Inside the gymnasium.
Aoi Kunisaku and the others stepped into the venue where Ryonan and Takezato were playing.
The moment they entered, they were hit by a wave of cheers and fiery energy from the crowd.
At the same time, the players on the court were locked in intense competition. Their fierce struggle was immediately clear.
They had entered from Ryonan's player tunnel.
Shimizu Kanon instinctively looked up at the digital scoreboard and murmured, "4 to 26... to push Takezato this far back, Ryonan's grown a lot."
Nakamura Taizou casually walked up behind Aida Hikoichi and greeted him with a smile. "Is this your younger brother? Hello, I'm Nakamura. I'm often under Aida-san's care."
Aida Hikoichi heard the voice and turned around quickly.
The first thing he saw was Nakamura's cheerful face. Then, he spotted Aida Yayoi.
His face instantly twisted in awkward surprise. He blurted out, "Nee-chan?!"
But before he could recover from the shock, he saw Aoi Kunisaku and Shimizu Kanon beside her.
His eyes went wide like copper bells. His jaw nearly dropped to the floor as he stammered, "Aoi Kunisaku, you… you… what are you doing here? Isn't Shohoku supposed to be playing Kainan right now?"
Taoka Moichi, seeing Aoi there, was also completely stunned.
Ryonan's bench players turned to look too, all wearing confused, curious expressions.
Aida Yayoi casually explained, "They were late. I ran into them on the road, so I brought them here. I'll be sending them over to their match soon."
Shimizu Kanon's cheeks turned slightly red. She gave an embarrassed smile and softly greeted, "Hello, Coach Taoka."
Aoi Kunisaku didn't pay attention to any of that. From the moment he stepped in, his eyes were fixed on the game.
On the court...
Sendoh was handling the ball. Faced with Takezato's tight defense, he suddenly made a sharp direction change and got past his defender.
But instead of going for a direct attack, he swung his arm and launched the ball hard toward Takezato's basket.
It clearly wasn't a shot.
Aoi Kunisaku narrowed his eyes. He instantly recognized the intent behind the play and thought to himself, "It's a pass."
Sure enough, under the basket, Uozumi leaped high and caught the ball solidly.
Then, midair, he twisted his body and slammed the ball fiercely through the hoop.
"Perfect teamwork! What a clean alley-oop dunk!" Aida Hikoichi shouted, fired up.
Aida Yayoi's eyes sparkled as she muttered with starry admiration, "Sendoh... that pass was so cool…"
She was a diehard fan of Sendoh. Every time she watched him play, her eyes naturally sparkled with a fan's glow.
Shimizu Kanon quickly shifted into analyst mode.
She caught the precision of the play and said, "That dunk worked so easily thanks to Sendoh's pass. Last time during the scrimmage, he was still positioned as a forward. It was obvious he had guard potential back then, but I didn't expect him to adapt this fast."
Taoka Moichi was visibly surprised as he listened.
He didn't expect the girl beside Aoi Kunisaku to analyze the game so clearly, so quickly.
Even the shift in Sendoh's position—a strategy of his—she picked up on that too.
She's something else.
"I remember you're Shohoku's team manager, right?" Taoka asked, eyes sharp.
He had seen Shimizu Kanon at the Shohoku bench during their last scrimmage.
At the time, she and Aoi had shown up late together. That moment had stuck with him.
Shimizu Kanon nodded confidently. "Yes, Coach Taoka. I'm Shohoku's team manager, Shimizu Kanon."
Taoka gave a small nod and said meaningfully, "Looks like Shohoku's not just getting stronger with players."
"Ah?! Coach Taoka, you're too kind," Shimizu Kanon replied with a modest smile.
By now, the match had tilted fully in Ryonan's favor.
It was clear they were going to win with no surprises.
Seeing that, Aida Yayoi said decisively, "We've seen enough here. Time to head to the next venue."
With that, she gathered Aoi Kunisaku, Shimizu Kanon, and Nakamura Taizou. They quickly exited.
On the court...
Sendoh caught the movement out of the corner of his eye and glanced toward Aoi's retreating figure.
He thought quietly to himself, "That guy… always doing things you wouldn't expect."
Soon, Aoi Kunisaku and the group left the gym and got into the car, racing toward the venue where Shohoku would face Kainan.
Inside the gym where Shohoku and Kainan faced off.
The first half of the game was more than halfway through. The score stood at 20 to 24. Shohoku trailed Kainan by 4 points.
Since Shohoku was heating up and the score wasn't widening, Kainan's coach called a timeout.
At Shohoku's bench—
Akagi Takenori asked, already knowing the answer, "Aoi still hasn't arrived?"
Ayako sighed and shook her head. "Not yet. Kanon just messaged me. They're rushing over from another venue."
"Another venue?" Kogure Kiminobu looked completely confused.
Ayako replied helplessly, "While they were waiting for the bus, they met a reporter named Aida Yayoi. She offered to drive them, but somehow, they ended up at the Ryonan vs. Takezato match instead."
Everyone went quiet when they heard that.
No one knew what to say.
The match was already on fire, and they still had the mood to go watch another game?
"I see," Akagi said calmly, with no signs of blowing up. He looked like he'd just asked out of curiosity.
Kogure watched him closely, unsettled. He couldn't tell if this calm was genuine or just the quiet before the storm. "This really doesn't feel good…" he thought.
"Sorry we're late!" a sudden voice called out, cutting through the tension and reaching Shohoku's bench.
Everyone turned toward it. Shimizu Kanon was tugging Aoi Kunisaku along as they jogged over.
"You're finally here." Ayako let out a deep breath, visibly relieved.
Shimizu Kanon looked apologetic. "We're really sorry. What's the score right now?"
She quickly turned to check the scoreboard. "Down by 4? That's within expectations. Looks like everyone's doing well."
Ayako nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I didn't expect this either! We're holding our own against Kainan."
Aoi Kunisaku looked at the scoreboard and said flatly, "Not bad. They haven't pulled ahead. Looks like you're not totally useless after all."
"What was that?! You're the one who's late! What right do you have to say anything about us?!" Sakuragi Hanamichi shouted, furious, glaring at Aoi.
Mitsui Hisashi was also grinding his teeth. "Seriously, this guy's getting more arrogant by the day."
But Aoi Kunisaku didn't care at all. He ignored their rage completely.
That just made Sakuragi and Mitsui even angrier. They looked like they might charge at him any second.
On Kainan's bench—
The players were all watching the commotion on Shohoku's side.
As soon as they saw Aoi Kunisaku, they froze like statues. Their faces all stiffened in shock.
Maki Shinichi narrowed his eyes slightly. A sharp glint flashed in his deep gaze. He murmured, "So he finally showed up."
Kiyota Nobunaga's face twisted with envy and annoyance. He pouted and muttered, "That guy... showing up this late…"
Miyamasu Yoshinori frowned, staring at Aoi Kunisaku. "Is he gonna play in the first half?"
"Who knows?" Takasago Kazuma replied.
Coach Takato Riki lightly tapped his fan against his palm. His eyes were thoughtful as he frowned.
After a moment, he issued a decisive command. "Miyamasu… sub out for Koshino."
From Kainan's group, a small, thin player with a bowl cut and glasses stepped out. He was about 160 cm tall.
His name was Miyamasu Yoshinori, a member of Kainan's basketball team.
Miyamasu adjusted his glasses and respectfully replied, "Yes, sir."
Kiyota looked worried and couldn't help saying, "Coach, are you sure about putting in Miyamasu now? That guy's no joke."
Normally, he wouldn't have questioned it, but they were dealing with Aoi Kunisaku here. Miyamasu might not be able to handle it.
A flash of confidence passed through Coach Takato's eyes as he calmly explained, "Shohoku's No. 9 probably won't come in just yet. Let's use this chance to get Sakuragi Hanamichi off the court."
Hearing that, Kiyota had nothing more to say and nodded silently.
The other Kainan players didn't object either. They turned their attention back to the court.
Maki stood up, a faint smile on his lips. A fierce glint flashed in his eyes. "Looks like the real match is about to start."
Tweet—
The referee's whistle blew. Timeout was over.
Just as Coach Takato predicted, Shohoku didn't make any substitutions.
Even though Aoi Kunisaku had arrived, the team's momentum was strong. It wasn't the right time to change things up.
Akagi stood at the center of the team and shouted, "Keep the pressure up! Let's show Kainan what we've got!"
"Yeah!!" Mitsui, Miyagi, Sakuragi, and Rukawa answered in unison.
Both teams stepped back onto the court.