The parking lot shimmered faintly under the dim lights.
When Haizaki Shōgo lay sprawled on the ground—his mind still troubled by Aomine—and finally asked his captain, "Nijimura, do you really think you can catch up to Shigure-senpai?"
To be honest, even Haizaki himself didn't expect…
That the so-called "violent maniac"
didn't answer right away.
In fact, maybe
even Nijimura himself wasn't sure of the answer.
That thought alone made Haizaki blink, his gaze drifting from the empty night sky back to Nijimura Shuzo—the same man who always had an answer for everything, who never once hesitated when others did.
But this time, instead of ridicule or concern, what followed from Nijimura's calm, unreadable eyes—and his next words
completely shattered those assumptions.
Only…
what he said sounded both ridiculous, and hard to grasp.
"Haizaki."
Nijimura's predatory gaze swept across the dimly lit lot—its field of view terrifyingly broad.
In that moment, everyone hiding around them was already caught in his perception:
the Seirin players crouched behind the shrubs,
Shun watching from the far side of the parking lot,
and even the figures peeking through the seaside inn's windows
green, red, blue,
and one tall, shadowy silhouette among them.
And as Nijimura looked toward Shigure Akihito's distant outline, his quiet words came out like a confession:
"There's a monster that lives inside my heart."
Haizaki blinked.
"…What?"
What the hell are you talking about?
Nijimura crouched, picking up a basketball that rolled to his feet.
He tossed it lightly, then looked back at Haizaki.
"To you, what is basketball?"
"Is it a dream?"
"A way of life?"
"Or… something else?"
"When you're on the court, when that wild impulse burns in your chest—the urge to dribble faster, to rush forward
have you ever wondered why?"
"Is it for your teammates?"
"To kill time?"
"Or just because you enjoy the fight?"
Haizaki frowned, his mind spinning from the barrage of questions.
He wasn't good at this kind of thinking—never was
but somehow, he couldn't help himself.
"Well…"
"It's kinda fun."
"And…"
"I don't wanna lose. Not to Aomine. Not to anyone."
Nijimura let out a quiet laugh.
It sent a shiver down Haizaki's spine.
Was that the wrong answer?
It didn't sound nearly as complicated as the strange philosophy Nijimura had been spouting just now.
But then
"You're right," Nijimura said, lips curling into a faint grin.
"Basketball is fun."
For a split second, the tone of his voice
the rhythm of it
made Haizaki feel as though he was staring straight at that monster
Shigure.
Wait…
Shigure?
Monster?
"Aomine frustrates you, doesn't he?"
Clap.
Clap.
Clap.
Nijimura began dribbling the ball again, the sound echoing through the lot.
"But frustration like that…" he said, smiling faintly, "I've gone through it more times than I can count."
"Heh,"
"It goes way back…"
"To when I first joined Teiko with Shigure. You were probably still in elementary school then."
"I never showed it, but actually…"
"Before that first 1v1 match during tryouts, when Shigure defeated me—back then, I was arrogant. I was craving a rival."
"But I never realized… how heavy those two words—'true rival'—would become."
"Or that a wall named Shigure Akihito would appear out of nowhere
and completely block the view ahead of me."
"It took me many failures to understand that."
"And as I kept losing"
"that monster kept growing inside me."
"Feeding on it."
Clap.
Clap.
Thud.
Boom!
"The first phase of it… was probably back in our first year of middle school—right up to the first national preliminaries."
"Shigure, you know him."
"To you guys, that monster image of him is probably just that—his strength exploding every year, like he's got no limit."
"But to me"
"Back in our first year, even though his power wasn't as overwhelming yet—
his growth rate was terrifying."
"Every game,"
"every single match"
"He was visibly getting stronger."
Haizaki froze.
"Wha—?"
What kind of joke was that?
"That match, our first national appearance"
"That's when Shigure Akihito, going all out for the first time, awakened the monster inside me."
"A monster… named Shigure."
Haizaki stared.
"What…?"
"You want to see it?" Nijimura asked quietly.
Haizaki hesitated—then nodded, serious now.
How was he going to "see" it? A replay? A memory?
"Good," Nijimura said.
"Then watch carefully."
He stopped dribbling, holding the ball with one hand, standing perfectly still.
His eyes slowly closed.
"This is an ability I've prepared especially for you."
"In temperament, in how you play—even in your delinquent streak—you and I are the same."
"Back in middle school, more than Aomine, I paid attention to you."
"Shigure used to tease me—said maybe I saw a reflection of my younger self in you."
"He was joking about the delinquent part, of course."
"But what he didn't see… was your talent."
"The talent to lose yourself—to let the monster sink in completely."
BOOM.
In an instant
Nijimura's aura exploded.
His entire body radiated power, a raw wildness bursting forth and then igniting into a burning mirage
until from within that black flame, something moved.
A beastly shadow emerged
a lion made of pure darkness
rising, roaring, and finally taking human form.
Faintly, the "Teiko #7" jersey could still be seen beneath the rippling flames,
but the rest—his body—was like black tar, molten and shifting, his face obscured.
Only two hollow eyes remained—empty sockets where his pupils should've been
and a gaping mouth stretched open in a silent scream.
"What is effort, really?"
"Is it like Shun—who sacrificed his future for one fleeting moment of brilliance?"
"Or like Kuroko—who turned minimal talent into the Phantom Sixth Man?"
"Or like Hagioka Kasayuki—whose genius allowed him to walk his own path?"
"In the end…"
"All of them reached the top in their own way."
"But you, Haizaki"
"The 'no hesitation' you're so proud of"
"Compared to them, it's nothing."
"You can't beat them."
"You can't beat me."
"So now, watch carefully"
"How far a man can go—when all he wants is to climb the mountain standing before him."
END OF CHAPTER
4 IN 1 - BE A MEMBER, GET 4 ONGOING STORIES!!
35 CHAPTERS AHEAD!!
Starting Five - Kuroko's Basketball: Before Generation Miracles, I Already Crowned
👉 patreon.com/MrBehringer