Chapter 85 : VS Meisei High I - Uchida & Tsugawa

Ayase Uchida is just an ordinary boy. He grew up in a normal family, with one big sister and two little brothers around him. His parent is also just ordinary people. His father is a manager of a small branch of a big corporation around here, and his mother is just a normal housewife.

In school, he also didn't have any outstanding points that could make his teacher remember him. His score is just so-so. Not too high to be remembered, yet not too low to be in trouble. It summarizes his life pretty well.

Just so-so.

That's why when Hiroki Tsugawa approached him at the beginning of the term and asked to join the basketball term, he agreed without thinking about it too much. His thought at that time was, 'Joining a club would make my CV in the future looks good.'

It was not until his first training session when he found out how natural it was to have the basketball in his hand, he started to feel something toward the game. He could still remember what Tsugawa said after that.

"You have a really amazing talent. If you decided to continue on the path of basketball, I have no doubt you will become something ordinary.'

That! That words from his captain were the motivation that dragged him along, forcing him to wake up at 5 in the morning and be the latest player to stay on the court just to have extra training almost every day. The words from Tsugawa are not only just a word. For Uchida, it was the first time someone said he could become something better than just plain ordinary, and for that, he was really grateful.

That's why, right now, on the verge of elimination for Tsugawa's last tournament with the team, he vowed to his heart that he would step up and bring his captain to the national. For that, he swore.

Unfortunately for him, right now, he faced probably two of the most annoying guards that he has ever played against, Izuki and Furihata. Both of them not only managed to prevent him to go breakthrough into the paint area, but they could also read all his play easily like an open book, and that was what annoyed him the most.

Just like right now…..

"Damn!" He cursed once again when Izuki used his body cleverly to stop him to drive forward. When he turned around to see which teammates of his are open to receive his pass, Furihata came from his blind spot and poked the ball from his hand, resulting in another fastbreak for Seirin.

"KUSO!"

He runs back immediately, trying to recover the ball who is out of possession. But Izuki is a second faster than him, and Seirin's point guard didn't even dribble the ball to start the fast break. No. Right after Izuki touched the ball, he didn't dribble it even once. Instead, he sent it behind, causing a confused frown to appear on Uchida's face.

'They are not going to do a quick fast break?'

However, that thought was broken in a second, as the ball suddenly moves forward with high speed, and arrived straight at Furihata's hand.

'DAMN! I forget about him!'

Yeah, the last play was the magical pass from the blue-haired boy that they saw quite often in Seirin's last game. It was quite a headache for them to form a strategy to limit his ability, as sometimes, his presence almost faded into the background.

*Splash!*

"Nice three, Furihata-kun!"

"Keep going!"

Furihata, the rising star of Seirin High only second to Kagami, pulled a three-point jumper easily, resulting in another three points for Seirin. When Uchida took a glance at the score, he couldn't help but reveal an ugly face, as the gap is getting widened once more.

10 – 25

Fifteen points behind. This is definitely the worst scenario possible here. His mind is running wild, trying to think about what should he do. But it was at that time, his captain came and knocked some sense into his head.

"Calm down, Ayase!" Tsugawa reprimands him. "You are too hasty right now. Steady your breath first and keep your mind composed. If not, you will make things difficult for us."

Uchida nodded and do as his captain said. He took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly, trying to recover his mind first. After a few seconds, he nodded gratefully at his senpai.

"Thank you, Senpai."

"Don't mind." Tsugawa waved his hand nonchalantly. "We need to shorten the gap first. Let's do the plan B."

And right after hearing that, Uchida couldn't help but show a grin, excited about the plan.

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Among Seirin players, Tsuchida is definitely on the top list of the best defender there, second only to Kiyoshi. And that was even debatable. Some of his teammates even said he is better than the power forward. And when compared to their super rookies, Kagami and Furihata, he had full confidence he could beat those two in terms of defense.

That's why finding himself right now, being fooled twice by Tsugawa, is something new and unpleasant for him.

"Oooh! Look at Tsugawa's footwork! He managed to shake Tsuchida's balance!"

"No, it is still not over! Tsuchida managed to recover!"

"Ooooh! What did we just see right there?! The ball flew to the opposite corner, where Uchida is standing there! A three!"

"It was the second three-pointers shoot in a row from Meisei High! It also shortened the gap into one digit again!"

"The game is still on!"

Opposite to the spectator's excited reaction, all Seirin players gathered around Tsuchida, looking at the second-year power forward with concerned expressions.

"Are you okay, Senpai?" Kuroko took the initiative to ask a question. As the answer, Tsuchida only gives him a helpless smile.

"I underestimate him." He spoke after a moment of pause. "The first time, I didn't expect he would drop back to the high post and took a step back three, not something you will find often comes from a center. And the second time, his footwork is really incredible. I couldn't tell which way he would go. Left? Right? And then, suddenly, the ball has already gone from his hand."

"Do you need my help?" Hyuga asked. Playing a small ball roster like this, he is the only player available to help Tsuchida, even though he is almost 10 cm shorter than him. However, Tsuchida shook his head firmly. "No, I still have confidence in stopping him. Just don't let anyone in an open position. His organization skill is not a joke."

"Understand."

A second later, the game continued with the ball back to Izuki. He took a glance at all of his teammates' positions on the court before taking a small dribble, ready to drive forward. Hyuga who acted as a power forward tried to help him by sliding back to the high post area and setting a screen for Izuki. But before it was ready, Izuki has already sent the ball toward his left, where Kuroko is waiting for his pass.

And unlike before, instead of redirecting the pass, Kuroko holds the ball firmly, surprising the opponent in front of him. And before his defender could react, he pulled up a stable mid-range jump shoot, resulting in another two points for Seirin.

*Splash!*

"Nice shoot, Kuroko-kun!"

"Good job, Phantom!"

Even though it was revealed in Seirin's latest two games that Kuroko could do more than just pass and be invisible, Meisei is still not convinced about him, considering the production of the shoot is still too low. In the game against Shutoku, Kuroko scored from two out of three shoots he took, and in the game against Too, he only scored one from two chances. That is except for his pass, they didn't see Kuroko as a big threat from Seirin.

But today is different. In just eight minutes of the game, Kuroko has already taken three shoots, and all of them were on the buckets there! He is on fire! That is why, now, all of Meisei's players are looking at the phantom boy with different eyes.

"Araki!" Tsugawa called out Meisei's shooting guard with jersey number #12. "Switch the defense with Nobu. Let him guard the number #12 (Furihata). You, keep your eyes open and stick into that boy." He pointed his finger at Kuroko. "Don't let him slip into our defense easily."

"Yes, Captain!"

Now, the possession is changing back into Uchida's hand. But he didn't stick with the ball for too long, and quickly sent the ball to Tsugawa who is on the high post, the basket is on the back of his body. This is what their plan B is about. Sends the ball to Tsugawa and lets the captain do the rest, as Uchida and the rest of Meisei players will run around to create more space.

Now, facing Tsuchida's defense, Tsugawa who is still in the triple-threat position observed his teammates around, and a few seconds later, he dropped his body a little, trying to play a low-post game. Naturally, Tsuchida would not let him do that easily. Seirin's power forward tried to push Tsugawa back, not letting him turn his body around and face the basket and also to make him uncomfortable.

However, much to Tsuchida's and all Seirin players' surprise, the ball didn't stay too long in Tsugawa's hand. Meisei's captain dropped the ball quickly over Tsuchida's head, and Uchida who is constantly moving suddenly do a backdoor cut from the sideline, slipping from Izuki's defense.

"Nice pass, Senpai!"

"Damn! Don't think it would be easy!"

Izuki gritted his teeth as he followed Uchida from behind. However, being one step behind, he couldn't stop Uchida at all, and when Meisei's point guard took a leap to the basket, he knows he had to hand him over to Hyuga in the paint area

But attacking the rim is just a disguised attack from Uchida, as when Hyuga raised his hands up to block his attempt, he shifted the ball immediately in the air, kicking it out to the small forward who has a good position in the corner area, being guarded by Kuroko.

"Nice pass, Uchida!"

After being trained by Furihata in basic defense, Kuroko knows what to do when he faced this kind of situation. He pressed his body quickly to the small forward, trying to force him to go out of bounds.

However, it seems like it was not the first time the small forward experienced this kind of defense, as he could still maintain his calm even though it only took one step behind for him to turn over the ball. Instead of taking a jump shot or driving through the sideline, he threw another pass, and this time, the ball flew back to Tsugawa one more time.

"Nice, Nobu!"

The captain didn't give Tsuchida any chance to close the distance and pulled a hook shoot immediately.

*Clank!*

Even though it hits the board once, it bounced back to the basket, resulting in another two points for Meisei.

18 – 27

"Nice one, Captain!"

"Go back! Defense!"

Even though they just score two points, all Meisei players didn't celebrate too much and went back to their defense position immediately. After all, they know Seirin's infamous 'Red Run' play in the fast break position, and it would definitely cut their momentum if Seirin managed to pull it off.

However, it seems the wind is blowing to their side, as instead of Seirin, it was them who makes another fast break. This time, Uchida took advantage of the sloppy inbound pass from Hyuga to Izuki and grabbed the ball before Seirin's point guard could have it.

"Oooh! Nice steal, Uchida!"

"Damn! Defense! Hyuga, cover!"

Izuki and Hyuga who are the only Seirin players on their own side tried to double-team Uchida and stopped his momentum. But before they could do that, Uchida has already leaped into the air, and a second later,

*BAAAAMM!!*

A powerful dunk! Uchida posterized Hyuga!

For a moment, silence fills the gymnasium, as anyone is too stunned at the last play they just saw. However, it was broken in a second, as Uchida roared in excitement.

"COME OOOON!!!!"

20 – 27

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Author note :

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You can also read this fanfiction up to chapter 105 on that page. Thank you! :)

-Zeta Faes-