Chapter 66: We Weren’t Discovered, Right?
Makoto Hanamiya eyed the two of them warily. By now, he had more or less guessed what they were planning.
“You two… you can’t be serious. Teikō’s core players actually coming off the court to block a nobody like me?”
He spoke with clear disbelief.
Shuzo Nijimura didn’t answer him directly. He rolled his shoulders and flexed his arms.
“You’re hardly a nobody, Makoto Hanamiya.”
Shogo Haizaki cut in impatiently.
“Enough talk. I’m not even a starter anyway.”
The moment the words left his mouth, Haizaki lunged forward, swinging a punch straight at Makoto Hanamiya’s face.
Hanamiya’s expression changed instantly as he hurriedly stepped back to dodge.
Haizaki’s fist whistled past his face, brushing his hair.
After narrowly avoiding the blow, Hanamiya shouted:
“Aren’t you afraid I’ll report this?! Get you disqualified from the tournament?!”
Nijimura, who had been about to step in, halted when he heard that, hesitation flashing across his face.
Nijimura hesitated—but Haizaki didn’t.
He pressed forward again, fists flying.
“Go ahead and report it. I’m the one hitting you—what does that have to do with anyone else?”
Haizaki’s voice was icy.
Hanamiya froze. For a moment, he realized Haizaki actually had a point, and his words stuck in his throat.
“You—”
“You what? Eat this!”
Haizaki’s punch slammed squarely into Hanamiya’s nose.
Hanamiya felt a sudden chill before blood burst out, pouring from his nostrils.
Hanamiya wasn’t weak by any means. Realizing Haizaki wasn’t intimidated in the slightest, he immediately fought back.
He snapped his leg up and kicked fiercely at Haizaki.
Haizaki caught the kick midair and yanked hard, throwing Hanamiya off balance. Then he raised his foot and drove it straight into Hanamiya’s stomach.
“Ah!”
Hanamiya staggered back several steps, clutching his abdomen. He lifted his head, wiped his nose with his right hand, and glanced at his fingers.
They were covered in blood.
Fury exploded across his face.
“You forced this!”
“Kentaro!”
Hanamiya roared and charged forward.
Seeing this, Kentaro Seto rushed in after him, turning the fight into a two-on-one.
At first, Haizaki managed to hold them off. But soon he realized that Hanamiya and Seto had begun coordinating their attacks.
That made things far more difficult, and Haizaki could only struggle to endure their combined pressure.
Nijimura shook his head helplessly and muttered:
“This idiot… does he think fighting is just about brute force?”
As he spoke, he placed his phone on the ground, the camera aimed squarely at Hanamiya and Seto.
After setting it up, he spoke clearly into the lens:
“This video is evidence. Makoto Hanamiya and Kentaro Seto are attacking my junior. I’m going in to break it up.”
With that, Nijimura rushed forward and shouted:
“Stop it! All of you, stop!”
Haizaki barely managed to fend off the blows. Hearing Nijimura’s shout, he cursed inwardly.
‘Stop what? I’m about to get overwhelmed here!’
Nijimura moved in and blocked Hanamiya, shouting:
“Hanamiya! I told you to stop!”
The moment Hanamiya was restrained, Seto turned and threw a punch at Nijimura.
Nijimura dodged quickly and shouted back:
“Hey, hey—what are you doing? Let’s talk this out!”
Seto didn’t slow down at all, continuing to attack relentlessly.
Nijimura kept evading, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly as he warned loudly:
“If you don’t stop, I’m going to fight back.”
Hanamiya regained his footing. Rage clouded his mind as he rushed in again, teaming up with Seto to attack Nijimura.
Nijimura smiled faintly.
“Then I’ll defend myself.”
He took a stance, weaving between their attacks while throwing sharp counterpunches.
Before long, both Makoto Hanamiya and Kentaro Seto were knocked unconscious by Nijimura alone.
The two lay sprawled on the ground, faces bruised and swollen, completely out cold.
Haizaki walked over, shock written all over his face.
“You—”
Before he could finish, Nijimura raised a hand, signaling him to stay quiet.
Nijimura walked back to where he’d placed the phone, picked it up, and held it toward his own face.
“Video evidence proves that Makoto Hanamiya and Kentaro Seto attacked first. This was self-defense.”
With that, he stopped the recording.
Haizaki pointed at the phone, confused.
“You… what was that?”
Nijimura turned around and flicked his fist down onto Haizaki’s head.
“Ow! Ow! Ow!”
Haizaki clutched his head and cried out in pain.
Only then did Nijimura explain calmly:
“Don’t be so reckless next time. Don’t let people grab leverage over you.”
“This video proves I had no choice but to act. Otherwise, if we got reported, we wouldn’t even have an argument.”
“Be smarter next time. Got it?”
Haizaki nodded while holding his head.
“Got it.”
Satisfied, Nijimura took his phone and snapped a couple of photos of Hanamiya and Seto’s miserable state.
After confirming the shots, he dialed for an ambulance.
“Hello, is this the hospital? Someone’s injured here… Yes… beaten up… I don’t know who did it, I just arrived…”
“We’re at… that’s right… please come quickly… okay, thank you.”
After hanging up, Nijimura grabbed Haizaki by the collar and started toward the court.
“Let’s go.”
“Don’t pull me! I can walk on my own!”
Haizaki snapped, shrugging him off and striding ahead.
Nijimura stayed where he was for a moment, watching Haizaki’s back with a small smile.
‘That brat…’
——————
“Beep! The game is over!”
By the time Shogo Haizaki and Shuzo Nijimura returned to the court, the match had already ended.
With Makoto Hanamiya and Kentaro Seto gone—and after what had happened to Meisei’s other players—the remaining Meisei members no longer dared to try any underhanded tricks.
Teikō swept the rest of the game effortlessly.
Final score: Teikō Middle School 98 — Meisei Middle School 50.
Miyamoto Tokima walked up to the two of them.
“Settled?”
Haizaki nodded.
“Settled.”
Miyamoto Tokima glanced at Nijimura. After seeing him nod as well, Tokima spoke again:
“We weren’t discovered, right?”
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