The next day.
Shohoku High School · Academic Building.
1st Year, Class 7.
Aoi Kunisaku was sleeping soundly at his desk like usual.
On the podium stood a balding teacher with a clear Mediterranean pattern. His twitching brow was practically dancing, and the bulging veins on his forehead looked ready to burst.
If it weren't for Aoi Kunisaku's decent results in the last mock exams, the teacher would've already exploded.
…
Shohoku High School · Basketball team room.
After school, everyone from the basketball team had gathered.
Ayako marked a few lines on the tournament bracket, then said, "We crushed the first match and advanced. Our next opponent is Kakuya High."
Right after she finished, Shimizu Kanon stepped forward with a stack of papers. "Kakuya High is a team that focuses on teamwork. Their score from the first match wasn't very high. In other words, they don't have any standout players. As long as we play steady, we'll be fine."
Hearing that, Sakuragi Hanamichi's brows twitched. His eyes glinted with meaning as he thought, No standout players, huh? Then that means this genius can go all out, hehehe…
Just imagining how much he could shine in the match made the corners of his mouth curl up.
Akagi Takenori raised his voice. "Alright. Let's get ready to take on Kakuya High!"
…
Evening.
After practice, Aoi Kunisaku left school with Shimizu Kanon.
They walked down the street, chatting back and forth.
Suddenly, Shimizu Kanon asked, "Saku-chan, you haven't really passed the ball much lately, huh?"
Aoi glanced sideways at her and stayed quiet.
She kept going. "Why is that?"
She tilted her head and stared at him, trying to read something.
Aoi frowned slightly. After a moment, he replied, "Just don't see the point."
"Really?" Kanon looked unconvinced. "But I remember you used to pass the ball, you know!"
"You said it yourself—that was before," Aoi said, scratching his head.
Kanon smirked. "So it's not that you don't want to pass, it's just that you think you've gotten stronger. So now passing feels unnecessary, right?"
Aoi didn't respond, but his silence was answer enough.
"How about switching things up for the next match?" Kanon said.
Huh?
Aoi furrowed his brows. "Switch what up?"
"Passing," Kanon said, trying to coax him. "If you think the match is boring, maybe try passing. You might be surprised by what happens!"
"What kind of surprise?" Aoi asked, confused.
Passing the ball? What surprise could that possibly bring? It's not like he was Kuroko Tetsuya.
Was he supposed to stand back and watch others play?
What a joke.
Vrrr… vrrr… vrrr…
Suddenly, a buzzing sound grew louder behind them.
Aoi and Kanon stopped and turned around.
In the distance, the source of the buzzing gradually grew larger in their view until it became clear.
It was someone on a motorcycle.
As the rider approached, Aoi and Kanon recognized the face.
The rider also spotted them.
Screeeech…
A sharp brake squealed.
The motorcycle stopped right in front of them.
"It's you," Kanon said, recognizing the man.
He'd been part of that fight at the basketball team before.
She moved closer to Aoi, nervous about what the guy was up to.
Aoi stayed calm, clearly unbothered by him.
He remembered now.
This was one of the guys Mitsui Hisashi had brought in from the streets during that incident. His name was Tetsuo.
Tetsuo squinted at Aoi and Kanon like he was thinking something through. He cautiously asked, "You two from Shohoku?"
He had seen their school uniforms.
He knew what Shohoku's uniform looked like.
"Got a problem?" Aoi didn't answer and just shot the question back.
Tetsuo froze.
He could tell Aoi wasn't interested in him.
But more than that, he felt a strange sense of danger coming from Aoi.
It was a gut-level instinct. Like a wild beast had locked onto him. Like he might drop dead the next second.
He'd only felt something like this once before, though it hadn't been this intense.
Back then, it was when he faced off with Sakuragi Hanamichi.
Back then, Sakuragi Hanamichi gave him the same kind of danger signal.
Tetsuo was silent for a while, then asked, "Do you know a red-haired brat?"
Hearing that, Shimizu Kanon froze and blurted out, "Sakuragi…"
Tetsuo smirked. "Looks like you do. Then I guess you know Mitsui too!"
Shimizu Kanon covered her mouth, realizing she might've said too much.
Aoi Kunisaku said impatiently, "What exactly do you want? If there's nothing else, then get lost."
Tetsuo ignored Aoi Kunisaku's attitude and said, "How's that guy Mitsui doing now?"
Aoi Kunisaku replied flatly, "You should ask him yourself."
WEE-OOH… WEE-OOH… WEE-OOH…
Just then, the sound of sirens grew louder from the distance.
Tetsuo glanced back, muttered, "They caught up, what a pain."
He restarted his motorcycle and said to Aoi Kunisaku and Shimizu Kanon, "Do me a favor and say hi to Mitsui. And one more thing…"
He tapped his own head. "I really hate wearing helmets."
With that, he gunned the engine and sped away.
Watching Tetsuo disappear down the street, Aoi Kunisaku and Shimizu Kanon were both left bewildered.
Shimizu Kanon let out a long sigh. "Phew, finally gone. What a strange guy. He must be Mitsui-senpai's friend, huh?!"
"Who knows. Not like it has anything to do with us," Aoi Kunisaku replied indifferently.
"But he did ask us to say hi to Mitsui-senpai!" Shimizu Kanon reminded him.
Aoi Kunisaku casually picked his ear and snorted, "I never said I'd do it."
"Ehh? That's not okay!" Shimizu Kanon scolded.
…
Meanwhile.
Mitsui Hisashi walked out of a hospital.
He glanced back at the building and muttered, "I really don't want to come to this kind of place again."
Then he started walking toward the end of the street.
He hadn't gone far when a light flared up in the distance and quickly approached.
With a loud rev, a motorcycle zipped past him.
Mitsui Hisashi stopped in his tracks. That silhouette seemed oddly familiar.
He turned his head and saw the motorcycle had stopped.
Their eyes met from across the street.
Mitsui Hisashi: "Tetsuo."
Tetsuo: "Yo, Mitsui!"
Tetsuo looked him up and down, then at the hospital. He teased, "Don't tell me you got beat up again?"
Mitsui Hisashi replied, "I came for a knee checkup. It's fully healed now."
Silence returned between them.
After a long pause, Tetsuo spoke. "I ran into two people earlier. They're from Shohoku."
Hm?
Mitsui Hisashi looked puzzled. "Two people?"
Tetsuo lit a cigarette, took a long drag, then said with a smirk, "One guy who's dangerous as hell, and a really pretty girl. They know you. Didn't catch the guy's name though."
"With a girl?" Mitsui Hisashi immediately thought of Aoi Kunisaku and Shimizu Kanon.
At school, he only knew one guy always followed by a girl. Had to be them.
"You two…" He opened his mouth to ask more, but didn't know how to put it.
Tetsuo gave a faint chuckle. "Relax. Nothing happened. But that guy… he's not normal. There's a beast inside him."
Mitsui Hisashi didn't quite get it, but he still said, "He's on the basketball team."
Of course he knew Aoi Kunisaku wasn't simple.
He just hadn't fully grasped what Tetsuo meant yet.
"Oh, the basketball team, huh?" Tetsuo thought back to that incident at the gym and laughed at himself.
WEE-OOH… WEE-OOH… WEE-OOH…
The sound of sirens reached their ears again.
"They're still coming? Thought I shook 'em," Tetsuo sighed. He flicked the cigarette to the ground and stepped on it.
He got back on his motorcycle and tapped his helmetless head. "Helmets are the worst."
He glanced one last time at Mitsui Hisashi and grinned. "Later, sports boy."
With that, Tetsuo rode off.
Watching him disappear into the darkness, Mitsui Hisashi murmured, "A beast inside, huh?"
He fell into thought but couldn't quite make sense of it.