Kuroko no Basket: Honored One

Hanamiya immediately sensed Tendou's bad intentions.

This was classic fire-to-seal-the-pot timing—

He was clearly planning to force him and that idiot Haizaki Shōgo to develop some chemistry.

Under normal circumstances, Hanamiya would rather lose a match than team up with Haizaki.

But this time, there was a penalty involved...

No way was Hanamiya about to wash someone else's filthy socks—especially not Tendou's.

Worse still? Tendou's "forfeit conditions" always involved hand-washing.

"To be fair," Tendou said with a grin, "I'll take four first-years and play against you two."

"Huh? We have to go over there?" Seto Kentarō had been trying to stick close to Tendou, hoping to be on his team—

Only to get thrown back without mercy.

"Stop whining. Everyone get ready—we start in ten minutes."

Tendou gave them no room to protest, rounding up the first-years to join his squad.

"You bastard…" Haizaki gritted his teeth at Tendou.

Teaming up with Hanamiya? Not ideal.

Washing Tendou's disgusting socks? Even worse.

But if he wanted to win, he had no choice but to cooperate with the Uncrowned King.

This sucks.

...

Ten minutes passed quickly.

The scrimmage began.

Blue team had possession.

Hanamiya brought the ball up, eyeing the red team's defensive setup.

Tendou deliberately left Haizaki unguarded, focusing instead on covering everyone else.

The message was clear: Pass to Haizaki.

Hanamiya refused.

He faked toward Haizaki, then redirected the ball to his teammate Yamada.

A beat later—SMACK—

Tendou came flying in from the wing and intercepted it cleanly.

"Idiot," Haizaki muttered, already sprinting back.

They raced down the court.

Tendou absorbed Haizaki's contact and still managed to score under the rim.

Back on defense, Tendou once again left Haizaki wide open.

Hanamiya's face darkened. He still didn't want to pass.

Sure, he appreciated Haizaki's attitude of punching people when he lost—

But only if he was the boss.

As long as Haizaki refused to fall in line, Hanamiya had zero intention of cooperating.

But Hanamiya wasn't stupid.

After playing alongside Tendou for six months, he knew not to force things.

He pulled away to a safe distance before lobbing the ball into the post.

Seto Kentarō caught it with his back to the defender—

The red team's center, a first-year who wasn't even on the regular roster, couldn't handle the pressure.

Seto spun swiftly, getting the defender off balance.

Just as he was about to score—

Tendou swooped into the paint and swatted the shot away.

"Damn! That's Murasakibara-level coverage!" Seto groaned.

He had no beef with the Hanamiya-Haizaki drama.

Why was Tendou targeting him so hard?

Tendou grabbed the ball and immediately launched a fast break, assisting another teammate for an easy bucket.

...

As the game continued, the blue team struggled to find any rhythm.

They just couldn't score.

The scrimmage was only twenty minutes long, and seven minutes had already passed—

They were trailing by twelve.

Hanamiya could already smell the sour stench of Tendou's socks in his nightmares.

"Goddamn it," he swore.

He finally caved and passed the ball to Haizaki.

Haizaki blinked.

That was the last thing he expected.

"Don't get the wrong idea," Hanamiya snapped.

"I just don't want to wash Tendou's rank-ass socks."

"As if I'm dying to do it either!" Haizaki fired back.

"You think I'm one of his delusional fangirls?"

Bzzzt—

Finally touching the ball for real, Haizaki's dribble flared like lightning.

He unleashed a wild burst of speed, reminiscent of Hayama's Beast Dribble.

"Out of my way, scrubs."

A single acceleration—

And every defender around him was blown away.

Only now did Kirisaki Daiichi's team remember—

Haizaki may have gotten humiliated by Akashi at nationals…

But he had also singlehandedly crushed three of Rakuzan's Uncrowned Kings.

They'd gotten so used to watching him brawl with Hanamiya, they forgot just how terrifying he really was.

Haizaki cut through the defense like butter.

These first-years were nothing to him.

Just as he went up for the score—

Tendou appeared.

Seeing him, Haizaki improvised, adjusting into a reverse layup.

To everyone else, the motion looked eerily familiar.

"Wait... isn't that the same move Tendou used earlier?!"

It was an almost perfect copy.

Haizaki's mimicry was shocking.

But it didn't matter.

Tendou had already seen it coming.

He leapt up to block it.

"Idiot—here!"

Just before impact, Hanamiya's annoying voice rang out.

Grimacing, Haizaki tossed the ball to the side.

It wasn't a clean assist.

It wasn't some calculated, Akashi-level dime.

But it got the job done—and Hanamiya felt the rhythm click.

It reminded him of Kaijō's captain, Kasamatsu Yukio.

"…This guy's not half bad," Hanamiya muttered, catching the pass and drilling the shot.

Haizaki snorted dismissively.

He figured Hanamiya was the one who caved first—he was the one who passed.

So in his mind, he was being the bigger man.

Two guys who had been at each other's throats for half a month had just… cooperated.

And it worked.

As the game continued, with Haizaki and Hanamiya reluctantly teaming up, the blue team's offense finally got rolling.

But—

They still couldn't close the gap.

Tendou kept them at arm's length, maintaining a double-digit lead.

Desperate, Hanamiya and Haizaki even double-teamed him in the final minutes.

"Not bad. You're improving," Tendou said.

"But still not good enough."

He exhaled—

And Haizaki swore he saw a spark.

"Thunderclap Flash."

"Twofold."

BOOM!

A deafening burst echoed through the gym.

After a moment of charge time, Tendou exploded between their double team like a flash of light.

Two quick, alternating shifts left Hanamiya and Haizaki completely out of position.

"…That was way too fast!" both of them gasped.

They exchanged glances, realizing the same thing:

He's gotten even stronger.

It was over.

With three minutes left on the clock, the outcome was already decided.

The red team kept their double-digit lead, and the blue team never recovered.

...

"Looks like we'll be counting on you two for the next week's laundry," Tendou said cheerfully.

"Oh right—Haizaki, since it's your first time, go with them."

"Now?!"

"You can wait until tomorrow if you want. Just don't forget to leave the uniforms outside."

Tendou pointed to the drying racks near the gym entrance.

Haizaki's face darkened like a thundercloud.

He'd been planning to take the clothes home and toss them in the washing machine.

But Tendou—this evil bastard—wanted them washed on-site, by hand.

"You've gotta be kidding me…"

"Let's go, Haizaki," Hara said, slapping him on the back.

"If we do it now, we don't have to clean the gym afterward. If we wait 'til tomorrow, we'll be stuck doing both."

This wasn't their first rodeo.

After every loss, they'd haul out the uniforms, fill buckets with water and detergent, and get to scrubbing.

Even the socks.

And now it was Haizaki's turn.