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eighty two - comeback

(There is a possibility of four updates today, so as usual, the comment goal is 27)

The second quarter started with a steal from Kuroko. As Izuki had the ball, he soon found himself being double teamed. “Here,” Sasaki was suddenly behind him, so without a shred of hesitation, the point guard swooshed the ball behind him.

“Go Sasaki!” Kagami roared as the azurette used the point guard as a screen, shooting another three. The points were added to their score, giving them eight in total.

“A ten-point difference!”

“Seirin’s making a comeback!”

“That’s what I like to hear,” Sasaki mused. As it was Yosen’s ball, Sasaki zoomed back under the net and set up his defense before they arrived. He would have volunteered to stay under the net like Murasakibara but Seirin needed him to score. Plus, he was fast enough to get back before the Yosen players, so it was fine.

Kiyoshi was on Sasaki’s left while Kuroko was on his right, Kagami and Izuki being in front of him as they guarded the outside. Okamura attempted a shot, but Sasaki swatted that ball like a fly. “Haha!” He laughed as he bolted for Murasakibara while Izuki caught the ball.

“Sasaki!” The point guard yelled, throwing the ball towards him.

“Not this time, Haya-chin,” Murasakibara met him halfway, causing the azurette to smirk with a hum.

“Is that so? Let’s go, Murasakibara!” He grinned in glee, bouncing the ball around himself like a professional entertainer. The purple haired giant was so mesmerized that he barely noticed Sasaki take an underhand shot. Somehow, he still managed to get a finger on it, leading to the ball bouncing off the rim.

“Friggin nuts,” Sasaki pursed his lips, obviously displeased with himself. “Kiyoshi-senpai, it’s all on you!”

“Yeah!” The rebounders jumped, and Kiyoshi once again vice clawed the ball. Throwing to Sasaki, the male whipped around the giant, whipped around the next defender, and jumped for a layup. With only one person blocking, he made it easily. (10-18)

Several back and forths later, Yosen had only made two more baskets, both being threes. Meanwhile, Sasaki was on a role. He’d made ten points single handedly and, because he was drawing Yosen’s defenders, Kuroko and Izuki had made a basket each, respectively.

The scores were Yosen 24 to Seirin 25. “Guess it’s time to take my foot off the gas,” Sasaki flexed his shoulder, the white sparks fading from his eyes as he exited the zone. Riko seemed to have expected that to happen soon, since Hyuuga was taking off his warm up shirt and getting ready to come in.

However, the end of the quarter came first, the clock striking zero.

“They caught up so much!”

“Seirin could take the second half!”

“We will now take a break,” The referee announced as the two teams exited off the court, Yosen being the first to head back to their locker room.

“Kagami-kun,” Kuroko mumbled.

“Yeah,” He grumbled, “Man, it’s eerie. This isn’t all they’ve got. The worst is still coming.”

“Well obviously,” Sasaki deadpanned. “Murasakibara doesn’t participate on offense, and they’ve barely used Himuro so of course they’ve got more to throw at us,” He said, almost rolling his eyes. With that said, Seirin went to their locker room to talk more strategy.

“We can’t use Kuroko-kun’s Misdirection Overflow against Yosen,” Riko told them once they had arrived and the door was shut.

“What?” Koganei spoke up in surprise. “Why not?”

“We can’t expect the same explosive effect we saw against Touou,” She began, “Kuroko-kun’s Overflow has two effects: He increases his team’s offensive power by granting them the ability to use the vanishing drive. He also increases his team’s defensive power by reducing the accuracy of his opponent’s shots. The problem lies in the defensive power. It’s highly effective against outside shooters and slashers, but it will have hardly any effect at all against a team like Yosen that’s based on inside plays.”

“Yep, sounds about right,” Sasaki nodded calmly with his arms crossed.

“I wasn’t done talking yet!” The coach smacked him with her fan, causing the azurette to whimper. “We have to score against Murasakibara-kun without Kuroko-kun and Sasaki-kun’s zone.”

“Probably not a piece of cake,” Sasaki mustered up the courage to speak, then defended himself against another attack from the coach.

“As I was saying,” she cleared her throat as she turned her attention elsewhere, “In order to do that, Teppei, your strength will become important. And defense. The cornerstone of Yosen’s offensive will move in the second half. Number twelve, Himuro-kun.”

“Hey, I have an idea—don’t hit me just yet please,” The azurette shot a pointed look at Riko. “Kiyoshi used to be a point guard, right? What if me and him switch it up on offense and defense? That way, I can take care of Murasakibara and Kiyoshi won’t have to worry so much about his leg!” He put out there.

“Hmmm,” Riko held her chin, thinking it over. “Alright, we’ll try it out. As for Himuro-kun, if there’s anyone else who can stop him, it’s Kagami-kun. In other words, in order to win, Kagami-kun needs to beat Himuro-kun and Sasaki-kun and Teppei need to beat Murasakibara-kun without the Zone.”

With the plan being spelled out, the teams returned to their sides of the court. “All right, let’s go!” Hyuuga yelled.

“Yeah!” Sasaki, Kiyoshi, Kagami echoed as they stepped onto the court.

“Kiyoshi-senpai, Kagami-kun,” Kuroko called out, now sitting on the bench. “Murasakibara-kun and Himuro-san are both strong,” He told them. “But I don’t think you’ll lose to them. Go beat them up,” He held out his fists. They returned the fist bump, smirking.

“Of course we will,” Kagami said.

“Beat them up, huh? Sounds good,” Kiyoshi smiled softly. Sasaki popped up next to him.

“We don’t condone violence in basketball.”

“Says the one who beat up the entirety of Kirisaki Daiichi—”

“How long are you gonna hold that over my head?!”

“Until you die, daho!”

“Awwwwww that’s so mean, captain!”

“Leave it to us!” Kagami and Kiyoshi dragged Sasaki onto the court as he fake cried. The entire bench sweatdropped.

“Lord help us.”

"This isn't anything new, relax guys," Izuki chuckled. "Sasaki's reliable in these types of situations, even if he is a major drama queen. So don't worry, against all odds, our even Sasaki will be victorious."

"I'll be the one to say it: That wasn't funny Izuki."

"It'll be fine, I saw Sasaki drinking some Dunkin' Donuts."

"Please stop."

"No, he really was!"

"Shut up Izuki-kun!"