Chapter 37 : VS Seiho III - It's Show Time!

"Good job, everyone!" Riko praised her team. "Even though it is not an ideal game for us, we still fight back until they only lead one point in this quarter. But from now on, the game would be tougher and it will drain you more than before. Are you ready for the next quarter?"

"Yes, Coach!"

"Good! Kuroko-kun, even though you were less involved in this game, you still did a good job to create opportunities for us. Just sit down and rest, we will need your ability again in the third quarter."

"Yes, coach." Kuroko nodded, wiping the sweat on his temple.

"Koganei, you are up!"

"Yes, Coach!"

"Create chaos to Seiho. Don't be too passive. If you are always on the move, it would create some space for Junpei or Furihata-kun to score. Can you do that?"

"You will not be disappointed, Ma'am!"

The cat-like senpai grinned excitedly. This kind of job is his favorite, creating chaos and irritating opponents so much they would want your death. As a GSW fan and an admirer of Draymond Green's dirty work, he accepted his job with a happy face.

Riko nodded wryly, didn't really want to know what is inside Koganei's mind.

'Probably something wild, chaotic, and uncontrollable that could help us or bite our ass in the future. Whatever. I will think about it later' She thought inwardly.

Then, she turned to the rest of the team.

"Izuki, take a rest. You work hard this quarter, and you did an excellent job there. Tsuchida, you are up! You are our best defender, so you will have to stop Iwamura from scoring too much, can you do that?"

"Yes, Coach!"

"And Kagami-kun…" Hearing the name, everyone suddenly turned their attention to Kagami. "Have you calmed down? If you haven't, I will not bother playing you again this game."

Kagami took a deep breath before nodding,

"Yes, Coach! I will try to control myself better."

"Good." Riko nodded in a satisfied manner. She is working really hard to improve Kagami's emotional control, and the red hair also progressing quite well. It was not his entire fault that Kagami was getting frustrated by a trash-talker like Tsugawa.

"Don't be too tense!" Furihata suddenly slapped Kagami's back, startling everyone.

"What the hell?!"

"You are way too tense. What are you worrying about? That you will lose control against their number #4? Come on, Red! You have already trained with me since the beginning! If you lose control by this mere trash talk, I really need to increase my daily insult then."

"Huh." Kagami snorted a little. If he thought about it that way, it is kinda depressing for him to fall into Tsugawa's trash talk when he had heard way more offensive insults from Furihata.

"I guess you are right." He murmured lowly. Furihata who heard that let out a grin.

"That's the spirit!" The point guard patted his back, but not as hard as the first time. Their teammates just looked at them with amused gazes. While Kagami and Furihata are like oil and water, sometimes they could really act like best friends.

Riko decided to ignore them both and turned around to Hyuga.

"Junpei, I am sorry, but I will have you play the second quarter as well. How long do you think you can last?"

Hyuga snorted at her.

"Don't worry about me. I am prepared for this shit."

Since last year, Hyuga knew that he is the main force of Seirin's attack. So, in order to stay on the court longer and give his team a comfortable lead, he asked Riko to set him up a private rigorous training to improve his endurance. And now, he is confident to say he could play two games straight in a day without any excessive tiredness.

Riko nodded as she knows about Hyuga's capability too.

"Okay, but I don't want you to force yourself. If we win this game, we will need your three in the next game against Shutoku. Don't do anything reckless."

"I know."

"Furihata-kun, try to up the tempo. If we play this slowly, it will only put Seiho in an advantageous position. We need to make their defense scramble, and since Kuroko-kun is not here, I will hand the job to you and Koganei. Yes, Furihata-kun?" Riko stopped when she saw Furihata raise his hand.

"If we increased the tempo, would it be more exhausting for us?" Riko nodded at the concern.

"You are right. But don't worry about it. Our bench players are also good, and they are ready to step up and take over the game from you. I will try to rotate the players frequently, so you wouldn't get any unnecessary exhaustion. Any more questions?"

"No, Coach!"

"Good! Try to take the lead, and don't fall into their slow tempo! We are an offensive team, so attack more fiercely! Don't be afraid of their defense! You have already seen it crumbled by Furihata-kun and Kuroko-kun alone earlier! Let's do it again!"

"Yes, Coach!"

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The second quarter is about to start. All the players are already on the court, and when Tsugawa saw Kagami, he let out a small snicker.

"Wait, you are playing, now? Why is Seirin still using a weak player like you? Or isn't it because they don't have strong players on their bench? Well, that's understandable. Seirin is just a weak team, after all."

If it was Kagami from the first quarter, he would snap straight away after hearing the taunt. But when he remembers Furihata's insults at him, Tsugawa's taunt suddenly feels too tame compared to what he experienced on daily basis.

"Hey? Can you say something? Why are you suddenly becoming the silent type? Where is the ragging kitten I saw in the first quarter? You are no fun at all. I will just bully your teammate then."

Kagami snorted at that.

'As if he could bully that Bastard. If anything, he would become his punch bag in the end.'

But right after he turned back to his team, he could see Furihata nod in approval at how he handled the situation.

"Tch." He clicked his tongue in annoyance. However, before he could say anything, Furihata let out a small grin as he spoke,

"Red, I know you are still the hot head from the first quarter. Do you want to take revenge on him?"

Kagami looked at the point guard strangely, but nodded, nonetheless.

"If I have a chance, I will do it. Why?" Furihata 's grin suddenly widened, creeping Kagami a bit.

"Don't worry about the chance, I will create it for you. Just kill him when your chance arrived, okay?"

Now, Kagami shared the same grin, and they both looked at Tsugawa with murderous intentions.

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The second quarter started with the ball in Seiho's possession. Now, without Izuki on the court, it is Furihata's job to guard Kasuga.

"So, it is you, huh?" Kasuga murmured lowly, protecting the ball in his hand. Furihata smirked a little and said,

"Please, go easy on me, okay?"

Kasuga snorted a bit, finding it ridiculous for Furihata to ask that. After hearing Furihata's ability from Tsugawa, he didn't dare to underestimate the point guard, even though he is just a first-year.

However, he still has his own pride as Seiho's point guard.

As time goes on, he signaled Iwamura to come over for a screen. And right after Iwamura arrived, he dribbled past Iwamura, trying to get away from Furihata.

"Tch. As I thought, it would not be that easy." He clicked his tongue in annoyance when he saw Furihata manage to get away from the screen. He has already predicted this happened, so, he shifted the ball once again with a crossover, dribbling to the other side while still using Iwamura as his screen.

"Damn!" Furihata cursed inwardly. While he managed to get away from Iwamura's screen for the first time, he couldn't do the same for the second. So, he did the only things he could do right now.

"Senpai! Switch with me!"

Yeah, the worst thing happened. Kasuga managed to get away from his guard, forcing him to switch the defense. Now, he, a 170 cm point guard, is forced to guard Iwamura who has a more than 20 cm height advantage against him. And Kasuga knows it too, as he took the advantage by suddenly throwing a lob toward the paint area, and Iwamura, without any hint of hesitation, jumped to catch the ball.

Furihata knows what would happen next, so he decided to let the center dunk the ball and prepared for the next play. And a second later,

*BAAM!!*

Iwamura slammed the ball straight to the basket with a powerful two-handed-dunk, resulting in two more points for Seiho.

"Nice dunk, Captain!"

"Show them our strength!"

"Kill them!"

All of Seiho players are still celebrating. However, they were silenced by the sudden shout from Furihata.

"RED, RUN!"

This is the infamous play from Seirin besides the 'magical pass' by Kuroko. In this play, Furihata would initiate a quick fast break from the inbound situation, throwing the ball in a quarter-back pass style to the other side of the court where Kagami would run for the ball. And since Furihata always shouted the same when he initiated the play, everyone calls this play the 'Red Run'.

A little bit cringy to Furihata's taste, but hey, the spectators love this kind of play, so who is he to judge them?

And now, right after Iwamura did a very powerful dunk, Furihata throws the ball far to the other side of the court where Kagami is already running for it.

"DAMN! DEFENSE!"

Seiho players try to chase the ball. Unfortunately, they are way too far from Kagami. The red-hair caught the ball easily and drives quickly to the basket. However, one player from Seiho managed to react faster than his teammates right when Furihata shouted. It was Tsugawa.

"Don't get yourself too hyped, weakling!"

Kagami gritted his teeth, forcing his way to the basket. And when he is already on the free throw line, he leaped for a dunk, shocking the entire gymnasium.

"From free throw line, who does he think he is? Michael Jordan?" Tsugawa murmured in frustration.

He tries to set up his body for an offensive foul. However, he didn't expect Kagami would jump from the free throw line, so his feet are still not yet anchored to the floor.

'Damn! I am on his way, and I cannot do anything about it! Let's just hope the collision would not be too hurt.'

And within a second,

*BUGH!*

The collision threw Tsugawa away straight to the floor. However, Kagami who has the momentum advantageous didn't bulge for a second. Instead, he raised his arms high, and slammed the ball into the basket.

*BAAM!!*

A free-throw line dunk by Kagami!

And right after that, they all could hear the referee blows the whistle and announce,

"Seiho #4 defensive shooting foul, one free throw for Seirin #10."

And a second later,

"SHOW TIME, BABY! COME ON!!" Kagami's roar echoed in Tokyo Gymnasium, and cheers suddenly erupted from the spectator seats.

16 – 15

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Author note :

I took the inspiration for Kagami's last dunk from Aaron Gordon's nasty dunk against Landry Shamet last Christmas game. If you are not an NBA fan and don't know about it, you can search 'Aaron Gordon dunk on Landry Shamet' on your search engine.

Also, 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 57 on that page. Thank you! :)