Since Taisuke Otsubo and Aida Riko drew their lots before Akashi Asuka, the fates of their teams remained unchanged, before reaching the finals, Shutoku and Seirin would still have to face each other.
However, for the teams that drew after Akashi Asuka, things were completely different from the original timeline.
Especially for Seiho itself.
In the original story, Seiho, Seirin, and Shutoku were all placed in the same bracket. Before even reaching the last four, the three teams were already forced to fight tooth and nail against one another.
But now, thanks to the flap of Akashi Asuka's little butterfly wings, Seiho's destiny had been rewritten.
This time's draw,
To put it simply, Seiho's bracket could be perfectly described in one sentence:
"Not a single team that can fight back."
The Tokyo qualifiers for the Summer National Tournament were divided into four blocks, A, B, C, and D. The first place from each block would advance to the final stage, where three tickets to Nationals would be decided.
And in all of Tokyo, there were only a few teams that could truly threaten Seiho:
Seirin High (the protagonist team)
Shutoku High (home to the Generation of Miracles' Midorima Shintaro, one of Tokyo's "Three Kings")
Tōō Academy (home to Aomine Daiki of the Generation of Miracles)
Senshinkan High (another of Tokyo's "Three Kings")
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Yet the lot Akashi Asuka drew just so happened to perfectly avoid all of these powerhouses.
Seirin and Shutoku were placed in Block A, Tōō Academy in Block B, Rinshinkan in Block C, and Seiho High in Block D.
In other words, until the final stage, the only school in Block D capable of posing any real threat to Seiho…
Was Kirisaki Daiichi High.
That was the team led by one of the Uncrowned Kings, the Bad Boy, Hanamiya Makoto.
The Uncrowned Kings: five prodigies who, during middle school, lived under the shadow of the Generation of Miracles. Since they were each a year older, they were often called geniuses from a different era.
And in a sense, that title wasn't wrong, because in high school, the talent they displayed truly was remarkable.
The only difference was,
The Generation of Miracles were once-in-a-decade prodigies, while the Uncrowned Kings were once-in-a-year prodigies.
If converted into system stats, each Uncrowned King would have core attributes around 84–85, standing at the peak of human potential, but unable to break through into the miraculous 86+ range.
Against such opponents, with Akashi Asuka's current strength, Seiho's chances of losing were clearly slim.
But the problem was, Hanamiya Makoto wasn't an honest player.
That much was already obvious from his nickname, The Bad Boy.
"Hmm, I should probably talk to the coach about this," Akashi thought. If we end up facing Kirisaki Daiichi, the others need to be extra careful.
As for me... it might be time to brush up on some boxing skills again.
Akashi Asuka had trained in martial arts before, both in his previous world and the life before that.
In his past life, his original body had been a delinquent, and he'd learned boxing specifically for street fights, putting those skills to the test many times in real combat, with solid results.
In the life before that, he'd taken martial arts simply as a hobby. Though mostly for show, he'd picked up a few moves he could mix with boxing techniques, good enough to handle a match or two.
Coach Matsumoto Yukinori had heard of Hanamiya Makoto's reputation as well, so when Akashi Asuka suggested implementing "Self-Protection Training" for Seiho's main players, the coach didn't hesitate to approve.
And so, starting the very next day,
Seiho's players noticed something a little different in their training regimen.
===========
"Today's session is called 'Body Management and Self-Protection Training.'" Akashi Asuka stood before Seiho's first and second teams, speaking clearly. "As athletes, beyond skill and fitness training, learning how to protect our own bodies should be a required subject in our daily practice."
Originally, this class was supposed to be led by Coach Matsumoto himself, but Akashi had insisted on taking over. After all, when it came to high school-level self-protection, Akashi Asuka's experience was second to none.
The players watching him had complicated looks on their faces.
Especially the third-years. Seeing Akashi up front, completely unfazed and lecturing them like an expert, they couldn't help but feel… a little weird.
"I'm not sure if you seniors still remember Seirin High, the team that broke into the Nationals last year in their first appearance," Akashi began, smiling faintly. "There was a player there named Kiyoshi Teppei. He's the perfect example of what happens when you don't take this class seriously."
To make sure the players remembered today's lesson, Akashi had no qualms about using Kiyoshi Teppei as a negative example.
Seiho's third-years might not remember Seirin very clearly, since most of Seiho's previous main lineup had graduated, but everyone remembered the name Kiyoshi Teppei.
Not just because he was one of the Uncrowned Kings, but because of that incident, the infamous one during Coach Iwamura's interview for Basketball Monthly last year that nearly made him socially implode.
"What about Kiyoshi?"
As expected, Iwamura perked up the moment Akashi mentioned him.
Akashi coughed lightly. "I'm sure you remember, last year, even though Seirin reached the final stage, they were crushed by the 'Three Kings of Tokyo,' each by triple digits. But that wasn't truly their full strength."
He paused, then continued, "Their core player, Kiyoshi Teppei, couldn't play due to an injury."
Iwamura nodded. "I remember. That was a real shame. I was actually looking forward to facing him in the finals."
He said it calmly now, no trace of embarrassment left.
"Indeed. In a way, that match was a bit of a tragedy."
Akashi nodded in agreement. Then, his tone suddenly sharpened.
"But what I think you don't know, Iwamura-senpai… is that Kiyoshi Teppei's injury wasn't an accident. It was deliberate."
The gym fell silent.
Akashi's gaze turned cold.
"The one who injured him," he said slowly, "was none other than our potential opponent in the qualifiers… another member of the Uncrowned Kings, the Bad Boy, Hanamiya Makoto."
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