"All of you, take this seriously. Third quarter, we push the lead past 20."
Haizaki turned to bark at his useless teammates.
His attitude was as foul as ever, making no effort to hide his contempt for them.
That was just his personality. Couldn't be changed.
But compared to the original story where he'd slap teammates for the slightest thing or pick fights over nothing—
His current behavior was practically angelic.
Then—
The second half began.
Fukuda Sogo came out with Haizaki leading a slam dunk for two.
14 points.
Not enough. To safely weather those few minutes, this lead was nowhere near sufficient.
Haizaki had stopped resisting the fact that he was acting like Yuuto.
So what if I'm not being myself? Let me just beat that trash Kise first.
On Kaijō's possession—
The team was still struggling under the weight of Haizaki's stolen skills.
Their turnover rate skyrocketed. Their shooting percentage plummeted.
Even Hayakawa Mitsuhiro's rebounding ability had been stripped by Haizaki. Kaijō was being crushed on all fronts.
Kise had no choice but to take matters into his own hands, attacking relentlessly. His ever-changing arsenal of skills made him immune to Plunder.
But with their physical abilities evenly matched, this level of copying wasn't unbeatable.
14 points. 16 points. 18 points...
Though the lead wasn't growing quickly, Fukuda Sogo was undeniably building an ever-larger advantage.
Haizaki watched the scoreboard, feeling pleased with himself.
But just then—
A full-court three-pointer arced through the air from Kise's hands.
"The Generation of Miracles' Midorima Shintaro's full-court shot!"
Kise had finally made his move.
Haizaki turned to look. Kise's demeanor was practically Midorima reborn.
"I've got important games ahead of me."
Kise spoke coldly, his gaze clashing with Haizaki's in mid-air.
But he wasn't truly looking at Haizaki. His eyes drifted past to his teammates.
First Midorima. Then Murasakibara. Aomine. Akashi. Finally, his gaze traveled through the crowd and settled on the number 10 jersey on Seihō's bench.
He shouted at Haizaki, "Stop getting in my way!"
Bastard!
Haizaki despised that look—eyes that didn't register his existence at all.
Next possession.
He ripped the ball from a teammate's hands and charged straight at Kise.
His speed was blistering, his technique comprehensive with no weak points.
And yet—
As he drove into Kaijō's paint and leaped, before he could attack the rim, he caught a glimpse of Murasakibara's silhouette in Kise's form.
All the skills he'd plundered from various players became useless. In that instant, Kise's palm swatted the ball away.
Kaijō's fast break.
Kise sprinted at the head of the pack.
Kasamatsu reacted immediately, scooping up the ball and hurling it forward.
A fast break was about to materialize—but Haizaki cut Kise off at the three-point line at the last second.
"Stop looking down on me, Kise!" he roared, his eyes flickering toward Kise's leg—the one that had been injured before.
He'd noticed it from the start. Kise had been consciously avoiding putting pressure on that leg. Either the injury hadn't fully healed, or it had left lasting damage.
He was afraid of getting hurt again, which made him play timidly.
In that case, just one little step on it, and this trash would fall apart...
Haizaki made up his mind. But just as he was about to act—
Suddenly.
He saw his old captain's shadow superimposed over Kise.
Damn Kise Ryouta, copying Yuuto's playing style at a time like this.
Clean. Efficient to the extreme. Every movement was precisely calculated—not one wasted motion.
"Of all times to show me that guy..."
"Damn bastard!"
Haizaki gritted his teeth and held back.
As Kise blazed past him like a streak of gold, Haizaki immediately spun to give chase.
But Haizaki was still Haizaki.
Even without attacking Kise's injured leg, he had plenty of other dirty tricks.
Thump! The two leaped simultaneously, their bodies colliding violently in mid-air.
Haizaki pulled his gaze away from Kise's injured leg, but couldn't help throwing an elbow into Kise's ribs.
Kise grunted in pain and immediately switched to Aomine's style, contorting his body for an acrobatic layup that found the net.
In the stands, Akashi's eyes widened briefly, then he lowered his head with a slight smile.
I'm not as good as you, Yuuto.
"Huh? Sei-chan, what did you just say?"
"Nothing."
Akashi let out a breath of relief. What he'd been worried about... probably wouldn't happen now.
"That hurt."
Kise landed and rubbed his ribs, glaring daggers at Haizaki.
"Can't you just play basketball fairly? Is this your basketball?!"
"Hmph. If you're scared, get off the court. Basketball's a man's game."
With that, Haizaki turned and walked away.
Kise froze.
Those words... didn't sound like anything Haizaki would say. They sounded more like something Yuuto would say.
...
Am I imagining things?
He couldn't worry about that now. He had to win this game first.
Fukuda Sogo's possession.
Haizaki continued his dirty tactics—jersey grabs, hidden elbows, the usual repertoire. The only thing he didn't do was go after Kise's leg.
Kise played through the discomfort, gritting his teeth and pushing forward.
Then—
Haizaki found his moment, exploding with acceleration.
In that instant, his body seemed to split in two, attacking past Kise from both sides simultaneously.
"Yuuto's Phantom Mirage?!"
"It should be called Haizaki-kun's Phantom Mirage," Kuroko corrected.
This technique had originally been derived from Haizaki's abilities.
Yuuto had simply learned it while helping Haizaki develop new skills.
...
Haizaki carved into the paint and finished with a hook shot he'd plundered from who knows where.
As he landed, he threw over his shoulder at Kise, "Don't give me that crap about having important games to play. Who cares? A second-rate player like you will never beat me."
Fukuda Sogo finally broke their scoring drought.
But the momentum had completely shifted.
Under Kise's leadership, Kaijō was clawing back rapidly, while Fukuda Sogo barely hung on.
Finally—
Tweet!
The whistle pierced the air. The referee signaled the end of the game.
Kaijō had completed an incredible 18-point comeback to defeat Fukuda Sogo and advance to the Winter Cup quarterfinals.
"I won, Haizaki."
After the game, Kise approached Haizaki and extended a friendly hand.
Haizaki, channeling his inner Yuuto, glanced at the outstretched hand, fought the urge to spit on it, and wordlessly turned to leave.
This is absolute garbage!
Haizaki gathered his things and left the arena without waiting for his teammates. On his way out, he ran into Akashi.
"That was a wonderful game, Haizaki."
"Akashi."
Haizaki's expression turned icy.
"If you're here to laugh at me—to mock me for losing to Kise, to gloat that your prediction was right—do me a favor and keep your mouth shut."
Otherwise, he would absolutely throw hands with this pretty boy.
"No. I'm here to apologize again."
"Huh?"
"For the hasty judgment I made back then. To maintain this level of play after a year away from basketball is remarkable. Keep going like this, and who knows—you might break through your own ceiling."
...
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