The next day.
Hibari’s doorbell was pressed early in the morning.
When he opened the door, he saw Yukino standing there with her arms crossed, wearing a white dress and a floral hat.
Although she was still young, her graceful figure and delicate features were already beginning to show.
In the future, she would certainly become a great beauty.
“Why are you here so early?” Hibari had not fully woken up yet and yawned.
“The plan of the day lies in the morning.
That is an old saying from China.” Yukino habitually took a few jabs at him.
“Rather than saying I came early, it would be more accurate to say you woke up too late.
If you spend a large amount of time sleeping…” “Stop right there!
I know you’re smart.
Come in first.” Hibari stepped aside to let her in.
Only then did he notice her outfit, which looked as though she had dressed up deliberately.
“Did you dress up specially?” “Do I look good?” “You look good.” “I’m sorry to tell you that this is how I normally dress.
You can give up on your fantasy that I dressed up specially for you right now.” “As long as you’re happy.” Hibari didn’t argue with her.
Yukino’s mouth was like it had been smeared with poison, and she was not easy to provoke.
“I haven’t fed Yukino yet.
Help me feed her.
I’m going to brush my teeth.” The moment Yukino heard that name, the tips of her ears reddened.
She already knew that Hibari had named the kitten “Yukino.” Just thinking about Hibari holding the kitten in his arms and calling “Yukino, Yukino” made Yukino Yukinoshita’s chest beat faster despite herself.
But the moment she heard the kitten meow from hunger, she forgot everything and walked over to pick it up, burying her face in it.
Top-tier inhale!
…
And then, the entire morning passed.
Nothing happened.
Under Yukino’s supervision, Hibari frantically crammed his schoolwork.
At noon, she very skillfully opened the refrigerator, took out ingredients, and went to the kitchen to cook.
Hibari wanted to help, but she blocked him back.
“Don’t try to use cooking as an excuse to avoid studying.” Damn it.
This woman understood him too well.
Hibari could only lower his head and study hard.
During lunch, he alone devoured two large bowls of rice while mumbling, “Putting aside that unforgiving mouth of yours, whoever marries you in the future will have a blessed stomach.” Many anime had that kind of setting where the food made by beautiful girls was hell-level cuisine.
Satsuki Momoi was exactly like that.
No matter how simple the dish, she could make it so that eating it meant you had to go to the hospital.
Yukino had no such weakness.
On the contrary, she was very good at cooking.
If only she were a little more grown up, she would be practically perfect.
“From naming the cat Yukino to what you just said, that is already enough to constitute sexual harassment!” The tips of her ears began turning red again, but her face was fierce as she warned Hibari not to say things carelessly.
“I’m telling the truth.” “A girl who looks this pretty and cooks this well is practically an endangered species.” Yukino picked up her chopsticks and struck him with them, refusing to let him continue.
“Don’t talk while eating.
That is the most basic etiquette!” ?
He praised her, and she still wasn’t happy.
So hard to please.
The two quietly ate their meal.
After eating, they resumed tutoring.
For two straight days, Hibari spent his time under Yukino’s supervision.
In between studying, they would also go out for walks.
It was simple, but also harmonious.
…
Monday.
Chiba Middle School’s basketball club.
“Huff…
huff…
huff…” Eikichi Nebuya’s breathing became rapid.
His face was flushed, and sweat covered his head.
Before he could recover, Hibari shook off his defender and accelerated into the paint.
“Ah!” The instant their bodies made contact, Eikichi Nebuya couldn’t help letting out a low roar.
“Bang!” Their bodies collided in midair, and Hibari was knocked sideways.
This guy Eikichi Nebuya really was too solid.
However, Hibari still successfully put the ball in.
“King Crimson!” He shouted inwardly, twisting his body in the air and forcibly finding a scoring opportunity under those circumstances.
“Swish!” Hibari’s layup went in for 2 points.
Almost at the same time, the club member serving as temporary referee on the sideline blew the whistle to end the game.
46-41!
The team led by Hibari defeated the team led by Eikichi Nebuya.
Now, when Hibari led a team against Eikichi Nebuya, it was no longer a matter of losing more than winning.
He had become better at using his body and his ability.
This meant that Hibari already possessed combat power at the level of the Uncrowned Kings.
That was why Chiba Middle School had been able to play so easily in those previous four warm-up games.
Their team now effectively had two players at the level of the Uncrowned Kings.
“Damn it!
My muscles actually lost!” Eikichi Nebuya clenched his fists and roared toward the sky, looking more and more like an ape-man.
“I think you should train your technique once in a while too.
If you blindly rely on muscles to play, you’ll suffer for it sooner or later.” “Shut up.
I only lost to you because my muscles still aren’t trained enough.
If I could knock you away all at once, you definitely wouldn’t have made that shot!” What he said made so much sense that Hibari actually couldn’t find a way to refute him.
However…
“There are limits to human talent.
A person’s strength can’t improve infinitely.” “Of course I know that.
But I haven’t reached my limit yet, have I?
Technique is something I can train after my muscles reach their limit.” You’re hopeless.
Couldn’t you train both at the same time?
Hibari completely gave up.
Eikichi Nebuya’s obsession with muscles had already reached a pathological level.
In the original work, he had faced Teppei Kiyoshi in middle school.
Judging from his tone, he had definitely suffered quite a bit.
As a result, after Eikichi Nebuya went back and reviewed everything, he came to one conclusion.
His muscles had not been trained strongly enough, which was why he had lost to Teppei Kiyoshi!
“All right, gather up!” After the game ended, Hayato Takahashi did not immediately dismiss the team.
Instead, he had everyone gather.
His first sentence made everyone’s body jolt.
“The schedule for the prefectural tournament is out.” This sentence had another meaning: the national tournament was about to begin.
They had trained hard in the basketball club for a full year, waiting precisely for this day.
Not just basketball.
In most sports anime, many players would cry bitterly after losing a match.
It wasn’t because they were fragile or loved crying.
The national tournament came only once a year.
From the prefectural tournament to the final, the whole process lasted only about three months.
But for those three months, players needed to put in a full nine months of hard training.
Some players even had to spend one year, or even three, before they had the chance to step onto the court.
Everyone longed for victory!
Seeing how impatient the players were, Hayato Takahashi did not keep them in suspense.
“This year, we’ve been placed in the lower half of the bracket.
Our first opponent is Toho University Affiliated.” Toho University Affiliated, full name Toho University Affiliated Middle School.
It was a fairly famous local school in Chiba Prefecture, covering elementary school, middle school, high school, and university.
Basketball clubs from this type of school all had one characteristic.
The players felt a very strong sense of belonging to the school.
After graduating, many players would choose to advance directly within the same system rather than choose another school.
Therefore, Toho University Affiliated had a very solid basketball club foundation.
Every year, it could absorb members from its lower-level basketball clubs.
Whether or not they had many talented players aside, the size of their basketball club was definitely larger than Chiba Middle School’s.
They had a full sixty members.
Aside from that, there was one more point that had to be mentioned.
To guarantee the team’s overall level, Toho University Affiliated’s basketball club used the same tactics from university to high school, middle school, and elementary school.
This allowed many first-year players to integrate into the team extremely quickly after advancing, without any adjustment problems.
…
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