While Shigure Akihito had ripped the rim off and shattered the hoop, standing amid the stunned, gaping faces in the stands and taking Nijimura Shuzo's interrogation on the Kaijō sideline, something similar was unfolding in another gym they all knew too well.
Teikō.
The first-team gym.
After last year's seniors graduated, a lot of new faces had been promoted into the first squad. Right now the sound of sneakers screeching across the floor cut through the hall as a heated set of small-group scrimmages was underway — each side led by one starter with a group of first-team rookies.
But compared with the earlier excitement, at this moment one court in particular had fallen utterly silent.
Every rookie on that court, and every first-team player watching from the bench, were all as frozen as if they'd seen what Kaijō saw earlier: they stared, horror-struck, at the figure under the rim, one hand still gripping the hoop — Murasakibara Atsushi.
Murasakibara: "?"
"Keh?"
Frozen in place and doubting his own existence, Murasakibara blinked in confusion. He still couldn't feel any force from the second-team defender who'd been behind him during that dunk. At the same time, he was astonished at his own feet—never before had his movement felt this nimble. Using the little spin trick he'd picked up from the smiling senior, he could whirl around at high speed exactly like that senior did.
In fact,
The inertia from spinning so fast seemed to amplify the hammer-like impact of his final smash.
The first to come to his senses was Kise Ryōta. Honestly, that dunk that pulled the rim from the backboard was destructive, but more astonishing was how a giant like Murasakibara could produce such lightning-fast attacking steps.
At over two meters, yet so fast!
"Whoa—nice one!"
"Wait… Mura, that series of steps you just did—so fast!?" Kise shouted, astonished, "You could move this fast all along!?"
"Seems pretty fast, right~?" Murasakibara nodded, and through Kise confirmed it. "I'm playing full out… but it feels a little different from before."
Murasakibara lowered his eyes and looked at his massive palm. In his half-closed purple gaze something began to swell—a luminous surge, like a beast finally freed from its chains, intimidating in presence.
Even though his voice remained lazy, the line that followed was more alarming.
"It's weird…"
"It's strange…"
"I can just run like this… and it's like power keeps spilling out of my body uncontrollably. If I'm not careful I might actually crush a teammate by accident, so…"
"Do I still keep going full out or what?"
"I think I should call that gloomy senior and ask him first…"
When Murasakibara joked about crushing someone, Kise shuddered, smiled sheepishly, and felt certain this was no joke at all.
At the same time Murasakibara glanced at his ridiculous-looking long legs. Against the fear of hurting others there was another, larger thrill: with a speed like this, maybe he could even pull off the ultra-wide defensive coverage of that smiling senior.
Hmm…
Wanna try~?
But Murasakibara scanned the opponents—their rookie first-team and Kise's rivals.
They looked a little weak, actually~
Call Aomine
Or Haizaki's grey-haired guy, try him instead~
From afar, Midorima — noticing Murasakibara's eyes barely rested on him — felt underestimated. He'd picked Murasakibara to be the teammate who could match the two seniors' power.
Silently, Midorima clenched his fists.
Then, frowning slightly, he glanced at the far hoop — the one at the opposite end of the court.
"Hey!"
"It's your inbound, green-haired shooter!"
Haizaki Shōgo, who led the opposing rookie squad and had been watching Midorima get absorbed by the spectacle, couldn't help but prod him. Haizaki had a feeling about Midorima's three-pointer and being stuck here was making him twitchy.
"Shut up," Midorima muttered.
"You grey-fur loser!"
Irritated, Midorima snapped out words unlike his former style, but Haizaki didn't find it strange; instead he got even more excited, his wild side showing.
"It's a wolf, huh!"
"Bastard!"
…
When practice ended that day, the miracle generation split into their respective squad matchups and scored wins and losses between them. Unlike the original timeline, the third years weren't averse to facing each other this year.
Even Kuroko Tetsuya took part.
"Good work today, dismissed!"
"Yes!!!"
Watching the players clear away the equipment, Sanada — assistant coach no longer, now Head Coach after Shiragane Kozo's retirement and taking on the senior role — thought about how the Miracle Generation continued to swell in strength now that they'd moved up to third year.
"…."
It had begun, just as Shigure had said.
Although things hadn't yet reached the dire worst-case Shigure had warned about, thinking for a moment about that scenario made Sanada's heart race.
He sighed.
Sitting in the head coach's chair, he realized with a jolt that, with his meager talents and almost non-existent charisma, it would be hard for him to guide the Miracle Generation the way Shigure and Nijimura did.
Right now, the foundation had been laid by the two stars' personal example. Losing to their players stung, but given it was Shigure and Nijimura, maybe it felt inevitable.
Sanada sighed again.
At that moment
"Coach…"
"The chairman wants to see you."
"The chairman?"
"I'll tell him you're coming."
Hearing the word "chairman," Akashi Seijūrō quietly fell in step with Sanada.
His smile remained gentle.
But at times, when no one watched, the color in his eyes would shift.
Sometimes orange.
Sometimes crimson.
"Probably about that thing again, huh?"
"Hmph!"
"I already warned that fat pig, didn't I? Dare to disobey my orders—parents included—should I just do it for you, kill him right away?!"
"Please don't say such scary things, be gentle, don't make me angry, Orange~"
"Damn it!"
"If you copy Mura one more time, I'll gut you!"
"Heh."
"You can't do it now anyway, can you? Get stronger first. Shigure-senpai's right—you've still got a long way to go."
END OF CHAPTER
CROWN BEFORE THE MIRACLES
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