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He got a text from Hyuuga just before the start of school. Hyuuga had quit basketball to become a delinquent - even dying his hair. The hair-dying was a surprise, the delinquency was just unbelievable, but the quitting was what Izuki had been expecting.
Under different circumstances, Izuki might have gone to the same school with Hyuuga; he knew how much Hyuuga loved basketball, how good he was at it - it wasn't his fault that the rest of the team, including Izuki, wasn't on his level. But the school Hyuuga went to didn't have a basketball team, and more than anything else Izuki didn't want to give up basketball.
Izuki's first year with Kaijou was a mixed bag. Kaijou was a strong school with an established basketball club, and Izuki had no illusions that he'd be able to play straight away when he was accepted into the school. But he wanted to try; he didn't want to give up, not like Hyuuga.
Landing a regular position in time for InterHigh - even if it was as a bench warmer - was like a confirmation; that he was doing the right thing, that basketball hadn't given up on him. The fact that one of the few times he made it onto the court he managed to cover for a sempai's miss pass and help solidify the team's victory sealed it.
Afterwards, he heard about the newcomer school who almost got through the InterHigh prelims on their first try with an all-freshmen team. He couldn't wait to face Hyuuga on the court next year, now that he was finally a starting player.
Shuutoku was a school with a long history, and looking back Izuki wondered if he'd applied to the school half hoping that it would kill his basketball dreams for him when he didn't have the strength to do it himself.
Watching Hyuuga and his new team lose against Shuutoku made him want to work harder, because if even Hyuuga was playing basketball again what right did he have to give up? But even though applying himself got him into a position where he was hopeful of being able to join the regulars in his second year, those hopes still ended up being dashed. Because his second year was the entrance of one of the Generation of Miracles, and 'Hawk Eye' Takao. Izuki knew he didn't have a chance against their combination, and with them a year younger than him the chances of him getting to play in high school was vanishingly small.
Maybe that was a sign, but Izuki couldn't stop himself from clinging to his position as bench warmer. No matter how bitter it felt to watch Seirin and their miracle freshmen combo go against Shuutoku's miracle freshmen combo, to watch Hyuuga and Iron Heart Kiyoshi of all people dominate the court, to watch them play basketball.
Imayoshi's successor when the third years finally retire, that was Izuki's role in Touou. But to be honest, he wasn't so sure he could fill Imayoshi's shoes.
Izuki admired him not just for his abilities as a Point Guard - though he knew he'd need to do his uttermost to fill in for Imayoshi when the time came - but also his interpersonal skills. Expecting Izuki to be able to influence Aomine even the little that Imayoshi managed was impossible. Even if he would have Momoi on his side.
Still, Izuki knew he was a regular because Coach Harasawa and Imayoshi believed in his abilities. Izuki didn't want to betray them. Especially when he was so looking forward to going up against Seirin again next year and paying them back for the loss.
When the team was made up of two meter giants and even the shortest starting member was still almost ten whole centimetres taller, looking ridiculous was par for the course. But Izuki knew his place on the team, he'd worked hard for it, and he wouldn't give it up for the world.
It was fun being on the Yousen team. Even Murasakibara, who seemed to have made it his mission to have as bad an attitude about basketball as possible, was a cute kouhai in his own way. Though Izuki would like to think that he didn't spoil the First Year as much as Himuro. He reminded Izuki of Hyuuga in a way - lying about his true feelings for basketball; but now Hyuuga was Captain of the Seirin basketball team as if he'd never dyed his hair and tried to become a delinquent.
It was just a pity that Murasakibara didn't show his true colours until almost the end of their match against Seirin. But this wasn't over. They would definitely win next time.
Applying for Rakuzan had been a joke, in a way; he had done his best on the entrance exams, but never expected to pass. But now here he was, a member of the Rakuzan basketball team with three Uncrowned Kings. Izuki was almost expecting it when he found out that Hyuuga didn't quit basketball after all but had created a new basketball team with one of the remaining Uncrowned Kings; neither of them could get away from basketball, not really.
The fact that one of the Generation of Miracles would be joining them wasn't a surprise, it was just a question of which one. That it was the ex-Captain was unobjectionable, but Izuki wasn't sure how to feel about the fact that the main reason he got to play was because Akashi was hardly ever in the starting line-up.
He had no problems with following Akashi despite the Captain being a year younger than him; but it was impossible to know what he was thinking, why the Coach let him sit out something as important as the InterHigh Final League, or even why he would go as far as to tell his ex-team mates to sit out as well. He did understand why they listened though. Akashi had charisma, a presence that made you listen to him.
Sitting on the bench and watching the final Winter Cup match between them and Seirin, Izuki believed just as much as everyone else that Rakuzan would win. Seirin had done amazingly well, and more than anyone Izuki knew Hyuuga's strength as a basketball player - on top of the prowess of Iron Heart Kiyoshi and Seirin's freshmen duo; but nevertheless, it was unthinkable that Akashi - that they - could lose.
Izuki quit basketball a week after he joined the Kirisaki Daiichi basketball team. To think he left Hyuuga for this.