After Nationals

Yuki entered the gym for another day of practice.

He looked inside the gym and announced his entry.

Yuki: "Good Evening!"

He looked for the person he wanted to speak to first. He scanned the court. Yuki found the captain of the first-string and walked towards him.

Yuki tapped Shun's shoulder in greeting and talked.

Yuki: "Kageyama, did you watch the games?"

Shun, who was dribbling a ball, turned to his teammate and chatted back.

Shun: "Yo. Yeah, I saw them.

They sure did a number on the other schools.

Especially on the other four favorite teams."

He clicked his tongue and continued.

Shun: "Even though we didn't have the footage of the award ceremony, I can imagine Kise Ryota's grinning face.

And, even imagining that pisses me off."

The day before yesterday, Teiko Middle School won its second-consecutive National championship and, yesterday, Coach Koetsuji had handed them all of Teiko's games and a couple more on Shun's request.

Shun and a few others had gone to their home and watched the games.

Teiko had played against Kiyoshi Teppei's Shoei Middle School and Hayama Kotaro's Ryuo Middle School.

And both times, Teiko had become active to take on the best player on the team.

In the National tournament, Shoei and Ryuo were the teams that had the worst loss amongst the teams that Teiko had played against, even though they were the best of Teiko's opponents.

Shun continued to dribble the ball while talking.

Shun: "They didn't play at the level they played against us.

Murasakibara was borderline lazy.

Aomine didn't use an ounce of skill. He got past his defenders with only using speed.

Midorima, he played as he usually does, but he too didn't run around the court, actively looking for passes.

Kise was having fun, waiting for his defenders to catch up to him, so that he could have iso-plays.

Akashi didn't move on either offense or defense, just support.

Well, all of them scored a minimum of twenty points.

And, Kuroko played for half a game; Teiko's offense was at it's highest in the time Kuroko was on the court."

Shun stopped his dribbling and shot the ball to the basket. It revolved around the rim before falling into the net.

Shun: "It wasn't fun to watch. There was no hustle."

A solemn expression surfaced on his face as he grunted.

Shun: "Let's hope they don't slack off, or else it won't be worth it to crush them on the court."

At this point, Kaitani arrived at the court and jogged towards Shun and Yuki. He greeted them, and the first question he asked was.

Kaitani: "Oye, which was your favorite game of the Nationals?"

Yuki and Shun greeted their teammate, and Yuki thought about the question before answering.

Yuki: "Meiho Middle School vs. Aiwa Middle School, that was a satisfying game to watch."

Shun chuckled as he added.

Shun: "Ah, Hanamiya Makoto trying to play rough against Eikichi Nebuya.

It was funny seeing Aiwa's center and power forward being pushed around by Eikichi.

It was even more fun seeing Hanamiya's pissed face.

All of Hanamiya's tricks just amounted to hitting a huge rock with pebbles."

Kaitani laughed as he commented.

Kaitani: "The big dude just laughed it off when they tried to hit him with the rough stuff.

Then seeing the Aiwa guys taking a moment after colliding a screen by Meiho's Eikichi."

Shun stretched his arms and said.

Shun: "But, Hanamiya sure has skill.

He gained some serious points out there against Meiho.

It was because Eikichi Nebuya was productive on both sides of the court that Meiho won and Aiwa lost."

Kaitani turned to Shun and asked.

Kaitani: "What about you? Which was your favorite game?"

Shun rubbed his chin and gave it thought.

Shun: "Teiko Middle School vs. Kamata West Middle School."

Yuki immediately knew of the game.

Yuki: "The finals? Why was that your favorite?"

Kaitani nodded and also asked.

Kaitani: "True, Teiko crushed Kamata in the second half, but that wasn't anything new for them."

Shun shook his head with a smirk on his face.

Shun: "Kamata's genius twins, they were able to draw in three fouls from Aomine, Midorima, Murasakibara.

Four fouls from Kise and even Akashi fell victim to their flopping once and gained one foul.

And Nijimura Shuzo, who subbed in for Kise, he too gained two fouls.

Plus, both the twins are really good at free throws. They didn't miss a single free throw in the game.

That was a total of sixteen foul points.

It is a pity that they didn't know how to draw fouls like Mibuchi-san, or else it would've been even more fun.

Just the sight of Teiko getting pissed was worth it."

Shun laughed in glee as he recalled Teiko member's faces as they protested the fouls to the referee.

Yuki and Kaitani looked at their captain, and Kaitani spoke.

Kaitani: "You are really salty when it comes to Teiko, aren't you."

Shun humphed at Kaitani's statement and didn't grace him with an answer.

The coach entered the gym, and Shun, as the captain, shouted the orders.

Shun: "Everybody, the coach is here!

Gather Up!"

And, thus, began another day of practice at Tokiwadai Middle School Basketball Club's first-string.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-

In just a week's worth of time, Teiko's consecutive title victory made it in the issue of youth sports magazines.

Aomine Daiki, the MVP of the National Tournament, scoring leader (offensive player of the year), was dubbed as the best forward in the Middle School scene.

Murasakibara Atsushi was awarded the defensive player of the year and became the best Center in the Middle School scene. The tall giant was dominant, and his power plays made him a spectacle.

Akashi Seijuro was bestowed upon the award of the supportive player of the year and became the best point guard in the Nationals because of Teiko's unbeatable pass work.

Kuroko Tetsuya was an integral part of Teiko's pass work, but due to his weak presence, Akashi ended up getting all the credit.

The magazines crowned Midorima Shintaro as the unrefutable best shooting guard of the Middle School basketball scene. Plus, his defensive skills were also top-notch, so he was considered as an ideal guard-archetype player.

Kise Ryota's short basketball career and his spectacular performance at the Nationals were disproportionate. With his good looks and work as a model, he garnered a large amount of attention.

Kise's flashy plays in the Nationals made him a fan favorite and ended up getting the biggest article of all Teiko players, beating out Aomine's MVP and scoring leader article.

-*-*-*-

And, Teiko's victory demanded their journey this year, so the magazines pulled out all the information about all of Teiko's games this season.

The Tokyo Preliminary finals caught the attention of the writers, and the game left them in awe of Kageyama Shun's performance.

Separate articles about Tokiwadai concentrating on Shun's performance against the champions were published in the same edition as Teiko's articles.

Later, when Shun saw the magazine articles, he laughed for a long time, happy seeing him stealing Teiko's thunder.

He even treated his teammates to meat-buns that day.

-*-*-*-

One last thing that came after the Nationals was the unofficial coining of the five top players, who despite their talents, lost out to the one year younger batch of players, and now, were known to the youth basketball community as the Uncrowned Kings.

Iron Heart, Kiyoshi Teppei, who lost to both Generation of Miracles in the Nationals, and Shun last year.

Bad Boy, Hanamiya Makoto was destroyed by Shun in the practice game, and this year didn't even get to meet Teiko in the Nationals.

Herculean Strength, Eikichi Nebuya, lost to both Teiko and Tokiwadai in Nationals both years.

Lightning Beast, Hayama Kotaro, also lost out to Teiko in the Nationals.

Night Demon, Mibuchi Reo even though with his diverse shooting style wasn't the best player on his team, and lost to Teiko for two years.