章 13: Chapter 13 - VS Kaijo IV - Kise Stepping Up His Game
Despite the speech Kasamatsu gave before the second quarter started, the flow of the game is still completely in Seirin's hands.
Furihata is pressuring Kise from Kaijo's own court, with Kuroko shadowing them behind to cut the pass that comes to the blonde.
After Kuroko managed to steal the pass to Kise for the first time, Kaijo decided to not focus on Kise for their offense. They wanted to intimidate Seirin by saying that they can still win the game even without Kise.
A big mistake for them to still underestimate Seirin.
Kagami alone was able to shut down two of their big men, Hayakawa and Kobori, inside the paint area, outmatching both of them in a rebound contest. Koganei is being an absolute menace to Moriyama, managed to draw an offensive foul, and forced the shooting guard to have two missed three-point shoot already.
But out of everyone, Izuki is the most surprising player for Seirin right now. With his hawk eyes, he managed to track every Kise's movement while still guarding Kasamatsu, preventing the point guard to give the ball to the blonde.
There are a few times when Kasamatsu was able to escape from Izuki. But Izuki wouldn't let him pass to a good position. He would lead Kasamatsu to a weird and crowded position where he has to pass the ball to his teammates who are under the rim just for Kagami to block their shoot attempts.
This is his own resolve to grow stronger so that nobody could steal his place as Seirin's main point guard, not even his Kouhai.
Back to the game, Kaijo could still score, but Seirin is determined to make it as hard as possible for Kaijo.
However, offensively, Seirin also didn't have much progression. Kaijo decided to make a change in their defensive strategy by putting Kise to guard Furihata. Even though he loathed to admit it, Furihata has to say that Kise is indeed a very talented player.
The blonde could guard anyone, from the point guard to the center while giving them intense pressure without putting himself at disadvantage. And whatever Furihata's trick to pull, Kise would always catch him with his super reflex that forced Furihata to pass the ball.
Honestly, Furihata couldn't believe that this is the level of a player who is only playing the game for two to three years.
Yes, Kise is a very talented player, Indeed.
He couldn't make a good shoot under Kise's watch and could only pull a small trick to buy him one or two seconds before the blonde followed him with such an incredible reflex.
The only thing Furihata could do right now is playmaking, the same role as Izuki. Furihata couldn't help but cringe a bit at that. Without Hyuga, even with two playmakers and one shadow playmaker on the court, the only one who can score while being under Kaijo's intense pressure is Kagami, and that is definitely not a good thing.
Even though Kuroko is still untrackable by Kaijo's players, as long as they knew that in the end, the pass would go to Kagami, they didn't have much problem stopping Seirin's attack. And they definitely did it since the beginning of the second quarter.
Furihata took a glance at the clock.
Three minutes have already passed with Kaijo still leading four points, 55-51.
'Even though we played well, it is time to bring Hyuga-senpai and Mitobe-senpai for offense, or we will just waste Kuroko's ability for this quarter. We need to create an attack.'
He turned around and make eye contact with Riko who is, fortunately, thinking the same. She nodded at him before sending Hyuga and Mitobe to the court, substituting Furihata and Koganei.
"Good job, you two!" Riko greeted Furihata and Koganei right after they left the court, giving them towels. "Go sit down and rest for a bit. You will go again later."
Furihata and Koganei nodded, accepting the order. It was right after he sat down that Furihata realized he is sweating a lot while his breath is heavy.
'No more than a quarter and I am already this tired? Pathetic.' He chuckled bitterly at himself.
"So, what do you think of Kaijo?" Riko suddenly asked, snapping Furihata from his thought. He didn't know who she talked to, Koganei or him? But he didn't need to ask that as Koganei is already speaking his thought.
"It is like playing against Teppei." He said it bluntly without giving more explanation, making the other look at him with a confused expression. Koganei forgot that everyone on the bench except for Tsuchida is only a first-year and hasn't even met Kiyoshi and didn't know about him.
"Well, Koganei-kun, care to explain?" Riko pressed, ignoring the confused expression from their kohai. Koganei huffed before he explained his thought.
"I mean, you cannot break their spirit or rile them up. I tried to provoke their shooting guard to shoot, but he ignored my trash talk. And you saw it every time Kagami destroyed their two big men. Those two would get up as if it was nothing. No, in fact, I could see them grinning excitedly They are a team who will be in their best form when they play against a stronger opponent. It is quite annoying, to be honest."
Riko stares intently at Koganei before she nodded.
"Thank you, Koganei-kun. What about you, Furihata-kun?" She turned her attention to Furihata. The one who was asked didn't give her an immediate answer. He took a moment to think before he replied,
"Well, I can see why they are one of the best high school teams in Japan right now. Just look at them." He pointed his finger to Kasamatsu who escaped from Izuki's guard before he gives a lob to Hayakawa for an alley-oop dunk.
"They have been playing with this very high pace, giving us a very intense pressure in defense, and yet they haven't even made a change for their players. And there is not a hint of tiredness in their players as well. They are in better shape compared to us. Honestly, only Kagami could match their intensity right now." He chuckled bitterly.
Riko nodded silently, not asking questions anymore. Instead, she chooses to just observe the game carefully.
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Meanwhile, the flow of the game is starting to change in Kaijo's favor. Kagami is starting to get tired from fighting under the rim against two players, and now he is the one who faces Kise.
Without Kagami under the rim, Hayakawa and Kobori also have an easier time, resulting in a couple of offensive rebounds for their team. Kasamatsu is also playing well, linked up with the big man and Moriyama several times. Hell, he even surprised Izuki with a couple of mid-range jump shots and three-point shoots that went in. He shows everyone why he is Kaijo's captain.
Fortunately enough, Kise is not pushing too far in offense, knowing that Kagami and Kuroko are looking after him. However, that is not because he is worried about those two. No, the only reason he held back is that his senpai wanted to show off their abilities to Seirin.
"It started to get boring, right?" He spoke to Kagami who is guarding him.
"What do you mean?" Kagami frowned at the sudden question. But looking at the smile on Kise's face makes him feel uneasy.
"Let's spice things up." He said while asking for the ball for the first time in this quarter. Kasamatsu clicked his tongue in annoyance but still gives the ball to the blonde.
"Follow me if you can!" Kise drives forward right after he said that. Kagami gritted his teeth as he tried to follow him, but Kise proved that he is way faster than Kagami.
Seeing as Kise is escaping from Kagami's guard, Kuroko tried to sneak from behind, stealing the ball from Kise. But the blonde saw Kuroko's movement just a second before the steal happened and with his super reflex, he shifted the ball with a crossover.
"WHAT?!" Kagami and Kuroko widened their eyes at the same time, surprised that Kise is able to escape from both of them.
Seeing as Kise is going to the rim without anyone guarding him, Hyuga left Moriyama without hesitation to go after Kise. But Kise saw it too. He made eye contact with Moriyama which could be seen by Hyuga before he makes a move that looks like a pass.
'He wants to pass? Shit!'
Hyuga stopped moving and tried to go back to Moriyama. Unfortunately for him, that is what Kise really wants him to do. The blonde fakes the pass for a euro step and jumped for a dunk, leaving everyone stunned at his play.
*BAANG!!!*
Then, Kise turned around and stares at Kagami and Kuroko before saying,
"That was a good play, Kurokocchi. But if you want to stop me, that is not enough."
Kagami gritted his teeth before asking for the ball.
"Senpai, the ball!"
Izuki frowned at Kagami's sudden order. But he still gives the ball to the red hair.
However, much to Seirin's surprise, right before Kagami had the ball, a blonde flashed in front of him with high speed, throwing them off guard.
"STEAL!"
Kise didn't wait for too long before he drives toward the rim, jumping for another dunk. Mitobe hesitates for a moment, but he decided to give the blonde space for the dunk, afraid that if he tries to block Kise the clash would hurt him.
"Nice one, Kise!"
Kagami is not happy with the steal. He clenched his fists as he asked for the ball again.
"Senpai!"
Izuki and Hyuga frowned at Kagami's harsh tone.
"Oi, Brat-"
"Just do it!" Kagami snapped, surprising his teammates. Hyuga wanted to scold Kagami, but when he saw the referee frown at Kagami, he decided to leave it later.
'Just 30 seconds before the second quarter end. Just wait, Brat. It wouldn't end well for you.'
Now, Kagami is holding the ball again, having another one-on-one situation against Kise. Kagami could see from the corner of his eyes that his teammates are moving, trying to create enough space for him to drive.
He took a glance in the other direction, and he could see Kuroko is moving toward him. Without hesitation, Kagami sends the ball to Kuroko and went straight to the rim, waiting for Kuroko to give the ball back.
And somehow, this teamwork is still working. Kuroko bounced the ball to Kagami who grabbed it before he jumped. However, right before he dunked the ball, Kise appeared from behind, jumped as high as Kagami (or even higher), and blocked the ball to the backboard before the blonde grabbed it for himself.
"Nice block, Kise!"
Just like the last play, Kise didn't wait for too long before he dribbled the ball forward for a fast break. He could see Kagami is trying to chase him down, but Kise knows they had similar speeds. If Kise is one step forward, there is no chance for Kagami to stop him now.
Before he entered the paint area though, he could see Kuroko somehow appeared in front of him out of nowhere.
But seeing as Kuroko is not a match for him, Kise decided not to avoid Kuroko. No, Kise bumped toward Kuroko's body, making his former teammate fall, before he makes a sudden stop and did a fadeaway jump shoot, avoiding Hyuga and Mitobe who are waiting for him under the rim.
Right after the ball went in, all players could hear the buzzer ring loudly, indicating the end of the second quarter.
*Spash!*
Kise wanted to celebrate his buzzer-beater with his senpai. However, before he could do that, all of Seirin's players is gathering in front of Kuroko with panicked faces.
"Kuroko! Are you alright?!"
That was when Kise saw Kuroko's forehead bleeding.
77-64
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