Finals: #14

Shun planted his butt on his seat on the bench. His towel, wrapped around his neck.

He chuckled as he said out loud.

Shun: "Haha, that was close. We were lucky that Mibuchi-san was at the right, and no one was approaching me from that direction."

He looked at Mibuchi and gave him a thumbs-up.

Shun: "Mibuchi-san, nice shot. It sunk in beautifully."

Mibuchi laughed as he said his thanks.

Mibuchi: "Ufufufu~. Thank you, Shun-chan. I wasn't expecting the sudden pass, but I couldn't disappoint at that moment. Though the shot was completely a fluke."

Kaitani wiggled his finger and said.

Kaitani: "I don't like the word fluke. Let's dub it differently.

Let's call it a miracle. Yes, a miracle in the time of need."

Yuki sighed and spoke to his year mate.

Yuki: "You and exaggerations, why do you always make everything sound so extraordinary?"

Kaitani raised his hand and pointed all around him.

Kaitani: "The real world is so bland and boring. We need some extravagance to spice it up.

We are the main characters of this world. We need to think that the world revolves around us."

Hyakuzawa hearing that gave a snide remark of his own.

Hyakuzawa: "You are a side character at best."

Everybody laughed at Hyakuzawa's comment, and Kaitani's displeased face.

Sora pointed at himself and asked.

Sora: "Then, what would I be?"

Mibuchi put an arm around the first year and replied.

Mibuchi: "You little Sora would be the favorite character that everybody loves."

Everybody chuckled seeing, Sora's blushing and smiling face.

Coach Koetsuji smiled as he looked at his happy students and spoke to them.

Coach: "Now, we don't have much time left in the break, so let's wrap this up.

We have a twenty-six point lead, which is a massive lead. We only need to make sure that we keep up our lead.

Keep passing the ball around. Don't try to take risky shots.

Keep the ball with you as long as it is possible. Only try to attack at the end of the shot clock.

The longer you stretch the possessions, the slower the speed of the game would be, and that would give Teiko less time to score.

Play as slow you can, and we will win the game and then go to the Nationals."

The coach gave everyone assignments, and when it was Shun's turn, the coach noticed that Shun hadn't replied or spoken since his few sentences at the start.

He saw Shun sitting leaning backward, his armpits over the backrest of the chair, and his arms hanging behind the chair. He was staring at the large scoreboard in front of them.

Coach called out to Shun, and this time he listened. He turned to the coach and asked.

Shun: "Yes, coach. What is it?"

The coach looked at Shun for a second and then asked.

Coach: "Do you know what to do?"

Shun was about to speak up when the time buzzer indicating the end of the break sounded.

Shun put his hands on his thighs, pushed on his thighs and got up from his seat, and answered the coach.

Shun: "Don't worry, coach. I know what to do. Keep the ball, play slow, stretch out the possession, and then win the game."

The coach looked at Shun and spoke.

Coach: "...Yes, that is correct."

Shun turned towards the court and walked.

Coach Koetsuji looked at Shun's back as he walked on to the court.

Coach: 'Let's hope it's not that... Oh god, I hope it's not that.'

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

Unfortunately, the coach's fears were true as in Tokiwadai's second-possession of the quarter, Shun got the ball, and as he jogged to the three-point arc, he saw Akashi standing guard for him.

Shun: 'I should waste some time, and when the shot clock is about to run out, I would make space between us and shoot.'

Shun stopped near Akashi and just lightly dribbled the ball between his hands. He kept the ball behind his back to keep it out of Akashi's reach.

Shun saw ten seconds on the shot clock and moved to the attack, his nerves came to life with bio-electricity as he made his move, and at the same time got ready to change it mid-way after seeing Akashi's counter.

Shun was going to use a pullback crossover to make space between him and Akashi and then shoot the ball from the three-point arc.

As Shun took a step to the left for a left-to-right crossover, he found all the strength from his left leg vanish, and he felt his knees buckle.

Shun fell forward on one knee as the ball left his hand. He used his right arm to support himself, but his elbow too buckled and, he ended on both of his knees and elbows.

Akashi took the free ball and immediately ran past the fallen Shun.

But, just as he got two steps away from Shun, he heard the referee's whistle and the referee yell out.

Referee: "Referee, Time-out!"

Akashi stopped and looked back and saw Shun on the floor on his back.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-

Shun's mom immediately got up from her chair in the room, she had left for a whole quarter, and she had returned just in time for the fourth quarter.

She was happy to see her son's team having such a huge lead.

But, then she saw her son collapse on the court, and panic raised its head in her heart.

She got up so quickly that the chair behind her fell to the ground.

Mom: "Shun!"

She held hands in front of her chest as she looked at her son on the screen.

She snapped out of her worry and immediately took out her phone.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-

Shun's father had to attend a call and was in his office talking on the phone.

His assistant came into the office in a hurry, with a phone in her hand.

Shun's dad frowned and pointed at the phone near his ear.

The assistant pointed at the phone in her hand and said.

Assistant: "It's your wife. She says it's urgent."

Shun's dad furrowed his brows and told the person on the phone that he will call him later.

Then he received the phone from his assistant and put it to his ear.

Dad: "Hello?"

Shun's mom's panicked voice came from the other side.

Mom: "Dear, Shun collapsed during the game. I am watching it right now."

Shun's dad immediately got up and almost shouted.

Dad: "What! How did it happen?!"

Mom: "He just collapsed suddenly. I think it is exhaustion. He is not able to get up. They are carrying him out of the court as we speak.

I don't have the coach's number, please call him and ask which hospital they are taking Shun to him."

Shun's dad felt nervousness and anxiety settling in.

Dad: "Okay, I will do that and call you back. Don't worry; he will be fine."

Mom: "Alright, please hurry."

Shun's dad prayed while he searched for the coach's number on his phone.

Dad: 'Shun, please be fine.'

-*-*-*-*-*-*-

On the court just after Shun had collapsed, coach Koetsuji ran to Shun while thinking.

Coach: 'I should have benched him the moment I saw that.'

He reached Shun the same time as the referee and immediately knelt beside him.

He immediately checked for breathing and found it was normal. He immediately questioned Shun.

Coach: "Shun, how are you feeling?"

Shun's brows furrowed, and he took a moment to answer.

Shun: "... Legs and arms gave out."

Coach immediately thought a reason for the collapse.

Coach: 'Exhaustion.'

He looked at the referee and said.

Coach: "He will be retiring from the game effective immediately."

Shun was feeling extremely uncomfortable, but when he heard that, he immediately protested.

Shun: "NO!"

Shun groaned as he felt wave dizziness assault him after he yelled out, but he continued.

Shun: "... I am fine. Just give me a few minutes off the court. I will be fine after that."

Shun then tried to get up. The coach, who saw that tried to stop him.

Coach: "Shun! Please stay still."

Shun ignored the coach's words and tried to get up. He tried to get up with his back to the ground but wasn't able to pull himself up.

Shun: 'Shit! No! No! No! No! No! I have to play! It's just for a few minutes. Yes, I can do that.'

Shun didn't give up and turned on the floor to face the ground and tried to push himself up, but he wasn't able to summon any strength and struggled on the ground.

Shun: "No... Come one, get up."

Shun felt tears pool in his eyes as he tried to get up again, but failed once again. He began breathing hard as his chest heaved, and he couldn't move anymore and collapsed on the court.

Shun: "... No..."

He resigned as the coach and a person he didn't know, lift him. They supported his back and put one arm each beneath his thighs to carry him like he was in a chair.

Shun closed his eyes and lowered his head. He didn't want to look at his teammates' faces and see the look of disappointment on their faces.

If Shun did see them, then he would see only worry on their faces.

-*-*-*-

The Generation Of Miracles looked at Shun, who was currently carried out of the court and stadium floor.

All of them had different thoughts about the matter.

*

Aomine felt both worry and disappointment on Shun's retirement from the game.

He was worried about his friend collapsing on the court, but at the same time, he was disappointed that his rival wouldn't be able to play the whole game.

Aomine: 'One game I was looking forward to playing. I wasn't able to play against him for one whole game.'

Aomine sighed as he looked around the court and saw his teammates.

He knew the reason why Shun collapsed.

Aomine: 'He had to play against all five of us alone.'

Aomine hated the feeling of having no competition, and on top of that, he had four extremely talented players near him, but they weren't able to compete seriously.

And now, they had worked against his desire for competition.

Aomine: 'Generation Of Miracles?'

Aomine scowled as for the first time, he felt the feeling of dislike, on being in the same team as other miracles.

Aomine Daiki started to hate the fact that basketball was a team sport, and now the same teamwork had taken the one game he looked forward to the most and broke the one person that made basketball fun.

*

Murasakibara felt similar memories come to his mind as he saw Shun disappear from the court.

He recalled the tired faces of his guards in games, and that overlapped with the current situation.

Even though the current situation was completely different and they were the ones who were being pushed back and on the back foot, but when he saw Shun retiring from the game, his mind connected those two things.

Murasakibara scowled and frowned as he thought.

Murasakibara: 'Shitty, unfair game!'

His thoughts were the same as Aomine, and he too blamed the Generation Of Miracles for the current situation.

The thought of being on the same team with others began to feel unpleasant.

Murasakibara looked at Tokiwadai players and thought.

Murasakibara: 'This is not fun.'

Murasakibara Atsushi began to hate the moniker of Generation Of Miracle and the Teiko basketball team.

*

Midorima frowned as he saw Shun carried out of the court.

He knew that now the chances of them winning had skyrocketed, but he felt something dissatisfied and uncomfortable when he thought of continuing the game against Tokiwadai without Kageyama Shun.

Midorima: 'It is like pulling the spine out of a human body. Tokiwadai drops down to a completely different level without Kageyama Shun with them.'

Midorima removed his glasses and thought while cleaning them.

Midorima: 'Kageyama worked hard as humanly possible and then took care of his fate with a lucky item. The reason he collapsed...'

Midorima put back his glasses and looked at his teammates.

Midorima: 'We were too strong. We are too much for a single person to handle.'

As much Midorima sought victory, he wanted it without a shred of doubt, but now with Shun out of the game even if they win, it just wouldn't feel the same.

Midorima Shintaro felt dissatisfied with how things turned out. For the first time, Midorima Shintaro felt that he wouldn't be happy with the victory.

*

Kise Ryota was completely sure the victory was theirs now that Shun was out of the game.

But, at the same time, he was probably the one who felt the most disappointed in himself in this game.

On his team, he played by far the worst. He had been left open, but his points were still the least on the team.

He was also not useful in any area of the game.

He had the same ability as Shun. But, Shun outclassed him by overwhelming margins. He wasn't able to put a scratch much less a dent against Shun.

Kise Ryota also began to hate the moniker Generation Of Miracles as he looked at his teammates. But, his reason for hating it was not the same as his teammates, he felt weak in comparison to his teammates, and when they were called Generation Of Miracles as a group, he felt that he didn't deserve it, and felt embarrassment.

*

Akashi Seijuro looked at the current situation with indifference.

For the current Akashi Seijuro, victory was everything. It didn't matter what means it took to achieve said victory.

Shun retiring from the game was a great positive in his books. He didn't feel the dissatisfaction as his other teammates.

Akashi moved his eyes around the court and thought.

Akashi: 'Tokiwadai's King is out. The rest will fall through easily.'

He looked at his teammates and saw the signs of them losing motivation.

He frowned as he though.

Akashi: 'We can't have that. I still need them to play so that we can catch and close the point-gap.'

Akashi's eyes flashed with calculative intentions as he moved towards his teammates to 'persuade' them to play their hardest.

*

Satsuki had stood up from her seat when she saw Shun collapse.

She was extremely anxious when she saw him trying to stand up to return the court.

Satsuki didn't want Shun to play anymore. When she saw him collapse, she was over with fear and panic.

She didn't know, but she had little by little edged over to the sideline of the court to get a proper look at Shun.

She had both of her hands in front of her chest as she silently prayed that Shun would be alright, and the accident was nothing serious.

She had spent a lot of time with Shun as neighbors, and little by little, she had come to know him. They had grown closer to the point that Satsuki felt completely comfortable around Shun.

She didn't know, but she would smile every time she thought of Shun and found that her mood became better every time she spent time with him.

He would make her laugh all the time, and he was kind and gentle. Satsuki had never felt this close to a person her age.

Aomine was like a little brother, who she took care of and they knew each other since they were little kids, their relationship was special in their own way, but Shun despite only knowing each other for just over a year had made a place in her life as an important person.

So, when she saw him collapse, she felt panic and negative thoughts overcome her.

It was only after her coach's explanation about Shun collapsing because of exhaustion did she found some relief.

She silently prayed for Shun's good health.

Satsuki: 'Shun-kun, please be okay.'

*

Kuroko Tetsuya felt conflicted about the current situation.

Shun's retirement from the game had come as a surprise to Kuroko.

He wanted to win against Tokiwadai and Shun fair and square, but now that Shun was out, Tokiwadai weren't at full strength.

Even though they had been trailing behind the whole game, but Kuroko had been happy to see his teammates playing together full of motivation.

He hadn't seen Aomine smiling so much in a long time.

He hadn't seen Murasakibara so active in a long time.

He hadn't seen Midorima so aggressive in offense in a long time.

He hadn't seen Kise focus so much in a long time.

Kuroko looked at Akashi and thought that Akashi had changed, and didn't have much time to think about it.

But, now that he saw his teammates, he saw them with the same looks as they showed in the rest of the games, albeit they looked tired like he had never seen them before in a game.

Kuroko Tetsuya had no idea how his world was about to change in just a few days.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-

The rest of the game went as many predicted. Under Akashi's lead, Teiko started scoring with amazing speed, and the incomplete Tokiwadai wasn't able to stop the onslaught.

Teiko closed the gap with two minutes remaining in the game and then overtook Tokiwadai and led the score with fifteen points at the end of the game.

Tokiwadai wasn't able to score a single point in the fourth quarter after Shun retired from the game.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-

Tokiwadai Middle School had lost the game with the score 113-98 in Teiko Middle School's favor.

Shoei Middle School lead by third-year, Kiyoshi Teppei won the Block-A finals and became one of the two Tokyo Representatives for the Nationals.

Teiko Middle School, with Generation Of Miracles, won Block-B finals and secured their seat in the Nationals as Tokyo Representatives.

Tokiwadai Middle School's season ended with their star player, Kageyama Shun, collapsing on the court.

Tokyo Nationals Preliminaries had come to an end.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

[

A/N: BE GENTLE.

A lot of people expected this.

Shun collapsing on the court. I dropped a lot of hints about him feeling fatigued threw out the finals, and some of you noticed that.

It was just too tough for Shun to keep up with GoM on his own.

He didn't have time to preserve stamina as he had to pull the team from the start of the game.

-*-*-*-*-

Last year, the first half of the game was played conserving energy, and in the third quarter, Shun was practically on rest during Teiko's offense(Guarding Kuroko), it was only in the fourth quarter did he go all out.

He did that full game this time, and that caused him to collapse.

-*-*-*-*-

I had the choice of either making Shun degrade in the fourth quarter and have him scored upon by GoM or just taking him out completely.

As you can see, I took the second route.

-*-*-*-*-

I introduced a lot of emotion in this chapter, and this will be the beginning of the ZERO-Teamwork Teiko.

Third-Year Teiko(Canon) had worse teamwork than Too(Aomine's school).

In the stat sheet: Too was given a 4, while Teiko was given a 2.

Every single one of the GoM was humiliated by Shun on the court, their pride won't let them be, and they will begin to give personal skill more importance.

And, 'Other' Akashi would also facilitate that change.

-*-*-*-*-

Next chapter, we will see Shun in the hospital, and then we will move on to the 'Training Camp' Arc.

]