Black Basketball: A false start

Chapter 235: Kise Ryota, the Water Without a Constant Shape (Two Chapters in One)

"I've always believed in you, Kise-san!"

Kuroko Tetsuya's voice echoed in the silent stadium, and the audience also turned their eyes to Kuroko Tetsuya.

"Hey, Kuroko, what are you doing?" Kagami Daigo felt a little numb from being stared at by the audience, so he quickly stepped forward and tried to pull Kuroko Tetsuya to sit down.

"..." Kuroko Tetsuya pushed Kagami Taiga away and stared at Kise Ryota in the field.

"Hmm?" Haizaki Shogo heard the shouting from the sidelines and frowned as he looked in the direction where the voice came from.

"Kuroko..." Kise Ryota looked at Kuroko Tetsuya with twinkling eyes, as if he didn't want his best friend to see his most embarrassing side.

"It's really embarrassing..." Haizaki Shogo said with a smile as he looked at the struggling Kise Ryota, "You've actually fallen to the point where you have to rely on a loser who can't do anything without others to cheer you up~ But it's no wonder, you're just a loser who hides behind a reliable senior and brushes up your stats. In fact, you can't have any impact on the game~"

"I am... a waste?" Kise Ryota muttered to himself as he looked at Haizaki Shogo's mocking eyes. The vision in front of him became increasingly blurred, gradually turning into a vague bright white.

"Where is this place?" Huang Lailiangta stood up with some doubt and looked around. He walked forward aimlessly, tentatively shouting to the empty surroundings as he walked, "Is there anyone there?"

"Plop~"

As Kise Ryouta was walking, he suddenly felt himself falling into a pool of water. He was about to struggle in fear to stick his head out of the water, but was surprised to find that not only could he open his eyes without any hindrance in the pool, he could even breathe freely like a fish.

"Hmm... so comfortable..." Kise Ryota subconsciously felt a warm current surrounding him, making him involuntarily turn over lazily and look at the white surface of the lake. He saw that the shimmering surface of the lake was fluctuating faster and faster. At this moment, the past in Kise Ryota's mind was playing before his eyes like a movie.

"What... is that?" Kise Ryota felt dazed for a moment, a white light flashed before his eyes, and he returned to the scene when he first joined the team.

……

"Kise-kun, congratulations on your promotion to the Teiko First Army!"

Two years ago, in the No. 1 Basketball Gymnasium of Teiko Junior High School, Momoi Satsuki brought Kise Ryota, who had just been promoted to the first team, to familiarize himself with the environment.

"Excuse me, Momoi-san..." Kise Ryouta put his hands on his waist, facing Momoi Satsuki, his eyes constantly looking around and said, "I heard that Teiko Junior High School has a rule that newcomers who have just entered the first army have to follow the old ones to learn for a period of time, right?"

"Yes, Kise-san." Taoi Satsuki said with a smile, "I brought you here today to arrange a mentor for you."

"That's great. Who will be my mentor?" Kise Ryota said excitedly, "Is it Aomine-chan? Or Akashi-chan?"

"Neither, it's Tetsu-kun." Taoi Satsuki said with a smile.

"Tetsu-kun?" Kise Ryouta looked confused, "I've never heard of this person..."

"You'll get to know him in a while." Tao Jingwu looked at her watch and said, "Hey, that's strange. I clearly told Zhejun to come over earlier. Where is he..."

"Um... I'm here." Just as Taoi Satsuki was about to make a phone call to urge them, Kuroko Tetsuya stood timidly behind the two of them and raised his hand and said.

"Oh my god..." Kise Ryouta was startled by the sudden appearance of Kuroko Tetsuya, "Who are you? Why did you suddenly appear here?"

"I am the Azhe that Momoi-san mentioned." Kuroko Tetsuya replied expressionlessly.

"Okay, now that the instructor is here, make sure you get along well with him, Kise-san~" Taojin Satsuki smiled and patted Kise Ryouta's shoulder, then turned and left the gym.

"How strange..." Kise Ryota frowned as he looked at Kuroko Tetsuya who was looking at him with a silly face, and thought to himself, "Is this guy also a member of the First Army? He clearly exudes the aura of a weak person..."

"Kise-san, now that you're here, focus on your training." After Kuroko Tetsuya and Kise Ryota confronted each other for a while, he suddenly spoke.

"Ah? Oh oh..." Kise Ryouta was stunned at first, then he reacted and followed Kuroko Tetsuya to start the army's daily training.

"Has the instructor for Kise Ryouta been arranged?" Naoto Sanada, who was standing on the sidelines, looked at the members of the first army who were training, and said in a deep voice to Momoi Satsuki behind him.

"Everything has been arranged. According to Akashi-san's suggestion, Tetsu-kun will be responsible for guiding the beginner Kise-san." Momoi Satsuki replied with a smile.

"Yeah." Sanada Naoto nodded without comment and continued to give instructions, "It's a good time to get used to each other for a few days. There will be a training match in a few days. Arrange Kuroko and Kise to lead the second army to play."

"Yes, Coach Sanada." Taoi Satsuki nodded slightly and wrote it down in her notebook.

"What the hell? With this kind of physical fitness, he can advance into the army?" Kise Ryota looked at Kuroko Tetsuya who was running and panting, and didn't know how to complain for a moment.

"I'm personally not very good at running." Kuroko Tetsuya seemed to see what Kise Ryouta was thinking and explained.

"Ah, it's okay..." Kise Ryota forced a smile and waved his hand.

"I know what you're wondering." Kuroko Tetsuya slowed down his pace, walked to a basketball hoop on the sidelines, picked up a basketball and said, "I don't know how to explain it to you, but my ability is not really suitable for the one-man basketball style..."

As he spoke, Kuroko Tetsuya accelerated his dribbling outside the three-point line and shot an empty basket in front of Kise Ryouta...but it didn't go in.

“Hey, hey, hey, this isn’t a case of not being suitable for a one-on-one fight, right?” Kise Ryota looked at the exhausted Kuroko Tetsuya, and began to doubt his life. He walked up to Momoi Satsuki and complained, “Can this guy really be my mentor? I feel like I can beat him right now! I want to change him!”

"No, Huang Lai-san." Taoi Satsuki narrowed her eyes and looked at Huang Lai Ryota and smiled, "This is what Akashi-san specifically asked."

"..." Ryouta Kise gritted his teeth and stared at Momoi Satsuki for a long while, then stomped his feet in frustration and returned to training.

"Kise-san..." Kuroko Tetsuya looked at Kise Ryota who had an ugly expression on his face and was about to step forward to say something, but was interrupted by Kise Ryota.

"Although I don't know why I arranged for you to be my instructor..." Kise Ryota looked down at Kuroko Tetsuya's blue eyes and said, "But, I don't think there is anything you can teach me about basketball... Let's practice separately first, and after the training game is over, I can join the first team normally."

"..." Kuroko Tetsuya stared at Kise Ryota blankly without saying anything. Kise Ryota was also busy with his shooting training and ignored Kuroko Tetsuya.

"Hey, Akashi..." Aomine Daiki, who was training nearby, twirled the basketball with his fingers, and came to Akashi Seijuro with some confusion and asked, "Is it really okay for you to let Kise Ryouta, a newcomer, train with Zhe? Although he is indeed very talented, I'm afraid he doesn't understand Zhe's basketball very well, right?"

"Rather, it's precisely because Kise is a newcomer and has great potential that I chose Kuroko to lead him." Akashi Seijuro said noncommittally, "I think they might get along surprisingly well... After all, Kuroko was discovered by Kaneki, and Kise... is too similar to Kaneki..."

"..." Aomine Daiki listened to Akashi Seijuro's explanation and didn't know what to say for a moment. Kuroko Tetsuya and Kise Ryota spent a week of running-in training in such a lukewarm atmosphere.

"I was such a fool back then..." Outside the scene, Ryota Kise looked at his once unhappy self and smiled self-deprecatingly, while the scene in his mind continued to play.

"Tetsu-kun, Kise-san, here~"

After a day's training, Momoi Satsuki smiled and kept Kise Ryouta and Kuroko Tetsuya, then took out two file bags from her arms and handed them to the two of them respectively.

"Oh, thank you..." Huang Lai Ryota took the file bag with a confused look on his face. He looked at the word "information" marked on the file with some confusion, scratched his head and asked, "What is this?"

"This is the intelligence about the opponent for our next match that Momoi prepared for us." Kuroko Tetsuya looked at the document carefully and patiently explained to Kise Ryouta, "This is a habit that has been passed down since Kaneki. For every opponent in the match, we must do sufficient pre-match investigation and intelligence analysis."

"Wow, so impressive..." Kise Ryota blankly flipped through the documents in his hand and couldn't help but sigh, "Everyone is so strong and still so serious... No wonder they can win the national championship!"

"Okay, the stuff has been delivered. Remember to cooperate well with Kuroko in the next game, Kise-san." Taoi Satsuki watched the two of them finish reading their opponents' information, smiled playfully, and turned to leave the locker room.

"Cooperate with this guy..." Huang Lai Ryouta looked at Kuroko Tetsuya beside him speechlessly, shook his head, and sighed in his heart, "It seems that I have to add more burdens to myself..."

……

The next day, in front of Dojima Junior High School.

"Wake up, Kise-san." Kuroko Tetsuya pushed Kise Ryota who was leaning against the car window in a daze and said, "We're here."

"Ah? Oh oh..." Kise Ryota reacted belatedly and followed Kuroko Tetsuya out of the car.

"I noticed that you were in a daze while sitting in the car. Are you nervous?" Kuroko Zheya asked with concern.

"I'm not nervous anymore..." Huang Lai Ryota stammered a few words, smiled perfunctorily and said, "Maybe I'm a little carsick..."

"It's okay, Huang Lai, don't be nervous." Kuroko Tetsuya smiled and looked at Huang Lai Ryota and said, "As long as we cooperate well in this game, we have a good chance of winning."

“Hey, don’t make it sound so light…” Huang Lai Ryouta looked to the side with some boredom, shook his head helplessly, and thought to himself, “With your strength, how can I cooperate with you…”

"I was so naive back then that I actually looked down on Kuroko..." Kise Ryota, who was outside the scene, looked at himself who once looked desperate and laughed, "Kuroko... is very powerful!
Outside the scene, Kise Ryouta was talking to himself, and the game in his memory was being replayed exactly. In the first quarter, Kise Ryouta fully demonstrated his talent as a member of the Generation of Miracles, and he slaughtered the rookies from Dojima Junior High School.

……

"brush!"

With Ryota Kise stealing the ball and then making a layup, the first quarter came to an end with Teiko Junior High School leading by nine points, 21:12.

"Huh~ Not bad..." Kise Ryouta muttered as he sat on the bench, looking at the scoreboard beside him, "It looks like we can win this game even without cooperating with Kuroko... After enduring for so long, we're finally getting closer!"

"The guys on the other side are just the second team led by Teiko Junior High School's first team, yet they are so difficult to deal with!" said Chiki Mukaihara, the captain of Dojima Junior High School, with an unhappy look on his face. "And I heard from them that this blond first team player has just joined the second team! He's still a newcomer!"

"As for the newcomer..." A teammate beside him touched his chin and said, "How about we double-team him and give it a try? Generally speaking, newcomers who fight alone are more afraid of double-teaming..."

"Well, no matter what, we can lose the game, but the guy with blond hair must die!" Chiki Mukahara crushed the can in his hand and said, "You want to beat us all by yourself? Do you really think that anyone with blond hair can cosplay as Ken Kaneki?"

"Yes, Captain!" the players of Dojima High School said solemnly. In the second quarter, Kise Ryota found that his defensive pressure suddenly increased. Whether he had the ball or not, there were always two defensive players around him. Chiki Mukaihara took the opportunity to lead the team to a 10-2 climax, narrowing the gap to one point.

"Time out!" Naoto Sanada looked at the situation on the court that suddenly got out of control and called for a timeout with an unhappy look on his face.

"What were you doing just now, Kise!" Sanada Naoto asked seriously, "You can't play basketball because you can't get the ball?"

“…I’m sorry, coach.” Kise Ryota placed his hands on his knees, staring at the smug look on Chiki Mukaihara’s face. He gritted his teeth, lowered his head and said to Naoto Sanada unwillingly, “I was too impulsive just now…”

"It's okay, Kise-san." Kuroko Tetsuya, who was standing by, looked at the somewhat solemn atmosphere in the team, smiled and took off his coat and said, "Newcomers always have to go through this..."

"It's easy to talk without any pain in the waist... Why are you taking off your coat? Going on the court? What's the point of you going on the court?" Kise Ryouta looked at Kuroko Tetsuya with a grim face and thought to himself.

"I said before, I'm not very good at fighting alone..." Kuroko Tetsuya seemed to be able to see what Huang Lai Ryouta was thinking, and said with a chuckle, "But at this time, the team really needs my strength!"

"You're right, Kuroko." To Kise Ryouta's surprise, Sanada Naoto looked at Kuroko Tetsuya as a matter of course and said, "In the next game, it will be up to you to organize the team's offense."

"Yes, coach." Kuroko Tetsuya nodded, looked at Kise Ryota and said, "Can you pass the ball to me occasionally in the next game?"

"Uh... okay." Although Kise Ryouta didn't think there was any point in passing the ball to Kuroko Tetsuya, he still nodded subconsciously.

"This match was my first big win after joining the First Army..." Huang Lai Ryota, who was outside the scene, looked at the familiar past in front of him and sighed with a complicated expression, "At that time, Kuroko and I... should be considered the weakest among the main rotation of the First Army, right? It really felt like we were huddled together for warmth..."

In the end, with the joint efforts of Kise Ryota and Kuroko Tetsuya, the team successfully won the game with a huge score difference of 132 to 108. Kise Ryota also felt the joy of winning through teamwork for the first time.

After the game, Kise Ryouta paid for Kuroko Tetsuya to eat popsicles out of his own pocket.

"No wonder everyone thinks highly of you, Kuroko!" When the two were choosing popsicles in a convenience store, Kise Ryota said to Kuroko Tetsuya with deep feeling, "Before joining the basketball club, I never felt that a sport could be so interesting!"

"Yeah, basketball is indeed a very interesting sport." Kuroko Tetsuya said with a smile, "For example, although I can't complete beautiful dribbling and accurate shooting like you, as long as I can help everyone win the game, I will be very happy... This is the purpose of my playing basketball."

"Really? That's great!" Huang Lai Ryouta tore open the package in his hand and ate the popsicle, "If you have the chance in the future, you must continue to pass the ball to me, little black man!"

"No problem, Kise-san." Kuroko Tetsuya nodded slightly, and said with some feeling, "To be honest, I really envy your perfect sense of the ball... I often wonder, if I had a perfect sense of the ball like you, would I continue to play according to my current goal..."

"..." Kise Ryouta listened to Kuroko Tetsuya's words thoughtfully and remained silent.

"Speaking of which, Kise-san..." Kuroko Tetsuya looked at Kise Ryouta curiously and asked, "Why... do you play basketball?"

"Why do you play basketball..."

"Why do you play basketball..."

Outside the scene, Kise Ryota listened to Kuroko Tetsuya's deafening questions, and the dusty memories deep in his mind swept in like a storm.

"What did I answer at that time?" Huang Lai Ryota, who was outside the scene, stared blankly at the still picture and muttered to himself, "At that time, I seemed to say... I started playing basketball because I thought it was fun..."

"What about the reality?" You heard a deep voice in his ear.

"Actually..." Huang Lai Ryouta recalled the scenes after he embarked on the road of basketball, and suddenly felt that a tightly closed door seemed to crack open at this moment. The smile on Huang Lai Ryouta's face became more and more passionate, and he said to himself, "Actually, I want to prove that whether it's Xiao Qingfeng or Kaneki...what they can do, I can also do...even better than them!"

"boom!"

As a roar sounded, Kise Ryota felt as if he had merged into the ubiquitous water in the pond, with unimaginable power surging through his body.

……

"Ci La~" At this moment, a flash of lightning suddenly sounded on the field.

"What's going on..." Haizaki Shogo clearly heard the slight noise and looked at Kise Ryota with a serious expression.

"You can say whatever you want, Haizaki..." Kise Ryouta slowly stood up with a calm smile on his face, "You can say I'm a weakling or trash... It doesn't matter, because the strong will never care about the roar of the weak... and I am stronger than you!"

"I don't know what this is..." Haizaki Shogo looked at the golden light bursting out of Kise Ryouta's eyes, and in a trance he seemed to see the figure of Kaneki Ken.

"Kise has such a strong aura..." Kagami Taiga on the sidelines clearly felt the pressure coming from Kise Ryota, and muttered to himself with a serious face, "Just from the pressure after entering the zone, Kise Ryota is second only to Kaneki Ken in strength!"

"Damn it..." The vortex in Haizaki Shogo's pupils was spinning wildly, and the movements of his hands were getting faster and faster. Accompanied by the sound of a ball exploding, Haizaki Shogo suddenly turned around, pulled the ball behind his back with his left hand, switched to his right hand, and prepared to complete the pass.

"It appears. Haizaki-san has used Aomine-san's fancy ball-catching moves again!" The commentator on the sidelines shouted excitedly, "Is Haizaki-san declaring war on Aomine-san?"

"Is this what it felt like when Aomine-chan and the others entered the zone?" Kise Ryota sighed as he watched Haizaki Shogo moving in slow motion. "It's indeed an extraordinary power. It's completely different from the one that imitated Aomine-chan entering the zone..."

“Damn it…” Haizaki Shogo rushed out, his eyes red with jealousy, “It just so happens to be the zone… I can’t enter!”

"I must win this match, Huizaki."

The figure of Kise Ryota appeared in front of Haizaki Shogo like a flash, and his long arm stabbed at the basketball in Haizaki Shogo's hand like a sword drawn from its sheath.

"boom!"

The sound of fingers touching a basketball rang in Haizaki Shogo's ears, and Haizaki Shogo felt that his right hand, which was dribbling the ball, was suddenly empty.

"So fast..." Kagami Daigo frowned even more tightly, "This is no longer something that can be made up for by a simple speed difference... This is pure extreme speed!"

"Go to hell, Kise!" Haizaki Shogo gritted his teeth and chased after Kise Ryota, pulling his jersey roughly in the referee's blind spot.

"Has Kaneki ever... experienced this situation before?"

Faced with Haizaki Shogo's aggressive pressure, Kise Ryota was not at all panicked, he just felt his mind was extremely clear.

"Boom!"

As the sound of a basketball hitting the ground was heard, Kise Ryota's running body suddenly stopped. He quickly stopped and pulled back with his right hand and hips, causing Haizaki Shogo, who was chasing him, to stagger involuntarily without time to adjust.

"You were wrong from the beginning, Haizaki. I never looked down on you." Kise Ryota looked down at Haizaki Shogo who was lying on the ground with a hint of pity in his tone.

"Well done, let's just kill him in one go, Kise!" Hayakawa Mitsui shouted as he looked at Kise Ryota in front of him.

"Ah, just leave it to me." Kise Ryota murmured softly. He felt as if he could hear nothing at this moment, and yet as if he could hear everything. The only things in the world were the opponent in front of him and the basketball in his hands.

Under the watchful eyes of the entire audience, Kise Ryoutai slightly bent his knees, held the ball with both hands, and suddenly exerted force with his legs. The whole person flew into the air like a hunting hawk. The basketball slowly slipped out of his palm under his control, drew a towering arc in the air, and fell accurately into the basket.

"Gurgle..." Haizaki Shogo looked at Kise Ryota in front of him and swallowed his saliva involuntarily to cover up his nervousness. It was only then that he recalled the fear of being dominated by Kaneki Ken in junior high school.

"You're scared, Haizaki." Kise Ryota looked at Haizaki Shogo's ugly face and said with a relaxed smile, "I know what you're thinking, Haizaki. But... you're wrong. Like I said before, I am me, and Kaneki is Kaneki. He is strong, but I will definitely become stronger than him. Instead of being afraid of him, you should be afraid of me."

"What bullshit are you talking about? I don't even have a book yet!" Haizaki Shogo gritted his teeth and said unwillingly, "Don't forget, we are leading by 11 points in Futian!"

……

"Haizaki is definitely going to lose this match." In the locker room of Tokyo Gymnasium, Kaneki Ken smiled as he looked at the two people confronting each other on his phone and said, "Haizaki has talent... but compared to Kise, he is still a little behind."

"Speaking of Kise..." Miyagi Ryouta said seriously, "I feel like his current state is very similar to yours, Kaneki."

"Isn't this normal?" Kaneki Ken smiled and shrugged. "Water has no fixed shape. After Kise abandoned the tricks and entered the zone with his own strength, I wouldn't be surprised no matter what he does."

"It's no surprise that Kise can do anything after entering the zone." Kuroko Tetsuya had a barely perceptible excitement on his face, "In terms of potential, among the Generation of Miracles, Kise after entering the zone is the strongest besides Kaneki Ken!"

"You can't say that so early, right?" Kagami Daiga asked in confusion, "Anyway, Haizaki Shogo can also use the skills of the Generation of Miracles... Although he plundered them from Kise Ryouta, the Age of Miracles during junior high school..."

"The reason why the Age of Miracles is called the Age of Miracles is because they are constantly evolving at an unimaginable speed. Even if the opponent is my junior high school self, I believe the current generation of miracles can still win." Kuroko Tetsuya shook his head and said, "The current Haizaki-san is no longer on the same level as Kise-san."

"Shh!"

As if to confirm what Kuroko Tetsuya said, just when Haizaki Shogo took the ball from the baseline and was about to make a surprise three-pointer, Kise Ryota, who had already arrived at the backcourt, suddenly flashed through everyone's sight like lightning.

"So fast!"

“I can hardly see clearly!”

The audience sighed, and such words were heard everywhere. When everyone saw Kise Ryouta's figure again, Haizaki Shogo's attack had been severely slapped out of the field by Kise Ryouta's big hat, and Shiqi Shogo himself was knocked to the ground by Kise Ryouta's huge force.

"It's no use, Haizaki." After landing, Kise Ryota stared at Haizaki Shogo lying on the ground and said word by word, "I won't let you get in the way again!"

"Alas, Haizaki-san's talent is still limited..." Domoto Koichiro said as he looked at Haizaki Shogo, who was lying on the ground with an embarrassed look on his face, "If I had been able to recruit Kaneki-san back then..."

"Hey, hey, hey, Coach Domoto, you have said this many times..." Nijimura Shuzo looked at Domoto Koichiro helplessly, shook his head and said.

(End of this chapter)