Tōdai High School
First-Year Class A
Sitting quietly in the back row by the window.
Ueno glanced at the teacher, who was fully absorbed in his lecture. His gaze drifted unconsciously toward the cherry blossoms outside the window, and his thoughts began to wander.
Tomorrow was the friendly match against Tōō Academy.
To be honest, Ueno hadn't expected that they would actually get the chance to face Tōō.
But this was also a good opportunity to temper their team.
After all, Tōō Academy was not Tōdai High School. Even without their ace, Aomine Daiki, they were already a powerhouse.
Now that Aomine had joined, their overall strength had skyrocketed.
As for Tōdai…
Aside from himself, the others weren't particularly strong. Kurumatani Sora's passing and ball-handling were excellent, but players like Kamiki Kyoichi and the rest hadn't even recovered to their middle school level yet.
Their basketball club still had a long way to go.
Still—
Winning wasn't impossible.
If he went all out, activated the Zone, combined it with Animal Instinct and his formless shots, he could turn himself into a pure scoring machine.
The problem was the physical burden.
He had already secretly tested it.
Using the Zone and Animal Instinct together, he could only last five minutes.
That wasn't his absolute limit—but under the same intensity as before, against monsters like the Generation of Miracles, five minutes was already pushing it.
At most, six minutes.
If he used the Zone alone, he could last nearly eight minutes.
But relying solely on the Zone wouldn't be enough to overwhelm Tōō.
After all, he wasn't the only one who could enter the Zone.
Aomine Daiki could too.
Letting out a quiet sigh, Ueno looked at the cherry blossoms drifting outside the window.
Tomorrow would definitely be a hard-fought battle.
As petals fluttered through the air, his thoughts continued.
If he remembered correctly, Seirin High and Kaijō High had also played a practice match before the Summer Tournament.
And it was Seirin—the rising star—that had won.
If time hadn't been so tight lately, he would've gone to watch that match himself.
After all—
Know yourself, know your enemy, and you'll never lose.
Thinking about his own team, Ueno felt a headache coming on.
Strength wasn't the biggest issue.
Numbers were.
Their basketball club had only seven members.
That was far too few.
Even Seirin, a school whose basketball club had only existed for two years, had over a dozen players.
Ring—ring—ring!
Just as Ueno was deep in thought, the bell rang.
"Alright, that's it for today."
"Class dismissed."
"Thank you for your hard work, Sensei!"
As the teacher left, only a few students remained scattered around the classroom.
First-Year Class B
Just as Kurumatani Sora was about to leave the classroom, an unusually tall figure suddenly blocked his path.
Sora froze.
When he looked up, he realized that his head barely reached the other person's waist.
"Uh… Yagami-kun? What's up?"
"Sora-kun," the tall student asked quietly, "are you on the school basketball team?"
Sora nodded. "Yeah."
"…Can I join?"
Meanwhile—
As Ueno slowly packed up his books, preparing to head out for lunch, a familiar voice suddenly rang out from the classroom doorway.
"Ueno!"
Ueno looked up.
Kurumatani Sora was standing there, waving excitedly.
Seeing Sora's expression, Ueno closed his bag and walked over.
"What's wrong, Sora?"
Barely able to contain himself, Sora stepped aside and pointed behind him.
"Ueno, look!"
Ueno followed his gaze.
Standing behind Sora was an extremely tall boy—several centimeters taller than Ueno himself. His messy hair covered most of his face, giving him a quiet, withdrawn impression.
Honestly, Sora hadn't even needed to step aside.
The guy was just… too tall.
"Sora introduced him eagerly."
"This is Yagami Ōsaka! He couldn't come to school before because of personal reasons, but today's his first day!"
"And he knows you—Ueno Juri, the ace of our basketball team!"
After that, Sora added excitedly, "Ōsaka-kun also wants to join the basketball club!"
Ueno instinctively looked him over again.
Tall.
Long arms—so long they nearly reached his knees.
At that height, he was a natural rebounder.
Yagami Ōsaka…
Not a bad name.
Ueno felt genuinely happy as he extended his hand.
Finally—another capable teammate.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Ueno Juri. Please take care of me."
"…I'm Yagami Ōsaka. Likewise."
Since it was lunchtime, they didn't head to the basketball club.
Instead, the three of them found a quiet balcony and sat down to eat.
Ōsaka sat silently to the side, eating without a word.
Kurumatani Sora took a big bite of his bread, then asked curiously, "Ōsaka-kun, did you play basketball in middle school too?"
Ōsaka nodded. "Yeah."
That was all.
He lowered his head again and continued eating.
Unlike Ueno, who bought lunch at school, both Sora and Ōsaka had brought bentos from home.
Ōsaka's bento was… enormous.
Compared to it, Sora's lunch looked like a kid's meal.
Despite Ōsaka's silence, Sora was clearly excited.
After swallowing his food, he grinned.
"This is great, Ueno! We've got another teammate!"
Ueno nodded in agreement, smiling.
And likely a powerful one.
After thinking for a moment, Ueno asked, "Ōsaka-kun, what position do you play?"
From beneath his bangs, Ōsaka turned his head slightly.
"Center."
As expected, Ueno thought.
Their team's basic framework was finally taking shape.
Now all they lacked was a reliable three-point shooter—or another scorer.
Looking at Ueno and Ōsaka's tall frames, a trace of loneliness flashed through Sora's eyes—but it was quickly hidden.
Ring—ring—ring!
The dismissal bell echoed through the halls.
With Sora beaming and Ōsaka walking silently beside them, Ueno led the way toward the basketball club.
On the way—
Sora suddenly laughed to himself.
"Ueno, do you think the senpai will be shocked when they see Ōsaka-kun?"
Ueno glanced back at the towering Ōsaka, thought for a moment, and nodded.
"Probably more than just shocked."
Ōsaka, listening to their conversation, said nothing.
He simply followed quietly behind them, expression unreadable.