It was June 25.
That day, two matches were scheduled at the Kanagawa Gymnasium.
Shohoku High School vs. Takezato High School.
Ryonan High School vs. Kainan High School.
These two matches would determine the top three placements in the Kanagawa Prefectural Tournament.
Currently, Shohoku, Ryonan, and Kainan were considered the top contenders for the title.
As for Takezato, it was a little awkward to bring up. Among these four powerhouse teams, Takezato was clearly the least favored.
Thinking back to their match against Ryonan, Takezato had lost by a margin of over 100 points. That enormous score gap clearly showed the huge difference in skill levels between the two teams.
Moreover, Ryonan had already lost to Shohoku in a practice match, and Shohoku had beaten Kainan in an official one.
With all that in mind, the public was overwhelmingly convinced that Shohoku would claim the number one spot. Everyone believed first place was already in the bag for Shohoku.
As for second place, most assumed it would come down to either Ryonan or Kainan.
That day's two matches kicked off at the same time, just like before.
When news spread, most basketball players from other schools, along with the general audience and even the press, all swarmed into the arena hosting the Ryonan vs. Kainan showdown—except for Shohoku's die-hard fans who stayed behind to watch their own team.
Aoi Kunisaku and Shimizu Kanon were, of course, among the crowd.
Inside the venue where Ryonan and Kainan faced off, the place was packed to the brim.
The moment Aoi Kunisaku and Shimizu Kanon stepped in, they drew countless stares.
Chatter broke out immediately, rising like a wave across the crowd. Many recognized them at a glance.
"Hey, that's…"
"That's Aoi Kunisaku from Shohoku."
"What's he doing here? Isn't Shohoku playing Takezato right now?"
"Whoa! He's so cool! I'm a huge fan. I love his style. Just so slick."
"The girl next to him looks familiar too. I remember now—that's Shohoku's team manager. She's gorgeous! Like a real-life fairy."
…
Aoi Kunisaku and Shimizu Kanon found an empty seat in the packed venue and sat down casually.
They were only able to attend because they'd cleared it with Coach Anzai in advance.
Now let's rewind a bit to Shohoku's match against Takezato.
Just five minutes after tip-off, Aoi Kunisaku stormed Takezato's defense like a one-man army. He ripped through their lineup and turned the court into chaos.
He hadn't even gone all-out. But Takezato was already falling apart in front of him.
After ten minutes, Takezato's players had gone numb. Their eyes were blank, their faces frozen in fear. They were completely disorganized on the court.
By the fifteen-minute mark, it was a total blowout. Shohoku led 74 to 3, a 71-point lead.
That absurd gap shattered Takezato's mental state. Their players broke down and lost all will to fight. Some even stopped resisting altogether.
Watching them like that, Aoi Kunisaku felt something stir in his chest. He couldn't quite name the emotion. It was like a mix of anger and disappointment.
That feeling clung to him like a leech, gnawing away at his mind. It made him more irritable with every play.
Fueled by that frustration, his attacks became more brutal. Every drive was like a release of the unrest building inside him.
By the end of the first half, the score gap had passed the 100 mark.
Takezato's players looked like the walking dead. Their eyes were empty. They moved like robots across the court.
Even when Shohoku's players brushed past them, they didn't react. They didn't even lift a finger.
Takezato's coach, horrified, pulled all starters and subbed in the bench.
Coach Anzai also noticed something was off with Aoi Kunisaku. He didn't hesitate—he subbed out Shohoku's starters too, sending in the first- and second-year backups.
As soon as Aoi Kunisaku stepped off the court, he sat down in silence. A heavy mood clung to him like a shadow.
The rest of Shohoku's team could all tell something was wrong.
Shimizu Kanon, face full of worry, quickly walked over and whispered, "Saku-chan… are you okay?"
Aoi Kunisaku didn't answer. He just hung his head in silence.
The next moment, he spoke flatly, "I'm done with this match. I'm leaving."
As soon as he said it, he stood up and started walking out.
"Wait! The match isn't over—you can't just leave!" Shimizu Kanon cried out in a panic.
But Aoi didn't even turn around. His voice was cold and firm. "I don't want to play this kind of match."
With that, he ignored everyone and strode straight out of the gym.
Shohoku's players looked at each other, caught completely off guard.
Akagi Takenori frowned, opened his mouth, then closed it again. In the end, he didn't say a word.
Given the current score, Shohoku had it in the bag. Even without Aoi Kunisaku on the court, it wasn't a problem.
Coach Anzai watched Aoi leave. After a moment's thought, he turned to Shimizu Kanon and said warmly, "Kanon, go with him."
"Huh? Oh…" Shimizu Kanon blinked in surprise, then quickly nodded.
She knew very well—compared to this guaranteed win of a match, what Aoi Kunisaku needed more right now was someone to care about him.
Later, Shimizu Kanon found Aoi Kunisaku sitting alone on the plaza steps outside the stadium.
"Saku-chan…" Shimizu Kanon ran to his side, panting, her face filled with concern. "Are you feeling sick or something?"
Aoi Kunisaku sat with his head down like a silent statue, not saying a word.
Shimizu Kanon frowned, flustered. She anxiously asked again, "Why won't you talk to me? You've been off since earlier. Did something happen?"
Aoi Kunisaku stayed silent, still hanging his head. Only the sound of wind brushing past rustled the silence around them.
After a long pause, he finally muttered, his voice carrying a deep weariness. "Kanon, I suddenly feel tired of basketball."
"What?" Shimizu Kanon's eyes widened in shock. Her pupils shrank. A wave of unease spread through her chest. "How can that be? Saku-chan, you're so good at basketball. How could you hate it? You must just be really tired. That's all."
Aoi Kunisaku gently shook his head. His voice sounded like it came from the depths of a pit. "Right now, I just feel like basketball is awful. There's not a single opponent out there who gets me excited anymore. Playing feels like a single-player game—there's no fun in it."
That hit Shimizu Kanon like a punch to the chest. She stood frozen.
Her mouth moved, but her throat seemed blocked. She didn't know what to say.
The two of them sat in long silence. The air around them felt frozen.
Suddenly, Shimizu Kanon's eyes lit up. Like she had grabbed onto a lifeline, she quickly suggested, "Oh right! You weren't satisfied when you played against Maki Shinichi from Kainan, right? And Sendoh from Ryonan has gotten a lot stronger too! If you don't feel like playing now, why not go watch their match? Ryonan and Kainan are playing today."
Aoi Kunisaku lifted his head a little. There was a flicker of hesitation in his eyes. After a moment of thought, he nodded softly.
Seeing him agree, Shimizu Kanon immediately grabbed his hand and dragged him toward the Ryonan vs. Kainan match in a rush.
That's how the two of them ended up inside this gymnasium.
At that moment, the Ryonan vs. Kainan game had entered the second half.
On the scoreboard, Ryonan was leading 46 to 37. Ryonan had the upper hand for now.
"Ryonan's in the lead! Looks like moving Sendoh to off-ball really changed their rhythm," Shimizu Kanon analyzed as she watched the court closely.
Aoi Kunisaku locked his eyes on the intense action below and said calmly, "Ryonan made that adjustment to take down Kainan. The key to this match is still between Sendoh and Maki Shinichi."
…
On the court—
The players from Ryonan and Kainan were locked in a fierce battle.
Even though Ryonan held the lead, they couldn't stretch it to double digits.
Tweet…
A sharp whistle pierced through the air.
The referee raised his arm, pointing at Uozumi Jun, and called out, "Ryonan number 4, hand foul."
"Huh?! Another foul?"
"He's too careless. Same as before."
Hearing the murmurs from around them, Shimizu Kanon suddenly caught on and blurted out, "Wait a second…"
Aoi Kunisaku narrowed his eyes. His gaze turned sharp like a hawk's, fixed tightly on Uozumi.
Standing in front of Uozumi was Kainan's number 5, Takasago Kazuma.
"They're doing it on purpose," Aoi Kunisaku said coldly, his tone firm.
Shimizu Kanon nodded hard in agreement. "Yeah. It has to be that. Kainan's targeting Uozumi. If Uozumi fouls out, Ryonan won't have anyone left to stop Kainan in the paint."
…
As the match continued, things unfolded almost exactly as Aoi Kunisaku and Shimizu Kanon had predicted.
Maki Shinichi broke past Sendoh Akira and charged straight into Ryonan's paint.
Then he leapt high and went up for a layup.
Uozumi rushed in to block him but not only failed to stop the shot—Maki also drew a foul with clever positioning.
2+1.
With the referee's whistle, Uozumi had now accumulated 3 fouls.
But before long, Kainan launched another sharp attack.
Takasago Kazuma faked a shot and managed to bait Uozumi into fouling again.
Now Uozumi was up to 4 fouls.
Just when everyone thought Uozumi would be pulled from the game or play more cautiously, something unexpected happened.
Uozumi suddenly stormed over to the referee, shouting, "Hold it! How was that a foul?! I was standing still right here! Are you sure you saw it clearly?"
Coach Taoka's face turned serious as he reminded, "Raise your hands."
But Uozumi wouldn't listen. He kept arguing with the referee, refusing to back down.
Aoi Kunisaku let out a cold snort and muttered under his breath, "Idiot."
Shimizu Kanon also looked exasperated. "This is bad…"
Sure enough, the referee gave Uozumi a technical foul without hesitation.
Just like that, Uozumi fouled out with 5.
Aoi Kunisaku slightly shook his head and said, "That guy's skills aren't much, but without Uozumi, Ryonan's gonna be in trouble next."
Shimizu Kanon analyzed, "Yeah. Kainan's definitely gonna push hard now and catch up."
Just as they expected, Kainan launched a fierce counterattack.
Ryonan, who had been holding the lead, gradually saw their score overtaken.
Time ticked by.
With just over 6 minutes left in the game, the score stood at Ryonan 65, Kainan 64. Only 1 point apart.
At that moment, the pace of the match suddenly spiked. Even the air felt hotter.
Sendoh Akira and Maki Shinichi clashed in a lightning-fast back-and-forth battle.
Maki drove the ball forward, met Sendoh's tight defense, then quickly passed to Jin Soichiro, who nailed a Three-Point Shot.
Sendoh refused to back down. He drove straight into Kainan's defense. Even with Maki and Takasago Kazuma double-teaming him, he forced in a tough shot.
Maki got a pass from a teammate, slashed through Ryonan's paint, and despite Sendoh guarding him, still scored with a clean layup.
Ryonan immediately launched a counterattack. Sendoh dashed into Kainan's key, received a pass, pulled off a fake to shake Maki, and soared up for a powerful Slam Dunk.
The two sides clashed fiercely. Neither wanted to give in.
But during this fierce tug-of-war, the scoreboard was shifting.
With under 3 minutes left, the score had flipped—Ryonan 74, Kainan 76.
Ryonan, who had been leading, now trailed Kainan by 2 points.
"They're really going at it," Shimizu Kanon muttered to herself.
Aoi Kunisaku watched Sendoh calmly and said, "He's gotten better, but that's about it. Kainan's gonna win this match."
"Huh? Why do you say that? The score's still close. Ryonan could come back," Shimizu Kanon asked, confused.
"It's not about the score. The difference in strength between their ace players is still too big," Aoi Kunisaku explained.
"Their ace players' strength?" Shimizu Kanon blinked, then suddenly understood. "You mean Sendoh's gonna lose to Maki?"
"Isn't that obvious?" Aoi Kunisaku replied without hesitation. "You saw my game against Maki. He's a lot stronger than this. If this is all Sendoh has, then Ryonan's already lost."
Shimizu Kanon nodded in agreement.
…
Just like Aoi Kunisaku had predicted, in the final 3 minutes, Sendoh's performance dropped sharply.
Whether it was exhaustion or just his limits showing against Maki, he began to get completely outplayed.
Kainan seized the moment. Their offense flowed like a tide. The players worked in sync and racked up points quickly.
Ryonan's players fought hard to respond and kept up their tempo, but compared to Kainan's blazing momentum, they just couldn't keep up.
The gap on the scoreboard widened like it was being pulled apart by an invisible force.
The numbers climbed fast.
76–80.
78–84.
80–86.
…
The final 50 seconds began ticking down. Ryonan's defeat seemed inevitable.
But they weren't ready to give up. They went all-in on defense, steals, and Fast Breaks, trying to pull off a miracle in the last moments.
But fate didn't smile on them. The final whistle blew sharp and clear, ending the game.
Ryonan still couldn't escape their fate.
The final score: Ryonan 85, Kainan 88.
"We're going, Kanon." Aoi Kunisaku stood up and headed toward the exit, his tone calm.
"Wait for me…" Shimizu Kanon jogged to catch up. Before leaving, she looked back once more at Ryonan's dejected players and silently thought, "Looks like the top two in the prefectural tournament are settled."
…
And so, the prefectural tournament came to a close.
Shohoku High School vs. Takezato High School—Shohoku cruised to an easy win and secured first place in the prefectural tournament with an overwhelming record.
Ryonan High School vs. Kainan High School—Kainan emerged victorious in the end, claiming second place.
Takezato High School, having lost to both Ryonan and Shohoku, was eliminated and placed fourth.
Ryonan, though they beat Takezato, lost to a Kainan team that had already been beaten by Shohoku. In the end, they settled for third place, missing out on a spot at Nationals.
The prefectural tournament had officially ended.
Kanagawa High School Boys' Basketball Tournament final rankings:
First Place: Shohoku High School
Second Place: Kainan High School
Third Place: Ryonan High School
Fourth Place: Takezato High School