Ｌｉｇｈｔ

sixty three - taking control

I've never wanted to crush my opponents so badly, Sasaki thought as the breeze blew in his face. His white hair fluttered with the gusts as he looked out at the city. Right now, I want to obliterate them so badly that they'll never even think of stepping on a basketball court again, he seethed. I have the entire second half to score as many points as possible. We're ahead right now, so that's all that matters.

Closing his eyes, the now shooting guard sighed as he released the tension in his body, allowing himself to relax. And then, he headed back in.

Anyone could see that Sasaki was dripping with rage as he came onto the court, just in time for play to start. The players on Seirin weren't sure how to respond to the fact that Sasaki had been giving out orders. Kagami wasn't confident enough to approach him, so Izuki decided to do one for the team.

"Hey, Sasaki," He called, jogging over to him with a slight smile. "Feeling any better? You look ready to go at least."

"Yeah, I am," The azurette nodded, "So please give me the ball as much as possible. I won't disappoint."

"You got it," Izuki held his fist out, and they fist bumped. Izuki smiled, but Sasaki didn't return the look. "Actually, I have a question. Why'd Riko-san let you have control of the team?" He questioned.

"Because I asked," Sasaki answered, glancing at the other starters. The point guard sweat dropped.

"Uh, if you say so."

The second half started a few moments later, and Kuroko had the ball. Bubblegum guy got in front of him, smirking. Sasaki would have rolled his eyes if he wasn't hyper focused on the person in front of him. Right as another player went to steal the ball, Kuroko ducked in with the vanishing drive and tossed the ball over his head.

Kagami came roaring in, jumping over Kuroko, grasping the ball and slamming it into the hoop. As the Seirin team was jogging back to defend, one of the Kirisaki Daiichi players spoke up. "But don't you go for the drive when your opponent blinks?" He demanded of Kuroko, who looked confused.

"What? I do?"

"Huh?" The dude gaped before growling and shouting at bubblegum guy. "This is different from what you told us!"

"Looks like I was wrong. My bad," he rubbed his head sheepishly.

"Don't be ridiculous!"

"Kuroko, I'm having you sub for Koganei now," Sasaki jogged past him, causing the phantom to whirl towards him with his eyes wide. Sure enough, the buzzer sounded, signaling a substitution.

"Your mark is number eight," Kuroko high fived Koganei, who nodded.

"Got it."

The game started up again, this time much more intensely. Hanamiya was starting to steal balls, which got them points so they were soon tied. "I'm so sick of this," Sasaki mimicked Hanamiya from earlier. Running a hand through his hair, the azurette clicked his tongue. "It's been a while since I've had to do anything myself, but it appears today is that day. Izuki," He held his hand out, so without any hesitation-which surprised himself-Izuki passed him the ball.

Hanamiya attempted to steal, but Sasaki was faster. Grasping the ball, he dodged his mark and the Kirisaki captain just fast and precise enough that the two collided. "Referee time!"

"What was that just now?" The crowd started whispering amongst themselves as the two were inspected. They had both been knocked out on impact, and it was likely they'd have at least a concussion. Sasaki's mark also appeared to have a neck injury, since he had been hit by Hanamiya sideways.

"I mean, they did have it coming, but still.."

"I wonder if it was done on purpose?"

"No way, things get messy in basketball, so it was obviously an accident! Besides, there's no way someone could orchestrate it to get two players injured like that unless they had some kind of super power!"

"Don't say weird stuff like that!"

"Alright guys, listen up," Sasaki knelt in front of the bench, looking everyone in the eyes. "Since their ringleader is now out, they will either resort to violence again or stop all together. They still have one key member on the court, Seto Kentaro, as he's the other half of Hanamiya's brain. I'll have Kuroko come back in during the fourth quarter as well as Hyuuga, so for the remaining seven minutes, we'll be racking up points."

"Sounds good," Kagami nodded, Izuki following suit as well as Mitobe.

After the two unconscious players were taken to the nurse, play resumed and it was exactly as Sasaki had predicted. Since the Kirisaki Daiichi team was trained to injure, they resorted to continuing to do that. However, their attempts were futile. At least against Sasaki.

At one point, as sparks began to form in his eyes, Sasaki shook his head. No, I don't need the zone right now, it'd only be a hindrance, he thought to himself as he shot a three.

Shot after shot, steal after steal-since Kirisaki Daiichi's new point guard wasn't as good as Hanamiya and was easily seen through and honestly kind of slow-Seirin soon broke a hundred points with Kirisaki Daiichi only being at fifty six.

Another collision occurred, taking out the other two starters and leaving only the replacements. At the end of the third quarter, the score was 114 to 61 and everyone knew that Sasaki Hayate was truly an equal of the generation of miracles: a monster.

During the fourth quarter, Sasaki was moved to center as Hyuuga came back out-much more relaxed-as well as Kuroko. Soon enough, the Kirisaki Daiichi team's spirit dwindled as Seirin's score soared into the 150s. Then, Riko and Kiyoshi returned, the center fully rested. To everyone's surprise, Sasaki subbed himself out for Kiyoshi.

"Can I get some pain meds?" He asked as he sat on the bench.

"Are you hurt anywhere?" Riko scanned him over worriedly, but he shook his head.

"No, it's just that I've got a massive headache," Sasaki answered. "Dealing with Kirisaki Daiichi was more tolling than I thought it would be.."

"What do you mean by that?" Riko raised an eyebrow at the way he phrased it, but Sasaki stayed silent as he took the pill offered to him and swallowed it with some water.

"Well, ever since you let Sasaki take over," Koganei spoke up, "Kirisaki Daiichi's members have all been getting into accidents, now the subs are the only ones left on the court since all the starters are out. Not that I'm blaming Sasaki or anything!"

"What?" The coach's eyes widened, her gaze darting to Sasaki and their eyes connected. She gulped. "You did it. You did something."

"What do you mean?" Sasaki asked, his eyes telling her it was unwise to pry farther. Biting the inside of her cheek, Riko turned away but made a mental note to confront him about it later.

"That game was a nail biter," Imayoshi commented right after the buzzer sounded, ending the fourth quarter and the game. The final scores were Seirin 166 to Kirisaki Daiichi 73.

"Hey, where're you going?!" Wakamatsu demanded as Aomine started walking in the opposite direction to the exit.

"To see my boyfriend, obviously."