That Manager - Kuroko no Basuke (Book 2)

第32Q

Suddenly, the buzzer went off when time was up, ending the fourth quarter. Kagami and Midorima let the ball go, and it bounced a few times before the hall immediately fell into silence. Whispers and murmurs were heard when they saw the scores of both teams. "It's a tie." said Yasu.

'That last free-throw...' thought Kiyoshi bitterly while trying to catch his breath. 'If I had just made it...'

"Kiyoshi!" called Hyuuga.

The said boy turned and saw his teammates coming towards him. They tried to give him high-fives at the same time, but he fell onto the floor. "You guys are brutal." he said. "Honestly, I didn't expect you to blame me that much."

"Blame you?" repeated Hyuga questioningly, looking as confused as the other three. "Those were high-fives."

"What?" responded the surprised Kiyoshi.

"Don't be stupid." scolded the captain. "We made it this far because of you."

"No one took it easy." said Izuki, smiling. "It's no one's fault."

"Besides, we didn't lose." added Kagami.

"We did the best we could." said Kuroko with a smile. "I have no regrets."

Kiyoshi looked at his teammates with surprise written all over his face, before smiling at them. "You're right." he agreed.

"Kagami." The team turned to see Midorima standing across him. "Surely you're not satisfied with this."

"Of course not." said Kagami with a grin. "We'll settle things later.

"There will be no ties at the Winter Cup." said Takao, standing in front of Kuroko. "Let's settle things then."

"I couldn't ask for more." said Kuroko.

The audience began to clap for the good game both teams did. "With a score of 104 to 104, it's a tie!" announced the referee. "Bow!"

"Thank you very much!" said the players in unison.

Back at the locker room, Kuroko had left to search for Nigou. Everyone else had left, except for Kiyoshi, who was gripping his right knee tightly and wincing in pain. "You sure are good in hiding your pain." commented a melodious voice. He turned to see Yasu standing at the doorway. "It was unnatural for you to miss that shot."

"You knew?" he asked sheepishly.

Yasu sat across him with a concern look on her face. "I thought something was up." she said. "I bet Hyuga-senpai knew as well." She looks down while biting her bottom lip, knowing how he would react when she said the next sentence. "Don't play against Kirisaki Dai Ichi in the next game."

"No!" he snapped, making her wince at the sudden change of volume, as he shot up from the bench. "This year is probably my last chance. Even if it destroys my knee, I'm playing."

"But what if you get hurt?" she argued, standing as well. "Who knows what they could have done to you?"

"Ya-chan, I need to come back to the game against them." he said. "I need to protect by teammates from being hurt!"

"I can't afford to see you get hurt again, Tep-nii!" she suddenly yelled. Kiyoshi snapped out of his thoughts when he saw tears streaming down Yasu's cheeks. "I know you need to protect them, but please..." She looked down as she continued to sob. "Think about yourself. I can't afford to see any of the people I care for get hurt."

Kiyoshi looked at her, and immediately remembered the time she cried like this in front of him. He felt a pang of guilt in his heart when he finally understood that she was only looking out for him. She knew he loved basketball as much as she did, and it hurt her to tell him not to play with the next opposing team.