章 11: Advancing to Day 2
[Ryosei POV]
{Katagiri Locker Room}
Inside the locker room everyone was sitting on the benches with tired but smiling faces. Time to spark some energy back into them, don't want them to get complacent.
"Alright guys that was a good first half you finished up by 12 points. Which means I have a reward for you." I say with a gracious smile.
"What is it Captain!" Ikehara screams out
"I'm not quite sure I deserve it, I missed 2 of my 12 3 pointers." Teshima mumbles with his usual trail of tears.
I could only laugh internally at that, he's probably the most strangely gifted player on this team behind me. Something about him constantly crying makes him more accurate, trash talking makes him cry more and complimenting him makes him cry more. I look forward to the day someone manages to make him stop crying haha.
"All of you deserve it and they are some lemons soaked in honey! Made by Riko!" I say jubilantly while looking around the room seeing everyone suddenly turn green and back away.
I give a deep frown and eyes go cold and the air in the locker room becomes heavier.
"Anybody want to tell me why you aren't lining up to eat Riko's honey soaked lemons? That which she stayed up all night preparing for you guys, not to mention the weeks she practiced over and over to make sure they would be perfect when the time came." A lone tear escaped down my eye before I turned my back to them and continued.
"What sort of heartless ba—."
"Stop! I'll eat it! Ikehara raised his hand as he interrupted me, yet he had a trail tears going down his face doing a great Teshima impression.
"Looks like we have at least one kind soul on this team. You my friend will get to eat from personally made box of honey soaked lemons." I said pointing at Ikehara. Smirking as the rest of them had their jaws drop.
However I wouldn't be that cruel, this cruelness would be saved for future Seirin. Me and my team would always tell Riko she cooked great. The reason for that being is that I actually made all these honey soaked lemons, but it was well worth seeing their despair.
While they were eating the slices from the box I made, I pulled out the last one that Riko actually made. Opening it up I see 4 whole lemons floating in honey, luckily for my cooking challenged older sister I've always like lemons and the skin gets soaked in the honey just enough to be perfect in my opinion.
Grabbing one out I eat it while I watch my team eat the ones I made with blissful expressions. Now they are energized and thinking about other things than the other team. Something that happens especially with teams that aren't as disciplined is they think too much in a game and end up messing themselves up. I just need them to continue to follow my plays and play without thinking too hard.
With the break time winding down I wash my hands and get them to do the same.
"Alright guys time to head back, make sure to do some light warm ups in case your body cooled down too much."
""Yes Captain!""
Meanwhile...
[3rd person POV]
"Okay Kuroko show me your new shot." Momoi said
Currently the trio of Kuroko, Aomine and Momoi were outside at the court, where Kuroko is going to show Momoi his shot. Midorima having heard them while sitting in the stands also follows to see what kind of shot Kuroko could possibly pull off that's worth all this excitement.
To say he was shocked was an understatement, I'm the eyes of Midorima who prides himself with his shooting ability, and taking an identical shot everytime. However Kuroko's form seemed way too relaxed almost like he didn't want to shoot. The next thing he saw was Aomine being completely froze and only moving once Kuroko had already reached his apex of his jump.
He thought this was just Aomine already knowing how to stop it because from here it didn't look that difficult to block, only for Kuroko to easily shoot at make it before Aomine could even get close. Midorima and Momoi both had wide eyes while Kuroko just had a happy smile on his face.
"Wh-what was that?!" Midorima shouted.
"Midorima? When did you get there?" Momoi asks.
"Don't mind that, what was that shot? How did you not stop Aomine?"
"Tsk, you're welcome to try yourself. It's a ridiculous shot that I'm pretty sure only Kuroko can do." Aomine says as he walks off to the side by Momoi.
"Do it again Kuroko, this time against me." Midorima says as he walks in front of Kuroko. With a nod Kuroko starts dribbling the ball. As soon as he stops Midorima prepares himself and lowers his stance. Kuroko breathes out slowly as he goes through his shooting motion.
Midorima suddenly feels like everything has slowed down and his movements feel restrained as if by a heavy mud. Keeping his eyes focused on the ball he calms down, but the next second he sees Kuroko at the top of his jump and already beginning to shoot. Midorima tries to catch up only to end up like Aomine only jumping after Kuroko has already shot the ball.
The swish of the net brings them back out of their thoughts.
"We have to show Akashi." Momoi says.
{Back to Katagiri vs Shizuka}
[Still 3rd person POV]
Frustration continues to climb for Shizuka as they still can't find a way to stop bumping into each other. Leading to arguing and increasing fouls against them. Mitobe looks around in confusion as he also doesn't know how to fix it.
'Sigh, sorry Mitobe that your team had to be the one to go through this. But my team needs this win if they are ever going to continue to improve. At least I made Kuroko a little better for you in the future.' Ryosei thinks to himself as he continues to call plays.
The final buzzer finally sounds for the match with the score becoming increasingly lopsided as the game went on.
""Katagiri Junior High 84-51 Shizuka Junior High! Game over! Katagiri will move on to round 2.""
Katagiri and Shizuka meet at the center of the court and bow.
"""Thank you for the match!""" Both teams yell, however before they walk off Ryosei walks up to Mitobe.
"You showed promise out there, I hope you continue to improve and don't give up." He didn't give Mitobe time to respond, not that he would have, but you could see a smile appear on his face, and his hand gripped tight. He was ready to get better.
Katagiri put on their tracksuits in the locker room before heading up to their spots in the stands to watch the block B matches until their next turn. This gave Ryosei a chance to study the competition and learn any tendencies and strategies future opponents will have.
Their next match was about 5 hours later and they were going to be playing against Kiyoshi Junior High. There were no notable players from canon on this team, but they were strong enough that Ryosei would need to play.
With Ryosei on the court, he mainly focused on defense and setting his teammates up to score. Like usual Katagiri earned an early lead off a lethal breakout and held it for the remainder of the game. While it didn't show too much of his abilities it did confirm to Momoi that Ryosei is the brains behind the squad.
No longer having to wait until Arata looked at him to change strategies, the other players became even more deadly. It felt like Ryosei was a puppeteer controlling his teammates and sometimes even opponents with strings. It was like a conductor conducting a symphony, everything seemed to move the way he wanted it to.
Just looking at his aloof expression though you almost wouldn't think he was doing anything, not to mention his eerily similar to Kuroko's low presence. Most of the time his opponents could feel the pressure of him just standing in the court, but that's just when he wants their attention on him. He's able to attract or avert their attention to and from him at will, making him currently much more dangerous than Kuroko.
""Game over! Katagiri Junior High 95-43 Kiyomi Junior High! Katagiri will be advancing to day 2.""
The scary part is that even though Ryosei was playing he only scored 10 points, however he had 30 assists, 20 steals and 22 blocks. He would now have the attention of all of block B and the smart ones of Block A. But that's exactly how he wanted it, most teams would now try to stop him, which is laughable, instead of his teammates.
An excitement continued to rise within Ryosei, even in his past life he loved winning, especially when teams thought they had a chance. He loved leading them by the nose and then crushing them before they could figure out how to counter. So while they attempted and failed to stop him specifically he would continue to feed the ball to his team.
They would switch to guard his teammates, but that would leave him open to do as he pleases. It was a paradox that only the strongest teams might have an answer for, and he was ready for them to try.
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Author's Note
Got a closer look at Ryosei's attitude and how he approaches the game. While he hates trash talkers it's mostly that he dislikes people that can't back up what they say. And he likes to beat people who are trying their hardest. While he's like this he still prioritizes clean play, you won't see him or his teammates flopping, purposely drawing fouls or playing like Kirisaki dai ichi from the show. He despises them most of all and I can't wait to write that chapter.
I'm sure it's becoming more noticeable that he plays like a combination of the GoM. His play style when playing against weaker teams who haven't drawn his ire is more Kuroko and Akashi based. He misdirects and confused while also seemingly controlling everyone's movements as if he know what's going to happen.
When he plays serious or gets angered he showcases his skill and plays as hard as Aomine using pure talent to run circles around opponents. While he doesn't miss shots, the same as Midorima, his range is limited to just outside the arc.
While he's not as tall as Murasakibara he can lockdown while parts of the court with his speed and ability to accurately read the game flow and predict passes.
Expect more slice of life next chapter. And matches I've only got one match planned right now that I want write the whole thing, and that's the final of block b which, spoiler, will be Kamata West.
Fun fact: I took Kiyomi from Tokyo Ghoul, it's the high school Touka goes too
Hope you enjoyed.
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