Chapter 014
Aomine had spent considerable time with Kuroko and genuinely considered him a good person. While Kuroko's basketball skills were lacking, Aomine had come to regard him as a close friend, so Murasakibara's harsh words sparked his anger: "Look, Atsushi, it's true that Tetsuya doesn't have much talent, but he works harder than any of us..."
"That's just a waste of time and energy. Playing basketball for three years and having absolutely nothing to show for it—people without talent accomplish nothing no matter how hard they work. If effort always guaranteed results, that would be obvious, wouldn't it?" Murasakibara replied with characteristic bluntness.
Aomine found himself unable to refute Murasakibara's words because, deep down, he couldn't argue against them. Maybe Tetsuya really did lack talent completely. Despite spending so much time with him and trying to guide his basketball development, nothing had shown any improvement.
Looking at Kuroko, who kept his head down in silence, Murasakibara turned away with mild exasperation: "I'm telling you to give up basketball. This sport just isn't meant for you."
Kuroko suddenly lifted his head and looked directly at Murasakibara: "I love basketball. Even though I really don't have talent in this area, I won't give up easily."
"Tch, do whatever you want then."
Returning to the present moment, Ranki asked: "Atsushi, who is this person you're talking about?"
Murasakibara pouted and muttered quietly: "Just some guy from third-string. Mine-chin has been playing basketball with him every day recently. His technique is absolutely terrible, but he keeps trying so hard at basketball. I don't understand what people like that are thinking."
"Third-string?" When Ranki heard this, he felt somewhat contemptuous—the third-string represented the weakest players in the entire basketball program.
"By the way, Ranki-chin, there's something I forgot to mention. Tomorrow we have a practice match against Senko Middle School, and you'll be participating too." Murasakibara suddenly remembered what Momoi had told him earlier. Though he still didn't understand all the details, he passed along the information to Ranki.
Ranki looked puzzled: "A practice match? I thought Senko Middle School wasn't even in our prefecture?"
"Yeah, I think that's right. Since our school won the middle school league championship, and so much time has passed, it seems like they're planning to challenge Teiko Middle School." Murasakibara scratched his head absently. He didn't pay much attention to Senko Middle School anyway—if they wanted to fight, then they'd fight.
Ranki continued his questioning: "So who else will be playing besides us?"
"That, I don't really know. But I think Senko Middle School isn't particularly strong—they haven't even made it to nationals, so they shouldn't be too tough," Murasakibara replied with casual indifference.
After locating Akashi, Murasakibara dragged out his words: "Akashi-chin..."
Midorima, standing beside Akashi, immediately reprimanded him: "Don't stretch out your words like that, Murasakibara."
Akashi wasn't surprised by Murasakibara's behavior and smiled gently: "You two finally made it over here—Murasakibara, Ranki."
"Eh, Akashi-chin, how did you know we'd come looking for you?" Murasakibara asked as if he'd seen something supernatural.
Akashi smiled knowingly: "Even if you didn't come, Ranki would be curious enough to ask questions. After all, you don't know anything about tomorrow's opponents from Senko Middle School."
"Senko Middle School's basketball program has a long history, but the school focuses primarily on volleyball, so their basketball club lacks strong players. For the first-string, it'll just be you and Ranki participating. The remaining team members and substitutes will be selected from the second-string."
Murasakibara looked slightly surprised but quickly understood the reasoning. Since the opposing school's basketball program wasn't particularly strong, there was no need to deploy the first-string's full strength. "Oh, so that's how it is. Why not send Mine-chin and the others too?"
"Aomine and Haizaki are handling Kuniseoki Junior High School tomorrow, so they're unavailable. It's been over three months since Teiko won the middle school league championship, and now many prestigious schools nationwide have begun challenging us through practice matches. Especially schools centered around our area—many middle schools from neighboring counties, districts, and cities have issued challenges."
"There were too many challenges at once, and since we won the championship, all the third-year first-string seniors retired. Now we only have about a dozen first-string members, so we had to involve second-string players in practice matches."
Hearing this explanation, Murasakibara finally understood the situation: "I see! Got it—leave it to me. The opposing team hasn't even made nationals, so they shouldn't be too strong anyway."
Seeing Murasakibara beginning to underestimate their opponents again, Akashi felt compelled to warn him: "Even so, there's still one very capable player you need to watch out for."
"A capable player?"
"That's right. Senko Middle School's basketball club captain couldn't participate in games during the first two months due to a foot injury. Otherwise, they definitely would have had a spot in the national tournament."
Murasakibara looked genuinely surprised: "Really? Is their captain that strong?"
"Yes, their captain is Kenichi Okamura—a very powerful power forward with a physique stronger than most centers. Whether on offense or defense, this player is formidable." Akashi spoke with slight seriousness before looking at Murasakibara with a gentle smile: "However, if it's you, you should be able to defeat him."
"Oh, is that so? That sounds interesting—a power forward who can also play center! Hmph, I can play both positions too," Murasakibara pouted with mild displeasure.
Akashi's expression grew more serious: "In any case, tomorrow you'll lead the team to completely defeat Senko Middle School. Teiko's philosophy is absolute victory in every battle—so no matter what happens, we must win."
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