Tōō Academy.
Academic Building A.
Rooftop.
Seeing Aomine lying there lazily sunbathing, Momoi, who had just arrived on the rooftop, couldn't help but frown. She felt a bit worried, and after thinking for a moment, she walked toward him.
"Dai-chan!"
With his eyes closed, lying on the rooftop and enjoying the sunshine, Aomine only gave a lazy grunt in response to Momoi's call.
"Mm~"
Looking at the lazy Aomine, Momoi sighed helplessly, straightened the hem of her skirt, and sat down beside him.
"The day after tomorrow is the friendly match against Tōdai."
"Whatever."
Seeing Aomine's lackadaisical attitude, Momoi felt even more worried. But as she thought about the upcoming game, a certain person surfaced in her mind, and the corners of her mouth curled up slightly.
"Dai-chan, do you know Tōdai?"
Hearing this, Aomine rolled over, propped his head on his arm, and turned his back to Momoi. He yawned lazily and continued basking in the sun with his eyes closed.
"Tōdai? Never heard of it."
"Ueno Juri is at Tōdai!"
"Oh."
After that casual response, Aomine stopped speaking altogether.
Seeing him like this, Momoi sighed again and fell silent, gazing up at the drifting white clouds as her thoughts wandered.
However, with his back turned to her, the laziness in Aomine's eyes vanished the instant he heard the name Ueno Juri. A sharp light flashed through his gaze as he thought to himself,
So you went to Tōdai… how interesting.
Tōō Basketball Court.
While practicing his shots, Tōō's basketball team captain, Imayoshi Shōichi, recalled Momoi's words from earlier.
Just over ten minutes ago, Momoi had suddenly come to find him.
She wanted Tōō to schedule a friendly match with a high school called Tōdai before the Summer Tournament.
The request puzzled him. Although Momoi was officially the intern manager of the Tōō Academy Basketball Club, agreeing so easily wasn't appropriate. After all, Tōō was one of the Four Great High Schools.
They couldn't just play a friendly match with any school that asked.
Looking at Momoi, Shōichi adjusted his glasses, his tone calm but questioning.
"Why?"
Momoi hesitated slightly, but thinking of Dai-chan's current state, she steadied herself and answered.
"Because a very strong player transferred to Tōdai this year."
A sharp glint passed over Shōichi's lenses.
"Very strong?"
"Yes. Even Aomine-kun would be at a disadvantage in a direct matchup."
In order to reignite Aomine's competitive spirit, Momoi couldn't help exaggerating a little.
"Are you talking about Ueno Juri?"
Momoi froze for a moment, then looked at Shōichi in surprise.
"Captain, you know him?"
Shōichi smiled faintly and pushed his glasses up again.
"I watched that match. I'll talk to the coach."
"Thank you, Captain!"
Momoi bowed gratefully, then left with a noticeably lighter step.
Watching her go, Shōichi fell into thought.
The coach should be in the clubroom analyzing tactics right now…
He was familiar with the name Ueno Juri.
In fact, he'd heard that the coach had once tried to recruit him—only to be turned down.
Shaking off those thoughts, Shōichi sank two more shots, wiped the sweat from his brow, and headed toward the basketball clubroom.
Honestly speaking, he was curious too.
Just how strong was Ueno Juri?
If possible, he also wanted to face him in a friendly match before the Summer Tournament.
Nearby, Sakurai Ryō, who was practicing his shooting, glanced at Captain Imayoshi's retreating figure with curiosity. He couldn't help wondering who this Ueno Juri Momoi had mentioned was—to think even Aomine couldn't overwhelm him.
Still, true to his introverted nature, Ryō didn't ask and continued shooting quietly.
At that moment, Wakamatsu Kōsuke walked over, wiping sweat from his forehead.
"Oi, Ryō. Who's this Ueno Juri the captain was talking about?"
He'd overheard the earlier conversation, but hadn't felt comfortable asking while the captain was there.
After all, even though Imayoshi always wore a friendly smile, Kōsuke knew better.
That guy was definitely scheming.
Startled, Sakurai immediately straightened up.
"I-I'm sorry… I don't know either."
Seeing his reaction, Kōsuke gave a helpless, wry smile.
"Relax, Ryō. No need to apologize. If you don't know, you don't know."
"Y-Yes."
Watching the timid Ryō, Kōsuke sighed inwardly.
He really worried about that personality of his.
Still, when it came to three-pointers, Kōsuke had absolute faith in him.
As the two talked, Susa Yoshinori strolled over.
"Ueno Juri… he's the only guy who managed to score against the Generation of Miracles."
Both Kōsuke and Ryō froze.
"Seriously?!"
Everyone who played basketball knew what the Generation of Miracles represented.
A team of monsters.
Each one a once-in-a-decade genius.
The unrivaled middle school dynasty.
On the very first day Aomine transferred in, he challenged and defeated all of them in one-on-one matches.
Aomine had demanded special treatment—he'd train when he felt like it, and no one was allowed to interfere.
Imayoshi had agreed, as long as Aomine served as the Ace.
From that day on, they fully understood just how terrifying the Generation of Miracles truly was.
There were four others just like Aomine.
To even score against them was incredible.
Yet someone had done more than that—he'd scored over both Aomine Daiki and Murasakibara Atsushi.
"It looks like the friendly match the day after tomorrow is going to be interesting."
Tōdai High School.
District B Commercial Street.
Watching Kurumatani Sora, who deliberately took a detour every day on his way home, Ueno couldn't help glancing across the street.
That was Tokyo's largest cancer hospital.
Even though Sora's home lay in the direction of District A, he always passed through District B instead.
Throughout their walk, Sora kept sneaking glances toward the hospital while pretending not to.
Ueno had been chatting with him the whole way, yet Sora had drifted off more times than he could count.
Ueno understood why.
As they neared the hospital, he felt Sora's mood dip noticeably. Ueno glanced at a nearby milk tea shop, then back at the hospital.
"Sora, want to grab a drink? My treat."
"Eh? A drink? Ueno, we're underage!"
"What are you thinking? I meant milk tea."
"Ah—sorry! Sorry!"