"Thanks for the game!"
The match ended with Kaijo winning, 104 to 98.
After bowing to each other, the players lined up for handshakes.
When it was Kota's turn to shake hands with Aomine, he reached out his hand with a grin.
"Nice game, Aomine."
Aomine was stunned. He was fully expecting this trash-talking punk to drop another verbal bomb.
Aomine nodded awkwardly and replied in a stiff tone,
"You played pretty well too."
Kota simply smiled without saying anything further. Sure, he loved trash talk, but once the game was over and he left the court, he was a perfectly polite and well-mannered young man… or at least, that's how he liked to think.
"Kotaaacchi!! That shot of yours was awesome! We actually beat Aominecchi!!"
If Kota could still stay calm after winning, then Kise was the exact opposite — completely hyped.
Kise was practically hanging off Kota, shaking his clothes like an overexcited puppy, trying to release all his excitement.
"Oi! Get off me, you idiot! You're drooling on me!"
Kasamatsu, watching them fool around from the side, couldn't help but chuckle.
Well… whatever. As long as they won, they could mess around however they liked.
"Coach Takeuchi says he's treating everyone to dinner!"
"I want hotpot!"
"Hey, hey, come on, winning calls for yakiniku, right?!"
…
"Hello... yeah, I lost. Kaijo's really strong this year. Kise's improved a lot too. Be careful, Akashi. If you're not careful, you guys might end up flipping the boat too."
Aomine stood alone outside the gym, hanging up the phone as the night breeze blew past. His mind replayed scenes from the game — especially Kota's insane game-winning, long-range three-pointer.
"Tch... what else is that guy hiding?"
Scratching his head, Aomine felt a bit frustrated… but honestly, it was more excitement than anything. Losing to Kaijo twice in a row—yeah, it stung—but it also fired up his competitive spirit.
Finally... a real rival.
"Daiki!"
Momoi came running over. Her intuition told her Aomine would be here.
Turning back and seeing her, Aomine laughed.
"You always manage to find me wherever I am, huh?"
Seeing the worry on her face, Aomine rubbed his nose and muttered,
"Guess... I really can't do this alone, huh?"
"Eh?"
Momoi blinked, then broke into a big, relieved smile.
Seeing her smiling like that, Aomine scratched his head and chuckled self-deprecatingly.
"In the end, it wasn't Tetsu who got through to me... it was that loudmouth brat."
"Who cares! Doesn't matter who helped as long as you figured it out!"
"Yeah, guess you're right… now I want a burger."
"Yup!"
…
After the team dinner, Kota returned home, changing his shoes while checking the rewards he'd gotten from the game.
[Congratulations! New Talent Acquired:
Danger Sense: Increases reaction speed when facing steals.
Sometimes, seeing too much isn't always a good thing…
Pep Talker: When encouraging teammates, greatly boosts their confidence.
Public speaking is a vital skill for any leader! ]
...
Kota rubbed his chin as he looked at the new talents.
"Pep Talker sounds kinda vague... but Danger Sense is straightforward. But man, why does that flavor text sound so cursed?"
Oh well. He shrugged. Probably just the system being weird again. Not that he cared—he loved the talent anyway. After all, he hated getting his ball stolen.
"Final Four, huh… The remaining teams are Rakuzan, Yosen… and some random extras."
Yosen was manageable. Against a team with that strong of an inside game, a three-point strategy could work wonders. But Rakuzan…
Kota groaned. He wasn't ready to deal with the best point guard in Kuroko no Basket. Akashi's pressure was on a whole different level from the other Generation of Miracles.
As he was thinking hard about it, his phone rang.
"Hey, Kotaaaa! Come out and eat, my treat!"
Kota's mouth twitched.
"Why does this feel way too familiar..."
"Spit it out. We literally just ate. Like... ten minutes ago. At the team dinner."
"Ah... right! I forgot! Hehe... but c'mon, it's Kuroko who wants to see you."
Kota narrowed his eyes. Kise sounded suspicious.
"Kuroko? Wants to see me? Surely, he's confusing me for someone else. I mean... it's not like I destroyed Seirin. Shouldn't he be bothering Aomine?"
Still confused, Kota hung up, checked the address Kise sent, sighed, and headed out again.
When he arrived, he glanced around and spotted Kise across the street, being swarmed by a group of giggling girls. Kota ran straight over and yanked him away.
"Oi! What are you doing, Kota?! I was this close to getting their numbers!"
Kise dramatically turned back to the girls, making a fake phone gesture.
"Call me later, okay~!"
Turning back to Kota, he pouted,
"That was rude! I didn't even get their names yet!"
Kota facepalmed.
"Where's Kuroko? What does he want with me?"
"I'm right here."
The moment Kota finished his sentence, a quiet voice sounded right beside him. Kota nearly jumped out of his skin.
"Jeez! Your stealth level should be illegal, man!"
Trying to calm his heartbeat, Kota turned to check out Kuroko, who had somehow just materialized out of nowhere.
Seeing Kota startled, Kuroko politely bowed and said,
"Nice to meet you, Kota-kun."
Kota, seeing how polite Kuroko was, also eased his stance.
"Yeah… Kise said you wanted to talk to me?"
Kuroko nodded, calm as ever.
"I'd like to ask for your advice… about how to guide my teammates."
…The air went dead silent. Kota slowly turned to stare at Kise with an expression that clearly screamed:
You dragged me out here… just to teach our opponent how to beat us?!
Kise responded with the world's most innocent smile, blinking rapidly as if to say:
Well, y'know... Kuroko asked really nicely... and I'm too soft-hearted to say no...
Seeing Kota was starting to get annoyed, Kuroko suddenly bowed 90 degrees and said seriously, "Please! After losing to Aomine-kun, I realized... with how I am now, I can't support Kagami-kun enough to face the Generation of Miracles. Please teach me. I'll buy you as many meals as you want!"
"...Okay, first of all... where did this rumor come from that I'll do anything for food?!"
Kota glared at Kise, who was now staring up at the sky, hands behind his back, whistling like he had absolutely nothing to do with this.
Kuroko stayed bowed, waiting for an answer.
"Alright, alright, stand up already..."
Kota sighed, rubbing his temples. Normally, helping an opponent wasn't something he'd ever do.
But then again... Kuroko would figure this out on his own eventually anyway. Might as well help him out now and collect some future favors.
"Let me think... Your specialty is your low presence, right? So, what if you could extend that to your dribbling? Make the ball itself go unnoticed?"
Kuroko paused, then explained,
"When I have the ball, people naturally notice me because... well, the ball has presence."
Kota nodded.
"But what about misdirection... just for a moment? Like using Kagami's overwhelming presence to pull defenders' focus away, so you can 'disappear' for a split-second breakthrough."
As Kota continued explaining, Kuroko's usually blank face slowly morphed into one of stunned realization.
"Wait... I can use my ability like THAT?!"