Hyūga, having seen enough of the constant humiliation caused by Hikigaya looked at his coach.
"Coach! Put me back in!" The boy demanded.
"Wait for the end of the quarter." The man stated. "No! Put me in now." Hyūga was unyielding as Tokugawa sighed.
"Fine." Tokugawa stated as he signalled for a timeout.
The referees blew the whistles as the teams returned to their benches, ready for the timeouts.
"Captain? What do we do next?" Ogiwara asked with a smile.
"We don't 'do' anything. I told you guys, the real damage starts after halftime. We let Hyūga-san score 9 more points, then, I'll remove the hope they gain from his shooting by blocking him and shooting a full court shot.
Mibuchi, I want you to focus on my shooting form, I believe you too, can start shooting half court and full court shots." Hikigaya stated as his team nodded.
Meanwhile on Kazami's bench...
Alright, all the starters are back in the game. For the final minute of the second quarter, we need Hyūga's shooting.
Hyūga, these shots of yours are the pillar on which we can rebuild a sense of hope in them, you absolutely need to make these shots in the final minute." Coach Tokugawa stated as Hyūga smirked and nodded.
"Of course Coach. You guys can rely on me!" He said to the whole team as the cheered in happiness.
It didn't take long until the players were back on the court for the last minute of the game. As Izuki inbounded the ball to Hyūga, the boy immediately burst past Mibuchi, leaving the black haired boy scrambling to get back.
'I'm open!'
Seeing himself open, he positioned himself before shooting a precise three point shot, easily sinking the shot as Mibuchi clicked his teeth.
The next play, Hikigaya passed to Ogiwara who caught the ball, however, a hand swiped the ball away.
"Nice steal! Hyūga!"
"Great job Junpei!"
Were the shouts of the players on Kazami's side as Hyūga grabbed the ball mid air as he ran to Meikō's offense before stepping back, out side the three point line and shooting.
"Nice Hyūga!"
"Hyūga-san's on fire, what a two-way play! The steal and then the three straight after!"
The next play, Momoharu ran to the inside as he jumped for a dunk, however as he did jump, another person jumped with him.
He looked shocked as Hyūga swatted his dunk attempt.
Izuki found the ball making its way to him as he caught the ball, seeing Hyūga already running down to offense.
He swiftly passed the ball with a smirk as Hyūga shot an uncontested three point as everyone could only watch as the ball swished through the net.
"Three straight threes!"
"Is he Steph Curry?!"
"Maybe we might win this!"
Hyūga smirked as Hikigaya looked at the team's morale at an all time high.
'perfect,' The boy thought as Masahiko inbounded the ball to Hikki, who passed to Ogiwara. Ogiwara then suffered another seemingly careless turnover as Hikki smirked.
'Everything's gone according to plan.' The boy thought as he glanced at the clock, which showed that there was only 19 seconds left.
As he had expected of the team, they passed the ball around until the 3 second mark where Hyūga caught the ball and jumped for a shot, Hikki had seen this before it had happened with his King Eye and also jumped at the same time.
Both in the air, Hikki snatched the ball as he dropped to the floor, noticing Hyūga's expression.
The boy was shocked, how could someone of that size perform a snatch block?!
With just 1.5 seconds left, Hikki immediately jumped in a shooting form as the time seemingly slowed down, he hanged in the air for a bit before releasing the ball with incredible power and precision as the buzzer sounded.
Everyone watched with baited breath as the ball seamlessly travelled through the air with a high arc, as if it were an elegant item.
"Incredible." Coach Hiroshi could only mutter as the ball suddenly dipped in height.
The ball soared down before swishing elgantly through the basket as the buzzer sounded, adding on another three points for Meikō.
No-one could believe it, it was as if it were a myth, as if it wasn't true, yet the proof lay right there.
Ethereal, Impossible, yet, at the same time, Jaw-dropping, Fascinating, it matched every word which had positive connotations.
And it was as if a switch had flipped, one moment, Kazami Junior High's side was filled to the brim with courage, bravery and most importantly, Hope.
However after the block and then the unreal shot from Hikigaya, the atmosphere was gloomy, sad and disbelieving.
The two teams made their way to the locker rooms in with different atmospheres surrounding each team.
–––
TBC
