Tendou couldn't quite handle the way Momoi's mom kept looking at him—
That sorrowful, almost wistful gaze.
So he left with Momoi and headed to a nearby court.
"Swish!"
Tendou showcased what he had just mastered: two mid-air shooting motions culminating in a clean bucket.
Even Momoi, standing off to the side, was left stunned.
That level of difficulty… and he nailed it on the second try?
"It went in, but... it still feels off," she said after a pause.
"Your version of the Flare Shot—it's different from Himuro's."
"That's exactly why I ca to you."
Yes, Tendou had pulled off the shot by sheer force of talent.
But where Himuro's Flare Shot had a kind of deceptive beauty—almost like the ball had vanished—Tendou's was too… pure.
It lacked that illusionary effect.
He had done it with sheer hang ti.
But in a real ga, that wouldn't be enough to make the shot feel like it disappeared.
"So what's the difference between my version and his?"
"Maybe… the spin?" Momoi furrowed her brow, trying to recall footage from Yōsen's matches.
She ntally replayed Himuro's form—shot by shot—until she found the missing piece.
"It's the ball's rotation!"
"Himuro doesn't have your insane hang ti. He can't stay in the air nearly as long. So when he releases the ball, it cos back down a lot faster."
Ball descent speed…
That got Tendou thinking.
After just a few monts, he picked the ball back up.
Momoi, noticing his focus, stepped forward to help.
"Let assist!"
She spread her arms wide to simulate a defender. But before she could react—
Tendou was already right in front of her.
He had barely taken a single step, and he was there.
That flawless face—so close—stole her breath away.
She'd always watched him from the sidelines.
But standing this close, feeling his presence firsthand—it was a totally different experience.
Tendou, however, was fully locked in on the rim.
He burst upward like an eagle, completing two shooting motions mid-air, and buried the ball in the net.
"There."
"That should do it."
He was incredibly fast at picking things up.
When you had the hardware, the rest was just puzzle-solving.
"Th-that fast?" Momoi stamred.
She'd barely even processed the chanics.
Then again—her eyes had been a little too preoccupied with his unfairly perfect face.
Of course he'd nailed it.
Tendou's hands were strong—he was a swordsman.
His signature moves, "Dismantle" and "Cleave", demanded ridiculous hand strength and control.
Once he understood the secret to the shot, he could make the ball descend faster than Himuro ever could—
More explosive, more refined, more terrifying.
...
"And now..."
Now?
Momoi blinked, unsure what ca next.
Monts later, her jaw dropped as she watched the ball arc like a teor and slam into the net.
She was speechless.
...
Later, the two found a small ran stall by the roadside and sat down.
The owner—surna Wei, apparently—was casually shouting at the soccer match on TV while slamming bowls down.
Didn't even glance at them when asking for their orders.
"You lot keep eating sea cucumber every damn day—gonna over-supplent yourselves into a hospital bed!"
So loud. So crude.
Tendou loved it.
This was a man from Longguo, through and through.
...
"Didn't you say you don't eat late at night?" Momoi asked.
"Technically, I said I don't eat food cooked by you or your mom."
"That's so an!"
She pouted hard.
She'd really been working on her cooking, okay?
Still—she couldn't help but resent the fact that her mom's terrible cooking had clearly been passed down to her.
How was that fair?
Wasn't that why Tendou and Aomine both hated her cooking?
Just as their hot ran arrived, Momoi suddenly asked:
"So what did Akashi want from you the other day?"
"How do you even know about that?"
"Because I'm Momoi Satsuki. Nothing you guys do escapes ."
She said it with pride.
But the truth was, she worried about these idiot boys.
She always kept an eye on them—just in case.
"He wanted to discuss pulling all the Generation of Miracles out of the Winter Cup."
"Because of Kise getting hurt?"
"Yeah."
"I figured..."
ntioning Akashi dampened Momoi's mood a little.
She rembered what things used to be like at the Akashi estate—
Back when there were only three people in the house: Akashi, his mom, and his dad.
His mother, Shiori, used to cook for them herself.
No private chefs.
Then… she passed away.
Suddenly the mansion filled with butlers and cooks.
The food beca luxurious.
Too luxurious.
And Momoi knew what that ant.
After Shiori died, Akashi stopped feeling warmth at ho.
Her own mom's cooking might be horrendous—
But she and her dad always ate it anyway, then teased her for how bad it was.
It brought them closer. It made ho feel real.
But in the Akashi house?
If the food wasn't to his taste, the chef vanished the next day.
"What Akashi really wants," Momoi said softly, "is probably warmth… and soone who won't leave."
She might be a bit ditzy at tis—
But when it ca to things like this, no one saw clearer than Momoi Satsuki.
...
『Momoi's really like a mom sotis.』
『Worrying about those dumb Miracle boys like they're her kids.』
『She's totally gonna be a good wife one day!』
『Except she can't cook for crap. Tendou and Aomine never eat her food.』
『So what? Who said girls HAVE to cook? You like good food so much, go marry a male chef!』
『Damn. That roast ca from orbit!』
『CP fangirls never rest, huh? Even in a sports ani we're shipping.』
『But seriously, Tendou and Momoi do kinda look good together…』
『No duh. Prettiest guy prettiest girl = perfect match.』
—
Tendou had definitely noticed the benefits of his growing popularity.
Even regular daily scenes now gave him a ton of screen ti.
At this rate, he appeared almost every episode—
Second only to Kuroko and Kagami.
...
"Akashi's gonna be okay, right?" Momoi asked.
"How should I know?" Tendou replied, slurping noodles.
He didn't want to get dragged into that conversation.
But Momoi didn't mind.
She believed Akashi would recover—just like Aomine had.
...
"I'll gather every bit of intel you need, Little Ten."
"Whatever you want. I'm on it."
"Do whatever you want. Just eat. It's getting late."
...
The next day.
There were no gas scheduled for Kirisaki Daiichi.
Even though the tournant was tight, once it hit the final stages, the organizers didn't push teams to play daily.
It was now one ga every two days.
That day's quarterfinals featured the teams that had finished their Round of 16 matches early.
What Tendou didn't expect—
Was to run into soone he hadn't thought about in a while.
"Haizaki?"
...
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[patréon/RoseWhisky]
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