"Did you touch it just now?"
"Just grazed it a little."
On the court, after the whistle blew, Kagami Taiga stared at his palm for a long moment before blurting out the seemingly random question.
If anyone else had heard it, they might have found it confusing.
But Aomine Daiki understood immediately. He held out his right hand, and at the tip of his middle finger, a small scrape was visible.
It was the mark left when Aomine had blocked Kagami's final attack.
Kagami hadn't failed to score because of a lack of skill; he had been interfered with.
Meteor Jam might look wild, but it was actually a highly precise technique.
From takeoff to timing to angle, everything had strict requirements.
Any small deviation could easily result in exactly what had just happened.
"Kagami!"
Even as Aomine turned to leave the court, he suddenly called out before exiting:
"I take back what I said earlier. You're amazing! Next time we meet in an official match, I'll make sure we finish this game properly."
Kagami blinked in surprise, then his eyes hardened with determination:
"Of course."
As the Seirin vs. Tōō match ended, the audience slowly rose from their seats, though not to leave, but to make a quick trip to the restroom.
Shutoku vs. Tōō was about to begin.
Seirin had already secured a Winter Cup spot, so the final loop match between Shutoku and Tōō to fight for the last slot would be a battle to the death.
Just thinking about it sent shivers of excitement through the spectators.
"Iwamura-senpai, Kasuga-senpai, what do you think?"
Once the crowd thinned, Akashi Asuka found the Seiho delegation in the stands.
Kasuga Ryuhei held a camcorder. Hearing Akashi's question, both he and Iwamura Nori rarely remained silent, but this time, they did for a while.
Finally, Kasuga exhaled deeply:
"This year's Winter Cup… looks like we're going to gain another strong opponent."
The "strong opponent" was, of course, Seirin.
After Akashi's earlier warning, Seiho had never underestimated Seirin's potential.
Kuroko Tetsuya, the Phantom Sixth Man; Kiyoshi Teppei, the Uncrowned King; and Kagami Taiga, a rising star with potential rivaling the Generation of Miracles, none of them were easy to deal with.
But no one expected Seirin's growth to accelerate this quickly.
In today's match against Tōō, even seeing the improvement in Seirin's other players had surprised Iwamura and Kasuga.
Then Kagami displayed his Wild Tiger skill.
That shocked them even more.
But this was still within their expectations.
It wasn't until the final moments, when Kagami entered the zone under Aomine's intense pressure, that it became truly frightening.
Thinking back on the battle, both Iwamura and Kasuga felt a heavy weight on their hearts.
Akashi, however, smiled lightly:
Hehe… no need to get so tense, senpai. Being in the same era as these monsters, it's normal to encounter some unexpected things, isn't it?
Iwamura and Kasuga exchanged glances, then looked deeply at Akashi:
You've got a calm mindset, but don't forget… facing these monsters puts the most pressure on you.
Akashi shrugged:
What can I do? We can't stop others from improving!
Akashi knew well that because of his interference, this world would inevitably evolve in uncontrollable ways.
Whether it was Aomine's further development or Kagami mastering Wild Tiger and zone a month early, he wasn't a god.
Early on, he could use information to suppress opponents.
Later, the only thing that would help him win was his own strength.
Fortunately, Akashi had some confidence in his abilities…
"I'm heading to the restroom."
Akashi greeted Iwamura briefly, then left the stands.
Iwamura and Kasuga fiddled with the camcorder, preparing a fresh memory card for the next Shutoku vs. Tōō match.
For Seiho, having Seirin, Tōō, and Shutoku face off in preliminaries was beneficial.
All three teams would expose their summer training, revealing their full strength before the official matches even began.
Meanwhile, Akashi strolled toward the restroom.
The public restroom was already packed, so he decided to use the one near the locker rooms instead.
Halfway there, he unexpectedly ran into two figures.
One was Kiyoshi Teppei.
The other was Hanamiya Makoto.
Kiyoshi's face was dark. Hanamiya wore his usual malicious grin.
No imagination was needed, Hanamiya had probably said something he shouldn't have. With anyone else, it wouldn't matter, but Hanamiya needed a proper lesson from Akashi.
As Kiyoshi and Hanamiya faced off, a massive shadow appeared behind them.
Both turned to see Akashi.
Kiyoshi froze slightly.
Hanamiya's grin instantly twisted into something grotesque and sinister.
"Akashi~~~"
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Completed version available on Patreon.com/Veltoria