Chapter 05 - The Sixth Men of the Generation of Miracles

The game starts again with a free throw from Furihata, who did it easily.

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This is also the first time the first-year team is on the lead. However, Furihata knows that the game will become harder right now. He couldn't ignore the fire burning in his senpai's eyes, especially in Izuki-senpai who he managed to fool a few times before.

He is still worried about the defense, as he is sure that his senpai would exploitate Kuroko for their attack. He just hopes that the adjustment for the defense is good enough to hold back his senpai.

--------------------Flashback before the game started again--------------------

"Kawahara, you switch with me." He spoke to the small forward. "Guard Izuki-senpai. Don't let Izuki-senpai get comfortable enough with the ball." Kawahara looked confused, so Furihata elaborated quickly.

"We will make an adjustment for the defense. I have the confidence to give Hyuga-senpai a hard time, so I will try to guard him. But if I switch position with Phantom,-" Kuroko frowned at the nickname. "That will give Izuki-senpai enough space to do his job. So, you will be his guard. Can you do that?"

"Sure, You can count on me." Kawahara nodded firmly.

"And Phantom, you will guard Tsuchida-senpai." He turned around to Kuroko who frowned at the nickname. "I watched a few of Seirin's games last year and Tsuchida-senpai is a Three-and-D player, which means he wouldn't do a lot of dribbles in the offense. He would wait for a pass before he shoots a three-point. And seeing as you did nothing to stop them earlier, they will target you. Just do what you are good at, okay?" Kuroko widened his eyes for a moment before he nodded at Furihata.

"What about Kagami?" Fukuda suddenly asked.

"Well, Fukuda, if you cannot handle Mitobe-senpai, just let Red over there handle him." He pointed at Kagami who is playing with the ball. "If he saw an opponent in a wide-open position, he would run to them like a mad dog. His pride wouldn't allow anyone to score easily in front of him. Let's use it to our advantage." Fukuda nodded, aggreging what Furihata said.

"Good. That would be the adjustment for the defense. Any question?" No one speak for a moment before Kuroko spoke, breaking the silence.

"Can you stop calling me Phantom?" Furihata gives him a smile before he replied,

"Sure, Phantom."

--------------------End of the flashback--------------------

Well, whether Kuroko could do a better job or not is not his problem. Now, he should think about how to stop Hyuga-senpai.

"Oh, it is your turn to guard me, eh?" Hyuga-senpai raised his eyebrow seeing Furihata is in the position to lock him down. Furihata smiles and replied shortly,

"Yeah. Please be easy on me, Senpai." The shooting guard could only click his tongue as he was the subject of Furihata's tight defense. He could also see a frown on Izuki's face, clearly surprised by the defense adjustment.

'I cannot get enough space to shoot. If I force it, that would be a waste of opportunity, especially with Kagami under the rim. We should be more creative here.'

As if he could hear what his best friend think, Izuki raised one of his hands, signaling for a play. While the first-year is confused about what their senpai gonna do, the other players in the senpai team know what Izuki wants to do.

It is the first-ever offensive strategy they came up with after the team was formed.

Within a second after Izuki sent the signal, his teammates move quickly. It began with Koganei who set a screen from behind to create some space for Hyuga to move. Hyuga who saw Koganei moves run quickly, trying to escape Furihata's guard.

However, to their surprise, Furihata didn't fall into their trap. Instead, Furihata lowered his body and leaned his shoulder toward Koganei's hips, getting rid of the screen beautifully.

"WHAT?!" Koganei is surprised that Furihata didn't even need to see him to escape from his screen. Meanwhile, Hyuga grumbled under his breath while thinking inwardly,

'Tch, he is good. Probably have the same eyes as Izuki. No matter. He is one step behind me.' He runs from the corner, crossing the perimeter area, before setting a screen for Izuki.

Izuki saw it and moves quickly to escape from Kawahara's guard. It happened so quickly that there is a switch in the first year's defense. Furihata is back to guarding Izuki while Kawahara is struggling against Hyuga's screen.

That is their strategy. With a double screen like this, it will create enough space for Izuki to basically do whatever he wants. He can drive as Fukuda is getting attracted by Koganei, pass the ball to Hyuga who is having a better match-up against Kawahara, or gives the ball to Tsuchida who is waiting for the ball. Remembering what Hyuga said about targeting Kuroko, he sends the ball to Tsuchida.

Usually, they could get an easy basket by this play. But they don't have any information about Kuroko, so they clearly didn't anticipate what came next.

Kuroko is already standing in front of Tsuchida, blocking the passing path from Izuki.

"WHAT?!" The senpai team was shocked that Kuroko, the defense liability could intercept their pass and that they are too late to go back for the defense. Kuroko didn't wait for the senpai to react before he throws the ball into the space in the senpai's team area.

For a second, it looks like they would go outside of the court. But then, they could see someone running like a cheetah to chase the ball. That is Taiga Kagami. He catches the ball easily before jumping and did a windmill dunk to score another basket for the first year.

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"ORAAA!!!!" Kagami roared as he celebrates the dunk. It was beautifully done, successfully showing off his monstrous physicality. Meanwhile, the senpai is still confused about what happened before.

"Tsuchida, what happened?" Hyuga asked with a confused face.

"I don't know. I didn't realize that he is in front of me. Hell, I didn't even feel his presence all the time he guards me." The small forward replied with the same confused tone. Hyuga suddenly widened his eyes as if realizing something.

"Now when you say it like that, it is the same for me." He muttered.

"What do you mean?"

"When I had a match-up with him, I also didn't feel his presence at all. At first, I thought it was because he is not a good player. But now, I cannot be sure." There is a silence in the senpai's team before Izuki spoke.

"It doesn't matter now. We have to start the game. Let's think about it on the run. We will find out if it is just a fluke or not." The others could only nod even though they don't like the situation right now.

After all, this is their first time facing misdirection from the infamous Teikou's Phantom, and after this, the rest of the game would be a nightmare for them.

---------------------------------------

"Good job, Kuroko-kun!" It is strange to see that Kawahara and Fukuda who is basically stranger to Kuroko act as if they have been a friend for a long time now. But, well.. He only needs one good play to impress his teammates, and now, they are hooked on him, forgetting how useless he was during the first few minutes in the game.

Meanwhile, while Furihata is also surprised after seeing Kuroko's misdirection for the first time, he also found a big problem in Kuroko's ability.

"How long can you do it?" He asked Kuroko, referring to his misdirection ability.

"If it is a normal game, I can do it for about five to seven minutes per quarter. But people will also start to notice my presence, making it difficult to do the same trick over and over again." He replied straight to the point, not surprised that Furihata could see his problem.

"Good. There are still about five minutes before the game end, so we will also use you in the offense. Be ready."

"Sure,"

The game started again with the ball in Izuki's hand. Even though he said it doesn't matter, the point guard could not help but think about Kuroko's last play and be wary of him.

'Now, let's see where he is.. Wait?! Where is he?! Don't tell me!' His eyes widened as he suddenly realized that Kuroko is already in front of him, trying to steal the ball.

'Two turnovers from two rookies? No way in hell!'

Izuki gritted his teeth as he moves quickly to avoid Kuroko, sending the ball to Hyuga. The shooting guard tried to shoot the ball right after he catches it, but suddenly, he could see a hand right in front of his face, trying to block the shoot.

'Shit! I couldn't see the rim!'

That is the basic defense technique to use against the bigger shooter. He doesn't need to block Hyuga's shoot. Just a simple hands-up is enough for him to cover the rim from Hyuga's sight. After all, no matter how good the shooter is, they need to look up to the rim first to make a good shoot.

And true to his prediction, the shoot only hit the board before it bounced in Fukuda and Koganei's direction.

"REBOUND!"

Koganei is about 170 cm, 10 cm smaller than Fukuda. So, even though he has more experience, there is almost no chance of winning a rebound contest against Fukuda.

"Fukuda! Here!" Fukuda didn't need to see who just called him. Right after he grabs the ball, he turned around and pass the ball to Furihata who did the same. He didn't take a long time to pass the ball to, strangely enough, Izuki's direction.

'A turnover?' That's what his senpai thought, before Kuroko suddenly stands in front of him, tapping the ball to the floor.

'Crap! Since when is he here?!'

The ball bounced in Kagami's direction who is standing alone in the perimeter area. The red-hair pulled up a shoot for easy two points.

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'Well, it seems he can do something other than dunk. Good for him.' Furihata muttered after he saw Kagami's shoot.

However, his focus shifted to Kuroko, who surprisingly tried to do something like what he did before, steal the ball from Izuki. Right before Izuki receives the ball from Mitobe, Kuroko sneaked behind the point guard.

"Izuki, behind!"

"SHIT!" Izuki cursed as someone once again managed to sneak behind without him noticing. He is still not recovered from the play before, and it caused his team another turnover.

"Nice steal, Kuroko!"

"End it!"

Kuroko who is running alone jumped for a layup. However, much to the other's surprise, he missed the wide-open layup.

'Of course, he would miss that chance.' Furihata deadpaned at Kuroko. Fortunately, Kagami is coming from behind to grab the rebound and dunk it.

"If you want to score, DO IT PROPERLY, IDIOT!" He stares at Kuroko while still hanging on the rim.

"That's why a weakling like you really pisses me off."

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