As the Winter Cup proceeds, teams are narrowing until the final two are standing; however, it hasn't gotten that far yet.
Competitors are aware of the massive threat that is the Generation of Miracles, but there's a dark horse rising towards the top as this mysterious team has already been recognized by the spectators.
"Teiko's new regulars might actually have a chance"
"They're surely intimidating"
"I could hear their loud voices from outside the stadium, scary!"
"I didn't think that they'd make it this far. . ." Momoi told Aomine as they sat together in the gymnasium center.
"This pisses me off. Why did the coach even let her do this?" Aomine replied.
"You two" A voice interrupted their conversation as they turned to see Midorima and Takao.
"Midorin and Takao-kun!"
"Hello~" Takao replied
"Oi Midorima. Looks like you lost against Rakuzan" Aomine casually stated.
"Shut up" The green lad replied, "That's not remotely why I'm mad. I keep hearing all this talk about Teiko"
"Of course. . ."
"I told her that I would be the one to stop her team, but Rakuzan f***ked us over before I did anything, " Midorima cursed.
"Wow, language. . . ." Takao sighed
"Her?' You met Kaerii--I mean, Rindou?!" Momoi asked.
"When?!" Aomine added.
"Two days ago. She was with her obnoxious and sketchy-looking team"
"Since we're not going to be the ones defeating her, there's no choice but to support the other guys" Aomine suggested.
"I don't care anymore about what happens. I don't want to be involved with her" Midorima tiredly replied.
"Hey! If she actually makes it past one of us, our oath will be ruined!" Aomine defended.
"My support won't make a difference. There's nothing we can do but watch" Midorima grunted.
"This isn't even a joke anymore, she's gotten this far. . ." Momoi pouted.
"Tch! Fine, I won't make any weird promises, but I'll do what I can. I won't be able to live with myself if she actually won against one of us"
"Good, we got one more" Aomine said in satisfaction.
Midorima then gazed at the peach-haired girl beside him, "Are you in as well, Momoi?"
"Eh?!" She exclaimed.
"Have you even told her yet?" He then asked Aomine.
"I'll tell her once she's with us!"
"What is with that logic? However, I kind of understand" Midorima sighed, "I know I lost any opportunity to directly stop Teiko from winning, but if I were to do something, going against you would probably be part of it" He told Momoi.
"Huh?!"
"Due to your friendship with Rindou, I feel like you'd try to help her in some way"
"I'm not like that! I already told you before!" She said to Aomine.
"She won't do that, Midorima"
"Then, what will you do if Rindou asks you for help?" Midorima suddenly asked.
"Of course I'll tell her off!" She immediately replied.
"That was rather easy for you to say, why?"
"She won't ask for my help, she doesn't trust me enough for that, and I also I have my doubts about her" She explained.
"I see. You better tell her soon, Aomine" Midorima replied.
"Don't tell me what to do" Aomine scoffed.
"Huh, I'll get going so I don't miss the match" Midorima said.
"Seirin and Yosen are going against each other, right?" Aomine asked.
"Ahh! I totally forgot about that for a moment!" Momoi yelled.
"We'll be there soon" Midorima said.
"Have a nice day you two~" Takao smiled as they walked away.
"Ugh, I'm so stressed out" the blue-haired ace grunted.
"You're still not going to tell me what happened?" Momoi asked.
"Not yet"
"Why haven't you told Tetsu-kun about it either?"
"Because it's a pain to talk about"
"If she has really hurt you guys that much. . . to the point where you could barely talk about it, then perhaps you were right all along about her" She stated.
"So you believe me now?"
"I never thought that you were lying or anything, I was just in denial. Rindou never seemed like the type to inflict harm to someone" She replied.
"Your idea of 'causing harm' is different from the harm she actually did"
"Then what did she do? She can't fight!"
Aomine ironically chuckled, "Oh, if fighting was involved then all of us wouldn't have hated her as much. We're athletes after all, settling things with our strength is what we do. . ."
"Bruises and wounds heal, but this motherfucker said some things that . . . .stuck in our minds and we can't do anything about it." He explained.
"Aomine-kun. . ."
"Makes me think that words can cause a lot more harm than wounds could ever do"
Aomine groaned, "I can't believe I'm ranting to you like this, I'm so lame"
"Y-Yosen's match will be starting, should we go see Mukkun?"
"Yeah, let's go" Aomine immediately stood from his chair before walking towards the stadium with Momoi, who didn't take her eyes off of him in concern.
It was really tragic to see Aomine close to breaking down, but in a weird way, she's glad to know that he has emotions.
"Oi, Murasakibara." Aomine called out to him.
"Mine-chin~! Eh, Sacchin is with you too? Did you guys make up??"
"I guess? We just wanted to wish you good luck before the match" Aomine sheepishly said.
"Why are you saying that? It's so creepy and gross. . ." Murasakibara grunted in disgust.
"Ugh, I'm not saying it to be nice. It's because you're one of the people who could beat Teiko at this point, so we're counting on you"
"There's no need for that. Even if I win against Kuro-chin, I'm not the one who should go against Teiko" Murasakibara replied.
"Well you can't really chose who you get to go against"
"Have you seen the latest charts~?"
"What does it say?" Momoi asked
"At this rate, the one who will go against Teiko is either Kaijo or Rakuzan." Murasakibara said.
"Kise and Akashi?!" Aomine yelled.
"I honestly hope that it ends up being Kise-chin that defeats them. Aka-chin wouldn't enjoy playing that match"
"You're right"
"Why not?" Momoi asked.
"Mine-chin, you seriously haven't told her?? What are you even waiting for????" Murasakibara scoffed.
"Why do you guys keep pressuring me?! Jeez, I'm still not sure how I should explain it--it's a complicated story damn it!!" Aomine snapped.
"Sucks to be you . . ."
"But I'm on you guys' side nonetheless." Momoi said.
"Really?!"
"Yes, I have my own reasons, but she really shouldn't get in the way of your oath. I support you on that"
"Well if that's the case then you can take your time, Mine-chin."
"Don't stall for too long! I have the right to know!" Momoi complained.
"Alright alright. . . ." Aomine sighed.
"Will you guys watch my match anyways~?"
"Of course Mukkun! We'll be there in a moment!" Momoi smiled.
"Thanks. Then, I'll get going~" he said before walking off.
"This is awkward. I never thought that I could talk to Midorima or Murasakibara so casually after moving schools"
"Especially after making a threatening oath to beat each other. Funny how men's brains work"
"What is that supposed to mean?!"
**
"Teiko is beginning to shine a light on themselves now that they've survived up to this point" Hyuuga sighed as Seirin was preparing for their match with Yosen.
"It's honestly not fair for a junior high team to beat a dozen of high school teams throughout these past few days" Furihata complained.
"Plus, it doesn't make sense if a junior high team actually wins a high school tournament. Kind of disrespectful actually. . ." Koganei replied
"Oi Kuroko, what do you think will happen?" Kagami asked Kuroko, who was patiently sitting on the bench within the locker room as he listened to the conversation.
"I really do believe that Rindou-san knows enough to create a strong team; however, I'm not sure if she could really help them win against the miracles." He stated.
"They have a high level of skill since it's something that they grew to master, but Rindou-san doesn't love basketball enough to understand it. . . she barely likes basketball actually"
"She doesn't like basketball? Then why is she doing all of this, and even get this far with her team?!" Kagami asked.
"It has something to do with facing the miracles" Kuroko replied.
"What does she want from them?" Izuki asked.
"I know for a fact that they had an argument of some sort, but I don't think that she's a revengeful person. She's bitter to an extent, but she wouldn't go out of her way and organize a team to get back at them--that is far too much work for her," Kuroko nonchalantly explained.
"Who the actual hell is this Rindou-person?" The Seirin team thought in eagerness.
"Wait, how come you don't know exactly what happened between them?" Hyuuga said.
"I was in the infirmary during the junior high tournament, which was when they fought apparently"
"And none of the miracles told you?"
"No, they didn't want to"
"Was it really that serious??" Kiyoshi asked before bringing his hand up to his chin "Hmm, what could a preteen girl even do to distress the generation of miracles?"
"Okay, I don't think that distress is involved" Hyuuga replied in disbelief.
"Guys we have to go now!" Riko said.
"Alright!" They all replied before leaving the room.
Kuroko looked down at his feet while scrunching his eyebrows, "Please don't cause any trouble, Rindou-san"