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eighty five - waking the monster

The next thing to happen was Kiyoshi being triple teamed. Therefore, a steal was eminent since the new point guard wasn’t used to that kind of pressure as a point guard. Himuro was the one to catch the ball as Fukui threw it at him. Kagami was ready for him, only for Sasaki to notice him stop for a second.

Somehow, despite jumping later than he had intended, the redhead managed to scrape the ball. Bouncing off the rim, he caught it and passed to Kiyoshi. Another triple team arrived, so Sasaki thought it best to step in.

“Kiyoshi-senpai!” He held his hands out, so the point guard passed to him. Thankfully not being stopped by the double team, the ball safely made it to the azurette’s hands and he turned to make a shot.

“Not so fast, Haya-chin!” Murasakibara was suddenly in front of him, jumping with him. Grinning mischievously, Sasaki tossed the ball over him.

“Yes!” Kagami slammed the ball into the basket, resulting in two more points being added to Seirin’s score. On their way back, the next thing Sasaki knew, Kiyoshi had been caught by Kuroko as he fell.

“Senpai!” He cried, steadying the brunette.

“Kiyoshi!”

“Kiyoshi-senpai!”

“Referee time out!” The referee called after blowing his whistle.

“Sorry, Kuroko,” The point guard said, panting heavily. “I just tripped and fell dramatically.”

“No way, I can see the difference between tripping dramatically and actually collapsing, so I won’t fall for that,” Sasaki spoke, standing and offering Kiyoshi a hand up. “Obviously, you need a break. Leave it to us, man.”

“Teppei, are you really—” Riko started.

“I’m fine,” He assured as he accepted Sasaki’s hand. “Let me play.”

“Dude, wouldn’t it be better to—”

“We’re making headway. I don’t want to interrupt this flow,” Kiyoshi told them as the Seirin team gathered around him. “I can keep playing. Let’s all win together!”

“You’re so freaking stubborn, friggin nuts,” The azurette ran a hand through his hair before putting that hand on his hip. “Well, it’s up to the chief, anyway.”

“Go ahead,” She nodded, and so Kiyoshi was allowed to stay on the court. Hyuuga stole the ball, allowing Kiyoshi to take hold of it. Immediately, the triple team was back on him. Passing to Sasaki, he, Kagami and Mitobe all ran for the hoop, facing Murasakibara head on.

“A three man attack!”

“What?” The purple giant scoffed. “You think you can take me? I’ll crush you all at once.”

“We’ll see about that,” Sasaki said, sending the ball behind him. Catching it, Kiyoshi went for a three. It missed, bouncing off the side of the rim. Just as Murasakibara went to jump for it, after having to get Mitobe off of him, Kagami got there first and made the basketball go in.

“He made it!”

“We’re only five points behind now!”

“Nice!” Sasaki, Kagami and Kiyoshi all high fived.

“All thanks to you, dude!” Kagami shoved Sasaki, who laughed and shoved him back.

“Nah, all I did was pass!”

“It was a great pass, though,” Kiyoshi insisted. “Come on, let’s have some fun and win!”

“Good plan!”

The three ran for defense, only for Sasaki to suddenly get the shivers. One person’s thoughts flooded his head, leaving his eyes wide as he whipped to face him.

I’ll show you just how cruel a sport basketball is, Kiyoshi Teppei. Kagami Taiga. Seirin!

“Crap!” Sasaki hadn’t felt an aura such as the one he was giving off in a while, and it was directly in front of him.

“I can’t take it anymore,” He spoke, stepping out of the three point zone. “It’s so disgusting I could puke,” He stepped past half court. “Watching you squirm, that is,” Hard work, determination, faith.. I’ll crush them all, Murasakibara thought as he now stood with his team on offense. All of them.

Thanks for waking the monster, Yosen’s coach thought with a smirk.

“..who did it? Who provoked him? I told you guys! Don’t! Do! It!”

“You’re the only one who’s been on him, Sasaki!”

“I didn’t say anything, though!”

“Enough, Haya-chin,” The purple giant said, “I’ll show you. I’ll show you such unfair play, I’ll make your pretty words meaningless!” Finally, the team reacted and started triple teaming him. 

“We don’t expect to stop you with one, unless it was Sasaki in the zone,” Kiyoshi gritted.

“Really?” Murasakibara glared at him. “So what?” Powering his way into position, he was sent the ball and hammered it into the hoop. The force was so great that it knocked the three defenders on their asses.

“Guys!” Sasaki’s eyes were wide. This is almost worst than Aomine.

“Oh, sorry,” The purple giant leered. “I didn’t think you’d be knocked down so easily.”

“We’re not done yet!” Kiyoshi quickly got to his feet, taking the ball and throwing in to Sasaki. He wasn’t stupid enough to assume that Murasakibara was slow, so he decided that seventy percent of his full speed would probably be enough.

However, Murasakibara was right on his heels. “Sasaki!” Kiyoshi called as Sasaki and Murasakibara faced off. Sending the ball his way, Sasaki got ready to assist if needed.

“They stopped triple teaming him?” The crowd noticed.

“I’ll stop you myself. Come on!” The purple haired monster taunted. Therefore, Kiyoshi went for it and jumped for a shot, Murasakibara also jumping to block him. As Sasaki got ready to receive the ball, Murasakibara slapped it out of Kiyoshi’s hand. “I’m tired of that strategy.”

With the counter attack that occurred from that loss, Yosen added two more points to their score, making it tied with both teams at 41 points.

“Basketball is a contest of shortcomings,” The purple haired giant pointed out as the hoop groaned. “The hoop is three meters in the air. You can’t call that fair. The game favors the tall. That’s the foundation of this shitty sport. What’s so fun about that?” As he said that, the hoop’s support finally gave and crashed to the ground. “To me, all ideals are nothing but trash.”

“I have never seen so much shade,” Sasaki commented after a moment of reflective silence.

“He broke the hoop?”

“You’re kidding..”

“That’s not funny,” Hyuuga breathed.

“That surprised me too,” Himuro was suddenly beside Sasaki, pale in the face. Well, paler.

“Honestly, I’ve never been more glad he’s on our side,” Fukui shuddered. A whistle pierced the air.

“D-due to the broken hoop, the game will be put on hold until it can be replaced!”

(Last chapter today, unless we can get to 200 comments. I won't hold my breath. I won't update again before 6pm EDT so kick back and relax. Hope you enjoyed all the updates today~}