I Died on the Court, Now I'm Back to Rule It

Thirty Minutes Later The Horizon team had gathered in the hall, just as instructed. Everyone was present—freshly showered, rehydrated, and now clustered together in loose groups, chatting quietly. Sayaka stood near Coach Tsugawa, clipboard in hand, ready for the next phase.

Suddenly, a loud, overly familiar voice echoed from the far end of the corridor.

"Hey everyone!"

It was Takeshi, their advisor—and Dirga’s uncle—waving one arm frantically while holding an iced coffee in the other.

"I came right as the second quarter was ending! What a game—what a game! Seriously, you all were incredible, just...! Ugh! And Rakuzan? Terrible! Playing like that? No shame at all. Like, do they even know what sportsmanship means? Just disgraceful, honestly—"

"Ojisan..." Dirga sighed, trying not to wince as Takeshi continued his rapid-fire commentary. "You can tone it down a bit."

Takeshi blinked, grinned, and held up his hands in surrender.

"Okay, okay, my bad. Just proud of you guys. Great work, everyone."

Then he turned toward Dirga again, this time with a more curious expression.

"Hey—did you see your cousin? Aoi?"

Dirga blinked.