Kuroko no Basket: Honored One

Day two of the training camp.

They welcomed a new guest.

Momoi, wearing a swimsuit, charged in with a basketball in her arms.

Absolutely an offensive foul.

The guys from Kirisaki Daiichi immediately blew imaginary whistles.

Momoi turned and looked at them, then wrapped her arms around Tendou and refused to let go—smiling sweetly.

Maybe because her "romance subplot" with Kuroko had been ruined by Riko's interference, she'd been denied her chance to shine as the token eye-candy.

Well, now that Tendou's training camp had brought him to the beach, Momoi had shown up under the pretense of "gathering intel", bouncing along in a bikini.

"Why is it just you again?"

"Too many people ruin the vibe."

Too many people, huh?

Do you even realize how many LSPs are staring at you through the screen right now?

"Tell the truth." Tendou tapped her forehead.

"Fine, fine. I heard you were at the beach, so I ran over to hang out."

Summer without a beach?

Tragic.

To be fair, she had a point—her team always made it to Nationals, often placing among the best. She'd never had the time to enjoy the beach properly.

And now, thanks to Tendou, her childhood friend was finally training seriously again.

She finally had a little breathing room.

"So Aomine's training again too?"

"Yup yup. Says he's coming to Nationals to get revenge on you, 'Little Tendou.'"

"Let's not talk about that right now. Come teach me how to swim—I never learned."

Wait… you don't know how to swim?

You were practically born in a swimming pool. Don't think I don't know!

"I've been too busy gathering intel for you guys. When would I have time to do what I want? Now come on!"

She said it with a straight face—blatant lies in broad daylight.

Can she swim?

Of course she can. But hey—this is what you call a girl's privilege.

So Tendou went and "taught" her how to swim.

And yeah, let's be honest: teaching a girl to swim is kind of a thrill.

He held her smooth waist, making sure she didn't sink, while Momoi flailed dramatically, stretching out in the water—and in that moment, well… her curves brushed right up against him.

Soft. No—huge. No—sunny.

Okay, he ran out of adjectives.

Momoi kept stealing glances at his reactions, grinning to herself the whole time.

She knew she was being a terrible friend—Riko was one of her besties, and here she was, flirting with her man.

But she couldn't help herself.

Better me than some random seductress.

...

That night.

To celebrate Momoi's visit, they held a beachside barbecue.

Coach Nakatani didn't join, but he didn't object either.

He understood the importance of balancing rest and training—especially for a bunch of high schoolers.

Momoi changed into breezy shorts and a light top, then handed Tendou a packet of documents.

"Here you go."

"You already gathered the data?"

Tendou took the folder and passed it to Hanamiya and the others.

"Of course. The match schedule's out. All the teams are ones we've been tracking since the prelims, so there's plenty of solid footage."

This time of year was actually the easiest for Momoi.

She didn't have to run around in person—just reviewing TV broadcasts gave her all the info she needed.

"Wait, that's intel?" Takao stared at the two of them. Their smooth back-and-forth clearly wasn't their first time.

He'd already heard about Momoi from Midorima—and seen her in the game against Seirin.

If it hadn't been for Kuroko, Seirin would've been cooked slowly like frogs in boiling water.

Watching her now, sitting beside Tendou and smiling like an innocent girl, Takao couldn't help but shiver.

"Aren't you from Tōō?" he asked bluntly.

"Sure am. But what's that got to do with who I help?"

Welp.

Takao finally understood.

This girl didn't give a damn about which school won or lost.

The only things she cared about were her childhood friend Aomine Daiki… and her maybe-boyfriend Tendou Kageyoshi.

Beating Kirisaki Daiichi?

Yeah, good luck with that.

Takao turned to look at Midorima.

Not a bad-looking guy—tall, handsome—but apparently not attractive enough to pull in girls like this.

...

In the blink of an eye, a week passed.

The joint training with Shūtoku ended, and Kirisaki Daiichi returned to school to prepare for the upcoming National Tournament.

Nationals didn't use pool play. Instead, the tournament was split into upper and lower brackets.

Kirisaki Daiichi landed in the lower bracket.

Their main rivals would be Kaijō and Yōsen.

Tōō and Rakuzan, meanwhile, ended up in the upper bracket.

Kirisaki's team took a bus to the tournament venue.

By the time they arrived, the place was packed.

Outside the gym, they saw throngs of fans and reporters interviewing people at random.

"Looks like more spectators than usual this year."

"Well, the Generation of Miracles is here."

Hara Kazuya blew a bubble with his gum and scanned the crowd.

Ever since the Generation of Miracles had emerged, middle school basketball had blown up.

And now that they were in high school, the hype was even bigger.

To most people, these players were the future of Japan's national team.

Anyone who cared about basketball couldn't take their eyes off them.

...

As Tendou walked into the hall, many teams had already arrived.

They immediately recognized him and the rest of Kirisaki Daiichi.

"There they are—Kirisaki Daiichi."

"That guy… that's Tendou Kageyoshi, right? The leader of the Generation of Miracles?"

"Yeah, that's him. I played against Teikō once. He's grown a lot since then, but otherwise… doesn't look all that different."

"He only played twice in the prelims—one quadruple-double, one 58-point game. Almost broke Tokyo's all-time single-game scoring record."

There were plenty of players the Generation of Miracles didn't remember.

But no one who'd ever faced them could forget.

In those three middle school years, they left a trail of shattered dreams and broken records.

For most teams at Nationals, facing Teikō wasn't about how to win—

It was about how to lose with dignity.

And honestly?

Not much had changed.

Now that the Miracles were scattered across different regions, every team they touched became dominant.

Their influence was everywhere.

Tendou, long since accustomed to this kind of attention, completed the team's registration and quietly led them away to wait for the opening ceremony.

The format was always the same across all school levels: middle school, high school, even college.

The ceremony would begin with a team parade, introducing each school to the national audience.

Only after that would the opening matches begin.

Today's opener featured two showcase games:

One from the upper bracket

One from the lower bracket

The teams selected?

Rakuzan, led by Akashi…

and Kaijō, led by Kise.

...

"That's Akashi?"

"He looks… kinda ordinary."

The Kirisaki Daiichi squad sat in the stands watching.

The first game was Rakuzan's.

At a glance, Akashi didn't seem particularly special.

Compared to last year, the only real difference in Rakuzan was their increased offensive efficiency.

They still relied on the same three Uncrowned Kings to run the show.

"Ordinary? You didn't see the way those three idiots follow his every word?"

Hanamiya certainly didn't underestimate Akashi.

He had seen it with his own eyes—Hayama Kotarō, Reo Mibuchi, and Nebuya Eikichi—those three arrogant monsters were like obedient little rabbits in Akashi's presence.

Just like someone else he knew…

Hanamiya snuck a glance at Tendou.

"Those three guys?"

"He already tamed them."