Kuroko: Mahoraga - Chapter 40: Is a Broken Genius Still a Genius? (Patreon)

Basketball was different from soccer. Scores could climb extremely high over the course of a single game.

Sometimes the gap between two teams became enormous, with blowouts reaching margins of 58 points.

But 175–56 was still absurd even by those standards.

In the current Japanese junior high basketball scene, Teiko was about the only school capable of producing that kind of overwhelming scoreline on a regular basis.

Kanagawa had never had a team like that.

Even its traditional powerhouse programs rarely created such enormous gaps against their opponents.

After Kawari’s game against Fujii, however, that perception changed completely.

Kanagawa finally had a juggernaut of its own.

For the longtime local fans who had watched the entire game, sleep was going to be difficult that night.

They had followed Kanagawa basketball for years, and the region always seemed to fall just short.

A championship forever felt out of reach.

To make matters worse, Tokyo had produced Teiko, a team that looked ready to build a dynasty.

Plenty of fans had already grown disappointed with Kanagawa basketball.

But after watching Masato’s outrageous performance, they could not stop themselves from dreaming again.

Just how far could this dark horse that had appeared out of nowhere actually go?

The next day, the media went all in on the story.

Coverage of the game spread everywhere in basketball circles.

Masato went to school as usual, and the change around him was impossible to miss.

Normally, most of the attention came from other students.

Today, even teachers greeted him as he walked through campus.

They congratulated him on the win and asked whether all the training had been exhausting.

That alone showed how far the impact of the game had spread beyond the usual basketball audience.

By the end of the day, Masato’s desk was stuffed with love letters and little notes.

There were so many that a few had fallen onto the floor because there was no room left inside.

Once again, Masato was reminded just how terrifyingly enthusiastic Japanese girls could be.

Fortunately, it did not cause him much trouble.

Most of the letters had been slipped into his desk while he was away.

As Masato’s reputation continued to grow, fewer girls were actually brave enough to walk up and start a conversation with him.

That was one advantage of all the attention.

At least he had a little more peace and quiet.

The teenage boys around him could only look on with envy.

And envy was as far as it went.

Once someone pulled too far ahead of everyone around him, feelings like jealousy became much harder to sustain.

...

After classes ended, the players gathered at the Basketball Club.

Everyone was excitedly trading stories about what had happened during the day.

“You guys have no idea. Two underclassmen girls came up to talk to me today!” Ishida bragged loudly.

The players around him laughed as he showed off.

Less than two seconds later, Kenji ruined it for him.

“You’ve got some nerve bragging about that. Weren’t those two girls actually asking about Masa?” Kenji gave him a sideways look, his face full of amusement.

Ishida did not care in the slightest.

He answered shamelessly, “What do you know? Why didn’t they go ask you? Why did they come to me instead? I’m obviously just that charming!”

“Besides, I made the news too!”

Masato had passed to Ishida plenty of times, and Ishida’s energetic play on the court had left an impression on several reporters.

So when the articles discussed the way Masato had connected the entire team, Ishida had received a mention as well.

The teammates around him looked genuinely envious when he brought it up.

Seeing his friend so pleased with himself left Kenji looking like he’d bitten into something rotten, his face twisted into a constipated grimace.

“You call that making the news? They mentioned you in passing in one little corner,” he muttered.

Ishida only shook his head smugly.

“Go ahead and be jealous. I told you ages ago to be more outgoing, but you never listened. Now look at you!”

The starters were not the only ones who had noticed a difference that day.

Every member of the Basketball Club had received several times more attention than usual.

It was treatment none of them had ever experienced before.

That was understandable.

In the past, the team had no results to speak of and kept getting beaten by the same opponents over and over.

They were lucky people did not mock them. Why would anyone have paid attention?

By the end of the day, everyone had learned the same lesson.

Basketball really was more fun when you won.

What had they even been doing before this?

Every player reached the same conclusion.

They were going to follow Masato all the way.

They would reach the National Tournament and keep producing better results from there.

...

By this point, the other regions had already finished their qualifying tournaments.

Kanagawa was the only one that still had not finalized its last National Tournament berth.

After the game against Fujii, the remaining schedule accelerated noticeably.

From then on, Kawari played roughly once every two days.

They won every game comfortably.

The system did not issue any special missions during that stretch.

Because of that, Masato did not go out of his way to run up the score against anyone.

The National Tournament was almost here, so he focused more on using those games to help his teammates improve.

As a result, the scorelines were not nearly as outrageous.

At least, that was how Masato saw it.

To everyone else, Kawari still looked ridiculous.

From the outside, the team’s rise had been unbelievably sudden.

The moment Kawari burst onto the scene, it looked like a predator charging into a flock of sheep.

Quite a few people said watching them gave the same feeling as watching Teiko.

More and more articles about Masato appeared every day.

He was gradually becoming another major junior high star alongside the Generation of Miracles.

Naturally, curiosity kept growing with his reputation.

More people wanted to come watch him in person and see whether he was really as good as the media claimed.

...

After another day of practice, Coach Nakamura asked everyone to stay behind.

Lately, every post-practice meeting had ended with the announcement of their next opponent.

Today was no different.

“Everyone, our opponent for the final qualifying game has been decided.”

Coach Nakamura looked over the team, excitement clear in his voice.

Everything they had worked for over the past several weeks had been aimed at reaching the National Tournament.

Now they were only one win away.

How could Nakamura not be excited?

“Our opponent will be Kurosawa Junior High.”

“They’re a strong team and another traditional powerhouse.”

“And they have a star of their own. Makoto Hanamiya.”

Nakamura’s expression turned serious as he said the name.

Masato was slightly surprised too.

He had not expected to run into someone who had appeared in the original story.

That was right.

Kurosawa’s ace was Makoto Hanamiya, the “Bad Boy.”

From what Masato remembered, Hanamiya was the type of player who fought dirty.

He used plenty of underhanded tricks, and he was extremely intelligent.

Masato could not clearly remember much beyond that.

While he searched his memories, Coach Nakamura continued in a serious tone.

“We’ve been winning nonstop lately, but none of you can afford to get careless.”

“This opponent has a bad habit of playing dirty. Stay alert on the court, play hard when you need to, and protect yourselves.”

Nakamura frowned again and looked directly toward Masato.

“Especially you, Masa. Make sure you protect yourself.”

Masato nodded.

Hearing how serious the coach sounded, the rest of the team took the warning to heart as well.

Ishida thumped his chest and shouted, “Don’t worry, Coach! If they dare touch Masa, I’ll make sure they don’t walk out of the arena!”

Coach Nakamura stared at him, momentarily speechless.

Ishida’s straightforward enthusiasm almost made him wonder whether he had gone too far with the warning.

“Take it easy. I’m not telling you to start a fight!”

But Ishida had already gotten everyone fired up, and voices started coming from all around the team.

“Don’t worry, Coach!”

“Yeah! There’s no way we’d let Masa get hurt!”

“Then we’ll take them down!”

“...”

The team grew louder and louder, although the mood seemed to be heading in the wrong direction.

Anyone who did not know the situation might have thought Kawari were the real bullies.

Masaki Nakamura and Masato could only shake their heads and laugh.

...

Elsewhere, inside the Basketball Club at Kurosawa Junior High, a player sat alone near the court.

Long hair hung over his face, and his entire presence carried a gloomy air.

In his hands was a newspaper featuring an article about Masato’s recent performances.

He read it for a while.

Then his lips slowly curled into a silent grin.

“Heh. Is a broken genius still a genius?”