Crownless Kings: Court of Fire-Chapter 22 – Court of Collisions

Score: Kirisaki 42 – Kaizen 40

Start of 4th Quarter

The crowd is standing. The tension is nuclear.

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🧱 Rei Starts to Crack

Rei's eyes are twitching.

His breathing? Off rhythm.

His body is synced to nothing.

He's trying to track Renji—

But Renji's gone full "No-Rhythm Mode."

Pulse Step. Hesitation.

Waits... waits...

Explodes.

And-one.

> "He's not flowing. He's dancing in fire."

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🧊 Kirisaki Responds – Ugly

Their new plan? Body over brain.

They start shoving, bumping, trapping at the edge of legality.

No rhythm. Just violence.

Drift gets hip-checked mid-drive.

Souta gets clipped on screens.

Keigo gets bodied in the paint.

Refs stay silent.

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🔥 Drift's Highlight Sequence

He calls no play.

Just one look at Souta—nod.

He walks the ball up.

Pretends to tie his shoe.

Defender drops his stance.

BOOM.

Slip Drive. Spin.

Behind-the-back in-air bounce pass to Keigo—slam.

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Crowd explodes.

He points at the camera.

> "Still think Kaizen's all flash?"

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🧠 Souta's Mastermind Mode

Next play—he calls three audibles mid-possession.

Renji goes wide

Keigo slips middle

Drift cuts without the ball

He lobs—Drift catches it mid-air, falling out of bounds, and flicks it off the glass.

Tied. 50–50.

Commentators screaming.

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🩹 Then It Happens...

Timeout Kaizen.

The crowd murmurs. Cameras turn.

From the tunnel—

Riku steps out.

Tape around his ankle.

Jersey on.

He doesn't walk fast.

He limps—

But the entire arena stands.

Even Jin, watching on stream, says:

> "He's still here..."

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👑 Riku Speaks – Final Huddle

> "You don't need me to win this."

"But I'm here to light the last spark."

He grabs Souta's marker.

Draws the final set.

> "One screen. One slip. One cut.

Burn them with silence."

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🕛 Final Possession – Game Tied, 56–56

Kaizen ball.

Drift inbounds.

Renji sets the fake screen.

Keigo pretends to post.

Souta rotates blindside.

Drift hesitates.

Then flicks it—no-look—into space.

Riku.

Just one step onto the court.

Catches.

Shoots.

Three.

Buzzer.

Swish.

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🏆 Final Score: Kaizen 59 – Kirisaki 56

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🎤 Aftermath

Rei sits. Head down.

Coach doesn't speak.

He knows: they didn't lose to chaos.

They lost to evolution.

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🧢 Final Scene – Riku in the Locker Room

He's not cheering.

He's not talking.

He's sitting.

Watching the play over and over on a tablet.

Whispers:

> "We're not kings anymore.

We're something they've never seen."