Rebirth In KurokoNoBasket

Teiko's basketball club's second-string was having a practice game against Harada Middle School.

The basketball club management had decided that the first-string team was too powerful, and going to practice matches with the first-string would be an overkill.

So the practice matches were usually were a couple of members of the first-string mixed in with second-string players.

Today as well, Teiko had mixed in Aomine Daiki, Midorima Shintaro, and Kise Ryota into the second-string team.

Aomine and Midorima were the starters, and Kise was Aomine's substitute.

Harada Middle School was a powerhouse in Tokyo prefecture, but they weren't strong enough to make the whole Teiko team play them.

The second-string gym was hosting the game, and players were ready to start the match.

Aomine stood at his position on Harada's side of the court, ready to receive the ball from the tip-off.

He was feeling extremely good today and felt that he needed the ball in his hand as soon as possible.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-

Harada won the tip-off, and the ball went to the Harada's point guard. He moved forward and to the half-court line as his teammates moved ran for the attack.

Harada's point guard: "Let's take it easy and score the first score."

As Harada's point guard finished his sentence, he saw Aomine running towards him. Aomine was so fast that Harada panicked and tried to move the ball back by twisting his body and ball hand behind.

But, he was unsuccessful as Aomine tipped the ball just before Harada's point guard could protect the ball.

Harada's point guard: 'Crap, so fast!'

Aomine caught the ball and stormed towards the basket. The shooting guard was still behind for the defense in case of a turnover.

He got into Aomine way, ready to stop him.

Harada's shooting guard: "You are not going any forward."

Aomine didn't say anything but smiled.

Harada's shooting guard could only watch as Aomine passed him, all he could do was turn and see, Aomine slamming the ball into the basket.

The first score was so sudden that the whole Teiko's bench got up and cheered loudly.

Aomine felt great. His body felt lighter than ever. Aomine felt like he could do anything on the court today.

He went straight to his point guard and asked.

Aomine: "Hey. If you see me free, pass the ball to me without hesitation."

The point guard looked at Aomine and nodded.

Teiko's point guard: "Ok, I will do that."

-*-*-*-*-*-*-

The game continued with Aomine reigning the offense as the Teiko felt mesmerized as they watched their clubmate play as they had never seen before. Aomine was on fire as he got a majority of the passes from the point guard.

Aomine got to the basket and jumped for a layup. In front of him, Harada's center and shooting guard jumped to block him.

Aomine's breathing hitched as he saw no space to release the ball. In a moment of observation, he saw that the center's hands were to close to each other, and there was a tiny space to the right.

Aomine saw that and thought.

Aomine: 'All or nothing, let's go for it.'

He moved his hand from the front to the extreme right and then pushed the ball of his fingers.

Harada's center thought after seeing the circus shot.

Harada's center: "There is no way that is going in."

He tilted his head mid-are to look at the ball and saw that it lightly bounced off the backboard and dropped into the net.

Harada's center: "What!"

Aomine: "Heck yeah!"

On the court, Midorima was also impressed by Aomine's quick thinking and ability to execute so quickly.

Midorima: "Excellent!"

-*-*-*-*-*-*-

Aomine continued to reign terror on the court as he also contributed to defense.

Aomine was quick, so when he saw that Harada's small forward jump for a layup, he ran towards the basket and jumped behind the small forward.

The small forward was just near releasing the ball to the basket when the ball was smacked straight into the backboard.

His eyes widened as he saw a hand smack the ball from his grip.

Harada's small forward: "Shit!"

Aomine: "Take that!"

Then Aomine started doing things that made all the players in the gym couldn't believe what they were seeing.

Aomine was sprinting to the basket, and as he reached the free-throw line, he did something that got him a warning from the coach in charge.

Aomine didn't bother to go in for a layup or a dunk, or even a jump shot from the free-throw line. He just stopped and practically threw the ball into the net without any traditional form.

As he returned to his side of the court, he heard from the coach in charge.

Coach: "Aomine, don't do that again; those shots won't go in."

Aomine frowned but didn't say anything.

Aomine: 'Then I have to prove you wrong through my play.'

-*-*-*-*-*-*-

Unlike Shun, who had the ball from the start and carried it through the court on his own, Aomine was a player who got the ball fed to him in fast attacks.

Aomine ran without the ball near the three-point arc and then got the ball from one of his teammates.

Aomine, as he had asked for, got the ball, and he continued to score as he wanted.

Aomine was dribbling the ball and was inside the three-point arc, just outside the low post, he assessed the situation and found that he can score the best from his current position.

Usually, a player would go with a simple jump shot to score easily, but Aomine once again went with another unconventional shot.

With two defenders on him, Aomine jumped and speared his hand in the space between the defender's lifted arms.

The people who saw that doubted Aomine.

Midorima: "What is that idiot doing?!"

Kise, who was on the bench, just looked at his idol and clenched his hands.

The defenders smiled as they saw Aomine not getting into a shooting position.

Defender: 'He is not getting in this one.'

Aomine, who was mid-air, looked at the rim and rolled his finger up, sending the ball into the air in an arc.

Both teams' rebounders got ready for the ball. No one was expecting the ball to go in, but everybody's expectations were betrayed as the ball followed the questionable arc, touched the backboard, and dipped into the rim.

Everybody on the field went silent when they saw the ball go into the net.

All of them snapped out when they saw Aomine pumped his arms and yelled a mighty roar.

Aomine: "HELL, YEAH!"

All the people in the gym finally understood that they were finally experiencing something magically.

Aomine Daiki was going through a metamorphosis.