Convenience store, rest area.
Four people sat together. Shimizu Rena and Satsuki Momoi gently sipped their milk tea in small mouthfuls.
Across from them, Haizaki Shogo and Aomine Daiki each held a hamburger in both hands, biting left and right and swallowing in huge gulps. The two of them looked like starving ghosts just released from hell.
Watching the two big boys devour their food so wildly, soft smiles spread across the girls' faces.
While chewing his burger, Haizaki Shogo casually asked Aomine beside him.
"By the way, Aomine, which high school are you guys going to?"
"Me? Tōō Academy. Already enrolled. Priority admission, free tuition, even a subsidy. Awesome, right?"
"...Forget I asked. What about you, Satsuki?"
"Haizaki-kun, I'm going to Tōō Academy too."
The plot hadn't changed. Satsuki Momoi still followed her childhood friend and entered Tōō Academy together with Aomine Daiki.
She didn't follow Kuroko into Seirin High. In Japan, a sixteen-year-old girl already understands many things.
So was Kuroko just admiration? And Aomine true love?
Those two questions were actually what Haizaki wanted to ask on behalf of all the readers—but if he really asked, he might lose a friend, the plot would collapse, and even the novel's world might fall apart.
Then this world would spread a legend: two questions that caused the destruction of reality.
Shaking off those thoughts, Haizaki talked about his own plans with Shimizu Rena, returning the courtesy.
"Shimizu-chan and I are still going to Fukuda Sogo. We'll enter the basketball club together and aim for the Nationals. After I join, let's have a practice match."
"Good idea. It's settled then. I'm really looking forward to Fukuda Sogo."
"Yeah. I'm looking forward to Tōō too."
On the side, Shimizu Rena and Momoi were already whispering to each other, exchanging information, experiences, and little secrets only girls understood.
Half an hour later, the four of them finished everything on the table and left the convenience store satisfied.
"It's still early. The Rainbow Bridge is closed. Want to go take a look together?"
"Sure! I've never been there."
"I agree, I want to feel the breeze too…"
"No objections here."
So, two boys and two girls walked together. Shimizu Rena in a white coat and Satsuki Momoi in a pink jacket linked arms at the front. A light wind blew across the bridge, their pink and red silhouettes framed by long hair fluttering in the air.
Behind them, Haizaki Shogo and Aomine Daiki watched in a daze. Those beautiful backs reflected in their eyes, and several white seabirds just happened to fly beneath the bridge, making the scene feel dreamlike.
Three days later, high schools across the country officially started.
Haizaki Shogo carried a sports bag and strolled into the high school section of Fukuda Sogo. Beside him, Shimizu Rena held a stack of books and kept talking nonstop, introducing all kinds of strange and interesting things to him.
Having studied at Fukuda Sogo from middle school to high school, Shimizu Rena knew far more about the school than the carefree Haizaki. Little by little, she patiently stuffed knowledge about the campus into his head.
And the road they were walking now led straight to Fukuda Sogo's basketball club.
They had already submitted their applications during campus activities before. Now, they were just coming to scout the place.
At the same time—Tōō Academy.
Aomine Daiki walked lazily with both hands behind his head. His slow, dragging pace made Satsuki Momoi unable to bear it anymore, so she walked behind him and pushed him forward.
To the new first-year students, this scene was enviable and romantic.
But this pair of childhood friends, who had always been together, ignored everyone's gazes and casually headed toward Tōō Academy's basketball club.
=======
Kaijo High.
Wearing a gray suit, Kise Ryouta walked elegantly through the Kaijo campus with a model's stride.
He wasn't familiar with Kaijo either, but he was too handsome and too friendly.
With just a casual question and a random grab, a crowd of girls surrounded Kise, chirping excitedly as they led him toward the basketball club.
Behind him, more girls had already taken out notebooks, waiting for his autograph.
=======
Shutoku High.
With bandages wrapped around his left hand and a small alarm clock (today's lucky item) in his right, Midorima Shintaro walked seriously, step by step, toward Shutoku's basketball club registration desk.
At the counter, he wrote his name—Midorima Shintaro—and the words Teiko Junior High Basketball Team.
His neat, beautiful handwriting made the second-year senpai stare in a daze, but all she was left with was his proud, tsundere back.
========
Yosen High.
Standing on the field, Murasakibara Atsushi looked a little lost. Without teammates guiding him, he seemed to have gotten… lost.
"Big guy, where are you going?"
"To the basketball club. Miss, can you show me the way? I'll treat you to snacks."
Holding a wooden sword, Araki Masako's eyes lit up. With an excited grin, she cheerfully led the giant Murasakibara toward the basketball club.
======
Rakuzan High School.
At the club recruitment area, several basketball team members stared blankly at an application form on the desk.
Applicant: Akashi Seijuro
Position: Basketball Team Captain
Previous School: Teiko Junior High Basketball Club (Captain for two consecutive years)
In the distance, three of the Uncrowned Kings—Nebuya Eikichi, Mibuchi Reo, and Hayama Kotaro—came sprinting over after hearing the news and grabbed the application form.
Their faces were full of excitement and joy.
Rakuzan welcomed a king today.
======
Seirin High.
A nearly 190-centimeter red-haired boy walked over to Seirin's basketball club recruitment area, bored and slightly disappointed, still dragging along the tiny guide, Koganei Shinji.
Kagami Taiga sat on the bench, picked up a pen, and under Aida Riko's shocked gaze, wrote down his name.
Then he boasted about how domestic basketball wasn't all that impressive and walked away step by step.
But no one noticed—right where Kagami had just written his form, a blue-haired boy also finished his application quietly, calmly, and slipped away from the recruitment desk.
When Aida Riko finally came back to her senses and the forms, she discovered that at some unknown time, an extra application had appeared in front of her.
On it, in clear letters, was written: Teiko Junior High Basketball Club.
Riko was shocked. The nearby teammates were shocked as well.
They didn't yet know that today, Seirin had also welcomed the Phantom Sixth Man of the Generation of Miracles.
These scenes played out across different schools.
And when each basketball team learned that a member of the Generation of Miracles had entered their school, every face lit up with excitement—
with longing,
with ambition,
with the desire for the championship.
=============
50+ Advance Chapters Available on Patreon.com/Veltoria
100 Power Stones = Bonus Chapter
Add to Library to support