The Shield of Aegis and Unexpected Sides
For once, the sophomores wanted to try winning without relying on the freshmen who WOULD be needed in their match against Yosen.
The idea was, 'to let them rest to prepare against a monster' because with Murasakibara on the team, its exactly that.
However, push came to shove when they played against Kogomorisono North in the Third Round but only played in the 4th Quarter.
'Kuroko-chan's got us tapes about Yosen, and we coaches gave you their levels with our abilities.' Riko told the boys and she was glad someone who possessed the exact opposite of her ability joined Seirin otherwise she would have no clue where the boys lacked. She could only see the current capability of a body, not the level needed for it to reach maximum potential, their best, peak conditions as athletes.
As much as possible, they did their damn best to reach it. Both female coaches used their eyes and experiences in training the boys, and did all they could with two day breaks once the results are achieved.
So when Alex got wind of this, she was horrified that the 'Reverse Scan' was the reason why she feels an overwhelming presence from Kuroko. Her ability, is that good. She could even tell how badly-degraded her eyes are she wondered if she could call 'a friend' over to look at her once everything is over.
Generations of Miracles indeed.
Riko would tell the woman in private that Kagami and Kuroko are the sixth and seventh unknown miracles as Kagami had the bad luck of entering a school that wasn't even considered for the games in Middle School thus he 'rusted' and was thus an unknown powerful entity that needed 'a big push', and Kuroko, out of disgust for Teiko, refused to show her ability as the Head Coach has it anyway and merely watched how things are done for future use...and how, when she helped Seirin reach their highest levels they could afford in time for the Winter Cup, but by their third and final year, be 'perfected'.
'...Murasakibara-kun...is ridiculously freaking huge as you all know. His body is practically a game-breaking cheat! Ridiculously long arms and legs for a japanese!' Riko twitched. 'With that height, long arms and legs, he's waaaay bigger than Dad from Senegal, he has a big reach...that we had to use our err...lack of height thereof to work around it for months. The problem is the other players.'
'Himuro Tatsuya-san forms the Double-Ace with Murasakibara-kun. He is their best offense, the other the titular Shield of Aegis.' Kuroko continued. 'He has a perfect Shooting Form, his Faking ability is perfect that he can fool our eyes. You must be prepared to get used to it in court but in the 1st Quarter, count on us to break it down for you. Your job is to play your best and when given the chance, get used to Himuro-san so in the next three quarters, our only problem will be Murasakibara-kun.'
'Then that means I can use 'that' now, right?' Kagami asked the girls excitedly.
'Use what?!' the sophomores croaked, looking at him as one.
'Fufufu...Kagami-kun, like Michael Jordan, can Air Walk.' Riko grinned as several jaws dropped. At this, even Alex gaped at her pupil. 'At first back at our Summer Camp, I thought he can only jump high...but I noticed that he stays in the air a couple seconds longer. His legs developed to that point by lucky chance because the dummy thought to buy drinks for the Shuutoku guys too during our practice match. If he hadn't done that, we wouldn't notice the awakening of that ability. Its why I foisted him off Kuroko with a designed menu while I focused on everybody else to develop it properly while she works as his afterschool tutor.'
'But Kagami-kun, a trump card is a trump card.' Kuroko reminded Kagami. 'If you use it too much, they'll get used to it and find a way to keep you from jumping, just to remind you.' she warned. 'And since Murasakibara-kun is so lazy, he will not play at his full. However, if you provoke him, that's bad for us as we have no idea how high he can jump and he's a giant. Let sleeping dogs lie.'
'Ou.' he nodded.
'Well, everyone's pretty-much ready.' said Alex, beaming.
Next day...
'OK! Are you all ready?!' Hyuuga bellowed to his team.
'OU!'
'OHHHHH! HERE THEY ARE! WITH ONLY TWO YEARS SINCE THEIR INCEPTION, THE NEW STAR THAT CONTINUES ON WITH ITS VICTORIOUS MARCH! GOOD LUCK, SEIRIN HIGH SCHOOL!'
'AND THEN HERE ARE THE GUYS WHO TRIUMPHED WITH ZERO-POINT LOSS! THE SHIELD OF AEGIS, YOSEN HIGH SCHOOL!'
'We prepared for months for this because we have the Winter Cup in mind!' Riko barked. 'No screwing around, got it?! If Touou is Super-Offense, we're now dealing with Super-Defense!'
'Yes ma'am!'
'Well, that's all boys. Give it your all because they certainly will.' said Kuroko as they went to greet the other team before the Tip-Off.
Murasakibara wound up committing a foul accidentally, Jumper Violation- In a Tip-Off, you are NOT allowed to touch the ball until it reaches its peak, usually above the Centers of each team.
The thing is, Murasakibara was way too tall and jumping combined...its easy to commit that foul by accident. That, and the thrown ball was not over his height and jump height.
'Looks like its a poor choice to put Murasakibara-kun in Tip-Off. Its too easy to commit that foul if he's in Tip-Off. He wasn't this bad last year.' Kuroko giggled. 'They should have put Okamura-san instead.'
'Yeah, but in an offensive battle, they went with offensive common sense.' Riko shook her head as the annoyed members griped at their lone freshman.
'Oopsie.' was all Murasakibara could say in utter deadpanned resignation.
'Atsushi~~!' Fukui growled.
'Thou shalt not jump anymore.' said Wei, annoyed.
'Be careful for next time.' said Himuro.
'Don't spoil him Himuro!' Okamura grumbled.
And then all hell broke loose!
Fast game plays and fast passes...
Seirin created a shock. Scoring for once against Yosen's unbeatable record.
'WHAT IS THIS?! SEIRIN ACTUALLY SCORES AGAINST THE SHIELD OF AEGIS?!' the score was Yosen leading at 18-10.
'Its as expected.' Riko frowned. 'It's even worse seeing it in person only you can understand this!' she swore. 'I'm glad our tactics are working but its taking way too much time. We don't like it but we get what we can get.'
'I'm afraid so which is why we prepared accordingly.' said Kuroko. 'All tapes I got from Interhigh are basically worthless since they didn't give it their all. And both Akashi-san and Murasakibara-kun did not play in the Interhigh Finals at all.' she said. 'The true Yosen began playing in the Winter Cup.'
'We might actually have to break the seal on Kagami because of Murasakibara-kun at this rate.' Riko told Kuroko who was frowning.
Kuroko twitched. 'On your word, I'll give the signal.'
'Very well. For now we wait since the freshmen are helping us out.' Riko grinned. 'If they think only Yosen can play the height game, so can we!'
'Being small has its advantages sometimes~' Kuroko smiled. 'But that would mean nothing if we don't have tall guys or guys with nice legs.'
'Indeed. But man, so much effort needed to score...hope Kagami-kun will go on Zone soon...'
'Sou ne...'
By the end of the 1st Quarter...
'Man, that, was hell!' Kawahara gasped out.
'At least we broke the record somehow.' said Kuroko, passing around damp towels and drinks, and bananas. 'However, the problem is that while we can play, it matters little.' she said. 'This time, we'll form a spear. Kagami-kun, we decided to break your seal.' said Kuroko as the boys knew they'll finally get to see Kagami's Air Walk. 'However, doing so costs a lot of stamina, we need a real good game to make it count. You cannot always rely on it so use it wisely. A path needs to be opened...like how in war in antiquity, a spear can stab through a shield and a breast plate. Its a tough job and demand but we have no choice.'
'Kawahara-kun, Furihata-kun, break! Koganei-kun and Tsuchida-kun will relieve you. We need you for the 3rd and 4th.' Riko instructed. 'Misdirection and Overflow will not work on Yosen. To be exact, its not as great as it was with Touou. As Yosen's playing style focuses on the Inside, we won't get much the desired results so making you Overflow is pointless. But we still need the Passing Skills to carve a crucial path later. Teppei, you have Murasakibara. Kagami-kun, you get Himuro-kun. He's calm so far but sooner or later, he'll make his move, showing why Yosen has its Double-Ace. Power VS Power, Skill VS Skill.'
'And Himuro-san is a good actor and fast as a ninja, do take everything he does with a grain of salt and follow your instinct all the way.' Kuroko quipped. 'He's a master of fakes I bet even Aomine-kun will have trouble with him next year. In the Interhigh, due to the Bracket Placing, Touou never got to play Yosen. Moreover he's the polar opposite of Aomine-kun's Freestyle. Himuro-san is what we'd call extremely-polished orthodox basics that his movements are smooth, and beautifully-fluid that aids him in his perfect shooting form and faking.'
'We'll do Triangle Two!' Riko declared. 'And we'll do OUR kind of faking! Kuro-chan and I discussed this earlier so here's what we're gonna do...'
And back out...
It began.
Even with Triangle Two, it didn't matter, it was up to their wits and Faking, Teamwork-Style...and Kiyoshi being sly.
On the other hand, Kuroko was looking at the necklace Kagami gave her.
"...can I really throw something like this for him?" Kuroko frowned sadly. "Kagami-kun...despite how he looks, is a very kind, gentle man. There's no way he can do this...asking me alone already hurts for him."
'Kuro-chan?' Riko frowned. 'Isn't that Kagami-kun's necklace?'
'...Kagami-kun wanted me to throw it away...its a ring that seals his and Himuro-san's brotherhood but now he's had to throw it away just to fight him evenly because Himuro-san threw it away long ago for the sake of rivalry. But I can't throw something like this away. I can tell he really didn't want to do it.'
And at the beginning of the 3rd Quarter...
They anticipated Murasakibara's temper but even then, its still terrifying to behold, enough to cause damage to the post behind him.
He went offensive himself.
'We saw this coming but...' Riko choked out.
'Murasakibara-kun is an innocent, perpetually-bored lazy child with a few screws loose.' Kuroko swore. 'We knew pissing him off will make this happen as a consequence. Our only hope now is Kagami-kun going Zone and Michael Jordan on us...!'
The two female coaches watched nervously with bated breath as Murasakibara became a monster...however, their plan centered around the returned Freshmen although only one came back, Kawahara as Furihata will play on the final quarter:
Their brand new Stealth All-Court Man-to-Man Defense.
They succeeded in bamboozling Yosen and catching up. However, the true problem...was not Murasakibara. Its Himuro.
By switching tactics from S.A.M to 2-3 Zone, they caught up, 47-43 points.
Kagami decided to go for broke.
"Now!"
As its the last quarter...he decided to break out his best weapon, Air Walk...and because that Kuroko really said that Kagami is a very kind man...
'Kuro-chan, could Kagami-kun's trigger be...' Riko croaked as her eyes bulged.
'I said it didn't I? Kagami-kun is a very kind, gentle man.' said Kuroko. 'He is also a very loyal person the girl who'd be his girlfriend will be a truly lucky one. And in a desperate situation like this and he knows he's needed the most...unlike Aomine-kun wishing for victory to trigger Zone, his trigger is that everyone needs him, and stress.'
'Stress?!' came the sputter.
'Yup. Stress from desperation and the team being backed into a corner.' said Kuroko as she looked back the first time they were driven into a corner that Kagami went Zone. 'Only powerful teams can make him go Zone. However...we'll win this one even if the situation looks different.' she grinned. 'Murasakibara-kun is jumping a lot recently, riiight?'
'Yeah, so?'
From the audience...
Kuroko's perpetual blank face broke into a smile.
A sinister smile that means 'We got something else'.
To those who knew her, they never thought she could make this kind of smile.
'Tetsu...smiled?' Momoi gasped in disbelief as they saw her smile, and its not the good kind.
'Its a smile that definitely has something in mind.' said Aomine wryly. 'In all the years we knew her, she never made that face.'
'You see, Murasakibara-kun's laziness is his downfall.' Takao translated. 'Ever since our junior high days, he perpetually stays under the post while leaving the work to everyone else.'
Midorima harrumphed grumpily.
'Yeah, he does that-nodayo.' he grumbled. 'Continue.'
'He may be the best out of everyone in regards to energy and power but that only applies to his upper body, not his legs.' he told his listening teammates. 'And since we angered him real good into making him go out of character, we made him spend his leg power for the sake of disabling his jumping and he chose to be serious way too late. In a few minutes, he can no longer jump therefore we can still make things go our way. We raised our boys to be creative and will definitely bag this for us.'
'You know, with that talent of yours you'd do well in the police force.' said their coach.
And Kuroko was right.
Later...
'I thought I told you to throw it!' Kagami sputtered as Kuroko gave him back his necklace.
'Kagami-kun, there's no way I can do what you ask of me.' said Kuroko. 'Honestly, you boys can be such idiots...can you not be brothers and rivals at the same time? There's what we call 'third option' you know. I saw Alex-san leave just now. Most likely to find and talk to him. Go.'
Kagami looked relieved, taking his necklace and ran off.
'...blockhead.' but secretly, she followed to ensure he really does do it.
However...
Instead, they found a beaten Himuro and a familiar face neck-lifting Alex.
'W-WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!' Kagami roared angrily. 'LET HER GO, NOW!' before he could move, a fast shadow zipped past and moved behind the man, grabbing his other arm and something was pressed against his neck.
'Gah?!'
'Huh?!'
Himuro, Kagami and Alex could not believe it.
It was Kuroko.
'Ohisashiburi, Haizaki-kun.' Kuroko spoke. Haizaki laughed incredulously and nervously due to something on his throat.
'The hell?! Of all people to do this, its you?' he blurted in utter disbelief as the something sharp dug further in.
Doll-like but sweet Kuroko Tekka of all people?
Gawd, his image of her is shattered.
'One, Alex-san is a good friend of ours. Two, black and cornrows does not suit you, your previous was much better and three, I live alone where my house can be targeted anytime by criminals so this is merely a necessity for me. Kindly let her go.'
Having no choice as there was something sharp on his throat, he let Alex go, making her cough and rub her neck.
Kuroko of all people using a knife on others?!
'My god Tekka, you're the last person I'd thought to do this.' said Haizaki. 'It should have been that bastard Akashi.'
'...you'll have to excuse him as the Akashi that made you quit is no longer the Akashi that we all knew when club began.' said Kuroko. 'Let's just say he's reborn as a not-so-good guy.'
'Oh great, he became an asshole by himself.' Haizaki snarked sarcastically. 'You're joking, right?' he snarked.
'I am bad at jokes so I'm not joking. And your match is up next. You really should go.' said Kuroko, letting him go.
'Oh yeah, I'm up against Ryouta.' said Haizaki, rubbing his neck, grinning maliciously. 'This is gonna be fun. See ya never!' and he left.
'K-Kuroko, t-that's really have a knife, right?' Kagami asked her nervously. 'How'd you get it past metal detectors?!'
'...I'm not that stupid.' Kuroko said wryly as the true identity of her weapon, is the handle of a plastic spoon.
The jaws of the three americans dropped, utterly floored.
'A spoon?!' they blurted incredulously.
'In a situation like that when you're unarmed yet things are dangerously stacked against you, anything with an edge can be used as a bluff combined with a little pain and the psychological attack and impact it brings to a captured dangerous guy.' Kuroko explained. 'I always carry this with me as a just incase. But if it clearly won't work...I have a taser on me.'
'That's one cool trick!' Alex gushed out, amazed.
'You scared us back there...' Himuro sighed, relieved that Kuroko really didn't have a weapon.
'Damn that was scary.' Kagami shuddered. 'And I thought Coach is scary!' Himuro was of the same opinion with his Coach. But last he checked, Kagami's coach is a student coach...which was very unusual, but legal.
'Well, this is where I leave you but be careful.' said Kuroko. 'Haizaki-kun...Akashi-kun forced him to quit Teiko's Basketball Club because not only does he skip after our first championship, he also starts up violence with delinquents from other schools and he already had media exposure yet he's out of control. If the Sports Association found that out, Teiko will be under the media's merciless firing squad. I don't know how Akashi-san did it because Haizaki-kun is violent and he clearly went from bad to worse...I really wonder.' she said, shaking her head. 'You there in the shadows, I know you're there!' her sharp last words startled the americans because as far is they know, its just them!
Kise peeked out nervously from his hiding place, behind a tree and he was holding a basketball.
Like Haizaki, Kagami and Alex, his image of sweet, good Kuroko was shattered and he was freaking out.
'U-uhm, hey, Kurokocchi...' said Kise with a nervous smile.
'Kise!' Kagami gasped out. Apparently he's there the whole time!
'Well, I'll leave you three to talk, and I'll go with Kise-kun.' Kuroko smiled as she walked away. 'Take your time~' and she ran off.
'Wow Kurokocchi, I didn't know you can do that...I got worried because he's our next opponent I took a walk and then I saw all that.'
'Well, you heard what I said then.'
'Yeah...I guess you don't need a cool knight in jersey huh?' Kise sighed gloomily. 'I wanted to be cool back there and bash a ball on his head.'
'No I don't.' Kise winced. 'But I care for a kind, sweet, caring man who would always be there for me when I'm down in the dumps and he'll be there so I can cry on him or just for emotional support. Girls these days like boys like that.'
'Heee...then I can be one for you anytime you know!' Kise chimed.
'Well, that would be impossible as you're a prefecture away.' Kuroko countered jokingly as Kise blanched at the reminder. 'But still...this is Haizaki-kun we're talking about. He'll clearly gun for you and be the Kirisaki Daiichi to you, so watch yourself.' she warned as Kise knew she still thinks of herself as his mentor and is warning him. 'Like you, he's a Copy Player but in his case, by altering the rhythm to his liking and its original user seeing him do so subconsciously loses their own rhythm and can no longer use it, thus he effectively steals what he copies, causing a psychological shock. Be tactical and never give up OK?' she said, patting his back. 'I taught you to never give up while there's still possible options. If not you, your teammates will surely find a way.'
'Yeah.' said Kise. 'There's no way I'll lose to that jerk!' he promised her. 'He forced you to do something you normally wouldn't do...' he swore as his free hand clenched into a fist. 'Kurokocchi is too kind for that so you used a spoon!' he exclaimed. 'By the way, who's that hot blonde?'
'Her? She's a former american WNBA, Alexandra Garcia-san.' said Kuroko. 'She was Kagami-kun and Himuro-san's teacher since they were children and we got to know her. Seirin I mean.' she said. 'She has a habit of french kissing cute boys and girls around 15-29 as a greeting...she got me and Riko-senpai.'
'HUUUUH?!' Kise squawked, blushing red.
'Had you stayed longer she'd have gotten you too.'
Kise's face glowed like a red-hot poker. 'Eeeee...I don't want her kiss!' he whined. 'I want my first yours!'
'Oh my...' Kuroko did NOT expect that admission.
'So will Kurokocchi give me a kiss?' Kise asked her hopefully.
'...well, if only so you have a reason to win, I'll kiss you if you win.' Kuroko told him her condition. 'That way its much more worth it, no?'
Kise beamed.
With a promise like that, like hell he'll lose! He also wants to pay back Kagami!
