I wish everyone would shut up about how doomed we are, sheesh, Sasaki thought to himself with a sigh. Riko had just called a timeout after Kagami got his ass handed to him by Akashi. While Sasaki was still more than ready to throw down, it appeared everyone else had completely lost hope.
“No,” Kuroko suddenly breathed, tears falling from his eyes. “I want to win.”
“Kuroko?” Kagami whirled to face him, his eyes widening as he too saw the phantom.
“I want to win!” He was suddenly standing, his hands clenched into fists. “Even if it’s impossible, I want us to become the best in Japan!” The phantom turned to look at Riko, then to Sasaki. “Coach, Sasaki-kun, please…”
“Ha,” Sasaki chuckled, putting a hand on his hip. “Might as well. Right, chief?”
“If you think it’s okay,” She hesitantly nodded, so as the timeout ended, all eyes in the stadium widened. Kuroko, the now less than average player, stepped back onto the court.
“Seirin’s original trickster is coming back out!”
“Number 11, Kuroko Tetsuya!”
“Every ball,” Sasaki mumbled to Izuki, “Goes to me.”
“You got it,” The point guard agreed, knowing it was futile to argue since Sasaki was, in fact, their only unbeaten hope left.
Alright, Sasaki closed his eyes for a brief moment, and almost everyone on the court and off the court could feel a startling shift in the air. 95%! The azurette felt himself on the verge of the Zone, but didn’t make the final step inside as he reopened his eyes. His body felt light, his senses were sharpened, and he could feel everyone around him and their exact locations.
“I see I was correct to change marks with Leo,” Akashi stood in front of him, guarded as he gazed at his lover. Sasaki’s lips twitched upwards.
“Yes, you were. Even if it was just because you were jealous.”
It was Seirin’s ball, so Izuki had it and bounced it by his side as he evaded Mibuchi. Passing to Sasaki, the azurette caught it.
I can steal it.
Not today Satan, Sasaki evaded his mark using pure agility. However, Akashi got right back on him before he could shoot.
“It won’t be that easy, Hayate,” The Rakuzan captain promised, drawing a grin from the person he was addressing.
“I figured. But that won’t change the fact that—” He shot the ball before Akashi could react. “It won’t be that easy to stop me, either.”
“Touche,” The point guard huffed as the ball fell through the basket. From that point on, Sasaki was getting point after point as he stole every ball Akashi had. Even when it wasn’t Akashi who had the ball, if it was in his defensive area, the azurette would take it. That is, until they were finally tied at 69.
“Looks like I can back off now,” Sasaki lowered himself back down to 45%, the court feeling much less pressure than when he’d been at 95%. Kuroko, it’s your time to fade.
Understood, the phantom nodded as he received the message.
Izuki, switch back to guard Akashi, I’ll get Mibuchi, Sasaki directed.
Roger that, the point guard agreed. Thus, face off after face off, Mayuzumi shot and shot and shot. Each time, two points were added to Rakuzan’s score. However, Sasaki would never let the gap grow, so he would return the challenge with threes.
“Rakuzan’s number 5 made another basket!”
“Will Seirin’s number 14 answer?!”
“I’ll say it again, old sixth man,” Mayuzumi glared at Kuroko. “You can’t beat me.”
“Naiive,” Sasaki rolled his eyes as he jogged past, causing the two phantoms to whipped towards him. He didn’t care, just heading back with the ball in hand. Passing to Kagami after faking a shot, the redhead managed to get them two more points form an inside shot.
“Seirin got them back!” The crowd cheered. As they were back to defense, Kuroko spoke to Mayuzumi as Sasaki guarded Mibuchi.
“This reminds me of something Takao-kun told me,” The phantom said before quoting the Shutoku point guard: “I guess you could say I hate you because you’re like me.”
“What?” The Rakuzan phantom hissed.
“Sorry,” Kuroko’s eyes were hard. “but I still consider myself the Phantom Sixth Man!” And with that, he vanished.
“Knew you could do it,” Sasaki’s lips pulled back into a grin as Seirin’s phantom stole a pass, startling everyone.
I lost him… Mayuzumi thought, Impossible! What did he do?!
“Run!” Izuki yelled, throwing to Kuroko as he, Kagami and Sasaki gunned for the other side. Just as Hayama got in front of Kuroko to prepare for the Vanishing Drive, the phantom passed to Kagami who slammed it into the basket.
“Nice, Kagami! Kuroko!” Sasaki congratulated them, and while Kuroko gave him a thumbs up, the redhead just tsked. The azurette paused for a split second, his expression falling before he plastered it back on to high five Izuki.
“We’re just getting started, Rakuzan!”
“It’s the third quarter, we’re way far from just starting—”
“Shut up Sasaki!”
As Rakuzan had the ball, Akashi passed to Mayuzumi. “Here he comes! It’s Rakuzan’s number 5, Mayuzumi!”
“It’s a one on one!”
Did you… Mayuzumi seemed to have figured it out, drawing a snicker out of the azurette a few feet away. …Overwite…me?!
Bingo, bullseye, right on the money~ Sasaki sang in his head as Hayama yelled for Mayuzumi to pass to him. Doing so, he missed because he was too close, and Kiyoshi got the rebound. Sadly, Akashi stole the ball and drove to the other side.
Just then, Sasaki felt someone enter the Zone, drawing a chuckle out of him. I didn’t say it was time yet, but oh well, he watching as Kagami fronted Akashi. Go get ‘em, tiger.
“Bring it on, Akashi!” He snarled as red lightning flashed out of his eyes.
“He’s entered the Zone again!” Nebuya exclaimed.
“But he can’t beat Sei-chan, did he forget the first half?” Mibuchi smirked, unimpressed. Just then, however, Kagami backed off of Akashi, standing in the middle of the paint. Oh? Sasaki’s entire face twisted. Friggin nuts, you're diving hard, aren’t you buddy?
The redhead’s defense now spanned the entire three point area.
(Alright guys, that's it for this week! I'm not sure if I'll updated next Saturday since I'mma be home for the first time since school started, and if I do, it'll probably only be one update. Either way, hope you enjoyed this week's chapters and I'll see you all next time! And for those of you who didn't know, I DON'T UPDATE RANDOMLY IT'S ALWAYS ON SATURDAY GUYS GEEZ READ THE DESCRIPTION WOULD YA!!? That tis all.)
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