Chapter 87: The Look of Someone Who’s Never Been Beaten by Life

Kise had joined the basketball club—and quickly caught the attention of Shirogane Kōzō with his extraordinary talent. When the assistant coach knocked on the office door to report another gifted kid had joined, Shirogane was already numb to it. At this point, Teikō had no shortage of geniuses. But when he arrived at the court and saw Kise watching others, instantly copying their moves, and even executing them better, Shirogane was still a little shocked. "He's a first-year?" "No, same year as Tendou. Second-year." "A transfer student?" "Nope. He's been in other clubs until now. This is apparently his first time playing basketball." Another one from a different club? Shirogane paused—why were all their basketball prodigies coming from other sports? He thought of Tendou, who started off wielding a sword, and now he was Teikō's undisputed ace. This Kise Ryōta had previously been a soccer player... "Keep observing." Shirogane didn't immediately promote him to the first string. Kise was still far from Tendou's level. And besides, Teikō's first string this year was stacked. Last year's first-years were now all key players. Barring surprises, Shirogane was planning on starting: PG: Akashi SG: Midorima SF: Tendou PF: Nijimura C: Murasakibara Aomine and Haizaki would come off the bench. They were simply victims of roster depth. Tendou's spot was locked. Haizaki, who played the same position, could only be a substitute. Nijimura was the captain—there was no way he'd be benched. That meant Aomine had to rotate in. There was one upside: when Tendou played with the second string, he got more touches and could unleash his full offensive power. In the first string, the ball usually ran through Tendou. He and Kuroko were an impeccable duo—their synergy off the charts. ... After a week of "leveling up," Kise had dominated the third and second strings. Now, the assistant coach brought him to the first string's training ground. By then, Kise's ego had already inflated. He thought: Once I beat these guys, I'll have basically conquered basketball. He'd heard that this team had just won the national championship. People were calling this Teikō lineup the strongest in the school's history—perhaps in all of the national tournament's history. ... "Starting today, he'll be a member of the first string." "Introduce yourself." Kise stepped forward with a confident smile. "Hi, everyone. I'm Kise Ryōta from Teikō's 2nd-year Class B. Please take care of me." "Huh? It's you?" "Oh, the idiot who didn't even dodge when he got hit by the ball." Kise mentally inserted a giant hashtag above his head and looked toward the voice. It was a burly guy nearly 2 meters tall. This dude's also in middle school? he thought. "Is he a model too? Just like Tendou. Though Tendou's still slightly better looking." These people are so rude! Who was Kise Ryōta? Every club he'd joined, the coaches and captains had practically leapt for joy shouting, I'm rich! But here? No one even looked at him straight. Outrageous. They must see me as a threat to their positions! That's gotta be it! ... "Why is this guy's inner monologue so dramatic?" Tendou had already noticed Kise. He remembered this was roughly the time Kise joined. But the guy's mental theatrics were wild. Tendou checked the live comments and saw every bit of Kise's inner turmoil. 『Why does this feel so familiar...?』 『Oh—I get it. It's the same vibe as Haizaki.』 『Hey pretty boy, welcome to hell!』 The viewers were ready for a show. Just like Haizaki, Kise seemed to have main character energy—only to be humbled into a benchwarmer. Veteran fans already understood: Teikō had no real rivals last year, and probably wouldn't this year either. So Kuroko's future opponents likely had to come from within. Everyone was curious to see how the story would develop—and how Kuroko might end up at odds with his teammates. ... "Let's get to know each other. Welcome the newcomer. Let's start with a game." Wait... what kind of "game" are we talking about? Kise thought everyone here spoke like gangsters. But at least they weren't really going to brawl. Just a scrimmage. "Strength decides everything? Perfect." ... Shirogane gathered the players. "Time to divide into teams." Team A: Akashi, Midorima, Tendou, Nijimura, Murasakibara Team B: Kise, Haizaki, Kuroko, Aomine, and another player This was a hugely unbalanced matchup. But Aomine didn't care—as long as he got to go against Tendou. "Let's do it, Ryōta. I'm taking that guy down today!" Aomine cracked his knuckles with fire in his eyes. Kise blinked. Why is this dude talking to the air...? "Let's do our best, Aomine-kun!" HOLY—! Kise literally jumped in place. At some point, a blue-haired figure had appeared right beside him. It was creepy. This basketball club was nothing like any he'd joined before. Everything was weird. ... "Shirogane-san, are you planning to have Kise play point guard? Replace Akashi?" "Yeah. He's got incredible learning ability. He can handle any position except center." After a few days of observation, the coaches had figured Kise out: Insanely high basketball IQ and instincts Learns any skill instantly Relatively obedient and easy to coach Perfect to step in for Akashi. Haizaki? Nope. His attitude sucked. He only respected Nijimura. Everyone else? He looked down on them. In short: they needed someone coachable. ... And then... First play of Team B's offense. Kise ignored Aomine calling for the ball, dribbled past half court, and went solo. "Doesn't matter how weird you all are—I'll take you all down!" Kise was pumped. Just like in every other club, he planned to wipe out the competition. Soon enough, he figured, he'd get bored and move on to the next sport. "Let's start by crushing this Tendou guy." "A pretty boy better looking than me? Gotta take him down first. Then I'll handle the guy who looks strong—Aomine!"