Kuroko: Mahoraga - Chapter 29: Slow Down. You Almost Ran Into the Sole of My Shoe! (Patreon)

Realizing Masato was there, his teammates relaxed considerably.

But deep down, they still couldn’t shake their fear of Enoura.

It was understandable. They had lost to Enoura far too many times.

Enoura felt like a fate they could never escape.

Masato was at a loss for words about this.

At the same time, he felt sympathy for their plight.

...

After the coach finished his announcement, the team resumed practice.

During this short period, Masato had been training intensely.

Almost every day, he was the last one to leave the gym.

His teammates had grown accustomed to this.

But today, Ishida and Kenji stayed behind to practice extra as well.

The two rarely did extra practice.

It was clear that the upcoming game was weighing on them.

Masato paid them no mind and continued with his own training.

During practice, he never let himself get distracted by other things.

Another ten or so minutes passed, and practice ended.

He walked off the court, sat on a bench, and took a break while drinking water.

At the same time, he listened to shot after shot clanging off the rim.

Masato couldn’t help but shake his head.

Those two had to be apprentices of some master blacksmith or something.

At this rate, they were going to knock the rim crooked.

Masato finished his water, stood up, and packed up his things.

As he was leaving, he called out to Ishida and Kenji:

“Head home early. Don’t put so much pressure on yourselves. There’s no need.”

“I’ll lead you guys to victory!”

Masato waved and walked away.

Inside the gym, the two exchanged glances, both shaking their heads and chuckling.

“‘There’s no need’… Talk about confidence!” Ishida remarked.

“Yeah. An opponent putting this much pressure on us does not even seem worth worrying about to him.”

As Kenji spoke, he seemed to remember something and looked at Ishida: “Didn’t you forget you had something to say to Masato?”

Ishida fell silent for a moment before replying, “Forget it. Compared to a personal grudge, winning the game matters more!”

...

Compared with Tokyo, the Kanagawa qualifiers started later.

The reason was simple. The two regions had different numbers of participating teams.

To keep the later rounds on schedule, the organizers had pushed the Kanagawa qualifiers back.

Time flew by, and the day of the match had finally arrived.

The team arrived early at the school gates.

They had no cheerleading squad with them. It was a far cry from the treatment Teiko received.

Once everyone was present, they boarded the school bus.

On the way, the team members had mixed feelings.

They were excited to compete, but nervous about facing Enoura.

There was no traffic, so the bus moved quickly.

In just over twenty minutes, they arrived at their destination.

The venue was not a famous arena.

Its size was about the same as the Tokyo qualifying venue.

After getting off the bus, Masato didn’t see any media reporters with cameras.

It was still a qualifying round.

But the treatment was completely different from their experience at Teiko Middle School last time.

Still, that was to be expected.

After all, the two situations were worlds apart, so the level of attention they received was naturally different.

The team headed to the locker room designated by the tournament organizers.

The qualifying round schedule was very tight, with many matches taking place in a single day.

They were scheduled to play the first match.

So, after changing into their uniforms, everyone entered the arena early to begin warming up.

Before long, the Enoura players arrived as well.

Each team took one half of the court and began warming up.

Just as Masato thought everything was proceeding smoothly and they were simply waiting for the game to begin, he heard the Enoura players start trash-talking right to their faces.

They spoke loudly without the slightest attempt to hide it.

“Why do we keep drawing Kawari? I’m sick of playing them.”

“Exactly. We beat them once, and now we can’t seem to get rid of them.”

“Actually, playing teams like this is the best!”

“Yeah, it’s a breeze.”

“Playing them isn’t even as tiring as practice.”

“...”

Their arrogant attitude showed they didn’t take Kawari seriously at all.

They’d already taken victory for granted.

As if that were not enough, one of the Enoura players walked over to Ishida.

“Nice to see you again, Ishida,” he greeted with a smile, though his eyes betrayed his contempt.

“I never expected to run into you in the very first match. You guys really can’t wait to go home, can you?”

“What, planning to catch the sole of my shoe with your face again?”

Ishida hadn’t intended to respond, but as the other player grew increasingly provocative, his already short temper was completely ignited:

“You fucking...”

The curse had barely left his mouth before he lunged forward.

The two immediately started grappling with each other.

At the same moment, teammates from both sides rushed over.

Masato moved faster. Pretending to break up the fight, he wrapped up the Enoura player and held him in place.

This allowed Ishida to land two hard punches right on the kid’s mouth.

“Damn it, let go! Let me go!”

“Ow, that hurts...”

The blows had him crying out in pain.

For a moment, the scene descended into chaos.

It looked like it was about to turn into a full-scale brawl.

The referee, who had been standing by the sidelines, rushed onto the court immediately.

He pulled the two sides apart.

Just like that, the Enoura player got the worst of the exchange.

Holding his face, he glared resentfully at Masato and Ishida.

Ishida had also vented his frustration.

But he was clearly still a bit annoyed as he looked at Masato:

“Masato, thanks for that earlier.”

“If possible during the game, pass me the ball a few more times.” Ishida pursed his lips and added, “Of course, as long as it doesn’t affect our chances of winning.”

Masato naturally had no problem with such a request.

He could tell that Ishida and the opponent must have some history.

As it happened, this system mission also required a certain number of assists.

Even if Ishida hadn’t said anything, Masato would have passed the ball to him anyway.

...

It was time for tip-off.

With tensions already running high, players from both teams rushed onto the court.

The centers stepped up for the tip-off.

Thanks to the height advantage of Enoura’s center, the opposing team secured the ball first.

Enoura had possession, and the hostility between the teams was already at a fever pitch.

As soon as they got the ball, the opposing team launched a fast break.

The point guard pushed the ball hard on the break, with the rest of the team charging alongside him.

They didn’t stop at all to set up a play.

They completely ignored Masato and his teammates.

They intended to run straight through Kawari and finish them off as easily as slaughtering chickens and sheep.

But that point guard was reckless.

He actually charged straight at Masato.

Masato almost stared in disbelief. This Enoura guard was seriously reckless.

With such a wide-open space in the middle, he didn’t try to drive through it.

Instead, he came all the way to the side looking for Masato. Was it just because Masato had helped Ishida a moment ago?

If that was how he wanted to play it, Masato would gladly take the gift.

The guard made a quick change of direction.

“Smack!” Masato stripped the ball cleanly.

Before the point guard could react, Masato secured the ball and fired a long pass that sailed across more than half the court.

It landed in Ishida’s hands.

There was not a single defender anywhere near Ishida.

“Boom!”

Completely unguarded, Ishida rose high and slammed the ball through the rim.

After landing, he let out a shout of excitement.

He pointed across the court at Masato in appreciation of the pass.

Before Masato could even respond to his teammate’s celebration, he felt a pair of eyes staring at him from behind.

Masato turned around, the corners of his mouth curving upward:

“Slow down. You almost ran into the sole of my shoe.”