Chapter 36 : VS Seiho II - A Trash Talk Duel
The game restarted again, and now, Tsugawa is holding the ball, being guarded by Furihata. However, Seiho's shooting guard cannot help but frown at his guard.
"What's wrong with you?"
Furihata is three steps in front of him, spreading his arms wide to stop his drive. With how far the distance he is guarding Tsugawa, it is almost like Furihata is daring him to take a shoot.
"Well, Midorima is the best shooter in the tournament. If I cannot stop your three-point in this kind of situation, I would have no hope to stop Midorima. After all, your three-point is far worse than him and me if I dare to say."
Tsugawa didn't show any hint of anger on his face. Instead, his smile brightened a bit after hearing what Furihata said.
"Ooh! That's the spirit! Here, I will show you my three!" He passed the ball to Kasuga who passed it back to him. Then, without taking a single dribble, he took a stance for a three-point shooter.
However, Furihata is not getting fooled by his gimmick. Furihata knows that even though Tsugawa is a decent shooter, he is more comfortable in the mid-range area. On average, he only shoots twice a three-pointer per game, even lower than Kagami. So, Furihata knows that Tsugawa would retreat his shoot and drive forward.
'He thinks I am a fool, huh? Let's bait him.'
He smirked a little, taking a step forward to bait him. And it worked perfectly as Tsugawa lowered his stance and leaned his body forward, ready to dribble. Seeing as Tsugawa is ready to drive to the left side, Furihata took a single step to block his direction, anchoring his feet to the ground and opening his torso slightly, ready for the clash.
Tsugawa didn't notice his movement. He just getting excited seeing Furihata fell from his stance, ready to drive forward. But the moment he drove,
*Bugh!*
He found himself bumped into Furihata, and after that, he hears the whistle from the referee.
"Seiho #4 Offensive foul charging. Seirin ball."
Then, he looked down at Furihata who is still on the floor, his eyes couldn't hide his disbelief. Within a second, a cheer erupted from Seirin's bench.
"LET'S GOO!!!" Kagami roared from the bench, shocking everyone in the gym. But a second later, his cheer was followed by his teammates.
"Nice defense, Furihata-kun!"
"Not bad, Brat!"
They all cheered for Furihata. However, the point guard ignored all the praises, giving Tsugawa a smirk while saying,
"A good attempt. Unfortunately, you didn't take the shoot, so I cannot call it a good warm-up. Do it the next time, okay?"
And then, he left with his teammates, preparing for the next play.
"Oi, are you alright?" Iwamura's voice pulled Tsugawa from his thought.
"Eh? What happened, Senpai?"
"You get an offensive foul for clashing with their #12. Are you alright?" Now, his teammates looking at him with concerned faces. Then, Tsugawa finally realized what just happened in the last play.
'He baited me to take a drive?'
That was the only reason he could think of how Furihata could stop him. However, he didn't feel depressed for a bit. Instead, the grin on his face widened, he licked his own lips in excitement. Then, he murmured lowly, but not low enough for everyone to hear it.
"Stay away from #12. He is my prey."
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The game restarted again, and the ball is in Izuki's hand. Furihata is being guarded by Tsugawa again. However, it is tighter now than before. Just by his first play, Tsugawa is aware that Furihata is a good shooter, so he didn't dare to make a space.
"It is unfair, you know." Tsugawa started talking. "You baited me into driving forward after taunting me to take a three-point shoot. You used cheap tricks instead of facing me head-on. Are you even a man?"
Furihata rolled his eyes at Tsugawa.
"What are you talking about? I just dared you to take a three-point shoot. It was not my fault if you decided to drive forward instead of taking advantage of my position. And why the hell were you driving even after I opened my position for you? Were you just chickening out?"
"Hahaha! No way! I was just too excited to score and forget about your presence. You are too little for me, after all."
"yeah, just say what you want. The fact remains. Even after you chickened out, I was still able to stop you."
"Well, it was just one time. How about I do the same? I dare you to drive forward. If you can get anywhere near the paint area, I will lower my guard for your next possession. How about that?"
Furihata raised his eyebrows slightly but decided to ignore it. Instead, he gives a signal to Mitobe for a screen. And when the center arrived, he slides into Izuki's direction easily, getting rid of Tsugawa's guard.
"A screen here?"
Tsugawa is startled a bit. Even though it was just a normal play, he found it rare to find a team to set up a screen for a player who is off the ball. However, he showed his capability as a top defender by recovering quickly, escaping from the screen, and chasing Furihata.
Meanwhile, right after Furihata get away from Tsugawa, he started running in Izuki's direction, and when Izuki saw his movement, he handed the ball over to him and set another screen quickly for him, blocking Kasuga from switching defend.
"Tch."
Kasuga clicked his tongue in annoyance. However, he is not worried at all, because he knows Tsugawa would be able to chase Furihata. And right to his predicament, Tsugawa is following Furihata from behind, only one step behind him.
When Furihata jumped for a layup, Tsugawa did the same, having a smirk on his face.
"Got you, little trickster!"
Seeing Tsugawa extend his arm high, Furihata lowered the ball, trying to flick it with a jelly layup. Tsugawa saw that, and he extended his other arm to stop the shoot.
"Not that easy!"
However, that was what Furihata waited for.
Furihata knows from the beginning that Tsugawa's explosive jump is only second to Kagami on the court. It was natural for Tsugawa to stay in the air longer than him, and Furihata had already predicted that this would happen. So, instead of flicking the ball to the basket, he slides the ball to the crowds in the paint area, where Mitobe is having a battle with Iwamura for a better position.
Iwamura is startled for a moment at the ball that suddenly appeared in front of him.
"A miss pass? Wait! This is just like what happened in their first play!"
Unfortunately, before he could react to the ball, Kuroko suddenly appears in front of him, redirected the ball to the outside. All Seiho players who noticed Kuroko's sudden movement cursed in same time.
"DAMN!"
The ball went into Hyuga, and he took advantage of his guard who is surprised that the ball is suddenly in Hyuga's hand. He catches it and pulled up a three-point shoot, straight to the bucket.
*Splash!*
12 - 10
"Good job, Junpei!"
"Nice play, Furihata-kun!"
"Nice assist, Phantom!"
They celebrated for a while before preparing for their defense. And when the game restarted, Furihata is facing Tsugawa again.
"So, will you lower your guard next time?" Furihata asked in a mocking tone. However, Tsugawa is not easy to provoke. "Hey, the last play didn't count! You didn't take the shoot and choose to pass the ball! You call me a chicken, but are you the same?"
Furihata rolled his eyes once again. It seems like he would exhaust his eyes by rolling them too much in this game.
"Whatever. You are no longer interesting."
He murmured lowly, just to irritate Tsugawa. Even though Tsugawa appeared to be a tough defender who doesn't bulge at his taunt, Furihata still believes Tsugawa is not a monk. There will be a moment when he would snap, and he is waiting for that to happen.
Unfortunately for him, this time, the ball goes to Kasuga who is being guarded by Izuki.
"Your kouhai is really interesting." He makes a comment while staring at Furihata and Tsugawa.
"Yeah, I know, right? He is really awesome, especially in defense. I don't think your Kouhai would be able to get away from his guard."
Kasuga raised his eyebrows slightly.
"Is that so?" Then, suddenly, he leaned his body forward, preparing to drive. "How about you try to stop me, then?"
Right after saying that, he dribbled the ball forward, and when Izuki is trying to follow him, he slowed down with a hesitation move, and increased his pace once again when he caught Izuki off guard.
"Shit!" Izuki couldn't help but curse, having his balance shaken.
"Defense!" He shouted to Mitobe who covers the paint area.
However, Kasuga didn't take a shoot. Instead, he lobs the ball high, and Iwamura suddenly appeared in the air, catching the lob and slamming it down to the basket.
*BAAAM!!*
14 – 10
"Yosshaaa!!!"
"Another powerful dunk!"
"Awesome, Captain!"
However, before they could celebrate properly, Seirin restarted the game fast. Furihata grabbed the ball before he shouted,
"Run!"
The shot clock showed its time at 00:12, indicating the first quarter would end in twelve seconds. Right when Furihata throws the ball with a quarter-back style, Iwamura shouted quickly,
"DEFENSE, GO BACK!"
Hyuga is able to catch Furihata's pass. However, the defense from Seiho managed to recover quickly, and his guard arrived right before he could take any action.
"Tch!" Hyuga clicked his tongue in annoyance. However, he could see Izuki approaching him.
"Junpei!"
Hyuga sends the ball to Izuki, and the point guard didn't waste his time to pass the ball again to the corner area.
"No one there! A miss pass! Lucky!"
It seems Seiho is forgetting Seirin's last play and they still couldn't track Kuroko's movement. Right on the sideline, Kuroko suddenly appeared, saving the ball from getting out-of-bound.
"What?! Since when he is there!"
No one from Seiho realized that Kuroko was responsible for Seirin's first and last play before this, so they closed him down quickly. It is just unfortunate for them to not know Kuroko is a passer.
Right when two Seiho players approached him, he bounced the ball through their legs, sending it to Mitobe.
"What?!" They are surprised by Kuroko's quick movement. However, they are not really worried about Mitobe, seeing Iwamura is already guarding him.
"No buzzer beater for you!"
Mitobe gritted his teeth, trying to push Iwamura away. But suddenly, his eyes caught his teammate's movement coming from the other side of the court, and he decided to kick the ball outside to where his teammate is waiting.
It is Furihata!
"Nice pass, Senpai!"
Furihata, the one who initiated the last quick attack, the one everyone seems to forget because he was far behind, suddenly appeared in his most comfortable spot, the three-point area.
When he is about to pull up a shoot, he could see Tsugawa suddenly jump in front of him and shout,
"NOT GONNA HAPPEN, BASTARD!"
However, Furihata didn't lose his calm. Instead, he dribbled the ball to his right side once just to avoid Tsugawa, and when he is sure no one would stop him, he pulled up another three.
*Splash!*
14 – 13
Furihata smirked as he made a small gesture as if he is pushing down the floor.
Too small!
Tsugawa is too small to guard him!
And right after the ball went in, the buzzer rang loudly, ending the intense first quarter between Seirin against Seiho.
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Author note :
Next Chapter : VS Seiho III - It's Show Time!
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