It was the second week of the preliminaries.
The Tokyo Preliminaries, second round of the final loop, had begun.
In the first matches, Seirin vs. Tōō and Shutoku vs. Kirisaki Daiichi, Akashi Asuka did not come to watch in person.
The reason was simple: the matches started too early.
This time slot was reserved for Akashi's training. Although he was curious about the games, there was no way he would sacrifice his training for a single match.
Luckily, other members from Seirin were at the venue gathering intelligence, and the entire match was recorded, so nothing was missed.
By the time Akashi finished his weekend training and arrived at the venue, he noticed something unusual.
Although the crowd was larger than last week, the entire arena was completely silent.
So this match isn't just intense… it's extraordinary!
Akashi's intuition already gave him a clue.
A roaring crowd usually meant a thrilling match.
But when the arena was packed yet utterly silent, it indicated the intensity was several degrees higher than a normal "roar of the crowd."
Only a match that made spectators hold their breath could produce such an atmosphere.
And indeed, it was so.
When Akashi looked down at the court, he saw the score: 112–112.
Only three seconds remained.
The ball was in Seirin's hands.
It was an out-of-bounds inbound, positioned just inside the Tōō court. In other words, if Seirin executed the inbound correctly, they could easily organize a full attack from this distance.
And if the shot went in, the match's outcome would be sealed.
Beep~~~
At the referee's whistle, Seirin immediately executed the inbound. The pass was so sudden that even Tōō's defenders were momentarily distracted, unable to react.
"Damn it… I knew the last pass would go to him, but at the crucial moment, I got distracted. Damn it!"
Shoichi Imayoshi's face darkened. In the final moments, he had been closely guarding Kuroko Tetsuya, who had already used his skill in previous plays.
For Tōō, Kuroko's skill was almost losing its effect.
Yet, in this final moment…
Kuroko, relying on his absurdly weak presence, slipped out of Imayoshi's coverage and created an almost impossible opening.
"Aomine! Stop Kagami!"
Imayoshi reacted instantly, realizing that the last play would almost certainly, no, definitely, be directed to Kagami Taiga. He immediately shouted a warning to Aomine.
But it wasn't even necessary. The moment he spoke, the ball originally passed by Shun Izuki suddenly curved midair, landing perfectly in Kagami's hands.
Crack~~
The two aces faced off once again.
Blue sparks and red sparks flashed in their eyes as Aomine and Kagami both summoned the last reserves of their zone power.
"Come on, Kagami!"
Aomine's eyes glowed with a beastly bloodlust as he roared.
There was no doubt.
Compared to the original timeline, Aomine had clearly grown stronger. Defeated by Akashi last summer, he had spent the entire summer training. With his talent, a single summer was enough for a dramatic transformation.
In contrast, Kagami had also gone abroad for special training, but his second match against Tōō was still at least a month earlier than in the original timeline.
By comparison, Kagami shouldn't have been able to match Aomine so evenly at this point.
But reality in the Kuroko's Basketball world often defied logic. Once the main characters "evolved," their power increases were absurdly disproportionate.
Facing Aomine's tight defense, Kagami abandoned dribbling and leapt from the free-throw line like a human rocket, slamming the ball down with full force.
Meteor Jam
Even Aomine could not stop it head-on. Although faster than Kagami, his maximum jump height could not match Kagami's explosive leap.
But…
Bang!
The ball hit the rim, spinning along the edge several times before bouncing out.
Beep~~~
Simultaneously, the final buzzer sounded.
The game ended.
112–112
Seirin achieved their second draw.
"Woooo~~"
"Amazing!"
"What a spectacular match!"
The spectators erupted in cheers the moment the buzzer rang.
For most, a thrilling draw was far more exciting than countless ordinary wins and losses.
But for the teams, this draw was not necessarily good news.
Especially for Tōō.
"Argh~~ this… this bad outcome still happened!"
Imayoshi pushed up his glasses. Though he kept a smile, inside he felt as if he had sunk to the bottom of a valley.
By record alone, Tōō, with one win and one draw, might seem to have the upper hand over Seirin, who now had two draws.
But don't forget…
Who was Tōō facing next?
Seirin would face Kirisaki Daiichi, who had been ruined by Akashi last semester. Their chances of victory were extremely high.
In that case, Seirin would end with a record of one win, two draws.
Meanwhile, Tōō's next match would be against Shutoku, who also held a one-win, one-draw record. A victory would secure their spot in the Nationals.
But a loss, resulting in one win, one draw, and one loss, would mean direct elimination.
Thus, despite appearances, the team with seemingly worse results, Seirin, was in a much safer position.
For Tōō and Shutoku alike, the opponent they most dreaded in the Tokyo preliminaries, aside from the already confirmed Seiho, was undoubtedly each other.
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Completed version available on Patreon.com/Veltoria