Chapter 289

Hah...

So this is defeat.

The moment the whistle blew, all the blood in his body seemed to freeze.

Stagnating in one's own ways...

"Yukimiya."

"Mm, Midorima."

In the center circle where the teams lined up for the salute, Yukimiya Kazuma and Midorima Shintaro gently shook hands.

Sweat deeply soaked Midorima's jersey; looking at his expression, his brows were tightly furrowed with seriousness, "I lost, but next time..."

"I will definitely win."

Yukimiya Kazuma looked into the other's eyes, and at the straightened posture while speaking, seeing someone who had encountered setbacks but would absolutely not be knocked down, "I saw it, that shot."

"You could have done better, Midorima."

"However..."

"The winner is still me."

Midorima raised his head; hearing Yukimiya Kazuma's words, he offered no rebuttal. Just as said before the match, having lost, he fully accepted the other's lecture.

"By the way."

"Is that so-called rolling pencil really that miraculous?"

"!? "

This sudden miraculous twist caused Midorima's emotions to panic for an instant.

But immediately after, he thought of another thing.

This guy...

Just how thoroughly did he investigate people?

Although Yukimiya Kazuma's final question was nonsensical, seeing the other's seriously earnest expression, Midorima sighed and still answered, "Kuroko has used it; apparently..."

"The effect is very good."

Then Midorima saw Yukimiya nod solemnly, "That's good."

Just as he was confused and preparing to leave, he heard the other suddenly say, "Let's compete again in the Winter Cup; I believe it will be even more interesting then, Midorima."

For instance...

An alley-oop three-pointer or something, I really want to see it with my own eyes.

And what he was most curious about: the Zone, which the other Miracle Generation members had entered to some extent, Midorima, the only one who couldn't enter the Zone, being suppressed so badly in this match, whether something would change.

A Zone version of Midorima; he also had expectations for that.

"Alright..."

"The Winter Cup, let's do it again."

Izumitama exited.

And as the losers, Shutoku...

Before the bench, Ootsubo Taisho spoke steadily and loudly, "Organize your emotions! Straighten your backs! We haven't left the court yet; don't let everyone cheering for us see such a shameful sight!!"

"Today, it's not just us fighting..."

"Gather in front of the stands!"

The Shutoku members came to the court again, but this time, they came to the spectator stands by the sideline, before Shutoku's cheerleading squad.

"Thank you very much for your support!!"

Midorima looked up at this scene, especially the banner before his eyes; the four characters 'Unyielding' were right in front of him, and an emotion long forgotten suddenly surged up from the depths of his heart.

In the player tunnel during the exit.

Takao Kazunari spoke with feigned ease, "The preliminary round group match, there was no choice, after all; who knew we'd run into Izumitama and Yukimiya Kazuma..."

"... "

"Shin-chan, are you very upset?"

"But unfortunately, I don't know how to comfort you either."

Midorima looked down at his side; Takao Kazunari had quietly lowered his head at some point, and along his cheek, whether sweat or tears, kept sliding down.

Midorima Shintaro: "Hmph, I thought so, but I feel the same..."

It really is still so frustrating.

Losing a match like this.

"Senpai..."

"I'll step away for a moment."

Midorima's face was taut, and his tone remained low and cold, but Takao Kazunari knew that was just his tsundere's clumsy cover-up.

Inside the restroom.

Midorima took off his glasses, lowered his head before Hanashiro Shuichi, letting cold water soak his face; only after a long while did he calm his heart, but just then, the water flow suddenly stopped; a hand, without his consent, forcibly pulled him out of his reverie.

Aomine Daiki looked at the splattered water stains on Midorima's body and the disheveled state of his jersey, and couldn't help but tease, "You didn't come here to cry because you lost the match, did you?"

And...

Is this restroom some kind of player locker room?

Why does everyone run here after the match?

That guy Yukimiya is, and this guy Midorima is too.

Midorima's face darkened. "This joke isn't funny at all, Facing Qingfeng."

"I thought so. Among us, I'm afraid only Kise would be like that~"

Aomine Daiki leaned against the sink, looking at Momoi outside the restroom. Since it was a men's restroom, she couldn't enter and kept gesturing inside. He shook his head wordlessly.

·· 0 flowers 0 ·········

Midorima: "……"

Midorima noticed this too. After wiping the water clean, he put on his glasses and went out on his own initiative.

Seeing Midorima, Momoi greeted him with a joyful expression. With just a few words, she instantly broke his defenses. "Little Midorima~, how do you feel right now? Losing for the first time in so many years, are you very sad~?"

"And also..."

Momoi Mayu circled around Midorima asking questions, seeming genuinely curious about what it felt like for Midorima of the Generation of Miracles to lose a match.

"Momoi..."

"I'm not in the mood to answer such questions right now."

After Midorima finished speaking, he turned to look at Facing Qingfeng. The words of 'catching up' had already been said last time at Shinkan Already, so he said directly: "Be serious during the round-robin finals..."

"Hm?"

"No way...?"

Facing Qingfeng's expression was arrogant, but excitement was unmistakable in his eyes. "You don't think that because you lost to Yukimiya Kazuma, I will lose too, do you?"

"I'm different from you. The only one who can defeat me is myself."

Midorima had already heard enough of this kind of talk during middle school; hearing it now felt even more boring. "Facing Qingfeng, you're still the same..."

"Don't forget."

"Before that, you still have to settle the score with Kise in the round-robin finals."

Facing Qingfeng snorted coldly. "You seem to have misunderstood something, Midorima. What happened before doesn't matter at all; now we are enemies."

"And also..."

"Seirin still has a long way to go."

Midorima knew very well that the current Seirin could not possibly be Facing Qingfeng's match. What he said just now was only considering the past 'Light and Shadow' relationship between Facing Qingfeng and Kise.

However, after hearing Facing Qingfeng's words, he still said tsundere: "I hope you can still be this energetic after the round-robin finals."

Momoi didn't know if she was happy because she saw Midorima, or happy because Midorima lost the match, or happy that Facing Qingfeng was about to meet a real opponent; anyway, she kept chattering nonstop.

But the words falling into Midorima's ears felt as if salt was being sprinkled on his wound: