Chapter 83: Tendou’s Weakness

Teikō has won the championship. They dominated the national stage in overwhelming fashion. Looking back at Teikō's journey this year, there wasn't a single team that could match them. Partly because they were already champions in the original anime, but with Tendou joining the team, it was like adding wings to a tiger. What made them even more unbeatable was that Tendou, in order to rack up popularity points, had unlocked Kuroko early. With that, Teikō achieved true invincibility—they were already a fully formed monster of a team. Kise? At this point, whether they had the blonde golden retriever or not made no difference to Teikō! As the final seconds of the game ticked down, Tendou threw the basketball high into the air. The Teikō players, who could barely hold themselves back, immediately rushed from the bench, shouting and hugging their teammates on the court. This championship came both easily—and with great difficulty. The third-years had waited two full years for this moment. "We finally did it, Yamanada!" "Yeah, we finally did it!" Yamanada Yūta hugged his teammate tightly, only to see that his teammate's face was already soaked with tears. Even though everyone had a feeling this year would belong to Teikō, when the moment actually arrived, he still couldn't hold back his emotions. Tendou was much calmer in comparison. He turned toward Riko and raised his eyebrows smugly. "Show-off!" Riko mouthed across the court. "Tendou-kun, we won." "Yeah, we did." The first-years naturally gathered together, watching the "golden rain" falling from the rafters of the gymnasium. The organizers moved fast, setting up the award podium while the players were off showering and changing. First up was the third-place team, who received bronze medals. Then came the runner-up, who had just lost to Teikō, receiving silver. Finally, it was Teikō's turn. Led by their coach, the entire team stepped onto the stage and bowed to receive shiny gold medals from an old man. Tendou couldn't even be bothered to bite his medal this time—just one look told him it wasn't real gold. But seeing everyone happy made him happy too. He put on his beloved sunglasses again—just as flashy and over-the-top as ever. The championship trophy was handed to Captain Nijimura Shūzō. Then came the national tournament's "divide the spoils" segment. There was no surprise—Tendou was named MVP of the tournament, with a staggering stat line: 34.8 points, 3.2 rebounds, 6.3 assists, and 7.4 steals per game. After the celebration, Coach Shirogane Kōzō naturally had to treat everyone. But this time, he was smart—he'd already warned his wife in advance, so he could be as generous as he wanted. "Coach, the way you pay is so cool." "Hmph, no need to say it—I know." He was in such a good mood he even joked around with his players. "In the Shirogane household, what I say goes." "Cool!" "Then coach, next year let's go defend our title and eat some A3-grade wagyu beef!" "A3? Might as well not defend it then." Shirogane Kōzō laughed and scolded them affectionately. He thought Tendou really had no filter—only he dared to joke around like this with the coach. Other players were always more respectful. "But thanks to your rule-breaking attitude, we won the national championship this year." Finally, Shirogane sincerely addressed the team: "Great job, everyone!" ... They won the championship. And now Tendou was faced with another problem. "Riko, I'm begging you! This is the most important favor I'll ever ask!" "No!" "Don't reject me like this!" "No means no! I absolutely won't help you cheat!" Amanai Riko flatly refused. She honestly never expected it—Tendou turned out to be a total academic slacker. Every time exams came around, he'd always say, "Grades don't mean anything right now. Just wait and see!" But when the actual exam came, he had the gall to beg her to let him peek? What a clown. "Don't force me, Riko." "Or what? You gonna bite me?" Maybe she'd hung out with Tendou for too long, because she somehow saw this coming. "If you insist on letting me fail..." Tendou suddenly dropped his playful attitude and said seriously, "Then I'll have no choice but to tell everyone that you and I are living together." Riko froze like she'd been struck by lightning. She pointed at him, trembling, "You—you—you're despicable!" Right then, a classmate passed by and asked curiously, "Eh? That was a secret? I thought everyone in class already knew." "Hey, Yoko, you knew about Tendou and Riko living together?" "Of course, I was the one who told you, remember?" So it was you, you gossip queen. Tendou looked like he'd been struck by lightning too. ... In the end, he had no choice but to take the makeup exam—alongside his partner-in-failure, Aomine Daiki. "Why are you the only one?" "What do you mean? We're the only two from the basketball team who failed!" "What about Murasakibara?" "Murasakibara? Oh right, where is that giant purple baby?" Aomine was suddenly struck by realization. He didn't believe that fool actually passed the exam. Murasakibara must be hiding somewhere slacking off. This idiot didn't pass and still skipped the retest—he was ruining the team's academic reputation! They were Teikō, the new national champions, for crying out loud! How embarrassing would it be if people found out they had such a dumb teammate? "Don't get your hopes up, you two," Nijimura said flatly. "In our entire basketball club, only you two failed." What?! Tendou and Aomine stared in disbelief. "This isn't April Fool's, Captain. Why are you saying this kind of joke?" "It's not a joke. You two really are the only idiots in the club." Nijimura gave Tendou a side-eye. He never imagined that Tendou, who always acted like he didn't care about tests, was actually just academically hopeless. That confidence he always had—it was all just pretending... ... Hahaha! "So we're the only dumbasses? I can't believe it! Even Murasakibara did better than us!" 『His face is hilarious. The thunder effect? Top tier.』 『Can he even act smug after this? Just a dumb jock.』 『Oh wow, you're great at basketball? So what? I passed all my classes!』 Tendou had already turned off the barrage of viewer comments, but he still felt like everyone was laughing at him. Thanks to Riko's help, he managed to get through the retest. "Hmph. Only students need to take tests. A mature man like me doesn't need exams." Even afterward, Tendou still refused to admit defeat, making Riko roll her eyes repeatedly. "If you don't want to flunk again next year, try growing a brain." "Stop saying such evil things!"