Teiko's basketball III: Three's a charm

The second quarter

A/N:

Hello, minna-san! This chapter was painfully written in small installments and I didn't really have the time to check for errors. So, gomen.... As stated before, the updates will be more regular come April.

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Unsurprisingly, Murasakibara was the first one with the ball. He passed the ball to Akashi who went towards the hoop. Sora blocked him and they went head to head. Out of the corner of her eye, Sora saw Kise and Aomine standing at a short distance from her and sighed. They were on full alert, but neither of them moved to help her and Mayu was also too far away. It didn't look like there would be back-up any time soon. Akashi passed to Murasakibara who started his own journey towards the hoop. This time, Aomine stepped into action. He managed to take the ball from Murasakibara and started running in the opposite direction, only to be blocked by Akira.

Aomine tried making a drive past Akira, but Yukiji had snuck up behind him. She took the ball using a back-tip. Kise tried to stop Yukiji but Yukiji passed to Aoba.

3 – 2.

"Good job," said Mayu, who was standing nearby.

"Thank you. Please do not think that we will let you win that easily," said Akira civilly.

"Hold up, Ms. Frosty!" said Mayu indignantly, "You're playing in that team only for one day, remember."

Akira blinked. "You're right... Ma-chan, gomenasai!"

(A/N: Gomenasai – Sorry)

"Hey, idiots. The ball is coming into play!" cautioned Yukiji.

Kise took the ball. He went forward and was challenged by Murasakibara. "Muracchi! I'm going to pass you, "said Kise in a sing-song voice. Murasakibara scoffed and eyed Kise warily. They both jumped at the same time. "Midorimacchi, catch!" yelled Kise throwing the ball backwards.

"Thanks, Ryouta," said Akashi catching the ball with a laugh. He had predicted Kise's pass. "Kise-kun, if you're going to use my idea from ten minutes ago, run it through me!" said Sora furiously, "Please quit being repetitive."

"That was harsh, Soracchi..." whined Kise, "I only wanted to help."

"Fine. Let's go take the ball together," said Sora.

"Okay! I'm on it. I'll get you the ball," said Kise enthusiastically before running off after Akashi.

"Great..." muttered Sora, "First they had problems with understanding the word 'pass' and now they can't understand 'together'. Well done, Seijuro..."

Kise caught up with Akashi but Aomine was already grappling for the ball. Somehow, he managed to take the ball from Akashi. Yukiji stepped in his path. Aomine tried to pass but Akashi took the ball from the side. Aomine turned to face Akashi but Akashi passed the ball to Akira. Kise ran to Akira only to be thwarted as she passed the ball to Yukiji again. Both Aomine and Kise turned their attention towards Yukiji at once. They ran towards her in unison.

"You're marking the same person!" exclaimed Sora, stepping in front of Aoba quickly.

Yukiji however chose to pass to Akira. "She was never going to pass to me anyway," said Aoba.

"I know. But if she chose to, this would all be over too quickly. I'm not taking the risk," said Sora.

Akira passed the ball to Akashi who grinned. "Admirable reasoning, Sora. But Aoba is not the only one who can shoot threes," he said.