"Woah~~ there are a lot of people here!"
Akashi Asuka, dressed in casual clothes, had just stepped into the arena and immediately noticed that the stands were nearly packed today.
It wasn't surprising.
After all, the Tokyo preliminaries for this year's Winter Cup featured two teams from the Generation of Miracles.
Add Seirin, who had defeated Shutoku in the Summer preliminaries, and this meant that one of the Generation of Miracles teams might be eliminated even before reaching the main tournament.
Last semester, Shutoku had already tasted the humiliation of being knocked out in the preliminaries. This year, they would fight with everything they had.
It was easy to imagine just how intense this Winter Cup preliminary would be.
"Oh! Has it already started? Let's see… 25:28, looks like a close match," Tsugawa Tomoki said, excitedly squeezing into a spot beside Akashi to watch the game.
The four teams' matches were happening simultaneously: Seirin vs. Shutoku and Tōō vs. Kirisaki Daiichi.
Among them, Tōō vs. Kirisaki Daiichi drew little attention.
Most of the spectators were focused on the battle between Seirin and Shutoku.
"Not bad! These Seirin guys are actually keeping up with Shutoku… looks like all their summer training wasn't for nothing!"
Tsugawa muttered. Though Seirin had defeated Shutoku once during the summer preliminaries, anyone with a bit of basketball sense knew that victory had been pure luck.
All-out effort + ace attribute advantage + a tiny bit of luck.
That combination had led Seirin to win, but in reality, their strength compared to Shutoku had been worlds apart.
Today, however, the gap had shrunk significantly. Even without luck, Seirin now had a real chance to beat Shutoku.
"But they're still too far behind… if we meet in the main tournament, I could probably force that guy into four fouls…"
Maybe it was the oppressive training pace at Seirin recently, but Tsugawa's mouth seemed to fire off like a machine gun, chatting non-stop the moment they arrived.
Suddenly, a voice from the neighboring seat cut through:
"Tsugawa, you're still as energetic as ever! But the match is on, could you lower your voice a bit?"
The voice was both familiar and strange. Akashi and Tsugawa turned their heads, and there it was, a head of golden, stylish short hair.
Tsugawa froze. "Kise! What are you doing here?"
Exactly.
Sitting beside them was none other than Kise Ryouta, the top spectator among the Generation of Miracles.
Perhaps because Kanagawa was so close to Tokyo, in Akashi's memory, Kise never missed any major Tokyo preliminaries.
Kise removed his sunglasses and waved: "Yo~ long time no see, Tsugawa! And…"
He glanced at Akashi, squinting slightly. "Akashi-kun, long time no see!"
Akashi nodded. "Indeed. Seems like we haven't met since that junior high match, right?"
Kise sighed. "Yeah! Come to think of it, I haven't even congratulated you yet on winning the Interhigh!"
Akashi's lips curved slightly into a half-smile. "No need for formalities. You can congratulate me after the Winter Cup, it's the same either way."
Kise's lips stiffened, and he lowered his gaze. "Seems like you're confident about this year's Winter Cup, huh?"
Akashi shrugged. "Why wouldn't I be?"
Kise exhaled and nodded. "Yeah… can't argue with that."
Indeed, Kise couldn't deny it, defeating Aomine, Murasakibara, and Akashi consecutively in the Summer Nationals was no small feat. Even he couldn't guarantee he could beat all three himself.
Not to mention… he had already lost to one of Aomine's subordinates before the finals.
The Demon King of the Endgame.
That was Akashi Asuka's newest title.
Since the Interhigh, this nickname had quietly spread nationwide through basketball magazines.
As the name suggested, Akashi had become recognized as surpassing even the Generation of Miracles.
"But the Generation of Miracles doesn't give up so easily. I may not care much about the name, but nobody likes someone standing above them…"
Kise's eyes suddenly glinted coldly.
"If we meet in the Winter Cup this year, be ready, Akashi!"
Akashi narrowed his eyes. "If it's a challenge, Seirin is always ready."
Words between them were unnecessary beyond that.
In daily life, Akashi could be friends with any member of the Generation of Miracles, including those from Seirin.
But on the court, there was no middle ground, no compromise.
"By the way, who do you think will win this match?" Kise asked.
Returning to spectator mode, Akashi and Kise resumed their friendly banter.
"Who knows?" Akashi leaned back lazily. "If we talk about raw ability, Midorima clearly has the edge over Kagami. Even if they're equally talented, the timing of growth matters."
"But Midorima's unlucky, he ran into Kagami, whose skills directly counter his. Midorima's shot meets Kagami's jump like prey encountering a predator."
"If this duel continues like this, the outcome could mirror last summer's preliminaries… unless…"
Before Akashi could finish, the crowd erupted into gasps!
Still a bit stuck, overextending the chapter, writing feels tough lately.
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Completed version available on Patreon.com/Veltoria