Making a Name for Himself

'This guy is actually one of the stars for today's challenge? But he's a fake!', Reo thought as disdain flashed through his eyes.

The heart of a hardcore fan was truly showing itself now.

Meanwhile, Mibuchi had seen that flash of disdain in Reo's eyes. Instinctively, he clenched his fists in anger.

This guy was still looking down on him! Did he really think that he was some sort of bigshot?!

Jax on the other hand, was completely oblivious as to what was happening between the two.

Instead, he pushed the clipboard to Mibuchi.

"Mibuchi, my man. You know the drill"

"Today might be your lucky day. I got inside news that Damian will be absent from this week's rumble. Something about getting a cold?"

When Mibuchi heard Jax's words, his original displeasure soon disappeared and only joy could be found.

Damian was not coming? Then, wasn't the prize as good as his?

Meanwhile, Reo could already guess what was happening just by looking at the joy on Mibuchi's face.

Damian should be the other star of the show. However, due to unfortunate circumstances, he was sitting today's challenge out.

This was also good news for Reo. Now, he only had one guy to worry about.

Just by looking at the level of high school and university players from the last Street Ball Rumble, Reo had already concurred that Shibuya's talent pool was simply too low.

Since there wasn't any under 15 Street Ball Rumbles in the past 2 weeks, Reo was a bit unsure at first. However, after seeing Mibuchi's level of talent, Reo could safely concur that the threat posed to him in this rumble would not be too significant.

Therefore, seeing that he didn't have much to worry about, Reo soon returned to Mikasa's side as he waited for the Street Ball Rumble to begin.

However, there was one weird thing....Mibuchi still followed them!

Looking at Mibuchi who was constantly trying to start a conversation with Mikasa, Reo couldn't help but shake his head in pity.

Seeing Mibuchi getting constantly shut down by Mikasa, Reo was even starting to wonder if Mikasa was playing hard to get. However, how could a girl of this age know such advanced techniques?

'You both like each other but this cannot continue. You can only blame yourself for having the wrong name', Reo thought pitifully as he glanced at Mibuchi.

No matter what, the hammer of justice will fall today! The millions of Kuroko no Basket fans will have their vengeance!

Soon, time passed unknowingly and soon enough, the Street Ball Rumble finally begin.

The DJ played his standard opening music as he made his announcement.

"Yo, yo, yo, what's popping y'all?! Welcome to the weekly Street Ball Rumble in Ebisu! How ya'll feeling tonight?!"

"Tonight, we have a bit of unfortunate news as our very own 'Purple Ninja' is unable to join us for tonight"

Protests could immediately be heard from the crowd once they heard this.

Purple Ninja was one of the other stars besides Mibuchi and without him here, they felt like it would just be too smooth sailing for Mibuchi.

This was not what they wanted! They wanted action and drama! Why else would they come all this way?!

Seeing the crowd becoming a bit riled up, Jax felt a bit of cold sweat drip down his back. It was too easy to make the crowd turn against him.

As such, he tried his best to calm the crowd down.

"Now, now, I know that most of you are disappointed in the absence of our 'Purple Ninja' but trust me, so am I"

"However, there are some fresh faces amongst the participants tonight. Could one of them be a potential dark horse?"

Reo's image was still fresh in Jax's mind. As such, he thought it might be a good thing to give the kid some subtle publicity.

The crowd however, scoffed at Jax's childish diversion.

Were dark horses so easy to find nowadays? They were all grownups for heaven's sake!

Still, they slowly kept their annoyance and proceeded to wait for the matches to start.

When Jax saw that the crowd was beginning to calm down, he was relieved. If the crowd really created a ruckus, he would probably get blamed by the organizer instead.

Then, without any more delays, he began listing out the matchups for today's Street Ball Rumble.

Reo's name however, wasn't in the first few matchups so all he could do was wait.

Thankfully, after the first couple of rounds, Reo finally heard his name being called.

"Next up, we have a fresh face today and get this, he is only in elementary school! Could he be a potential giant in the future? Give it up for Reo Fuji!"

The crowd couldn't help but glance over at Reo. The DJ usually didn't give separate introductions to new players unless they had something special about them.

Thinking about this, they couldn't help but size Reo up a bit more.

Seeing this, Reo awkwardly scratched the back of his neck in an embarrassed manner. He was not used to too many eyes on him.

When Mibuchi saw Reo with an embarrassed look on his face, he couldn't help but grit his teeth.

This little shit still had the guts to be embarrassed even after humiliating him this entire time?

'Just wait. When I'm up, I'll show you the true meaning of embarrassment!', Mibuchi glared at Reo.

The DJ then proceeded to introduce Reo's opponent.

"And his opponent....You all know him. He's famous for crushing rookies in the court and making them run home to their mamas. Give it up for....The HeartWrencher!"

The crowd couldn't help but wince and give Reo looks of pity when they heard his opponent.

"Having 'The HeartWrencher' as his first opponent....This rookie is too unlucky"

"Having to go up against a middle school student as an elementary kid. Haih, looks like we will see a crushing defeat this time"

"I don't think that this will be a bad thing. For the DJ to announce his name, he would surely have some skill"

"That's true but this is 'The HeartWrencher' we're talking about. His nickname is pretty much given from crushing rookies"

Meanwhile, when Reo heard the name he couldn't help but stiffen up and tremble lightly.

The HeartWrencher....What kind of name was that?

Just thinking about it made Reo almost laugh out loud.

'No, I must respect my opponent. It's not his fault that he got a bad nickname', Reo calmed himself down.

However, when he saw who his opponent was as he walked onto the court, Reo lost it.

"Pfft!"

Reo clutched his stomach as he bent over from laughter. No matter how much he suppressed it, at least a little bit would still come out.

This was all due to that guy's face!

As a middle school student, he had a good height but other than that, it was just a mess. Having a round protruding belly and a pair of large nostrils, this fella was the exact replication of an overweight gorilla.

He was truly represented the exact meaning of his name....The HeartWrencher

When the crowd saw Reo laughing at his opponent, they were stunned speechless. Even Jax almost dropped his microphone.

'Why the f*ck are you laughing?! Do you want to die so badly?!',the crowd thought as they looked at Reo's bent over figure.

Mikasa covered her face with her hands as she proceeded to look away. This fella's act was too embarrassing for her to even look at.

He was still the same fella that she knew before. Laughing even when on a serious occasion....His naughtiness didn't go down at all!

She was just gonna pretend that she didn't know this guy. She didn't want to attract any bad karma over to herself.

As for The HeartWrencher, he was livid. When he saw this rookie laughing at him, he was instantly furious as his pair of extra large nostrils flared in rage.

'How dare this rookie laugh at me?! Just you wait, I will show you the true meaning of pain later!', the boy thought furiously.

At the same time, his bit of insecurity couldn't help but act up as he instinctively touched his face.

He knew that he was not a handsome person but for someone to laugh right at his face, it was an insult that he could never forget no matter what!

As for Mibuchi, his lips couldn't help twitching as he saw Reo's laughing figure.

This idiot was still looking down on people!

'Never mind! Since you dared laugh at Asahi, it looks like we will have to postpone our match to another date', Mibuchi thought as he glared at Reo from outside the court.

Reo on the other hand, was still laughing but thankfully, the system was quick to act up.

[You darn retard! This is too embarrassing to even watch! How can such a fool even be qualified to be my host?!]

However, Reo couldn't help but gesture over to Asahi.

'B-But look at him, he looks exactly like a fat gorilla! Pfft!',Reo thought mentally before going into a fit of laughter once again.

[You idiot....How can one look like a gori-]

The system wanted to counter Reo but once it took a good look at Asahi,it couldn't help but lose itself as well.

[Pfft!]

Reo went into a deeper feet of laughter when he saw the system laughing along as well.

'S-See. He looks exactly like an overweight gorilla. Hahahaha'

The system was also laughing as well but thankfully, it had more self control as it sensed the countless eyes focused on Reo.

[Y-you idiot! Focus on the game! If you dare lose even a single point, you must declare yourself as brothers with a donkey!]

When Reo heard the system's words, he immediately stopped laughing.

Declare himself as a donkey's brother?! Never!

The system had always made fun of him by comparing him with a barnyard animal and if he really proclaimed himself to be a donkey's brother, he would never hear the end of it.

He must not lose a single point no matter what!

So, taking a deep breath, Reo looked at the waiting referee and announced, "I'm ready!".

Looking at Reo's slightly trembling figure and red face, the crowd couldn't help but have second thoughts.

'You don't look ready at all!', all of them thought.

Still, the referee was only stunned for a moment before he continued doing his job.

Taking out a coin, he looked at the two of them.

"Heads or tails? Who's going first?"

Asahi was so frustrated at the moment but once he heard the referee's words, he forced out a smile.

"Naturally, the newbie should go first"

While Asahi sounded good on the outside, he was laughing maniacally inside.

'You dared to laugh at me so I will show you the depths of despair and take the ball right under your very nose!'

At the same time, Reo couldn't help but be surprised as he took another look at Asahi.

'This guy....He's too nice!'

'I'm so sorry to have you as my first opponent but I promise that I'll go easy on you', Reo thought in his heart.

In the void, the system couldn't help but roll it's eyes. This kid was too naïve.

As a system that has read countless novels, it had gained a deep insight into the minds of people and at this very moment, it could concur that Asahi was definitely trying to scheme against Reo.

However....It was Asahi's fate that he had met Reo instead.

No matter how many schemes that he pulled today, his talent was still ultimately weaker than Reo.

Soon the coin was flipped and Reo was given the starting ball with the referee signaling the start of the match.

Reo soon got into starting dribble as he looked for potential openings in Asahi's defense.

With his increase in Awareness, Reo's mind had become a lot more sharper as his concentration would increase in games and external factors such as nervousness didn't seem to affect him that much anymore.

Not only that, his analytical and thinking ability would be increased to another level.

Meanwhile, Asahi was still in easy mode as he looked at Reo's sharp eyes.

He had always seen this. Rookies always tried their hardest to beat him even though they were worlds apart. This made it all the more better when he crushed them!

'Maybe I should give him a small opening and steal the ball away from him', Asahi thought as his defense to the right faltered by a small margin.

Reo sensed this and immediately dashed towards that small opening.

'Too easy', Asahi thought.

When Reo got close enough, Asahi finally dashed with his enormous figure to block Reo's path as he reached for the ball in Reo's hands.

'I got it now', Asahi sneered.

However, something unbelievable happened.

Just as Asahi's hand neared the ball, Reo suddenly moved his hand back and made a quick crossover from behind his back.

As soon as the ball touched his other hand, Reo immediately started dribbling past Asahi's left at breakneck speed.

Asahi was still stunned as to what happened but even if he could recover, it was all too late.

By the time Asahi came to his senses, Reo had already jumped for a layup which he soon scored.

However, when Reo scored, the crowd didn't cheer him on at all.

Instead, they were too shocked!

What did they just witness? A behind the back crossover? How old was this kid? How did he execute a behind the back crossover so flawlessly?

Not only the crowd, even Mibuchi was shocked.

'Just what was that? Was it a fluke? No, it was too clean to be a fluke! That means that this guy knew exactly what he was doing!', Mibuchi thought as he took a serious look at Reo this time.

If Reo was really as skilled as he believed, he might just become another star similar to him and Damian in this rumble.

This made him much more alert. He couldn't let a mere newbie shake his number 1 position off that easily.

Jax also couldn't help himself as he shouted excitedly into the microphone. His meager excuse actually came true after all.

"An unbelievable crossover from behind the back as he takes the first point by storm! Looks like we have a dark horse in this competition, folks!"

In the crowd, Mikasa's tiny hand covered her mouth as she looked at Reo in shock.

'Reo-kun was so amazing all this time?', Mikasa thought as she recalled what happened in Reo's house earlier today.

Reo's ball control had been his biggest weak point from what she observed but in just a few days, he managed to learn it and even have some mastery in it.

At first, she thought that Reo was simply hiding his skills from her but after a careful analysis, she found that not to be the case.

'If that's not it, then...',as Mikasa thought about this, her eyes widened in shock.

Could Reo be one of those gifted people who could learn everything very fast? If that's the case, then Reo might really be a treasure.

Thinking about this, her eyes couldn't help but glow. If such a person entered middle school or even high school, she was sure that Reo would surely make a big splash once Nationals came around.

With this in mind, she couldn't help but want to see just how Reo would make his way to the top.

However, while many people were excited at seeing Reo's skills, none of them would have guessed that Reo was currently receiving the scolding of his life from the system.

[What the f*ck was that?! Are you trying to join the circus or something?! Just because you got the Basic Handling skill, you think you're some kind of bigshot?!]

[Remember that you're total percentage for a successful crossover is only 70%,not to mention that it was from the back!]

Reo was a bit bitter when he heard this as he mumbled, "But I scored....".

It wasn't his initial intention but his instincts just took over at that point which made him perform the behind the back crossover.

The system raged when it heard what Reo said.

[Huh?! You're still talking back?! I dare you to try it again!]

[If you lose the ball, then you might as well proclaim the donkey to be your lovely bride to be!]

Reo's face turned ugly once he heard the system's words.

Having a donkey for a brother was bad enough but to actually have it as a bride was just disgusting.

Just thinking of when they were on the alter when they kis-

Bleh! He couldn't think of it anymore! That image was just too terrible!

Meanwhile, Asahi was looking at Reo as he made a disgusted expression on his face and couldn't help but think that this boy was mocking him.

He was more than 2 years older than him and yet, this fella was disrespecting his senpai!

This made him furious once again but at the same time, he was also a bit scared.

A kid who looked no more than 10 years old actually did a behind the back crossover. If this could be used as a standard for his skills, then there was no telling what he would become when he entered middle school.

Thinking about this, Asahi couldn't help but feel his blood freeze.

'No! Even if he becomes a bigshot in middle school, he's still a kid now. As long as I beat him now, I can have something to brag about for the rest of my life!', Asahi thought as he steeled his heart to win this match.

However, he was bound to be disappointed as Reo's skills were far above him.

Throughout the entire game, Asahi couldn't so much as even touch the ball. Only once when Reo lost the ball, did Asahi finally have a chance to counterattack.

However, to his surprise, Reo was not only good at attacking but defending as well. As Asahi dribbled up to Reo, he was surprised to see that Reo was not just waving his arms around to defend.

Instead, Reo had bent his knees and spread his arms downward as to make it easier to intercept the ball from Asahi whenever he saw the opportunity.

Asahi got so stiff in the end after not seeing any openings and soon, he had surpassed the 24 second rule of holding the ball which in turn, passed it over to Reo.

No surprises after that, Reo had successfully scored another basket after that, ending the game at a solid 5-0.

In the end, Asahi looked like he'd lost his soul after seeing the final score. It had ended to quickly for him to even notice.

He was used to bullying rookies but at this moment, he finally got a taste of his own medicine.

And it tasted really bitter!

The HeartWrencher just got heart wrenched!

In the crowd, many people were discussing about what just happened.

"W-What was that just now?"

"This boy....While he is not as skilled as those geniuses, his understanding of the basics is not shallow at all. This makes up for all the other aspects"

"I didn't expect our Shibuya City to produce another genius after all this time. It will be really interesting to watch the Nationals once he enters middle school"

As countless people made their comments, Mibuchi was standing at the side, gritting his teeth in anger.

The person who actually looked down on him all this while was actually such a talented player!

Even so, he didn't want to admit defeat just like that. Who knows when is the next time he would find another girl as cute as Mikasa-chan.

As such, he made it his mission to defeat Reo. If no accidents happened, he would be facing Reo in the finals just from seeing the brackets.

At that time, there would only be one winner and one loser for all of this.