As the bus slowly drove into Tōō Academy, the atmosphere inside grew quietly tense.
The moment they passed through the school gates, Ueno glanced out the window and immediately spotted Momoi Satsuki waiting nearby—standing beside a man with glasses, wearing a constant, fox-like smile.
That smile felt familiar.
Ueno frowned slightly. He was sure he'd seen that guy before, but his name wouldn't come to him right away.
If he remembered correctly, that man should be Tōō's captain—someone notoriously sly and sharp.
The bus eased into a parking spot and came to a stop.
As Coach Shinkawa stepped off first, the man with glasses approached together with Momoi, smiling as he greeted them.
"Coach Shinkawa, nice to meet you. I'm Imayoshi Shōichi, captain of Tōō Academy's basketball team. I'll be guiding you to our gym. This here is our team manager, Momoi Satsuki."
Momoi bowed politely, smiling.
"Nice to meet you, Coach Shinkawa."
"Nice to meet you both," Shinkawa replied.
"This way, please," Imayoshi said, gesturing ahead.
Glancing at Kyōichi and the others—who had already begun curiously scanning their surroundings—Imayoshi led the way toward the basketball gym.
"Alright, everyone," Coach Shinkawa said calmly. "Follow along."
As they walked, Momoi fell slightly behind, quietly observing the Tōdai players one by one.
When her gaze landed on Ueno Juri, she paused for a moment, studying him more carefully.
Then her eyes shifted—and froze.
When she saw Yagami Osaka's height, a jolt of shock ran through her.
He's huge…
Truthfully, Momoi didn't know much about Tōdai High. As Tōō's assistant manager, she usually kept detailed records on other schools—but Tōdai had no official match data at all.
If Ueno Juri hadn't gone there, she might not have even known the school had a basketball team.
As she scanned the group, none of them stood out particularly.
Except for Ueno Juri—the one player she couldn't afford to underestimate.
Inside Tōō Academy's basketball gym.
Aomine Daiki was already there, casually practicing shots on his own.
Nearby, Wakamatsu Kōsuke stretched his shoulders before lightly bumping Sakurai Ryō with his elbow.
"Oi, Ryō. Looks like today's match might actually be interesting," Wakamatsu said quietly. "That Ueno Juri guy seems strong."
Sakurai glanced toward Aomine, who was still warming up, then nodded thoughtfully.
"Yeah… I've never seen Aomine show up this early before."
Ever since Aomine crushed them in practice, his attendance had become erratic—either not showing up at all, or appearing halfway through practice, messing around for a bit, then leaving.
Even during recent practice matches, he'd usually arrive late.
Today was different.
This was the first time he'd arrived early.
While the two were talking, a calm voice suddenly sounded behind them.
"Isn't that a good thing?"
Both of them jumped.
"Dammit, Susa!" Wakamatsu snapped, clutching his chest. "You trying to scare us to death?!"
Susa Yoshinori looked at them with mild annoyance, waving a hand dismissively.
"You two are way too jumpy."
"What'd you say?" Wakamatsu shot back. "If I'm such a coward, how about next week? You got the guts to go to the haunted house in Area A with me?"
Susa smirked.
"Sure. Just remember to bring extra pants—wouldn't want you wetting yourself with nothing to change into."
"You bastard, who are you looking down on?!"
Sensing things getting heated, Sakurai hurriedly stepped between them.
"H-hey, how about we forget it? I heard that haunted house is really scary…"
"Forget it?" Wakamatsu said. "You're coming too next week."
"…Eh?"
Walking behind Imayoshi, Ueno casually took in Tōō Academy's campus.
In terms of basketball strength, Tōdai couldn't match Tōō.
But financially?
The two schools were surprisingly comparable.
Behind him, Kurumatani Sora replayed everything he knew about Tōō in his head. The closer they got to the gym, the more nervous he became.
"…Ueno," Sora asked quietly, "can we really beat Tōō?"
Cherry blossoms lay scattered across the path, petals drifting gently down from above.
Ueno reached out and caught one, then turned back with a confident smile.
"Of course we can," he said. "We're strong, you know."
Sora froze for a second.
He looked at Ueno, then at their teammates walking beside him. His nose stung slightly, and he quickly turned his head away.
After a moment, he faced forward again and nodded firmly.
"…Yeah. We're strong."
And I'm not alone anymore, he thought.
Tōō's basketball gym was located deep within the campus.
After a short walk, they finally arrived.
The moment Tōdai's players saw it, they were stunned.
The facility was massive.
Compared to Tōdai's single, modest court, Tōō's gym looked like a different world entirely. Even the entrance was enormous—two wide doors instead of one.
Inside, there were four full courts.
Coach Shinkawa stared at it in silence for a moment, deep in thought.
Maybe I should look into renovating our gym when we get back…
Otherwise, I'll feel embarrassed inviting people over.
Seeing his players openly gawking, Shinkawa cleared his throat.
"Cough—Ryō," he said. "Take them to change."
"Ah—yes, Coach!"
Imayoshi smiled and pointed toward a hallway beside the gym.
"The locker rooms are this way."
"…There are locker rooms?" someone blurted out.
The shout drew immediate looks, and several Tōdai players stiffened in embarrassment.
Miyara turned red and promptly grabbed Kyōichi—who had been the one to speak—dragging him toward the hallway without a word.
This was humiliating.
Still, it wasn't entirely Kyōichi's fault.
Back at Tōdai, the locker room and clubroom were the same cramped space.
But seeing Coach Shinkawa's darkened expression, everyone silently prayed for Kyōichi.
After the match, his memories were probably going to get worse.
Just as Ueno and the others left—
A middle-aged man approached Coach Shinkawa, speaking politely.
"Coach Shinkawa, nice to meet you. I'm Katsunori Harasawa, head coach of Tōō Academy."
"Nice to meet you," Shinkawa replied.