Beep~~~
The sharp electronic whistle echoed across the court, signaling the official end of the scrimmage.
Amid the heavy breathing and incredulous gazes of Senshinkan's team, the scoreboard froze at 86–61.
A 25-point loss.
Something that had never happened in previous matches between these two teams.
Afterward, the players saluted each other, and Seiho escorted the Senshinkan players to the parking lot before returning.
Through the bus windows, the reflection showed Seirin players returning to the gym, still in neat formation. Senshinkan's coach couldn't help but sigh.
"I really don't know if it's good or bad for ordinary high school students to be born in this era!"
"Back to training!"
The Seihoplayers didn't feel elated after beating Senshinkan; they immediately immersed themselves in new drills.
It was already late September, and the Winter Cup preliminaries would begin in early November.
Although Seiho and Rakuzan, having finished first and second in the Interhigh, were automatically qualified for the Winter Cup, the team still felt an increasing weight of pressure.
This pressure didn't come from the competition itself but from the heavy burden of being champions.
As Senshinkan's coach Kamitani Shōkichi had said, Seihos 25-point victory today, even without Akashi Asuka playing, wasn't just about skill.
The two teams were now carrying entirely different weights.
Time passed quickly, and it was now early November.
Seirin High School.
With Kiyoshi Teppei back and Kagami Taiga returning from overseas training, the rookie Seirin basketball team not only filled its interior gaps but also greatly improved each player's basic abilities over the summer.
"Oh~~ my left hand is basically fine now!"
"Ah! Even eating with my left hand feels natural lately."
Outside Seirin High, Kagami casually dribbled a basketball with his left hand. Seeing this, Koganei Shinji couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.
Last semester, Kagami's strength relied mostly on raw talent and basic technique.
His defense was passable, and aside from dunks, his offensive skills were messy at best.
The left hand, in particular, was a glaring weakness.
But after a summer and two months of intensive training before the new term, he had clearly filled that gap.
"Kiyoshi, you've been acting strange since just now! Did something good happen today?" Hyuga Junpei asked, noticing Teppei's wide grin.
"Eh? Did it?" Teppei replied, oblivious.
"Well… maybe it's just been a long time since a real game, so I'm a bit excited!"
"Don't mess up today. The paint is all yours to guard." Junpei patted his forehead, clearly helpless at Teppei's personality.
"Ah! Leave it to me! ~~!"
Everyone: …
Yeah… still a bit uneasy!
A moment later, Aida Riko arrived and said, "Is everyone here? Time to head out."
"No problem!"
"Good. Let's go! Time to take back what's ours!"
At the same time, Shutoku High.
A large raccoon wood carving sat in an open backpack. Midorima Shintaro sat on the bench, carefully wrapping bandages around his ten fingers.
"Hey~ Shintaro, you ready? The seniors are gathering!" Takao Wakamasa called from outside.
"Coming!"
At the same time, Tōō High.
"Oh~~ Aomine, here early today?"
In Tōō's locker room, Shoichi Imayoshi walked in to see Aomine Daiki already changed and waiting. This was surprising.
Normally, Aomine arriving within ten minutes after a game starts would already be considered punctual.
"Of course. I've been waiting a long time for today. This time, I'll beat that guy." Aomine's lips curled, eyes glinting with predatory intent.
Shoichi Imayoshi: …
"Uh, Aomine, having the drive is good, but I need to remind you: as last summer's national champions, Seirin doesn't play preliminaries. If you want to face them, you'll have to wait for the official matches."
Aomine's cold gaze froze. Like a robot, he stiffly turned, eyes wide, and said, "·····Huh???"
The Winter Cup preliminaries were smaller in scale than the summer nationals.
But that didn't mean they were less competitive.
The Tokyo region's preliminaries selected two teams from the top eight of last summer's preliminaries.
Other regions followed similar rules.
Although the process was shorter, teams in the preliminaries were all those who performed well in the summer.
Tokyo's preliminaries had only two rounds.
Round 1, Elimination: 8 → 4
Round 2, Round Robin: 4 → 2
Held over weekends, the preliminaries would last about two weeks.
Teams reaching the top eight in Tokyo were naturally no pushovers.
From the very start of the first-round elimination, the audience could feel a palpable tension in the air…
The first matchup: Tōō High vs. Senshinkan High.
"By the way, I heard you had a scrimmage against Seiho at the start of the semester?" Before the game began, Imayoshi asked with a smile.
"So what if we did?"
Senshinkan's point guard had a rare temper, but normally wasn't so fiery. Yet seeing his face, a strange flame of irritation rose instinctively.
This squinty-eyed guy doesn't look like someone trustworthy!
"Nothing. Just curious… in your eyes, who's stronger, us or Seiho?"
"Huh? What does that have to do with me?"
=============
Completed version available on Patreon.com/Veltoria