Swish!
The basketball went cleanly through the net, brushing against the nylon with a silky whisper.
3:0.
"Whoa whoa whoa~~~ Did we just score first?!"
"Unbelievable!"
"Who are those two? Their coordination is insane!"
Team Akashi scored the opening basket. Not only were their opponents stunned, even their own teammates could hardly believe it.
It had only been five seconds since the tip-off. Most people hadn't even registered what was happening before Akashi Asuka snagged a rebound and Tsugawa Tomoki drained a three.
"This guy… that height definitely isn't just for show."
Sakamoto Kenjiro stared at Akashi Asuka, who had appeared behind him like a towering mountain, and felt a wave of caution rise in his chest.
============
"Don't just stand there, Sakamoto. If we let this go on, we're going to get embarrassed by first-years. Time to take one back."
From the baseline, Kasuga Ryuhei passed the ball to Sakamoto Kenjiro. Team Akashi quickly retreated into a defensive formation, opting for a standard 2-3 zone. This setup maximized Akashi Asuka's height and presence in the paint, reinforcing their rebounding power and interior defense.
Sakamoto began driving forward. His moves weren't flashy, but they were solid and effective. A single burst of speed allowed him to shake off one of the rookies with ease.
Tsugawa immediately rotated in to help. Sakamoto stepped on the gas again, then spun back, thinking he had created a clean path to the rim, only to find Tsugawa already in front of him once more.
"Wha—? Is that all you've got, senpai? I thought the so-called 'Kings' would be tougher. Is this it? Seriously?"
His mouth faster than his brain, Tsugawa threw out the taunt with a smirk. The entire gym fell silent for a beat.
The first-years stared at him in horror, their faces saying: "Are you out of your mind?! You're just a rookie and you're already talking trash to a third-year?!"
Even Akashi Asuka slapped a hand to his forehead.
There he goes again.
In the two months Akashi had spent training with Tsugawa, even he had been tempted on more than one occasion to sock the guy for his mouth.
Sometimes Akashi genuinely wondered how someone with a face and voice so punchable had managed to survive this long.
Tsugawa was blunt and quick-tongued by nature.
So even when he said something offensive, it was rarely with malice, he just lacked the filter. But for anyone unfamiliar with him, it was easy to mistake it for outright provocation.
============
Underneath the basket.
Tsutomu Iwamura, the captain of Seiho and currently wrestling for position with Akashi, twitched at the temples. Even someone as seasoned as him hadn't expected to run into such an audacious rookie.
"These first-years are something else. Looks like we've really been underestimated."
Akashi let out a laugh. "Hahaha… he didn't mean anything by it. He's just blunt. But hey, I think he does have a point, if the 'Three Kings of Tokyo' are only at this level, I'm gonna be really disappointed."
A vein throbbed visibly on Sakamoto Kenjiro's forehead as his eye twitched uncontrollably.
"First one, then two, these rookies are seriously starting to piss me off!"
Thump thump thump…
He suddenly picked up his dribble pace and went for a spin-jump shot.
But just as he left the ground, a large hand appeared above, and with a loud slap, the ball was swatted away.
"What?!"
Sakamoto's face changed dramatically, while Akashi Asuka, standing tall in the paint, let out a sigh.
"Come on, senpai. I'm right here. Could you show my height a little respect?"
The ball, unfortunately, wasn't secured by the white team. This moment exposed the gap in fundamentals, aside from Tsugawa, the other three first-years clearly lacked the instincts to chase down loose balls like the upperclassmen.
A black team shooting guard recovered the swatted shot and launched it from the perimeter, but again, before the ball got far, another large hand appeared.
SLAP!
Another shot blocked, but this time, it wasn't just a swat. Akashi Asuka had caught it midair and fully snatched the shot.
"What?! No way…"
If the first block had shocked them, this one terrified them.
"He caught it?!"
"He blocked a three?! I've never seen that happen before!"
"Holy crap! Who is this guy? He even blocked that?!"
On the sideline, Coach Matsumoto Yukinori and manager Kitayama Yuzuki both stood up in disbelief, eyes wide at the absurd scene that had just unfolded.
"He's so fast and so high… In just a moment, he crossed from the paint to the perimeter and still got a hand up in time… His physical ability is insane!" Kitayama exclaimed.
Akashi passed the ball to Tsugawa, and the white team launched a fast break.
"Damn it!"
The black team recovered from their shock and scrambled to defend.
Tsugawa didn't rush. He dribbled nonchalantly past half court. Once Akashi took position under the basket, Tsugawa pulled up a meter behind the three-point line and launched a shot.
"What a decisive shot! He's that confident in his three-point game?" Kitayama said in awe.
"No… I think it's not confidence in his shot, but in Akashi Asuka's rebounding," Matsumoto replied.
Right on cue, the shot clanged off the rim.
"Rebound!"
The two black team big men shouted, rushing in.
Iwamura fought to gain position under the hoop, trying to box out Akashi, but no matter how hard he pushed, Akashi didn't budge.
Akashi calmly stepped into position, as if already knowing where the ball would fall. And once there, he locked himself in like a mountain, no matter how hard Iwamura or Omuro tried to move him, he didn't flinch.
Positioning: Unmoving Mountain.
It was a skill drawn from the legendary "Shaq" of this world. And today, it finally began to shine.
Pa!
Akashi leapt and snatched the rebound effortlessly, then kicked it back out to Tsugawa.
Tsugawa caught and fired again, and this time, it was nothing but net.
Swish!
Another three.
==========
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