Kuroko’s Basketball: Before Generation Miracles, I Already Crowned Chapter 325: That Midorima… Dunked? Hanging from the Rim wit

Inside the seaside gym, after arriving, Midorima Shintarō rely clicked his tongue at Haizaki's taunt and said nothing more. Without a word, he began unwrapping the tape from his fingers—then swish, swish, swish!—he started shooting three-pointers from every corner of the court, covering every possible angle.

"Tch~"

"Show-off…"

"Hey, Tetsuya, I'm telling you—his left hand, the one wrapped up for 'nail protection'? Even without the tape, it doesn't affect him at all. Fortune-telling, lucky items, huh!"

Haizaki snorted.

"What a joke."

On the other side, Midorima paid no mind to the comnts, his expression perfectly calm as he kept shooting.

But Kuroko Tetsuya, ever perceptive, noticed sothing the others didn't—bloodshot veins in Midorima's eyes, like soone who hadn't slept all night.

Kuroko: "…"

Midorima…?

What happened to you?

Swish!

Another perfect hit.

The ball, arcing so high it nearly brushed the ceiling, plunged through the hoop with a sharp snap and bounced off the floor.

"Huff…"

Midorima's heartbeat thundered.

Thump… thump…

Nijimura's block earlier.

His own teammates

Shigure-senpai and Hagioka Kasayuki

Unlike rely watching from the stands, this ti he'd felt it firsthand—what it ant to face beings from another dinsion.

Thump… thump…

Even the kind of match where only Aomine could possibly keep up—one that he himself had triggered

the battle between Shigure and Hagioka-senpai as they gradually got serious…

Thump… thump…

All of it

happened within just two short gas!

Aomine…

Thump… thump…

Shigure… Hagioka… Nijimura…

Thump… thump…

For the first ti, he truly felt it—

that even though they stood on the sa court, there was a vast chasm between them.

He was just a human who had sohow wandered into a feast for monsters.

Especially when Aomine, even in Zone, was still defeated

that feeling reached its peak.

Even if it lasted for just a mont…

to be honest, it was hard not to feel what Haizaki probably felt when he wanted to complain to Captain Nijimura.

Until

on the court

he caught sight of Fukaya-senpai's eyes once more.

Just a single glance.

But, just like back in middle school, Midorima knew instantly.

And sure enough, he saw Fukaya-senpai step forward and challenge Hagioka Kasayuki head-on—without hesitation.

That senpai didn't have Zone.

He was simply fighting with the full extent of his normal ability

and his own unique weapons.

Whish!

Another three-pointer flew.

Through his glasses reflected the ball spinning away from his fingertips, and his hand subconsciously clenched into a fist.

On this sleepless night, his heart pounded uncontrollably, pulsing with an excitent he couldn't quite na.

Imrsed in that feeling, Midorima couldn't tell what was happening to him.

Especially the instant he'd seen Fukaya-senpai's eyes earlier

In the past, he'd only felt respect toward him.

But now…

there was sothing new

a rush, an unfamiliar thrill!

Was it because

what had started as a simple belief in three-point shooting had evolved?

He had built an entire system centered around it

a structure of techniques to enhance his three-point dominance.

But now, deep down, sothing had changed.

Did it an…

he'd finally found an opponent he couldn't beat?

To the point that

he finally understood sothing he never had before

A human…

challenging a god…

A forbidden thrill.

A guilty kind of excitent.

And yet

why did it feel so good?

Better than landing any three-pointer…

He chuckled inwardly.

"I really am hopeless, huh? Three-pointers are supposed to be the strongest."

Three points.

Two points.

Such simple numbers

and yet, everyone thinks the sa way, don't they?

Clap

Clap

Clap

Bang!

A sudden noise echoed from across the court

sothing that definitely didn't belong in a Midorima practice session.

Haizaki and Kuroko both turned their heads

and froze.

Because before their eyes

Midorima Shintarō was hanging from the rim…

with one arm.

He had dunked.

Midorima: "..."

So this is it, huh.

A dunk.

Shigure-senpai, Nijimura-senpai—they'd both already set the perfect examples.

Even Fukaya-senpai, with his flawless timing and touch, wasn't bound by being "just a shooter."

Nothing in this world is sothing you like before you start it, right?

Sotis, all it takes to begin… is a bit of curiosity.

Those words

the ones Fukaya-senpai had once said to Murasakibara back in middle school—

rang clearly in Midorima's ears once more.

Midorima: "..."

Was I too arrogant before?

Three-point shooting…

Failing at it wasn't because my path was wrong

but simply because I wasn't strong enough.

So this is what I've been

complacent?

Hanging from the rim, Midorima's thoughts drifted back to earlier that night, before he'd left the dorm.

When he first stepped out, he hadn't had any destination in mind.

But as he passed one of the rooms, he heard the faint sound of a video playing

and voices.

He glanced at the door.

It was the room of Fukaya and Kurokami Shinji.

He was about to knock

but then heard his own na ntioned from inside.

"Let's watch it again. Midorima's three-pointers are insane—honestly, even crazier than Shigure's. He can shoot from the baseline across the court! If I could shoot like that, I'd be too hyped to sleep!"

"Shinji," ca Fukaya's calm reply, "if that's what counts as outrageous offense, then Shigure and Hagioka-senpai must've already lost sleep—and probably died from it."

The mont he heard the voices, Midorima recognized them instantly.

The first belonged to Kurokami Shinji;

the second, steady one, to Fukaya Reiji.

"…"

Senpai wasn't wrong.

Then ca another chuckle—Kurokami's teasing tone.

"Midorima and Shigure are different. Shigure's a monster, after all."

"Hm?"

"Monsters are ant to be defeated, aren't they?"

Silence followed inside the room.

Then—

"Hah~"

"As expected of you… Teiko's hidden number one beneath the Twin Stars."

"Don't kid . That was ages ago—what, second year of middle school? Back when those brats were still first-years who hadn't grown yet."

"Yeah. That championship issue of the monthly magazine—I still have it, you know."

"Oh? Why?"

"Because back then, everyone had a title—except . 'National-level Center, Kurokami Shinji.' Just that."

END OF CHAPTER

(So chapters in patreon are double chapters)

4 IN 1 - BE A MBER, GET 4 ONGOING STORIES!!

35 CHAPTERS AHEAD!!

Starting Five - Kuroko's Basketball: Before Generation Miracles, I Already Crowned

👉 patreon/MrBehringer