Shigure Akihito turned his head.
One finger.
Gun shape.
Aimed.
Target: Aomine Daiki.
"You've still got a long way to go, Aomine."
Aomine grinned, unable to hold back the smirk tugging at his lips, his white teeth flashing under the lights.
"If we were teammates, that'd be such a shame, Shigure-senpai."
Because Aomine had recklessly cranked himself up into the Zone, the tempo of the scrimmage spiked dramatically.
He was still being suppressed, but he felt incredible—and that, of course, made things much more complicated for Seirin.
On court.
After snatching away Kuroko's pass, Aomine darted forward. Two shadows instantly crossed Kuroko's line of sight, one before and one after—Shigure Akihito and Hagioka Kasayuki.
Seeing the two of them chasing him down, Aomine couldn't help but laugh out loud.
"Senpai, what are you doing? We're teammates, remember?"
Shigure raised a brow and shook his head, speechless.
"Huh? When I passed the ball earlier, weren't you trying to steal it from me? That's not exactly what a 'teammate' does, is it?"
Aomine's eyes gleamed, his grin feral—like a leopard about to pounce.
"As expected of Shigure-senpai. You get it too well~!"
Thud!
From the side, Hagioka Kasayuki bumped into Aomine, nearly knocking him off balance.
"So this is how you Teiko guys play? Kid, you're way too reckless."
"Because chances like this are rare~ Monster-senpai!"
Boom!
Aomine's eyes sparked with electricity as he struck back fiercely.
Hagioka didn't even look away from Shigure as he responded calmly:
"Then I'll join in for now too."
Another possession.
"Hey, hey~!"
"You guys look down on me that much?"
"Am I invisible to you?! Huh?!"
Haizaki Shōgo, snarling like a hungry wolf, stepped in front of Shigure Akihito, rage burning in his eyes.
Beside him, Izuki Shun was ready to help on defense at any second.
But the moment Haizaki squared up, Shigure's body dipped another dimension lower—then, with a flick between Haizaki's legs, he fired the ball toward the empty space behind him!
Explode!
Dive!
Accelerate!
Accelerate!
Accelerate again!
Even with Haizaki using Hayama Kōtarō's Lightning Dribble, his speed was nothing compared to Shigure Akihito in the Zone.
He and Izuki were left in the dust—completely blown away.
Chasing down the ball that had just been passed into open court, Shigure's next movement was seamless: from the through-pass to an explosive burst—it was one continuous flow of motion.
When he broke past Haizaki's defense, Haizaki didn't even have time to turn his ankles.
"Zone…"
"That's terrifying!"
"So fast!"
"Haizaki, who can copy techniques like a monster, still can't catch up!"
"The only one who can is—"
Aomine's vision had turned into a blur of white.
In that instant, it felt like the whole world had vanished—only two figures remained, sprinting headlong toward the basket.
It had been a long time since he'd seen that back from this angle.
That's how his senpai ran—always ahead.
Elsewhere, Koganei Shinji was seriously wondering if he had just zoned out for a moment
because there was no other explanation for how Hagioka and Shigure, with bodies that large, could disappear from sight in the blink of an eye!
When he turned his head
He saw them streaking like lightning!
Pass!
Chase!
Pass again!
Accelerate
Catch up to the ball, and blow past the next defender in the same breath!
He even saw Shigure curve around in an arc and—just by sheer speed—burned right through Kiyoshi Teppei!
At that moment
Shigure's eyes were calm as still water.
The wind roaring past his ears only sharpened his focus.
His gaze locked on the basket—nothing else existed in his pupils.
Right leg forward.
Left leg draws power.
Flames burst across his body—"as fierce as fire" incarnate—flowing seamlessly into his movement, fueled further by the lightning-quick momentum he carried.
Leap!
Bang!
Bang!
Beside him, Hagioka Kasayuki did the exact same thing.
Both of them launched, their jumps and acceleration like twin cannonballs fired straight toward the rim.
Even though this was just a scrimmage with uneven strength between teams, no one had expected the play to escalate to this level.
Every single person in the gym fell silent, holding their breath, their exhalations merging into one drawn-out hiss.
CRASH!
Shigure's dunk—colliding midair with Hagioka's—became a synchronized finish.
Their hands pressed on the ball together, slamming it through the hoop!
Then—momentum and inertia carried their bodies through the air, a chaotic clash that reminded Kurokami Shinji and Fukaya Reiji of something familiar yet distant
That IH game, when Shigure, Hagioka, and Nijimura had all grabbed the rim together and nearly tore the hoop down.
But this time
Hagioka acted first, dramatically slapping the backboard with one hand—using that force to steady himself.
His monstrous strength—immovable as a mountain—froze his entire body in midair for a split second before he gently dropped to the floor.
Meanwhile
Shigure went one step further.
He released his grip from the rim with a twist, swinging off it into a backward midair rotation
540 degrees.
Landed perfectly, facing his own half of the court.
And then
Arms spread wide.
Head tilted back.
Eyes closed.
He basked in that instant of silence
The silence he and Hagioka had created together.
Not a sound.
A total stillness.
Shigure turned his head slightly, glancing at Hagioka beside him.
The other man seemed to think of something—then smiled faintly.
Across the gym, the U20 coach's reporters were frozen, unable to process what they had just seen.
Their minds replayed only that single image—two figures sprinting from the backcourt, tearing through every defender
and scoring like this.
A kind of goal never before seen even in U20-level play.
Around the gym, the three assembled teams stared at Shigure Akihito and Hagioka Kasayuki, each with their own complex feelings buried deep inside.
After a brief silence, the first to react was Teiko's only player who hadn't taken the court—Kise Ryōta, whose spot Hagioka had taken in the lineup.
His big eyes widened into perfect circles, and he mimicked his senpai's pose—arms raised high.
"Senpai!"
"Full marks on the pose!"
"Elegant!"
"Truly elegant!"
From the bench, Nijimura Shuzo exhaled deeply.
"…That's not elegance."
"That's showing off. Absolutely, ridiculously showing off."
END OF CHAPTER
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