Chapter 27 : Preparation for the Inter-high

A week later, the Seirin basketball team still kept their training intensity high, preparing for the inter-high tournament. It is just two days before they would face Shinkyo Academy and their first big test, Papa Mbaye Shiki.

On the court, you could see everyone working hard, trying to get their game better. Kagami is getting paired with Tsuchida, the best defender on the team, to train Kagami how to defend a bigger opponent than him.

Tsuchida is holding the ball while Kagami is guarding him from behind. Tsuchida keeps shouting to let the red hair know what to do.

"Don't let your opponent turn around and face the board!"

"Keep pressuring him! Push his body a little every time you see he wanted to take a shoot! Don't let him feel comfortable!"

"Your long arm is your weapon! use it properly! Restrict your opponent's movement!"

"You don't need to block him. Just let him miss the shoot! Raise your hands up! Block his eyesight!"

"Use your eyes! Observe closely what he wanted to do! It is okay for your opponent to score, but it is your sin if you are being fooled! You will be the new laugh stock! Come on, Kagami-kun!"

With that said, Kagami managed to force Tsuchida to take a bad shoot, resulting in a rebound contest if that was the real game.

"So, how was that? Can you do that in a real game?" He asked while offering a handshake. Kagami shrugged helplessly as he replied,

"I want to say I could do it, but I don't have anyone bigger than me here to try. If only that bastard was not that small."

The bastard that Kagami mentioned was, of course, Furihata. Even though he admitted that Furihata is a strong player, it didn't make the grudge vanish, especially after his last loss in the scrimmage.

Tsuchida chuckled a little, knowing the animosity between his kouhai.

"Well, it is okay to have rivalry inside the team. But make sure it would not happen in the middle of the game, okay? You both are still Seirin players, after all."

"Yeah, I know. Even the bastard knows it too, so you don't have to worry about it."

Honestly, it surprised everyone how well Kagami accepts being trained by Tsuchida and how the senpai could stop him several times when they trained together. However, Furihata didn't feel the same.

He knew already what Tsuchida is capable of. He is not Seirin's defensive anchor for no reason. And as for Kagami who received the training without raising any ruckus, Furihata also knows that even if Kagami is ignorant and arrogant, a fool is not the best word to describe the red-hair.

Show him what he is lacking, and he will work harder than everyone on the team to fix it.

The only thing that surprised him right now is how it ended up very well for Kagami. Tsuchida was able to refine Kagami's defense to another level. But not only that, Furihata is also impressed by the communication skill Tsuchida displayed. The ever-quiet senpai is not only a great coach for Kagami, but he also managed to get closer to the red-hair, something that seems impossible to do except for Kuroko.

When he asked Hyuga about this, his captain snorted before he gives him an answer,

'Of course, his communication skill is good. He is my class representation, after all. And there is also a rumor that almost everyone in the second year wanted to nominate him as the student council president, but he refused because of this team. Even though you never hear him talk that much, he is not the introverted quiet type like Mitobe. He just chooses his words more carefully than the others. He is the nice guy everyone likes.'

It was a big surprise for Furihata. He has never expected that his quiet senpai would be that popular. And that is within reasons. When he saw his senpai teaching Kagami, he realized there is still a lot he didn't know about his senpai. They both progressing quite well, not like him and the boy in front of him who has this blank expression on his face.

'Haah… If only I have half of Tsuchida-senpai's ability in teaching someone..'

His long deep sigh was noticed by the boy in front of him, so he got the expected reply,

"I am sorry, Furihata-san. I don't think I am progressing well enough to meet your standard. Shall we stop this session?"

Furihata gives a half-smile as his reply before saying,

"Don't worry, Phantom. If it is that easy, no one would need a coach anymore."

Yes, the boy in front of him is Kuroko. They both trained together to work on Kuroko's basic skills. It was requested by Riko, but they know the necessity behind it.

------- little flashback five days ago -------

"Furihata-kun, Kuroko-kun, come here!" Riko waved her hand, mentioning both to join her. It was not during the training, but in the middle of the break when they both accidentally stumbled upon each other in the cafeteria.

Furihata and Kuroko are not in the same class. In fact, Furihata is the only one in his class who joined the basketball team. Kagami, Kuroko, Fukuda, and Kawahara are in the same class, so it is a bit rare for him to interact with his teammates outside the training.

But this time, not only he stumbled upon Kuroko, the most invisible person he has ever known, but they also met and were invited by his coach. That was a rare occasion.

'Well, no reason to refuse her.' He shrugged.

When both of them sit in front of her, she didn't start with small talk. No, she was straight to the point, asked their opinion,

"Listen, I have an idea about Kuroko-kun, and I want your input. So, Kuroko-kun, what do you think about strengthening your basic basketball skill? Not just training with your misdirection, but also improving your overall basketball skill. What do you think?"

They both were taken aback, and Kuroko furrowed his brows a bit.

"Why?"

"Well, don't get me wrong. Your misdirection skill is powerful and unique that almost all of our opponent doesn't know how to deal with it. But other than that skill, I noticed that you lack basic skills like how to dribble or take a shoot properly. I mean, of course, you can dribble. But that was very slow and even I can stop you with a little work. You really need to improve that, you know?"

Kuroko took a second to think before he shook his head and say,

"I don't understand. Why don't we just train to coordinate better with my misdirection?"

"Aah.. I think I understand the reason." Furihata suddenly chimed in.

"Oh? Care to explain, Furihata-kun?" Riko raised her eyebrows slightly, always impressed with how fast the first-year catch the reason behind her decision.

"I think because you are way too specialized, Phantom." Seeing the confused expression from Kuroko, he continued talking. "I mean, it is good to be a specialist. But it would harm you more if you don't have the basic skill to back it up. What if in the middle of the tournament, we meet the opponent who has the solution to your playing style? You will become useless in a second. And what if we meet the Generation of Miracles again? Even though they couldn't track you all the time, at least they have an idea of your ability. It would be sad for you to leave the game because of that."

"Spot on again, Furihata-kun." Riko smirked, satisfied with his answer.

Kuroko nodded slightly at the explanation and suddenly turn around to Furihata with admiration on his face.

"I didn't know that." He whispered lowly. But it was not low enough for Furihata and Riko to overhear it.

"Well, it's not your fault, I guess," Furihata replied. "In Teiko, when you went to the court as a sixth man, all of your work was covered by your monstrous teammates, so you don't have to worry about anything else like dribbling, shooting, guarding, or something like that. Instead, they asked you to be more invisible and more creative on the court. All you needed to do was just observe the game closely and change the pass directly to the other. It worked in Teiko because your teammates were monsters. But here, you can't do that, because no one can cover you to be invisible during the game."

"So that is the case." Kuroko nodded in understanding before he turned again to Riko. "Sure, I would do it. When will we start?"

Hearing the question, Riko smirked widely at Furihata, making his spin shiver involuntary.

"No, it is not me who will train you." He had a bad feeling after hearing the answer. But when Riko locked her eyes on him and asked,

"Furihata-kun, why don't you train with Kuroko-kun here?"

He let out a groan to vent his frustration.

------- flashback end -------

Five days passed, and he made a little progress with Kuroko. Well, the progress is good, but they still cannot use it in the real game.

It is not like Kuroko is a bad player. No, even though he is not a player on the same level as the Generation of Miracles, at least he could be on the same level as Koganei with the playmaking level as good as him and Izuki if anyone took their time to train Kuroko the basic. Even though he wouldn't be able to join the first team, at least he would end up in Teiko's second-tier team with a solid foundation.

But nooo! No one spared their time to teach him the basic. Instead, Akashi, with all of his wisdom, decided to put Kuroko in the most unique yet toxic role that allowed him to contribute to the first team even with his lack of the basic.

It put Kuroko in a bad spot even though he didn't notice. While he could contribute to the first team, he couldn't make any improvement in his basketball skill.

'Of course, what do you expect from a person who treats the other like a pawn?' He grumbled, cursing Teiko's former captain inwardly.

It would take a very brave coach to gamble on him with his unique play style, as the other teammates would need to cover more space for him. It was just pure luck for Kuroko to be coached by Riko, as not a lot of experienced coaches would dare to take this gamble.

But now, it is he who was tasked to refine his basics, and Riko raised this difficult task into impossible.

'I don't care how you do it. But with Kuroko's ability, he was able to steal the ball from his opponent a lot. I want you to make him able to score in a wide-open position. I also want him to not be vulnerable if his opponents managed to force him to take a dribble. Just work on that. Oh, and by the way, the tournament would start on Sunday. Good luck!'

He cursed his unresponsible senpai for this impossible task. Even though Kuroko managed to improve, he still could not use it in a game.

His only comfort is that the game he predicts Kuroko would need this basic skill is when they played against Seiho, and it is still two weeks from now with the assumption they win all their game.

"Okay, Phantom. Let's stop it for today. Everyone is already gone." He spoke. Kuroko nodded as he approached him, asking a question.

"How do you think of my progress? And please, be honest with me."

Seeing the deep stare from Kuroko's dark eyes, Furihata couldn't help but took his time, thinking about the time when he started training with the small basketball community near his home.

"Well, if I compare you to the other players from where I trained, your progress is normal. Not too slow, yet not too fast either. Maybe a bit above average. I don't know. You are slightly worse than me when I started training, but still acceptable. It is just you still cannot use it comfortably in the game though."

Kuroko nodded, satisfied with the answer. Then, suddenly, he asked another question.

"Where did you train, Furihata-kun? And what middle school did you attend, if you don't mind me asking?"

Furihata waved his hand, dismissing his concern.

"Don't worry, I don't mind. I am from Minami Middle School, not a basketball school as you can say. And I didn't join my middle school team. Instead, I trained with the small basketball community near my home. In fact, this is my first time joining an official team like this.

Kuroko widened his eyes in surprise.

"And you are already this good? You are amazing, Furihata-kun!" Kuroko praised him genuinely.

"Well, maybe it is because I meet everyone new every time I went there. I had to adapt to a lot of situations with different teammates and different opponents most of the time. And I wouldn't say it is impressive. I still have a lot to improve."

Now, Kuroko saw Furihata in a new light. He stares at the point guard with new admiration, as not a lot of players would stay this humble when they reached Furihata's level.

In his eyes, Furihata might be one of the best point guards in Japan if only Akashi doesn't exist, and it says a lot coming from the former Teiko players who played a lot against top players in the country.

They both exchanged conversation for a while before they arrived at the entrance of the school, where they saw the presence of the last person they expected.

"Kurokocchi! Furihatacchi! Yo~hoo~!"

Yes, that person is Ryota Kise.

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

Author note:

If you want to support me more, you can visit my Patreon page on patreon(.)com/ZetaFaes

You can also read this fanfiction up to chapter 47 on that page. Thank you! :)