Kuroko: Mahoraga - Chapter 61: Everything Is Fuel! (Patreon)

Teiko had always been a traditional powerhouse.

Historically, they had never managed anything as outrageous as winning championship after championship, but they had appeared in every major tournament.

Then Shuzo Nijimura came along and pushed Teiko into the ranks of the nation's elite.

And that was only the beginning.

Not long after, several once-in-a-decade prodigies from the Generation of Miracles gathered there at the same time.

That completely elevated Teiko into a class of its own.

From that point on, they joined forces to sweep every honor available to them.

Every team that faced Teiko ended up losing.

Maybe back in their first year of junior high, some of the stronger schools had still been able to fight back.

But as time passed, Teiko separated itself from everyone else completely.

With that kind of overwhelming dominance, it was only natural that they attracted a massive fan base.

You could see it just from the reaction of the crowd today.

In junior high basketball, Teiko was simply on another tier.

In both strength and popularity.

...

As the crowd shouted excitedly, the players from Kawari and Butai grew eager as well.

Everyone turned their attention toward the court.

Before long, warm-ups ended and the game officially began.

Teiko's starting five showed no mercy from the opening tip.

Judging by the way they were playing, they clearly wanted to end this boring game as quickly as possible.

The crowd was swept along by Teiko's performance, screaming again and again from the stands.

They did not care how competitive the game actually was.

All they wanted was to watch the Generation of Miracles put on a show and lose themselves in one absurd highlight after another.

The noise inside the arena seemed to rise and fall with the rhythm of Teiko's offense and defense.

Wave after wave crashed through the building without giving anyone a chance to breathe.

For Teiko's opponent, facing that kind of pressure was like being a patch of sand struck by a tsunami. They collapsed on contact.

That did not mean they were weak.

Any team that reached the national top 32 had fought its way through thousands of schools to get there.

Every one of them was a powerhouse in its own region.

If they looked this helpless now, it only proved how far beyond the standard Teiko had become.

As the game continued, the enormous gap between the two sides gradually stripped away Teiko's opponent's will to fight.

Whenever the arena screen showed their faces, the light in their eyes was visibly gone.

For the rest of the game, all they could do was run back and forth across the court in a daze.

The Kawari players were seeing Teiko live for the first time, and by now most of them were staring with their mouths open.

It was far beyond anything they had imagined.

So a basketball game really could be this one-sided.

They could tell that if Teiko did not deliberately ease off, their opponent might not even score a single basket.

Atsushi Murasakibara alone was enough to frighten anyone away from the paint just by standing there.

And then there was Daiki Aomine at power forward, moving at a speed that hardly seemed reasonable.

Ishida had only just finished getting a lesson from Eikichi Nebuya in the previous game.

Naturally, he immediately pictured what would happen if he had to match up with Aomine.

“Th-This is kind of ridiculous...” Ishida muttered, his face twisting like he was constipated.

The rest of Kawari's starters did not look much better.

The Butai players had seen Teiko play before, but even they wore complicated expressions.

Nebuya pursed his lips, shook his head, and sighed. “So this is Teiko...”

Then he glanced at Ishida again.

“Why are you such a coward? You were the same way when we matched up earlier.”

Nebuya found Ishida's attitude irritating.

Of course, he would never admit that part of the reason was because Ishida had stared at him for a full five minutes before their game.

“To be fair, your athleticism is pretty good,” Nebuya continued. “But you don't have enough muscle on you. One look is enough to tell you haven't trained seriously enough. Hurry up and build some strength. Don't make your captain carry everything.”

His scrutinizing gaze practically saw straight through Ishida.

And he was not wrong.

Ishida was the textbook definition of someone who got fired up for three minutes and then lost interest.

One phrase fit him perfectly. Occasionally overflowing with ambition, permanently coasting through life.

Ishida could only grin awkwardly and scratch the back of his head.

He was still a little intimidated by Nebuya.

But he quickly realized the other boy had a point.

Since reaching the Nationals, the challenges in front of them had obviously become much harder.

He could not keep going like this.

Ishida's expression turned serious. “Of course. I'm not going to hold our captain back.”

Seeing that he at least had the right attitude, Nebuya's opinion of him improved considerably, and he stopped bothering him.

He turned back toward the court and sighed again.

“Honestly, after watching Teiko today, I've completely made peace with getting knocked out of the National Tournament.”

Then he looked toward Masato with a self-deprecating smile.

“If we'd kept advancing, Teiko would've just crushed us sooner or later. Might as well start enjoying vacation early.”

Masato could tell Nebuya was genuinely numb after what he had just witnessed.

“You're sounding pretty defeated for someone who was lecturing Ishida a minute ago.” Masato laughed.

Nebuya did not argue.

“The result's already decided anyway. I'm out.” He shook his head, then looked at Masato seriously. “You're really strong, Masato. In my opinion, none of the Generation of Miracles can match you one-on-one. The problem is that they're all on the same team.”

He paused.

“You should...”

Then he stopped himself.

“Forget it. Just keep it up from here on out. I'll come watch your games in person.”

“Yeah. Thanks.”

Masato could tell Nebuya had wanted to tell him to keep winning, but the words had died before they came out.

It was understandable.

Teiko really was that strong.

...

Everyone watched a little longer.

By the time the third quarter began, the game had completely turned into an exhibition.

The score was absurd.

Teiko was threatening to reach 150 points while their opponent had not even reached 40.

This was no longer a normal basketball game.

Even prey in a slaughter would struggle, right?

Teiko's opponent was barely reacting at all.

Even a fixed game would not look this ridiculous.

Kawari's players had been gasping and shouting at the start. Now none of them had spoken for quite a while.

Masato had no intention of sitting through the rest.

At this point, it was just wasting time and damaging his teammates' mindset.

“All right. Let's go. There's nothing left to watch.”

Masato's steady voice cut through the silence, that dependable, pillar-like presence returning around him.

It pulled the players out of their daze.

Everyone looked at him, froze for a moment, then nodded.

“Got it, Captain.”

“...”

Seeing Kawari getting ready to leave, Nebuya called out to them.

“The next time we share a court will probably be in high school. Hopefully we'll be teammates by then!”

After spending this short amount of time around Masato, Nebuya had realized that basketball ability was only one of his strengths.

What stood out even more was the atmosphere around him.

People naturally found themselves trusting him.

That was why Nebuya had started thinking about what it would be like to play on the same team.

It was honestly a little absurd.

Masato's role as Kawari's pillar was still exerting its influence.

“Sure. Once we get to high school, I'll call you. Remember to transfer over and come find me!”

Masato joked, waved, and led the team away.

He remembered perfectly well that Nebuya would eventually go to Rakuzan and become Akashi's teammate.

Masato had no intention of going to Rakuzan himself.

But that did not mean he could not poach players.

Who knew what the future might bring?

...

After leaving the arena, the group decided to celebrate a little.

It would also help clear away the oppressive mood left behind by watching Teiko.

Coach Nakamura had been called away by the tournament organizers for some reason, so a group of teenagers around the same age could relax without worrying about him.

After a quick discussion, they decided to start with a huge meal.

As for the bill, Masato would simply have the team reimburse him later.

The school had approved plenty of funds for them.

Once they sat down to eat, the conversation naturally revolved around today's games.

Before long, it circled right back to Teiko.

Everyone kept talking about the impact that team had left on them.

Masato did not join in.

He had understood Teiko's strength for a long time already.

His main reason for watching today had been to see how Aomine looked.

And in that sense, he was disappointed.

Their opponent had not been strong enough to force Aomine to show anything close to his real ability.

If this had not been his teammates' first time watching Teiko live and he had not wanted to spoil their mood, Masato would have left much earlier.

As for the possibility that Kawari might run into Teiko later, he was not especially worried.

Masato knew better than anyone that he was still in a period of rapid growth and nowhere near his finished form.

At this stage, the stronger the opponent, the better.

That was the only way he would keep becoming stronger.

In the end, everything was fuel.

While everyone was still eating, Coach Nakamura finally finished whatever business had called him away and hurried over.

And he brought news about the next stage of the tournament.