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11: spectators

"They're already ahead by 30 points with four minutes left in the second quarter," Riko observed as the Seirin team watched the Shutoku game unfold. Meanwhile, she was also rubbing Kirika's back as the manager sniffled, extremely disheartened by the fact that she'd lost her lucky item for that day. Not to mention she hadn't brought another pen or pencil with her, even though she had planned to just in case. "I'm not surprised."

"They're not doing anything that differently from us," Kawahara pointed out as they watched the game. "But they make it look so easy. I wonder why?"

"Because they don't make any mistakes,"' Hyuuga answered, his eyes focused on the court below them. "In basketball, the ball's always moving back and forth very quickly. Without exception, strong school always have solid basics like passing, handling and running. They make it look easy because," He continued as Shutoku's number 8, Kiyoshi Miyaji, scored a layup. "Their fundamentals are so solid. But those are only the fundamentals. Naturally, there's another reason, and that is..."

Shutoku's number 4, Taisuke Otsubo, grabbed a rebound over two players and then dunked it. "They have a true scorer."

"What an amazing dunk!" Kawahara gaped.

"Is he really a high schooler?" Furihata chimed in, his mouth also open in shock.

"He's gotten even stronger," Riko mumbled, as if making a note about it.

"We couldn't do anything about him last year," Hyuuga commented.

"Otsubo on the inside and a normal outside was Shutoku's game until last year," The coach built off what the captain had just said. "But this year..."

"He's five of five so far," Kagami brought up suddenly as he and Kuroko stared directly at the green haired generation of miracles member, Shintaro Midorima. "Looks like Midorima's playing well."

"Is that so?" The phantom looked up at Kagami, drawing huff out of him.

"I don't know! Shouldn't you know?" He demanded incredulously.

"I don't know," Kuroko answered as some shouts went up from the court. "I've never seen him miss."

Kirika wanted to write down that Shutoku goes back to defense when Midorima shoots, only leaving one guy to defend, but then her head drooped again as she remembered her precious fated pen was nowhere to be found.

"As long as Midorima doesn't lose his form," Kuroko continued from what he had said a few seconds ago. "He makes 100% of his shots."

"Seriously?" Izuki sweat dropped from how bizarre that was.

"That's just not fair," Koganei agreed, his hands on his hips defiantly.

"He's heading back to defend before he even makes his shot," Tsuchida added, "He's impossible to counter."

"Impossible is a strong word.."

"Feeling better?"

"No."

"Oh.."

"The time until he actually makes his shot is abnormally long," Riko confirmed, clearing her throat from that awkward exchange, "It really gets to you mentally."

Shot after shot, Midorima made each one, stunning the audience and leaving them wanting more. "Amazing! He's made every shot!"

"Is this the true strength of the Generation of Miracles' number one shooter?"

The game ended with Shutoku dominating at 153 to 21, not a surprising gap for a preliminaries game. "They destroyed them! This year, Shutoku is so strong!"

As the Shutoku players made their way off the court, the greenette made eye contact with Kuroko, then Kagami, for just a moment before moving to the bench, picking something up and making eye contact with Kirika. "My pen!" She exclaimed, slamming her hands on the railings to support herself as she leaned over.

"I'll meet you by the entrance," Midorima called up to her, causing her to glance at Riko for permission. Luckily, the Seirin coach nodded, so a second later, Seirin's manager was dashing to the entrance of the venue.

Barely panting, she looked around before realizing that she'd gotten there so fast that there was no way he would have caught up unless he was as anxious as her. So Kirika got out her phone, checking if she had any new messages from anyone as she leaned against the wall.

Her mother asked what she wanted for dinner, so the ever loving daughter responded to that promptly.

Then, she felt that someone's gaze was on her, so she looked up from her phone. Sure enough, Midorima was heading her way, so she decided to meet him half way. "Thank you so much for picking that up," Kirika beamed once they stood in front of each other.

"It was no trouble," He handed it to her and she in turn quickly shoved it in her bag. "By the way, are you a Pisces?"

"Uh, yeah," She scrunched her nose in confusion. "How'd you-" She quickly came to the realization that he was holding a stuffed bear, Cancer's lucky item for that day according to Oha Asa. "Oha Asa?"

"Indeed," Midorima pushed up his glasses, his lips twitching upwards. "You must be a woman of taste."

"Well, I try. It's consistently accurate, as I'm sure you know," She giggled. "I should probably go. Thank you again!" She bowed before dashing off to regroup with the Seirin basketball team. The member of the Generation of Miracles watched her go, his eyes narrowing.

Meanwhile, Kirika was kicking herself for not noticing the bear on the bench when Shutoku was playing. It was in plain sight you moron! She yelled at herself before sighing, knowing she had been a bit depressed about her pen to care or even notice anything below her.

Honestly, I barely remember any part of the game, she thought guiltily. But that's okay! That's why I taped it! I can just rewatch it and take notes then! Easy fix!

Texting Riko, Kirika was given the details of where they were. After catching up with them, Seirin played another game, winning it, before calling it a day and going home. Two days later, Seirin was in an empty classroom, watching film of their next opponent.

"We knew it would be, but this is going to be really tough," Izuki said after they finished watching a game.

"Sorry," Koganei looked dejected. "But I feel like crying again."

"Frankly," Riko turned to look at him. "We'd lose nine out of ten against Seiho and Shutoku. We just have to play that one game we win."

"Actually, I ran actual numbers and we would win forty percent of our matches with Seiho, and," Kirka tapped her pen on her clipboard, her facial expression grave. "Five percent against Shutoku. At least, at where we and they currently stand. While it may not seem like much, it's definitely worth trying for," She beamed at them. "Right?"

"Yes," The team agreed, Koganei even shedding a tear.

"Hey, listen," Hyuga suddenly spoke up, gaining everyone's attention. "I wouldn't go as far as to call it a strategy, but I have an idea."

Dear Diary,
I knew Midorima watched Oha Asa, but I totally forgot he did! Not to mention the fact that he picked up on the fact that I also use the horoscope is insane! Anyway, now that I mention Oha Asa, I made sure to write down Aizen's for today. He was number three, his lucky color being beige and his lucky item being a magazine. Wonder what that means for him...
Anyway, super excited for the next few games, and I'll let you know how they go!
Sincerely,
Kirika Ichinose.