After receiving the warning, Kota settled down. After all, there were two games today. If he couldn't shine in the first one, there was always the second.
Besides, being loud wasn't the only tool in his arsenal.
He glanced at the opposing bench, now silenced and clearly uncomfortable, and smirked.
"Basketball isn't that simple, you know?"
Right after saying that, Kota stood up, towel in hand.
The referee immediately looked over, alert and ready to blow the whistle at any moment — clearly terrified that Kota was about to turn the court into a street market again.
But Kota had anticipated the ref's overreaction. He didn't say a word — he just started waving his towel with dramatic flair. The whole gym seemed to relax instantly.
"It's just a towel… what's the worst he can do? Make it dance?"
The ref turned his attention back to the court, relieved. But a few minutes later, curiosity got the better of him, and he glanced back.
...Why is that guy still waving the towel? And why is it... rhythmic?
Once again, all eyes were drawn to Kota. He was going all out, spinning the towel in crazy patterns, changing his moves every round like he was performing a choreographed routine.
"Let me demonstrate to you all... Mills' '18 Towel Styles.'"
With a confident smirk and some exaggerated towel-twirling, Kota absolutely stole the spotlight.
"No way! That's so Kota. Of course, he had something like this up his sleeve!"
"Kami-sama! Kota, you've got to teach me after the match!"
Encouraged by the praise, Kota put even more flair into his towel antics. The opposing bench could only stare in frustration.
"That guy's seriously hard to deal with..."
"We can't let this slide, guys! Let's learn his moves and twirl too!"
And so, once again, the match descended into chaos. The court was a battlefield, but the benches? A full-blown towel-waving cult ritual.
The cameraman even gave up filming the game. He zoomed in on Kota instead — after all, his towel show was way more entertaining. The audience couldn't get enough either. Who cared about basketball when they had this?
Coach Takeuchi rubbed his temples. His eyelid was twitching uncontrollably.
"Out of all the weird players I've coached… this kid is the weirdest of the weird."
BZZT—
Game over. 96–84. Kaijo wins.
Their opponents weren't too upset, though. With three out of four teams qualifying from the group stage, losing to Kaijo wasn't the end of the world.
But their bench? Absolutely crushed.
"Damn it, we were totally outclassed."
"I still can't believe his towel could move like that…"
"It's fine! If we keep practicing, one day we'll surpass him!"
Kota wore the expression of a lonely master — clearly, no one could match his towel arts. With his past life experience as an NBA hype-man, this was his domain!
Kaijo went on to win the remaining two matches with ease, securing first place and a ticket to Nationals.
Kota performed brilliantly throughout. During the final group match, when Kise landed a buzzer-beater three-pointer from almost half-court, Kota dramatically collapsed to the floor like he fainted. His teammates played along, lifting him up like they were rushing him to medical care. One even put a hand to his ear, pretending to call an ambulance. The crowd absolutely lost it.
Kaijo instantly gained nationwide attention—not only for their strength, but also for having the most entertaining bench squad around.
"You're officially Japan's top super sub… Kota, you're famous now."
Kise grinned, waving a newspaper in Kota's face.
Kota shrugged. "Wasn't really the plan. All part of the mission."
At that moment, the system chimed in.
[Congratulations, Host. Mission 'Bench Hype Squad' completed. Reward granted.]
New Trait: Master of Fakes: Your fake-outs are much more effective at deceiving opponents.
Which move is real? Honestly, even I'm not sure.
New Trait: Celebration Boost: After scoring, your celebration raises your team's shooting accuracy.
A battle without a victory party isn't worth fighting.
Kota was thrilled. Just from waving a towel, he got two great abilities. Celebration Boost would pair perfectly with a three-point tactic — score, boost the team, spam threes. Master of Fakes would help sell his passes and improve his overall playmaking.
"Kotaaaa, there's a match between Kuroko and Midorima this afternoon. Wanna come watch?"
Kise asked, arms behind his head.
Kota rubbed his chin. He had no clue how Midorima played — surely it wasn't as absurd as the anime, just casually launching full-court threes... right?
With recon in mind, Kota nodded.
"By the way... aren't you forgetting something, oh Mr. Genius?"
That signature mischievous grin crept across Kota's face. Kise shivered.
"...What?"
"You did say you'd treat me to a meal after ditching me last time... Still haven't seen that meal, y'know."
"...Fine, I'll buy you lunch. Happy now?"
Meanwhile, in another gym—
"Damn it, what's up with this bald dude!?"
Kagami gritted his teeth, panting. He was being locked down by a first-year from Seihō — an absolute defensive wall with a shining bald head. While Kuroko still managed to assist, if Kagami couldn't break through soon, Seirin was in trouble.
"Eh? Seirin's behind?"
"Midorima's team has such a huge lead, he's already resting on the bench."
Kise and Kota strolled into the gym and found seats.
Kota propped up his head with one hand, scanning the matchups: Seirin vs. Seihō and Shutoku vs. Ginbo.
Kise checked the score. "Wow, Kuroko and Kagami are still losing. And hey, there's that annoying bald guy again!"
"Annoying bald guy?"
Kota raised an eyebrow. "You know him?"
Kise nodded gleefully. "Yeah, he's crazy good at defense. When I first started in middle school, he locked me down completely. Looks like Kagami's in for it—ha!"
Kota shifted his gaze to Shutoku and spotted a tall guy with green hair and glasses.
"That one your old teammate? Midorima Shintaro? Supposedly the best shooter of the Generation of Miracles?"
Kise nodded. "Yup. His shooting's insane. If someone actually forces him to go all out, you'll see something unbelievable."
He added, "He's also super into astrology. Seriously. Every single day he checks his horoscope. Once, he even made me listen with him — I had to bring a radio!"
Kota watched, dumbfounded, as Kise pulled a radio out of nowhere.
"Wait, even you got caught up in that stuff?"
Kise shrugged. "Not much I could do."
He fiddled with the radio. "Let's see... Midorima's a Cancer, right?"
'Congratulations! As a Cancer, your luck today is number one! With your lucky item, Mr. Raccoon, nothing can stop you!'
Kota pointed to a plush raccoon sitting on Shutoku's bench.
"That... wouldn't happen to be Mr. Raccoon, would it?"
Kise nodded. "Yep. He always brings one of those. Even in middle school, it was a different lucky item every match."
"And next up... Kuroko is an Aquarius."
'Oh no! Aquarius ranks dead last today. You're better off staying home and doing absolutely nothing!'
Kota just shook his head. "Guess it's not Kuroko's day, huh?"