Ｌｉｇｈｔ

seventy five - disappointments

Sasaki landed from shooting a basket, turning to face his lover. “Granted, I can only do it so much, and I’m nowhere near as skilled as Kuroko,” He explained, “But tricks here and there like this are more than just in my realm of capabilities.”

“So that’s how it is,” Aomine chuckled, “I’m impressed, Aya.”

“There’s plenty more surprises in store,” Sasaki smirked, “If you prove you’re worthy of them, that is.”

“The only one who can beat me is me,” The Touou ace stated, “Even you’re no exception to that.”

“We’ll see.”

The battle raged on as the two aces went head to head. Sasaki would sometimes pass to people in better positions, but overall it was up to him and Aomine to duke it out. A few times, Kagami helped out and distracted Aomine long enough for Sasaki to steal the ball.

It was clear who was the greater force between the two as the score gap widened. Sasaki could stop Aomine, but Aomine was having a hard time stopping Sasaki. The Touou ace could see he needed to step it up a notch, so that’s what he did.

The other members of Seirin were no match as Sasaki and Aomine zoomed around the court, even faster than before. Basket after basket, play after play, ball after ball, the aces went against each other as hard as they could.

The panther growled as the snow leopard licked its lips, their instincts going off the charts until they were just about even. With three seconds left on the clock, Izuki passed to Sasaki as the ace was standing on the half court line. Aomine’s eyes widened as Kagami went in for a screen, giving Sasaki the half second of time that he needed to shoot the ball.

The buzzer sounded as the ball dropped through the hoop, ending the second quarter and the first half with the scores being fifty five Seirin to forty eight Touou. “Nice job! Let’s go take a rest in the locker room,” Riko beamed as the players came off the court.

“It’s all thanks to you, man!” Kagami slung an arm around Sasaki’s shoulders, shaking him excitedly as they both laughed. The break felt like it flew by. In no time at all (it was ten minutes, Sasaki, that’s a lot of time) both teams came back onto the court.

Aomine was grinning deviously.

Kagami was focused.

Sasaki was stretching.

Kuroko was tugging on his sweatbands.

The clock started, counting down another ten minutes for the third quarter. “I’ll leave Daiki to you,” Sasaki patted the redhead on the shoulder as he passed by him.

“Got it.”

“Hello again!” The point guard beamed at Imayoshi, who sweatdropped with a smile.

“Hey there, welcome back.”

“Good to be back,” Sasaki replied as the other point guard grasped onto the ball and started bouncing it beside him. Quickly passing to Aomine, Imayoshi’s lips turned upwards into a provocative smirk. “Don’t you look happy.”

“Of course,” He remarked, “The only one who can contend with our ace has pulled off of him, how could I not be happy about that?”

“Meh, fair enough,” Sasaki shrugged. Aomine easily got past Kagami, and just as he was about to make it to the basket, he knocked Kuroko over. Sasaki spluttered.

“Charging! Black number five!” The ref blew his whistle.

“Sorry,” Kagami jogged over, offering the blue haired phantom a hand up. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome,” He responded as he was pulled off the ground. The game continued, Sasaki incorporating Kuroko into the plays again. Hyuuga complained that the ignite passes hurt, but of course would catch them well anyways. (58-48)

“Let’s get on defense!” Hyuuga yelled as the Seirin team stood, readying to do just that.

“Yeah!”

“How admirable,” Imayoshi mumbled as Sasaki guarded him. “It’s so admirable I could cry.”

“Please don’t, I’m not good with people crying.”

“Don’t worry, I’m not that moved,” The Touou captain smirked as he pushed up his glasses, which glinted in the light of the stadium. “Doing your best doesn’t guarantee victory. It’s not that easy. But that goes without saying.”

“You’re right about that,” The azurette agreed, going to block as Imayoshi lifted the ball. It was a fake, so Sasaki couldn’t do much except wait to land as Wakamatsu scored. (58-50)

“Friggin nuts,” Sasaki grumbled, running a hand through his hair.

“Don’t worry about it, Sasaki. We’re in control of the game right now,” Kiyoshi reminded him, smiling. “Let’s have some fun, yeah?”

“Right,” The azurette nodded before frowning. “So that’s what you were smirking about, Imayoshi-san.”

“Of course,” The point guard smirked as he guarded Kuroko. “We’re the ones in control, not you.”

“If you say so,” Sasaki shrugged, smiling at the person who was now in front of him. “Please take care of me in his absence!”

“Did you know?” Imayoshi commented, “Some things can only be seen from behind the mirror.”

“Yeah, like dust!” Sasaki pointed out with a laugh, thinking he was funny. No one else did, though, as they all deadpanned at him. As he bounced the ball next to him, he could see that Kuroko’s misdirection was not working anymore. Looks like it’s almost time to use that..

“Don’t be so hard on me,” Imayoshi smirked at Kuroko. “Let’s be friends.”

“Sasaki-kun’s the only one who would want to be your friend,” Kuroko replied coolly. Making eye contact, Sasaki threw him the ball. Gotta act surprised, gotta act surprised, he repeated to himself, then made the most dramatic gasp ever when Imayoshi intercepted the ball.

“Are you okay?” the person guarding him asked, genuinely concerned. Immediately, the azurette deflated.

“Yeah.. yeah, I’m okay..” He looked dejected, totally disappointed with himself. Imayoshi managed to get a three before Sasaki had finished saying he was alright, so as the azurette arrived at the scene, the other point guard smirked. (58-53)

“In so much of a shock that you couldn’t keep up?” He teased. “Should have seen it coming, I’m a bit disappointed, Sasaki.”

“I’m disappointed in myself too, don’t you worry,” The Seirin point guard assured him. Grasping the ball, Sasaki passed to Hyuuga who attempted a barrier jumper. Sakurai, however, wasn’t going to let him do it so easily, staying on him.

Because of that, Hyuuga passed to Kiyoshi, who then passed to Kagami. “Are you ready for round two, Kagami?” Aomine smirked. “Aya’s been doing all the hard work, let’s see if you’ve gotten any brighter.”

“We’ll see, alright,” Sasaki’s eyes were trained on the redhead. “Show us what you learned in the states, Kagami.”

“I’m already disappointed,” Aomine was suddenly dribbling to the other side of the court, having stolen the ball from the redhead. “And I barely had any expectations to begin with.”

(See ya next week!)