[Please vote with the power stones; the more you vote, the more chapters will be published. Thank you.]
50 Power Stones = 1 bonus chapters.
100 Power Stones = 3 bonus chapters.
150 Power Stones = 5 bonus chapters.
------------------------
Three days later.
After lunch, Ryu brought Karupin to the Tokyo Gymnasium.
Today was the final of the junior high school basketball league.
Ryu had decided to come anyway, as a way of putting an end to his junior high school years!
The gymnasium was packed with people, all there for the final.
More accurately, they were there to see Teiko Middle School.
Ryu entered the gymnasium and found his seat.
Looking at the court, he immediately spotted the Teiko team.
Those brightly colored hairs were incredibly eye-catching.
'Momoi seems unhappy! But that's to be expected. Kuroko doesn't seem to be here!'
Ryu's gaze fell on Murasakibara Atsushi, with his purple hair.
He couldn't help it; he was the tallest and most noticeable person present.
'What's wrong with this guy? He's grown so much in just a few months, probably two meters tall.'
He continued looking.
'Aomine has definitely become much lazier, completely lacking in passion.'
'Midorima is still the same as always. Is that thing in his hand today's lucky charm? It's strange, it kind of looks like…'
Ryu's imagination ran wild; a whole bunch of items related to couples flashed through his mind.
When Ryu looked at Kise Ryota, he raised an eyebrow slightly.
'What's wrong with this guy? Has he gotten arrogant?'
Kise Ryota was clearly more arrogant now.
While he had been somewhat arrogant before, that was only in specific situations, such as in his areas of expertise.
But now, Kise practically wore his arrogance on his sleeve.
Finally, Ryu's gaze settled on Akashi.
Akashi maintained a calm and indifferent expression throughout, as if he weren't facing the finals, but merely an ordinary, everyday event.
'Hmph, you've become so arrogant. Wait until we get to high school, I'll make you cry.'
Thinking of Akashi crying with his head in his hands, Ryu couldn't help but smirk.
The match began quickly.
As Ryu expected, the match became a one-sided affair.
At the end of the first quarter, Teiko and Meiko's score was 35-0.
Meiko Middle School was completely shut out by Teiko in the first set.
Tsk tsk tsk…
This result wasn't surprising; the gap between the two sides was simply too large.
Ryu shook his head slightly.
'Being shut out in the finals, the Meiko players are probably already thinking of giving up!'
Ryu looked towards Meiko's rest area.
Shigehiro Ogiwara's eyes blazed with an unyielding flame.
But the others were different; everyone wore a dejected expression.
In a corner of the stands, a man and a woman were discussing the game.
The man appeared to be in his thirties, with short brown hair.
The woman was youthful and beautiful, her earnestness tinged with a touch of cuteness; she also had medium-length brown hair, with a hair clip framing her bangs.
After watching the first quarter, the woman exclaimed in shock.
"Dad, is this the 'Generation of Miracles'? It doesn't seem as exaggerated as everyone says! The game wasn't intense at all, just passing and shooting, yet they managed a shutout. How is that possible?"
The man replied.
"Riko, you can't judge a book by its cover. The 'Generation of Miracles' is very strong; every single one of them is incredibly strong. That's why they only need simple passing and shooting to score, making them seem ordinary. Teams that seem ordinary are either truly useless or ridiculously strong."
The man paused, thought for a moment, and continued.
"Riko, aren't you a coach at your school now? Pay close attention to Teiko's number 4. His playing style is very different from others. He's basically in charge of Teiko's offense; you could almost call him the coach on the court. This might be helpful to you."
The girl blinked curiously, her gaze fixed on Akashi Seijuro in Teiko's rest area.
The match soon resumed.
The second quarter ended the same way as the first, with Meiko being shut out 74-0 by Teiko.
At the start of the third quarter, Ryu noticed something was wrong.
Teiko's offense wasn't as frequent as in the first two quarters; they were passing the ball more often.
Meiko's offense, on the other hand, became much smoother.
'These guys…'
Ryu watched the game with a complicated expression.
The intention to throw the game was too obvious; who would believe there wasn't a conspiracy?
'Akashi did it again!'
Ryu stood up from his seat.
There was no point in watching this game anymore; the outcome was already decided.
He walked out of the basketball arena, took out his phone, sent a text message to Momoi Satsuki, and then disappeared into the crowd.
Tokyo Gymnasium.
In the infirmary.
Because of Kuroko Tetsuya's injury, Momoi Satsuki came specifically to take care of him.
Suddenly, a cell phone rang.
Momoi Satsuki pulled out her phone, checked the screen, and immediately stood up from the stool.
Kuroko Tetsuya, lying on the bed, saw Momoi Satsuki's reaction and asked curiously.
"Momoi-san, did something happen?"
Momoi Satsuki's hand holding the phone trembled slightly, but she said with a happy expression.
"It's Ryu... Ryu texted me."
Hearing this, Kuroko Tetsuya also sat up in bed.
"What did Ryu-san say?"
Momoi Satsuki opened the text message.
[I'm here. I've watched the match. Congratulations in advance on your victory. Please pass on a message to Kuroko: "If you don't want your friend to get hurt, you'd better stop those guys quickly."]
Momoi Satsuki looked at the message content with a puzzled expression, but still told Kuroko what it said.
Kuroko was somewhat confused, not understanding the meaning of Ryu's words.
However, he felt a weight pressing on his heart.
This feeling grew stronger, a premonition that something bad was about to happen.
Momoi Satsuki asked.
"Kuroko, who is that friend Ryu mentioned? Is he our opponent today?"
Reminded by Momoi Satsuki, Kuroko quickly got out of bed and ran out of the room.
"Kuroko..."
Momoi Satsuki quickly chased after him.
She followed him all the way to the LCD screen in the hallway.
Kuroko was intently watching the ongoing match on the screen.
Momoi Satsuki, slightly out of breath, approached Kuroko and said...
"Judging by the score difference, it should be fine! Ryu even said in the text message that a three-peat is guaranteed."
"Wait..."
Kuroko stared intently at the TV screen, his bad premonition growing stronger.
"This game feels a little... weird."
...
Several days later.
Ryu received a text message from Momoi Satsuki.
The final result was Teiko's victory.
Teiko successfully achieved a three-peat.
The "Generation of Miracles" was also highly regarded by many high school basketball coaches, who tried to recruit them.
Kuroko disappeared after that game.
Looking at the text message on his phone, Ryu was filled with emotion.
'So that's how it was.'
Ryu put down his phone and fell silent.
Three months later.
Teiko Middle School.
Basketball Gymnasium No. 1.
Akashi Seijuro, Murasakibara Atsushi, Aomine Daiki, Kise Ryota, Midorima Shintaro.
The five of them formed a circle facing each other.
Akashi looked at them and spoke.
"From now on, we're enemies. We'll meet again in high school, at the national tournament!"
"Ah, that's true, but there's no need to be so murderous right away!"
Kise seemed a little overwhelmed by the sudden change.
Murasakibara Atsushi said nonchalantly.
"It's just that we all happened to go to different schools! I don't care."
"Just happened to? That can't be right!"
Akashi suddenly interjected.
"There aren't that many schools with strong teams, but I don't think anyone here ever considered going to the same school!"
Upon hearing this, everyone's eyes flickered slightly.
They really hadn't thought about it.
Akashi smiled slightly.
"We've always hated being called the 'Generation of Miracles' by the outside world. I think that's why Ryu chose to leave!"
Mentioning Ryu, a hint of nostalgia appeared in everyone's eyes, but this nostalgia quickly disappeared.
Akashi continued.
"Whether it's Ryu or us, we'll definitely face each other. I don't believe he gave up on basketball like that. If we play against each other, we'll definitely know who's stronger. There's absolutely no one who's stronger than him unit now."
Hearing Akashi's words, no one uttered a rebuttal.
Akashi continued.
"To stand at the top, the six of us—no, the seven of us—must eliminate everyone except ourselves."
Akashi glanced at everyone and said calmly.
"I, Aomine, Midorima, Kise, Murasakibara, and Ryu and Kuroko will definitely join this war. It's inevitable, our inescapable fate."
Meanwhile, while the "Generation of Miracles" were indulging in their chuunibyou phase, Ryu was at home searching for something on his computer.
After a few quick clicks, a website appeared on the screen.
The website displayed the four large characters "Toho Kotei Gakuen".
Ryu looked at the screen and murmured to himself.
'Akashi, Aomine, Midorima, Kise, Murasakibara, Kuroko, next time we meet, we'll be rivals. Don't disappoint me then!'
As he thought this, a smile involuntarily curved Ryu's lips.
----
Could you subscribe on patreon? I want to reach 20 subscribers this month.
+ I publish 3 chapters daily on Patreon, in addition to the other advanced chapters, which are 30+ chapters.
That's about 90 chapters a month.
patreon.com/ayan41x