章 158: Chapter 158 : Final Quarter, A New Character Appeared!
And what frustrated Shutoku the most was that all the Seirin players started to show up. Hyuga and Furihata who had a bad state today suddenly found their touch and knocked down three after three. Kagami is also the same. With Kuroko's help as the main attacker, he was able to attack the rim several times. Even though a lot of them ended up as distractions, the blue-haired boy still tossed the ball for his teammates to dunk.
The only one who didn't show up was Izuki. The point guard went invisible, not a single trace could be found on the court. However, his role couldn't be underestimated. He would always stand behind Kuroko whenever the blue-haired boy couldn't get away from someone's guard or failed to finish the offense. As the player who was further from the rim, he would always be the first person to go back when facing a fastbreak.
The third quarter went quite fast with both teams going back and forth, trying to take the lead. Even though Shutoku had no way to deal with Kuroko, Seirin also had the same problem with Midorima. Now that the shooting guard was willing to go deep inside while still maintaining his shooting accuracy, he became an unsolvable piece on the court. No matter how hard Seirin tried, they wouldn't be able to stop that green-haired boy from scoring.
But Shutoku wasn't happy though. The game was closer than it should be. In their mind, they still had the thought that Seirin was just a rising star team that still had no accolade, couldn't compare to one of the Tokyo Kings like them. But the reality slapped them hard. Now, they could only accept that Seirin was a strong opponent at the same level as them or they would be buried under their overconfidence.
"So…" Takao as the jokester of the team tried to lighten the mood. "Any idea of what should we do next?"
"We need to stop that ghost," Kimura stated as a matter of fact.
"Well, no shit, Sherlock." Miyaji rolled his eyes sarcastically. Kimura's answer wasn't helpful at all. They all knew they needed to stop Kuroko. The question is how?
"Since you are his former teammates, any idea of how to stop him, Midorima-kun?"
Being thrown under the bus by his captain out of a sudden, Midorima choked all the water he had just drank, glaring at Takao who stiffened his laughter. After wiping out all the water on his face in embarrassment, he started pondering what he knew about Kuroko. After a while, he shook his head helplessly.
"Unfortunately, my information is out of date." He replied. "As far as I know, he was just a passer and stealer type player who would rather blend in the background rather than show up like this. However, that was all due to his poor basic before. Now that it was solidified by Seirin, his confidence grows onto the next level and he is not afraid of doing more outrageous things on the court."
"Great," Miyaji said in exasperation. "Not only we don't have any solution, we didn't even know where is his limit. Who would guarantee that he didn't have another hidden weapon to fight against us?!"
Even though when Miyaji ranted like this he suddenly became a grumpy old man, his point is still valid. Even though they could stop Kuroko, what's stopping him from evolving again?
The atmosphere turned grim when they thought about that.
"His learning speed is a bit outrageous, though." Otsubo suddenly spoke, still sighing a bit. "It had only been what? A month, right? Since our game against Seirin? He didn't have that much of time, yet still able to bring such a mature style to change the direction of the game. What a monster."
Even though Midorima hated to do it, he had to admit what Otsubo said was right. Moreover, he still remembered the first time Kuroko entered Teikou's first string. Akashi gave the blue-haired boy a thick book filled with a lot of playbooks, expecting him to learn it all so Kuroko would know the situation on the court better than anyone else. As a passer, that was probably the most important yet the hardest aspect to learn.
However, it only took Kuroko a night for him to remember it all. And when Akashi tested it in a real game, the result was satisfactory.
At that time, Midorima still thought what Kuroko did was just ordinary. However, after mingling with a lot of normal players in Shutoku, he started to realize how outrageous Kuroko's learning ability was.
"Why do you all look so gloomy?" Nakatani's voice snapped them from their misery. "It is not like we are down a lot, right?" He glanced a little at the scoreboard.
Seirin High 66 – 61 Shutoku High
"Only five points, as long as Midorima could knock down two three-pointers and we could prevent them from scoring, that should be alright, right?"
"Easier said than to be done, Sensei," Takao replied wryly. "You saw that too, right, Sensei? How did we get destroyed whenever they got the ball?"
"Well, I saw it and I still don't have any idea how to stop them. But at least we could make them uncomfortable."
All heads suddenly turned around, waiting for what Nakatani said eagerly. The coach himself wasn't in a hurry, waiting for his players to calm down a bit.
"Well, when you think about it, the solution is easy." Nakatani finally spoke again. "Just use the same strategy as what Seirin did before. Keep pressuring them outside and let them come inside. We still have Midorima-kun here, so whenever they take two points from us, we would take it back with the threes."
"This….." Everyone looked at each other speechlessly, not knowing what to say. Finally, it was Otsubo who asked the question, "Sensei, Takao is right. It wasn't that easy to do that. We tried so hard the last quarter just to exhaust ourselves. So, can you be more specific?"
Nakatani smiled, knowing his words would trigger this kind of reaction. "Okay, listen to me first…."
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After a while, the break is finally over, and the game would go for the final quarter in about a minute. The five Seirin players were already down on the court, with Hyuga leading Kuroko, Furihata, Kiyoshi, and Mitobe down there. Even though Kagami wasn't on the court, his role could be replaced by Kiyoshi perfectly.
As for Shutoku, there was only one change in their squad. Kimura was out replaced by a spiky-haired boy slightly smaller than him with jersey number #13. Hyuga froze for a moment when he saw the boy before scowling, startling Furihata and the others a bit.
"Do you know him, Captain?" Furihata asked.
"Yeah." Hyuga nodded. "In fact, not only me, but all the senior members should know about him. He is Koki Ueda, their main shooting guard last year."
Furihata and Kuroko who didn't know about that were taken aback by the sudden information. "So, he is their main shooter before Midorima?"
"Yes." It was Kiyoshi who answered that. "And you both need to be careful about him. His defense is so annoying and he took pride in it. If he approached you, don't be ashamed to pass the ball quickly."
Furihata raised his eyebrows slightly, now feels a bit of interest in this Ueda. Even though he doubted it would be worse than Tsugawa from Seihou, he still appreciated his senpai's advice regarding this new player.
Fortunately, Furihata listened to that advice, as the moment he grabbed the ball, he was stared at by Ueda immediately from a very close distance.
'Holly hell!' Furihata cursed. 'Why is he so aggressive?! This is the final quarter already!' He tried to dribble the ball longer, yet had no room to go. Having no other choice, he recalled what his senpai said before and finally passed the ball.
Unexpectedly though, Kuroko who received the ball was surrounded by Takao and Miyaji immediately. And unlike the last quarter when their defense was a bit loose, now they don't have any intention to give the blue-haired boy a chance to hold the ball longer.
But Kuroko didn't panic. Even before his evolution, his playing style revolved around pass and go. So, when he didn't have room to hold the ball, all he had to do was just tap it lightly, rerouting the ball into Hyuga who was in an open position.
"Nice pass, Kuroko!"
Hyuga grinned, ready to take a shoot. However, he was still wary of the defense that would come out of nowhere. So, he pump-faked the shoot for a second just to make sure everything was alright.
And his instinct was proven right later, as even before he could fake the shoot, a hand had already popped up in front of his face. Unexpectedly, it was Ueda who just guarded Furihata who did that.
'As expected, he is still an annoying pest.' Hyuga clicked his tongue in annoyance.
Unlike the other Shutoku players whom he respected, Hyuga had no problem bashing Ueda with mean words. That's because Ueda had a bad reputation as a delinquent on the court. In order to stop the opponent, Ueda had no problem using everything dirty even though it could risk an injury to the opponent.
The last time Hyuga heard about him, Ueda was banned for a year after chopping the opponent's neck while trying to block the shoot and instigating the fight. Seeing him playing again, there was no doubt the punishment for him was over.
'Tch!' Hyuga clicked his tongue in annoyance. He had half his mind to pass the ball inside. But seeing how Midorima and Otsubo guarded the paint, he was not sure about that. However, Mitobe could see his dilemma and retreated to the high post, asking for the ball.
"Hyuga!"
Hyuga perked up and saw Mitobe giving him a signal to pass and go. Knowing what Mitobe intended to do, Hyuga didn't hesitate and gave the ball to the center. Right after Mitobe received the pass, he gave it back to Hyuga who ran to his back while setting a screen, giving the captain space to take a shoot.
"Nice, Mitobe!"
With everyone two or three steps away from him, Hyuga had no problem knocking down the three.
*Splash!*
"YOSSHAAA!"
All the Seirin players celebrated the play enthusiastically. As for the Shutoku players, they were not too disappointed. They could force Seirin to use almost all 24 seconds of their time before making a shoot. If they could do that at every turn, it would disturb Seirin's tempo a lot.
"Good defense, everyone!" Nakatani encouraged his players from the sideline. "Keep it up! We will stop them later!"
"Yes, Sensei!"
The ball went to Takao again. This time, he gave it immediately to Midorima. Since Kagami wasn't on the court, he didn't hesitate to go to the three-point line again, believing no one would be able to challenge him. And he was right in this regard. Even though Kiyoshi tried to follow him, he was still one step faster, knocking down another three for Shutoku.
*Splash!*
"Nice shoot, Midorima!"
"Go back! Be ready for fastbreak!"
The moment Midorima took a jumper, three Shutoku players had already gone back to their area. They had this strong belief that no matter what happened, Midorima's shot would always meet its target. Only Otsubo was still in Seirin's area to make sure everything went well.
The next few minutes went exactly the same. Even though the perimeter area became more crowded with the addition of Ueda, Furihata and Hyuga were still in a hot state. They were able to knock down every opportunity that their teammates provided with a lot of hardship. And with Kuroko back to his role as a passer after getting double-teamed, Seirin's offense was like a well-oiled machine, running non-stop without anyone could stop it.
However, the same could be said for Shutoku.
With Midorima on the court, they would always be able to take back the score that Seirin got in the last play to keep the game close. The green-haired boy was a man on a mission. With Hyuga and Furihata in a hot state, it was like he wanted to prove he was still the best shooter on the court by knocking down every shoot available no matter how many defenders were in front of him. Hell, even the triple-team of Kuroko, Kiyoshi, and Hyuga weren't able to stop him as he just shrugged it off with a tough fadeaway.
He was the unsolvable factor for Seirin's defense.
However, this direction was about to change when Kagami was ready to go back to the court. It wasn't Seirin players who were excited, but one Shutoku player who grinned madly when he saw the red-haired boy.
Yeah, that boy was Ueda.
Seeing the grin targeted at his hot-headed kouhai, Hyuga was a bit worried. He had a feeling that something bad would happen next. He wanted to warn Kagami about Ueda's dirty behavior. However, out of his trust in Kagami who started to show calmness and maturity beyond his capability in the last couple of days, he decided not to do that. Unfortunately, his trust was betrayed as the first punch was thrown by the red-haired boy a minute later.
"OH, SHIT!"
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Author note :
If you want to support me more, you can visit my Patreon page on patreon(.)com/ZetaFaes
You can read this fanfiction up to chapter 178 on that page. Also, you can read my other fanfiction, Diamond no Ace: The Prince of Hitter up to chapter 39 too.
Thank you! :)
-Zeta Faes-
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