Chapter 18: Training Through Competition

Daiki Aomine’s smile vanished abruptly. Tetsuya Kuroko, who had been guarding the right side, was now standing right in front of him.
Seeing this, Daiki spun quickly, blew past Kuroko in a single step, and finished with a layup.
Kuroko stared at Daiki in shock. He hadn’t expected the gap between them to be this large.

But Daiki Aomine was even more surprised than Kuroko. As he landed, he immediately turned his head and asked,
“Just now...”

Tetsuya Kuroko spoke first, offering praise.
“That was amazing.”
“Daiki Aomine-kun, could you do it again?”

The confusion on Daiki Aomine’s face disappeared, replaced by a grin as he nodded.

And so, Daiki Aomine and Tetsuya Kuroko practiced together all night.

Midway through, Miyamoto Tokima also trained with Kuroko for a while.
Just that brief exchange left Kuroko deeply shocked by Miyamoto Tokima’s shooting release speed.

He had seen Miyamoto Tokima shoot before, but only after actually defending him did Kuroko realize just how despair-inducing that speed truly was.

Daiki Aomine wanted to challenge Miyamoto Tokima to a one-on-one as well, but Miyamoto Tokima refused.
Daiki Aomine tried to keep pestering him, but the moment Miyamoto Tokima pulled out the recording device—
Daiki Aomine fell completely silent......

After that, Daiki Aomine said he would train with Tetsuya Kuroko every night.
Kuroko gladly agreed, and soon after, everyone headed home.

On the way back, Daiki Aomine clung to Miyamoto Tokima, whispering pleas for mercy into his ear, begging him to delete the recording.
Satsuki Momoi had no idea what was going on, but she was already cursing Daiki Aomine in her heart.

She was jealous.

Miyamoto Tokima, however, didn’t care in the slightest and casually said he’d delete it whenever he felt like it.
That left Daiki Aomine with a completely miserable expression.

...

Time passed quickly.
The first match for Miyamoto Tokima and the others finally arrived.
Teikō Middle School welcomed their first official match, facing Uesaki Academy.

“Hahahaha! No classes because of a game? This feels way too good!”

Daiki Aomine was bursting with excitement, his words filled with anticipation for the match.
Since it was game day, Miyamoto Tokima and the others were officially excused from classes to travel with the team.

For Miyamoto Tokima, Japanese academics were practically elementary-level—whether he studied or not made little difference.
Daiki Aomine, on the other hand, was completely different. His grades were never great to begin with, and he wasn’t the type to enjoy class.

Now, not only did he have a legitimate excuse to skip lessons, he also got to play his favorite sport.
The feeling was pure bliss.

Standing beside Miyamoto Tokima, Satsuki Momoi interrupted Daiki Aomine’s fantasy.
“Aomine, don’t think being in a game means you’re off the hook. You’ll still have to make up the missed classes later.”

Daiki Aomine’s mouth twitched as he replied impatiently,
“Yeah, yeah, I know. But seriously, why are you coming with us anyway?”

Satsuki Momoi was about to explain when Miyamoto Tokima cut in first.
“Because Satsuki has become our team’s advisor.”
“From now on, she’ll be coming with us to every game. That’s the coach’s order.”

Daiki Aomine froze for a moment, disbelief creeping into his voice.
“Momoi, you’re our team advisor now?”

Being questioned like that immediately annoyed Satsuki Momoi.
“What? You don’t believe me?”

Daiki Aomine waved his hand dismissively, sighing as if lamenting the team’s lack of reliable personnel.
Satsuki Momoi was so angry she wanted to elbow him, but Miyamoto Tokima stopped her.

He grabbed her hand and said softly, “Don’t bother with him.”

The moment Miyamoto Tokima took her hand, Satsuki Momoi’s cheeks flushed slightly, and her anger vanished instantly.

‘He’s holding my hand again… so embarrassing.’

The three of them walked together to the gathering point.
Seijuro Akashi, Shintaro Midorima, and the others had already been waiting for quite some time.

“Morning, Tokima-chan.”

Atsushi Murasakibara waved while munching on a corn cob, greeting his boss.

“Good morning, everyone.”

Miyamoto Tokima greeted them, and Akashi and the others responded one after another.

“Today is our first game,” the assistant coach said before the match. “Everyone, stay focused and get ready.”

“Isn’t Mr. Nijimura coming?”

Daiki Aomine noticed that Shuzo Nijimura wasn’t there and asked.

The assistant coach had already anticipated this.
“Nijimura has something to take care of today and can’t make it. Aomine, you’ll be starting in his place.”

“Awesome!”

Hearing that he’d be in the starting lineup, Daiki Aomine pumped his fist excitedly.
Starting in the very first match—he had to perform well.

Everyone boarded the bus together. Once inside, the assistant coach took out the roster and announced:
“Now announcing the starting lineup.”
“Point guard: Seijuro Akashi.”
“Shooting guard: Shintaro Midorima.”
“Small forward: Miyamoto Tokima.”
“Power forward: Daiki Aomine.”
“Center: Atsushi Murasakibara.”

“That’s the starting lineup. Prepare yourselves. We’ll begin the match once we arrive.”

“Yes!”

The team responded in unison.

As Miyamoto Tokima listened to the lineup, his thoughts stirred.
This lineup… it’s basically an all-star team.

It included almost the entire Miracle Generation. Although they were only first-years and still in the budding stage—not yet fully in bloom—their strength was already impossible to ignore.

Atsushi Murasakibara’s raw power was gradually being released.
Daiki Aomine’s speed continued to increase, his wild instincts awakening early, even if he still couldn’t fully control them.

That door had already been forced open a crack. It wouldn’t be long before he could push it wide open.

As for himself, there was no need to say more—his strength spoke for itself.
Shintaro Midorima was developing steadily, seemingly never missing a three-point shot.

Seijuro Akashi, in his first personality, was also growing consistently. His court vision kept improving, and the quality of his passes rose along with it.
Before long, he’d be able to deliver passes that pushed his teammates into a pseudo-Zone.

With a lineup like this, beating Uesaki should be easy… right?

But Miyamoto Tokima was wrong.
Although the Miracle Generation was powerful, they were still in their budding phase, and their coordination wasn’t particularly refined.
Uesaki Academy specialized in teamwork, and their ace, Inoue Genichi, was no weak opponent.

The bus arrived at its destination and slowly came to a stop.
Following the assistant coach, everyone got off and headed toward the venue.

Once they arrived, the two teams encountered each other backstage.
Uesaki’s head coach noticed that Teikō was being led by nothing more than an assistant coach.
Even their starting power forward, Shuzo Nijimura, was nowhere to be seen.

A sense of being looked down upon welled up inside him.
“Teikō’s coach, isn’t this going a bit too far?”

The assistant coach offered no explanation and simply led his team toward the locker room.

Inside, he originally planned to arrange tactics, but he recalled Kōzō Shirogane’s instructions from that morning and abandoned the idea.
Kōzō Shirogane had specifically told him that for the first match, there were to be no tactics at all—everything would be handled by the first-years themselves.

The assistant coach understood this was meant as training through real competition.
All he had to do was follow the arrangement.