Tetsuya Kuroko had never expected Daiki Aomine to look like this. He immediately shouted,
"Aomine-kun! Are you really going to give up basketball because of this?!"
"Are you really going to throw away all the effort you've put in over the years?!"
Daiki Aomine stopped again and turned to look at Tetsuya Kuroko, but he did not say anything for a long time.
Seeing that, Tetsuya Kuroko continued,
"The Aomine-kun I know is someone who dares to face strong opponents. Someone who gets more excited the stronger his opponent is!"
"Not someone who gives up just because his opponent is too strong!!!"
Daiki Aomine smiled bitterly at that. He thought back to what had happened on the court just now, and to Miyamoto Tokima's godlike Black Dragon, then murmured,
"Tetsuya, it's true that people get fired up when they face someone strong. But what if the enemy in front of you is so strong you can't win at all?"
"You have no idea how strong Miyamoto really is! The truth is, I didn't know either."
"I always thought I could catch up to Miyamoto. I thought I could beat him."
"But in that match just now, I saw it clearly. I finally saw the gap between him and me."
"Tetsuya, do you know? Miyamoto's Animal Instinct is a dragon! A terrifying black dragon!"
Tetsuya Kuroko was shocked by Daiki Aomine's words as well. His lips trembled as he murmured,
"Miyamoto's Animal Instinct... is a dragon?!"
Daiki Aomine nodded. Then, as if he had gone mad, he began gesturing wildly, even the expression on his face breaking apart.
"That's right. And that dragon isn't some Western lizard dragon! It's a true supreme dragon!"
"When I stand in front of Miyamoto, it feels like I'm an ant standing beneath the vast sky!"
"That's a gap you can never cross! There's no way to win!!!"
Tetsuya Kuroko looked at Daiki Aomine in front of him and felt a strange sense of familiarity.
As if he had seen this somewhere before.
'Ogiwara...'
At that moment, a figure slowly appeared in Tetsuya Kuroko's mind.
It was his childhood friend, Shigehiro Ogiwara!
Shigehiro Ogiwara's figure slowly overlapped with Daiki Aomine as he was now.
That was right. Back in middle school, hadn't Shigehiro Ogiwara broken down just like this?
And because of that, Shigehiro Ogiwara had completely given up on basketball and lost contact with Tetsuya Kuroko.
Thinking of that, Tetsuya Kuroko felt a dull ache in his heart.
He did not want to see another person he cared about give up basketball because of something like this.
Tetsuya Kuroko forced himself to steady his emotions. Then he looked at Daiki Aomine with a serious expression and said firmly,
"No way to win? I don't understand."
Daiki Aomine froze for a moment and stared straight at Tetsuya Kuroko.
Tetsuya Kuroko met Daiki Aomine's eyes without looking away at all.
"No matter how strong Miyamoto is, I'll still face him!"
"No matter how strong the opponent is, I won't back down! Recklessness is still closer to courage than cowardice!"
"And giving up basketball just because your opponent is too strong, is that really the way you thought about basketball when you first started playing, Aomine-kun?"
"Is your basketball really something you play only to win?!"
Tetsuya Kuroko's words stabbed into Daiki Aomine's heart one after another.
Daiki Aomine stood frozen in place, unable to speak for a long time.
Tetsuya Kuroko simply stood there with him and said nothing more.
After a while, Daiki Aomine said hoarsely,
"Tetsuya, you're still the same as you were in middle school. Still, thanks."
Tetsuya Kuroko looked pleasantly surprised and quickly asked,
"Aomine-kun, are you feeling better?"
Daiki Aomine slowly looked up at the sky and smiled.
"Much better. I never beat Miyamoto back in middle school anyway, and I didn't beat him this time either. What's there to get hung up on?"
"But when I think about not being able to beat Miyamoto, I'm still kind of frustrated!"
"Beat me? Daiki, are you playing basketball because of me? Are you saying that if you can't beat me, you'll stop playing basketball?"
While Daiki Aomine was still sighing over it, Miyamoto Tokima's voice slowly came from behind him.
Tetsuya Kuroko was the first to see Miyamoto Tokima and greeted him.
"Miyamoto-kun."
Miyamoto Tokima nodded slightly in response.
"Long time no see, Tetsuya."
Daiki Aomine suddenly turned his head and cried out,
"Miyamoto?! Why... why are you here?"
Miyamoto Tokima smiled faintly and said,
"Why am I here? If I hadn't come, I was afraid you'd never get yourself out of this."
"Seriously, Daiki, do you play basketball just to beat me? If you can't beat me, are you going to quit?"
"If that's really the case, then you might as well give up basketball right now, because you'll never beat me in this lifetime."
Daiki Aomine's face flushed red, and he shouted,
"Bullshit! Who says I can't beat you?!"
Miyamoto Tokima smiled faintly and spread his arms.
"Then come beat me."
Daiki Aomine was speechless for a moment, because he really could not beat him!
Miyamoto Tokima smiled as he walked closer to Daiki Aomine, then patted him on the shoulder and said,
"Daiki, you need to understand that there are all kinds of reasons to play basketball. Some people play because it looks cool, and some people play because it's their livelihood."
"But I want to ask you, Daiki. When you first played basketball, was it because it looked cool? Was it because of your livelihood? Was it because of me?!"
Daiki Aomine froze. Then he suddenly remembered the first time he had ever played basketball.
Why had he started playing basketball in the first place?
That's right. It was because he loved it!
The first time he touched a basketball, he fell in love with it.
His first basket, his first points, his first drive. Every single one had made Daiki Aomine love basketball so much he could hardly stand it!
He had always played basketball because he loved it!
But when had that changed?
Was it when he first met Miyamoto Tokima, or was it when Kōzō Shirogane collapsed from illness?
He did not know anymore.
Daiki Aomine smiled bitterly twice, then burst out laughing.
"Yeah. When did I change? I clearly fell in love with basketball because I loved it, so why did I let so many reasons and obsessions change me after that?!"
"I love basketball!"
As Daiki Aomine spoke, tears streamed down his face.
Miyamoto Tokima sighed and patted Daiki Aomine on the shoulder.
"So, Daiki, your basketball isn't something you play for anyone else. You play it for yourself."
"Think about it."
With that, Miyamoto Tokima stopped paying attention to Daiki Aomine and turned to Tetsuya Kuroko.
"Tetsuya, want to come eat with us?"
Just as Tetsuya Kuroko was about to answer, a series of shouts came from behind him.
"Kuroko! Where are you?"
"Kuroko! Get your ass out here!!!"
"Kuroko-kun, hurry up and come out! Coach is angry!"
...
...
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