Chapter 25 : Kagami VS Furihata II

'Wait, he hasn't even taken a single dribble yet! I was fooled by a triple threat? Shit! Shit! Shit!'

Kagami couldn't help but cursed inwardly as his mind just replayed the last play. He had to acknowledge though, that Furihata is indeed a very strong player. He just doesn't like the infuriating smirk on the point guard's face and the crass comment he keeps throwing at him.

"Well, what do you think? Should we stop this game?"

There! The smirk, the annoying comment, and the gaze that is always looking down at him! Oh.. How he wanted to punch his face..

"Let's continue this game." He gritted his teeth while throwing the ball to Furihata again. But unlike before, right after throwing the ball, Kagami approached him immediately, didn't really want to give a space for Furihata to pull up another three comfortably.

Furihata raised his eyebrow slightly but still nodded in approval.

"Good! Now you are thinking. Your natural reflex is good, but you relied on it too much. Use your eyes. Observe closely what your opponent wants to do. Lure him into the place you are comfortable with you don't need to stop your opponent completely. Just force him to take a bad shot."

"Shut up! Just play the game!"

"Well.. Sure, if you want to."

Then, Furihata dribbled the ball slowly, walking to the right side. Then, he lowered his stance, turning his back from the basket. Kagami couldn't help but frown a little.

'A low-post game? Is he that arrogant to believe he can win in a power match against me?'

Furihata started to push Kagami with his body, trying to get closer to the basket. When he is close enough to the rim, he retreated his body back and took a stance for a fadeaway jump shoot. However, Kagami has already predicted this happened.

"Not a chance, Bastard!"

He raised his hand high, trying to block the shoot. However, Furihata lowered the ball in his hands, ducked his body, and use his left foot as his pivot to take a step forward as he tried to do a scoop layup.

"Just like I said, not a chance!"

Kagami who was not fooled and didn't jump the first time still kept the pressure on Furihata. Seeing this, Furihata clicked his tongue in annoyance as he turned around and get ready to pull up a fadeaway shoot. The point guard ignored the pressure as he took his chance for a shoot. Kagami is sure that Furihata would finally take a shoot and jump as high as possible, blocking the eyesight of the point guard.

But when he saw the trademark smirk on Furihata's face, he knows he was fooled once again.

"BASTARD!"

The moment Kagami jumped, Furihata lowered the ball again, and once Kagami is about to land on the ground, he jumped straight to Kagami's body, making body contact with the red hair, and shot it immediately. He knows the result of his action right before he could see if his shoot went in or not, as he could hear the sound of the whistle getting blown.

*Phweeet!*

When he looked up to the basket, he saw his shoot bounce to the board and went in. Even though it was not sloppy, the ball still went in, and that is what mattered the most.

5-0

"Defensive shooting foul Kagami. Furihata has one free throw chance."

Silence dropped inside the gym before someone finally broke it from the sideline.

"OOOOOHH!!!"

"Do you see that? The footwork is amazing!"

"And the last pump fake is also unstoppable!"

The chatter on the sideline showed how excited all of them watching this game. However, it couldn't be shared with Kagami who froze as he looked at the ball, couldn't believe that the ball still went in.

"Good job, Red! That was a tough defense." Furihata praised him with a genuine tone. However, to Kagami, the praise of his opponents that he couldn't stop is a taunt to his ears, so he snapped a bit.

"Shut up, Bastard! This is still the beginning! Take the free throw and start the game again!"

Furihata takes the free throw, and it goes in smoothly to the basket.

6-0

Now that Kagami is six points behind Furihata, he needs the possession to change as fast as possible. But the question is, how? Sure, he is stronger than Furihat, but the point guard has a lot of tricks under his sleeves.

That was when Furihata's speech suddenly came to his mind.

'Use your eyes. Observe closely what your opponent wants to do. Lure him into the place you are comfortable with. You don't need to stop your opponent completely. Just force him to take a bad shot.'

"Is that true?" He muttered under his breath.

While Kagami grew up in America, he has never joined a formal team. All of his basketball knowledge was gained through his experience. But even though he is Japanese, he still had the edge in the physical department compared to the other American kids near him.

That is why when he started playing basketball, he enjoyed using his strength, as it was the easiest way for him to win.

And even when Alexandra Garcia, the former WNBA superstar decided to coach him, he still put most of his focus on the power play, using his strength to overwhelm his opponent. To put it simply, he had never put his focus on defense technique.

'I can just block them if I want to,' He shrugged when Alex asked about his defense.

But now, facing a tricky opponent like Furihata, when all the tricks were used against him, he couldn't help but curse the younger and naïve version of himself for not putting effort into defense. Now, he has to take Furihata's word if he wanted to prolong this battle.

Not that he loses, anything, but he would get teased by that bastard a lot when the game is over. However, he decided to swallow his pride right now and trying to follow the advice.

"First, let's close down the distance."

He approached the point guard to prevent another three-point attempt.

"Then, lure him into the place I am comfortable with."

Kagami's best defense is his shot-blocking ability, so he opened his left side slightly, inviting Furihata to drive from that side.

Furihata didn't hesitate for a bit as he drives forward at full speed, aiming for a layup. However, Kagami was able to follow his movement to the paint area without any problem. And when they arrived at the free-throw area, Furihata makes a sudden quick stop, ready to pull up a mid-range shoot.

"Use your eyes. Observe closely what your opponent wants to do."

When Kagami saw Furihata's quick stop, he looked down at Furihata's eyes immediately and realized,

'He is not looking at the board! He is looking at my movement! It is another trap!'

That was when the last part of Furihata's speech suddenly clicked in.

'You don't need to stop your opponent completely. Just force him to make a bad decision.'

Remembering that part, Kagami didn't react to Furihata's sudden stop. Instead, he looked down at Furihata's feet to see if another fake is coming again or not. When he saw it didn't move from the ground, he knows Furihata is ready for another pump fake, so he decided to not rush forward. But the moment when he saw both feet slightly hanging in the air, he knows it was a shoot.

So, he reacted quickly and jump, but not to block the shoot. He knows as quickly as his reaction is, he wouldn't be able to block the shoot on time. So, the purpose of his jump is just to disturb the shoot and block his eyesight.

And now, he could see the result of his action, as he could hear a sound from the board.

*Clank!*

The shoot was missed!

Kagami realized that and without hesitation, he jumped once again to grab the rebound in the air, resulting in the change of possession.

"TAKE THAT, BASTARD!"

He roared loudly as he finally stopped probably the most annoying opponent he has ever faced in his life.

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Author note:

NEXT CHAPTER: Kagami VS Furihata III!

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