Showtime (KnB fanfiction)

With the final match for today Nura Academy Vs Teiko Middle School.

As if we even have a chance to win', Shohei thought, looking at the 5 players in front of him. The red-haired one is the Captain Akashi Seijuro, the facilitator for Teiko; the green-haired guy with glasses is Midorima Shintaro, a sharp shooter who doesn't miss; yes, he literally doesn't miss; Aomine Daiki, the ace of the team; Atsushi Murasakibara, the center of the team, is really intimidating looking at him from here; and the last one is Kise Ryota, a prodigy who recently entered the team and is already in the starting 5. Weird I feel like I'm forgetting something, maybe just my imagination.

The game is almost starting, Shohei thought, looking at the ref holding the ball.

"Let's have a good game," Akashi said, offering his hand.

"Likewise," as if this is going to be a game. Shohei thought, returning to the team huddle, trying to boost the team morale.

"Ok boys, we all know we're going to lose here, but even if we do, we might as well go out with a bang, right?

"I'm just in my second year, Captain; I still have next year." A tall white haired guy said at the side.

"Shut up before I make you go to the bench!". Lucky bastard still having next year. Shohei thought, looking at the team center, Lev Rosmanov, a half-Japanese Russian prodigy; he's almost as tall as Murasakibara, and he's just in his second year. 

"Well lucky you, aren't you?". Yuki Tadaki chided; he was the shooting guard for the team, an expert in catch and shoot shots.

*Whistle*

Hearing the whistle, Shohei took a deep breath. This is his last tournament in middle school, but it still gives him the butterflies. Excitement or nervousness—even Shohei doesn't know.

"It's time; let's go,". Shohei said, walking to the court, he already sees the opposing team in position.

"Hey Lev, try your best to win the tip, but even if you don't win it, run immediately back to defense; they might do a quick pass inside." With multiple experiences with Teiko. Shohei already knows a lot of their plays, but if you ask Shohei, it's one of his bad luck meeting Teiko every tournament of his middle school career.

"Boys, as usual, we will have a man-to-man defense; try your best to guard your man."

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*WHISTLE*

The ball got tossed up in the air, and both Lev and Murasakibara jumped like 2 giants fighting for supremacy; unfortunately, Lev came up short and Murasikabara won the tip.

Akashi got the ball slowly walking up halfcourt, waiting for the others to get into position.

'I still remember getting my ankles taken by this guy in my 1st year, bad times'. A bad feeling of deja vu coming to him looking at Akashi slowly walking towards him.

Akashi scanning the position of his teammates saw a weakside on the right. Aomine noticing that the one guarding him was not paying attention, he quickly cut to the basket.

'Shit that idiot! I told him, man to man, why is he focusing on Akashi?! '. Shohei look in horror as the ball pass right through him and to the cutting Aomine.

"Lev stop him!".

Lev sees that Aomine is nearing the basket, planning to block him; they both jumped, one trying to score and one trying to defend. Lev, seeing the ball in front of him, tried to swat it away.

"Wait what!?" Lev was about to block the ball, but he saw Aomine suddenly letting go of the ball, resulting in it going to Murasakibara's hands.

"Oh, nice pass," Murasakibara said, seeing the ball go exactly to his hand, resulting in an easy dunk for Teiko.

"That's okay, it's just one point; we will get it back." Shohei said he was trying to raise the morale of the team. He can't let them crumble this early.

As the point guard Shohei is responsible for the team play, he puts his right thumb up, signaling for a pick and roll play to Lev.

Lev seeing the play went to set a screen, and Akashi already seeing what's coming dodged the screen easily.

'Dammit'. Shohei seeing the play not working and still seeing Akashi in front of him. He was frustrated looking at his team they were all in the same boat

Realizing shot clock was running out. Shohei decided to force up a three; in all honesty, it's not his strong suit.

'Why did he even shoot? ' Lev thought, looking at the ball in the air hitting the backboard; it wasn't even close.

"My bad, my bad," Shohei embarrassingly said, trying to go back to defense. Kise, who got the rebound, passed the ball to the sprinting Aomine, who had already crossed the halfcourt line. With no players from Nura Middle School in front of him, Aomine decided to do a 360 dunk, earning a lot of cheers from the crowd.

"Hey, why the hell did you shoot that?". Miyamura Shodi angrily shouted, looking at Shohei.

"Come on, you can't blame me; there were no other options left. You also know if I drive, the ball will get stolen or blocked by their center.".

"You and your excuses" Miyamura mocked, angrily going back to his position.

Said by the guy who's imitating Dennis Rodman but can't even get a rebound. Shohei thought, looking at the bald, annoying guy who was being guarded by Aomine.

"Yeah, yeah, and if you manage to hold Aomine to 20 points, I will gladly quit the team."

In reality, this is their last game, so it doesn't really matter if Miyamura managed to hold off Aomine.

"Guys, chill, it's just 4 points; there's still a lot of time left before the game ends." Yuki said he was trying to ease the tension brewing.

"Yes, you're right," Shohei said, looking at the score table. There's still about 10 minutes left; we can still do this.

After 10 minutes, it was the end of the first quarter, with Teiko leading the game with 30 points and 10 points to Nura Academy.

"Man, they really are on a different level," Shohei thought, looking at the opposite bench while sipping his drink.

"I agree this feels like last year where they easily destroyed us," Lev added, looking downcast. Shohei can't blame him; last year Lev was a freshman, and he saw his seniors getting blown out by Teiko without even breaking a sweat. It was surely a traumatizing experience for the young kid.

"We can still do this, guys. Come on, there's still 3 quarters left." Yuki suddenly said he was going in front of the team, trying to cheer them up.

"Come on, coach, say something!". Yuki said, looking at the coach of the team, who remained silent the entire quarter.

"There's no hope; just enjoy the game since this is your last." Hearing the coach say that made the whole team more downcast, even Yuki.

A frustrated sigh went out of Shohei's mouth; he already knew this was going to happen when he saw that they were going to match up with Teiko again. 

Looking at the incompetent coach infront of him. Shohei decided since this is there last game in middle school. This will also be this guy last year as a coach in this school.

 *Whistle*

"The second quarter is starting; let's go," Shohei said, walking to the court, not noticing that the team rest of the team is not behind him except for Lev and Yuki.

"Lev, this is just your second year; you still have next year. Try to take this as an experience, try to learn a lot, and beat Teiko next year for us," Shohei said, looking at the Teiko crowd sitting at the stadium.

'I wanna see them lose; they're always accustomed to winning; compare it to our crowd whose already leaving, bandwagons tsk', Shohei remarked annoyed looking at their own side, a lot of empty seat and students who are already going outside the stadium.

"Yes, I will, Captain." Seeing the resolute face in Lev's face made Shohei feel a lot better. 

Well, if we lose now, at least Lev will take revenge for us next year. Yes, it will not be the same since the GoM is not in the team anymore, but it's still Teiko.' Shohei thought proudly, slapping Lev back, indicating that he was pleased with Lev's answer.

Miyamura and Kawaru followed behind the team; not wanting to play anymore is written clearly on their faces.

'It's our ball; it's time to show them why I'm the captain', Shohei calmly walked midcourt; he saw Akashi already waiting inside the 3-point line. His teammates are tightly guarded by the opposing players, with no room to even make a play.

Shohei, nearing Akashi, decided to dribble between his knees. Knowing that he could not beat Akashi in speed, he tried faking the drive to the left with his eyes; surprisingly, it worked. Akashi fell to the trap, shifting his weight to the left, planning to defend a drive.

Shohei, seeing Akashi fall for the trap, immediately dribbled to the right in one swift motion. "No, Kise, stop him!" Akashi shouted, realizing he got fooled.

"It's already too late," Shohei said, seeing he got an open space and shot the midrange shot with no one guarding him; he easily scored 2 points for the team.

"Nice!". Lev said, slapping Shohei at the back, "Don't get too excited, Lev, look at the score." Shohei said, looking up to the scoreboard, the score is 30 to 7 in favor of Teiko.

'Well, at least I cut it down to 23, right? ', Shohei thought, looking at the huge difference in the scores.

*While on the opposite side of the court*.

"You got fooled, Akashi; that's rare," Murasakibara commented, a hint of amusement and curiosity evident in his voice.

"I did, but they can't win; focus on the game and widen the gap more," Akashi ordered, receiving the ball from Aomine; he organized a play; it only took Teiko 10 seconds to score again with an easy 3-point shot from Midorima.

With the rest of the game Nura Academy dancing to the tune of Teiko without even a chance of coming back, the final score was 63 to 103.

"So I lost again, huh?" Shohei muttered, looking at the scoreboard. 'I already know we're going to lose, but why does it still hurt? ' Shohei thought, feeling a sudden lump of sadness in his throat.

"Nice game".

Shohei looked behind him and saw Akashi's right hand extended in front of him. 

"Nice game." Shohei said, accepting the handshake.

"Good luck with the rest of the tournament, even if I know you guys don't really need it," 

Akashi smiled, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with the statement, after a couple more small talks, the two went their separate ways.

Shohei returned back to their locker room; he noticed earlier that everyone had already gone back to the locker room except for him.

Way to end my middle school career, Shohei thought, thinking about his career stats. 0 tournament wins and, of course, 0 championships with an average ppg of 17.2, 7.2 assists per game, 3 rebounds per game, 0.3 blocks per game, and 0.6 steals per game.

Entering the locker room, he saw some of his teammates downcast, especially Lev and Yuki, while the others already knew what would happen; they had already accepted the fact that they would lose since the revealing of the tournament brackets and seeing Teiko in their block.

Shohei sat beside Lev and Yuki. 

A few seconds of silence passed.

"Guys, I know we lost, but please don't let this discourage you; this is just the beginning of our journey; this is just a minor setback. Continue to improve your game, and you will eventually have the right to stand beside the generation of miracles. No, not just the generation of miracles but all the talented basketball players across the world."

The silence continued.

Shohei feeling awkward, thinking his speech got ignored felt relieved when he heard Lev speak up.

"Yes, your right captain, I will continue to work hard, and I will beat the Generation of Miracles!". Lev stood up, a fiery blaze visible forming in his eyes, a new goal forming in his heart.

"I may not have the natural talent that Lev possesses, but I promise to myself that I will continue working hard on my skills to beat the Generation of Miracles!". Yuki said, also standing up with Lev, the two already planning to practice when they go back to the school gym.

'Well, I'm glad they already recovered', Shohei thought, looking at the two people, smiles returning to their faces.

*Ding*

Hmm? What was that sound?,

*System Completed Installing*

Huh, who said that?!, a bewildered look appearing in Shohei's face.

"Did you guys hear anything?".

"No?",

Shohei puzzled from their response. Look at the transparent interface in front of him.

Did I get destroyed so much that I'm turning crazy!?!?