"Hahaha, Mr. Kota, you sure are confident. I believe you'll make a name for yourself on the national youth team too."
Reiko covered her mouth and chuckled softly, throwing in another compliment for Kota.
Kota shrugged. Whether Reiko's words were sincere or just politeness didn't really matter—at least they sounded nice.
He then started asking Reiko about the current state of basketball in China. He was curious. Online searches only gave him dry information, but now that he had someone right in front of him from China, it would be a waste not to ask.
The conversation gradually became more relaxed as the two chatted casually.
About ten minutes later—
From the kitchen, Araki, who had just finished cooking, walked out carrying two plates. Even from a distance, she could hear their laughter.
"Looks like you two are getting along pretty well."
As she set the plates on the table, Araki asked casually, "So, are you planning to play in China?"
Kota nodded. "Yeah. I already talked with Miss Reiko. I'll head over next week to take a look."
"Oh, next week—WHAT???"
Araki, who was tidying up the table, froze and turned around so fast it looked like her neck almost cracked. Her voice shot up a few decibels before she realized she was overreacting. Covering her mouth, she coughed lightly to regain her composure and looked at Reiko.
"Wait a minute… Why so soon? Didn't you just tell me he has to be an adult before he can change nationality?"
Reiko blinked, then quickly realized the misunderstanding and explained, "Ah, you misunderstood, Araki. Kota is just going for a visit. Officially changing nationality and joining the youth team will have to wait until he turns eighteen."
"Oh… I see… That's a relief…"
For some reason, Araki felt a wave of relief wash over her, and her mood even brightened a bit.
She turned to Kota. "Do you want me to go with you?"
Kota thought for a moment. "Probably not. Miss Reiko will be with me, and it's not exactly easy for you to travel overseas, right?"
After all, between running the Shark Gym, coaching at Yosen High School, and being the heiress of the Araki family, Araki couldn't just drop everything for a spontaneous trip abroad.
Some people were born with privileges, but those came with limitations too.
Araki frowned slightly, admitting to herself that Kota had a point.
Right then, Reiko jumped in at the perfect moment. "Don't worry, Araki. I'll be going with Kota as his guide and translator!"
After all, she had taken Araki's check—Reiko wasn't the type to take the money and slack off. Plus, Kota was her recruit. There was no way she'd let such a valuable prospect head to China alone.
In the end, Araki reluctantly accepted that Kota would leave for China next Monday, though she insisted on personally taking both Kota and Reiko to the airport that day.
The next morning, Kota went to Kaijo High as usual.
Despite focusing heavily on basketball since arriving in this world, his grades weren't bad at all. He wasn't exactly top of the class, but he definitely wasn't one of those students who failed everything either.
School here didn't have the same strict education requirements as in China, but growing up there, skipping school had never been Kota's thing anyway.
"The material in this lesson is fairly basic, but I still hope everyone reviews it after—"
Riiing riiing riiing riiing riiing!
The dismissal bell completely drowned out the teacher's voice, whatever wisdom he was trying to impart evaporating instantly as students started packing up.
The moment the teacher finally said, "Class dismissed" the entire classroom erupted into motion. Students grabbed their bags—already packed long ago—and stormed out like a floodgate had opened.
All except Kota.
He glanced out the window. The neighboring building was just as chaotic, students swarming out to enjoy the long-awaited freedom of after-school hours.
For most students, the end of class meant the end of the day.
But for the basketball team, it was only the beginning.
Practice time.
Kota packed his things slowly. As captain, he couldn't show up late to training. Well… not that Takao-senpai ever showed up on time himself. That guy might only appear the day before the national tournament just to give a speech.
Thinking about it, Kota couldn't help smirking. Having responsibilities was stressful… but being needed felt pretty great.
With a squeak, the classroom door closed behind him.
For once, he was the last one to leave.
"What am I even doing…? It's not like I'm leaving forever. I have class tomorrow like always. Why does this feel so dramatic?"
Shaking his head, Kota locked the door and started heading toward Kaijo's gym.
He hadn't told anyone about his trip to China yet, but either way, he'd need to get permission for leave.
...
Bam! Bam!
Just as Kota reached the entrance to the Kaijo gym, the sound of basketballs hitting the floor echoed out. Even without Takeuchi or Kota watching, Kaijo's training never stopped. As a powerhouse team, that culture was engraved into every player.
Kota pushed open the door. With his sharp eyes, Kise was the first to spot him. He stopped warming up and grinned.
"Kota, you're late, you know. According to the rules, that's a hundred push-ups!"
"That's a rule Kasamatsu-senpai made up. Sorry, but I'm the Kaijo captain now."
Kota shrugged and didn't explain further, heading straight toward Takeuchi's office.
"Huh?"
Kise scratched his head. His instincts told him Kota seemed a little off today. Before he could dwell on it, Yuki, done with warm-ups, ran over and challenged him to a one-on-one.
Of course Kise wouldn't refuse. From the moment he joined Kaijo, he was the undisputed No.1. Besides Kota, no one could really push him on offense.
Now that he had a junior eager to go head-to-head, someone he could totally flex his senpai authority on, Kise was thrilled.
"Bring it on, Yuki! Don't expect me to hold back!"
"Of course not! I'm counting on you to go all out, Kise-senpai!"
Walking away from the noise, Kota couldn't help smiling faintly at the sounds behind him.
See? Even without me, these guys are doing fine.
He pushed open Takeuchi's office door.
"Coach."
It had been forever since he'd stepped in here—maybe only twice before.
Takeuchi looked up.
"What is it?"
"Nothing serious."
Kota pulled out a chair, grinning. "I just need to ask for some time off."
"Time off?"
Takeuchi frowned slightly. If Kota wasn't around, training would fall to Kise and Hayakawa… yeah, maybe he'd better handle it himself.
Stretching his shoulders, Takeuchi asked casually, "How long are we talking?"
Been a while since he'd watched the boys train personally. Maybe this was a good chance to relive the old days.
Kota hesitated. "Uh… maybe half a month?"
"Sure, half a—WHAT??"
Takeuchi had nodded before the words hit him. He spun to stare at Kota.
"What's going on? Why so long?"
Kota scratched his nose awkwardly. According to Reiko, the youth team tryouts shouldn't take long—two, three days tops. But with his special situation, they wanted to see how he meshed with the players, so the trial period could stretch on forever.
Apparently, some foreign recruit once got in after two days… only to start a brawl because a teammate gave him hot water instead of cold. He drank it without checking, burned his tongue, and threw boiling water back in the guy's face.
Takeuchi tapped the calendar with his pen. "The Interhigh start in half a month. Is this really worth leaving your team behind?"
Was it worth it?
Kota hesitated. He wanted to go pro, but right now, preparing for the Interhigh seemed like the top priority…
"Sorry, Coach. It's important."
He grinned suddenly, standing and making a silly face.
"I'll be at training tomorrow. But the day after… I'm gone. Oh, and please don't tell the guys yet—I don't need a million questions."
With a wave, Kota strolled out, acting casual… but feeling heavy inside.
Kaijo ruled the West. In the prelims, even their bench squad could crush opponents. By the time the real tournament started, Kota would be back.
But still… no matter how he justified it, he was leaving before the biggest tournament of the year.
As captain.
Sorry, Kasamatsu-senpai… guess I'm being selfish this time.
Back in the gym, watching his teammates practice hard, Kota took a deep breath.
"Let's run a scrimmage!"
His voice wasn't loud, but it carried.
Kise, mid-dribble, blinked. "Huh? What's up with him today?"
Normally Kota hated scrimmages, preferring basic drills.
But today, he was the one calling for it.
Something was definitely up.
Kise planned to ask, but Yuki was already running to inbound the ball, and Kota was crouching into defensive stance.
Maybe Kise was overthinking. Maybe Kota just felt like playing today.
"Yeah, I'm definitely overthinking" Kise muttered, joining the game.
Sure enough, after some set plays in the first half, the second half turned into a duel between Yuki and Kota. With Kise barely trying, it wasn't easy for Kota to hold Yuki back—but this time, the senpai still won.
57–56, Kota's team took it.
"Huff… huff…"
Kota bent over, breathing hard. Behind him, Yuki collapsed on the floor, frustrated but smiling.
The gap was closing. Next time, if Kota didn't enter the Zone, Yuki felt he could win.
"Man, are all kids these days monsters?" Kota grumbled, wobbling over to Kise.
He could read Yuki's thoughts easily enough.
But even Kota admitted: at this rate, if he didn't keep improving, Yuki would surpass him eventually. The Zone would only delay the inevitable.
"Even Yuki's pushing me toward China, huh…"
Kota muttered under his breath, too softly for even Kise to catch.
"Kota, what'd you say?"
He grinned.
"I said…"
"Practice over! Dismissed!"
The cheer from the exhausted players was instant. Loving basketball didn't mean loving endless drills.
Kota packed up first and bolted for the door.
Kise stood frozen, watching his captain leave. That uneasy feeling rose again.
"Why… what's wrong with me?"
He clutched his chest, annoyed to find his heartbeat had sped up for no reason.
"Kise, what are you spacing out for?"
"See you, Kise-senpai!"
"Hey, Kise, ramen run?"
Players passed him one after another, greeting him as they left. Normally, Kise was all smiles.
Not tonight.
By the time he waved goodbye to the last one, the huge Kaijo gym was empty.
For a long moment, only silence.
Then Kise muttered, "Man… why am I acting all sentimental like this?"
He grabbed his bag and left, humming some tuneless nonsense.
The next day, Kota showed up like normal. Same jokes, same complaints.
No one noticed a thing.
Even Kise felt relieved.
"Good. Nothing happened. Guess I was just being paranoid. Stupid mom and her endless soap operas messing with my head…"
Despite grumbling internally, he couldn't hide his smile.
"Yeah… this is better. Way better."