Manga: Kuroko no Basuke
Creator: Fujimaki Tadatoshi
Author: Cheshire
Chapter Eleven: Cancer Vs Leo
~ * 'Happiness is not the absence of problems; it's the ability to deal with them.' * ~ Steve Maraboli.
'Damn... Did I become that weak in just a year...? The match against Kise I won, but only because Takara was there... I can't win alone... It was okay since we won the match, if... Takara wasn't there... If one day there comes a time where Takara's power can't be used... Will that be the day I lose? ...No way! I can't lose! I can't just depend on Takara and the senpai... I've got to become strong! Strong enough not to depend on others! Strong enough to win alone!'
Seirin and Shuutoku High were now playing the hardest as the ten minutes for the third quarter began, the score at 48 to 29, Shuutoku in the lead. Hyuuga was past the ball and he scored a three pointer for the Seirin team, the Seihou team watching the captain play.
"His shots are not as amazing as Midorima's, but that captain gets his job done!" Iwamaru said, impressed at Hyuuga's abilities and the blonde third year sighed heavily.
"Yeah, he finished us..." This only caused the Seihou captain to chuckle. Back on the court, Takao was smirking as he began to taunt Hyuuga who once again had the ball.
"You may be good, but we have Midorima!" He started and the ball was quickly stolen by Shuutoku, handing it over to Midorima just as Kagami jumped over to block his moves.
"A full-court press with box-and-one?!"
"They're determined! They haven't given up!"
"Kagami!" Izuki shouted as he, Hyuuga, Mitobe and Takara all stared over at the Kagami in awe and shock, what was he planning to do against Midorima?
'But it won't work!' Takao thought as he grinned, moving from his spot and over to block the tiger like freshman.
'You've tried that with Takara's help but still failed! Besides...' He finished as he rushed into Kagami, blocking the teen as Midorima hurried by with the ball.
"It's 2-to-1 now?!" Someone shouted but Kagami was not about to give up.
"I will stop you! You've let me see that play so many times that I found it! Your weakness!" He shouted at the black haired teen, who was shocked to hear his words and gasped when the red head pushed past him and rushed to Midorima who was about to take another shot, jumping to block the ball.
"The farther you shoot from the basket, the longer it takes for you to initiate the shot!"
'He touched the ball again! How can it be...?!' Midorima shouted in his head and Takao tsked as he turned back to the two players.
'Indeed few people can throw a heavy basketball beyond 20 meters... The initiation time has to be much longer than a normal shot... But I screened him and he should've lost his man...!'
'This arc!' Hyuuga thought as he noticed the ball was not floating as straight as the previous shots before.
'This... Don't tell me...' Just as he expected, the ball hit the backboard and started to roll against the metal rims of the basket, the Seirin freshmen wildly cheering from the bench realizing that it wouldn't fall into the goal.
"Wow! He finally stopped Midorima!" But their hopes were quickly smashed when Otsubo grabbed the ball and slammed it right back into the goal, Mitobe's block being defenseless against his powerful dunk.
"Argh!" Hyuuga scowled as the taller captain fell back to the ground, breathing heavily as he wiped some sweat from his forehead.
'Right, we still have strong players against us! The top class center of Tokyo... Otsubo Taisuke..!'
'I initially planned to stop Midorima pairing Kagami with Koganei...' Riko thought as she tapped her fingers across her chin, glancing over at Koganei who had just run into front of her.
"Koganei!" The cat boy glanced over at his coach in confusion until she realized what she wanted and he groaned, knowing he wouldn't like it. The Shuutoku team now had the ball and Otsubo was about to toss is behind him, but instead of flying back, it was slammed into Koganei's stomach as a block.
"Ouch!"
Confused by his strange, yet painful block, both teams were quick to snap back into realization when they noticed the ball was now just rolling across the court. Takao quickly caught the ball when it was tossed to him and was about to toss it to his captain, but realized that he was now being blocked by both Mitobe and now Koganei, who was very annoyed about the hit to his stomach.
"A double team against Otsubo?!" Takao groaned and pevitited around, shocking Izuki who was guarding him.
"Fine, this side!" He shouted as he tossed the ball to his side, Midorima catching it as he sped past the two, preparing himself for another shot.
'He's gotten closer to the basket, so it'll be fast! This time he won't...!' Takao started, but stopped when he realized that Kagami had indeed made it to the green haired shooter.
'I saw his potential. When he did that alley-oop at the last seconds of my match...' Kise thought, watching the red head's movements.
'He made it?! Tell me it's a lie!'
"MIDORIMA!"
'That was a power comparable to the 'Generation of Miracles'. That can be called the greatest weapon in basketball...His talent was... An extremely gifted jumping power!' Kagami slammed the ball right from Midorima's hands and the green haired teen couldn't believe his own eyes, he had been blocked...
"What?!" He started and Izuki smirked, speeding past Takao who was too distracted by the fact Midorima was blocked.
"Like we thought, all the extreme powers come with weaknesses! And another is... Your weakness!" He shouted as he was tossed the ball by Kagami, speeding over to the Shuutoku goal, where absolutely no one but himself stood, the perfect opportunity.
'He's right!' Yukio thought shocked.
'If they attempt a shot that far from the intercepted, the ball will be nearer to their own basket! That'll mean an extremely great counter-attacking chance!' Izuki scored for this team and it brought their score to 34 with less than nine minutes left in the quarter.
"Wooh! That's a great block!"
"Seirin's gotten back into the game!"
"We can't let them continue this!" Otsubo shouted.
"Pass it here, Takao!" He demanded on the freshman and Takao was surprised.
"Huh? But..."
"It's okay!" The ball was than passed to the Shuutoku captain and he pushed through Mitobe and Koganei, making his way to the basket.
"What?!" Otsubo arrived at the basket and was about to make a dunk, Mitobe and Koganei still trying block him from scoring.
"He's overcome the two!" But what Otsubo didn't expect, was for Kagami to jump even higher than himself and knock the ball from his hands and onto the court floor. "Again?!"
'That's high!'
"On top of that..." Midorima started in shock, sweat now starting to fall not from the heat, but from the nervousness of Kagami's jumps.
'He's fast! When did he get there?!'
"Wow! What's with him?!"
"Foul! Black number 10!" The referee shouted with a blow of his whistle and Kagami scowled, wiping sweat from his chin and the feral look appeared back in his eyes.
'I'll win. Even if I'm alone!' On the Seirin bench, the freshmen and Tsuchida were talking about their opinions on the block.
"Kagami's great! As long as he have him...!" Furihata started, but Takara was quick to interrupt.
"...Really?" She asked and he was confused at her words.
"Huh?" The blue haired girl turned from his teammates and narrowed her eyes at the court, the two blue orbs locking on her red haired friend.
"If we let this go on... I sense danger."
After the ball was put back into play, Kagami was stealing, passing and dribbling the ball with all his might and it was starting to knock the Shuutoku players from their high pedestals.
'What's with him?!' Miyaji thought in a panic as Kimura growled.
'He was just a middle school kid until recently! How can he overcome us?!' Kagami, who had now passed Midorima, stood in front of Otsubo preparing himself for another shot.
'I've never seen this, even in Nationwide competitions... That sort of jumping defies common sense!' He shouted in his head as he tried to block Kagami, but it was futile when the ball was slammed into the goal above his head.
"My, that's high!"
"I can't believe this!"
"He's suppressed Shuutoku by himself?!"
"That's great, Kagami!" Koganei shouted over his friend with a smile, but was confused at the response he was given.
"Could you pass the ball to me more?" Kagami started and the cat boy was startled. "Wha? Huh?"
"I'll score alone!" Back with the Shuutoku coach, he was watching the red head carefully, analyzing his movements.
'What he just did isn't something we usually find in Japan! To stop this... Isn't easy...' Looking back up at the scoreboard, he noticed that there were two minutes left and the score was 56 to 45, Shuutoku still in the lead.
"Coach, if we don't do something now... We'll..." One of his benched players started and he nodded.
"Hmm, you're right. But that'll be a big risk for us, too. We'll just go as planned. Don't get nervous." He told his players, noticing the expressions on their faces.
"I think his time's almost up."
'I can't believe this...!' Takao shouted internally as he watched the game progress around him, Miyaji now holding onto the ball.
'Someone stopped Midorima... No matter how much time it takes in motion, no one should be able to block at such a height!' Miyaji grinned darkly at the other Seirin players and got himself into a shooting position.
"Don't freak out just because someone stopped Midorima!" He started, mostly shouting at Takao.
"I'll teach you a lesson!" He prepared himself for the shot but Takao knew it was too late but still tried to get the blonde's attention.
"Wait, Miyaji! There's-!" But it was too late. Kagami had already pushed the ball from the blonde's hands and it landed in Hyuuga's, watching as the red head sped down the court.
"Huh?!"
"We got the ball! Counter-attack!" Hyuuga shouted as he tossed the ball across the court at Kagami, who caught it with ease before passing both Miyaji and Kimura who had come to block him as he jumped.
'This isn't funny! How long can he stay in the air?! It's almost like he's suspended on wires!' Kimura thought as he already started to fall back to the ground while Kagami let the ball fly from his fingers.
'And he managed to regain his balance by adjusting mid-air! He can attack as soon as he's gotten the ball midway of the jump... That's an un-blockable... Un-defeatable power!' He finished as he landed back on the ground, the ball soaring into the goal as Kagami hit the court himself.
"It... went in..."
"Oh man and now..."
"Ooh, a single digit score difference!"
"We still don't know who'll win!" The score's now read 56 to 47 and the Shuutoku coach was still lingering his eyes on the red head.
"Hmm, too bad... But I think your show's almost over. You won't equalize!" He said and Midorima heard him, realizing what he coach was truly saying.
"I recognize our ability. But... I won't let you go further than this!" The green haired teen shouted as he prepared for a shot, Kagami scowling at his words.
"What?! I'll take this down...!" He started as he tried to jump, but groaned when the muscles in his legs no longer allowed him to jump like he wanted.
"Kagami!" Izuki shouted in a panic at his friend's movement and scowled when Midorima's shot soared into the goal.
"Too bad. This is reality." The red head growled over at the sharp shooter and Riko was beginning to panic on the sidelines.
'How can... He's... That's too early...!'
"Exhaustion?!" Kise shouted and Yukio nodded.
"...Most likely. He probably can't make sustained jumps like that. Just now, he tried to fight this all alone... Furthermore..."
"Even if they substituted him half way, this is the second competition in the same day..." Iwamaru started.
"And Tsugawa marked him tight..." He finished and the shaven haired teen as scowling behind him, annoyed at Kagami's bad timing.
"What's with this timing?! Damn!" Kasuga could only sigh and place his arms behind his head as he glanced back at the Seirin team.
"They're in trouble now! And the one's near exhaustion... Are not only him!"
"Shut up! I won't stand this!" Kagami shouted as he pushed his way through the players, making it to the goal and ready to shot it.
'...That's rash!' Hyuuga shouted in annoyance.
'And too early! You idiot!'
"Wait, Kagami!" Of course, as the red head tried to score, Midorima jumped and easily knocked the ball from his hands and onto the court and into the hands of his teammate.
"Shuutoku's countered!"
"No matter how much he wanted to score, that's rash!" Kimura made it to the other side of the court and scored a basket right as the final second ended, the score board going off signaling the end of the quarter.
"Shit...!" Kagami shouted from under the basket and Takara narrowed her eyes, she had to calm Kagami down or they weren't going to win this game.
"The end of the third quarter!"
Both teams returned to their sides of the court and Kagami slammed himself onto the bench, pounding his fists against the metal material.
"Damn!" He cursed as Izuki sat down next to him, trying to level his friend out.
"Kagami, don't get worked up like that! Cool down!" He shouted and Hyuuga agreed.
"Yeah, you should've seen that wasn't the time to attack! You should've turned the ball back and..."
"So what if I don't pass!"
"Ah?! What?!"
"Look, right now I'm the only one on par with Shuutoku! What we need right now isn't teamwork, it's me scoring!" He shouted and that only caused the other players to get pissed off quickly at the red head.
"What's that?!" Koganei shouted and Mitobe narrowed his eyes, listening to Hyuuga shout down at the first year.
"There's no time for you to get self-centered here!" Kagami ignored the shouts from his teammates and noticed a small shadow at his feet, looking up he realized it was Takara, but wasn't expecting what she did. Before he could speak to her, her fist collided with the side of his face and most of the team members gasped, Kise and Midorima sensing their treasure's anger from their spots.
"Takara?!" Riko shouted as she pulled back her fist, but the red head wasn't going to have it. He grabbed the smaller female by the top of her shirt and lifted her from the ground, growling down at her as she glared back at him.
"Takara, you-!"
"Basketball is not a one-man sport!" She shouted
"You mean you'll let it rest if you lose as long as everyone enjoys playing?! There's no meaning unless we win!" He shouted at her and it only caused her normally bright blue eyes to darkened as she listened to him shout.
"But there's no meaning if you win alone! You said you wanted to defeat the 'Generation of Miracles'... But you think just like them!" She shouted and almost the whole Seirin team were shocked stiff at her words.
'What... Whoa, Takara...!' But she only continued.
"And even if we defeat Shuutoku 'your way', no one will be happy!" She finished and the red head growled, throwing the blue haired girl onto the court in annoyance at her tone with him, ignoring as she winced in pain at his treatment. Her hand gripping onto her left elbow to try and ease down the pain from landing on it.
"Don't talk high minded like this! If we lose here, that'll just be some feel-good trash!"
"In that case, what's 'victory'?! Even if we have a higher score than the opponent when the final whistle blows... If there's no one happy, is it 'victory'?" Now, Kagami was able to see the truth in what she was speaking and his eyes widened with realization.
"...Not that we want to lose." Koganei started with a smile.
"But basketball is not a sport that can be played alone!"
"You have anything more to stay?" Hyuuga asked, placing his hands on his hips and the red head stood silently, letting his eyes linger down on Takara, who only continued to glare up at him from the floor.
"Well... Not... No," He started with a sigh and looking back at Takara, his eyes locking her own.
"I'm sorry. It'll be so much better if we win this together." He said and the Seirin team smiled over at him, happy that he had come back to his senses thanks to Takara.
"Takara... I'm..." He started as he started to reach down to help her, but his hand was quickly slapped back when two fists grabbed onto the front of his jersey, pulling him face to face with two darkened green eyes.
"How DARE you lay your hands on her."
The Seirin team were genuinely shocked when they realized that Midorima had made his way over their side of the court and that he looked like he was ready to kill Kagami as his grip tightened on the red head's shirt.
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't break your arms." He demanded and Kagami growled at the closeness of the other first year, but also had to admit that what he had just done to Takara was completely uncalled for...
"Takacchi!" Kise shouted as he made his way down the stairs and onto the court, rushing over to the blue haired girl and bending down to place his hands on her cheeks.
"Are you alright? You aren't hurting are you? Let me see your arm." He asked gently before glaring darkly over at the red head, who felt a shiver run down his spine at Kise's darkened eyes.
"I'm fine, Kise... Shin, please. Release Kagami."
"Why should I?" Midorima growled, not taking his eyes off of Kagami as he spoke.
"You attacked her and I for one do not appreciate 'my' treasure being treated without respect." The red head scowled and turned his face away from the sharp shooter, guilt filling him as he thought about how he just tossed to her to the ground like she was trash...
"...I never would have expected that kind of treatment from you, Kagami." Kise said as he lifted Takara from the ground, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and pulling her against him, his eyes not leaving the red head.
"You want us to respect you, but how can we do that when you don't even respect your own team?" Kagami's eyes widened and Midorima glanced over his shoulder at his old friend.
"I got this, Kise." That only caused the blonde to scoff.
"Yeah, using violence is always the answer. Let go of him, Midorimacchi."
The green haired teen twitched at the nickname, but noticed the look in Takara's eyes and growled, releasing the grip on his jersey before moving over to Takara and grabbing her right hand.
"This doesn't mean he's forgiven." He told her and she nodded, a small smile on her face.
"Thank you." The glasses teen softly sighed and pressed a kiss to the middle of her palm, her fingers gently tracing down his cheek.
"Go. Your team needs you." She said and he nodded, releasing her hand and glaring as he made his way past Kagami, whispering.
"Do something that like again and next time I won't be as nice." The red head stood silently as he moved back to the Shuutoku side, Takao and the others staring over at the Seirin team slightly confused, but snapped back to reality when Midorima arrived back to them.
"What happened?" Takao asked, not letting his eyes leave Takara, who was still being held next to Kise's side, his eyes slightly narrowing at the scene.
"What is tiger boy's problem?" He asked and Midorima glared down at him.
"It's none of your concern. But now I am irritated."
"You okay, Takacchi?" He asked the blue haired girl once again, glancing down at her, his arm gently releasing her from his hold.
"I am fine, Kise." She told him truthfully, reaching up to rub the side of his face in reassurance.
"I had to do something to calm Kagami down, even if it meant causing his temper to rise before snapping him back to reality." The blonde could only sigh at her answer.
"But that doesn't mean hurt yourself for that."
"...But I'm not hurt."
"But you could have been."
"Kise-"
"Takacchi." The blonde countered with a smirk and the blue haired girl couldn't help but smile up at him.
"Fine, you win. Now let me get back to my game." She said as she gently punched him in his shoulder, causing the taller teen to laugh.
"Okay, okay, I'm going." He told her before kissing the side of her head and moving past the Seirin team and off the court, but not before turning back to Kagami, who was still standing silently.
"You're lucky that Takacchi is alright because otherwise, you wouldn't be." He told him darkly before walking back up the stairs and into the stands to where Yukio still sat, watching the scene unfold.
"Takara..." The red head started, rubbing the back of his head in shame.
"I'm sorry... I didn't mean to..."
"I said it's fine, Kagami. Please do not stress about it."
"But I could have really hurt you!"
"But you didn't." She countered, startling him and she finished kindly.
"And that is all that matters. We have a game to win." She finished with a small smirk.
"And I don't think Midorima will let you off so easily, so why don't we teach him that Seirin isn't as weak as they all think?" Finally, the red head smirked down at her and rubbed the top of her head, happy that she had forgiven him.
"Let's do this."
The Seirin team all smiled at their friends and Hyuuga glanced over at the scoreboard, placing his hands on his hips with a small smile.
"Okay, fine... Kagami's cooled down thanks to Takara, but our situation on the court hasn't changed! Any ideas?" He asked as he moved his eyes away from the score, the board reading 47 to 62, Shuutoku High. Takara, happy to finally be able to play again, took off her over shirt and placed her sweat bands on her wrists, speaking to her team.
"Here, I... have one that may work, I can only pass around but, there's one more level on top of that." She told her team and they nodded as she got ready to go back onto he court, Kagami turning over to Hyuuga as he rubbed the back of his head.
"Senpai! Just now... Well, I'm sorry."
"Hmm, It's okay... Was what I wanted to say, but it's hard to swallow that from a freshman... yeah, punishments later." Hyuuga told the red head with darkened eyes and Kagami could only gulp at his terrifying senpai.
"Wah! Hyuuga's on 'switch on' mode again!" Fukada cried.
"We've got ten minutes left. Everything else can wait!" Riko shouted as Hyuuga, Izuki, Kagami and Mitobe joined Takara on the court, the Seirin team staring over at the Shuutoku team with determination in their eyes.
"CHARGE!" The five shouted and Takao smirked over at the team, the referee blowing his whistle in between the two high schools.
"The fourth quarter starts!" The ball was throw at the two teams started the game, Kise making it back up to his seat and realized that Takara was on the court.
"Wah! Takacchi is up?!" He shouted in shock, especially after she was just thrown to the ground by Kagami.
"I wonder what happened for her to punch Kagami, though." Yukio said and the blonde nodded, he hadn't found that out when he was on the court with her.
'But now that she's out...' The third year thought.
'What can she do? As long as Takao's on the court, that 'invisible' power can't work and he can't support the team... Or has she found a way?' Takao on the other hand, couldn't help the large cheshire cat grin that was on his lips at the sight of the blue haired girl on the court again.
'She's back! But I can see your moves... No, I'm seeing them even better now!' Kagami dribbled the ball down the court and was stopped by Midorima and Otsubo, but he passed it quickly between the two over to Mitobe who scored the first point of the fourth quarter. Seirin 49, Shuutoku 61.
'They're different now- It's no longer Kagami's one-man game...!' Takao thought in shock.
'What happened in the interval..?'
"Looks like Takara cooled you down." Midorima sneered at the red head.
"But... You hardly have any strength left!" The ball was then passed to the sharp shooter and he prepared himself for one of his special shots.
"You can't stop me anymore." He said and the freshmen on the sidelines started screaming for them to stop him.
"Oh, no! They have a quick restart! Kagami...!" The red head narrowed his eyes and hurried over to the green haired teen.
'Right- I'm near exhaustion now... But I still have something left in me!' He thought before thinking back to what Takara told her team during the last minute of the half time break.
' "Takara's new pass?" The red head muttered and Hyuuga glanced over at the blue haired girl with confusion.
"...Why did you keep that until now?" He asked her.
"Only a very selected few can catch it... However, I think Kagami might be one of those." She told her team and Koganei didn't seem entirely convinced.
"But we can't reply on Takara's pass if the only one who can receive it is Kagami. To undo Takao's marking, there has to be normal passes!" He explained, but Izuki smiled at his smaller teammates words.
"Ah, I think Takao's threat will be solved soon. Even my sight is getting undone!"
'Double team against Otsubo, then against Midorima...' Riko thought before staring over at the tiger freshman.
"Kagami! How many more times do you think you can jump?" She asked him. "Jump...?" Izuki questioned.
"That super jump he used on Midorima?" Hyuuga finished and Riko nodded.
"While it's Kagami's talent, it uses a proportionate amount of strength! Kagami's body is not that developed; that level of jump comes with a limited number in a match! You should have instinctively known this, right?"
"What the...! I can jump as long as the match requires me to!"
"Don't put up a brave act!" She shouted over at him and she glanced down at his legs, realizing in shock that his muscles were twitching heavily. After scanning his legs, she looked back up at her, her eyes narrowed.
"Twice. At most. From what I predict from your muscle, that should be the max. After two more jumps, I think... It'll take a lot of effort for you to just stand on the court."
"Only twice... Can we stop Midorima with that...?" Kawahara asked and Riko began explaining to Kagami where he needed to place those jumps within the last quarter of the game.
"One chance to be used for an important shot! The second... Just stop the first quarter shot from Midorima!" '
After making it over to Midorima, Kagami leapt into the air and smacked the ball away from his hands, shocking the green haired teen as the red head landed back on the court floor.
"What...?!" He shouted as the ball was slapped over to Izuki.
'He can still jump?! He should be exhausted by now! This guy... Has no plans to conserve his strength until the end?!' Seirin's number 5 quickly took a shot and the goal and prayed that it would go in, when the did it brought their score to 51.
"They got it!"
"It's back to ten point different again!"
"Coach! Is it fine to use one chance away right at the start?!"
"We're doing a front!"
"Eh!" They shouted in shock.
"After that, Kagami will just try to keep his mark on Midorima- If he shoots he won't stop him! However, Midorima never shoots when he isn't certain he will score. If Kagami behaves in a way that exceeded his expectation, he'll think 'there's more to Kagami'... And refrain from shooting unless the chance is clear! We don't have any more strategies left except reducing Shuutoku's scoring chances and scoring ourselves! So... We have to be on Takara!"
"Looks like they have great expectations of you." Takao said over to Takara, hoping to taunt her with his words.
"But whatever you come up with... I'll stop you!" He told her.
'You can't run away from my hawk eye's view!' The sixteen year old only narrowed her eyes and Hyuuga glanced over at her in worry.
"Unless he has blind spots, there should be no way of stopping Takao...? What's your plan, Takara!"
"No... most likely he won't have a 100% view!" Izuki said with a smirk and the glasses wearing captain seemed confused.
"Takao has a hawk's viewpoint that can 'see' the full court situation at all times. Thus, he can keep on watching Takara even when his attention is lured away by other events."
'Eh...?' Takao thought in shock when he realized that Takara was much closer to him than originally before.
'Why... The view's near!' He noticed in a panic and Izuki could tell that his sight for her was faulting.
"Thus, Takara doesn't try to misdirect Takao's attention elsewhere... But purposely draws attention to herself! During the first half, she left his passes get intercepted by Takao to reinforce her own impression on him... Then Takara can escape from his narrowed view!" He explained happily and the black haired first year was shocked, Takara had vanished...
'Hey!'
"She's not there?!" 'I lost her! How can it be!'
"Where...?!" Before he realized it, Takara was already behind him and speeding down the court and to where Kagami was, catching Izuki's pass to her immediately.
'Calm down! Even if I lose track of Takara, I know where Kagami is! Just get in between the ball and Kagami and I'll cut their passes!'
"You can intercept this time while all previous passes are just changing direction... This pass... Accelerates!" Takara shouted when Takao tried to jump in between her and Kagami, but it was too late. Instead of catching the ball like she normal would, the blue haired girl punched it with her fist as hard as she could, sending it flying across the court like a bullet.
'The ball just flew away like a cannon! It's too fast! How does she do that?! Both the passer and the receiver are insane to make this work!' Takao thought in a panic and all Seirin player's were shocked beyond belief at yet another new ability that Takara possessed... The Phantom Sixth player worked in mysterious ways.. Kagami was able to catch the ball but now what he had to worry about was the fact that Midorima now stood blocking him.
"Midorima?!" He shouted in shock and the green haired team growled over at the opposing freshman.
"I'll absolutely stop you!"
' "You can jump only twice more- one chance to be used for an important shot!" ' Riko's words rung in his head but he couldn't help but grin as he brought the ball back down to his chest.
'I know, but... If I don't do it here... When can I make it?!' The red head shouted internally before jumping up over Midorima and slamming the ball into the hoop, the green haired teen's eyes widening at the fact that the goal was even made... Silence enveloped the stadium and the other four Shuutoku players were stunned silent as well, Takara's lips turning up into a small smile.
"WHAT?!"
"GREAT! What was that?!"
'He did it finally...' Kise thought with a smile, leaning back into his chair.
'He surprised Midorimacchi! And the pass Takacchi did just now... Has never been caught by anyone else than the 'Generation of Miracles'!'
"But... Hey! He's out of steam! How's he going to hang on till the end?!
"We still have a lot of time left!"
"Well... That dunk was good timing... And was an important stage to boast morale."
"That said," Yukio started bluntly.
"It's not that necessary to insist on a dunk in the first place!" He groaned and Kise laughed with a smirk.
"He likes to do flashy things!" He told his friend and Yukio scoffed.
"No, you're just the same as him." That only caused the blonde to whine at his side. "But if we said it has no meaning, it'll be wrong too. Even with the same score, that's the best crowd-pleasing plays this game provides. And gave Midorima a shock. The dunk brings energy to the whole team's play, that's a fine play that score alone can't bring."
"Time out, Shuutoku!" One of the referee's from the head table shouted and both teams moved off the court onto their sides.
"Takara..." Kagami started, catching the blue haired girl's attention.
"I don't want to admit it, but just like the coach predicted... There's no way for me to jump anymore... I'll mark Midorima as long as I can. So, as much as I hate to say this... Depend on you for this..." He told her as he gently pat her shoulder, Takara nodding her head with determination.
"Yes."
Over at another High School in Japan, a dark skinned freshman was relaxing on the stage of his school gymnasium while spinning a basketball easily on his forefinger.
"Ah... I'm tired..." He groaned.
"I don't wanna move- I'm feeling soft everyone- I wanna have bread-" He started complaining to nowhere in particular until a familiar voice called out to him.
"Ah, you're here! Daiki!" A male voice shouted and the dark shinned young man let the ball fall onto his chest, looking over at the voice.
"Ah?" He questioned until he noticed a tall young man with pink hair standing in the doorway, eating a blue Popsicle.
"Wait, you pretended to be sick to skip matches again!"
"I said they'll win! Don't trouble me!"
"Oh, man... Right now Taka is fighting against Midorima! I think... It'll be Taka! The winner!" The pink haired freshmen said as he made his way into the room, grinning as he took another bite of his ice cream.
"Because she's the girl I loved!" He said and Aomine groaned, placing his arms over her eyes as the pink haired man chuckled.
"Did you find Aomine?" A female voice called from the doorway and the two looked over to see a pink haired young woman with large breasts also eating a blue Popsicle and smiling at the two males, a mirror image of the pink haired male.
"Yeah, he's over there. Ditching practice again as usual." The young man said and the young woman giggled, making her way over to her brother and leaning her arm against his shoulder. Ex-Managers of Teikou Middle School, Naoki and Satsuki Momoi.
"Are you listening?!" Naoki shouted over at the other freshmen and he scowled.
"Yes I am! On Tekka-don! I don't like that, though!"
"You aren't listening! Damn you, Daiki!"
"Wah, listen to Naoki for once, Aomine!"
"Gah, shut up both of you!"
Back over with Seirin and Shuutoku, Takara passed the ball over to Hyuuga and the Seirin captain shot another three pointer, bringing it 74 to 78, Shuutoku.
"Wow, again!" On lookers shouted as the ball hit against the court and Shuutoku took control of it.
"They've been catching up since that dunk!" Another shouted.
"Great! Now they're just two shots away!" Midorima took deep breaths as sweat dripped down his face and he looked over to Takara who stood a few feet from him.
"I didn't think you'd make it this far..." He admitted and the blue haired girl looked over at him, sweat dripping down his face as well, her chest moving as she heavily breathed.
"Shin used to tell us that a dunk is just a two-point shot. Your three pointers are indeed amazing. But that dunk that encouraged us to go on is... An invaluable shot that can't be measured in points."
"...I've been thinking." Aomine started as he turned his body over so that he now relaxed on his stomach while his arms dangled over the stage, Naoki and Satsuki looking over at him in confusion.
"We won't know until it's over. Both are strong during crunch time! We didn't take that national championship three times for nothing!" He finished with a smirk and the twins glanced over at each other, both Midorima and Takara we indeed strong players when the last five minutes of the fourth quarter was being played...
"The last three minutes!" Someone in the audience shouted and both Midorima and Takara continued to stare at one another, both their eyes narrowed as they knew that for the first time in three years they wouldn't be taking home this victory together...
~ * 'The end… Is near!' * ~ Fujimaki Tadatoshi Chapter 33.
End of 'Chapter Eleven: Cancer Vs Leo'
Next... 'Chapter Twelve: A Strange Trio'
Ho ho ho ho~ I hope that you all enjoy the new detail I added within the story! None of you thought I'd make Satsuki have a twin now did ya? Ho ho ho ho~ But anyway! Here you are everyone! Chapter 11 is now out! I hope that you all have enjoyed it and I love writing this story, it makes me so happy that you all enjoy it and review and favorite. thank you all so much, it means the world. And as normal! I would love to thank my reviewers from the last chapter! Thank you Soul Vrazy, Daylite, Gothicgirl12, Lady Syndra, Pri-Chan 1410, xXxOtAkU-444xXx, hitomi65, Lylia00, gigi323, hiyomi, BladePhoenix, and Chibified-chan! Thank you again everyone! I also thought I would answer a question as well since there have been some lately! Hopefully I'll be able to answer it!
* Chibified-chan: (from chapter 10) - "I looooove this fanfic! Super kawaii. I would love to know your pairing choice for takami-chan! Omedetou!"
I've noticed a few of these similar comments before from a lot of you readers, but I am not going to answer it just yet, right now I'll give you a little surprise hint instead for something coming up. First is that yes, sooner or later, Takara will end up with someone, I have a few ideas going around my head, BUT! During chapter 12, you are going to learn a lot about Takara's past and who her ex-boyfriend from Teikou was. Ho ho ho ho~ Just be a little bit more patient my darlings for many more surprises will be making their way to you soon! Thank you again for all your supoort and please don't forget to leave your lovely comments for this chapter! I can't wait to hear what you all think! Lots of love!
Cheshire
Edited as of October 20 2015: