Ｌｉｇｈｔ

twenty one - redheaded beast

"Keep giving Kagami the ball," Sasaki told Izuki as they ran back to defend after a dunk from the redhead. "It's best to feed the beast, desu ne?"

"Right, I was thinking the same," Izuki nodded, "Then we can mix some threes in as well. I'll be counting on you later," He told him, and the white haired male nodded that he understood.

One of the Shukoku players went for a shot, but Kagami was right behind him and swatted the ball out from his hands, straight toward Hyuuga. The shooting guard passed to Kagami once he had landed, and they went for a fast break.

Once he was at the three point line, Kagami stopped from a full run and jumped for a shot. Sasaki hummed at the sight of the defender falling first, that's always fun to see.

He made the shot, and the Seirin players went on defense. A few back and forths later, Midorima and Kagami faced off again, but this time the greenette seemed more sure of himself. Sasaki raised an eyebrow as Midorima jumped, then his eyes followed suit when Kagami didn't jump with him.

"Out of gas already?" Sasaki frowned, looking Kagami up and down. He was panting pretty hard and with the amount of sweating that was going on, he understood that Kagami was close to his limit. At least, in that game. "Not to worry, I'm still pretty alive."

"I'd be concerned if you were dead," Otobo commented from beside him, making Sasaki snort.

"Ha! True enough," He beamed in reply. The shot Midorima just made caused the score board to ding as the points were added, making it tied at 41 points.

"Shut up! I won't lose over this!" Kagami was riled up again, and because of that, Midorima easily blocked a shot from him and Shutoku made a counter attack, managing to get a layup from a fast break.

"Oi," Sasaki elbowed Kagami hard in the gut, "I said don't do something unnecessary yet you go and do exactly that. You're lucky I won't strangle you right now."

"Demo-"

"No! Bad Kagami!" He karate chopped the redhead, drawing a snicker out of Takao who was closest the the two at that point. A second later, the end of the third quarter was called. "Running around like a chicken with its head cut off and it's tail on fire is never a good thing!"

"I wasn't-"

"You were," The other four starters objected in unison, making Kagami's eyes widen.

"Kagami, you're getting too worked up. Pay more attention to your surroundings," Izuki advised.

"That's right," Hyuuga agreed after taking a drink of water. Sasaki found that to be a good idea and started down his own water bottle. "And that wasn't the right time to go, you should be passed first."

"What good-"

"If you say something stupid I'm gonna strangle you for the entire break," Sasaki threatened with a deadpan, making Kagami glare at him.

"I'm just saying, other than you, who could've been strong enough to get past them-"

"And that was stupid," Sasaki immediately choke-holded him.

"O-oi-"

"Each and every one of your teammates is strong enough to stand on the court beside you and fight with you for the win. Get your head out of where it shouldn't be and start seeing everyone for what they are, your teammates. I won't ever understand how playing alone is fun or satisfying, but you're real close to doing that so I'm real close to sending you home on a gurney."

"Those are nothing more than words if we don't win!" Kagami struggled, but Sasaki was true to his word and strangled him the entire break between the third and fourth quarter.

"They'll turn into reality if you keep acting like this," Sasaki smiled sweetly. "I haven't beaten someone up in a while so it might take longer to knock you out than usual~"

"Sasaki-kun," Kuroko spoke up, catching the white haired boy's attention. "Threatening him isn't the answer."

"No, let him keep going," Riko and Hyuuga said at the same time, making Kuroko blink and Sasaki smirk.

"Besides, you're just saying win win win, shut up about winning and just play to have fun ya jerk. Friggin nuts," Sasaki grumbled, several veins popping out of his face at how angry he was. Kagami was turning blue from lack of oxygen.

"Um Sasaki, Kagami needs air," Koganei reminded him, making the make loosen his grip.

"Right, my bad."

Soon enough, the fourth quarter began after a bit more strangulation. Kuroko was put back in after revealing that he could pass on a different level for a select few people, so Sasaki was back to being point and Kagami was back to being scared of him.

"Yo, back to being point I see," Takao greeted as Sasaki and him walked up to each other. "And bringing Kuroko out again, what's with that?"

"I'm unsure, but it'll probably be epic since everything he does is epic," Sasaki grinned, making the other point guard sweat drop.

"Better not let Shin-chan hear you say that," He muttered under his breath.

"What was that?" Sasaki hadn't heard him.

"Huh? I didn't say anything," Takao denied, smiling as he hummed to himself. Seirin started with the ball, and Kagami grasped hold of it. Otobo and Midorima went to cage him, since they thought he'd try and go on his own again, but the redhead did a smart and passed to Mitobe, who shot a three.

"Good choice!" Sasaki held his hand up to Kagami, who returned the high five. Suddenly, Midorima had the ball once again.

"We're going back to Sasaki on Midorima since Kagami is close to his limit. Try not to wear yourself out, you have the entire fourth quarter left," Riko had instructed during the time out.

"Hi again!" Sasaki poked the ball out from between the greenette's hands as he went up. Kagami was in front of him, catching the tipped ball and heading back to their goal.

Passing to Hyuuga, the shooter got a three in easily. "Alright!" The Seirin bench cheered from the sidelines. Shutoku scored a layup in return a few seconds later. Then suddenly, Kuroko got past Takao. Sasaki smirked, knew you could do it buddy, and passed towards Kagami.

As Takao went to intercept the ball, Kuroko got there first and punched it. Sasaki spluttered for a second, but then he chuckled as Kagami dunked over Midorima. "Well, I did say it was gonna be epic, and I wasn't wrong."