Yosen was defeated by Seirin as Kise and Akashi were the only miracles left in the tournament.
"Oi Kise!" Aomine called out to him before the match against Seirin started.
"Ki-chan!" Momoi cheered.
"You two. . . What are you doing here?" Kise asked.
"We wanted to wish you good luck!" She replied.
"Really? Even Aominecchi?" He laughed.
"Sure, I guess?" Aomine shrugged and rolled his eyes.
"What's with the sudden kindness?"
"I'm not trying to be nice you clown. Do you understand that you're probably going to be our only chance of defeating Teiko?" Aomine asked.
"Yeah, they're getting past the semifinals and they might get in the way of the oath" Momoi added.
"That's hilarious. I'm sure it won't be that much of a hassle" Kise reassured while waving his hand around.
"Are you sure?"
"Are you guys seriously forgetting who she is? She can't win against us. She has no fight, no strength, no knowledge when it comes to sports. There's absolutely no way that she could make it to the finals," Kise explained as the two were baffled by his statement.
"You guys are giving her too much credibility" he then sighed before smiling.
"Listen, maybe it's not Kaeri who is a threat, but the Teiko players that she brought together. Tell me how they were able to plow their way to where they are now?!" Aomine asked in frustration.
"In think you're just paranoid Aominecchi, and it's a bit pathetic" Kise bluntly replied.
"You're a fucking shithead!" He shouted and was about to lash out on him before Momoi held him back.
"And stop trying to avoid the damn question!"
"Alright alright, I'll explain it simply because it seems like you don't remember anything from last year. We have faced schools, who were in the top of the nation, and defeated them. Schools that started off exactly like the current Teiko, strong and respected, and we ended up crushing them" Kise explained.
"Don't let that powerless and small girl make you forget who you are; however, I'll accept your kind wishes and win this match! Bye bye!" He added before walking off, leaving Momoi and Aomine speechless.
"Why is he like that?" Aomine groaned in exhaustion.
"Don't listen to him, he could be wrong about Teiko" Momoi said. "But, I feel a bit sad after talking to him. He seems to be in denial, like I was before. . ."
"Maybe, or he's just an asshat" Aomine shrugged.
"Aomine, Momoi" Midorima called while walking towards them, "how did it go with Kise?"
"Not good. He totally dissed us and denied everything we said" Aomine replied.
"I see. I honestly don't know why he's acting up so much, but I'm not surprised since it has happened before" Midorima said. "Do you think it'd be a good idea to scout Teiko's match right now?"
"Are you kidding me?"
"I think that it won't hurt to know. I just want to see if Ki-chan is right. Maybe there's nothing special about them," Momoi replied.
"They're almost done with the fourth quarter so make up your mind" Midorima said.
"Ugh, well let's get going then. . ." Aomine grunted as they began walking to the stadium.
When they opened the door, they were greeted with crowds of people, flooding the bleachers as they weren't able to get through.
"Why are there so many people?!" Midorima complained.
"Shit, I can't see what's going on" Aomine added.
"The second generation are far ahead of them!"
"They're going to own this match!"
"The second generation. . . ?" Momoi questioned.
"This is ridiculous! They're displayed as if they are on the same level as us!"
"What's pissing me off is the amount of people here, god. . ." Aomine scoffed.
Suddenly, a loud roar was heard from the court as the three tensed up in shock. It sounded rather barbaric and violent, as if the players were battling in a Colosseum.
As they continued to listen to the roars and shouts on the court, they started to feel an uneasy and anxious feeling in their chest. They couldn't see what's happening, so their imagination took over and made the experience seem worse than it is. The noises definitely did not sound like a basketball game.
"There seems to be less people on the other side of the bleachers" Midorima suggested.
"We have to run to the other side of the building to get there!" Momoi replied,
"We can make it. Come on" Aomine grabbed her hand as they began running. They pushed through crowds of people until they finally made it to the other side of the building.
They rushed into the bleachers right before the whistle blew, indicating that Teiko won their match.
"ALRIGHT!!!" The team roared as the audience cheered with them, creating a lively and passionate atmosphere that surely overwhelmed the three.
"We. . .we missed it" Aomine panted.
"Such noisy people" Midorima scoffed.
Momoi took the opportunity to inspect the Second Generation as she recognized Sudou, Ryuuji and Deatoro.
"Eh-- player #4, #6, and #7 used to be in the third-string last year!"
"I've never seen their faces before. . ."
"How did they get to the first-string so fast?!" Aomine asked
"I don't know, but it seems like two new members joined the group, they might be freshmen"
"Most importantly, why isn't their coach on the bench? I only see the manager!" Midorima asked. "How could she supervise the team and not even show up?"
"What are you talking about? Coach Sanada isn't the supervisor?" Aomine asked.
"Did you not tell him?!" Midorima yelled at Momoi.
"I forgot to tell him!"
"You know, most of our problems right now are caused by people f**king keeping things from each other!!"
"How about instead of bickering, you bloody explain to me what's going on!?" Aomine said in frustration.
"Alright. . . Rindou is the currently the coach of those regulars. I found out several days ago, but I didn't want to stress you out before the game, so I never told you" She explained.
"Why did you have to wait so long??" He groaned while pinching the bridge of his nose.
"I didn't mean to!"
"It shouldn't be so much to take in," Midorima bluntly said. "You probably already knew that she was in control of the team either way, so knowing this shouldn't change how you look at things"
"For her to take the title of a basketball coach is just insulting" Aomine sighed.
"It is quite laughable"
Momoi gazed at them for a while before focusing her attention to the second generation again, "Yet she isn't doing a terrible job. She managed to gather some great players nonetheless"
"Are we going to see Ki-chan and Tetsu-kun now?"
"No I'm going home"
"Kise can go fuck himself" Midorima and Aomine began walking off.
"Seriously?! Jeez. . ." Momoi huffed and followed behind them.
As they made their way out, Midorima sensed that someone was spying at him before turning around and suddenly meeting eye contact with Rindou, who was near the court entrance while leaning against the wall as the second generation walked towards her.
She was looking up at the bleachers and continued to stare at him like she was waiting for him to do something. He squinted his eyes at her in irritation as he knew that he couldn't do anything about it before walking away.
"Fuyumi, can you help me wash out the water bottles? I can't carry it all myself" Rindou said as the team was preparing to leave.
"Sure!" The junior replied.
"We're done packing, so I think we could head out now" Sudou said,
"You guys can go ahead, we'll catch up later" She replied before they parted ways.
"Well since the ladies are gone, I hear there's a nice strip club at the end of the road. How about we sneak in, boys??" Ryuu teasingly suggested.
"I could easily get in with the fake ID I 'borrowed" Nishimori snickered,
"Both of which are actually illegal," Sudou sighed from exhaustion.
As they continued to banter, Murasakibara stood in their way before Deatoro noticed him and immediately stopped in his tracks and the rest did the same.
"None of you people belong in this tournament. It's awfully sickening to see frauds like you being accepted around here" Murasakibara stated with a threatening expression. "You all won't last for any longer from now on"
"Should you be acting so tough when you lost, big guy?!" Ryuu replied.
"You idiots don't even know who you're up against tomorrow now that Kise-chin lost to Seirin. . ."
"You mean Rakuzan?" Tooru asked.
"You're taking this way too lightly. I can't wait to see you get completely crushed"
"Glad that you're hyped, but we honestly have nothing to lose"
****
All of the matches were over that day and the staff updated the tournament graph while Fuyumi and Rindou were at the sinks, washing out the water bottles.
Fuyumi looked up to read the graph before looking anxious, "I'm quite worried now. Will we be able to do this?"
"It'll be fine" Rindou replied while gathering the bottles.
"But you haven't seen the team we're against yet"
"I already speculated it from a while ago. Based on the direction that the tournament was going, it was bound to happen" She lied in order to deceive the junior.
"I'm surprised that I was able to pull this off. Signing up last minute for the tournament placed us below the chart, which gives Tetsuya-senpai a chance to get rid of the other miracles before this moment" She thought as she grinned in satisfaction.