It seems He has His Rose-tinted moments

"What did you say you—"

"Now, now Wakamatsu. No need to get so worked up."

Imayoshi stopped the blonde man called Wakamatsu. There was a smile plastered upon his face. It seemed malevolent to Higashi for whatever reason. Maybe it was because he was just so used to the sly, constantly smiling and squinting characters like Gin, Izuma and this Imayoshi.

Imayoshi turned towards him.

"This school believes in individual ability. If ya want ta become the captain, then the only way is ta defeat me."

That was actually the one thing Higashi was hoping for. His leadership capability is probably dogshit, incomparable to Imayoshi. However, in terms of physical performance alone he was beyond any of these people within the club. That was his single advantage against these people.

"That's more than what I could ask for honestly, how about a 1-on-1 then?"

He suggested. Imayoshi grinned widely in response, though he did not know why. Maybe the man was excited to teach a lesson to this first year who arrogantly demanded to be their captain. No matter how ones put it he was clearly the antagonist here while these guys were the innocents who merely wanted to protect their team.

"Fine by me, first-year. Consider it your entrance test."

Nevertheless, he has confidence he will win the one-on-one. From what he could remember Imayoshi was a good player, yet Higashi's Physique stat was simply off the chart. No matter how talented a 6th-year grade-school student is, they won't be able to beat the physical capability of a high school student.

And that was the absolute difference between him and average humans.

"Thank you very much for this chance, senpai."

The two went towards the court without any more words. Wakamatsu the blonde first-year was the one holding the ball. He will throw it up to the sky and then the two will be fighting for it.

"Start!"

The ball was thrown.

Both Imayoshi and Higashi jumped for the ball. Higashi's acceleration in the air was far quicker than Imayoshi however, and he reached the ball first before the other high school student could. He took the ball into his hand.

A success. The ball was now in his hand, yet he was still launching upwards. It seems he jumped a bit too strongly. It was at that point he saw the basketball ring. It was actually below his head level. It was as if he just could…

He blamed it on impulse, but he raised his right hand and threw the ball down towards the loop.

And as the law of gravity command, he fell down to the wooden court floor.

Along with it was the sound of the ball passing through the net.

Everything was so silent you could hear a pin drop in this situation.

Higashi swiped his hands together as if trying to get specks of dust off them, the universal gesture for a job well done. He did not expect to be able to do the famed meteor jam.

No, he did it from the middle of the court, so could it even be called a meteor jam? It was more like a meteor shoot in his opinion rather than the meteor jam, which was basically a jump from the free-throw line combined with a short throw.

Imayoshi was looking at Higashi with widened eyes. His response was to smile towards the second-year.

"Was that enough of a display, senpai?"

"…Well, it looks like you're good enough for the title."

He exhaled for a moment before giving a stern gaze towards Higashi.

"The leader position… In this team, it simply means 'the person with the strongest individual power'. I won't say take good care of the team or anything like that, nor will I complain about you having the leader position. That jump and three-pointer are good enough to showcase your skill."

Imayoshi smiled once more. It was a cruel, hideous smile.

"However be careful. I'll take that position back sooner or later."

"I'll await your challenge with bated excitement, senpai."

And thus Higashi Murasaki became the captain of the basketball team.

[Kuroko no Basuke Quest completed. Please go to the Quest screen for details]

That was done then. And yet the Beelzebub quest is still not completed. Maybe he needs to officially be made a Six Knights before the quest is labeled complete? That sounds about right. Therefore he turned towards Nanami Shizuka.

"Nanami-senpai, is there anything else to be done before I'm officially a part of Six Knights?"

"Hmm? Well, we need to inform the rest of the school, but that can be announced next school year. The third-year Six Knights member who you'll replace is still around after all."

So it will take some time until that particular quest will be completed. Well, that's all fine and dandy with him, to be honest. Not like he has any desperate need for LP right now. By the way, it was March right now. The school year will end after just two more days of school.

"…Well, I will be leaving for today then?"

"Oh? Ya ain't practicin even though yer' the captain?"

Imayoshi frowned towards him. However, Higashi merely shook his head.

"I don't think other players could beat me even if I slacked off."

Or rather his way of improving is not by training but by flirting instead. Training his boy won't do him much good. And as for training his technique, his Physique is more than good enough to cover for his lack of them. He has better things to do than training his skills when his Physique alone is already unmatched.

"…That'll cost you, captain."

"Find someone who can beat me. Maybe I'll practice then."

With those parting words, he left the gym leaving for his house. Those were arrogant words, but he really did not think normal humans could beat him. He was stronger than humanly possible already, and he will only grow stronger from now on.

He idly wondered what he should do next. There are two quests left now, the Air Gear Quest and the Bakuman Quest. He has no intention of doing the Bakuman Quest until he at least gets his Visual Art to the Master Level, so that leaves Air Gear. Guess he will visit Turu Turu Tu at the weekend then.

...

His plans made, he went out of the school grounds.

"Good day."

He looked towards the source of the voice. Neck-length brown hair and glasses, a smile on her face as she stood at the school gate.

"Good day, Ebina-san. You look beautiful today as well."

"And you look dashing as well, Higashi-kun."

Ebina Hina smiled towards him. He wonders why she made contact with him today. The only connections between them were the fact they are classmates and their previous interaction within the changing room. It shouldn't be too farfetched to say she was here because that changing room meeting took her interest.

However, that was merely the reason. The important thing is identifying her objective. Did he simply pique her interest? Was she hoping for some rose-tinted events to occur? Or was there something else he didn't perceive correctly?

"…Shall we walk as we talk?"

"Sure. Ah, let's walk to your home first. I wanna know where it is."

That might sound like she was interested in him, but put it another way she didn't want him knowing the address of her house. Either way, it didn't bother him that much, so he merely nodded, before walking towards his house.

She followed suit, her bag held with both hands in front of her. There was a small skip in her steps, he noted. It seems she was in a good mood for whatever reason. Well, he won't pry her privacy. Understanding women was a notion he had since given up upon.

"Higashi-kun, what do you think is the most charming part about me?"

"…Who knows? Maybe it's your smile."

Those words came out without much thought. As he might have said before he did not have much preference in anything specific. It was more about the overall result with him. And a smile was certainly the accumulation of someone's personality.

"…You sure say sweet things, don't you? Are you aiming for my heart?"

Do you have feelings for me?

She was most likely asking whether he will be a threat to her current peaceful social life. After all, she was satisfied in his current condition and didn't wish for something like a lover to break the status quo, at least according to the Oregairu series.

She was an interesting character in that aspect. Wishing for things to stay the same was a common wish for those who were fulfilled with their lives. Putting it that way there was probably no better wish than that.

"Not in particular. I am merely practicing my self-loathing." He said. "After all, I do hate nice girls."

She smiled once more while tilting her head.

"Why is that so?"

Time to recite another quote it seems. This one is quite on the long side, but he could clearly remember this one word by word.

"Just exchanging greetings with them will get them on your mind. Start texting each other, and your heart will be set aflutter. If they call you, you're done for. Enjoy staring at your logs and grinning like a fool."

"However, I won't get fooled again. That's what your kind calls kindness. If you're nice to me, you're nice to others. I always end up nearly forgetting that. Reality is cruel, so I'm sure lies are a form of kindness. Thus, I say kindness itself is also a lie."

He sighed.

"I always ended up with these expectations. And I always ended up with these misunderstandings. And before I knew it, I stopped hoping. A highly trained loner is once bitten, twice shy. As a veteran on this battlefield of life, I've gotten used to losing. That's why I always hate nice girls."

"And yet you fancy acting like a nice guy?"

"Yeah. That's why you shouldn't misunderstand it. Those words I spoke to you are things I will say to anyone."

There we go. With all that said and done she should get her peace of mind and will leave him alone-

"Pfft. Pffhahaha! You're a fun person, Higashi-kun!"

Or maybe she will laugh. Yes, that makes just as much sense in his opinion. Women.

It was his mistake to try and make sense out of them. He sometimes wonders whether he was even of the same species as them. Were they truly not some alien invaders trying to take control of earth by charming the males?

Jokes aside she really did not seem to be dictated by logic or at least any variance of it he is knowledgeable of. Then again emotions are known to be illogical and incomputable so maybe it was his fault to try and bound them through something like mere logic.

"So, have I satisfied whatever curiosity you might have of me, Ebina-san?"

"Mm… Nope. You're still a far too good source of entertainment to throw away."

"Did your parents not teach you to do things in moderation?"

"My parents taught me to have fun with my boyfriend."

"…don't tell me that it's one of those 'a boy and a friend, therefore a boyfriend' jokes."

"Ahaha, that joke doesn't even work in Japanese. So?"

"…"

"Jeez, do you really have to make me say it?"

She bowed.

"I like you. Please go out with me."