Chapter 117 : VS Yosen High IX - Pre-Zone State
Furihata is on cloud nine right now. Even though his team is still down to nine points, this game started to become too good to be true for him.
He didn't know how and why. But the moment he stepped into the court, his focus suddenly heightened ten times better than usual, his mind became sharper, his body became lighter, and he felt like he could control his body movement 100 percent.
And the last 20 seconds, even though the two three-pointers he took were from a wide-open position, it was still different than his usual shoot. He still remembered the feeling when he knew for sure that the ball would go in, even though it was just released from his hand.
This is a surreal feeling, and Furihata didn't know if this was good or bad.
He glanced at his hands several times, feeling the urge to check if there was something wrong with his body. Hell, he even tried to remember what he had eaten for breakfast before, afraid it would contain drugs. However, all he could remember was just a sandwich, a pair of bananas, and two glasses of water. Nothing strange at all.
"Anything wrong, Furihata-kun?"
Hyuga's voice registered through his ear, snapping him from daydreaming. When he raised his head toward his captain, he could also see the concerned gazes from his teammates. He shook his head quickly before appeasing their worry.
"It is nothing. Just thinking about how I suddenly become this sharp."
"Aaah…." Alex's face suddenly lightened up in a realization. "I think I probably know why."
"Oh?"
Not only Furihata, but everyone is also curious about it. After all, if Furihata's condition right now is easy to gain, it would be good news for the team.
"You still remember our talk about the zone?"
Furihata nodded quickly, a bit surprised Alex would mention it right now. He asked about it right after Alex arrived at the team, which resulted in a lengthy discussion about the zone. Even though Alex is a bit tight-lipped about it, the knowledge she provided at least is still better compared to what he found on the Internet.
"If my guess is correct, you are about to enter your zone. Let's just say it is a pre-zone condition. You haven't entered it yet, but you still gained several of its perks."
"Pre-zone?" Furihata couldn't help but feel dubious about his coach. "Is that condition even real?"
"I assure you, Furihata-kun, that it was very real," Alex answered. "But because you haven't entered the zone at its fullest yet, it acted like a passive skill. Your body could feel the change, yet your mind couldn't comprehend why. But when you have entered it, believe me, you will know the difference."
"Any you know it, how?"
Alex just gives him a mysterious smile as the answer while suddenly she switches into her mother tongue. "A secret makes a woman woman."
Furihata rolled his eyes in exasperation.
"Seriously? You would quote Detective Conan right now?"
"Hey, what's wrong with that? It is my favorite series!"
"Anooo….." Riko who heard the discussion from the start feels the urge to interrupt. "Care to explain what you are talking to us pleasant?"
Alex and Furihata shared a glance, not knowing how to explain the concept of the zone in the short span of the timeout. After a while, it was Alex who finally said,
"Hmm…. The shortest way to explain it, think about your game against Too, when their number #5 suddenly gained the second power-up." Now, everyone widened their eyes in shock. "Well, Furihata-kun is on the verge of entering that condition."
"Really?" Now, everyone is ecstatic. "So, he can go crazy like Aomine?" Unfortunately, their hope deflated pretty quickly when they heard Alex's explanation.
"Not really." Alex shook her head. "I said he is on the verge, right? The truth is, nobody knows how and what it took for Furihata-kun to enter that state at its fullest. So, better not pressuring him about that."
Even though the other players nodded, they still looked at Furihata with astonishment and probably a bit of jealousy (You know who will have this feeling). But right now, they had no time to comprehend the information they just got, as the horn rang again, indicating the timeout was over.
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Even though it was interrupted by the timeout, the momentum is still on Seirin's hand. And it was proven in the next play when they defended their rim like it was a life-or-death situation.
"Keep pressing him, Furihata-kun!"
"He is about to pass! Be careful!"
"Izuki-kun, don't let him drive forward!"
*Slap!*
"Nice defense, Kuroko-kun!"
All the Seirin players roared in celebration as Kuroko managed to tap the ball from Fukui's hand. Even though the possession is still in Yosen's hand, it doesn't change the fact that now, Seirin's defense becomes a huge wall that they have a hard time breaking through.
Fortunately for them, they have a big hammer called Murasakibara that could destroy every wall in front of them.
*BAAAAAM!!!*
"Nice dunk, Murasakibara!"
"They cannot stop you!"
"Keep it up!"
It was another dunk for the pink-haired center, much to Kagami's frustration. Getting bullied all the time by Murasakibara sure could destroy anyone's self-esteem.
"Oi, Red!" Furihata shouted at the red-haired boy. Everyone tensed a bit, afraid of the confrontation between those two. However, Furihata ignored that, his eyes locking on the power forward. "Why are you trying to stop him only with your strength? Did you forget Tsuchida-senpai's lesson when we were about to face Papa Mbaye Siki?"
Suddenly, Kagami's eyes lit up in enlightenment, as if an inspiration struck in his mind. Seeing that, Furihata nodded approvingly.
"Good. You remember your lesson. Just stick to the basics and let the others help you. Nobody said you have to win it alone." With a single eye contact with Tsuchida, the second-year power forward also nodded, knowing what Furihata wanted to say.
"Now, let's start the play before the referee decided to give back the possession to Yosen."
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Unsurprisingly, right after passing the middle line, Furihata was approached by Fukui and Tatsuya immediately.
'A double team from the best defensive team in Japan? Wow, it's my honor." Furihata tried to throw a joke. However, seeing that those two didn't have any interest to indulge in any conversation with him, he just clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Tch. You guys are no fun at all."
Honestly, double-teaming him is probably the best decision Yosen could take right now. Furihata knows that besides him and Kagami, everyone else had a problem with scoring. And with Kagami facing Murasakibara, as long as he was being locked down, Seirin wouldn't be a big problem.
Unfortunately for Yosen, they underestimated the connection between Kuroko and Furihata. With just a simple eye contact, without any preparation, the ball suddenly flew into Furihata's hand.
Fukui and Tatsuya who were guarding him were taken aback by the sudden pass. That is because Furihata seems to be unprepared for that. Just a second ago, he still tried to make a conversation with them, and suddenly, the ball is in his hand.
Unfortunately for them, before they could do anything about it, Furihata has already pulled up the shoot from his spot, and those two could only watch the ball fly from his hand with their mouth gaped wide.
*Splash!*
"Another three!"
"Furihata is on fire today!"
"Come on, Seirin!"
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING, FUKUI! HIMURO!" Furihata cringed at the sudden scream from Yosen's bench. When he turned around, he could see a woman with silky dark hair standing up from her seat, looking annoyed at the two guards. "Why are you just standing up there like statues?! Snap it out, boys! You-"
"Ma'am!" The referee interrupted her incoming rant before it could go further. "The game is still running. Please, don't do it again, or I will have to give you a technical foul."
Being reprimanded by the referee, the woman who seems to be Yosen's high coach just snorted a little before bowing her head.
"Gomennasai, Sensei."
She turned back to the bench, but not before giving the final glare toward her two backcourt guards. Tatsuya and Fukui who received that flinched involuntarily, gaining a pity gaze from Furihata. He knows and is quite familiar with that kind of glare. It was a silent promise of painful punishment that Riko often threw when Kagami did something stupid.
'To think that Yosen would have someone who could do that too… My condolences.'
Furihata shook his head, running back to Seirin's side, preparing to defend the next play.
And just like before, in this play, the ball went to Murasakibara's hand again.
"If one strategy works pretty well, why would they change it?" Furihata muttered bitterly, repeating his own words earlier.
However, unlike before, now, Murasakibara suddenly had a hard time pushing Kagami down. Even the audience could see the pink-haired center struggling to break through like before, as it seems, Kagami suddenly could hold his ground against the supercenter.
"What happened?!"
"The red-haired brat finally could stop him? How?!"
"No way, bro! It was probably just your imagination! Murasakibara is unstoppable!"
"Are you blind?!"
While everyone is debating how could Murasakibara suddenly gets restrained by Seirin's defense, only he knows it was because the red-haired boy suddenly gets tougher.
'Damn! What happened?! Why is he suddenly getting stronger?!' Murasakibara gritted his teeth, trying to push his way down toward Seirin's hoop. However, Kagami didn't bulge even for a second, pushing back Murasakibara and not letting him go near the basket.
'Keep your body low and your forearms stiff, ask for help if you cannot do it alone, and extends your arms as high as possible when he is about to stop. Your purpose is not stopping him head-on, but just force him to miss the shoot.'
At this time, all of Tsuchida's crash course of how to defend the post-up game suddenly rushed into his brain. Seeing how effective it was, Kagami grinned in excitement, finally could improve his own ground against Murasakibara.
"Come on!"
For outsiders, this shout might be a way for Kagami to hype up himself. But only Seirin players know, it was a plea for help from the red-haired boy, and Tsuchida who was closest to him knows about it too, helping him immediately to limit Murasakibara's movement
"Double team!"
"Come on, Seirin! You can do it!"
Unfortunately for them both, in the last second of the sequence, Murasakibara suddenly turned around and send a sky hook shoot toward the basket.
*Splash!*
Another two points for Yosen!
But unlike before, this time, Kagami clenched his fists in excitement as finally, he could force the pink-haired center to take a shoot instead of dunking.
"Next time, I would stop him."
As for Murasakibara, seeing his teammates look at him strangely as if he grew a second head, he couldn't help but feel annoyed.
"What is your problem?"
"Murasakibara-kun, you take a shoot?" It was Tatsuya who speaks. "Did they really give you that much problem?"
Not liking what Tatsuya just insinuate, Murasakibara walked over him while answering, "No. Just give me the ball next time and I will destroy him."
The other players just nodded, knowing the annoyed tone in his voice. They don't know for sure what Kagami did, but they better step aside from this conflict. One thing is for sure, an annoyed Murasakibara is bad news for the opponent.
As for Murasakibara, he scowled to himself, annoyed at how persistent Seirin seemed to be, especially that red-haired boy.
'As expected of Kuro-chin's teammates. They are annoying pests. I should destroy them completely until they couldn't get up from the ground.'
Unfortunately for him, because of the position difference, he couldn't do anything about Furihata, especially if Seirin's shooting guard still insisted on his super long-distance three-point shoot. That's why out of all the Generation of Miracles, besides Kuroko, he hates Midorima the most.
And knowing Murasakibara wouldn't be able to approach him without leaving a big hole in the paint area, Furihata took advantage of that. With a little hesitation move, he split Fukui and Tatsuya's double team easily, and before entering the perimeter area, he pulled up another shoot.
*Splash!*
Another three!
"COME OOOON!!!!"
Everyone cheered at Furihata as he slammed his own chest hard, celebrating like crazy. This was his sixth three-pointer today, and he still feels like he could do more. When he saw the distraught on Tatsuya and Fukui's faces, he couldn't help but grin.
"Unfortunately for you, this show is not over yet."
Yosen High 35 – 27 Seirin High
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Author note :
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You can also read this fanfiction up to chapter 137 on that page. Thank you! :)
-Zeta Faes-