Chapter Ten: Saying Hello
Sendoh Akira didn't understand why Yagami Sorato stopped him.
The outcome of this one-on-one should be obvious. Besides, the whole point was just to show Yagami his deficiencies.
"It's rare to have this opportunity. There's something I want to try," Yagami said.
"Oh?"
"You're still hiding some tricks?"
Sendoh didn't say much, just picked up the ball and tossed it to Yagami.
What could be faster than seeing it firsthand?
After catching the ball, Yagami dribbled while studying Sendoh's defensive stance.
Still the same as before. No openings whatsoever.
Yet Sendoh felt something off—something different from the beginning. He was still maintaining that arm's length of space...
Wait!
The spacing between their bodies hadn't changed, but the distance between him and the ball was different!
Left-handed dribbling?
Yagami's left-hand ball control was indistinguishable from his right, so Sendoh hadn't even noticed the switch at first.
For the vast majority of basketball players, ambidextrous dribbling might qualify as a fundamental skill that wasn't particularly difficult to master—but that was all it was. Everyone had a dominant hand. Even if the gap between left and right control was minuscule, once you entered real game situations—driving, finishing, shooting—the difficulty multiplied exponentially.
While Sendoh didn't think Yagami could freely switch between offensive approaches, he cautiously adjusted his positioning, focusing on defending the ball-handling side.
BANG!
Just as Sendoh adjusted, Yagami suddenly switched back to his right hand. His legs exploded with power, launching him toward the right side.
"A feint?!" Sendoh's focus wavered for an instant. "This guy really does like breaking down defenders by splitting their attention. Crafty!"
Sendoh was a step slow but stayed glued to Yagami's hip.
Strength wasn't Yagami's only weakness—his vertical explosion wasn't exceptional either. Sendoh was confident he could use that advantage to swat Yagami's attempt from behind!
"Of course it won't be that easy."
Yagami knew this wouldn't shake his defender. His forward left foot planted hard.
Not a step-back—a massive lateral crossover!
Sendoh lost position instantly, but he didn't give up, planting and lunging toward Yagami.
Sendoh's spacing control was impeccable—he wouldn't collide with Yagami to draw a foul, yet he cut off the direct lane to the basket.
BANG!
The ball hammered the floor.
Yagami pulled it back left, changed direction again, and with his left hand on the ball, left Sendoh behind for an easy layup.
"He really is left-handed?!"
Coach Taoka could barely believe his eyes. Those two had just danced around each other under the basket.
And Yagami's offensive fluidity had only one explanation—Sendoh's movements fell within his predictions.
"Your left and right hands are equal?" Sendoh asked in surprise.
"There's still some difference, but it doesn't affect ball-handling," Yagami said. He'd discovered this during the practice game.
"???" Sendoh looked puzzled. "Then there basically isn't any."
"My left-handed shooting isn't great though," Yagami admitted honestly. No point hiding that.
Even without trying it, when he thought about attempting a left-handed shot, he completely lacked that familiar feeling he had with his right hand—naturally, he had no confidence it would drop.
"I see..."
"Again!" This time Sendoh wanted to continue.
Yagami had thought ending there would be pretty cool, but who could refuse more basketball?
And so.
They traded buckets back and forth, possession after possession. What could have been a ten-shot competition stretched into a full half hour, until both of them lay sprawled on the floor, completely spent.
"You two..."
Coach Taoka opened his mouth, initially wanting to stop them, but seeing them give everything they had while looking so fulfilled, he swallowed his words. He shook his head helplessly, though a barely perceptible smile flashed in his eyes.
---
The rooftop of Touou Academy's main building.
"Aomine-kun! Aomine-kun!" Urgent shouting accompanied footsteps echoing from the stairwell. "This is bad!"
Momoi Satsuki clutched her tablet, beads of sweat on her temples, breathing heavily from her sprint.
"TOO LOUD!" Aomine Daiki jolted awake from the commotion, his brow furrowing instantly. He rubbed his drowsy eyes, voice dripping with irritation.
"Kise-kun's practice game! Kaijo actually lost to another school!"
Aomine stretched lazily, his gaze sweeping across the tablet displaying intel Momoi had somehow collected.
"So what?"
"Don't you care about them anymore?" Momoi was clearly upset.
"Tch." Aomine scratched his head in frustration. "That idiot actually lost that easily."
No matter what, Kise Ryota was a member of the Generation of Miracles—one of the few opponents Aomine thought worth going all-out to defeat.
"So, which school?"
He'd heard from Momoi before that Kuroko Tetsuya had joined some high school called Seirin, planning to defeat the Generation of Miracles with his teammates there. It sounded laughable, but Aomine held a sliver of hope regardless.
"Ryonan from Kanagawa."
"Huh?" Aomine had never even heard of that school.
Momoi held the tablet in front of him. Aomine finally looked seriously at the data.
"Lost by nine points... the other team doesn't look that strong either." Aomine said dismissively. "This is getting harder to understand."
"There really aren't many notable players on Ryonan," Momoi swiped through the tablet. "Last year they were one game away from nationals, relying on a seven-foot center named Uozumi Jun—same height as Murasakibara—and Sendoh Akira, Kanagawa's Rookie of the Year."
"Looking at the stats, they performed pretty well in this practice game too."
"However, I heard that in the first half of the practice game, this first-year called Yagami Sorato went toe-to-toe with Kise!"
"Yagami Sorato?"
Another name Aomine had never heard. Though back in middle school, he'd barely remembered any players' names anyway.
"Aomine-kun, I heard Tetsu-kun's school is also going to Kanagawa for a practice game against Kise. Should we go watch?" Momoi asked hopefully. "I bet Midorima-kun will be there too."
"Boring. Not interested," Aomine said dismissively.
"Though Kanagawa might be worth a trip."
"Hey, don't go picking fights with players from other schools. You'll cause trouble for the team!"
"What are you talking about, Satsuki?" Aomine flashed a feral grin. "I'm just going to say hello."
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