That Manager - Kuroko no Basuke (Book 1)

第23Q

~Flashback~

After school, Yasu was carrying basketballs to the gym. But she was carrying more than she could hold, and one of the balls rolled out from her hands before it bumped into someone at the
back of his shoe. The person turned around and noticed the ball before his gaze landed on the girl heading towards him.

"Sorry, can I-" She suddenly stopped mid-sentence when she tripped, causing her to drop all of the balls, and one of them hit him in the head.

"That hurt!" he exclaimed, holding the part where the ball had hit him.

"Sorry!" said Yasu with a nervous smile before continuing to pick the balls up.

"Let me help you." said the boy, picking up the balls and carried some of them.

"Thanks, Kise." she said as she began walking with him following her.

"Oh, you know who I am?" he asked excitedly.

"Well, it is easy to know your name thanks to your fan girls." she replied, making his shoulders slump when he realised she didn't know him as a model.

'That's a first.' thought Kise sulkily. He followed the girl to the gym where the first-string players were practising, and walked in just in time for him to see Aomine driving past the other players before making a dunk. 'Amazing! That speed, those movements... Can I do it? It's impossible. No, maybe if I try...'

"Oh, Yasu?" called Aomine when he noticed the two walking towards the basketball cage. "Who are you with?"

"His name is Kise Ryota." she replied. "He's helping me with the balls."

"Heh." responded Aomine before noticing the number of balls they were carrying. "Bet you were handling more than you could."

Yasu laughed sheepishly before he went back to play. After putting the basketballs into the cage, she noticed Kise watching Aomine with admiration. A smile formed on her face, and she asked, "Would you like to join?" He snapped out of her thoughts, looking at her with confusion. "I've seen you joining other sports teams looking bored and unmotivated. But when you were watching Aomine play basketball, you looked as if a fire had sparked again inside you." Kise could only stare at her, looking even more surprised than before. "So, would you like to join the basketball team?"

It took him a few second to register what she said, and he snapped out of his thoughts for a quick reply, "Yes, please!" After Yasu had left him to talk to the coach about recruiting him, he looked at Aomine in admiration. 'Oh, man.' he thought excitedly. 'I found someone amazing! Going forward, no matter how hard I try, I may never catch up to him. But that's just what I want! I want to play basketball with this guy! Someday... Someday...'

~Flashback ends~

'Not someday.' thought Kise after reminiscing on what motivated him to play basketball. 'Today is the day.'

The ball was tossed up high, and Kaijo took the ball. "The game's starting!" said Izuki.

"It's Kaijo's ball first!" said Hyuga.

'How will they play?' wondered Riko. 'Having played against both Kise-kun and Aomine-kun, honestly speaking, I feel Aomine-kun is better.'

"Forget the small stuff." said Kasamatsu, who was having the ball until he passed it to Kise. "Our ace is Kise!"

'Kise versus Aomine!' thought Kagami when the latter was on Kise. 'They're already at it!'

Kise drove past Aomine, who then did a back tip, stealing the ball. "You're just as weak as you've always been." he mocked. "You thought you got past me with that?"