Chapter 13

Perfect Accuracy (Part 2)

As both teams walked onto the court after halftime, there was a roar of cheers from the crowd. Even though most of them were cheering was for Shutoku, every so often someone would be cheering for the American team.

"I wonder if those are Americans rooting for CCHS?" Kagami asked.

"Dunno, but people seem to enjoy watch the showdowns with the Generation of Miracles," Kasamatsu said, sitting back in his seat.

As everyone talked around him, Ryuto only stared at Oliver. He carried himself with his usual cocky composure, but he could see that Oliver's personality had somewhat shifted. He walked separately from the group, even away from Diggle; his only friend. He watched as the team settled back into their bench, and the only one who did not sit down was Oliver. He did simple, light stretches as the other players sat down and listened to the game plan.

Has it gotten worse? What happened during half-time?

The buzzer sounded and both teams walked onto the court.

On a separate side of the gym, Aomine watched both team walk onto the court. His eyes were solely focused on Oliver. He had ran into him during halftime, and he could see his attitude had yet to change. He let out a sigh and slumped into his chair. Satsuki eyes him curiously, wonder what was making him so upset.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. That blonde just pisses me off," Aomine answered.

"Oliver Queen?"

Aomine nodded in response.

Satsuki then looked through her stat sheet to find Oliver. She mulled over his stats, wondering what had caught Aomine's attention, the two teens had very different play styles. However, they did have a distinct disregard for team play, though Aomine was slightly less opposed to it.

"Is that the guy from the hallway?" Satsuki asked.

Aomine nodded again. "He had that look in his eyes, the one that caused the divide between Tetsu and me."

Satsuki turned back towards the court and watched as the game was about to resume.

—

Takao's hands twitched as he watched CCHS set up for the inbound. In the back of his mind, replayed the instructions the coach gave. Play closer to the half-court line. Takao, I want you to steal their inbound. He could feel the sweat drop from his forehead as the play played out in his head. The distance between the passer and the point guard was short. He only had a single shot in order to make the play work.

Cisco looked to his side and saw that Shutoku was playing closer to the half court line. He rose an eyebrow, curious as to why. He returned his focus to the inbound as the referee blew his whistle.

The referee gave the ball to Snart for the inbound, and in that moment Takao sprinted. As Snart released the ball, his eyes widened as he saw Takao get closer. Takao managed to catch the inbound, and sprinted towards the basket. Before he could get to far, Barry overtook him and stopped his advance. Takao smirked and passed the ball backwards, where Midorima was waiting. Barry's eyes widened as he saw the green-haired teen set up for his shot and release. He then turned away from the basket and Takao followed him.

"Can't believe that actually worked," Takao said with a smile.

Midorima grunted and pushed up his glasses. As he did so a swish resonated throughout the court. "I fully trusted that you'd make it work."

Mirdorima placed his hand on Takao's shoulder and gave him a quick smile. Takao snickered and the two prepared for defense.

Up in the stands, both Kuroko and Ryuto were smiling between the exchange of the two. They both knew that Midorima had grown as a person.

As Cisco caught the inbound, he let out a mumbled curse. In only a matter of seconds, Shutoku had scored and extended their lead. Shutoku was ahead by ten and Midorima showed no signs of being able to be stopped. As he dribbled down the court, he could see Oliver glaring at him. He could also see Midorima eyeing him carefully. Midorima knew what he was thinking, a pass to Oliver would mean a steal. When he neared the three point line, Takao got into position.

I need to change things up.

Cisco then held up a single finger. "Lightning!"

His teammates nodded and got into position. Oliver's gritted his teeth and reluctantly preformed the play. After a hand off from Snart, Barry sprinted towards the basket and scored a lay up. As the team jogged towards defense, they congratulated Barry on his shot. Meanwhile, Oliver tightened his grip.

"Cisco!"

Everyone stopped moving and turned towards Oliver. His face only had an angry expression as he walked towards his teammates. He closed the gap between him and Cisco that, if Cisco was the same height as Oliver, their noses could touch.

"I thought I told you," Oliver said placing his finger on Cisco, "to only give me the ball."

Cisco swallowed nervously before answering. "Shintaro was going to steal it the moment I passed it. I made a judgement call. I am the point guard after all, it's my role on this team to be able to set up plays."

"And I told you, to only pass it to me," Oliver said in a hushed tone.

He walked past Cisco, bumping into his shoulder. The force of it caused Cisco to stumble, but he managed to regain his balance and not fall. Cisco turned back to say something to Oliver, but was met with a cold stare. The blonde's eyes with filled with anger, that it froze Cisco in place.

"Only pass it to me."

On CCHS's bench, Coach Wells let out a sigh. He looked through Oliver's stats as he rapidly clicked his pen. "Dammit," he mumbled.

Wells stood up and walked over to the scorer's table. After another point made by Shutoku, the buzzer sounded for a timeout. The CCHS players turned towards their bench and saw Coach Wells with a frustrated expression.

Up in the sands, Seirin plus Kasamatsu and Kise were commenting on the timeout being called.

"It probably has to do with their shooting guard," Kasamatsu said crossing his arms.

"He's acting way too self-centered," Izuki added.

"All I know is, that if he was on our team, I'd have straightened him out as soon as I met him," Hyuga said cracking his knuckles.

Ryuto tuned them out and solely focused on his former teammate. As he did so, his mind began to drift.

Flashback

Ryuto dribbled a ball at the three point line, he squared up for a shot and released. As the ball left his hands, Oliver appeared and blocked his shot. Ryuto watched as the ball bounced behind him, ignoring Oliver's taunting. As he grabbed the loose ball and placed it against his hip, he turned towards the blonde.

"What was that for?"

Oliver snickered. "No reason. Can't have other people being good at what I'm at. Don't you think?"

Ryuto rolled his eyes, he lost interest in doing extra practice. He walked over to his bag and took out a water bottle and a towel. Oliver scoffed and walked over to him.

"Hey, I asked you a question," Oliver said, yanking the towel out of the grey-haired boy's hand.

Ryuto remained silent. The silence was frustrating Oliver. His hand formed into a fist and he brought it up. "Don't give me the silent treatment, you foreigner!"

Oliver let loose his punch, but Ryuto simply stepped to the side causing Oliver to fall with the momentum. Oliver landed on his side and let out a quiet yelp. He sat up and looked towards the Japanese boy. He gritted his teeth in frustration and shot up from the floor.

"What's your problem anyways?" Oliver asked.

"Nothing. You're the one who's getting angry," Ryuto said, picking up his towel.

Ryuto turned away from Oliver and dried off his face. He then took off his sweaty practice shirt and put on a clean one. He placed the shirt and towel back in his bag and put the bag on a single shoulder.

"You're just going to leave?" Oliver asked in a surprised tone.

Ryuto stopped walking and slightly turned his head to face the blonde. "Last time I checked, you always leave as soon as practice ended."

Ryuto turned away from the blonde and walked out of the gym. As he walked towards the school's exit, he felt a rush of wind. He looked up to see Oliver sprinting ahead of him and hugging a man that stood on the sidewalk next to a fancy, black car.

Ryuto rose an eyebrow at the sight, but understood the situation. He kept to himself and walked past the two. As he did so, he could hear what the older man was saying.

"Get in the car, Oliver. We'll head home soon."

Oliver nodded in response and sat down in the back seat. The man closed the car door and let out a sigh.

"Excuse me, young man," the man called out.

Ryuto stopped walking and slowly turned to face the man. Getting a good look at the man, he looked similar to Oliver, except his blonde hair was greying and he had a beard.

"Yes?" Ryuto asked.

"You're with the basketball team, correct?" The man asked.

Ryuto simply nodded in response.

"I see, you're one of the Japanese boys Oliver talks about," the man said with a laugh. "Whenever he mentions the team, you always come up."

Ryuto placed his hand behind his neck and rubbed it nervously. "I'm sure he only says he hates me. We don't exactly get along."

The man let out another laugh. "That I know. You two just have differing personalities. That's what makes you two 'incompatible'. Though, he does say nice things from time to time."

"Look, Mr. Queen, I don't mean any disrespect, but I need to get home soon," Ryuto said trying to leave the conversation.

"I understand. Though, I just want to say one thing. You're relationship seems to have an effect on Oliver. He comes home and I can see he's more willing to help," Mr. Queen replied.

Ryuto scoffed. "I highly doubt that."

"I do hope you continue to push him to become a team player. He needs to learn that aspect of the sport and life," Mr. Queen said.

"I don't think I understand."

Mr. Queen opened the passenger seat's door and placed a foot into the car. "I think you do. Just keep him from abandoning his teammates on the court. That'll be a good first step." Mr. Queen closed the car door and a few seconds later drove off. Leaving Ryuto to his thoughts.

End Flashback

Back then, what did he mean? Was he referring to what he is doing now?

Ryuto was stripped form his thoughts when the buzzer sounded for the end of the timeout. He turned to Kuroko, who was staring intently at the court.

"Did I miss anything?" Ryuto asked.

Kuroko nodded his head no. "Not really. Though there seemed to be a lot of shouting from the American team's bench."

"What was it about?"

Kuroko shrugged. "I wasn't really listenting."

Ryuto groaned and face palmed at the comment.

"Sorry," Kuroko added.

Ryuto waved him off. "It's fine. I'm sure I'll figure it out by watching."

Ryuto glanced at the scoreboard. He had not noticed that the timeout was taken so early in the quarter, only a minute had passed.

The minutes passed and both teams were racking up points. The showdown between the shooting guards had become less frequent as Oliver was being used less on offense; which frustrated the blonde shooting guard. With Oliver's shots being less frequent, CCHS was bale to catch up and now were only behind by two; even with Shutoku scoring more points.

With two minutes left in the quarter, both teams were starting to feel the fatigue. As Cisco dribbled the ball past half court, he saw Oliver break away form his defender. Cisco sent a pass towards him and as he caught it, a smile formed on his face.

Oliver set up for his shot, and released. However, Midorima jumped and the ball met his palm. Oliver's eyes widened and he let out a shocked gasp. Takao sprinted and caught the loose ball, ahead of him ran Miyagi.

"Miyagi-senpai!" Takao shouted as he threw the ball down the court.

As Takao threw the ball down the court, Barry reacted quickly and sprinted. As Miyagi caught the ball, Barry was in front of him ready to defend.

Damn, he's fast, Miyagi thought.

Before he could get into a stance, Barry jabbed at the ball causing it to come loose. Barry stretched his arm to grab it, but Takao was there to grab it. The teen smirked and sent a pass to the side. Barry looked over and saw that Midorima was setting up for a shot, without the ball. Barry's eyes widened in surprise when the ball landed in his hands. Midorima then released and scored.

The crow roared with cheers at the sight of the play. All of them were exclaiming that Midorima could not be stopped.

Barry panted as he placed his hands on his knees. He wiped sweat from his forehead and straightened himself. He looked towards Midorima and Takao, he could see the trust they had in each other and their teammates. He looked towards Oliver, who was the complete opposite. He distanced himself from everyone and only trusted himself. Diggle had tried to talk to him during halftime, but that had not worked. It only served to distance Oliver more. Barry let out a sigh, he knew he had to do something as the team captain, but he and Oliver never got along. He let out another sigh and prepared to finish out the quarter.

—-

The final minutes of the quarter proved to be a disaster for CCHS. Whenever Oliver would release his shot, Midorima would be right there to stop it. No matter what maneuver Oliver did to get away from his opponent, he would always end up being blocked. Cisco tried to not give Oliver the ball, but Shutoku had tightened their defense and it proved to be difficult to pass the ball around to find an opening to attack, so the ball would always end up in Oliver's hands. Rather than continue to pass, Oliver would try to shoot.

With the final seconds winding down, Cisco knew he had to do something to score. The score gap had widened, but the game was still close; with Shuktoku still in the lead. He looked towards Barry, who gave him an encouraging nod. Cisoc took in a breath and got into an offensive stance.

Takao readied himself for the drive. He caught a glimpse of Barry moving from his position. In a quick motion, Takao lunged at the ball, but Cisco crossed over and tossed the ball back. Takao looked back and saw Barry catch the ball.

Barry set up for a shot and released. The ball sailed through the air and into the hoop. As the ball touched the ground, the buzzer sounded. Barry had scored a three which brought the point gap to six. Barry and Cisco high fived as the two walked towards the bench.

On Shutoku's bench, Takao let out a breath. "Man, that sure was impressive. I got distracted for a moment and that happens."

Midorima nodded. He removed his glasses and using a towel, he cleaned them. He inspected them and when he was satisfied, he put them back on. "I think it just shows you're aware of your surroundings."

Takao laughed and lightly punched Midorima on the shoulder. "Thanks."

Takao opened his eyes and saw that Midorima was staring at his hand. Takao tilted his head to the side, curious as to why he was doing so.

"You okay?"

Midorima closed his hand and turned to him. "Yes. My hand just stings a bit."

Takao nodded in response.

Over at CCHS's bench, everything was relatively quiet. No one spoke to one another, they simply sat on the bench, catching their breaths. Oliver sat apart from the others, not associating with anyone. Barry glanced over to the blonde. He let out a breath and put down his water bottle. He stood up and walked over to Oliver.

Oliver looked up and scowled at his team captain. "What do you want?"

"You need to start seeing the bigger picture," Barry said, crossing his arms.

Oliver rose an eyebrow, unsure of what Barry was talking about.

"You need to start trusting us and playing with us," Barry said.

Oliver stood up from the bench and looked Barry straight in the eyes. "I don't need any of you to win. Last time I checked, we aren't friends either."

"I'm not asking to be your friend. I'm talking as this team's captain. The only way we win is if we work together and beat these guys. None of us have the jumping power to stop Shintaro's threes, but if we make sure he doesn't get any passes then we minimize the ability for him to shoot," Barry replied.

Oliver crossed his arms and scoffed. "What makes you think we need to do that to stop him? We just need to score more than him and I'm that person."

Barry was about to respond when someone else spoke before him.

"Why can't you get it through your thick skull that Shintaro has shut you down entirely?"

Everyone looked to the side to see Felicity. She held her clipboard against her chest, but she had a frustrated expression.

"You're perfect accuracy has dropped drastically, to the point where it's almost zero. Meanwhile, Shintaro has yet to miss," Felicity said as she held out her clipboard with Oliver's stats on them.

Oliver looked them over, but ignored the data. "You can't measure that with data."

"On the contrary, that's exactly what I've been doing. The only way to beat Shintaro and his team is to work with your teammates. What don't you get about that?" Felicity asked, throwing down her clipboard.

"I can do this on my own, I don't need you guys to help me," Oliver said, gesturing to the others.

"Oliver," Coach Wells said pushing up his glasses, "in the third quarter, you didn't make a single three. Now, look at the scoreboard."

Oliver looked over to the scoreboard and saw that it was 80-74. He rolled his eyes and turned back to the coach.

"We're behind by six, I can get us those six points," Oliver said pointing at himself.

"We're behind by six because you want to do everything yourself. Every shot you have taken and was blocked, you could have sent a pass. The moment you catch the ball, the middle opens up and a single pass could get us a point. You're just too self-centered to see that. Plus, you haven't even taken into consideration what Kagetora taught you," Wells explained.

Before anyone could say anything, the buzzer sounded for the the start of the fourth and final quarter. Oliver clicked his tongue and walked onto the court.

Barry let out a sigh. "I hope that worked," he mumbled.

—

The fourth quarter started with Shutoku scoring quickly. CCHS continued to be in disarray and, because if that, their defense was weakened. Meanwhile, on offense, Shutoku had loosened their grip defending while Midorima continued to mark Oliver without letting up. Oliver clicked his tongue in frustration, whenever he tried to make any move Midorima followed him.

I have to get this guy off of me, Oliver thought.

Cisco turned his gaze away from Oliver, knowing he was not a viable option. He set himself up to pass towards Diggle, but his vision turned blue and he saw Takao stealing it. Cisco then corrected himself, catching Takao by surprise, and sent the pass towards Snart.

Snart froze his defender in place and attacked the basket. Diggle's defender, Otsubo, moved to help defend, but in doing so, left an angle to pass towards Diggle. Snart passed towards Diggle, but the ball was cut off by Takao. In a flurry of movement, Takao threw the ball down the court where Midorima was running towards. The teen caught the ball and was ready to set up for a shot, but Oliver managed to catch up and ready himself to defend.

"You're probably thinking that you can stop me by getting closer," Midorima said, narrowing his gaze, "but, I'm not limited to shooting."

Oliver tensed up as he waited to see what Midorima would do. Midorima brought the ball to his side and began to dribble. Oliver noticed that the green-haired teen was left handed, just like his former captain. He scowled at the sight, another reason to dislike his current opponent. Midorima motioned for a crossover, but it turned into a pass towards Kimura. Oliver turned towards Kimura, but he sent the ball right back to Midorima who set up for a shot and released. He scored again, furthering Shutoku's lead.

Oliver let out a curse and jogged the grab the ball. He turned to towards Midorima, who continued to stare him down. Oliver tightened his grip on the ball as he stared back.

"Oliver," Cisco called out.

Oliver turned towards his teammate, with the same glare he showed Midorima. Cisco took in a breath, released it and looked Oliver in the eyes.

"I trust you."

Oliver's glare morphed into a surprised look. "What?"

"I trust you. I trust you to score, you just need to trust us to open that opportunity up for you," Cisco said, taking the ball out of the blonde's hands.

Cisco lightly pushed the blonde from the out of bounds and set himself up for the inbound. He then handed Oliver the ball who grabbed it, still with a surprised look."

"Now, show that carrot stick that you never miss," Cisco said.

Oliver composed himself and nodded. He turned towards the court, and saw Midorima was still at the half court line. Oliver set up for a full court shot, and Midorima make no movement to block it. Oliver released his shot and the ball sailed in the air. It bounced off the backboard and into the hoop, scoring Oliver's first point since the second quarter.

Before the two could react, the ball swished into the hoop and landed in front of the boys. The two, plus the others from CCHS, looked back to see Midorima pushing up his glasses.

"I think you're all forgetting that I'm no pushover."

Oliver smirked. "Let's go, Carrot Stick."

The forth quarter continued and CCHS had managed to collect themselves and close the score gap, but Shutoku was still in the lead; 93-90. Everyone noticed how Oliver was a bit more willing to cooperate, but he still had a ways to go before fully integrating with the team.

Up in the stands, Ryuto and Kagami watched the blonde closely noticing how he seemed to be thinking before making any moved. Ryuto let out a light chuckle and leaned back slightly in his seat.

Looks like he's starting to see it more clearly, Ryuto thought.

Kagami looked towards his grey-haired friend and noticed his expression. He knew what he was thinking and it also made him feel happy, even if he still could not bring himself to change his feelings towards Oliver.

With three and half minutes left in the game, the players on both sides were panting and catching their breaths. Midorima wiped sweat from his face with his shirt and looked up towards Oliver. He noticed how his opponent had calmed down, however he was still easy to predict in how he was going to shoot. Midorima smirked, never had someone pushed him to become a better long range shooter like the blonde did.

"Takao."

Takao straightened himself and turned towards his teammate. "Yeah?"

"I want to win," Midorima answered, not facing him and with a smile.

Takao chuckled and clasped his hands behind his head. "Well, duh. That much is obvious."

Midorima nodded and jogged towards defense. Takao snickered and followed him.

The game clock continued to wind down, and the score had reached a stalemate of 100-100. Both teams were nearing their limits and there was still another minute of playing time. As CCHS was about to inbound the ball, the buzzer sounded for a timeout. CCHS looked towards their bench and saw that their coach had called for it. Both teams walked off the court and sat on their benches to catch their breaths.

Coach Wells looked over his five players, his starters since the beginning. He had wanted to swap out players, namely Oliver, but he knew it would be a detriment rather than being helpful; plus it would not have helped Oliver's mood. However, he noticed how Oliver had become a bit more accepting of his teammates and was starting to slowly understand what teamwork was. He smiled at himself and put his pen in his pocket, unaware he had been clicking it. He then cleared his throat to get everyone's attention.

"You're all doing great. Though, if you passed once more, you'd notice how the middle becomes easier for a drive," Wells said.

The players nodded in response.

"Also, Oliver," Wells said turing towards the blonde, "good work and keeping Shintaro from getting the ball too often."

Oliver simply nodded in response. Cisco lightly punched the blonde's shoulder, which garnered a confused looked from the him.

"Keep him contained for the next minute and we should be able to win," Wells said.

The moment Wells finished his sentence, the buzzer rang out and both teams walked back onto the court. The inbound was quick and game resumed. Cisco knew he had to get a point in and he knew it had to be a three. As long as they could contain Midorima on defense, they could win. Cisco steeled himself and gave a signal. Diggle nodded and moved to screen Midorima. Using the screen, Oliver moved away from his mark and called out for a pass. As Cisco prepared to pass, his vision shifted and he saw Takao stealing the ball. Cisco gritted his teeth, planted his foot and redirected the pass towards Barry.

Barry got into position and drove towards the basket. As he spun around Otsubo, he sent a pass towards Oliver. In any other situation, he would have scored a lay up, but he knew what Cisco's plan was and he trust both Cisco and Oliver.

Oliver caught the pass and set up for a shot. As he did, Midorima jumped up, determined to block the shot. For a moment, Oliver's mind drifted to what Coach Wells had told him earlier.

You haven't even taken under consideration what Kagetora had taught you.

Oliver now knew what his coach was talking about. As he jumped to release, Midorima caught a glimpse of his release and let out a shocked gasp. With the way his hands were positioned, the shot would no longer be a straight line. As Oliver release, the ball sailed in a slight arc. However, to those who knew him they knew it was different to his other shots.

In the stands, Ryuto leaned in from his seat watching with a sense of awe he had never felt from watching Oliver. If he had to be honest with himself he had always somewhat admired Oliver in the fact that he could shoot three's so easily, while it caused him difficulty to make them consistently. Seeing Oliver changed his usual release only strengthened that belief; Oliver was truly and arched that never missed.

The ball swished into the basket, this time without touching the backboard. Oliver felt a swell of pride and the ball bounced on the ground, but it was different. He was always prideful, he took pride in his shooting ability, but this time it was different. He looked towards his hand and closed it. He put it in the air and let out yell, however, the yell was one of victory. He opened his eyes to see his teammates crowd around him and all of them were giving him praise. Oliver looked towards Barry, his captain, and noticed he was holding out his closed fist. Oliver gave his usual cocky smirk.

"This game isn't over yet. I'll return it when we win."

Barry let his arm fall to his side and he smiled, while adding an encouraging nod.

Meanwhile, Midorima watched the blonde with close scrutiny. He had not expected to see him changed his release, much less so late in the game.

"Oi, Midorima!" Miyagi's voice called out.

Midorima turned towards his teammates, who were getting ready for the inbound.

"We'll get them back," Otsubo said.

Midorima nodded and got ready to play the final seconds of the match.

Takao dribbled the ball to the three point line, and Cisco closed the gap between. Takao quickly noticed that Cisco's defense had greater pressure than before. Takao took a second to glance at the scoreboard. There were 45 seconds and counting. He looked back to Cisco and saw him going for a jab. Takao scooped up the ball and sent a high pass towards Miyagi. Miyagi jumped up and caught the ball and got in a triple threat stance. Barry got into position to defend, ready for anything. He let out a breath and everything seemed to move in slow motion. As Miyagi brought the ball down to dribble, Barry jabbed at it causing it to come loose. Miyagi let out a shocked gasp as he processed what happened. Barry moved to grab the loose ball, but Takao was already there.

No way, how did he get there before me, Barry thought.

Takao grabbed the ball and set himself up to pass. In a matter of moments, Midorima got a screen, allowing him to breakaway from Oliver. Takao threw the ball towards him, across the court. Midorima caught the ball and immediately set up for a shot. Oliver managed to get away from the screen and jumped to block the shot, but Midorima's feet never left the ground. Midorima moved to the side and reset up for a shot. As he was about to release, Oliver had managed to jump in an attempt to block. However, he had jumped too late and only managed to graze the ball. The ball sailed into the air and as the two teen landed, Midorima moved a few feet away from the three point line. The ball bounced off the back of the rim and the two centers jumped to catch it. Otsubo managed to catch the rebound and as he landed, he threw the ball towards an open Midorima.

Oliver turned towards the shooting guard in surprised and ran to block him. However, he was too late and Midorima was already releasing. Oliver turned towards the scoreboard, there was still five seconds left. The ball sailed in the air and as the buzzer rang, it was descending. The ball swished into the net and the referee blew his whistle counting the point; 103-103

The crowd cheered for both teams all of them saying that it was incredible that the game ended in a tie. In any other situation there would be overtime, however, no overtime tules were set before hand so both teams had to accept the time.

Oliver looked towards the ceiling and took in a breath. As he released it, he smiled and began to laugh. He had, in a way, lost. He put his hand against his face and continued to laugh.

I lost. I actually lost.

"Queen," Midorima's voice called out.

Oliver stopped laughing and looked up to see the shooting guard.

"In my opinion, our battle is not over," Midorima said.

Oliver nodded. "Yeah, it isn't. Still though, I didn't win you got the final laugh."

Midorima rose an eyebrow. "I don't follow."

"You scored last and it lead to m-" Oliver stopped himself. He knew what he was about to say. He said it easily enough in his last statement, but now he could not say it. He turned back towards his teammates, they were all talking to each other plus Takao; which confused Oliver. He turned back towards the green-haired teen. "The team not winning."

Behind him, the other four CCHS players stopped talking and looked towards the blonde. Oliver could feel the stares, but ignored it.

Midorima pushed up his glasses. "I see." Midorima held out his hand. "I hope we can play again, I don't wish to leave things like this."

Oliver nodded and shook the teen's hand. "The same goes for me."

Up in the stands, Ryuto stood up and walked towards the stairs. His teammates, plus Kise and Kasamatsu, looked towards him, wondering where he was going.

"I got to get going. I've been putting off studying for finals for a while," Ryuto said turing towards them.

Everyone's moods plummeted at the mention of finals. Ryuto gave a nervous laugh. "Sorry." He raised a hand apologetically and continued to walk up the steps. When he was out of sight, he took out his phone and scrolled through his contacts and stopped at one he never had used before. He let out a breath and began to type out a message.

—-

In the CCHS locker room, everyone was gathering their belongings to head to the hotel. As Barry closed his locker, he let out a breath and turned towards Oliver.

"Hey, Oliver."

Oliver zipped up his bag and looked towards the captain. The two said nothing to each other, but Oliver noticed the boy's smile. He glanced down and saw Barry had his fist outstretched. Oliver rose an eyebrow, confused.

"You said to return it when we win," Barry said, innocently.

Oliver frowned. "But we didn't win."

"But we didn't loose either," Barry replied. "Plus, we're teammates."

Oliver let out a short laugh and fistbumped him. "I guess you're right, Captain."

Barry smile widened a the mention of Oliver calling him captain. Around them, the rest of the team let out sighs of relief at the two somewhat making up. Wells smiled, his team was one step closer to becoming a proper team.

As the team exited the locker room, Oliver felt a buzzer on his phone. He took it out and saw it was a text from a number he did not have. He rose an eyebrow as he read through the text.

Hey, Oliver. I want to talk to you when you're heading back to the hotel. Let's meet up by the north exit. There's a trash can by the stairs.

Oliver's eyes widened when he read the name.

In case you don't have my number, it's Ryuto.

Oliver sent him a quick reply and put his phone in his pocket. As the team walked out of the gymnasium, Oliver separated from them and walked to where he had been directed to. When he arrived to the location he saw a boy with a messy mop of grey hair with a black, white, and red jacket looking at his cellphone.

Oliver let out a scoff as he walked towards him. "Why did you call me out here, Foreigner?"

Ryuto let out a chuckle and stood up placing his phone in his pocket. "Still gonna call me that, huh?"

Oliver shrugged. "It fits."

Ryuto let out a laugh, but did not respond. "You did well out there. That final quarter, brought back some memories."

"Yeah, well, I respected you. I still hate you though," Oliver said bluntly.

"Of course you do," Ryuto said with a sigh. He decided to change the subject. "That last shot you took, it was different."

Oliver shrugged and placed his hands in his pockets. "I don't know what you mean."

"Yes you do," a voice called out.

Both teens looked towards the top of the stairs to see Midorima starting to walk down them.

"It's not uncommon to changed up strategies to win a game, but you changed your release. Once one has released in one way and fully assimilates to it then it's next to impossible to change it. Yet you did, granted it was only once so it may have just been luck," Midorima said.

Oliver tilted his head to the side, unsure what the teen had said as it was all in Japanese.

"Um, Tall, Dark, and Green, he doesn't understand Japanese," Ryuto said.

Midorima let out a frustrated sigh. "Translate, please," he said with a hint of embarrassment.

Ryuto repeated what Midorima had said but in English. Olive processed what he was told and he knew where the shooting guard was coming from, as he knew better than most that his straight line shot was not something one could change easily. Truth be hold, he had to actually think about releasing how he did. If he had thought about it, Midorima would have ended up blocking it.

"It was luck, more or less. In any other situation I would've shot normally. I knew it was the only way for me to score. You would've blocked me in any other situation," Oliver said.

Midorima pushed up his glasses and walked towards the blonde. "Next time we play, I'll block all of your shots," he said as he passed him.

Oliver let out a chuckle and turned towards the shooting guard. "Next time, I'll know how to beat you and not let you block me. Plus, I have a team to back me up."

Midorima stopped walking and smiled, though he never turned towards Oliver.

"Let's go, Takao," Midorima called out.

Ryuto looked towards the top of the steps to see his friend walking down the steps. Ryuto greeted him with a fistbump and he jogged towards his teammates.

"How did you know I was there?" Takao asked as the duo walked away.

The only ones left now were Oliver and Ryuto. The two teens looked towards each other and they smiled.

"Two days and we play each other, and I'm going to win," Oliver said.

"I think there's a line forming for that," Ryuto replied.

Oliver chuckled and turned to walk away. Ryuto placed his hands in his pockets and walked in the opposite direction. Ryuto smiled to himself.

Team, huh.

AN: Here comes to a close the match against Shutoku. I hope you enjoyed this game and how things turned out. I had this game sort of planned out since I started writing, the ending of it was something I came up with recently. I decided to not have the match go into overtime, because it would affect Oliver in a different way if the game ended in a tie rather than a victory or a loss. Each game is supposed to build up one character in order for them to overcome something about them and this game was for Oliver to develop into a better player. I divided the game into two chapters mainly because if I would've kept them both as one it would've made this game longer than the rest so far. If you need any more clarifications on anything, PM me or leave it in the reviews. With all that out of the way, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and remember to follow, favorite, and/or review if you enjoyed. Stay tuned for the next update.