That Manager - Kuroko no Basuke (Book 2)

第35Q

With the second quarter over, Seirin was ahead of Kirisaki Dai Ichi by five points. During the ten-minute interval, some of the audiences got up from their seats and walked around or went to the bathroom. Meanwhile, Hanamiya was visibly irritated at the fact that his plan to take Kiyoshi down failed. He bumped into Kuroko without apologising, before shoved him to the side. "Move!" he snapped.

"Wait." called the Phantom Player, making him halt in his tracks. "Why do you play in such an underhanded way? Do you really enjoy winning like this?"

Hanamiya then placed his hand on where his heart was located. "Of course not." he said sadly, which shocked Kuroko. "But if I don't do it, how am I supposed to beat teams with the members of the Generation of Miracles?" He all of a sudden shed tears and clenched his hand harder. "I made a promise. I'll place first in the Winter Cup, and..."

Suddenly, he burst out laughing. "I'm kidding, idiot!" He stuck his tongue out Kuroko, making his eyes widen. "They say the misfortune of others tastes like honey. Don't get the wrong ideas, goody two-shoes. I don't want to win. I want to see guys who've worked hard and devoted their youth to basketball grind their teeth as they lose." He walked towards Kuroko and placed his face in front of his. "Do I enjoy it? Yeah, I do. What I did to your seniors last year was a masterpiece."

"Bastard!" cussed Kagami, but was held back by Izuki.

"Kagami!" scolded the second-year.

"Hah!" Hanamiya then left Kuroko and his team. "I hope you don't think that's the end of it. You're only just starting to grind your teeth." However, Kuroko gripped his fists tightly. Yasu could only stood at a side and watch with a frown.

Back at the locker room, an angry Kagami kicked one of the benches, lashing his anger out while the others were resting. "Damn it!" he cusses while panting. "Those bastards!"

Riko came up to him and smacked his head with a clipboard. "Jeez!" she sighed angrily. "Don't take your anger out on stuff."

"Kiyoshi, are you alright?" asked Izuki, standing in front of the said boy, who had an ice pack placed on one of the bruises.

"Yeah, I'm fine." he assured.

"Are you sure you're okay?" asked Furihata with concern. "Those guys-" He suddenly stopped when Riko got closer to them. Eying on the the bruises, she remembered what he had said to the team's manager, and held back her idea of switching him out.

Kagami sat next to Kuroko. "Damn it!" he cussed again. "I'm so angry!"

"You shouldn't break things." said Kuroko without looking at him.

"Shut up!" scolded Kagami. "I know that! Anyway, I'm amazed you're so cal-" He stopped when he saw the fury on Kuroko's face.

Izuki looked around the room and realised someone was missing. 'Where did she go?' he wondered.

Meanwhile, Hanamiya left the bathroom and is on his way to his team's locker room. As soon as he passes by a sitting figure, he stopped and smirked. "Yo." he greeted before turning around to look at the person. "I didn't think I'd see you here, ace of Rikka basketball team, Yukimura Yasu."

"Oh, it's you, huh?" she responded by looking up at him with a can of peach juice in her hand. "You're still playing as dishonestly as ever, Bad Boy Hanamiya Makoto."

"Dishonestly?" he repeated before chuckling. "Give me a break. That's just a bait so we can trap them. Don't be ridiculous."

"Huh?" she responded without a slightest interest before turning back to her drink.