"16-Year-Old Point Guard Throws Down on the Court!"
"Shocking! Interhigh Champion Guard Throws Punches at Winter Cup?!"
"Winter Cup's First Double Ejection Ends with Three Players Off the Court!"
"Regarding the Fight… Kaijo Coach Comments: 'Not My Problem!'"
After Kaijo's victory over Fukuda Sogo, the courtside brawl sparked by Kota made headlines.
These were just a few of the titles cooked up by reporters, cobbled together from blurry footage and wild speculation. Many of them tried to interview Kota directly, but Takeuchi wasn't having it. The Winter Cup had already begun — he wasn't about to let drama interrupt his point guard's focus.
Since Kota couldn't make a public statement, Takeuchi stepped in himself… in full "fashion edition" mode
...
"Kota, you're on the front page again!"
Kise reclined in Kaijo's film room, waving a newspaper in one hand with gleeful energy.
He was still recovering from Haizaki's dirty elbow. Luckily, he'd dodged most of the impact — just a swollen bump on the forehead now. A cold pack hung from his head while he reviewed footage of their next opponent.
"Good to see you bouncing around. Means you're fine" Kota said, sitting down beside him and glancing at the ice pack.
"So, how's our next opponent looking?"
"Hmm… team I've never heard of. Their strength is… eh, maybe we should wait till the senpai get here and watch together."
Kise's hesitation didn't go unnoticed—but Kota didn't press. In Kuroko no Basket terms:
Never-heard-of team = No Generation of Miracles = Already dead.
As of yesterday, the Round of 16 was finished.
All six teams with Generation of Miracles members had advanced to the Elite Eight without clashing, alongside one well-known powerhouse and one total mystery team.
Kaijo's luck held — they drew the unknown team in the quarterfinals.
Meanwhile:
Rakuzan vs. Shutoku
Rakuzan vs. Seirin
Yosen vs. an old powerhouse school
Soon, Takeuchi arrived with the rest of Kaijo's starters, ready to analyze their upcoming opponent:
Igawa High.
"Never heard of them. Let's take a quick look and call it a day" Takeuchi said with trademark arrogance, brushing off the no-name school without a second thought.
"Still, if they made the top 8, they must have something going for them, right?" Kota said with faint curiosity.
He was genuinely intrigued by how a team like that got this far. Kise glanced sideways at him, expression unreadable, but said nothing.He just hit play.
As the footage rolled:
"That guy's smile is kinda contagious… even if he looks a little dumb."
"What's with that hairstyle? So tacky. But he's fast…"
"The one with glasses has the 'honors student' vibe. Probably their analytics guy?"
"Wait, their captain looks familiar… wasn't he kinda famous before?"
Everyone was relaxed and chatty. The general consensus: Igawa was average at best.
Only Kota frowned.
Something about this felt off. Unnatural. Wrong.
"Actually, I think I heard about this team during last year" Kasamatsu muttered, scratching his chin.
"They got into a massive fight off-court and got disqualified. Rumor is, they didn't even have enough players for a full roster for a while. If they didn't get results this year, their basketball club was gonna be disbanded."
"Disbanded…? Wait a minute—"
Kota suddenly shot to his feet, staring at the screen in disbelief.
That bright-smiling protagonist, the weird-looking speedster, the glasses guy analyzing everything, the captain with a mysterious past, and the club on the brink of shutdown…
"Wait a second… isn't this the literal template for every underdog sports anime ever???"
"Kota-kun, did you notice something?" Kise asked, adjusting the ice pack on his forehead.
"Eh… not really. Did they win this game?"
"Yep! Buzzer-beating three. In fact, every game they've played to qualify so far ended in a last-second game-winner. They've only ever won by one point."
Kise couldn't help but sound impressed. It explained his earlier hesitation—despite looking average, Igawa kept winning.
By all logic, they were a strong team in their own way.
Kota's mouth twitched.
"No doubt about it. This team is the full cliché package."
Just to be sure, Kota turned to Kasamatsu again.
"Senpai… didn't they use to have a really strong ace before that brawl? Someone who quit afterward? Maybe a small forward? Didn't our school even try to recruit him?"
Kasamatsu blinked, then gasped as the memory clicked.
"Right! That guy was really promising! I don't know why, but he chose to go to that no-name school instead."
"Yep. Every trope accounted for."
Kota collapsed back into his seat, face frozen.
This was bad.
Meanwhile, in the back of the room, Takeuchi was yawning. The footage of Igawa had him nodding off.
"Let's wrap this up. Honestly, maybe we should just send in the bench tomorrow. A team like this? Not even worth the starters."
Kota broke into a cold sweat.
The bench gets crushed, then the starters come back and try to close the gap… only to get defeated by the "power of friendship" in a final buzzer-beater??
HELL NO.
"Coach! We can't take them lightly. There might be hidden talents the footage doesn't show. Even if we're lions hunting rabbits — we need to go all out. Our goal is the championship. We can't afford to fall here!"
Kota's words rang out like a military commander rallying troops.
Coach Takeuchi scratched his chin… and finally nodded.
"Alright. No bench. We'll play it safe."
Meanwhile, at Igawa High…
"Our next opponent is the Interhigh Champs—Kaijo High!"
"We promised the principal we'd make it to the Final Four… otherwise the basketball club gets shut down… Damn it! We're so close!"
"Don't give up!! We're aiming to WIN IT ALL! Doesn't matter who we face—champion or not, we'll give it everything we've got!"
The team stood under the setting sun, fists raised in unity.
Defeat Kaijo. Save the club.
"Crap! Our captain just got hit by an eletric car and won't be able to play tomorrow!!"
"WHAT?!?!"