The days that followed were filled with an eerie tension that lingered over Seisen High like a storm waiting to break. Yukito knew the retaliation was coming—he just didn't know when or how. The Phantom Five were far from defeated, and after his confrontation with Kaoru, Yukito could feel the heat of their anger intensifying. It was only a matter of time before they made their move.
Despite the unease, Yukito continued to go to school, determined not to show weakness. Ryo had warned him to be careful, but Yukito couldn't afford to hide. The battle was far from over, and Yukito intended to see it through, no matter the cost.
It started small.
Yukito arrived at school one morning to find his locker had been vandalized. Black spray paint scrawled across the metal door, spelling out the word "TRAITOR" in bold letters. Students lingered nearby, pretending not to watch as Yukito stared at the message. Some of them looked at him with a mixture of fear and curiosity, while others whispered behind their hands.
Yukito clenched his fists but didn't let the anger show. This was exactly what Kaoru wanted—to rattle him, to make him feel isolated. But Yukito wasn't going to give them the satisfaction.
He calmly grabbed his books and shut the locker door, ignoring the stares. They wanted him to react. Instead, he would stay focused, stay cold.
The next escalation came during practice.
Yukito had been reinstated after the school's internal review decided not to suspend him indefinitely. But the atmosphere had changed drastically. His teammates avoided him, casting sideways glances as they ran drills. The coach barely spoke to him, and the tension on the court was suffocating.
It was during a practice scrimmage that things took a darker turn. As Yukito drove toward the basket, the ball firmly in his grip, one of the Phantom Five members, Takashi, intentionally stepped into his path with a heavy shoulder. The impact was brutal, sending Yukito crashing to the ground, pain shooting up his side.
The gym fell into an uneasy silence as Yukito lay on the court, gasping for breath.
Takashi smirked down at him, no apology in his eyes. "Watch where you're going, Aizawa."
Yukito's teeth clenched as he pushed himself up. He could see it in Takashi's expression—the hit wasn't an accident. It was a message.
Yukito didn't respond. He got back to his feet, shaking off the pain. If this was how they wanted to play, so be it. He wasn't going to back down.
That night, as Yukito sat alone in his room, nursing a bruise on his ribs from the hit, his phone buzzed with a new message from the stranger.
"They're testing you. Don't break."
Yukito stared at the screen, frustration boiling just beneath the surface. He didn't know who this stranger was, but their advice had been spot-on so far. Still, Yukito wasn't sure how much more of this he could take. The pressure was mounting, and with every new attack, the lines between basketball and the personal war he had declared on the Phantom Five were blurring.
"They're going to come harder," the stranger messaged again. "Be ready."
Yukito tightened his grip on his phone, the message sending a chill down his spine. If this was just the beginning, what would the next move be?
The answer came the following day.
Yukito was making his way to class when a group of students blocked his path. At the center of the group was Kaoru, his expression smug and cold, surrounded by the rest of the Phantom Five. The hallway fell silent as students watched the confrontation unfold, tension thick in the air.
"You really think you can keep this up?" Kaoru asked, his voice low but filled with menace. "You think you're some kind of hero, exposing us like that?"
Yukito didn't flinch. "I didn't do it for anyone but myself. And I'm not done."
Kaoru's smile twisted into something darker. "Oh, you're done. You just don't know it yet."
Before Yukito could respond, Shin, the Phantom Five's sharp-eyed strategist, stepped forward. He held up his phone, the screen flashing with a video—a video of Yukito's locker being vandalized, followed by the hit from Takashi during practice. But it wasn't just footage of the incidents. The video had been edited, twisted to make it look like Yukito was causing problems, provoking fights, and disrupting the team.
The implication was clear. The Phantom Five were framing Yukito as a troublemaker, painting him as a villain in front of the entire school.
"You see," Kaoru said, "the thing about power is that we control the narrative. No matter what you do, we'll always come out on top. People love winners, Aizawa. And you? You're just making yourself look like a fool."
Yukito's heart raced with fury. He could see students watching the video, their faces uncertain, questioning everything they had believed about him. Kaoru wasn't just trying to intimidate him physically—they were manipulating the entire school's perception of him.
For a moment, Yukito felt the weight of it all—the pressure, the loneliness, the constant battle. But then he remembered why he had started this fight in the first place. He had seen the corruption up close, experienced the arrogance and entitlement that the Phantom Five wielded like a weapon. He wasn't going to let them control the narrative. Not anymore.
"You think you've won," Yukito said, his voice steady, "but you're wrong. This isn't about popularity or power anymore. It's about the truth. And eventually, everyone's going to see it."
Kaoru's smile faltered slightly, but his expression quickly hardened. "We'll see."
That night, Yukito sat in front of his laptop, the video Kaoru had shown playing on repeat. He knew he couldn't let this go unanswered. The Phantom Five were powerful, but they weren't untouchable. He just had to find the right way to strike back, to expose them for what they really were.
His phone buzzed again, another message from the stranger.
"They've overplayed their hand. Now it's your turn."
Yukito's eyes narrowed. He knew what he had to do.