After waiting a little while, Shintaro Midorima opened his phone again and resumed listening to the fortune-telling program.
As soon as he turned it on, the program quickly announced today's lucky item.
"Today's lucky item is a baton. Carry it with you, and everything you do will be twice as effective with half the effort."
After listening, Shintaro Midorima slowly turned off his phone, stood up, and began gathering his things.
Then he headed out.
That afternoon, on game day.
The Shūtoku team arrived at the venue by bus, then entered the locker room to change.
Kazunari Takao took his time changing and said, "Shin-chan, your Cancer horoscope was the worst today. You're gonna be okay, right?"
After saying that, Kazunari Takao turned to look at Shintaro Midorima.
Shintaro Midorima slowly pulled a rod-shaped object out of his pocket.
Then he flicked it hard.
The rod-shaped object instantly extended, turning into a long baton.
Kazunari Takao froze at the sight and hurriedly said, "No way, Shin-chan! I'm not the one who said it. The fortune-telling did! You can't take it out on me!"
Shintaro Midorima glanced at Kazunari Takao and said calmly, "This is today's lucky item."
Only then did Kazunari Takao let out a sigh of relief.
"Phew, you scared me to death. I thought you were about to hit me with a hundred-hit combo."
"But seriously, Shin-chan, lucky items can be stuff like this too?"
Shintaro Midorima pushed up his glasses, nodded calmly, and said nothing.
In truth, his lucky items had already become much more restrained.
If Kazunari Takao had seen Shintaro Midorima back in his first year of middle school, he would have known what a real "lucky item" looked like!
That "lucky item" had almost been too much even for Daiki Aomine to handle!
...
While both teams were still preparing, the spectators also began entering the venue one after another.
The Seirin team followed Riko Aida to their seats and sat down.
Shinji Koganei spoke up.
"There are a ton of people here today too."
Junpei Hyuga said, "Of course there are. Shūtoku versus Kaijō is definitely a match worth watching."
After sitting down, Taiga Kagami said, "I wonder if that guy Kise can beat Midorima."
Kōki Furihata answered hesitantly, "He should be able to, right? Kise can use the other [Generation of Miracles] skills now, and he can even use [Magic Cube]."
No sooner had Kōki Furihata finished speaking than a mocking voice came from behind him.
"Beat Midorima? Don't be ridiculous. Satsuki said Kise might not even be able to step onto the court today."
Hearing that, everyone from Seirin turned to look at the speaker.
Once they saw who it was, they all froze.
Because the person who had spoken was none other than Shogo Haizaki!
And behind Shogo Haizaki were the other members of Kirisaki Daiichi!
Taiga Kagami's gaze sharpened at once, and he said in a low voice, "Haizaki..."
Miyamoto Tokima slowly walked over and greeted them.
"Hello, everyone from Seirin."
The Seirin members were all startled for a moment before returning the greeting.
But it was obvious that their movements were a little stiff.
It couldn't be helped. Miyamoto Tokima's reputation was far too overwhelming, and he carried a faint sense of pressure around him, making everyone from Seirin feel deeply uncomfortable.
Shuzo Nijimura and the others also greeted Tatsuya Himuro and Tetsuya Kuroko.
After the Kirisaki Daiichi members sat down beside Seirin, Tatsuya Himuro was the first to ask, "Haizaki, what did you mean just now when you said Kise might not be able to play?"
Shogo Haizaki waved a hand and explained, "Satsuki said it's because Kise pushed out an ability his body couldn't handle at the very last moment of your match."
"To put it simply, his body couldn't keep up anymore. He forced his way through on sheer willpower, and now his body's been drained too much. He's probably injured and can't play."
Tatsuya Himuro froze.
"This..."
Shogo Haizaki continued, "Even if Kise can play, he'll be going onto the court exhausted. There's no way he can beat Midorima like that."
"And even if Kise didn't have any negative effects and faced Midorima head-on, he still might not win. You're all looking down on Midorima way too much!"
Everyone from Seirin exchanged glances. Just as they were about to ask more questions, Makoto Hanamiya started running his mouth.
"That's enough, Haizaki. Other people's brains run too slowly, but that doesn't mean you need to help speed them up."
"Worry about speeding up your own brain first. Don't go collapsing again after just a few rounds."
After returning from the U.S., Shogo Haizaki's trash talk had improved quite a bit.
Of course, his manners had fallen right along with it.
"Fuck you, Makoto Hanamiya. Who the hell are you barking at?!"
Everyone from Seirin froze on the spot.
Was this really how Kirisaki Daiichi talked to each other?
...
As time passed, the members of both teams gradually began entering the court to warm up.
During warm-ups, however, Shintaro Midorima noticed that Ryota Kise had not come onto the court.
He pushed up his glasses and thought to himself, 'No warm-up? Is it because of his condition?'
On the other side, Ryota Kise sat on the bench with his head lowered, his teeth clenched, his face full of frustration.
That was right. His body really had been strained too heavily, leaving it unable to keep up.
First was his wrist. Because he had overused Shintaro Midorima's shooting, his wrist still barely had any strength in it.
Then there were his lower back and legs. Those areas were also weak.
Right now, forget shooting. If he could dribble steadily, that alone would be proof of how impressive his body was.
Because Ryota Kise could not take the court, the fighting spirit and mood of the other Kaijō players were affected as well.
Even so, they still planned to give it everything they had.
After all, they had already made it this far. How could they give up so easily?
When everyone from Seirin saw from the sidelines that Ryota Kise had not come out to warm up, they were instantly shocked.
They never expected Shogo Haizaki to actually be right!
Riko Aida furrowed her brow and glanced at Satsuki Momoi, who was chatting with Miyamoto Tokima nearby. She thought to herself, 'With predictive ability that strong, no wonder she became Kirisaki Daiichi's coach.'
Because of her father, Riko Aida also had the ability to read other people's physical condition.
But she could not make calculations about someone's future as accurately as Satsuki Momoi could.
She could even predict whether someone was injured.
That kind of ability made even Riko Aida feel a little afraid.
...
...
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