Thoughts

The Tokiwadai team returned to their school after the award ceremony by bus, the ride between the gymnasium and the school was a silent one.

Tokiwadai hadn't substituted a player in the match, so all of the regular members were tired, but none of them were able to sleep, all they did was stare outside the window of the bus and think about the game.

All of them were thinking about what they could have done better in the game, while the scenes of their mishaps and mistakes continuously played in their minds.

Many of the first-string members decided to hang out together and grab a meal before going home.

All of the third-year members headed to the school gym. The next day someone mentioned that the third-years played a friendly match with each and cried a lot in the gym.

Shun, Mibuchi, and Aone excused themselves and went straight to their homes.

Shun walked to his home, thinking about the game. The joy from the award ceremony had already worn out, and what left was the sense of loss.

As much as Shun liked for the thoughts about the game to go away, they were on a playback loop in his mind; he could see every single one of plays and moves that he had made in the game in his mind.

He could remember the feeling of adrenaline flowing through his body. He could still remember the sound of his heart beating faster and faster.

He could still remember the moment he lost.

Shun reached his home, and the lights were on.

Shun: 'They got home before me, huh.'

Shun could almost imagine his mom hugging the sweet life out of him when he entered the home.

Shun: 'Or, maybe she would scold me for what happened at the ceremony, or maybe she would do both.'

A chuckle escaped from Shun's mouth. He smiled and headed inside to face his maker.

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Aomine Daiki was an individual who was feeling extremely complicated right now.

He was happy that his team won the Nationals, but he wasn't sure about what to think about the award ceremony.

Kageyama Shun had earned all the individual awards; he was by far the best player that played in the tournament this year.

Aomine: 'I couldn't outscore him, and when he was defending me, I couldn't score against him for the majority of the time. My attempt to pass the ball between his legs was also denied, he was right, and I don't have much experience about close situations, and that affected my game today.'

Today Aomine's team was unable to stop the player who was named the MVP of the tournament, the only reason they were able to win because of the lead that Kuroko helped them gain by occupying Shun.

Of course, Aomine didn't think that they won in an underhanded way. The strategy was an important part of the game, but Aomine couldn't help but think what would have happened if Kuroko hadn't occupied Shun in the third quarter.

Aomine: 'In a way, Tetsu and even Haizaki played a much important role than me in the game today.'

Aomine sighed as he moved to lay in his bed for a good night of sleep.

But then he remembered the bet that he made with Shun before the game.

Aomine: 'He was joking right, he won't make me eat her cooking for a week.'

Shun's irritating face during the award ceremony appeared in his mind, and all hopes of escaping hell were dashed at that moment.

Aomine curled in his bed, shivered a few times, and desperately hoped for the sleep to take over him so that he could escape his current chain of thoughts.

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Murasakibara Atsushi was not a happy camper.

Currently, Murasakibara was going through an existential crisis. He was staring at the box of candy that he had saved for himself as a celebratory treat for winning the finals.

But as he ate them, he couldn't experience the joy and euphoria that he usually experienced from sweets and candies.

What he should be thinking about was the candy, but all he could think about was the game against Tokiwadai Middle School and Kageyama Shun.

Murasakibara couldn't keep the game out of his mind. He couldn't concentrate on his tasty treats.

Every single score that Kageyama Shun had scored upon him revolved in his mind. On top of that, he couldn't stop thinking about the block by Kageyama Shun that had stopped him from dunking.

Murasakibara had dunked extremely sparsely in the tournament, so when the time came that he actually wanted to dunk hard, but was rejected by a player smaller than him had Murasakibara bothered very much.

This was the first time Murasakibara had been blocked so badly. He hadn't met anyone that had been able to stop him from forcing the ball inside the basket.

Murasakibara: 'Damn him, how dare he disturb me during my sweets time. I will definitely crush him next time. I will put in more effort when I meet him next time I won't hold back my strength.'

With that, Murasakibara returned to eat his sweets, trying to gain some joy from them to distract him from the sense of defeat he experienced today.

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Haizaki Shogo was mad beyond what he thought was possible.

Today he was humiliated from repeatedly. His pillaging didn't work on Kageyama Shun.

Haizaki made a fool of himself by making that bet with Kageyama Shun.

But the thing he was most pissed about was.

Haizaki: 'Even after I copied him I couldn't stop him score over him, even he was able to stop me from pillaging he shouldn't have been able to score over me and defend me so easily. Our skills were the same.'

Moreover, the words that Shun said during the game were haunting his thoughts ever since the game.

Shun: You can't copy Aomine's natural ball handing or Midorima's perfect accuracy, or Akashi's pass accuracy, or Murasakibara's physical attributes. Next year, you won't be able to copy my skills at all. I would have moved far beyond reach.'

Haizaiki planted his fist on to a table at his home. Haizaki couldn't keep the words out of his mind.

Haizaki couldn't hold himself back and cursed out loud.

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Midorima Shintaro was disappointed with his performance in the finals.

Midorima firmly believed that shooting from the outside was the best skill in the game of basketball.

Midorima: 'You can score three points at a time.'

But today, despite that he wasn't able to score more than Kageyama Shun, the difference in points scored was so drastic that Midorima was ashamed of his performance in the game today.

Midorima: 'I missed so many shots today because of Kageyama Shun blocking them every time.'

Midorima was also the best defensive member of Teiko after Murasakibara, and he wasn't able to stop Kageyama Shun at all.

Midorima: 'He cut past me every single time, I wasn't fast or skilled enough to stop him.'

Midorima decided to train harder on both his shooting and defense from now on.

Midorima: 'I need more range. I have to learn to shoot from further away.'

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Akashi Seijuro was eating dinner with his father in silence at the dining table at their mansion.

Akashi's father looked up at his son and asked.

Akashi's Father: "If I remember correctly, today was the finals for the Nationals, did your team win?"

Akashi waited till he swallowed his food and then replied.

Akashi: "Yes Father, Teiko Middle School defeated the defending champions; Tokiwadai Middle School, and won the championship."

Akashi's Father nodded in satisfaction and said.

Akashi's Father: "Good. Seijuro, always keep in mind that the fate of a member of the Akashi family is always victory."

Akashi tightened his hold on the fork and knife in his hands but replied nevertheless.

Akashi: "Yes, Father."

Akashi also thought about the award ceremony and Kageyama Shun winning all the individual awards.

Something flickered in Akashi's eyes for a second before disappearing again.

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Kuroko Tetsuya was extremely happy and giddy seeing the gold medal that he got today for winning the Nationals.

Kuroko: 'The game was hard-fought, and Tokiwadai was extremely tough adversity. Kageyama Shun was able to stop me. I still don't know how he stopped me, but I was not able to support the team with passing and team play.'

Kuroko also laughed after remembering the award ceremony.

Kuroko: "Kageyama Shun, he is such a unique person. I look forward to playing against him next time."

Kuroko returned to giddily watching the gold medal in his hands, while simultaneously emitting an aura of pure happiness.

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The dinner at Momoi family house was lively as ever.

Satsuki was extremely happy about the win in the Nationals, and she couldn't stop describing the game to her father.

Satsuki: "And at the last moment, Akashi-kun passed to the ball to Muk-kun, and he scored a three-pointer and won us the game."

Mrs. Momoi laughed at her daughter, who was talking on and on about the game.

Mrs. Momoi: "Why don't you tell your father about what Shun-kun did in the award ceremony."

Mr. Momoi looked up to his wife and asked.

Mr. Momoi: "Shun-kun? You mean the child of the Kageyama family, next door?"

Satsuki sighed and laughed thinking about the award ceremony

Satsuki: "Kageyama-kun won all four individual awards of the tournament. He teased and made all the players mad at him even his own team chased Kageyama-kun to hit him. It was so funny.

But, he did deserve the awards. He scored seventy-seven points in the finals. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it for my self."

Mr. Momoi: "It seems you have a rather high opinion of the young man."

Mrs. Momoi: "Doesn't it sound like she has a crush on Shun-kun."'

Mr. Momoi's dad senses spiked up instantly at what his wife said.

Satsuki choked on the juice she was drinking and coughed for a while before speaking.

Satsuki: "Mom! What are you saying? I don't have a crush on him. He said that my cooking is bad, and made a bet with Dai-chan that he would have to eat my cooking for a week. I don't like a guy like that."

Mr. Momoi's dad senses calmed down after hearing that.

Mr. Momoi: 'Heh, kids these days. At least my daughter is safe. Whew, I was almost worried for a moment. My daughter is still too young to be in love.'

Satsuki: "Dad, why are you not saying anything about my cooking, don't tell me you also think that cooking is bad."

Satsuki was on the verge of tearing up.

Mr. Momoi: "Of course not. My sweet daughter's cooking is the best in the world."

Mr. Momoi was not going to say the truth. He knew that her cooking, couldn't be even considered cooking.

Satsuki cheered up instantly and hugged her dad.

Mr. Momoi wiped a sweat of his brow and patted himself on the back.

Mrs. Momoi could only chuckle silently at the antics of her husband.

The day ended with Kageyama Shun on many people's minds.

The person in question was sleeping on his bed in the starfish position.