The Medical Manager (Kuroko x OC)

Chapter 43

-Emiko POV-

But after a few minutes, I frowned.
'He can't be out of stamina already, can he?'
"White, time out" announced the referee and we were all surprised.

I caught Furihata when I saw him lose his balance.
"Furihata, are you okay?" I asked. "You're not hurt, are you?"
"No, but..." said Furihata.

"Coach" I said and she nodded.
"You're out, Furihata" she said.
"What? I'm okay! I can still play!" he shouted.

"You can't" I said. "You've got no strength left"
"What? You mean he's just exhausted?" asked Koganei. "What are we going to do, Coach?"
"Let me play!" shouted Fukuda. "I just need to stay on Akashi like Furi did, right? Kawahara and I can do that!"

"Fukuda-kun..." said Riko.
"We're counting on you!" said Hyuga.
"The time out is now over" said the referee.

"Oh, come on!" said Riko. "We're counting on you, Fukuda-kun. Do the same thing on defence"
"Okay" said Fukuda.
"The moment you feel like your legs are getting like jelly, let me know" I said and he gave me his shirt.

"You got it, Maeda-san" he said and I smiled.
"One more thing!" shouted Riko. "Close the gap on offence!"
"Yeah! Let's go!" shouted Hyuga.

"Kuroko, I couldn't do anything" said Furihata, who was still trembling. "It's so frustrating. I want to be stronger so I can fight alongside the guys"
"Yeah. Me too" said Tetsuya.

~

"It's a shooting guard showdown" I sighed.
Mibuchi's form was good, but it felt like he had a dirty trick on his sleeve.
"Yes! Nice shot, Captain!" shouted Kawahara.

After a few threes, Mibuchi smiled.
"What is he up to?" I wondered.
Hyuga wasn't able to jump...

"Hyuga stopped moving!" said Koganei.
"Annoying" I said.
But then, to make matters worse, Mibuchi made Hyuga foul, earning an extra shot.

Kiyoshi wasn't able to score, the muscle gorilla Nebuya smashed the ball away.
I was facepalming.
'Why does he need to be so loud?'

"He's naming everything" I sighed. "It's getting annoying"
The gap was slowly widening...
This was getting bad...

I felt Tetsuya grab my hand, he knew I was nervous, he was nervous too.
Kawahara subbed in for Fukuda, he was exhausted too...
I squeezed Tetsuya's hand tight, I felt my heart race watching this game.
But not in a good way...

~

"The third quarter will now begin" said the referee.
"Let's go, Seirin! Fight!" shouted Hyuga.
"Yeah!" we all shouted.

"Kagami-kun" said Tetsuya before Kagami went onto the field. "I'm counting on you"
"Leave it to me" said Kagami and they fist bumped.
Koganei subbed in as well, and we managed to score first this quarter.

Rakuzan was planning on crushing us completely...
Mibuchi made Hyuga foul again, his third foul...
But Hyuga argued and the referee gave him another foul...

Hyuga got subbed out...
I began to breathe heavily...
I was so nervous, I couldn't watch it...

"Black team, time out" said the referee.
Everyone was silent...
Tetsuya was crying...

"No" he said. "I want to win. I want to win! Even if it's impossible, I want us to become the best in Japan! Coach, please"
Tetsuya looked at me and touched my shoulders, he let his forehead rest against mine.

"Just, let me stay like this for a bit" he whispered and I closed my eyes.
"You can do it, Tetsuya" I whispered. "I believe in you"
"Emi..." he whispered.