Black Basketball: A false start

Chapter 76 National Competition
[“Great victory! Teiko Junior High School defeated Aoki Junior High School by 58 points!”]

[“The Lionheart of the Empire! Kaneki Ken sets a record, scoring 60+ triple-double & 5x5!”]

[“The top shooter, Teiko No. 8, once again continued his undefeated streak in three-point shooting, scoring 39 points in a single quarter!”]

[“Teiko’s Blue Flash! Aomine Daiki becomes the third player to score 40+ points in his first year!”]

[“The champion of Tokyo! Teiko Junior High School has an average of 67 points per game!”]

[“Generation of Miracles! The invincible lions set out for the national tournament!”]

"Hey, Ken-chan!" In the corridor after class, Murasakihara Atsushi took out a stack of newspapers and placed them in front of Kaneki Ken, "Since we won the Tokyo district championship and entered the national competition, do you feel that there have been a lot more annoying things..."

"What do you mean?" Kaneki Ken looked at Murasakihara Atsushi with some confusion.

"Hey, for example, this." Murasakibara Atsushi took out a pile of letters from the drawer, "There are so many strange letters..."

"Oh, Murasakibara, you also received a love letter?" Aomine Daiki, who came over from the side, seemed to have discovered a new world and took out a stack of envelopes from his pocket. "I also received a lot, how about you, Kaneki?"

"Oh, I didn't expect that someone like you... could also receive a love letter~" Murasakibara Atsushi said in surprise while chewing potato chips.

"There should be many people in the school who don't know about the relationship between May and me, right?" Kaneki Ken smiled slightly, "So I didn't receive many..."

"I didn't receive much, so I did receive some, right? Yan-kun?" Tao Jing Satsuki came to the group at some point, "It seems that what I usually do is not good enough, Yan-kun~"

"It's over..." Kaneki Ken looked at the smiling Momoi Satsuki and suddenly had a bad feeling.

"It's decided, Ken-kun." Tao Jing Wuyue said with a smile, "From now on, I will be the one to prepare love lunch boxes for Ken-kun~ to prevent some ignorant little bitches from seducing Ken-kun~"

"I suddenly remembered that I haven't finished reading the exam review materials you prepared for me, so I'll leave first." Aomine Daiki patted Kaneki Ken's shoulder with an expression that said "good luck to you."

"Potato chips, potato chips. We haven't bought today's potato chips yet." Murasakibara Atsuya immediately pulled away from this place of trouble.

"A bunch of disloyal guys!" For the first time, Kaneki Ken felt that there was a big word "death" written on his head...

"Hey, Kaneki-kun, Momoi-kun."

“Ahhhhhh… It’s you, Tetsu-kun…” Momoi Satsuki, who was startled by Kuroko Tetsuya, patted her chest, “What’s going on with Coach Sanada?”

"I've been approved to join the First Army." Kuroko Tetsuya's poker face showed a rare trace of happiness, "After the national competition starts next month, I will be able to fight side by side with Kaneki-kun!"

……

"Okay, stop for a moment and listen to me." In the basketball hall at night, Shirogane Kozo pointed to the whiteboard beside him. The original county competition schedule on the whiteboard was erased and replaced by a new round of schedule. "Our journey in the county competition has ended. Now we are faced with the test of the national competition. Our draw this year is not bad. The only players in our half of the zone who are at the national top eight level are Poseidon Affiliated High School and Teruei Middle School."

"Our first round opponent is..." Kaneki Ken looked at the matchup chart and was a little surprised, "Toyama Junior High School? Isn't that a perennial underdog?"

"That's right, but Toyama Junior High School is lucky this year. They have a player called Rukawa Kaede, who is known as the devil of offense, and a player called Shigehiro Kabachi, who is known as an all-round inside player. It can be considered a team that combines inside and outside players. But you can completely ignore the other players in the team." Shirogane Kozo said nonchalantly.

"A team that combines inside and outside players?" Kaneki Ken flipped through the newspaper in his hand, "This is very similar to Mingde Junior High School this year, the combination of inside player Mori Shigehiro + outside player Zekita Eiji..." "Speaking of Mingde Junior High School, we lost to Zekita Eiji last year and stopped in the top eight in the country. Although Mingde Junior High School has strengthened Mori Shigehiro this year, I believe you will not lose to anyone in terms of lineup!" Shirokane Kozo looked around at everyone with confidence, "The big battle is imminent, and I won't add any burden to you. You just need to do a good job of reviewing before the final exam and make sure everyone can participate in the national competition."

"Yes!" Except for Aomine Daiki, everyone in Teiko Junior High School answered confidently.

……

"Hey, hey, hey, Kaneki, please help me with my studies, okay..." Aomine Daiki held an AJ4 shoe box and looked at Kaneki Ken with a humbly face.

"Hey, hey, didn't I write a review outline for you?" Kaneki Ken was a little helpless, "Isn't that enough?"

"But... I don't understand..." Aomine Daiki scratched his cheek, "For example, what is the opposite number... and what is abandon... I don't understand it at all..."

"I don't understand why you left me alone in front of Mayu yesterday?" Kaneki Ken wanted to let this ungrateful guy fend for himself, "So how about I just go and help you take the exam?"

"Oh? Is it okay?" Aomine Daiki actually thought this was a good idea.

"Of course not!" Kaneki Ken felt that it would be difficult to explain it to Aomine Daiki with his intelligence. "Forget it, for the sake of the sneakers... the team! From today on! You will live in my house, and except for training, you are not allowed to play basketball until you finish the homework I assigned to you!"

"Ah~" Aomine Daiki muttered reluctantly.

"You can participate in the national competition in your next life!" Kaneki Ken turned and left, as if he had made up his mind. "Just study hard until you die! I'll go talk to the coach and ask Akashi to be in the starting lineup!"

"Hey, don't go!" Qingfeng Daihui hurriedly chased after him, "If you don't help me with my lessons, you can leave your sneakers here!"

……

"Kaneki, take a look. This is the question I just finished writing..." In Kaneki's house, Aomine Daiki handed the exercise book in front of him, "Take a look at what I wrote..."

"..." Kaneki Ken corrected the questions and looked at the barely passing exercise book, and sighed, "You are really the worst one I have ever tutored... Murasakibara is smarter than you..."

"Ah? Still not enough?" Aomine Daiki's eyes revealed despair, "I haven't played basketball for... a week..."

"Forget it, let's just leave it at that." Kaneki Ken also realized that he couldn't use conventional methods to deal with a situation like Aomine Daiki's. "Now, considering your personal characteristics, I will teach you a unique way to take the exam..."

……

"I really didn't expect that Aoki could pass the exam smoothly." After the final exam, Murasakibara Atsushi looked at the transcript in Aomine Daiki's hand with some surprise.

"That's right, Kaneki has given me unique special training tailored for my situation!" Aomine Daiki said proudly.

"... Let's not talk about this kind of thing." Recalling the whack-a-mole cheating training method developed by combining Aomine Daiki's unique agility, Kaneki Ken smiled bitterly, "I've been really worried about this team!"

Whack-a-Mole cheating training method: Kaneki Ken plays the role of a teacher and simulates catching Aomine Daiki cheating during the exam, until he can take an "open book exam" without leaving any trace. My college roommate has used this method to pass all the subjects that require memorization for four years... While others review, he cosplays

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(End of this chapter)