Coming Back [Kuroko no Basket]

Basketball Is Not A Sport You Can Play By Yourself

Note: the image above is the face that Nakamura makes in the chapter

Everyone could only watch with shocked faces as they see Midorima get into his shooting form. Seirin could only watch in astonishment at how Midorima made a shot while on the other side of the court.

This f*cking carrot I knew he was hiding something

As the first quarter ends with Shutoku in the lead, 13 - 19, everyone sat on the bench with solemn faces, unsure of how to deal with Midorima now after discovering his shooting range. Riko turned her attention to Nakamura and Kuroko, asking them if Midorima has always been able to make such long shots. Kuroko denied it, saying that the half line was as far as Midorima would shoot in middle school. Checking her data, Nakamura also told them that from the matches that Shutoku has played so far, Midorima has never gone past the center line, most likely to hide how wide his shooting range was, and that's why they weren't able to find out until now. Discussing what they should do about Midorima, they were able to assume that Shutoku most likely thought they were going to try to shut Midorima down. Going ahead with that assumption, they decided for now that they should try to steal the ball as much as they could so Midorima wouldn't have the chance to shoot. 

As the second quarter started, people were shocked to see Kuroko blocking Midorima. Hoping that Kuroko's back tip would work, everyone in Seirin was on the edge waiting for Midorima to make a move. As Midorima passed Kuroko, they waited in anticipation for Kuroko to knock the ball out of Midorima's hand, only to witness Takao to screen him, not giving Kuroko the chance to execute his back tip. Everyone watched as Takao continued to block Kuroko's passes and pass to Midorima, who kept making his three pointers. Nakamura could only grip her pen as she struggled to think about how to deal with Midorima now. However, she snapped out of it when she heard Kagami laugh after Midorima made another three pointer from the other side of the court.

Kagami always laughs when he's up against a strong opponent, but something's not right. I don't have a good feeling about this.

As the second quarter ended, everyone headed back to the locker rooms for a strategy plan. Nakamura stood next to Riko, biting her bottom lip while looking at her data of Shutoku, trying to think of a way to counter Midorima. Geez I know I expected his shooting range to improve but not by that much already. It would be simple if we could just steal the ball but Tetsuya is still being marked.

Nakamura looked up to see Riko's face turning red, seeming to have a conflict with her self. Thinking that she might do something during Seiho's match like a kiss reward, Nakamura tugged on Riko's sleeve and shook her head as a way to tell to not do whatever she was going to do. Turning her attention back to the members, everyone noticed that Kuroko was watching a tape of Takao, trying to find a counterplan. Realizing that she didn't get the chance to explain what she meant from their timeout in the first quarter, she got everyone's attention and explained how they would be able to counter Takao and his Eagle Eye, also suggesting they bench Kuroko for the third quarter so he could still use his misdirection later in the game. 

Continuing on, Nakamura guessed that Shutoku would focus more on Otsubo for the second half because he was still a strong center, so she suggested that two members should double team him if they can. She was also able to realize another weakness, which was because Midorima stands so far away from his own basket, he stands that much closer to their basket. However, the only problem is that although she saw it as a weakness, it doesn't mean anything if no one can stop Midorima. Checking the clock, everyone got ready to head back to the court for the second half of the game.

As the game continued, Nakamura continued to study Kagami after he was able to stop Midorima's shots once. Although she was glad they found an opening, she began to grow more worried with how Kagami was running and jumping around the block Shutoku's chances. His legs are going to give out soon. His body's not strong enough yet to keep jumping like that. That idiot overexerted himself by jumping all over the place and there's still the fact that this is our second match. Even if we did sub him out during Seiho's match, he must have lost a lot of stamina marking Tsugawa. Not only that but Kagami's been acting weird. He hasn't been passing the ball to everyone and he's just been dunking like crazy.

The buzzer rang, indicating that the third quarter was over. As Seirin settled down on the bench, the players ganged up on Kagami, telling him that he needed to cool his head and to observe his surroundings so he could pass.

"What good would passing the ball around have done?"

"Huh?"

"I'm the only one that stands a chance against Shutoku. We don't need to play as a team right now. We need me to score."

Nakamura felt her chest tighten and her anger rising after hearing what Kagami said. Clenching her teeth and gripping her clipboard, she tried to control herself as her knuckles began to turn white.

"Hey what the hell are you saying."

"That's not simply being self-centered."

Before Nakamura could do anything, she felt Kuroko pull her back and watch as he stepped in front of her, throwing a hook with his right fist, connecting it to Kagami's face. Not surprised at what he just did, Nakamura just watched as Kagami fell backwards from the impact, who didn't  hesitate to get back up and grab Kuroko by his shirt.

"Damn it! Kuroko, you bastard!"

"You can't play basketball by yourself."

"As long as we play nice together, you don't care if we lose? There's no point if we don't win!"

"There's also no point in winning by yourself. You said you wanted to beat the Generation of Miracles, but you're thinking just like them. Even if we beat Shutoku as a team that can't trust each other, no one will be happy."

As Kagami said, "Don't be so naive! If we don't win, those are nothing more than nice words!", he threw a punch back at Kuroko. Before she could think, Nakamura threw her clipboard at Kagami, angry at how he was acting right now. Kagami winced as he held his head, not expecting that. Upset from being hit a second time, he grabbed Nakamura by the front of her uniform by one hand, easily lifting her off the ground, forming a fist in his other. Everyone panicked seeing Kagami form a fist, worried that he might actually punch a girl.

Trying her best to keep her voice steady, Nakamura asked him, "Then what is victory? No matter how many more points you have at the end of the game, if you're not happy, that's not victory." Kagami faltered for a second after hearing that and seeing her expression. Maybe it was because he never thought of her as a violent girl, or that she was so quiet that it would be easy to forget her, but he never thought that she could put on such an angry expression. With neither of them backing down, they continued to stare at each other and as Kagami kept looking into her eyes, he could see anger, pain, but most importantly, sadness. He could see that she was trying her best to not cry right now, but her lip began to tremble and her expression began to soften. He slowly loosened his grip on her uniform, putting her back down on her feet.

"That's right. It's not as if we want to lose!"

"We're just saying there's no reason for you to do it all by yourself."

"Do you have any objections?"

"No, but.... Well.... Sorry. Of course I'd rather be happy when we win."

"Thanks to Kuroko and Nakamura, it seems that Kagami has finally cooled his head off. But it doesn't change the fact that we're in a pinch. What do we do?"

"Excuse me, there may be one thing we can do. The only thing I can do is pass the ball, however I can take it up another level."

Fixing her clothes, she picked up her clipboard and stood next to Riko, as if she wasn't just hauled off her feet and was dangling a foot above the floor by a team member.

I knew sh*t was gonna go down today