That afternoon, the last two teams to make it into the final eight were finally confirmed.
As expected by everyone from Shohoku, the teams were Daiei High School and Meihou High School.
With that, all the teams advancing to the quarterfinals were set:
Shohoku High School (Kanagawa)
Takamizawa (Hokkaido)
Shugetsu High School (Tokyo)
Kainan High School (Kanagawa)
Hakata High School (Fukuoka)
Kakutsuru High School (Kagawa)
Daiei High School (Osaka)
Meihou High School (Aichi)
Evening came.
At that point, the Shohoku team had returned to their lodging at Chidori-sou.
Everyone gathered to discuss tomorrow's match against Takamizawa.
Shimizu Kanon, holding a data sheet in her hand, spoke seriously to the group. "Takamizawa, like us, is a team that only rose to prominence this year. One of the main reasons is a first-year rookie they brought in—his name is Himono Taira."
The others didn't react much, but Aoi Kunisaku froze for a moment.
'Himono Taira? That's seriously his name?'
As he tried to process it, Shimizu Kanon continued, "Himono Taira doesn't stand out in any particular way. But his strength is… weird."
"Weird?" Everyone from Shohoku looked puzzled.
She explained further. "His skills are average overall—power, speed, vertical… all just okay. But what really stands out is his body coordination."
Then she looked at Aoi Kunisaku meaningfully. "And more importantly, it seems like he's been studying Saku-chan's playstyle. Whether intentionally or not."
That shocked everyone.
Studying Aoi Kunisaku's playstyle?
Everyone knew how strong Aoi Kunisaku was. And it wasn't rare for people to try copying his style.
But for Shimizu Kanon to call it out directly… that meant this Himono Taira probably wasn't just copying. He might've actually gotten somewhere with it.
Kogure Kiminobu looked a little unsettled. "You don't think that guy could be as strong as Kunisaku-kun, do you?"
The rest of the team turned serious, waiting for Shimizu Kanon's response.
If this guy had actually learned Aoi Kunisaku's style, they were in for one tough opponent.
Shimizu Kanon smiled gently and said, "Relax. It's not as bad as you're imagining."
She turned toward Aoi Kunisaku and even gave him a little wink.
Aoi Kunisaku turned his head away and let out a small snort.
Shimizu Kanon smiled again and added, "Saku-chan already played against him today."
Everyone turned to look at Aoi Kunisaku.
Kogure Kiminobu couldn't help asking, "So who won?"
Aoi Kunisaku shot him a look. "What do you think?"
"Ah… right." Kogure scratched his cheek awkwardly, then nodded. "Yeah, I guess it's impossible that guy beat you."
That much was obvious.
No one believed someone on Aoi Kunisaku's level would just pop up out of nowhere.
That'd be ridiculous.
Ahem.
Shimizu Kanon cleared her throat. "Yup. In that match, Saku-chan crushed Himono Taira."
Phew…
The entire room let out a collective sigh of relief.
Mitsui Hisashi chimed in, "If it was a total stomp, then we've got nothing to worry about."
Shimizu Kanon reminded them, "Still, they did make it into the top eight. Don't let your guard down."
Just then, Aoi Kunisaku said, "I'm skipping tomorrow's game."
"Oi! There you go again!" Akagi Takenori growled, glaring at him.
Tomorrow was a top-eight match in the national tournament.
To just decide not to play in something that important—way too selfish!
Aoi Kunisaku rubbed his ear and replied lazily, "That guy's just whatever. And he's the strongest on their team. You guys can handle them."
"Wait a sec, how do you know he's the strongest?" Ayako looked at him suspiciously.
They hadn't even gone over the rest of Takamizawa's roster yet.
Aoi Kunisaku gave her a blank stare. "Didn't we just say that guy's a rookie this year? And that Takamizawa only started getting noticed this year? Isn't that obvious enough?"
"Uh…"
Hearing that, Ayako didn't have anything to say back.
It actually made sense.
Wait…
'Himono Taira'? What kind of name is that?
As soon as Aoi Kunisaku said the name out loud, the rest of the team processed it—and everyone's expressions twisted into something strange.
And then…
The more they thought about it, the funnier it got.
Pfft…
In the end, a few people couldn't hold back and burst into laughter.
"Hahahahaha!"
Sakuragi Hanamichi was laughing the loudest, shouting, "Seriously… when you hear it like that, it really does sound like 'Himono Taira'! Who names their kid like that?!"
Mitsui Hisashi and Miyagi Ryota were also holding back laughter, looking genuinely sympathetic toward the guy called "Himono Taira."
Kogure Kiminobu's face twitched, his lips pressed tightly as he tried to hold in his laughter. His face was flushed bright red from the effort.
Even Akagi Takenori, who still wore a serious face, couldn't stop his eyelid from twitching.
Shimizu Kanon and Ayako were both left speechless by Aoi Kunisaku suddenly throwing that nickname out.
Shimizu Kanon muttered, "Seriously, Saku-chan…"
Ayako added, "I'll never figure out what goes on in his head."
After the wave of laughter passed, they got back to discussing tomorrow's match against Takamizawa.
Since Aoi Kunisaku had already said he wouldn't be playing, it was naturally decided that Sakuragi Hanamichi would take his place.
With Shimizu Kanon's explanation, the team got a clear grasp of Takamizawa's overall strength.
Just like Aoi Kunisaku said earlier, Takamizawa wasn't particularly strong. Their run to the final eight was entirely thanks to Himono Taira.
Shimizu Kanon also informed them that Himono Taira had Wild Instinct.
At first, everyone thought this might be a problem. But once they found out it was only the lowest level of Wild Instinct, they were all relieved.
In the end, they decided to assign Rukawa Kaede to deal with Himono Taira.
Rukawa didn't object. As soon as he heard the guy had been studying Aoi Kunisaku's playstyle, his interest was already piqued.
Listening to all of them go on and on, Aoi Kunisaku got annoyed. He stood up and walked out the door.
The moment he stepped outside, a voice called out to him.
"Aoi Kunisaku-kun."
He turned his head and saw white hair and glasses flashing with light—it was Anzai Mitsuyoshi. "Coach…"
Anzai Mitsuyoshi glanced at the room behind him, where everyone else was still deep in discussion. The reflection on his lenses gleamed coldly, but he smiled gently and said, "If you're free, walk with me for a bit."
Aoi Kunisaku looked at him, unsure what the old man was up to.
But since the coach asked, he didn't say no.
Soon, the two of them were walking along a narrow path near Chidori-sou.
Neither said a word at first. They just walked in silence.
After a long time, Anzai Mitsuyoshi finally spoke. "What do you think about tomorrow's game?"
"Hm?"
"The game…" Aoi Kunisaku didn't even pause. "Shohoku will win."
Hohohoho…
Anzai Mitsuyoshi chuckled, his expression kind. "Sounds like you've got a lot of confidence in Shohoku right now."
Aoi Kunisaku shrugged. "I'm just being honest."
Anzai Mitsuyoshi looked up at the rising moon. "Yeah. Shohoku's different now. I should thank you."
Aoi Kunisaku didn't say anything. He just listened.
Anzai Mitsuyoshi continued, "Shohoku making it this far… I never imagined it. Before you came, you must've heard something—about how Shohoku was basically just Akagi's team. A squad that couldn't even get past the first round of qualifiers. And now we're here, on the national stage. That's all thanks to you."
Still, Aoi Kunisaku said nothing.
Because he knew the original story. Even without him, Shohoku would've made it this far.
The only difference was that with him, the road had been a lot smoother.
Shohoku didn't get eliminated when they originally should've. That was it.
Thinking about it that way… yeah, maybe Shohoku should thank him.
"Do you have confidence to lead this team to the championship?" Anzai Mitsuyoshi asked.
Aoi Kunisaku glanced at him, then replied flatly, "Coach, you already know the answer to that."
Hohohoho…
Anzai Mitsuyoshi let out another signature laugh, then asked, meaningfully, "So, Aoi Kunisaku-kun… do championships not mean anything to you?"
Aoi Kunisaku paused for a second, then said, "It's not about caring or not. Winning the championship… that's just what's going to happen."
Anzai Mitsuyoshi stared straight at him. Behind those glasses, his eyes were dark and bottomless, like he was trying to see through everything.
Finally, he asked, slowly, "Then, Aoi Kunisaku-kun… what is your real goal?"
Silence fell between them.
Aoi Kunisaku turned to face Anzai Mitsuyoshi.
Bathed in the cold glow of the moonlight, the two figures stood still, locked in each other's gaze.
Neither spoke.
It was as if time had frozen in that moment.