Guest – Sadly, I don't think I can add that but who knows? Maybe I can change my mind…

Guest00 – Thanks for the review.

PART 3: Index's First Testimony – Free Ice Cream

"Practice…practice…practice...our coach's whines nothing but practice. Besides, who would have thought that I would end up landing on the Japanese U-19 basketball team?"

"Then why did you end up playing basketball, Touma?"

"I needed to pull up my grades or else, I would repeat another year. Good thing Kumokawa-senpai actually backed up my case when Coach Mibuchi Takashi wanted to kick me out due to me breaking all of our equipment in the gym. It seems like Kumokawa-senpai and coach are actually acquainted with each other."

A certain spiky-haired boy was walking near the premises of the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium with a weary look on his face as he was being accompanied by Index, who was eating a bag of chips. It seemed his supposed rest day was interrupted by his coach, who ordered him to meet with the delegates from the other Asian countries and act like some sort of an usherette. Coincidentally, today was February 15 but instead of spending Valentine's Day with the Delta Trio, who seemed to not know that he is even in the basketball team; here he was, greeting and meeting other Asian representatives who are just beginning to arrive.

"Good thing that I'm just on the bench. I don't think I can last that much for forty minutes," The boy mumbled to himself as he then saw the rows of buses carrying the foreign delegates. He rubbed the aching part of his head as one by one, he watched all players, coaches, and staff go down on the buses.

For a tournament that wasn't as much anticipated as the more prestigious Olympics basketball or even the FIBA qualifiers, it sure had a lot of participants as Kamijou Touma, who is wearing his standard black-red-and-white basketball jersey jacket and jogging pants. The place where he was standing reminded him a bit of the food stalls in the Daihaseisai; every row where the guests will walk through had different kinds of food stands and the lightings were extravagant at best that it was like they were still celebrating Christmas.

Now, it happened that nearby, there was another usherette who was distributing free ice cream to the players passing and the spiky haired boy figured that it would be good if he can obtain one for Index's stomach.

"What time is it?" The boy glanced at his wrist watch as he watched the woman in the ice cream vendor hands another cone to a seven footer who seemed to be a Lebanese judging from the uniform that he is wearing. Is this the first time I am seeing someone that tall? Kamijou can't help but stare awkwardly at the lanky player, who licked his ice cream with pleasure as he carried his duffel bag.

The young boy sighed and grabbed the hands of the silver haired nun, who was a bit shocked by what the boy just did.

"6:58 in the evening, huh? I guess I can take Index to the free ice cream stand before we go back to our quarters since I haven't given Othinus her food," Kamijou smiled as they both walked for the ice cream stand, "Index-san, I think you should taste their free ice cream. I heard that they have the green tea ice cream with azuki bean, the mochi ice cream, Yukimi Daifuku, Pino, Gari Gari Kun, Suika Ba, and even the weird Oiri."

"Yay, Touma! Free ice cream! Free ice cream!" Understandably, Index was more than elated as she was being treated with free ice cream by her partner, "Neh Touma, get me one now! I'm hungry again! What I ate a while back wasn't enough!"

Geez, Index. Calm down. We'll get there. Kamijou faked a smile as he leads the keeper of the magical grimoires towards the spot where the free ice cream is being given. As they were all walking, the boy kept remembering how he ended up in this kind of situation.

Apparently, he was originally slated to play for their school's football team as an alternative for his failing grades, which was made worse by the fact that his attendances were abysmal. But due to an error in the distribution of the forms as well as his usual bad luck, he ended up getting instead a single basketball team form that was mixed into the other applicant papers and because he ended up following the directions of the wrong paper, he just found himself knocking into the gym doors of Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium one day and Coach Mibuchi was forced to take him in due to lack of players who are free.

In his dazed focus, he didn't notice a person walking in the opposite direction coming towards his same spot. It was too late to even change directions by the time he had already raised up his head to see the incoming disaster.

Plack!

"Wha-What the—" Kamijou wasn't able to finish what he was saying as all of the sudden, he felt his body bump into something soft.

Or rather, someone.

"Oh…" Kamijou's eyes widen with terror the moment he realized that she just bumped into a girl, whose face got smudged with an ice cream that she must have got from the same spot that the boy and the nun was planning to go to. "Ah! Such misfortune! I'm sorry, miss! I didn't mean it!"

"Yeah! Touma didn't mean it!" The silver haired sister also wailed.

The girl in question only wiped off the ice cream from her soiled glasses while she fixes her brown hair. Well, she's kind of cute and her bosom is… Kamijou immediately stopped right there as he knew that wasn't the problem. Goddamit, what the hell am I thinking! I had to apologize to her! He mentally screamed as he held out a piece of free tissue to the girl, whose jacket indicated that she's a representative from a foreign country, "So…uh…miss, you're from the Philippines, huh? Anyway, I'm sorry, really. I do hope I didn't cost you any trouble…" He apologized as he reaches out for the tissue.

The girl only looked at the spiky haired boy with narrowed blue eyes and after locking gazes with Kamijou, he only released a "Hmph…" and walked away from the scene.

"…oh and by the way…" Kamijou called out to the girl who is beginning to disappear out of his sight, "Welcome to Japan!"

In the following days of the Asian Youth Hoops tournament, Japan won all of five matches in their group. First, they faced Syria which they defeated 92-49 without even Kamijou, who was relegated to the bench as he was too nervous to even play in garbage minutes. Then, the second one, they went up against the People's Republic of China. They barely managed to win, 100-98, with Kamijou's teammate Ogiwara Kaname beating the buzzer with his last-gasp three point shot. Again, Kamijou didn't play in this game as his shoe laces were destroyed. Then, they went on to stun Iran, 95 – 94. This time, Kamijou was subbed in at the last quarter but due to his misfortune, he ended up turning the ball over and nearly cost them the game but he ended up shooting from the line that enabled them to snatch the victory. Their fourth game was against Indonesia and for the first time, Kamijou was able to start for the game since Ogiwara asked to sit down to preserve his strength. They easily won, 121 – 56, with the spiky haired boy surprisingly grabbing a tournament-high 12 steals although the last one caused him to get kicked out of the court after he accidentally landed his face on the floor, causing a massive nosebleed. Then, their fifth and last game for their group, another teammate, Watanabe Ryusei took charge in their offense as Japan holds off a pesky Thailand team at 110 – 106.

In the Group A, Lebanon defeated South Korea, 96 – 90 while in the other bracket, the Philippines walloped Myanmar, 151 - 31.

In the semi-finals, Japan had a tough time overcoming Lebanon's Khalil Ibrahim, whose three pointers forced the guys in black to spread their defense. Only the timely interception of Ogiwara and the fast steals of Kamijou, who played despite slipping earlier on the floor, managed to shut down the 6 ft. 6 in. shooting guard and win the game, 92 – 90, at the expense of Lebanon.

And thus, Japan secured their spot in the finals of the Asian Youth Hoops tournament.

The next day was the day their fate would be decided by a single game that would determine if they would go home as the crowned champions or they would be in tears for failing to win the tournament for the 20th time. Of course, everyone went to the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium earlier than expected as they wanted to have their bodies warmed up. Ogiwara and Watanabe were sweating from obviously having a one-on-one outside.

Once they were all gathered in the locker room, they were all talking excitedly as they cannot hold down their eagerness to go out there and finish the tournament.

"I can't believe that we're here," Japan's center, Aikawa Yoshitune said, still in awe. "We actually made it." He was sitting on one of the benches in their dressing room, leaning his back on his locker while his sneakers were just in front of him. His 6 ft. 7 in. frame was towering above the rest of his teammates.

"Well, it's the finals so I kind off understand you, Yoshi," Small forward Masakatsu Reizei said, "By the way, we're up against the Philippines, huh? Just thinking about it makes my nerves go baka-baka…"

"Man, I can't wait to play," Ogiwara, the starting point guard, said as he spun a basketball on his index finger.

"Aren't you too eager?" Watabe, the shooting guard, raised his eyebrows, "The game is still later in the afternoon…"

"Of course! I really want to put that Wax Rivera bastard in his place!"

Upon hearing a certain opponent's name, the temperature seemed to drop.

"Be careful what you wish for, dumbass…" Aikawa chided his teammate as he rose up off the locker.

"What?! You little―"

"Ogiwara, this is the Asian Youth Hoops tournament, not the local Inter High or even the Winter Cup. Not only is the fact that he is playing but the Philippines seemed to got a big boost. Plus, based on the chart given to us by our scouts, it seemed that their scores are all over 110. Remember the match against Qatar?" Aikawa paused, letting that question sink in. He then continued, "Did they have scorers other than Rivera? Yeah. Did they give them a hard time? Well, more like the Qataris were slaughtered. So, if we should have it in our heads that that guy is who we should look out for, then we'll end up getting smacked in our heads by Coach Mibuchi."

"Yeah, you're right…" Ogiwara reasoned.

"Plus," Masakatsu continued. "Rivera-kun is the least of our problems. It's the finals and everyone from their team would be sure to go out with our guns blazing."

No one said anything after that. They knew that what Aikawa and Masakatsu said was right. They haven't really watched the Philippines play personally due to their own match schedules but judging by how last year's Philippine team played against their own team at the elimination round, Aikawa knew that they were a force that they shouldn't take lightly. If anything, they have immensely improved further.

"By the way, Kamijou, are you fine?" Ogiwara suddenly spoke in a loud voice, "You're sulking there…"

Kamijou Touma was in the corner of the room, sitting with his legs stretched out while his back leaned on the locker containers, "Actually, Ogiwara-san," the backup point guard started. "I just can't imagine myself being here. The truth is, I don't even want to play for this team at the beginning for fear that my bad luck would eventually spread. I just did this to spare my grades," He said as he dropped his hands to his sides. He then turned to face Ogiwara, "Besides, something has been bothering me."

Ogiwara and Watanabe exchanged glances at this, it seemed as though it was something important.

"There's just this super cute girl that I have met a week back," He said with a smile, "Judging from her jacket, I think she's a representative for the Philippines and I know she's still angry at me for spilling her ice cream but still, it feel like I'm going to play for her today…"

"Play for us, you moron!" Ogiwara shrieked as he hits the spiky haired boy with a basketball lying on the floor, "Besides, you have that silver-haired loli! Why are you sympathizing with an enemy?!"

"Eh? I'm not sympa—"

"Idiot, you can think of that after we win the finals," Watanabe chuckled, "Besides, of all the twelve of us, I think you're the one who needed to calm down. You're not exactly the best when it comes to dealing pressure."

"It's because of my bad luck," Kamijou muttered.

Just then, the door opened and Mibuchi entered. He was dressed in a suit, and casually had both his hands in his pockets.

"Hey, you boys ready to go?" He asked sternly to his players, "It's almost time to get out there..." His face shone and then he said, "…Give it everything you have."

Why are you trying to impress with that clean-shaven face of yours, old man? Ogiwara thought. When the boys saw their coach, they snickered, trying their utmost best not to laugh out loud.

"Our game plan will be what we discussed. Stay focused. Oh and Kamijou…" Mibuchi called out to the wielder of the Imagine Breaker, "Are you taking your cherifer supplements? You'll need to be taller in the future tournaments to come if you want to be more competitive than right now."

"Yes, coach," Kamijou replied and then whispered, "Although I don't think cherifer supplements would help me combat my misfortune…"

"And we're down to the last five minutes!"

The male commentator who is on the official's table announced as the crowd was on a frenzy. The Philippines was now leading ahead by six points after their center had scored a hook shot against Aikawa, who can only grunt in frustration.

As the Philippines went back to defend, Aikawa went to retrieve the ball, and then passed it to Ogiwara. He then passed it back behind to Aikawa who then redirected it Watanabe. When Rivera ran on ahead, Watanabe passed the ball back to Ogiwara, and number 24 from the Philippines came to stop him. The Filipino managed to somewhat cover him but Ogiwara still managed to release his shot.

The ball rattled into the net as his mark was unable to completely stop it.

"That was close…" Kamijou sighed. He was comfortably sitting on the bench as he was stretching his legs. Anytime, I can be called to play out there.

In the audience, the girl whom Kamijou had met earlier was cheering wildly for her hometown team as she was heard screaming, "Let's go Philippine team!"

All of the sudden, the Filipino crowd erupted with cheers. Looking back at the match, they saw Rivera drive inside and dunk the ball against two defenders. "That's for you!" He shouted as he flexed his biceps.

"For some reasons, I just don't like that Rivera guy," A benched Japanese player beside Kamijou muttered asked, "Too cocky for his own good."

"Yeah, you're somehow right," Kamijou replied.

"What the hell?!" They heard a Filipino fan shout. They looked in the direction of the court to see Aikawa slamming the ball against the Philippines' center, who got shaken up a bit. They then saw Rivera immediately signal something at the others and then they saw his teammate retrieved the ball and pass it to him.

Rivera had the ball at the center circle with Ogiwara blocking him while at the free-throw circle was Watanabe and his counterpart. On the top of the three point line were Masakatsu and his counterpart with their power forward Mochi Mikimoto and counterpart. Under the net, Aikawa was outboxing his mark for position.

Even though Rivera had the ball, his eyes were focused on Ogiwara. I never expected this little runt to be this good. He thought as then attempted to pass Ogiwara but the latter didn't make it easy for him. He then called out to their shooting guard and made an overhead to the two-guard man.

The guard then made a jump shot but because it was too strong, the ball bounced off and instinctively, Ogiwara and Rivera both jumped in the air as they all battled in the air with Aikawa and his counterpart. Fortunately, the center of Minamoto High School was able to grab the ball and was about to pass it to their point guard when he heard a loud thud in the floor. He was about to ignore it when he heard a familiar voice suddenly cry in pain.

Turning around, he was more than shocked to see Ogiwara lying in the floor as he was clutching on his right leg while Rivera stood above him.

It looked like their captain had collided slightly with the bald guy at the aerial fight for the ball and in the process, the Filipino ace stepped on the right foot of Ogiwara when they both landed on the floor.

"Ogiwara-san!" Kamijou suddenly called out in concern as he stood up. In their worry, not one of them had seen the smirk and sadistic grin that was plastered in Rivera's face as he walks away. Perfect! He would have almost laughed evilly but he held it down as he realized everyone would have notice what he just did.

"Ogiwara/Ogiwara-san/Ogiwara-kun/Captain!" The rest of the team called out and followed suit with Kamijou as they all surround their hurt player while another referee of Taiwanese nationality blew his whistle. "Referee, time out!"

"Ogiwara! Are you fine?!" Mibuchi, now worried, raised his voice as he had one of the bench players help the brunette stand up.

"I'm fine coach…" Ogiwara tried to stand up on his own but he ended up holding into the shoulders of the bench player. "Unfortunately…"

"You're not fine at all." Mibuchi said in a grave voice as from afar, the Filipino coach was already apologizing to the assistant coaches as he was asking forgiveness on behalf of their ace player, who refused to even say sorry, "You'll have to sit out."

As the limping Akashi was being assisted back into the bench, the remaining members of the Akatsuki Five then decided to sub in one of their benched players. "With Ogiwara being gone, I have no choice but to let him in," Aikawa, being the vice-captain, decided that it's his time to be superior and he took over the team. "There is still five minutes into the game but let's tighten it up. We have to shoot more threes."

"Hah?" Masakatsu can't believe what he heard. "Then that means…"

"Yes," As if already knowing what their forward will say, Aikawa didn't let him continue. "In place of Ogiwara, Kamijou would be inserted as the point guard, no matter how much I hate it," He said as at the same time, Kamijou is already lacing up his sneakers and was already marching into the court.

"Eh…l-let's do this, guys!" Kamijou said in a nervous way that his four other teammates were beginning to think that bringing him in would be a big mistake.

"Oi, Kamijou. Don't drag us down like what you have been doing in the past games," Masakatsu scowled as he then picks up the ball. "Lest you want me to personally kick you in your butt."

"Hai…" Kamijou was crying crocodile tears.

"There's still some time left. Let's go!" Aokawa took charge as they restarted their offense.

Kamijou. Make that Rivera bastard pay for injuring me! Ogiwara gritted his teeth as he had no choice but to helplessly watch his teammates.

And so, in the whole duration of the three-and-a-half minutes, both Japan and the Philippines then upped their tempo and began to play on a much faster pace as both teams now began to exchange goal after goal. Rivera was obviously in his best state to play as he was pounding the Japanese team mercilessly with his slashes inside the paint and his outside shots but the black shirts quickly countered this by having Kamijou score in a volume rate at the three-point line. I can't believe it! I'm actually scoring three after three after almost having consecutive games where I don't even score at all! The spiky haired boy was amazed as he hit another three-point shot from the rainbow arch. Still, this was a game that was so intense that even with the defense trying its best to hold on, it would end up crumbling in face of a heated offense. Basically, it was a battle of speed and skill where everyone is on each other's throats.

"Agh!" Rivera forced a three-pointer against Kamijou, who was hell-bent on stopping him, "That's for you!" Rivera pointed both of his hands at the spiky haired boy, who was sweating profusely just from defending the taller Wax Rivera.

The spiky haired boy then felt himself like he was in his best moment. What's this? I...am…smiling? I don't know why but for some reason, this is getting me pumped up more, even if I'm only here because of my failing grades! Wait…I have no time to think of such thoughts. I have to finish this game for my team.

He then quickly made layup against the Philippines, who were already on the verge of collapsing due to the unexpected increased speed of their match and is now on their last legs.

"It's now down to 20 seconds!"

The announcer said as Rivera dunks the ball with ferocity and the lead was back to their country.

"We have to score a buzzer beater even if it's not a three-point shot…"

Kamijou muttered as he saw Rivera running back to defend their goal. The score is already 101 -100 with 15 seconds left into the game.

"We have to score…"

Seeing their desperate situation, Kamijou then brings down the ball and passes it to Watanabe, who was free to take the shot but the moment that latter got the ball, who was suddenly double-teamed by two Filipino players, who were both unyielding as they plan to steal the ball one more time to seal their narrow victory.

"Watanabe-san! Give me the ball!" Kamijou then called out to Watanabe, "I'm free!"

But you're being guarded by that Rivera guy! Watanabe wanted to remind him of that fact but seeing the expression of the boy and the fact that the ball was almost stolen, he then sighed. Well, at least, don't let him take it, Academy City kid! Make the shot yourself!

Watanabe then flings the ball towards the hands of the spiky haired boy. Rivera notices this and immediately smirked, "Bring it!" He then began to pressure Kamijou, who was keeping the ball away.

"Boooo!" From the audience, the girl with glasses and the brunette hair began to jeer the Japanese team as the Filipino crowd joined in her antics.

Kamijou had the ball as he then heard his coach yell at him, "Oi, Kamijou, you barely have ten seconds! At least move the ball now if you don't plan to shoot it!" Mibuchi yelled frantically as everyone from the Japanese bench are getting worried that the spiky haired boy's unusual misfortune might affect their game.

"It's now a one on one between Kamijou of Japan and Rivera of the Philippines!" The commentator's voice blared in the loudspeakers.

Bu this Rivera guy! I can't shake him off! Kamijou's mind almost went blank as he kept dribbling the ball away from Rivera, who seemed intent on sticking to him.

Suddenly, his mind momentarily remembered one move his coach made him watch in one of their trainings to make his fundamentals sharpen.

That's it! I'll take this myself if I have no one to pass to! Kamijou saw that everyone was heavily guarded and what he would do in the next six seconds will ultimately.

He then backs repositioned his body, with his back facing Rivera, who was still sticking to him like glue. Suddenly, he spins and began to drive towards the basket. Rivera saw this coming and kept up as he was still sticking to him. But the moment he had done so, the spiky haired boy's strong feet suddenly stops running as his right leg stops in front of him.

Instantly, he jumps as his front leg as some sort of a foul baiter.

Fade away? That idiot! Coach Mibuchi didn't expect to see his backup do an unexpected move against one of the Philippines' best players as Rivera tried to keep up as he raised both hands but in an instant, Kamijou had already released the ball as the orange orb went into a perfect arch.

The world seemed to have frozen in those milliseconds as the buzzer was heard. Each Japanese and Filipino fan can only held on their breaths as they watch the ball suddenly bounce in the glass board.

And then in the turn of a millisecond, the ball suddenly lands into the iron hoop and rattles in before eventually swishing in the center of the net.

"Kobe…" Kamijou muttered and invoked a certain late sports legend as the ball eventually found its way underneath the basket and into the wooden floor.

Immediately, the shouts of cheers and victory was filling the whole stadium as Kamijou Touma, who was now sitting on the floor due to fatigue, was now being mobbed by his ecstatic teammates, who rushed towards where he was. "Oi, you idiot!" Ogiwara punched him lightly in the head, "You made us all worried with that unexpected fade away shot!"

"Sometimes, I don't know if your misfortunes is a prelude to this," Watanabe said as he thanks the basketball gods for favoring the misfortunate spiky haired boy for this day.

"The bottom line is he made the shot," Aikawa said as he carried the unsuspecting hero of the day in his shoulders, "At the very least, let's stop criticizing him today."

"Oi, put me down!" Kamijou cried as he was hoisted into the shoulders of his teammates, "I'm not a baby!"

But as the Japanese squad was celebrating as well as its supporters, the opposite can be said of their opponents, who were all either shocked or stunned by what just transpired as Rivera, breathing heavily as he kneels in the floor and clenches his fists. Number 24… He grits his teeth as he watches Kamijou, who was removing his sweaty number 24 jersey.

The awarding ceremonies the day after the final game was more like an official banquet for all the teams that were present yesterday.

"Thanks for the food!"

"Oi, Ogiwara! Slow down with the chewing! You might end up biting your fingers…"

"Besides, your food looks like vomit…"

"Hey, you don't have to word it like that, Aikawa!"

"Touma! Touma! I love that they have this kind of food here!"

"Human, please put me down now or I'll kick you in your eyes…"

Kamijou Touma sighed as puts down Othinus, who was eating out with them at the awarding ceremony, as he looks at his plate filled with varieties of viands while his rice was ready to overspill. In other words, it was like a mountain decorated to please the eyes of the eater although eating it is slightly an entirely different matter, especially to someone who doesn't eat that much.

Unless that person is a certain silver-haired English nun that was currently busy gorging herself with meat.

As the fireworks and the firecrackers outside of the main building are slated to explode as the sign of the closing of the Asian Youth Hoops tournament, the Asian teams that are present are either too eager to get their medals or they are just simply waiting to get their individual accolades.

As their table was very much peaceful amidst the growing number of firecrackers now exploding outside of the building, Kamijou can't help but observe how awfully close Ogiwara and Watanabe are as they seemed to enjoy each other's company without any signs of embarrassment. If I'm not mistaken, they were both teammate in middle school. That must have been a reason why they are so close with each other. The boy thought as he then realized that this is just the first time he had actually participated in an official event that has nothing to do with Academy City. Whether his membership in the Japanese U-19 basketball team is something that must have been known by someone else other than Kumokawa, Kamijou doesn't know nor does he intended to but watching them from his seat, he can feel a hint of warmth touching his heart. It's as if he had just gained something that have helped sealed his place in the team's somewhat short lists of accomplished.

Diverting his eyes away from the reunion of the two, he then spots the other tables surrounding them and they were all very noisy, except for the table where the Philippine team is sitting. It looks like they still carried the somber mood of yesterday's defeat. Everyone, particularly Rivera, looked all gloomy.

And there's the cute girl I met before. Kamijou can't help but stare at the girl with glasses and the dark brown hair, who was sitting beside the opponent that the spiky haired boy faced. Because from the distance, Kamijou can't actually hear what the girl was talking about but judging by her body language, it seemed that the girl was busy trying to comfort Rivera. What the? Suddenly, Kamijou crushed the tissue paper that was in his hands.

"Huh? Touma?" Index was taken aback by her partner's sudden shift of behavior.

"Human, what is wrong with you? You don't seem to like what you're seeing…" Othinus then looked to where the boy was looking and smirked, "Oh, I see. It seemed that he is starting to fall head over heels over that girl there. My, my, human. Don't you think you're getting too jealous—"

"I-Idiot, I said something like that!" Kamijou vehemently denied it, his cheeks flustering, "It's just that…"

"Alright everyone…" The host for the closing ceremonies suddenly began to speak, "May we all take our seats…"

Everyone then stopped their chatter and focused their gazes towards the host, who is now speaking in front of them while a presentation was shown on screen.

"Roberto Sebastian Jr." The host began to speak in a solemn way, "Played the game like he did everything in his life. He gave assistance when needed and made every shot count."

The screen then flashed what looked like a picture of a Filipino player shooting a basketball.

"What the? That's…" Kamijou's eyes widened as he instantly recognized the picture of the player.

"What? You know him, Touma?" Index asked, with a tone of suspicion.

"Well, not personally but…" Kamijou explained, "When I first practiced with the team, coach showed me tapes of his plays. To be honest, when I watched his videos, I realized that he was really good even for an amateur like me. In fact, he's like the standard barometer not only for me but also every one of us that chases his skill…"

"He knew that living, like playing basketball, was a privilege that must not be wasted," The host continued, "Basti, as we all know him, may have left us too early but we will not forget him and the live that he showed for the game. Let's give it up for our Asian Youth Hoop's two-time Most Valuable Player, Roberto "Basti" Sebastian Jr."

There was a momentary silence as one of the staff brought a golden plaque in the stage.

"And may we now call on to receive the Asian Youth Hoops Valor Award on behalf of Basti his younger sister, Miss Victoria Sebastian…"

Kamijou can't help but be surprised when the person that stood up was none other than the cute brunette that had caught his attention since the day that he met her. "I see now…" The spiky haired boy can only mutter as he didn't fail no notice the girl cry out softly as she accepts the plaque.

As there was a round of applause coming from the audience, the host continued, "And now, let's all post for the moment as we give Basti the traditional final buzzer…"

"Kami-sama, he's too young to die…" Ogiwara muttered as the buzzer was sounded as a respect to the late Filipino cager, who had competed in the annual event thrice in the past.

"Does anyone knows here what's the cause of his death? It feels shocking. It's just like yesterday, I had the chance to play against him…" Aikawa followed.

"Now that I know how he passed away but still, I know what you feel, Aikawa…" Masakatsu nodded, solemnly bowing his head.

After the awarding ceremonies where the Japanese team had finally gotten their gold medals while the others gut their second and third place medals and certificates, Kamijou was busy standing with his teammates as Index wasn't even finished eating her food when all of the sudden, he spotted the girl already exiting from the venue. Something inside him snapped as he found himself following the girl.

Exiting the venue as well, he found himself walking in a quiet hallway as he was desperately trying to catch up with the girl, who was walking rather fast.

Then all of the sudden, he bumped into someone who was walking towards an opposite direction.

When Kamijou recovered from the slight collision, he saw that the person he bumped with is none other than the person he felt like he would rather not see today. Such misfortune.

"Hey, sorry…" Kamijou only in English muttered to Rivera, who looked at him with a disgusted facial expression.

"Ang laki mong engot! (You big idiot)," Rivera, still feeling bitter over the last-gasp buzzer beater the boy made, said in a grotesque way.

"Uh…excuse me. What did you say?" Of course, Kamijou didn't understand the slight indult.

"I said it's okay. Engot means my friend…" Rivera then faked a friendly expression as he pretended he meant no harm.

"Hey, thanks man!" Kamijou took the bait, "I'll remember that word. Engot. I'll see you around!"

He then turned around, not even noticing the sadistic smile that was carved into the face of his opponent.

"Ugh!"

For nearly thirty minutes, the girl has been busy throwing some rocks in a nearby trash bin as she let herself enjoy the cool breeze of the wind. She wanted to clear her head so that she can focus more in little activity that she indulged herself into and to remove the sorrow and the tension that she felt as being the younger sister of a basketball star. Strangely, she doesn't feel anything anymore and actually, she wanted nothing more than to be alone for the moment.

"Oi, that's a nice shot!"

"Hey, Touma! What's with you going here, in their quarters?!"

"Index, can you calm down?"

"Hmph, I had to chase you here after you left me at the hallway!"

"What are you two doing here?" She can't help but asked in a cracked voice as she faced and found out that the two individual who are talking behind her are none other than the guy who was the cause of their team's defeat and the nun who was always with her. The boy was also holding a strange doll in his hands although the brunette didn't know why nor could she care to.

"What else than to see you if you're fine?" Kamijou smiled, "By the way, nice shot…engot…"

"What did you say?" Suddenly, the girl felt provoked as she sharply turns to face the boy while she drops the rock that was in her hand.

"I said that you're good, engot…" Kamijou didn't realize that there was a killing intent in the girl's eyes.

"Are you looking for a fight?!" The girl clenches her fists and glared at the boy, who was surprised at her fierce expression.

"Huh?! What?! No?!" Kamijou found himself panicking as he tried to get hold of the situation, "I just thought…you were all sad here and that I can cheer you out and that we can be close friends…"

The girl only made a frown in her face as she then began to move, with the boy and Index stepping aside. Even so, the girl pushed away the boy as she yells, "Go away!"

So fierce. Othinus can't help but remark.

"I…I watched your brother play in some of the videos…" Kamijou decided to go diplomatic as this was his first time asking someone out, "And I can say that I'm you brother's big fan."

This got the girl to stop from entering their quarters as she faced the boy once again.

"I never got the chance to meet him personally last year since I wasn't on the team yet," Kamijou decided not to anymore mention anything involving his battles involving the magic and science side in the earlier months. He knew she wouldn't even believe him, "But even then, I had to admit that I patterned most of my plays after your big brother Basti. And well…I didn't even know that you were his…anyway, I'm sorry for your loss."

The girl was still frowning although her facial features somewhat softened up.

"Anyway, so I thought maybe we could be…you know…I mean…" Kamijou was already stuttering, "We can be…uh…engot…together…"

Suddenly, the girl laughed in a manner that almost made the heart of the boy jump. Kawaii! Kamijou's mouth gaped as she watched the girl be happy for the first time, "Uh…why are you laughing?"

"Whoever you've been talking to is obviously not your friend," The girl corrected him, "Engot means stupid in our Filipino language."

"Oh…" Kamijou finally realized his blunder as he then internally blamed it on someone. "That Rivera bastard…well…sorry there. I'm really sorry. I didn't know it."

"Forget it…" The girl pouted as she turns her head away.

"But I really…you know…mean it…"

"What?! That I'm stupid?!"

"No! I mean…that I would like to be…you know…no…I mean is…I would like to be…"

"What?! Blurt it out?!"

"Friends. I'm asking if we could be friends!" Kamijou laughed nervously but something about the girl's facial expressions reminded him of a classmate. Is it just me or does she slightly resembles Fukiyose when angry?

The girl didn't reply but instead, she just picked up a rock and began to throw it again on the bin. Seeing this, the boy then came up with an idea and he spoke, "Hey, you're actually a good shooter," He then smirked as he points to himself, "But seriously, not as good as me…"

"Excuse me?!" The girl turned around in surprise.

"Okay, how about a bet?" Kamijou proposed a challenge, "Whoever can shoot most pebbles from the farthest distance wins. If you win, I promise I won't bother you again."

"And if you win?"

"Well…then…I will treat you ice cream tomorrow at the delegates' field trip Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park…" Kamijou was very confident in this game.

"On one condition," The girl decided to set her own conditions as well, "When I win, you still have to buy me ice cream and you won't bother me again…"

"Okay, that's fine for me!"

Thus, the mini-game began for the two of them.

Kamijou decided to take the first shot. He picks up a pebble and threw it in the bin, "Kobe!" He shouted as he successfully makes his shot.

But to his dismay, the girl also made her shot, "Too easy…" She made a gesture of dusting off her hands.

"Oi, let's see with this distance…" Kamijou felt challenged as he stepped back two feet from where he was standing. He then threw another pebble, which managed to go inside the bin. But sadly, the girl also made her shot.

"Vicky for three!"

"Here, I made another shot!"

"Maybe you should pray for a miracle…"

"Just watch. This Kamijou-san will make his shot!" He said as he closes his eyes and threw the pebble. Judging by the angle of the throw, it should have been a perfect shot as the pebble looked to be really arching towards the middle of the bin.

But it seemed that this time, the basketball gods won't favor the boy as the all of the sudden, a wind gushed past the three individuals present plus Othinus and made the pebble bounce off the lid of the bin.

"Gyaaaaah!" Kamijou made an unmanly scream as he watched the pebble bounce off the tin container, "Such misfortune!"

"Hahaha. I knew it! You lose!" The girl made a victory pose.

"Hey! The game isn't over though!" Kamijou seemed to be desperate, "You still have to shoot the pebble!"

Grinning, the girl simply took a pebble and flung it towards the bin. Immediately, the pebble made a perfect arch as it ended up landing inside the bin.

The boy can only sulk in misery as the girl jumped in happiness that she won the contest, "W-Well…that was a great shot…" Kamijou scratched his head, "Maybe whatever luck I have already ran out. Fine you're the shooting champion." He rode with the celebrations of the girl, who is still in seventh heaven as by instinct, he held hands with the brunette.

"Uhm…hey…what's your name, by the way?" The girl asked once they settled down although they hands are still locked with each other's, "I only know you as the boy who made that shot against Wax…"

"I'm Kamijou Touma or the other way around in your naming conventions," The spiky haired boy introduced himself, "And who's Wax? You mean the Rivera guy?"

"Yeah. He's our ace and…" The girl stopped short before he continued, "He's also a classmate of mine in our high school. By the way, I believe you have heard my name back in the awarding ceremony but just call me Vicky. It's short for my real name."

"Yeah, Vicky. Nice to meet you…" Kamijou can't say anything as he can't help but stare straight into the blue eyes of Vicky, who was staring back at his own orbs. Suddenly, they found themselves locked into their own little world that when a random janitor, who was running past them, accidentally bumped into the boy and in turn, the boy accidentally fell into Vicky.

Perhaps, it wasn't intentional but the boy found his lips landing straight into the soft cheeks of the girl, who only winced in shock.

"What the?!" Index, who was largely ignored for most of the time, can only grit her teeth in anger as he watched her partner suddenly kiss the brunette in her cheek. The brunette looked shock although she didn't even resist when the boy kissed her.

"Uh…well…" The boy began to scratch his head in embarrassment after they both detach themselves from each other, "So…uh…so I'll see you tomorrow? For your ice cream, of course…"

"Uh…yes Touma…" Vicky can only mutter, "Hey, can we exchange digits? Just so you know, we can find each other easily tomorrow."

"Uh, yeah!" Kamijou wasted no time in fishing out his phone as he gave his own number while he got the digits of Vicky, who was still in dazed over what just happened. After that, Kamijou and Index finally left as Vicky continued to touch the part of her face which was kissed by the boy.

Suddenly, she felt her heart beating louder as she gathered her senses.

She then felt pumped up for tomorrow as strangely, she felt excited.

Meanwhile…

"What was that, Touma?!" Index was angrily yelling.

"I…I don't know Index…" Kamijou was trying to explain, "I mean…I didn't try to kiss her. It was just…uh…well…"

"Human, human, human…" Othinus said in a sing-song voice as he latched herself in the shoulders of the boy, "I think you're really falling for her already…"

"I said I don't—"

Suddenly, the boy felt his phone rang sharply in his pockets. Thinking it was none other than Vicky, he immediately fished it out and answered the call.

"Hey, Vicky—"

"Oh my. My cute little kouhai seemed to be in love for the first time…"

"Eh?! Kumokawa-senpai?!" Kamijou can't help but scream in fear as he was instead hearing the voice of a certain Beauty Senpai, "Why—Why did you call?"

"I just wanted you to know that I sent the results of the game to Yomikawa-sensei and Komoe-sensei so that they can finally pull up your grades." Kumokawa happily said, "That's all."

"I see. Thanks, Kumokawa-senpai. Then can I put this down now? I—"

"By the way, I was actually observing you from afar," The tone turned into a sickly sweet one that the boy can feel his goosebumps rise up, "It seemed that this is your first time asking out somebody, no? But at least, the honor of someone dating my precious kouhai didn't go to that Shokuhou or even to the Railgun—"

"I told you I wasn't in love with her or something!" Kamijou yelled.

"Oh, now you're in denial, my kouhai." Kamijou can imagine a sinister grin in the Beauty Senpai's face, "What you're experiencing now may not be love but I can tell you that it's infatuation—the first step to a whole process. You're smitten over her, right?"

"…"

"Think what you will, my cute kouhai…" Kumokawa concluded the call, "But you can always ask me love advices when you felt like you needed to step up your game against Vicky-chan. It seemed that the Wax guy you fought is also head over heels over her. You'll face tough competition."

"Huh? But…" Kamijou didn't made sense of those words but the caller already cut off the communication.

"Such misfortune."

Nevertheless, he was looking forward for tomorrow. Hmmm…what should I and Vicky do tomorrow? Will I take her to some pretty place she would like? Would I…

He wasn't able to finish his thoughts as all of the sudden, Index jumped into his head and chomped his scalp as her punishment to the boy.

THE PRESENT TIMELINE

Shokuhou landed a fist on the table the moment Index had just finished narrating the first testimony about Kamijou and the girl named Vicky. The others had to act fast to calm down the Mental Out before it becomes chaos.

"Shokuhou-san! Calm down!" Shirai had to grip the taller girl into her hips as it seemed that the Mental Out was getting wild.

"I knew it! I knew that damned Kumokawa had something to do with this!" The blonde Level Five tried to get away from the teleporter's grip, "When I see that girl, I'll really kill her! No wonder she wasn't here with us to give her own testimony!"

"But hey, at least we now know how they started," Tsuchimikado tried to act positive but his body language is betraying his intent, "Though I'm still amazed how Kami-yan was still able to hid it from me, much less from you."

"But that idiot! How the hell did I not know this?" Now, it was Misaka who was furious as she crushes an empty paper cup in her hands, "That slut… trying to make moves on that idiot…"

"Would you guys just stop it already?!" Fukiyose yelled as she was now trying to calm everybody down although the effects of the revelations that began to be revealed was hitting them harder, "It's not good if we'll all be hot-headed or what!"

"Hey, calm down too, Fukiyose-sama…" Aogami was worried that their classmate would make the situation worse, "I mean, you look like you don't like it yourself." Fukiyose froze at what her bluenette classmate said.

"What do you mean?" The Iron Wall Girl gritted her teeth.

"I mean, all the while that Index-chan was telling her testimony, you looked like you wanted to murder someone," Aogami pointed out.

"Is it my fault for acting like this?!" Fukiyose finally exploded as her eyes were really furious, "That whore just managed to seduce one of my classmates. Of course, it would just be natural for me to be angry because I'm worried for his well-being! I care for that idiot Kamijou!"

"It seemed that just hearing the first part of Kamijou-san's and Vicky-san's story is driving everyone here so hotheaded," Shirai sighed as he then faced Index, "Neh, sister-san, can you tell us what happened next…"

"Well…Touma actually gave Vicky not only an ice cream but also his key chain," Index recalled as she bites into her sandwhich, "Oh and Vicky actually gave her own keychain as well. In fact…" She stopped eating as something in her memory was actually driving her into some sort of a foul mood as well, "Touma even brought a teddy bear and a bouquet of flowers just one night."

Everyone paled when they heard that one fact.

"That means…" Himegami, who was mostly silent all throughout the storytelling, can't bring to say it herself as her stomach was churning badly.

"Kami-yan actually had summoned the guts to confess to a girl!" Tsuchimikado and Aogami both screamed in terror, "Wah! The Kami-yan disease!"

"Actually, I don't know if that's what happened," Index sadly replied, "I wasn't able to come with him on that day he was supposed to meet with Vicky at the Tokyo Train Station but from the tears in his eyes, I think he never saw her again. Well…that was until the two met each other…in the Philippines…"

Again, this silenced the whole group.

"Huh? What the hell did that idiot even do there?" Misaka was now demanding answers. The first testimony alone was too much for her too bear and she feels this second testimony of the silver-haired nun would be much heavier.

"If Touma is telling the truth, I think Vicky's father happened to have an interest on him," Index began to narrate, "If I'm not mistaken, he played as a guest player or what they call an import in one of the sporting leagues in that country…"

"And what happened?" Himegami asked curiously.

"Strangely, Vicky's manners suddenly changed when we met her again last summer," Index began to explain, "It's like she doesn't want to see Touma. In fact, they got into an ugly fight during one of their games. Geez, if you only saw how persistent and patient Touma is in dealing with her. But they were only able to make up with the help of Bren and Jinri…"

"Oh…the Korean guys…great…" Fukiyose sighed as she puts her forehead into her right hand, "I guess we'll be in for a long story courtesy of Sister-san…"

"Well…but it's long though. Do you still want to—"

"I don't care!" Misaka stood up, very much eager to hear the second part of her testimony, "We have the whole Saturday to hear the story. It isn't even ten in the morning!"

"Geez fine…" Index then asked for another plate of snacks as she continued her testimony, "I think is started with that game meeting with that Coach…"

Kamijou can't particularly remember when he last visited this place. But more importantly, he can't still believe that he can be in this particular relationship where being blinded by euphoria is fine.

Was it some months ago.

Was it days? Weeks? Months? Years.

"That was just too exaggerating…" He sighed as he stood in front of a grave with the name "ROBERTO "BASTI" SEBASTIAN JR." on the stone slab.

"There…"

"You finished, babe? I have prayed to Othi-chan for his soul. Looks like he'll get the justice he deserved."

"I know, baby boy…"

There was an immediate silence before the boy continued to speak.

"By the way, I'll be staying at your father's house for the night. I'll just come back to Japan on Monday night…"

"I see. Then I guess everything would be fine, Touma?"

Kamijou smiled as he looked into the sky.

"Yeah. Somehow, I feel everything would be just fine, Vicky."

Next Chapter: Part Four: Index's Second Testimony – Please, Vicky