章 96: Chapter 96 : VS Senshinkan High V - It Is Not Over Yet!
"Anything caught your interest, Akashi-kun?"
On the audience seat, Sonoda raised his eyebrows slightly when he saw Akashi change his expression from bored into a serious one. As a person who was responsible for the development of basketball in Japan, he has known Akashi and discussed a lot of things with him since he was just a middle schooler. But if he has to say, it is quite rare for him to see anything that could catch his interest. In fact, this is the first time Akashi shows any interest in something other than winning and his 'absolute' nonsense, so it piqued his interest too.
The red-haired point guard pondered for a second, his eyes are still on the court. After a while, he finally threw a question.
"Who is that Seirin #12? And why I have never seen him play before?"
Sonoda furrowed his brows for a second, trying to remember anything that he knows about Seirin #12.
"If I am not wrong, his name is Kouki Furihata, and he is a rookie this year. He has never joined any teams when he was in middle school, so this is his first official tournament ever. Why?"
"Nothing." Akashi shook his head. Inwardly though, he sneered at Sonoda.
'Really, a rookie? With how well he led the team and how confident he is especially when executing his flashy play, I would say he is an experienced player there. And coupled with his shooting range that almost feels like Midorima, no one would believe he is just a rookie.'
"If you are interested, do you want to invite him to the team?"
Sonoda's question suddenly snapped Akashi from his thought. But Akashi shook his head immediately, indicating that what Furihata shows in this game is still not enough to convince him.
"No, not yet, Sensei. Let me see this game first, and after that, we can talk about it."
'A good leader and organizer, coupled with his shooting ability, if he knows how to be obedient and follow my order, he would be the perfect piece of the team. Let's see his character first before making a decision…'
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On the Seirin bench, it was during the halftime break when Furihata who sat silently while drinking his water suddenly feels a shiver down through his spine. It was a similar yet a bit different sensation compared to the one he felt before when the second quarter just began.
"Something wrong, Furihata-kun?" Riko who noticed him shivering asked a question.
"Nothing. I just have a feeling that I have been watched by someone from the audience seat since the game began."
"Is that the same feeling as before?" Hyuga couldn't help but chime in, having already heard about this before. "You said it earlier, right? Is that just the same?"
"No," Furihata shook his head. "What I felt before was something like a prey being eyed by its predator. But now, it is like a teacher observing a student, waiting for the student to do something extraordinary before the teacher said, 'I told you so.'. And it is quite unnerving for me."
All the Seirin players who heard that just looked at him ridiculously, while more than one shrugged their shoulders, couldn't understand what he just said.
"Well, maybe it is because you have been impressing a lot of people here, that they would think about challenging you!" Kagami suddenly patted his back. "I have been on the same foot as you before. So, I will not be too surprised when you have a lot of challengers after this game is over."
"Really?" Furihata asked with a skeptical face. "I cannot see you impressed a lot of people like you portrayed to be, especially in America. Are you sure it is not someone else's story?"
"OI!"
Riko on the other side of the bench who saw her players joking around just shook her head slightly, a small smile could be seen on her face.
'The atmosphere on the team is quite good. Maybe because we are on the lead right now. But we still have two more quarters to end, so let's remind them about that first.'
Having decided that she finally stood up from her seat, clapping her hands to get her players' attention.
"Okay, everyone! Hear me out!"
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A few minutes later, the sound of the horn could be heard on the entire Tokyo Gymnasium, indicating the third quarter is about to begin. Five Seirin players; Izuki, Hyuga, Koganei, Kagami, and Kiyoshi walked to the court with relaxed smiles on their faces, showing their confidence in this game.
Honestly, seeing this scene, Oda feels quite pissed at the Seirin players. It showed that they thought the game is already done, and the last two quarters would just be a formality. But when he thought about it, he couldn't help but sigh.
'Last year, it was us who did that to Seirin. Maybe, this is karma that hit us right now. Whatever. Let's focus on the game first.'
Seeing the nonchalant attitude of Seirin players, Oda kinda wanted to punish them for underestimating him. But to do so, he needs to be careful, or his teammates wouldn't be able to catch up with him.
'Well.. let's start it slowly first.'
When the referee blows the whistle to begin the third quarter, Senshinkan did something quite unusual. Unlike before, when all the play went to the hand of Oda, now it was Hara, their point guard with jersey number #16, who organized the play. As for Oda, Senshinkan's ace decided to stand under Seirin's basket, mingling with the crowd in the paint area.
"Ha! So, you are done with your simple trick and decided to step away from the ball? You finally know your place, Bastard!"
Oda just raised his eyebrows slightly at the smugness on Kagami's face. While yes, he stepped away from the ball, that doesn't mean he wouldn't be able to create chaos for Seirin. And he will show it in a second.
"Well, if you think I am done with my trick, do you think you can follow me?"
Right after that, without waiting for Kagami to respond, Oda moves his body slightly toward his left before turning around and sprinting along the baseline on the right side, trying to get away from Kagami. Unsurprisingly, this simple trick couldn't fool Kagami anymore.
"Don't think you can escape me that easy, you bastard!"
But when Kagami is about to chase him down, his body suddenly hit a brick wall.
*BRUGH!*
"Nice screen, Narita!"
Yeah, it was a screen from Narita, Senshinkan's center, who helped Oda get away from the crowded area. And not only stopping Kagami, Narite sets a screen in such a way that also blocked Kiyoshi's path so the power forward couldn't stop Oda too.
"DAMN!"
"Someone, cover!"
Seeing his two big men being stopped inside the paint area, Hyuga reacted immediately, trying to prevent Oda from getting the ball. But by doing so, he also leaves a hole on the wing side, which was immediately exposed by Senshinkan's players with a single pass from Hara to Saki, their shooting guard.
"Nice pass, Saki!"
"Shit!"
Without anyone guarding him, Saki didn't hesitate even for a second before he shoot the ball. And as for the result,
*Splash!*
"YOSSSHAAAA!!"
"COME ON, SENSHINKAN! IT IS NOT OVER YET!"
Meanwhile, on Seirin's bench, Riko stood up from her seat before shouting at her players in dissatisfaction manner.
"Teppei, Junpei, Kagami-kun, don't forget to communicate! If you saw a screen coming, shout at your teammates! Warn them, alright!"
Yeah, this was the evaluation from Alex that Riko tried to fix on the team. When they are in defense, they often do it silently, without anyone communicating with each other. That's why when facing a team play like before, their defense would be exposed immediately.
Even though she knows that a change like that would take time, that doesn't mean she would just sit down and let it happen when her players make that mistake.
Now, the possession went back to Seirin's side. Izuki is holding the ball, trying to organize the play thoroughly. When he saw Kagami is moving toward the high post, he passed the ball to the red-haired boy. Unfortunately, right the moment the power forward caught the ball, two Senshinkan players closed him down immediately.
'Tch!' Kagami clicked his tongue in annoyance, trying to protect the ball from getting poked by the two players that sandwiching him. 'I couldn't even turn around and face the basket. This is really annoying.'
Fortunately enough, Izuki saw the double team come before he passed the ball, so when Kagami received it, the point guard had already run toward the opposite side of the court, and when he was in an open position, he asked the ball immediately.
"Kagami-kun!"
Hearing his name was called by his senpai, Kagami passed the ball reluctantly. But somehow, one of the Senshinkan players in front of him, Negi, tapped the ball and changed its route slightly.
"Damn!"
Izuki who is about to cut from the backdoor, seeing the ball go back to the outside of the three-point line, couldn't help but curse. But right after seeing the glimpse of Seirin's jersey sneaking to the paint area, Izuki threw a lob immediately.
"Nice lob, Izuki!"
It was Kiyoshi who leaped into the air and caught the lob, trying to put the ball into the basket. However, the moment he is about to release the ball from his hand, it was denied by someone from Senshinkan.
"Not that easy, Seirin!"
*SLAP!*
"YOSSHAA!!!"
"Nice block, Captain!"
Yeah, Oda who covered the paint area for Narita and Negi who double-teamed Kagami who saw Kiyoshi's movement and was able to stop him right on time. But that doesn't mean Seirin's attack is done, as Koganei managed to secure the rebound that was about to go out of bounds.
"Nice rebound, Koganei!"
"Senpai, here!"
Seeing Kagami securing a spot in the low post with only one player guarding him, Izuki didn't hesitate to pass the ball once again to the red-haired power forward. When he received the pass, Kagami couldn't help but grin like a loon.
"This is how basketball should be played! No bullshit strategy, just pure contest! See if you can stop me!"
Right after that, Kagami started to push Negi who is guarding him, trying to get closer to the paint area. Seeing that Negi is not a fair match for Kagami, Narita wanted to help double teaming the red-haired boy once again. But before he could do that, Kagami suddenly stopped pushing forward and turned his body around, pulling up a fadeaway from the baseline.
However,
*Clank!*
It hits the board! Seirin failed to score once again! Seeing the ball go wild after it bounced back to the court, everyone shouted at the same time,
"Get the rebound!"
Kiyoshi wanted to get the rebound before the ball went outside of the court. However, Oda is faster, as he jumped dramatically, grabbed the ball in the air, turns his body around, and threw it hard at Kiyoshi's lower body before he fell down.
Kiyoshi was speechless, as he didn't expect Oda would throw the ball at his direction. He couldn't react as the ball hit his knee before it finally went outside of the court. But when it is done, the referee blows the whistle and announced,
"Seirin out of bound. Change possession to Senshinkan."
"YOSSSHHAAAA!!!"
All Senshinkan players roared in celebration as finally, they were able to stop Seirin's offense for the first time since the beginning of the game. On the other hand, Hyuga and Izuki patted Kiyoshi's shoulder, trying to make sure the power forward is okay.
"Don't mind, Teppei!"
"Yeah. You will be able to win the next time. Come on!"
Kiyoshi smiles a little before he patted the back of the two. "Don't worry. I am okay. What about Kagami-kun?"
"Don't worry about him." Hyuga waved his hand nonchalantly. "This failure would only make him more excited."
And it was true, as in the next play, Kagami is staring at Oda intently, even when the Senshinkan's ace is not holding the ball. He makes a mistake before, lowering his guard and treating it like garbage time. But this time, he would get serious and kill the ace on the spot.
When the game restarted again, it was just like the last play, with Oda mingling around the crowd, ready to stretch out Seirin's defense. And when Oda is trying to get out of the crowd in the paint area with the help of Narita's screen, Kagami managed to avoid the wall effectively and still followed Oda.
"Don't think you can do it again, Baastard!"
However, what he didn't count is the fact that all Senshinkan players played more actively in the second half. After stretching out Seirin's defense and creating more space in the middle of Seirin's area, it was easy for Negi who was on the wing side to fill the blank area and received another pass from Hara.
"Nice pass, Hara!"
"Shit!"
Koganei who didn't know that there is no Seirin players in their own free-throw area panicked for a second. Fortunately, Kiyoshi covered that area pretty well, closing the distance between them and not giving Negi a chance to penetrate more.
However, just like what Hyuga did in the last play, by trying to cover the open space, Kiyoshi also leaves his own assignment. And Negi saw it too, as when Kiyoshi is about to approach him, Negi threw a lob toward the basket, which was caught by Narita before the center put the ball to the basket easily.
*Splash!*
"YOSSHHAAAAAA!!!"
"COME ON, SIX MORE!"
"WE ARE STILL ALIVE HERE!"
"WE WILL NOT GO DOWN THAT EASY! WE ARE SENSHINKAN!"
In the middle of Senshinkan's celebration, the sound of the horn could be heard, and a second later,
"Seirin High, time out!"
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Author note :
The gameplay for Senshinkan is inspired by Klay Thompson's floppy play. If you are interested, maybe you could watch the detail in https://www.youtube.com/shorts/QLJ-7ij1pf8
If you want to support me more, you can visit my Patreon page on patreon(.)com/ZetaFaes
You can also read this fanfiction up to chapter 116 on that page. Thank you! :)
-Zeta Faes-
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