"The captain's ball... Shoichi actually intercepted it?"
Ayako's eyes widened in disbelief. She truly hadn't expected it—Shoichi had just swiped the ball clean from Akagi.
Coach Anzai adjusted his glasses, watching calmly from the sidelines.
"Shoichi's feel for basketball," he said, "has practically become second nature. It's as if he was born for the game."
Ayako's heart fluttered at the remark. If that were true, it was truly something extraordinary.
Just then, Rukawa made a swift layup, sinking another basket and further widening the score gap.
The score between the first-years and the upperclassmen had now become 2:13—a double-digit lead.
"That's a huge gap now. It's going to be tough for the upperclassmen to come back."
Seeing the one-sided match unfold, Coach Anzai turned his gaze toward Shoichi.
"If Akagi doesn't come up with a way to stop Shoichi's relentless offense, this practice match is over before it even begins."
Ayako nodded in agreement.
At this point, the upperclassmen's situation couldn't look any worse.
The constant turnovers and missed plays had completely crushed their morale. Their movements were growing stiff and mechanical.
At that moment
Just as worry began creeping into everyone's hearts, the gym doors opened. A young man walked in, rocking a punk hairstyle and a shining ear stud.
The moment he entered, his eyes locked on the scoreboard.
"2 to 13?"
He rubbed his eyes, thinking he must have misread the numbers.
"What the hell are those guys doing? The upperclassmen are getting demolished by the first-years?"
"Even if that famous Rukawa Kaede from Tomigaoka Middle School joined this year's class, there's no way the score should look like this."
Muttering his complaints, the young man strode over to Ayako.
"Hey, Aya~ I'm back. Miss me?"
"Miyagi—you got discharged early?"
Ayako greeted him casually and added with a smirk, "You're looking good. Guess you had a pretty relaxing time in the hospital, huh?"
"N-No way!" Miyagi waved his hands defensively, denying it with a flustered grin.
Seeing Miyagi casually chatting with Ayako, Hanamichi Sakuragi frowned and shoved him lightly.
"Hey punk, sucking up to Ayako won't get you on the court any faster. You're still behind me in line."
"Oh yeah?" Miyagi replied with a sly smile. He turned toward the court and shouted,
"Yo Akagi! You guys are getting wrecked by the first-years? Man, it's obvious you can't handle things without me."
"You want me to step in and clean up the mess? Maybe help save some face?"
"That guy's out of the hospital already?"
Watching from the sidelines, Kogure beamed.
"If Miyagi marks Shoichi, it'll be a huge relief for us."
Akagi nodded sternly and barked, "Cut the crap. Get changed—now!"
Miyagi didn't seem fazed at all. Winking at Hanamichi, he grinned,
"Guess I'm up first, rookie."
"Whaaaat?!"
Hanamichi collapsed like he'd taken 100,000 points of damage. His face twisted in despair.
Unable to hold it in, Hanamichi stormed over to Coach Anzai and began pestering him like a child begging for candy.
Watching from the sidelines, Ayako could only sigh and shake her head.
She had officially given up on him.
A few moments later, Miyagi reemerged in uniform, joining Akagi and the others on the court.
"What happened to you guys? Letting the first-years run wild like this? Is Rukawa from Tomigaoka really that good?"
Kogure shook his head and replied,
"Rukawa's only part of the story. The real problem is Shoichi. Technically he's still a beginner, but his learning curve is off the charts."
"Shoichi, huh?"
Miyagi glanced over at the first-years. With Kogure's help, he quickly spotted Shoichi.
Sizing him up, Miyagi scratched his head and muttered,
"Doesn't look like much. Alright then—he's mine."
As Miyagi confidently volunteered himself, Akagi and the others exchanged glances and chuckled quietly.
At the same time, Shoichi was also evaluating Miyagi from afar.
[Character Data: Miyagi Ryota]
Height: 168 cm
Weight: 59 kg
Strength: 76
Speed: 85
Stamina: 81
Jumping Ability: 83
"His strength's a little low, but his other stats are impressive."
After studying the numbers, Shoichi's brow furrowed slightly.
"Miyagi just changed the game. Looks like taking down all the upperclassmen in one shot won't be possible now."
Even with the [System] on his side, Shoichi wasn't confident about a direct face-off against Miyagi.
In terms of fundamentals and game sense, he was clearly still miles behind.
"So the only way forward…" Shoichi thought, "is to surprise him. I'll need to shake things up and widen the lead while I still can."
After quickly analyzing both sides, Shoichi had already formulated his next steps.
Just then
Miyagi crossed the half-court line with the ball, his grin playful as he looked at Shoichi and the others.
"Alright, first-years. Time to see how you handle a real offense."
As he spoke, the rhythm of his dribbling suddenly sped up—fast and fluid.
Seeing him make his move, Shoichi didn't hesitate. He stepped forward immediately to mark him.