Chapter 70 : VS Toō Academy III : Getting Dominated

In Seirin's bench,

"Coach, do you think this game is way too fast?" Tsuchida asked Riko with a frown on his face. "Furihata-kun just recovered two weeks ago. If we keep the intensity of the game like this, he would collapse before the final quarter starts. And not just him, everyone else would be in the same condition."

Riko nodded, also has the same worried expression.

"I know about that." She admitted. "But this is probably the best strategy I can think of right now. We cannot stop Aomine completely, so the only way to keep us in the game is to outscore them. And the best way to tear their defense right now is from the fast break. Let's just hope they can survive this game."

"Yeah, let's just hope.." Tsuchida muttered to himself, turning his attention back to the court.

Back to the game, it is Seirin's time to go on offense right now. Izuki is holding the ball, trying to navigate his teammates in the direction he wanted. Meanwhile, Furihata is doing the same as in the last play, just standing in the corner area and doing nothing, attracting Aomine from the ball.

"I am disappointed." Aomine started talking. "Unlike all the things that Satsuki babbled about you and how you played against me the last time, now you are just sitting in the corner like a coward. You are all bark but no bite, just like the other."

Furihata raised his eyebrows slightly while rolling his eyes inwardly.

'Cheap provocation. Why the hell would I go one-on-one against you, the best players on my opponent's team?'

And just like that, Furihata ignored Aomine's provocation and turned his full attention back to Izuki.

The second-year point guard signaled Mitobe to come over and set a screen for him. And right after Mitobe did just as he was asked for, Izuki tried to sneak into the screen and get into the free throw area. However, Imayoshi has already seen that coming. Right the moment he noticed Mitobe is setting the screen for him, the glasses point guard lowered his body and push Mitobe's waist slightly before he escaped from the screen.

'Tch.' Izuki clicked his tongue. 'Just like Furihata-kun said. Except for Aomine, all of them listen to what Momoi-san said, and she knows my habit to do a pick-and-roll play with Mitobe. Troublesome.'

However, Izuki didn't show any sign of panic. Right when Imayoshi is about to poke the ball from behind, he shifted the ball to his other hand with a behind-the-back crossover, and right after that, he shifted his eyes toward Furihata in the corner. It was just a moment, but almost all of Toō's players noticed the eye contact between him and Furihata and they moved in Furihata's direction.

And that is what Izuki wanted.

Right after he made eye contact with his kouhai, he sent the ball in the other direction where only Wakamatsu is there. Toō's center is looking at the ball that went straight in his direction with a confused face. However, right before he could grab the ball, Kuroko suddenly appeared in front of him, slapping the ball to the right-wing area where Hyuga is waiting.

'What? Since when?!'

Wakamatsu widened his eyes in shock. Even though he was getting warned several times by Momoi that Kuroko likes to sneak into the paint area, seeing it right in front of his eyes is a completely different thing. However, he couldn't do anything as now, Hyuga is having a good position without anyone guarding him.

*Splash!*

"Nice one, Captain!"

"Nice assist, Kuroko-kun!"

"Good play, Mitobe! Izuki!"

Meanwhile, on Toō's bench, Momoi pouted at the last play.

"Mou… I have already told them about Tetsu-kun's habit.. Why is he still getting fooled?"

"Cut him some slack, Momoi-san." Katsunori Harasawa, a long curly-haired man who acts as Toō's coach spoke to her. "Knowing what is going to come and experiencing it is a different matter. At least, Wakamatsu would be more prepared for the same play next time."

Momoi nodded but was still not satisfied.

"What about Ryou-kun and Susa-san? Why would they come to Dai-chan's direction? They know Dai-chan could handle Kouki-kun easily."

"Well, regardless of whether they trust Aomine-kun or not doesn't really matter. They didn't even know who Seirin's point guard is having eye contact with. They just see that and their body is trained to react according to it in a second or their opponent would score. you cannot blame them for getting fooled by that eye contact. Remember, they are not your former teammates."

Seeing the still dissatisfied expression on Momoi's face, Harasawa sighed tiredly.

For all the talk about how she wanted this team not to act like her former team, she sure pushed everyone to play to their standard. Having both Momoi and Aomine who keep challenging his rule sure can be really troublesome.

'They are lucky they are good and get vouched by the headmaster, or I will kick them out from the team since the beginning.' He muttered to himself.

Back to the court, now, Aomine is holding the ball, facing Furihata in an isolation game again. Knowing Aomine likes to drive forward, Furihata gives himself a bit of space and spread his arms wide so he can react and stop Aomine anytime he makes a move.

"Well, it doesn't matter if you don't want to face me." The power forward spoke to Furihata, still dribbling the ball. "Instead, I will force you to show your fang!"

And right after that, Aomine charged quickly to the left side, trying to force his way toward the paint area. Furihata slides his body slightly, trying to block Aomine's path. However, he was still fooled by the subtle movement from Aomine who raised his head slightly toward the basket as if he wanted to take a shoot.

This is the problem that a lot of athletes suffered from.

In Furihata's mind, he knows it is just a hesitant move from Aomine. Yet his body reacted faster than his mind could process. When he saw Aomine's movement, he moves forward quickly to close the distance and raised one of his arms to block Aomine's eyesight. And that reaction is enough for Aomine to drive forward again, getting away from his guard.

'DAMN!'

Furihata gritted his teeth, trying to recover quickly and go back to follow Aomine. However, the moment he turned his body toward Aomine, the blue-haired boy hit the brake with a sudden crossover, shaking Furihata's balance.

'ANKLE BREAKER! SHIT!'

The moment he fell into the floor, he could see a little smirk form on Aomine's face as he muttered,

"Goodbye, bastard."

Before Aomine charged forward again, leaving Furihata alone on the floor. Mitobe and Hyuga are trying to cover Furihata's defense. When Aomine entered the paint area and jumped, they both also jumped at the same time, trying to stop the power forward to score.

"Don't let him go away, Mitobe!"

However, Aomine once again showed how crafty he is by spinning in the air, having his back facing the basket before he flicked the ball toward the basket.

*Splash!*

A no-look turn-around layup!

And not only that, the moment the ball went into the basket, they all could hear the referee blows the whistle!

"Seirin #4 defensive shooting foul, one free-throw for Toō Academy #5."

And then, cheers erupted from the audience.

"LET'S GO, AOMINE!!"

The claps are getting louder to the point it deafened Furihata for a second as Aomine waved both his arms high, asking for the audience for more cheers. However, he ignored it as he raised from the floor with Izuki's help.

"Are you alright, Furihata-kun?" His senpai asked with a concerned face.

"Don't worry, Senpai." He shrugged off the dust on his pants. "I am alright. And I almost get his rhythm now. If you give me two or three more chances, I will be able to follow his movement."

Izuki is stunned by the sudden declaration before he burst out of laughter.

"That's the spirit, Furihata-kun!" He slapped Furihata's back pretty hard. "And don't be shy to ask for help, okay? God knows how hard this game is without Kagami-kun."

Furihata nodded his head at his senpai, sending him a grateful face.

A second later, Aomine executed the free throw flawlessly, giving Toō the lead back to 2 points. Before the game restarted again, Furihata grabbed Kuroko's arm to speak to him.

"Phantom, the next play, try to stay away from me." Seeing the confused face from Kuroko, he added quickly. "You provoked Aomine enough this quarter. If I don't do anything noticeable, I think he would target you next. You know what I think, right?"

"You want to use me to create space for yourself." The blue-haired boy answered with a realization on his face. Furihata just nodded his head shamelessly.

"Yeah. Do you think you can do that?"

In answer, Kuroko nodded his head without any slight hesitation.

"I doubt it can fool Aomine, but it's worth a shot."

And true to his predicament, even though Aomine is still on him, he could feel Aomine's focus is not entirely on him. In fact, Furihata noticed Aomine keeps stealing a glance from time to time at the other side where Kuroko is trying to sneak in.

And right at the moment when Izuki is about to pass the ball to Kuroko, Aomine charged into Kuroko's direction without hesitation, leaving Furihata alone in the corner area.

"Don't think you can do it again, Tetsu!"

However, the ball doesn't come to Kuroko. No, when Aomine started rushing toward Kuroko's direction, Izuki noticed it immediately and sends the ball toward Furihata's direction.

"Nice pass, Senpai!"

Furihata grabbed the ball, ready to launch the ball without anyone guarding him. But the second he raised his stance for a three-point shoot, his sight is blocked by the sudden appearance of an arm in the air.

"I am sorry, Furihata-san! But not today!"

Yeah, it is Sakurai who comes quickly to cover Aomine's defense. Unknown to Seirin, it is not the first time Aomine abandoned his post in defense when he saw something interesting from his opponent, and Toō has already prepared for this kind of situation.

"Tch!" Furihata clicked his tongue in annoyance.

With him in the corner and how close Sakurai is right now, he has no doubt that with only a slight push from Sakurai, the ball would go out-of-bound. So, without thinking, he changed his stance from shooting to passing pretty quickly and sends the ball with an overhead pass back to Izuki.

Yet once again, Toō showed how prepared they are by anticipating his pass as well. Right when he released the ball, Imayoshi suddenly appeared in between his and Izuki's path, blocking the route of his pass.

"DAMN!"

Furihata cursed himself for not checking his surrounding before passing the ball. However, the damage is already done and all he could is go back to slow down the fast break. However, right before he could stop Imayoshi, the glasses point guard showed his fangs by making a sudden stop in the logo area, catching Furihata off guard.

"This is your signature move, right?"

And when he pulled up a shoot from way downtown, a dreadful feeling crept Furihata's back as he knows what Imayoshi is about to do.

'Shit! He is about to spite me right in my face with my move, huh?!'

He tried to jump and stop the shoot. However, instead of stopping the shoot, he only makes it worse by accidentally slapping Imayoshi's wrist, causing the referee to blow his whistle. And a second later,

*Splash!*

"Seirin #12 defensive shooting foul, one free-throw for Toō Academy #5."

And when Furihata turned around, he could see a smirk on Imayoshi's face.

"How about it? Nice shoot, right?"

And then, Tokyo Gymnasium went crazy for the cheers to Toō Academy.

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Author note :

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-Zeta Faes-