this isn't ideal. As future opponents, we should be keeping our cards hidden… but it seems everyone had the same idea."
"Nobody's thinking about rivalry right now," he continued. "Everyone's just preparing for the high school stage—and to do that, we've all reached out to our senpai for guidance."
"But of course…" Akashi sighed lightly, "our senpai can't split themselves into six."
"So in the end, we had no choice but to train together."
At that, Haizaki Shōgo scowled and jabbed a finger toward Midorima.
"Midorima, you little snake—you've got talent as a damn spy!"
"Eavesdropping on people? That's new even for you!"
Kuroko added quietly, "Midorima even went as far as to disguise himself."
Midorima turned away, pretending he hadn't heard a thing.
As for Murasakibara… well, needless to say, he couldn't care less.
Then Haizaki rounded on Akashi again, shouting:
"And you! You smooth-talking bastard!"
"'Everyone had the same idea,' my ass!"
"You know how much resolve it took me to actually call those two monsters?! I was ready to get laughed at—and then you guys just swoop in and reap the benefits, huh?!"
Akashi arched an eyebrow.
"Even if Midorima hadn't said anything, Haizaki… we all contacted our senpai too."
Midorima, of course, had only called Fukasaya Reiji, the upperclassman he was closest with—and through him, had arranged a session for Murasakibara with Kurokami Shinji.
As for Aomine and Kise
one had the team spirit of a lone wolf, and the other simply didn't have anyone left to ask.
Expecting them to initiate any sort of training request was laughable—maybe next year, if ever.
So yes, they really were just along for the ride… and they knew it, keeping their mouths firmly shut.
Finally, Akashi's claim wasn't false—he truly had contacted Nijimura Shuzo the very moment their final match ended.
Quietly.
Without telling anyone.
So in a way, he'd actually sacrificed more than Haizaki
since he would've been the first to receive Nijimura's direct guidance.
Listening to the exchange, the Seirin players immediately grasped who those "senpai" were—none other than the monsters who had just crushed Rakuzan: Shigure Akihito and Nijimura Shuzo.
The moment those two names came to mind, Seirin's players felt a chill run down their spines.
The vivid images of that national final—the unstoppable storm named Akihito and the fearless Nijimura—rose again in their memories like a tidal wave.
Just then
Creak
A small delivery truck pulled up beside them.
Out hopped Riko Aida, busy unloading boxes, completely oblivious to the tense atmosphere.
It was Kagetora Aida, her father, who noticed first.
Especially the crowd of "junior high kids" standing across from them.
"Hey, hey~ Riko!" he called, stretching. "High schoolers, I can understand—but what's with the middle school brats?"
"Tch~" He clicked his tongue dramatically. "And these 'high schoolers' over here—physically and mentally, they already lose to them completely!"
"Riko, I don't mind you doing mixed training camps outside school, but you better not go picking useless boyfriends like these weaklings, yeah~?"
Then he squinted toward the other group.
"Ah—no, wait, I take it back! There are some impressive high schoolers here~"
Riko froze, then looked up—only to see the entire Generation of Miracles lined up against her team, making Seirin look embarrassingly fragile in comparison.
Her expression stiffened instantly.
But what really caught her attention wasn't them
It was on the other side.
Her "data eyes" flicked instinctively, scanning the figure standing casually with a surfboard under one arm—Shigure Akihito himself.
The numbers in her mind exploded.
Even worse
the girl standing beside him, laughing softly, her chest pressed lightly against his arm
Bust: 90?!
Riko's brain flatlined on the spot.
END OF CHAPTER
CROWN BEFORE THE MIRACLES
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