ＭＳ. ＣＯＡＣＨ - ＫＵＲＯＫＯ ＮＯ ＢＡＳＫＥＴ

CHAPTER 37 - RAKUZAN VS. SEIRIN

WORDS BETWEEN - - MEANS THOUGHTS
WORDS IN BOLD MEANS ENGLISH

3rd POV - AUTHOR

(F/N) went inside the packed area and watched as Kaijo High School and Shotoku High School battled it out to claim 3rd place. 

Since Kise was not on the court, like what the young coach had suggested, Shotoku defeated Kaijo and claimed 3rd place overall in the Winter Cup.

She watched as more and more people started piling into the area to watch the final. 

(F/N) could spot previous schools that had fought in the tournament in the crowd, including her former students. 

The female watched as both teams started to make their way on the court and started to warm up.

Kagami, as he was warming up, looked in the area to spot the (H/C) female. 

Once they locked eyes, (F/N) winked and gave him an encouraging nod which made the redhead smile. 

The girl was watching Kuroko and Akashi interact when her phone started to ring. 

She fished it out of her bag and answered, it was her mom which made her confused.

"Hello? Mom?" She questioned. "My baby! How are you!?" The younger (L/N) smiled. 

"I'm good and you? It's been a while." (F/N) replied. 

"It has. Me and your dad are doing fine! We heard that Taiga and his team are in the finals of the what's it called? Winter Cup?" The lady asked.

"Yup! They're warming up right now." The younger girl replied. "Great timing then! Tell him that me and your dad said good luck!"

(F/N) giggled. "I can't tell him right now but I'll text him so he'll see it later during halftime." She replied.

"Alright. Anything would do. Can't wait to hear Taiga win!" The woman grinned.

"Alright. I'll text you later! Love you!" (F/N) smiled. "Me and your dad love you too!" Her mother responded.

The call ended right on time, it was tip off now.

(F/N) quickly sent a text message to Kagami wishing him good luck. Usually it would be Kiyoshi jumping but this time, it was Kagami. 

The ball was then passed to Izuki who passed to Kuroko who used Ignite Pass Kai to pass to Hyuga but it seems like the said male couldn't grab the ball. "Tetsuya..." She whispered.

Luckily, Hyuuga was able to get to the ball but when he was about to lay up, Rakuzan's number 8 Mibuchi Reo, hit the ball away from the net, passing the ball to Akashi as he dribbled it down the court. 

Once near, he passed to Nebuya Eikichi who tried to dunk it but Kiyoshi was able to block the ball.

Passing to Kagami, he weaved through all Rakuzan's starting line up and was now face to face with Akashi. 

Once he jumped mid-air, he shocked everyone. He threw the ball right over Akashi so that the shorter male had no time to react. (F/N)'s eyes zoned in right at the redhead.

"He's already in the zone, huh?" She questioned out loud.

With Kagami in the zone, Rakuzan was not able to score any points in the next 2 minutes. But with that, Kuroko had to be subbed out for Mitobe.

As Kagami approached the opposing net, everyone was ready for another Meteor Jam but he pulled a feint and went in for a lay-up.

To make the crowd hyped up, the redhead put in some 3 pointers. "Goddamn, Taiga..." (F/N) whispered.

But since it is Rakuzan, they slowly but surely started to score. 

When Kagami got the ball, Akashi was now guarding him which caught everyone by surprise, but not Seirin and (F/N).

"Let's see how you can handle this situation, Taiga." (F/N) smirked.

As Akashi was about to use his Emperor Eye on the taller male, the redhead swerved but when he went for another Meteor Jam... 

"Your placement is wrong, Taiga." Like the young coach said, since his placement was wrong, Kagami was not able to score.

After Akashi's little explanation of Meteor Jam in his words, he left Kagami in shock. 

The redhead knew the former captain had a mind like his childhood crush but now that he was able to see it in person, he felt shivers run up his spine.

(F/N) watched as Akashi approached Seirin's net and faced Kagami. "Going for the kill yourself, huh, Seijuro? That's new of you." She commented.

With Akashi's ankle-breaking, he was able to shift Kagami's centre of gravity and make him fall on his ass. 

Akashi was able to pass to Mibuchi but got blocked by Mitobe when dunking.

While running back to offence, everyone saw that Kagami was now out of the zone. 

Mitobe was able to score a hook-shot, amazing everyone when Rakuzan was quick to counter with Mayuzumi scoring. 

The game so far was back and forth with high tensions.

Kuroko was finally subbed back in and as the game continued, (F/N) saw that Hayama was now against Kagami which got her smirking. 

Both of them had Wild Instincts which made her curious on how the situation would unfold. 

The 2 of them started to zoom back and forth and when Kagami couldn't hold the ball anymore, he passed to Kuroko.

With him passing, Hyuuga went for a 3 pointer but it hit the rim and bounced out. 

Nebuya jumped up and grabbed the ball and passed to Akashi as they were now on offence. 

Akashi passed to Hayama who used his excellent dribbling to pass Kagami and score a lay-up.

The score was now 15-11 in Seirin's favour, but it seems like Rakuzan was just getting started. There was now a problem. 

When Kuroko passed the ball to his teammates, his passes were not working to their full potential. "Something stumped him. Interesting." (F/N) nodded.

With the loose ball, Rakuzan managed to steal the ball and score a lay-up. 

(F/N) watched as Akashi had a mini talk to Kuroko and saw how the light blue haired male was left emotionless. 

Akashi started to get Seirin on the edge which made them sub in Tsuchida, making the crowd wonder if they were in a panic state.

Rakuzan were able to make the score tied 15-15 when Kuroko was subbed in again. 

Kuroko used Vanishing Drive to get closer to the net but #5 was able to keep up, making (F/N) wonder, how can he keep up? Unless he also possesses the skill as Kuroko?

Kuroko was not done as he tried to score using Phantom Shot but Mayuzumi still was able to stop him. 

Hayama went for another lay-up when he got the ball but Kagami tapped the ball, sending the ball back when Mibuchi scored a dunk.

When Nebuya was about to go for another dunk, Kiyoshi used Vice Claw and passed to Hyuga who pulled a Barrier Jump and scored a 3 pointer making the score 21-21 as the 1st quarter ended. 

(F/N) watched how down Kuroko was during the break but luckily Kagami was there to cheer him up and make him fired up. (F/N) smiled softly.