Chapter Twenty-Eight: Just Won the Game
"It's in! The ball went in!"
"WE WON! WE WON!"
Aida jumped in place, fists clenched tight, beside himself with excitement.
Even now, he vividly recalled that instant—the pass Yagami delivered, the timing, rotation, strength all so comfortable it felt like the rim had grown considerably larger. The touch of the ball leaving his fingertips remained clear, and from catching to jumping to releasing, the motion flowed more smoothly than he'd ever expected!
More importantly, at that critical moment of releasing the game-winning shot, Aida's heart held not a trace of nervousness.
Now though, Aida felt his heart pounding violently, unable to calm for a long time.
My god! He'd just seriously played street basketball! And against the Generation of Miracles no less! And... they'd actually won!
Aida could already imagine how he'd repeatedly savor and brag about this game to everyone for a very, very long time to come.
"Nice shot, Hikoichi," Yagami smiled.
"You two... are really amazing," Fukuda murmured. His heart had weathered two massive shocks today.
On the other side of the court, Meguro approached Aomine cautiously, apologizing. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't keep track of that guy at the end..."
Aomine didn't respond. He simply stood silently in place.
The sky had darkened at some point. Aomine's face hid in backlit shadows, making his exact expression impossible to read.
"You really are strong, Aomine-kun," Yagami walked over.
"That last possession," Aomine paused, "how did you stop me?"
Even after the game ended, he couldn't figure it out.
"If it's inconvenient, don't say." Aomine suddenly added. "We'll probably meet at nationals anyway."
"Nothing particularly special," Yagami said directly. "I really can't keep up with your movements, so—"
"I just waited for you ahead of time."
"?" Aomine clearly didn't believe it. "You're saying you predicted my move?"
"Not that exaggerated." Yagami smiled. "Didn't I give you a 'hint'?"
"Hint?"
Aomine fell silent, thinking quietly.
Could it be those words deliberately meant to anger him? Even the opening Yagami left when getting blown by—was that intentional too?
"Looks like you figured it out." Yagami waved with a smile. "Anyway, I had fun today. See you next time."
"You're okay telling me about that secret weapon?"
Wasn't this your question? Yagami, his back to Aomine, rolled his eyes though he said, "It's fine. Next time we meet, I won't need that method to beat you."
"Heh." Having just lost, Aomine didn't feel like arguing, only snorted coldly.
"Fukuda-senpai, remember to come to practice at the gym after school tomorrow," Aida reminded. "Don't be late your first day back!"
"Yeah." Fukuda responded gruffly.
However, he couldn't wait that long. Tomorrow morning—no, right now he'd go practice at the school gym!
After saying goodbye to Aomine and Fukuda, Aida continued chattering about replaying the game. This match under half an hour was the most thrilling scene he'd personally experienced.
Though he'd only scored 2 points, they were the most critical 2 points!
Thinking this, Aida's face lit up with joy again.
"Yagami—no, Sorato!" Aida excitedly called to his companion, only to find Yagami's expression extremely grave.
"Sorato? What's wrong? Are you injured?"
"Oh, nothing." Yagami snapped from his thoughts, shaking his head and speaking as casually as usual. "I'm not hurt."
"Really? But your expression just now looked scary..." Aida asked without reservation. In his view, after experiencing this battle together, they'd become life-and-death comrades.
"..." Yagami fell silent briefly before asking slowly, "Hikoichi, how do you think Aomine compares to Sendoh-senpai?"
"Well—" The question caught Aida off guard. After careful consideration, he answered cautiously, "Though Aomine-kun's penetration and finishing ability seem stronger, overall ability is still Sendoh-senpai's strength!"
Yagami's gaze flickered. Aida's analysis was fair—Aomine was indeed the player who'd taken individual offensive aggression to its absolute extreme that he'd ever witnessed. Penetration and finishing ability were unquestionably the strongest, bar none.
He couldn't help thinking of that yet-unseen "Japan's number one high schooler" Sawakita Eiji, but no matter how he imagined it, he couldn't be more outrageous than Aomine...
"What if I said what Aomine just showed wasn't his full strength?"
"Huh? What do you mean?" Aida's mouth dropped open in shock. "Could it be... Aomine-kun was holding back?"
"Not entirely holding back, though he definitely started with a playful attitude." Yagami said. "I just heard that Aomine doesn't really take regular practice seriously, and his warm-up earlier wasn't complete either."
"Thinking back carefully on the game, many of his technical movements occasionally showed slight unnatural hesitation in transition."
"Of course, most importantly—those legendary 'miracle shots' of Aomine's? We didn't see any today."
"Today's shots weren't miraculous enough?" Aida recalled Aomine's physics-defying finishes and explosive dunks, his voice somewhat hollow.
"Yeah," Yagami nodded calmly. "At least all those moves he made today—if I really pushed myself, I could do them too."
Aida fell speechless, only able to look at his teammate with complex eyes—talking so casually, you're a monster too!
"So..." Aida probed tentatively, "even though we won the game, considering all this you still can't be happy?"
"Yeah," Yagami exhaled lightly, his gaze sharpening.
"Today we just won the game. But what I want to beat is Aomine Daiki at full strength."
---
Evening. The shinkansen platform from Kanagawa to Tokyo.
Momoi Satsuki jogged along until finally spotting Aomine lying on a long bench.
"Ah, finally found you! If you had nothing to do, you should've joined Tetsu-kun and me for dinner. Didn't I send a message?" Momoi complained.
Aomine opened his eyes. Without answering her question, he asked on his own, "Who won between Kise and Tetsu?"
"Ah! I was just about to tell you!" Momoi's attention immediately shifted, her eyes brightening. "Today's Kise was really different from before! I feel like he..."
"So he won?" Aomine asked, though his tone suggested no surprise.
"Eh?! You actually guessed right!" Momoi blinked in amazement, then grew excited again, beginning to chatter about match details. "You didn't see it, but Kise's final possession—"
"Satsuki," Aomine interrupted. "I lost."
"Huh?" Momoi instantly froze, eyes widening. "You faced those two? Was it one-on-two?"
Aomine didn't answer, silently gazing at the night sky through the window.
Momoi never imagined this could happen. She hesitated, opening her mouth, wanting to know what specifically occurred.
Just as she was about to speak, Aomine suddenly said:
"Tomorrow... I'll start training..."
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