47 Chapter 47 : VS Shutoku VI - A Heated Battle
On the audience side,
"Finally, this quarter is over." Kise let out a deep sigh, slumped over his seat. "I don't know Tokyo Inter-high preliminaries would be this intense."
"Yeah.." Kasamatsu nodded in agreement. "I cannot believe Seirin would dare to indulge in Midorima's own game, especially Hyuga and Furihata-kun."
Having exchanged conversations with both Seirin shooters after their heated battle, Kasamatsu caught a glimpse of their calm and collected temperament. That is why he didn't expect they would go for a risky play like a three-point game, especially against Midorima.
Just one slip from either Furihata or Hyuga would be enough for Midorima to punish Seirin with his three.
But it didn't happen in the game. Both Hyuga and Furihata could maintain their composures for the entire quarter and converted all eight three-point attempts into points, resulting in nine points lead for Seirin.
"Speaking of three-point, how are their stats right now?" Kasamatsu asked in a curious tone. Kise opened his phone quickly and go to the tournament website to see the box score.
"Midorimacchi has made eight three-points already. As for Seirin, Furihatacchi is on his fifth and the captain is slightly better with six three-point shots made. They are really going crazy." The blonde boy shook his head in astonishment.
Kasamatsu nodded once again before he spoke,
"To be honest, I am more surprised with your former teammates." He glanced over at Shutoku's bench where Midorima is sitting there, listening to the instruction. "He already had eight three-points just in the first half. If things continue to go like this, it would be a matter of time before he broke his own records."
"I know, right!" Kasamatsu could see Kise's eyes beaming at the mention of the record. "With two quarters left, it would be easy for him to pass his 12 three-points made a record! I cannot wait to see it! That would be legendary!"
Kasamatsu nodded, but side-eyed the Seirin bench, especially Kagami. He still remembers how Kagami stopped Midorima's shoot in the first quarter. And now, the red-hair who had been on the bench the entire second quarter will be back again in better condition.
If Kagami could do what he did at the end of the first quarter for the entire game, Kasamatsu knows breaking the records would not be as easy as Kise said.
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Contrary to what everyone expects, there is no hint of a happy and laid-back atmosphere on Seirin's bench. All of them have the same tense posture, knowing the second half would be even harder than the first.
"Okay, everyone!" Riko clapped her hands, asking for her players' attention. "I know you all are exhausted, so I will be quick. Kagami-kun, Kuroko-kun, Mitobe, you are in again. You all know your job."
The three players mentioned nod firmly, with the first one grinning in excitement.
"Finally!"
Riko ignored the childish antics from Kagami and turned around to the other players.
"Junpei, Koganei, Tsuchida, you three will sit on the bench first. Replenish your energy first, we will need you in the critical situation."
"Yes, coach!"
"Our offense would be focused on Kagami-kun and Kuroko-kun again. As for the rest, don't let Shutoku score with ease. Understand?"
"Yes, Coach!"
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A minute later, all players who are going to play in the third quarter has already warmed up their body again on the court. Everyone could see Midorima is eyeing Furihata like a hawk.
It is understandable, considering the earlier quarter is probably the most intense three-point battle Midorima has ever played. No one has ever dared to challenge Midorima in his own game, so now that he met Furihata and Hyuga, he could feel the competitiveness burning inside him.
"Why does he look like he wants to kill me?" Furihata suddenly muttered, looking at Midorima with amused eyes.
"Maybe because you are a bastard who deserved to be murdered in a cold blood?" Kagami shrugged.
"Aaw.. I can feel the love here, Red.."
"Whatever."
They keep throwing banters for a while before they all heard the whistle from the referee. The game would be started again with the ball in Seirin's possession.
"Listen, everyone." Izuki suddenly spoke with a serious expression. "Now with Kuroko-kun here, there would be a lot of holes in our defense. They would score a lot this quarter. That's why we need to outscore them once more. I know this would be another mission impossible for us. But if there is one team who can do this against Shutoku, I believe it would be us. So, let's do our best here."
For a moment, no one speaks anything as they all look at Izuki as if he is an alien.
"Wow, Senpai." Furihata let out a low whistle, breaking the silence. "I cannot believe you could be so charismatic. Is this your way to impress girls in your class?"
All Seirin players snickered at the jokes. Izuki just rolled his eyes a little before saying,
"I am not the vice-captain for nothing, you know? Even I have my cool moment."
"Sure you are, Senpai."
Their bickering is stopped by the whistle from the referee. The game restarted again with the ball in Izuki's hand.
'Now, what should we do?' Izuki muttered while scanning the entire court, trying to figure out what play should they go to. Midorima is still guarding Furihata like before. But with Kagami on the court, he would have more options to attack.
After confirming the position of his teammates, he dishes the ball to the corner area, which Kuroko who is undetected by Shutoku's defense redirected it easily to Kagami who slashes toward the basket, leaving Kimura who is guarding him behind.
"Damn! Otsubo!" Kimura yelled, asking for help. Otsubo comes quickly and the moment Kagami took off from the ground, Shutoku's captain jumped at the same time to stop the attack.
"Don't think you can do anything you like here, rookie!"
However, Kagami doesn't really care about the defense right now. After sitting on the bench for a full quarter, he is itching to do some action, and facing Otsubo's block attempt just makes Kagami'sspirit burn even more.
"TAKE THIS!"
*BAAAM!!!*
He slammed the ball into the basket, posterizing Otsubo with a powerful one-handed dunk. However, the dunk is not what all Shutoku players are shocked by. It is the process behind the dunk that makes them look at Kagami with wary eyes.
Not only the posterized dunk showed off Kagami's strength, but it also displayed how strong his explosive jump is, as he stays in the air longer than Shutoku's center despite he is the first one who jumps.
"Are you alright, captain?" Miyaji asked, offering his hand to help Otsubo to stand up from the floor.
"Yeah." Shutoku's captain nodded a little. "Be careful of the red-hair boy. He is far stronger than me in the air. If we allow him to jump, no one will be able to stop him."
All Shutoku players nodded, now seeing Kagami in a new light. Overpowering one of the best interior defenders in Japan, not everyone has the capability of doing so. That's why Kagami becomes a bigger threat to them right now.
Soon, the game restarted again with the ball in Takao's possession. He didn't hold the ball for too long before he dishes it toward Midorima's direction. However, right before Midorima could take any action, Kagami closed the distance between them quickly to stop the shoot.
"You will never make any easy shoot again, Bastard!"
"Tch!" Feeling the pressure from Kagami, Midorima didn't have any choice except to pass the ball to his teammate.
"What? Midorimacchi is passing the ball?!" Kise exclaimed in surprise from the audience seat.
"Well, it is understandable," Kasamatsu replied. "With how the last play went and how Kagami could block him in the first quarter, he has all the reason to be wary."
"I know, it just surprise me." Kise nodded. A second later, his smile widened as he realized something, "But this would make things more interesting right now!"
"What do you mean?" His captain asked in confusion. However, he didn't get any direct answer from his Kouhei.
"You will see it in a second." The blonde boy just gives him a mysterious smile, making Kasamatsu turn his focus back to the court.
And something interesting is indeed really happening on the court. After passing the ball back to Takao, Midorima moves quickly to the low-post area before asking for the ball once again.
"Takao!"
The point guard grinned, knowing Midorima's intention. He sends the ball high which the green-haired boy catches it easily. And right after this, he started pushing toward the basket.
'Is he trying to do a power contest with me? Damn!'
Kagami gritted his teeth, trying to push back Midorima so the shooting guard didn't come near the basket. However, the moment he started pushing back, Midorima jumped backward as if he is falling away before he releases the ball from his hand.
*Splash!*
A one-legged fade away!
Kagami growled in frustration at the sight of the ball going into the basket. However, he knows no matter how good his defense is, it still would be almost impossible to stop the shoot.
Growing up in America, Kagami knows the famous signature of the German power forward, Dirk Nowitzki, and how hard it is to defend it. Just imagine someone taller than you releasing the ball from well over his head while falling away. It would be impossible to cover all the space created by that movement.
"Don't underestimate me." Midorima suddenly spoke. "Just because I am good at shooting doesn't mean I can only shoot. Keep that in your mind." Then, he turned back to prepare for the defense.
Meanwhile on the audience side,
"Let's go, Midorimacchi!" Kise cheered his former teammates loudly, surprising Kasamatsu a bit.
"I don't know you are this close to your former teammates." Kise just shrugged at the comment before replying,
"Well, it is only for Kurokocchi and Midorimacchi. Kurokocchi was the one who welcomed me to the team for the first time, and Midorimacchi was the one who taught me basic basketball skills personally. Of course, I would be close with them."
"Hmm.." Kasamatsu nodded his head at the revelation.
The game restarted again, but now, the ball went directly into Kagami's hand. Being beaten in a one-on-one situation like the earlier play really makes his blood pumped. He didn't know if they would switch their defense or not, but as long as Midorima is not the one who is guarding him, he only needs to overpower his guard every time until the shooting guard comes to him.
But it didn't happen as Midorima is the one who is guarding him. Now, Kagami would face Midorima in a head-on situation.
"Finally." The red-hair grinned in excitement.
He tried to get rid of Midorima by driving forward at his full speed. But when he saw Midorima is able to follow his movement, Kagami knows he needs to improvise. So, he tries to fool his guard with a spin move, and halfway completing the spin, he canceled it and drives back to his first direction.
However,
*Slap!*
The moment he opened his body for the first spin move, he also lowered his guard toward the hand who is holding the ball. If it is anyone else, it would be difficult to notice it. However, having a lot of experience facing a trickier opponent like Aomine helps Midorima develop his instinct to take advantage of every little mistake his opponent makes.
And right now, the moment Kagami opened his body, he punished the red hair directly by stripping the ball out of his possession.
"Damn!"
"Steal! Go back!"
Izuki yelled, trying to warn his teammates for a quick fast break. However, only Furihata managed to react quickly as he has expected that Kagami would fail here.
Seeing Midorima charging into him, Furihata knows he couldn't delay the play for his teammates to go back to the defense. So, he did what he thinks the best, planted both his feet to the floor in the hope it would result in an offensive foul.
Unfortunately for him, Midorima saw the trick and avoid him immediately with a quick spin move. And with no one able to stop him anymore, he jumped in the same manner as Kagami did earlier and slammed the ball into the basket.
*BAAM!*
A one-handed dunk!
Using Kagami's move is Midorima's way to prove that he is still better than Kagami. Not that it really matters, but the shooting guard seems a bit bothered by all the highlightable plays Kagami did during the game and he feels the need to retaliate.
But before he could say anything to Kagami, Furihata suddenly appeared under in front of him, grabbed the ball, and launched it directly to the other side of the court. The sudden play really caught him off guard.
'What the hell?! This is not a fast-break situation! Everyone is still in the position for defense! Why did he do that?!'
However, all his questions get the answer immediately as the ball fell into Kuroko's hand, and the blue-haired boy who hasn't done anything since the beginning of the quarter releases it quickly with a mid-range shoot.
*Splash!*
"Nice one Kuroko!"
"Go back! Defense!"
While all the Seirin players are going back for the defense, Furihata let out a small smirk as he spoke to the still-shocked Midorima.
"So, what do you think about him? Not the same Phantom boy from Teiko anymore, right?" And with that, he left Midorima once again, switching back with Kagami to defend the green-haired boy.
48 – 57
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