Daiki Aomine frowned. The figure in front of him felt strangely familiar, yet he couldn't quite place who it was.
"Find… the gatekeeper?"
"Where the hell am I supposed to find one? Miyamoto, stop being such a damn riddler!"
Aomine complained helplessly.
But since he was already here… he might as well give it a try.
With that in mind, Aomine walked toward the second Gate. But just as he reached it and was about to push it open—
He was stopped.
The thin shadow stepped forward and blocked his path.
No matter what Aomine tried, the shadow refused to let him move even half a step closer.
After spending so much time around Miyamoto, Aomine had also picked up the habit of complaining.
"Damn it! What the hell is this thing?!"
Aomine was speechless.
Before, when there wasn't any gatekeeper, he could at least touch the Gate.
Now that there was one, he couldn't even get close!
"Miyamoto! You screwed me over!"
Aomine looked like he was about to cry.
Miyamoto, why the hell did you have to mention a gatekeeper?!
With no other choice, Aomine could only leave that place and return to the court.
When he opened his eyes again, the look he gave Miyamoto was filled with resentment.
Miyamoto suddenly felt a chill down his spine. Turning his head, he saw Aomine staring at him with a deeply aggrieved expression.
Miyamoto shivered.
Crap… Aomine isn't about to switch teams on me, is he?!
...
The game continued, with Tōō in possession.
Aomine still controlled the ball alone, standing in front of Miyamoto with an unmistakably resentful expression.
Miyamoto swallowed and asked cautiously,
"Aomine… you're not…"
Aomine cut in fiercely,
"Miyamoto Tokima…"
Before he could finish, Miyamoto quickly interrupted.
"Wait a second. Don't call me by my full name right now—it sounds a little weird."
Aomine froze for a moment, but went along with it. After all, he had something more important to ask.
"Why did you talk about a gatekeeper?"
"You didn't have one?"
"I do!"
"Then that settles it. Go find that gatekeeper."
"The problem is it only appeared after you said it! It wasn't there before!"
...
For a moment, the air fell completely silent.
After a few seconds, Miyamoto asked uncertainly,
"There wasn't one before?"
Aomine nodded and said through clenched teeth,
"There is now."
Miyamoto gave an awkward laugh.
Who would've thought Aomine didn't have a gatekeeper yet?
In the original story, Aomine had encountered the gatekeeper very early.
But now, even this late, there still hadn't been one. That left Miyamoto somewhat puzzled.
"Whatever. That's not important right now."
"More importantly, your offensive time is almost up."
Miyamoto waved his hand to remind him.
Only then did Aomine glance at the shot clock.
Eleven seconds remained.
So the usually carefree Aomine stopped thinking about the gatekeeper and prepared to attack.
Crack!
Aomine instantly activated Zone.
Then he unleashed Animal Instinct once more.
With both states active, Aomine once again reached his peak condition.
"Gotta admit, Aomine. Your stamina's pretty impressive."
Aomine replied immediately,
"Miyamoto, I haven't skipped a single day of training."
Now that Miyamoto had confirmed Aomine wasn't… well, that, he stopped worrying about the way he was being addressed.
Instead, he focused completely on defense.
Aomine's eyes sharpened.
The basketball shot forward from his hands as he burst toward the paint.
Miyamoto's body emitted faint white light as he locked tightly onto Aomine, preventing him from entering the lane.
At the same time, Shuzo Nijimura and Shogo Haizaki collapsed toward the paint, ready to ambush Aomine at any moment.
Dicky Anthony stood near the arc, keeping an eye on the players along the sidelines.
Atsushi Murasakibara even gave up the best position in the paint, standing instead along the opposite side of the free-throw line.
His purpose was to help defend against Tōō's other players.
Even so, with Dicky Anthony and Murasakibara guarding the interior rotations, Tōō's other four players were completely open.
Wide open.
But Aomine acted as if he hadn't seen them at all.
He stubbornly refused to pass, continuing to attack Miyamoto again and again.
Haizaki and Nijimura exchanged a glance and smiled.
Without hesitation, the two rushed forward.
The three of them completely trapped Aomine.
He couldn't dribble anymore and was forced to pick up the ball to protect possession.
Aomine held the ball tightly with both hands, his back to the basket while scanning the three defenders with the corner of his eye.
Miyamoto and the others all wore faintly mischievous smiles, their eyes gleaming sharply.
"Miyamoto, that's dirty!"
"Wasn't this supposed to be a one-on-one?!"
Haizaki spoke first.
"Hah. Aomine, basketball is a five-man sport."
"If you want one-on-one, come challenge us at Kirisaki Daiichi after the game."
"Right now, this is five-on-five."
As he spoke, Haizaki reached out repeatedly to harass the ball, making sure Aomine didn't dare loosen his grip.
Nijimura did the same, smiling as he interfered constantly.
"Aomine, now you understand that one man can't beat everything, right?"
Aomine gritted his teeth, clutching the ball tightly.
Surrounded by three defenders, there was no way he could pass or shoot.
Meanwhile, the shot clock continued to tick down.
Kosuke Wakamatsu saw the time running out and realized this couldn't continue.
He decisively ran to the free-throw line and shouted loudly:
"Aomine! Ball!"
Aomine naturally heard the shout.
But in his current situation, how could he possibly pass?
Suddenly, the pressure on his left side disappeared.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed something.
Haizaki had deliberately shifted slightly, leaving a passing lane open.
For a moment, Aomine hesitated.
Should he shoot… or pass?
Four seconds remained.
Just as he was still hesitating, Wakamatsu's furious yelling erupted again.
"Aomine, you idiot! Pass the damn ball already!"
Aomine gritted his teeth.
Fine! Whatever!
Based on the direction he had heard earlier, he flung the ball outward.
...
Are you serious?
Haizaki looked down awkwardly at the basketball that had slammed straight into his chest.
He fell silent.
Miyamoto glanced at him and gave a subtle signal.
Haizaki immediately understood.
Before Aomine could turn his head, Haizaki casually tossed the ball behind him.
The ball landed in Wakamatsu's hands.
Wakamatsu caught it, confused.
For a moment, he also fell silent.
At that moment, Aomine turned around and saw the ball in Wakamatsu's arms.
Damn it!
That idiot wasted my perfect pass!
Aomine roared furiously.
"Attack already, you moron!!!"
I finally pulled off such a stylish pass and you're just standing there spacing out?!
Unforgivable!!!
...
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