Flashback: Summer, Six Years Ago
The court was cracked and faded, half the rim bent like a broken promise. A younger Takenori Akagi stood alone, shirt soaked, hands red from hours of practice. The ball bounced rhythmically against the backboard as he repeated the same power move, again and again.
"Still doing gorilla moves, huh?"
Akagi turned. A boy, leaner, shorter, but with the same determined eyes, stood at the gate.
"Daiki." Akagi's voice was tense. "Didn't expect you here."
"Why? Because I quit?" Daiki stepped forward, bouncing a ball of his own. "I'm not the one who left me behind."
Present Day: Shohoku Gym, Evening Practice
The squeak of sneakers, the slap of the ball, the thud of bodies hitting the paint—it was all business as usual. Except today, Akagi was… off. He missed rebounds he'd normally eat for breakfast and was slow on rotations.
"Captain, everything alright?" I asked, watching him miss a hook shot by a mile.
"Fine," he grunted, but the tension in his jaw said otherwise.
Coach Anzai called for a water break.
"Someone lit a fire under him the wrong way," Mitsui muttered beside me.
Sakuragi chugged water and belched. "I think the gorilla's gone super angry monkey mode."
I shot him a look. "Not helping."
Rukawa, unusually observant, nodded toward the gym door.
A tall figure in black stood there, arms folded, watching.
Akagi's eyes locked with the figure's. The air between them practically sparked.
"…Who's that?" I asked.
"His little brother," Mitsui answered, voice low. "Daiki Akagi. Used to be a prodigy. Quit basketball years ago."
Daiki's Challenge
After practice, Daiki entered the gym like he owned it. His uniform? A slick black tracksuit with a Teiko University logo stitched across the chest.
"You guys are better than I expected," he said, eyes scanning us all before settling on his brother. "But still sloppy."
"Say what now?" Sakuragi stood, fists clenched.
Akagi stepped forward. "Daiki, don't."
Daiki smirked. "Don't what? Don't speak the truth?"
I stepped between them. "Why are you here?"
"I'm here because I heard Takenori Akagi was finally leading a team worth watching," Daiki said. "So I came to see if the rumors were true."
Akagi crossed his arms. "This isn't about me."
"Isn't it?" Daiki shot back. "You've always chased this dream like a man possessed. But dreams don't matter if you've got no one left to believe in you."
The silence that followed was razor sharp.
Late Night – Akagi Opens Up
That night, I found Akagi alone at the gym, sitting on the bleachers, staring into the empty court.
"He was better than me, you know," he said. "When we were kids."
I sat beside him, quietly.
"Everyone thought Daiki would be the one to make it big. But then, in our second year of middle school, our dad passed. I buried myself in practice. He… walked away from the game."
"He resents you for it?" I asked.
"He resents himself," Akagi said. "But it's easier to blame me."
Silence again.
"You think we'll ever be good enough?" he asked, voice low.
I looked at him. "We don't need to be good enough. We just need to keep going. That's what makes a captain."
He chuckled softly. "You're wiser than you look."
"I hear that a lot."
Training: Team Defense Drill
The next day, Coach Anzai ran a brutal sequence of 3-on-5 defense drills.
"You must trust each other," he said. "Defense is not one man's burden."
Sakuragi, Rukawa, and I took the challenge.
Mitsui drove right, dished left to Akagi. Sakuragi stepped in to take the charge—and actually succeeded. Rukawa rotated to cut off the drive. I snuck behind Mitsui for the steal.
It worked. Barely.
Coach smiled. "Again."
We ran it six more times. Each time, we were sharper, quicker, more instinctive.
After the last drill, Akagi called everyone in.
"This team… it means something," he said. "To all of us. I've been carrying my brother's shadow for too long. That ends now."
He looked at me. Then at the rest.
"We're not just a team. We're a family."
Even Rukawa nodded.
Side Story: Daiki's Visit to Coach Anzai
Later that day, I spotted Daiki entering Coach Anzai's office. I lingered outside, listening.
"You saw it," Daiki said. "He's still clumsy. Still stiff."
"But he has fire now," Anzai replied. "He has belief. In himself. In them."
"…He never used to talk about his team like that."
"Because he never had one," Anzai said. "Now he does. And they believe in him."
"…You think they can go to Nationals?"
"With him leading?" the coach paused. "Yes."
Silence.
"…Then maybe I was wrong to walk away."
Akagi vs. Daiki – One-on-One
That evening, under the dim lights of the gym, the brothers faced off.
"First to 5," Daiki said. "No fouls. No excuses."
We all sat on the sidelines, holding our breath.
Daiki moved like water—fast, fluid, deceptive. But Akagi was a wall of willpower, every step powered by years of discipline and burden.
2–2.
Then 4–4.
Final possession.
Daiki faked, spun, went for a fadeaway.
Akagi jumped—blocked it clean.
The ball landed at Sakuragi's feet.
"…DID THE GORILLA JUST WIN?!"
Akagi walked over and extended his hand.
Daiki stared at it. Then, slowly, he grinned and took it.
"Looks like the big brother found his game."
"I had help," Akagi said.
Daiki looked around at us.
"Yeah… I can see that."
Night Walk – Emotional Bonding
Afterwards, we all walked home under the stars.
"You really think we're ready?" Mitsui asked.
"We're not," I said. "But we're getting there."
Sakuragi slapped my back. "You always say deep stuff after practice. Are you secretly a poet?"
"Only in my heart," I said, deadpan.
Even Rukawa smirked.
Akagi walked at the front, lighter than we'd ever seen him.
His past was no longer a weight.
Now, it was just fuel.
Team Status Update – Custom (Every 5 Chapters)
Shohoku Basketball Team – Status Update
Name
Role
Strengths
Focus
Kudo Hirata
Bench/Analyst
Strategy, vision, passing
Gaining confidence, rival conflict
Sakuragi Hanamichi
PF
Rebounding, chaotic energy
Trust-building, fundamentals
Rukawa Kaede
SF
Scoring, isolation plays
Team play, defense rotations
Mitsui Hisashi
SG
3-pt shooting, endurance
Late-game focus, clutch decision-making
Akagi Takenori
C (Captain)
Leadership, blocks, inside scoring
Emotional release, newfound clarity
Daiki Akagi
Former player
Speed, ball handling, insight
Personal closure, family bond
[Next Time on Benchwarmer Chronicles — Chapter 35: "Rising Storms"]
A mysterious powerhouse from a rival region arrives early to scout Shohoku. Meanwhile, Kudo receives an anonymous message: "You're not supposed to exist in this world." The shadows begin to stir…