Chapter 09 - Underestimated

Three days later, Furihata found himself with the entire Seirin team standing in front of Kaijo High School entrance. The atmosphere is a bit awkward considering Kagami is excited yet still grumpy about his loss against Kise and Kise's last discussion with Kuroko.

-----------------------Flashback-------------------------

"Kurokocchi.." Kise spoke right after he dunked on Kagami. "Come to my school, let's play basketball again."

Everyone on the court was stunned for a second before chaos erupted,

"EEEEHH??!! ARE YOU KIDDING?!"

"I am serious! I respect you a lot, Kurokocchi! You would just waste your talent if you stay on this team. Come with me, and we will win the national tournament like the old time." Kise didn't give Kuroko and everyone on the court a chance to speak as he ranted about how it would be great for Kuroko to join Kaijo.

However, to Kise's surprise, Kuroko slightly bowed to him before saying,

"I am sorry, Kise-kun. But I have to refuse your offer. I will stay here with Seirin." He said it with a straight poker face.

"Why, Kurokocchi? It is not like you. Wasn't winning everything for you?" Kise couldn't understand why his former teammate refuse this golden opportunity.

"You are right. But I make a promise to Kagami-kun." He glanced at the red hair that has already raised from the fall. "A promise to defeat the Generation of Miracles."

A silence descended into the court before a burst of laughter boosted from behind.

"HAHAHAHA!!"

Kagami laughed so hard that made everyone worried about him.

"Don't steal my line like that, Kuroko!"

"I am serious."

Seeing the dynamic between Kuroko and Kagami, Kise couldn't help but sigh, remembering the same thing that happened during middle school.

"Okay, what about a bet?" He said, gaining the attention of everyone. "If Kaijo wins in our match, you will consider my offer. How about it?"

Unfortunately, before anyone could say anything, Kise's phone rang loudly.

"KISE, YOU STUPID! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU RIGHT NOW!" A shout from the phone suddenly filled the court, making everyone grimace at the harsh tone.

"Uwaaah! I am sorry, Senpai! I will be back!" Kise closed the phone before turning around to see Kuroko.

"I have to go. Just think about what I said. Later!" He waved his hand before running around, leaving Seirin players speechless. After a few seconds of silence, Izuki suddenly broke the silence,

"The voice from his phone really reminds me of Hyuga."

"HAAAA??!"

-----------------------End of the flashback-------------------------

Furihata couldn't help but chuckle every time he saw Kagami after Kise left. The red hair would be on a mood swing, sometimes getting excited over nothing, and sometimes would just grumble about the blonde bastard trying to steal Kuroko.

'A tsundere, indeed.' Furihata muttered while glancing at Kagami.

Kagami would never admit it, but he has a soft spot for Kuroko. They created a weird bond that somehow worked for both of them. Nobody knows what they do in their free time, but they are almost inseparable.

Kagami with his scary appearance that everyone tries to avoid and Kuroko with his thin appearance that everyone tends to forget. Just like he thought, a really weird combination.

"Huh?" Riko's sudden voice filled with a confused tone snapped his thought. "We are playing… On a half court?"

When Furihata turned around, he could see a big net separating the court into half, as the other half is being used for another practice.

"Isn't that board a bit rusty?" Furihata glanced at the board just to see an outdated board that usually would go to the warehouse.

"Aah.. You are here.." A grown-up man that doesn't look like he belongs to the court suddenly appeared, approaching Riko.

"Genta-sensei." Riko bowed slightly, showing her respect. He is Takeuchi Genta, the head coach of the Kaijo basketball team.

"We will be playing only on this side of the court, do you mind?" He said nonchalantly, causing a vein to pop on Riko's temple.

"I am sorry, do you mind explaining to me?"

"It is just like you see. Today's match is just a warm-up for us. But the other members that are not going to play will not learn anything if they just watch our game, so they will use the other half of the court. Even though it is just a warm-up, try to put some resilience. It would look bad for us if we just bullied you. And Kise-kun!" He turned around to see the blonde.

"You will not play in this match, it would be unfair for them."

Now, it is official. Riko is pissed.

"They really underestimated us, huh? Everyone, gather around!" She gathered the players to discuss what to do after this. She explained the condition, and to say they are angry is an understatement. No, they are furious.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Kagami is being restrained by Fukuda and Kawahara so he would not just leash his anger to Kaijo's coach. The same anger could be seen on the senpai's face, especially Hyuga's.

"So, they are looking down on us, huh? Let's give those bastards a good lesson for it." He smiles sweetly with a dark aura surrounding him.

"Senpai! Hide your evil aura!"

Furihata could only sigh at this. Riko glanced a little at him and was surprised for a bit.

"Oh, Furihata-kun, are you not angry?" Then out of a sudden, he got the attention of his teammates, making him sweatdrop.

"Oh, don't get me wrong, Coach. I am angry right now. But to be honest, we should really expect that they would underestimate us." This statement make silenced his teammates. Now, he has everyone focused on him.

"Care to share, Furihata-kun?" Furihata shrugged, didn't really mind explaining.

"Well, the obvious reason is the difference between us that you know is astronomical. They have been in the national tournament regularly for more than a decade, and our team is just formed last year. We also only have ten players, and they still have the second and third teams to play against us and their quality is also good. And if that is not enough, I think the biggest reason why they underestimated us is because of you, coach." He turned around to see Riko who was taken aback at Furihata's sudden accusation.

"Me?"

"Yeah, you. Think about it. Even though Genta-sensei looks like he doesn't belong on the court, he is the main reason why Kaijo is so good right now. He has been their head coach for fifteen years now and all of the success of the team could be linked to him. So, when he saw that his opponent's coach is only a second-year student that doesn't even have half of his experiences, of course, he would underestimate you, and that means us as well."

"How do you know about all of that?"

Furihata rolled his eyes at the question.

"Research, duh. If you are not the Generation of Miracles, you need to prepare for everything, and that includes learning about your opponent. Preparation wins you half the battle, after all." Izuki could only rub the back of his head sheepishly.

Riko nodded as she could see what Furihata said.

"So, what do you think our best action should be?"

"Well, for the easiest way, we could just walk out and tell our headmaster about it and demand an apology. After all, even though it is expected, what they do right now is disrespectful. If the story about it spread out, it would hurt their reputation. But I take it you don't want to consider that option, right?"

"Yeah, I don't want to lose the opportunity to play against Kaijo. It will be a good experience for the team, so that option is not acceptable." Riko replied firmly.

"Well, we can also do the old-fashioned style, beat them to death. Humiliate them so they won't dare to underestimate us again. But I don't think it would not be possible for now. Hear me out first." He raised his hand to stop the protest that would come from his teammates.

"There is a reason they could underestimate us, you know. They are one of the best teams in Japan right now. Hell, even defeating them is almost impossible for us now. So, do any of you have the confidence to do what I say earlier?"

Seeing as only Kagami nodded, he sighed tiredly.

"Well, seeing that Red is starting to get antsy, I suggest we just provoke them with a bang." He turned around to see Kuroko and Kagami who stared back with eager eyes. "Red and Phantom, do something big since the beginning. Just go wild until they noticed that both of you are a threat. And don't help them in the offense." He turned around to the senpai.

"It will give them a message, that those two are enough to deal with them. Hopefully, it would provoke them and change their mind about this whole thing. And by not helping them, you save your energy so when they decided to stop playing around, we will still be in our top condition. How about that?"

Everyone stares at Furihata as if he is an alien. The silence broke suddenly by Hyuga who muttered,

"Tch, the youngster nowadays doesn't have any respect for his senpai." Izuki and Koganei snickered, has already heard something similar multiple times.

"What do you think, Kuroko? Kagami? Can you do that?" The latter grinned, showing his feral teeth.

"We just have to go wild, right?"

"Yeah."

"Of course, we can! Let's go, Kuroko!" Kuroko nodded firmly, determination could be seen in his eyes.

"Okay, I don't like this situation, but we will do it like what Furihata said. If it doesn't work, Izuki, Junpei, and you both will take over the game. Mitobe, secure the rebound. We will make them pay for this humiliation." She grinned menacingly, which reflected in her players.

"YEAH!"

"Well, let's just hope it works," Furihata muttered inwardly.

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

"Well, then.. We will start the practice match between Seirin High and Kaijo High! Center, be ready!"

Mitobe and the center from Kaijo stood in the middle of the court, ready for the tip-off. Right after the ball was thrown up, both jumped to get the ball. Unfortunately, Mitobe lost the battle.

But Kuroko has already predicted the outcome. He signaled Kagami to start running and be ready for the ball as he sneaked behind Kaijo's point guard, their captain Yukio Kasamatsu. His lack of presence is doing him good as his opponent doesn't even notice him

"Alright, everyone! Be ready!" That was Kasamatsu's last word before Kuroko suddenly appeared in front of him.

"WHAT?!"

Kuroko didn't wait for too long before he swatted the ball from his opponent and start running.

"SHIT! DEFENSE!"

Unsurprisingly, Kasamatsu managed to chase him down before Kuroko could make any play. However, to Kasamatsu's surprise, Kuroko is not slowing down. He keeps dribbling before making an attempt for a lay-up.

"This is a bad attempt. I can block it easily." Kasamatsu muttered as he jumped, trying to block the shot.

But the ball didn't come to the rim. No, the ball went behind him. That was the moment Kasamatsu realized,

'That was not a shot, but a lob pass! Shit!'

Suddenly, Kagami came out of nowhere and jumped, catching the ball in the air before throwing a powerful two-handed dunk without anyone could stop it.

*BAAAMM!!*

"Nice one, Kuroko!" Kagami said while hanging on the rim. Suddenly,

*CRACK!*

"Oops.." Kagami is falling to the floor with the rim on his hand, shocking everyone on the court.

"What the hell.." Someone muttered, expressing everyone's thoughts after what they just saw earlier.

"I am sorry, it seems the board is broken. Can we use the one on the other half?" After saying that, Kagami turned around to see Riko and Furihata before he smirked smugly as if saying,

'Is this enough?'