That Manager - Kuroko no Basuke (Book 1)

第25Q

When the third quarter ended, both teams returned to their benches and spoke to their respective coaches. Once the two minute interval was over, the teams returned to the court with the same lineups, despite Aomine having four fouls.

"Let the fourth quarter begin." announced the panel after the buzzer went off.

"Touou hasn't changed their lineup." noted Hyuga.

"Anyone would lose their edge with four fouls." added Izuki. "Are they going to be okay?"

Aomine caught the ball and dribbled past most of Kaijo's players easily, crushing their defence one by one. Kise tried to guard him as close as possible until Aomine jumped to shoot. Kise followed up with a hand held up high to block. But Aomine did a fadeaway shot, allowing the ball to avoid Kise's hand and went through the net.

"There it is!" said Koganei.

"They scored already!" added Tsuchida.

'Not only he has not changed with four fouls, but he's even more amazing.' thought Yasu with a frown, her eyes focused on Aomine. 'I can see why he's the ace of the Generation of Miracles.'

It was Kaijo's turn to have the ball. Moriyama passed the ball to Kise, who was guarded closely by Aomine and jumped. When his back was parallel to the floor, he shot the ball in the same way Aomine did earlier, and it went through the net, scoring a basket for the team.

"That was exactly the same shot." noted Kagami.

The game continued with both aces scoring one basket after another. When Aomine shot the ball, Kise copied the movement and shot the ball. Aomine did a hook shot, and Kise followed his movement when he scored a basket for his team. Them playing against each other in this manner lit up the crowd. 'I knew this would happen.' thought Imayoshi. 'The Generation of Miracles is truly terrifying.'

"Kise!" shouted Aomine as he dunked the ball.

"Aominecchi!" shouted Kise, making a dunk as well.

The said boy got past his defense and dunked the ball while still hanging onto the hoop, both glaring at each other. When Kise got the ball, he dribbled it towards his team's basket and was about to turn around when he felt a stinging pain in his right leg, which didn't go unnoticed by Yasu.

'Kise.' she thought worriedly. 'Don't tell his leg...!''

He let out a battle cry and shot the ball over the board. The ball spun along the ring in few rounds until it went through the net, scoring a basket for the team. With one minute left, Touou was eight points ahead of Kaijo.

'I can't let my guard down for an instant.' thought Kise while trying to catch his breath. 'I feel like I'm getting a headache.' But he wasn't the only one tired. His teammates were panting very hardly as well.

"That must be tough." said Riko.

"I'm exhausted." said Koganei as he released the breath he had been holding while watching the two aces' showdown.

"Not you!" she scolded before turning back to the court. "I've never seen such static flow in a game before. The inside players must be really worn down mentally."

"It's especially tough on Kaijo." said Hyuga. "They've been stuck eight to ten points behind forever, but even with the clock ticking they still haven't given up."

'They should be snapping any time now.' thought Imayoshi, who was holding the ball.

'I'll never give up!' thought Kasamatsu determinedly, though he was more tired than him. 'We'll get our chance!' He then glanced at Kise, who was on Aomine. 'We can't just roll over when he's trying so hard!'