Chapter 2 Kuroko's Basketball II

  Hey, Qingfeng, let's have a one-on-one!

  Kuroko picked up the basketball and turned around to look at him, while Akashi smiled brightly and waved his hand. "You go ahead and practice first, Kuroko. I'll just watch from the side for now. Don't mind me."

  Kuroko hesitated for a moment, then saw Motomichi sitting casually at the edge of the court, his bright eyes fixed on him. He nodded and walked towards the basket. Motomichi's sharp eyes caught sight of Kuroko's pale ears flushing with a hint of redness.

  Harada was slightly surprised, ah, it turns out that Kuroko is unexpectedly a shy kid.

  The warm sunlight in the afternoon wraps the two people on the basketball court in a soft, golden glow, exuding silent beauty. One is constantly practicing shooting movements, still serious and undeterred even if they don't score; one sits quietly with their hands around their knees at the edge of the court, their chestnut-colored hair seeming to be gilded with gold, a gentle smile on their delicate face.

  When Qingfeng Dahu was walking here due to boredom, he saw this beautiful scene that made people reluctant to disturb.

  Tetsuya was still practicing the basic basketball that he couldn't shoot into the hoop as usual. Qing Feng wasn't surprised at all, after all Tetsuya's strengths didn't lie in his shooting, and his serious personality Qing Feng had long been aware of.

  What really caught Qingfeng's attention was the young man sitting next to him.

  He didn't have much of an impression of this person, but if he could get along with Tetsuya so well, then he should be a pretty interesting guy. The young man had delicate and gentle features, looking very quiet.

  He raised an eyebrow and strode onto the court with large steps, his loud voice breaking through the peaceful atmosphere without hesitation.

  "Hey! Zhe, how can you go play basketball without calling me along?"

  Hei's movements came to a halt, his face expressionless with no hint of surprise.

  "Mr. Qingfeng." When Yuan heard this title, he felt balanced in his heart. Xiao Heizi was indeed polite and unfamiliar.

  But one day I will make Xiao Hei call out my name!

  Harada had already noticed the arrival of Qing Feng Dahu, after all, his 192cm height was really hard to ignore. Moreover, having watched the anime, he was truly starry-eyed about the basketball skills of the Miracles' era, and now that he had the chance to see the real thing, he naturally wanted to appreciate those powerful ball-handling skills.

  He stood up with a flourish, just wanting to get to know this rough-around-the-edges person, when he was suddenly pinned to the spot by a mechanical voice that came out of nowhere in his mind.

  "The player triggers a random task, has a one-on-one with Qingfeng Dahuai and wins. The corner of Yuan's mouth twitches, damn system random task, he hasn't even played basketball before, what's the point of having a one-on-one with this era's miracle ace who always says 'the only one who can defeat me is myself'?! He's quite self-aware, isn't he..."

  Just as Harada was frozen in place, the mechanical voice came again.

  "As this is the player's first random task, the system rewards the player with five minutes of excellent hand feel. If the task is successful, the hand feel increases by five points; if failed, the player loses consciousness for three days. Friendly reminder: if more than five random tasks fail, the player will permanently disappear."

  Harada is indignant. System, are you kidding me? Who knows what kind of perverted tasks are waiting for me later on? If I exceed five failures, it's like you're telling me to disappear. Isn't that just setting me up to fail?!

  But the system had no sound, and Oda took a deep breath, finally coming back to his senses and looking at the two people in front of him. Only then did he notice that the two were staring at him with very puzzled expressions.

  Harada gave a reassuring glance at Kuroko before turning his gaze towards Aomine, a smile spreading across his face.

  "Hey, is it Qingfeng? I've admired you for a long time, let's have a one-on-one chat!"

  Harada was certain he saw Aoi's face twitch involuntarily when he heard the word "admiration".

  Alright, he's just being a bit naughty.

  Qingfeng was indeed very good and powerful, and quickly recovered. He raised an eyebrow and looked at Yuan from head to toe, "Are you sure?"

  Little Hei Zi didn't say anything but looked very puzzled, too. The evil and vicious Miss You Yao.

  Harada patted himself on the back, his smile growing even brighter. "I'm not very good at basketball, so let's not make it too formal, okay? Whoever scores first wins, how about that, Qingfeng?"

  Qingfeng nodded indifferently, a hint of a sly smile on his face. "I'll let you hold the ball." He slightly bowed his head, not relaxing at all despite looking stronger than Harada, a serious expression on his dark face.

  Harada actually still appreciates Aoi, but today he must win, so... sorry.

  Seijirou, who had been waiting with bated breath, was taken aback as the young man before him slowly lifted his head without moving, and gazed at him with those clear eyes, saying in a soft voice, "Seijirou-kun. I like you."

  Qingfeng was completely stunned, his eyes wide with shock and his mouth agape.

  Taking advantage of Qingfeng's momentary lapse, Yuan swiftly bypassed him and quickly released the ball before he could react.

  He can now only pray in his heart that the chance given by the system will allow him to score a goal, otherwise he won't have a second chance.

  Fortunately, the system did not cheat him.

  When Qingfeng finally came back to his senses from that confession, he heard the sound of a ball bouncing like a basket.

  That voice was already familiar enough that he didn't need to turn around, because he had heard it millions of times.

  The ball is in.

  Harada let out a sigh of relief as he heard the mechanical voice in his ear. "Random task completed, acquired 5 points of tactile sensation."

  Then he turned around and looked at Qing Feng Da Hui with a very innocent expression, revealing a smile that even he himself knew was very annoying. "Qing Feng, I won!"

  Kuroko couldn't help but let out a rare snort of laughter on one side, "Harada-kun is really..."

  Harada looked at Qingfeng Dahu and smiled, extending his hand. "Nice to meet you, I'm Harada Rito."

  Qingfeng snapped back to reality, his expression of being at a loss for whether to laugh or cry even bigger than before, and then he firmly grasped Yuan's hand.

  "You little stinker, this time doesn't count, next time we meet let's have a real one-on-one!"

  "Hey, Kuroko, you must be tired too, let's go get some milk tea."

  Qingfeng was dissatisfied with Yuan Tian's obvious attempt to change the subject, stretched out his long arm and pulled Yuan Tian into his arms, "Don't refuse, next time we meet, let's have a match and see your true level!"

  Hei Zi shook his head with a smile and said, "Let's go."

  Three people came to a nearby milk tea shop, laughing and chatting. Qingfeng ordered a cup of chocolate milk tea, and then heard the other two say in unison, "A cup of vanilla milkshake."

  "Give me a vanilla milkshake."

  Harada was taken aback for a moment before suddenly remembering that in the manga, Kuroko's favorite flavor of ice cream is vanilla, which just so happens to match his own taste.

  Qingfeng burst out laughing without giving face, "Zhe, you and Yuan Tian really have a good fate, your tastes are so weird."

  Harada immediately got angry, "What's weird? It's obviously delicious, right Tetsuya?"

  Harada's title of Kuroko was met with a slight pause, but no objection, and he smiled and nodded.

  Harada got support from his allies and immediately provoked Qingfeng, "Obviously someone doesn't know how to appreciate things."