It was the last day of the training camp.
Rakuzan, Seirin, and Hagioka Kasayuki's team had all left.
Days had already passed since the appearances of Sun Fengwu, Takauta Kōka, and Zhu Yangyu.
Morning.
In the dorm room of Midorima Shintarō, the TV played the cheerful jingle of a morning horoscope show.
"First place today goes to you, Cancer! Enjoy the day with your friends~"
"Your lucky item is a rubber duck~"
Midorima nodded seriously.
He remembered—on that day when his fortune was ranked dead last, something indeed very unpleasant had happened.
Those two terrifying foreigners…
That arrogant-looking Zhu Yangyu…
Though truth be told, he'd seemed rather strange after being stopped by Shigure-senpai—the two had ended up chatting like old friends, even swapping playlists or something. And that guy's strength was the real deal…
But what truly stood out to Midorima was the other one—Takauta Kōka.
He'd only passed the ball once to Shigure-senpai.
Yet that single pass had made both Shigure-senpai and Nijimura-senpai exchange shocked looks, as if confirming something incredible.
To be honest, Midorima hadn't understood what had happened.
From his eyes, the shot looked… perfectly ordinary.
But he knew
Scoring "an ordinary shot" against Nijimura's defense was, in itself, anything but ordinary.
And if even Captain Nijimura reacted like that—then something truly unusual had taken place.
A loud, irritated voice cut through his thoughts.
"Oi, what the hell—who turned on this stupid TV!?"
Midorima turned, expression calm.
"Haizaki."
"Before you head out, you'd better prepare yourself. Your fortune today is ranked dead last."
"Haah?"
"What kind of crap are you spouting now?!"
Scowling, Haizaki Shōgo got out of bed—only to immediately run into the one person guaranteed to ruin his morning mood: Nijimura Shuzo, standing at the doorway with his usual intimidating glare.
"Slacking off on the last day already?"
"Haizaki, huh?"
"Want me to drag you out myself?"
"…"
Haizaki froze.
Damn it… that fortune-telling freak—why is he always right?!
A little later
At the temporary outdoor court beside the parking lot, Kise Ryōta stretched his long arms and smiled brightly under the morning sun.
"Yo~ Morning, everyone!"
"Good morning, Kise~!"
It was Momoi Satsuki, cheerful as ever, followed by Shigure Akihito in casual clothes.
"Shigure-senpai! Momoi!"
Kise waved energetically.
Shigure smiled.
"Congratulations, Kise—you're first place in the horoscope today."
Kise scratched his head, grinning.
"Finally! Training camp's over, and we can just relax and play ball—it's kinda nice for once. You got here early, senpai!"
"Are we the only ones here?" he asked.
A quiet voice answered from behind.
"I'm here too."
Oh.
You're here too
Wait—eh?!
Kise jumped, spinning around.
"Whoa! Kuroko! Don't sneak up like that!"
Soon after, Aomine Daiki arrived, and trailing behind—thanks to his usual laziness—was Haizaki Shōgo, who was literally dragged in by Nijimura Shuzo.
"Ahaha~ Haizaki, you idiot~"
"Shut up, you sunburned gorilla!"
"Ah—Midorima," Kuroko greeted politely.
Before they could continue bickering, the sound of a bicycle bell rang out.
It was the lodge owner, pulling up with a very serious-looking Midorima Shintarō sitting primly in the back—holding, of all things, a rubber duck.
"Ahem." Midorima coughed lightly, embarrassed. "I asked the owner to fetch today's lucky item."
The way Haizaki and Aomine looked at him said it all.
Then, realization dawned on Haizaki.
He rounded on Nijimura instantly.
"Oi, you violent freak! Why didn't you chew out him for being late? He came later than me!"
Thud!
"Shut it," Nijimura said flatly, cracking his knuckles.
"Midorima woke up early, helped me set up the court, and then went to do his own stuff."
Standing nearby, Midorima nodded, expression prim.
"Any temporary absence was pre-approved with Captain Nijimura."
Haizaki rolled his eyes.
"No wonder you're the perfect little vice-captain."
After a moment of thought, Midorima reached into his pocket and handed Haizaki something small.
A tiny packet of dried fish.
Haizaki blinked.
"What the hell is this?"
"Your lucky item," Midorima replied solemnly. "Dried fish. Since your fortune is last today… use it to counter bad luck. I'd rather not have you ruin a rare reunion by jinxing yourself."
Haizaki stared blankly.
Then, remembering how he'd been caught by Nijimura that morning, he sighed.
He didn't throw it away.
"Tch… couldn't it at least be something normal?"
Just then, Akashi Seijūrō approached, polite as always.
"Captain Nijimura, Shigure-senpai—I couldn't find Murasakibara, but he's most likely at the convenience store."
Moments later
Rustle, rustle
"Ah~ morning, everyone~!"
They turned to see Murasakibara Atsushi crawling out of a bush, followed by an exasperated Kurokami Shinji and Fukasaya Reiji.
"This guy got completely lost," Kurokami sighed. "If Reiji and I hadn't been jogging, he'd probably still be wandering out there."
Sensing Nijimura's aura, Murasakibara quickly shut up, shuffled over to Midorima, and quietly showed him his convenience-store loot bag.
Midorima looked at him wordlessly.
So that's your "battle trophy"? You look way too proud of yourself.
Momoi giggled.
"Alright, looks like everyone's finally here!"
Shigure scanned the group, smiling faintly.
"After today, the next time we meet will be on the high school courts. So for now—let's just relax and enjoy the game."
"Twelve of us total," he said.
"Let's split into four teams."
"I'm teaming with Momoi."
"Eh? Me too?!"
"Of course. Otherwise we'd only have eleven players—it wouldn't divide evenly."
Momoi blushed, clutching the basketball.
"O-Okay then… everyone, please go easy on me! I'm not very good!"
From the edge, Haizaki muttered under his breath,
"With Shigure the monster on your side, it doesn't really matter if you're good or not…"
Which earned him a dark look from Nijimura.
"Haizaki. You're on my team."
"…What?!"
Before anyone could argue, Momoi suddenly clapped her hands.
"Oh, right! Let's take a photo first! Once the game starts, we might forget!"
She pulled out her camera and directed everyone to line up.
Instinctively, everyone fell into the formation they'd used back when Teiko won the championship, without even needing to be told.
Momoi froze for a second, surprised by how naturally it happened.
Then she set the timer and ran toward Shigure.
Click!
The shutter snapped.
Before they each went their separate ways in high school
Teiko's one rare moment of unity was forever captured in that single photograph.