Black Basketball: A false start

Chapter 168 The Happiest
"Your ball control ability has weakened a lot! I've told you to use your brain when playing basketball, but it doesn't matter!" After completing the steal, Kaneki Ken ran straight to the front court, "Since it has come to this, it shouldn't matter if I eat you!"

"Is this how other people feel when they face me?" Aomine Daiki looked at Kaneki Ken's back and chased after him with an unwilling look on his face. From the beginning to now, Kaneki Ken's continued suppression of him reminded him of the feeling of powerlessness when he first stepped onto the basketball court as a child.

"It looks like I won, Aomine." Kaneki Ken's voice rang in Aomine Daiki's ears, "You couldn't beat me in basketball."

"Shh!"

"Snapped!"

As Kaneki Ken finished speaking, the basketball flew past Aomine Daiki's fingertips and into the basket. Along with the sound of the basketball hitting the net, the referee's whistle sounded.

"White team number 5, the ball counts as a goal. Black team number , defensive foul, one free throw!"

“OO ...

"Shonan will win!", "Shonan will win!", "Shonan will win!"

Seeing Kaneki Ken defeat Aomine Daiki again in a head-to-head confrontation, some radical fans were no longer satisfied with simple cheering and instead shouted slogans of victory.

But just as Kaneki Ken was about to step onto the free throw line, the referee blew the whistle again.

"Shonan High School requests a timeout!"

"Huh?" Kaneki Ken looked at the bench with some surprise, and Anto Mitsuyoshi smiled and nodded to him.

"Hey, what just happened?" Tashiro Heihachi looked towards the sidelines in confusion, only to see Mitsuyoshi Anton standing up and greeting the players who were walking to the bench from the field. "Dear audience, I just checked carefully, and it was indeed Shonan High School that called a timeout... Although Shonan High School is still leading, maybe Coach Anton has other arrangements..."

"What's wrong, old man?" Sakuragi Hanamichi sat down on the bench with some dissatisfaction, holding up Anton Mitsuyoshi's chin, and said, "We were clearly killing everyone on the court, why did you suddenly call a timeout, old man?"

"Stop it! Sakuragi Hanamichi! No! Stop it now!" Ayako was horrified and stopped Sakuragi Hanamichi, "This is the national competition now! Television media all over the country are broadcasting it!"

"Hmph!" Sakuragi Hanamichi stopped his actions somewhat unhappily, put a towel on his head and started to sulk.

"Would you like to take a break for a while, Kaneki-san?" Anton Mitsuyoshi's voice was still as calm as ever.

"Qingfeng..."

"Qingfeng..."

The students of Toou High School wanted to comfort Aomine Daiki who performed poorly on the field, but were stopped by his expressionless and aloof attitude.

"Will you need help from your teammates later, Aomine?" Hara Zeked said to Aomine Daiki who was sitting silently in the chair.

"..." Aomine Daiki didn't know what he was thinking at this time and did not respond to Hara Zeked's words.

"Sigh..." Hara Zeked sighed as he looked at the silent Aomine Daiki, then turned around to arrange the next tactics.

……

"When did I start playing basketball?" Aomine Daiki kept asking himself this question in his mind.

Soon, memories of his youth emerged in his mind - it was a sunset, and Aomine Daiki was strolling with Taoi Satsuki.

"Hey, little brother over there!"

Just as the two were passing a basketball court, they were stopped by a young man.

"Hey? Brother? Are you calling me?" Qingfeng Daihui looked around, pointed at himself and asked uncertainly.

"Yes, young man, we are short of people to play basketball here. I see you are quite tall, so you should be able to play basketball, right?" the young man asked enthusiastically.

"But I'm only eight years old..." Qingfeng Hui said hesitantly.

"Eight years old?" The young man walked around Qingfeng Daihui suspiciously, and compared his height with Qingfeng Daihui's, which was 177 cm, and asked doubtfully, "How the hell is this eight years old?"

"This person is so strange..." Qingfeng Daiki took two steps back without leaving any trace.

"Well, it doesn't matter." The young man smiled and waved his hand, "We are short of someone here. Can you play basketball?"

"Uh... I've heard of it, but I don't know how to fight..." Aomine Daiki said, scratching his cheek.

"Oh, it's okay. We just need someone to help us out." The young man waved his hand nonchalantly. "We can just pass the ball when the time comes."

Aomine Daiki has a vague memory of what happened afterwards. He only remembers that after that, Aomine Daiki often appeared on the basketball court, and gradually became famous on the streets with his extraordinary speed and super talent.

"Oh, now I remember that I started playing basketball from that time on..." Aomine Daiki continued to recall.

"Haha, I won again!" "Can you do this? You're a loser!"

"The people who came today are just average..."

"Well... let's not fight today..."

As the memories played out like a movie, Aomine Daiki seemed to be standing aside, watching from a third-person perspective how his former self gradually lost interest in basketball, until that day...

"As long as Qingfeng participates in the competition normally and wins, I will not interfere with your personal choice."

"It was the day Coach Sanada allowed me not to participate in training..." Aomine Daiki muttered to himself, "It seems that since that day, except for school games, I rarely touch basketball..."

……

"Go off the court and take a break? Why?" Kaneki Ken looked at Anton Mitsuyoshi in surprise, "My performance just now was pretty good, right?"

"No, in my opinion, your performance just now was actually very ugly." Anton Mitsuyoshi gave his evaluation with a smile.

"Ugly?" Kaneki Ken was a little surprised. This was the first time in such a long time that someone used this word to evaluate his game.

"Do you know why I chose you from your teammates to go to the United States?" Anton Mitsuyoshi changed the subject and talked about the past.

"Because I am the strongest." Kaneki Ken said as a matter of course.

"No, it's because you are the most mature and the most rational." Anton Guangyi said in a deep voice, "I see the shadow of an all-around striker in you, a perfect ball-holding core, a player who can make teammates better and also provide a backup for teammates."

"..." Kaneki Ken stopped talking. He began to understand why Anton Mitsuyoshi was dissatisfied with him.

"You obviously have a very high level of technical accomplishment, and you obviously have the most outstanding vision, but out of your arrogance, you choose to play based on physical instincts just like your opponent. It's as if you lose if you don't beat your opponent at his best." Anton Mitsuyoshi's tone was very calm, as if he was talking to an old friend, "This is arrogance, Kaneki."

"I'm sorry, Coach Anton." Kaneki Ken said in a deep voice.

"There's no need to say sorry, Kaneki-san. I'm not a very responsible coach." Mitsuyoshi Anto seemed to have realized something. "The fact that Shonan has come this far has little to do with me. But please forgive me. I really wanted to see what great things you could do in Japan with your talent, so I didn't realize in time that you were almost on the wrong path..."

"Coach..." Kaneki Ken lowered his head and stopped talking.

"It seems that you already understand what I want to say." Anton Mitsuyoshi said with a smile, "Then enjoy the next game with a beginner's heart."

"I understand, coach." Kaneki Ken looked at Anton Mitsuyoshi with conviction and said.

……

"Beep beep~"

With the referee's whistle, the timeout ended.

"Aomine?"

"Aomine?"

"Who? Who called me?" Qingfeng Daihui felt that his current state was very mysterious, as if he was surrounded by a warm lake water, but he could clearly perceive the sounds around him.

"Aomine? Can you hear me? Aomine? It's time to go on stage!"

"Go on the court...Yes, I'm going to play..." Aomine Daiki stood up and walked towards the court.

"I don't know why... but I always feel very happy now..."

Aomine Daiki took the ball from his teammate in a daze, still thinking in his mind.

"Come on, Aomine!" Kaneki Ken's eyes have regained clarity, and the terrifying atmosphere that originally shrouded the stadium has gradually dissipated.

"Ah, it's Kaneki..." An unconscious smile began to appear on Aomine Daiki's face, "I don't know when it started, but every morning after getting up, I numbly walk to the court... numbly play the game... numbly win... every day I look forward to meeting an equally matched opponent..."

"There's something wrong with little Aomine!" Ryouta Kise, who was most familiar with Aomine Daiki, was the first to notice the abnormality of Aomine Daiki.

"What are you talking about, Aomine?" Kaneki Ken raised his eyebrows slightly, and his eyes looking at Aomine Daiki became gradually playful.

"Did I say that? Never mind. This kind of thing doesn't matter..." Aomine Daiki's movements began to become faster and faster. "But I really want to thank you very much, Kaneki... Today I am... the happiest!"

"Second time~"

As Qingfeng Daihui finished speaking, two blue electric lights burst out from Qingfeng Daihui's eyes.

(End of this chapter)