44 Chapter 44 : VS Shutoku III - Taking Over the Game
On the spectator side,
"I cannot believe it!" Kise exclaimed in shock, triggering a strange gaze from Kasamatsu.
"What is it that really surprising? Even that green hair also has the same reaction as you, and he is still in the middle of the game."
"It is just, Akashicchi instructed clearly that Kurokocchi should never get the ball except to pass it with his misdirection and stay away from the attention. This is the first time I see him getting involved in an offense like this." Kise replied still with a stunned expression.
However, Kasamatsu frowned at the answer.
"I get what you are trying to say. But I don't get why you are this surprised by his improvement. I mean, he doesn't have the luxury of having you or the other three monsters as his teammates anymore, so of course he needs to improve his other ability, or he would be useless."
"I know that. It's just…" Kise let out a dejected sigh before he continued, "Akashicchi's order is absolute and no one has ever dared to disobey it. Kurokocchi will be the first one who goes against his order. I don't really want to imagine Akashicchi's reaction."
Kasamatsu rolled his eyes.
"Why are you so dramatic? It is not a yakuza anime where the boss would kill everyone if they disobeyed his order. We are just high school students who play basketball. Moreover, he is not on the same team as your captain again, so he doesn't have any obligation to still follow his order. Nothing drastic would happen."
"I hope you are right, Senpai.." Kise murmured lowly, staring at Kuroko with worried eyes.
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A minute later, the game started again with the ball in Takao's hand. But now, he is scanning the court with wary eyes. He could still remember his coach's instructions.
"Listen here." His coach spoke during the timeout. "I know all of you are shocked with their #11, especially you, Takao-kun and Midorima-kun. But that doesn't excuse your passiveness. We are far better than them, why are we following their tempo? Control the game! Don't let them do what they like that easily! Come on, guys!"
"Yeah, easier said than done," Takao muttered with a wry smile.
Furihata's defense is one of the most annoying defenses he has ever faced in his basketball career. The defense is not fancy and flashy at all, Just pure hard work and determination. That's why only people who have knowledge about basic basketball could appreciate Furihata's hustle.
He didn't give any room for Takao to drive, his hand is always trying to poke the ball, he could predict his opponent's movement and even lure his opponent to do what he wants with little gestures, and the most annoying part is, he is always talking!
"Why are you suddenly so silent? Get scolded by your coach? Poor you. And maybe poor Midorima too. I bet no one has ever dared to scold him, right? Let's hope his three won't suffer by the scold."
There! The mocking tone is really infuriating, especially when he talks about Midorima. As someone who was defeated by Midorima the most, Takao couldn't stand someone like Furihata to look down at his teammates.
'Shin-chan's three suffer just from that? Are you kidding? Let me show you the truth, brat!'
Takao gritted his teeth, trying to drive forward. Right when Furihata followed him, Takao put the ball behind his back and pass it to Midorima in the right-wing area.
'Shin-chan is not that weak, you bastard!'
However, that is exactly what Furihata wanted. He keeps talking to force Takao to only focus on him and he also baited Takao to make a pass to Midorima. That's when the ghost of the team, Kuroko, appeared between Takao and Midorima's way.
"WHAT?!"
"Nice steal, Phantom!"
'Damn! I really forget about his presence!' Takao cursed inwardly as he tried to chase Furihata.
However, Furihata didn't hold the ball for too long before he sends it outside where Kagami is running at full speed. Knowing he is one step behind the red-hair and couldn't stop him at all, Midorima shouted,
"Senpai! Stop him!"
Miyaji is the one closest to Kagami right now. However, the small forward knows he couldn't stop Kagami at all, not when the red hair is running like a tank. So, he opened his defense for Kagami to drive forward in hope that Otsubo and Kimura could block him in the paint area.
What they didn't expect is that Kagami doesn't go for a dunk. No, he makes a quick stop at the high post area before pulling up a mid-range jump shoot for two points.
*Splash!*
"Nice one, Red!"
"Good shoot!"
Kagami nodded at his teammates but turned his focus back on Midorima immediately. He knows that in order to stop Midorima, he would need to jump a lot today, and to do so, he has to save his energy. That's why he went for a mid-range shoot rather than a dunk earlier.
The game restarted again. But unlike before, now Midorima is holding the ball from the start.
"So, you think you can stop me, huh?" He spoke to Kagami with confidence. "Let's see if you can keep it up."
Right after saying that, he pulled up another three-point from downtown which Kagami couldn't stop once again.
"Damn!"
*Splash!*
"Nice one, Midorima!"
"Keep it up!"
On the other side of the court, Furihata approached Kagami and spoke,
"Oi, Red. If he is holding the ball from the start, treat it the way you guarded me. Keep the distance close and don't let him pull up a three-point shooter. Don't worry about him driving forward. His pride as a shooting guard would never allow him to do that."
Kagami nodded a little before preparing for the next offense.
The game restarted, and now Furihata is holding the ball with Takao guarding him.
"See that three points from Shin-chan? Don't think just because you surprised us with that blue-haired boy's play you can stop us. We are Shutoku, and we are the best team here." Takao spoke.
Furihata just smiles a little at him and replied,
"What three-point?" This makes Takao looks at Furihata in confusion.
"What do you mean 'what three points'? The earlier play, of course! Your red-hair teammates could only jump like a fool hoping he could stop Shin-chan. Better stop him from doing that before he hurts himself, you know?"
But right after he finished his speech, Takao didn't expect Furihata to pull up a three-point shoot from the distance similar to Midorima's latest shoot.
"Damn!"
He runs quickly to close the distance. However, it's way too late as Furihata released the ball right before Takao could raise his hand up.
*Splash!*
And right after seeing the shoot go in, Furihata turned around to Takao with his infuriating smirk and asked,
"You mean that three-point?"
And he goes back to defense without waiting for any answer.
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After that, the game went smoothly for Seirin. Even though they couldn't stop Shutoku completely, they managed to keep the score close with only two points difference. When Furihata saw the scoreboard, he couldn't help but sigh.
28 – 26
00:21
'The last play for this quarter is on Shutoku, and it will be to Midorima once again. He has already made four three-point shots this quarter, and if this goes in again, it would be fifth. He is really on his form today.'
After pondering for a moment, he signaled Kuroko to come.
"Phantom, keep your distance close to Red. Stay on Midorima's blind spot. The ball will come to him no matter what. If you saw any chance of stopping the three, do it. I will deal with Takao."
Kuroko nodded with a straight face.
The last play of the first quarter started with the ball in Takao's hand with Furihata as the guard.
"Going for Midorima again? Shutoku is really shameless, forcing his rookie to take over the game even if it's still the first quarter. Are you really the king of Tokyo?" Furihata spoke, trying to Provoke Takao.
Takao twitches his eyebrows in irritation at the blatant provocation.
"Well, if one trick works against you, no need to spend all our energy to change it right now. And it's not like our team is weak. We humiliated your team last year, you know?"
Furihata shrugged nonchalantly.
"Well, last year your team had already won 16 points in the first quarter, yet this time, even with the Generation of Miracles, the lead is only two points. The rumor about your senpai's strength is exaggerating, I guess."
Takao gritted his teeth at that. His respect for his senpai wouldn't allow him to let this blatant provocation slide so easily. He signaled Kimura to come forward and set a screen. And when his senpai arrived, he drives toward the screen to get away from Furihata.
Unsurprisingly, Furihata could escape from the screen and followed his movement. But when he is near the paint area, he kicked the ball outside where Midorima is waiting.
"You think I would fall for the same trap twice? Think again!"
Yeah, Takao figured out that Furihata is provoking him to drive forward and use his senpai as the last play. That's why he decided to take the bait and throw it off in the last moment. However, unknown to him, Furihata has already predicted this. That's why he instructed Kuroko to stay close to Midorima.
And that's what Kuroko actually does.
Right when Takao released the ball, Kuroko moves from Midorima's blindspot and tapped the ball to change its route.
"WHAT!"
Everyone is surprised by Kuroko's sudden appearance. Unfortunately, even though he deflects the ball a little, it is not enough as Midorima managed to chase the ball before it went past the middle. But it's enough for Seirin as Midorima lost almost all the time he has for this play. Only five seconds left, and he needs to shoot now, from the logo area.
Midorima gritted his teeth as he took a stance for a three-point shooter. He pulled up from the logo without hesitation, his focus is only on the basket.
However, by doing so, he lowered his guard on his surrounding and didn't realize that Kagami jumped at the same time as he pulled up a shoot. He only realized it right when the ball is already in the air, and he saw Kagami extend his arms to stop the ball.
"WHAT?! HIS JUMP IS THIS HIGH?!"
Midorima widened his eyes in shock. If it is his former teammates, he wouldn't be this shocked as he knows all of their capabilities. However, seeing Kagami, a mere nobody, jumped straight in front of him and managed to reach his shoot before it reached its highest peak is something he would never imagine.
Kagami doesn't care about Midorima's opinion. Not that he could read his mind though. But right now, all of his focus is already on the ball, and when he feels his palm touch the ball, he swatted it down straight to the floor.
"YOSSHAA!!!!!"
"NICE DEFENSE, KAGAMI!!"
Seirin bench players celebrated like crazy. However, the quarter is not over. There is still two seconds left, and Furihata who was still following Takao earlier had already run when Kagami jumped for the ball.
And when Kagami finally blocked the ball, Furihata is already in the right spot, grabbed the rebound, and drives forward for a fast break.
"IT'S NOT OVER! STOP HIM!" Someone shouted from Shutoku bench. But Furihata didn't slow his run even for a millisecond. He keeps driving forward, and when he saw only Miyaji in the paint area.
"I will stop you here, bastard!"
Or so that's Miyaji and all Shutoku players' expectations. However, Furihata smirked a little before he kicked the ball out in the same manner as Takao did earlier, and now, Hyuga, who hasn't done anything noticeable since the beginning of the game, arrived at the right spot and at the right time.
"Damn!"
Only 0.8 seconds left. But that was enough for Hyuga who has no guard in front of him to pull up a three from his spot, and as the shot clock showed to 00:00 and the buzzer rang loudly, the sound of the ball going into the basket smoothly could be heard by all the players on the court.
*Splash!*
A buzzer beater!
Silence descended upon the court as no one could react to what just happening before. The last play goes from the ball on Shutoku's hand to Midorima getting blocked for the first time in a very long time, and it is also the first time for Seirin to finally take the lead since the game begin.
Nobody expects this kind of crazy twist, not even the players themselves.
However, the silence was broken by the sudden roar from Kagami, celebrating his block to Midorima like crazy.
"LET'S FUCKING GOO!!!"
And he was followed by his teammates.
"Nice block, Red!"
"Nice buzzer beater, Captain!"
"Good job, everyone!"
They all celebrated crazily, forgetting that it is still the first quarter. But right now, taking over the lead from a team like Shutoku is really worth being celebrated. When Furihata saw the scoreboard, he couldn't help but let out a satisfied smirk.
28 – 29
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