Miyamoto also noticed Kato at that moment.
Kato's appearance was simply too strange—not only was there a scar around his eye, but even his expression looked twisted and vicious.
Miyamoto could clearly feel the hatred in the way Kato looked at him.
But Miyamoto didn't really care, because he had no intention of playing in this game.
To be precise, none of the first-string players planned to play.
The match would be handled entirely by the second unit.
In other words, the original Kirisaki Daiichi lineup from the original story, except the shooting guard had been replaced with Tatsuya Himuro.
At that moment, Shogo Haizaki ran over and relayed what Makoto Hanamiya had just said to Miyamoto.
After hearing it, Miyamoto finally understood—so that resentful look came from what happened in middle school.
But that was entirely Kato's own fault. If he had behaved himself back then, he wouldn't have ended up like this.
After both teams finished warming up, the game officially began.
Kirisaki Daiichi lineup:
Center: Kentaro Seto
Power Forward: Kazuya Hara
Small Forward: Kojiro Furuhashi
Shooting Guard: Tatsuya Himuro
Point Guard: Makoto Hanamiya
As for Kōkyo High School's lineup...
Forget it. Too lazy to introduce them.
During the pre-game greeting, Kato glared fiercely at Makoto Hanamiya and said:
"Hanamiya, you traitor."
Makoto Hanamiya glanced at him and replied calmly:
"Who are you?"
Kato froze for a moment.
Hanamiya continued:
"Oh right, now I remember. Weren't you my little lackey back in middle school? With that artwork around your eye, I didn't recognize you."
"Looks like you've got some prospects after all. You even managed to get into high school. I thought you'd be out begging the moment you graduated middle school."
Kato was completely shut down by Hanamiya's barrage of insults, the words stuck in his throat.
In the end, he could only squeeze out a single sentence.
"Just you wait!"
But even that was immediately shot down by Hanamiya.
"You? And you expect me to wait for you?"
Kato shouted angrily,
"You—!"
Before he could finish, Hanamiya cut him off again.
"You what? Can't even finish a sentence? Did your bad eyesight spread to your mouth too?"
Kato finally snapped. Just as he raised his fist to punch Hanamiya in the face, Hanamiya spoke again.
"What? Want to hit me?"
"Are you really going to waste the revenge opportunity you finally got?"
Kato froze.
Looking at Hanamiya's half-smiling expression, he suddenly felt like he had gone back to middle school.
Back to the time when Hanamiya completely dominated him.
Seeing this, Hanamiya nodded slightly and said calmly:
"That's right. A dog should act like a dog. Stop baring your teeth."
"Otherwise one day, when the real war starts, you might be the one getting trampled."
"Hahahahaha."
Kato's expression turned extremely strange, and the anger in his heart reached its peak.
'Makoto Hanamiya!!!'
The game was about to start.
The referee stepped between Kentaro Seto and Kōkyo's center and tossed the ball into the air.
Both jumped, but the difference in height was obvious.
Kentaro Seto easily tipped the ball to Makoto Hanamiya.
Hanamiya slowly dribbled across half court. Then, as if spotting something, he suddenly tossed the ball high into the air.
Tatsuya Himuro suddenly cut into the paint, caught the pass mid-air, and finished with an alley-oop layup.
After scoring, Himuro smiled gently.
"Thanks."
He then high-fived Hanamiya.
In truth, after the conversations they'd had over the past few days, Himuro had already forgotten all the trash talk Hanamiya had thrown at him.
Because outside the court, Hanamiya was genuinely a good person.
Whenever something happened, Hanamiya was always the first to step forward.
For example, when a group of delinquents came looking for trouble.
One time Himuro was confronted by them, and Hanamiya immediately rushed in and chased them off.
At that moment, Himuro truly accepted Hanamiya as a real friend.
What Himuro didn't know, however, was that Hanamiya had simply been itching for a fight. After getting beaten up every day in the past, now that he finally had a legitimate excuse to throw punches, of course he would jump in.
Back on the court.
Kōkyo High School had possession.
Their point guard crossed half court and immediately passed the ball to Kato.
Kato faced Kojiro Furuhashi's defense.
He gave Furuhashi a sinister smile, then suddenly made a crossover and drove forward.
During the crossover, he stepped on Furuhashi's foot, pinning him in place.
Watching from the sidelines, Miyamoto couldn't help but sigh.
'That ankle must be made of iron.'
After entering the paint, Kato faced Kentaro Seto.
He gathered the ball and initiated body contact.
And during that collision... he lowered his shoulder.
The shoulder charge knocked Seto backward four full steps.
Then Kato sank the floater.
Next possession.
While attacking in the paint, Kentaro Seto suddenly fell to the floor during a back-down.
It turned out Kōkyo's center had pulled the chair out from under him while Seto was exerting force.
But that wasn't all.
While pulling the chair, the center also grabbed Seto with both hands and tugged him down.
The referee didn't see it clearly.
But that one move sent Seto crashing hard to the floor.
Seeing this, Miyamoto spoke toward Hanamiya on the court in a low voice.
"Hanamiya, I approve."
At that moment, the expressions of Hanamiya and the Kirisaki Daiichi players on the court changed.
Not into fear.
But into excitement.
They knew exactly what Miyamoto's words meant.
Hanamiya even walked over to Kato and said:
"Thanks for the gift."
"As a return, we'll make sure to treat you properly."
After saying that, Hanamiya turned and went back on defense.
Kato's expression turned extremely ugly.
On the next possession, the players of Kōkyo High School noticed something.
Every player on Kirisaki Daiichi had changed.
They had become terrifying.
The way they looked at them was like predators staring at prey.
And that was exactly what it was.
Because when Kōkyo's point guard tried to pass again, he suddenly felt his calf give out and dropped to his knees.
The ball slipped from his hands and was taken by Makoto Hanamiya.
Unexpectedly, Kirisaki Daiichi didn't launch a fast break.
Instead, they slowly advanced the ball.
While fighting for position with Kojiro Furuhashi, Kato took countless elbow strikes to the stomach.
But he wasn't someone who would just take it.
He immediately returned the favor.
What he never expected was that Furuhashi fought like an indestructible cockroach, endlessly trading dirty moves with him.
There was no defense at all.
Only attacks.
Hanamiya also made his move during this possession.
He used a crossover to break through the defense.
After the drive, Hanamiya's off-hand suddenly swung outward.
His palm landed squarely on Kato's face while Kato was still battling with Furuhashi.
SMACK!!!
...
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