After Teikō's first match, their performance did not disappoint the fans.
From the preliminaries up to now, they had been crushing opponents with overwhelming victories, showing clear signs of championship potential.
At first, fans were worried that the stats of Tendou and the others would drop as the competition grew fiercer.
But instead—their numbers actually increased.
That could only mean one thing:
They had gotten even stronger.
In Teikō's first Nationals game, Tendou Kageyoshi dropped a stunning 33 points, 3 rebounds, 7 assists, and 6 steals.
If Kasamatsu Yukio hadn't been so afraid of Tendou's steals in the final quarter, he might've reached double-digit steals again.
Such a stat line was extraordinary.
Given that FIBA rules meant games were 8 minutes shorter than the NBA, and players were amateur level, scoring was usually much lower.
Yet Tendou still managed a 30+ point, 5+ assist, 5+ steal game—a rare feat.
...
The next morning, Tendou woke up and picked up the morning paper.
As expected, Tokyo Sports featured a front-page article on his meeting with Shirogane Eiji.
The headline photo showed the two chatting amiably, with a bold title above:
"33-Point Blowout: Teikō's Demon Star Rises—Is the Nationals Already Decided?"
In an age when smartphones weren't mainstream—and Riko still used a flip phone—people relied heavily on newspapers for their sports news.
Which meant, anyone who bought a paper today now knew Tendou's name.
Teikō was already a fan-favorite in Tokyo as a traditional powerhouse.
...
At school...
"It's Tendou-kun! He's so handsome!"
"Wow, it's really him. He looks even better in person!"
"He dropped 33 points on Kamizaki Middle yesterday!"
"So jealous—he's already the ace as a first-year."
"And I heard he's a model too?"
"Yeah, all the girls in our class are crazy about him!"
Tendou had barely stepped through the school gates when he got mobbed.
A particularly brave girl, blushing, stepped forward and shyly handed him a pink love letter with a heart sticker.
"Umm... Tendou-kun, please take this..."
A love letter, huh...
Wouldn't rejecting it outright be kind of harsh?
"Thanks." Tendou took it, ignored the crowd, and sauntered off coolly.
...
Back in class, he still had the letter in hand.
Riko immediately noticed the little heart sticker on the envelope.
"What's that?"
"A love letter."
"Someone asked you to deliver it?"
"Nope, it's for me."
These girls are maturing way too fast.
Riko bit her thumb, eyes narrowing suspiciously.
Tendou smirked, "What's with that look? Don't tell me... you've fallen for me?"
He thought she'd blow up like usual—but surprisingly, her eyes were still glued to the letter.
He paused, held it up and shook it.
Her eyes followed its every movement.
Then, Tendou casually tossed it out the window.
Riko snapped out of her daze.
"How could you do that?! Don't you know how much courage it takes for a girl to confess?!"
She stormed out of the classroom—probably to retrieve it.
...
"She likes you," came the voice of cat, the system AI.
"Aren't you supposed to be artificial intelligence? You understand human feelings now?"
"Don't lump me in with low-level AIs. Watching all those romance dramas with you wasn't for nothing."
...Even the AI knows about love. Chinese dramas are powerful.
Of course, this whole segment was cut from the anime.
What the real-world audience saw was Tendou teasing Riko with the letter, her running off, and a fade to black.
『She's totally jealous, right?』
『It's the fear of losing her man!』
『So tsundere it hurts.』
『My heart is melting, I swear!』
『Riko, my wife, don't give in so easily!』
'Tendou tossed the letter to prove his loyalty, and she's still mad. Classic woman logic.'
The viewers were shipping hard.
...
Meanwhile, Riko, unaware of the live CP war, ran to the schoolyard bushes.
After some effort, she retrieved the letter and returned to class—reluctantly handing it back to Tendou.
She wanted to prove she wasn't jealous, that she didn't care what Tendou did.
But deep down, when he tossed that letter, she'd felt... happy.
Now, seeing him about to open it, she got flustered again.
Her emotions were so twisted up she couldn't bear it—so she just turned to face the blackboard, covering her face.
"Her heart rate spiked to 135 the moment you touched the envelope."
Damn cat! Just like your awful owner!
Riko raged silently at the system AI Short-Tail Cat for betraying her.
Of course, since the audience couldn't see the system, the anime needed a more logical reason for her behavior.
So the next scene played out like this:
Just as Tendou was about to open the letter, Riko shouted furiously:
"How could you accept a love letter without even knowing the girl's name?! You're way too careless!"
『She's panicking! She's so panicked it's hilarious!』
『Haha, classic tsundere move!』
『Just admit you like our King B already!』
『Please, just get married already. I'll pay for the wedding!』
...
That afternoon, basketball club.
"Hey, Cat—have you decided to go to Rakuzan for high school?"
Stop calling me cat. You're gonna make me emotional.
"Nope. I'm not thinking that far ahead yet."
They'd obviously read Youth Sports Daily and seen the article.
"Right now, I'm only thinking about one thing—winning this year's Nationals."
"It's good to have ambition—but that's no excuse for ignoring Momoi's scouting reports. Everyone, to the conference room! No one leaves until you memorize the next opponent's data!"
Shirogane Kōzō was still pissed about the first-years ignoring Momoi's detailed scouting reports.
Today, no one was getting away without a full info session.
This year, Teikō had a real shot.
A very real shot.
It was a feeling—subtle but overwhelming—strong enough that Shirogane had lost sleep for days.
This group of kids... their potential was beyond his wildest dreams.
Perhaps they could achieve something unprecedented in junior high basketball...
A three-peat at Nationals.
---
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