The Emperor's Empress

Chapter 22:

"What the hell is happening?" Coach Leah uttered in horror and astonishment.

"To think that our captain is hiding such a lethal weapon," Courtney said in awe and her eyes were hurting already since she couldn't follow the movement of Keiko.

"The game player," Julia uttered in admiration.

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The GOM with Kagami couldn't keep up with the high speed basketball that the girls were doing. But they were at awe that they were having too much difficulty with only Keiko at the state of Zone and it was only the first gate.

"As long as she misses the shot for the last one, I win," Akashi uttered in determination.

The guys looked at Akashi. "What are you talking about?" they asked in confusion.

Akashi shook his head and readied his self for the incoming ghost of the court. It really had been a while since Keiko went all out. This time all he need was for Keiko to miss the last shot. If the heaven was on his side, he would win this match with Keiko.

"Here they come," Aomine said.

"As long as we gave our best and don't have regrets losing is nothing but a hurdle," Akashi told his teammates.

The guys smiled and nodded. They really never expected to win with no luck on their side.

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"I'm sorry," Akashi shouted all of a sudden as Keiko shot for the last second.

Keiko, hearing this, faltered and she knew that the ball would not get in the ring. She closed her eyes and heard the ball falling on the floor.

"The Queens win over Vorpal Swords with score of 122-104," Coach Leah shouted.

"You missed the last one on purpose," Rina remarked to Keiko.

Keiko sighed deeply. "I faltered when I heard him apologize," she honestly answered. She turned around and walked towards the lining up boys. She positioned herself in front of Akashi and shook his hand. "You win. At the last day of our stay here, you would have your time to the Keiko that you have lost on the Teiko court as promise," she said.

The others looked at Akashi and Keiko in understanding except for Kagami.

"It was a good game, guys," Rina spoke to cut the silence engulfing them.

Libbie laughed softly. "Yeah, you made us pull our tricks," she implied while shaking the hands of all the opponent's team members and lingering more when it was Midorima's turn. She returned the bewildered gaze of Midorima with a sheepish smile when he noticed the lingering shaking of his hand.