Author's Note: Hey everyone! So the Shutoku and Seirin match is about to begin yay! I decided to change this game up a bit, because I've been accused of having unoriginal ideas. Anyways, this chapter focuses pretty much entirely on basketball and Takao and Tetsumi's love/hate relationship for one another. The game will only be two chapters long though and then I'll be focusing more on relationships between characters. Tell me what you think! I love your feedback! And as always I apologize for typos and grammar mistakes.
SHUTOKU
Hyuga stretched and sighed, letting his arms fall to his sides. He would have much preferred to play tomorrow. Seiho had really taken it out of him, even with a six-hour break. The game was going to begin in two minutes, so he called the team together. They all formed a circle near the bench, and Hyuga looked to the starting line up. The truth was, Mitobe and Izuki were exhausted too. They would battle it out though; they wouldn't quit until the very end. This was their chance to move onto the next round. Struggling through Seiho wasn't easy, and Hyuga had a feeling that Shutoku wouldn't be a walk in the park either.
"Here are the facts," Hyuga began as he hunched over a bit and placed his hands on his knees. "Shutoku is no joke. They have Midorima, they run an impressive offense, and their defense is just as good. This will not be an easy match, and quite frankly I'd rather not go into it like this. Unfortunately, we don't get to decide that," Hyuga paused for a moment and took in a deep breath before continuing, "Shutoku is better than us. Every one of us knows that, but we've already beaten one King. So with that being said, let's just beat these guys and call it a day."
Tetsumi smirked as Hyuga stood up straight and looked to his teammates. Izuki and Mitobe both nodded to their friend and looked at Kagami and Tetsumi. "We're counting on you," Izuki said, and Mitobe nodded his head in agreement. "No pressure." The eagle eye player winked at them and Hyuga rolled his eyes.
The referee blew the whistle, alerting both teams that it was game time. Kagami looked over at Midorima as he peeled off his Shutoku t-shirt and made his way onto the court. Tetsumi placed a hand on Kagami's arm and he looked down at her.
"Midorima's three-pointers are mentally damaging," Tetsumi told him, looking over at him as he lined up with his teammates. "Don't underestimate him, because believe me he isn't underestimating you."
"Huh? Well, now I feel flattered," Kagami grinned as they walked over to the line up. As the teams stared at each other, Tetsumi could already feel the tension. Shutoku didn't want to even imagine themselves losing to Seirin, the new up and comer. And Seirin, of course, had something to prove. The two teams bowed to one another, wishing each other a good game before they prepared for the tip-off.
Otsubo, Shutoku's center, came to one side of the half line and Kagami stood on the other. Tetsumi's eyes went to the tall center of Shutoku; he was brawny and obviously powerful. Even though they too had played a game before this one, Shutoku looked fired up. Tetsumi also recalled that they only faced a team that was middle tier, if they faced a team like Seiho they'd probably be wiped out too.
With a single blink, Tetsumi saw the referee toss the ball into the air. Kagami and Otsubo both jumped for the ball, but Otsubo was able to knock it to Takao. Tetsumi looked at the point guard as he held to the ball defensively as Izuki marked him. Takao dribbled the ball and broke past Izuki and passed the ball over to the blond wearing the number 8 jersey: Miyaji Kiyoshi. When he caught the ball he took a two point shot, and Tetsumi grabbed the ball, passing it into Izuki.
"Get open!" Izuki shouted to his team. Hyuga ran from around his defender and opened up. The eagle-eyed player quickly went to pass the ball, but Shutoku's number 5 went in to block it. Tetsumi caught the ball and passed it over her shoulder, going over Kimura.
"What the hell?" he growled, looking at Tetsumi who jogged off towards the hoop as Hyuga went in for a three. When it sank in the crowd erupted into cheers.
"Let's get them back!" Otsubo commanded as he passed the ball into Takao, who scanned the court. He smirked and charged through Seirin, but was stopped when Mitobe cut into his path. The point guard skidded to a halt and quickly passed the ball to Otsubo. The massive center leaped into the air and slammed the ball right into the hoop. Tetsumi started jogging back down the court and felt a slight tinge in her knee. She was cursing inwardly for having practiced too much the other evening.
"This is evenly matched," Hyuga sighed as he ran along side Tetsumi. "This is going to be a long game."
"Hang in there, captain," Tetsumi said with a smile as she clapped him on the shoulder. She watched as Izuki did a lay-up, and Takao caught the ball. "Oh no," she breathed as she watched Midorima was wide open to catch a pass. Takao looked at the green haired shooter and passed the ball to Midorima. When he caught the ball, Midorima turned around and ran to the three-point line. Tetsumi cursed as she watched Midorima score a completely uncontested three-point shot.
"Well, looks like the pace is being set," Izuki sighed as he shook his head when Midorima's three landed beautiful through the hoop. "Nice shot, huh?" he asked, looking to Hyuga, who let his head fall between his shoulders. They all knew it wouldn't be an easy game, but they weren't expecting it to be a constant switch of leads every time the other team had possession.
"Kagami-kun, get to our side," Tetsumi commanded as she raced down the court. The redhead watched her go and nodded as he spun around on his heels. Right when he got on the other side of the three-point line, the ball whizzed clear across the court and into his hand.
Kagami flinched a bit, not expecting Tetsumi to have such a powerful pass. Of course, she needed it to get clear across the court, so it needed quite a bit of power. He jumped up and slammed the ball into the hoop, the crowds erupting in cheers and claps. Midorima's eyes widened and he looked back at Tetsumi as she rolled her wrist around. A smirk came onto her lips, and Midorima narrowed his eyes at her.
"The games just getting started, Rima-kun," she said as she walked towards him; sweat starting to bead on her forehead. "You said you wanted to face me at my best, so here it is."
"Indeed," Midorima replied, pushing his glasses up. Tetsumi nodded to him and ran around him, joining up with her team as they prepared to defend their hoop. "We need to shut them down."
"Way ahead of you, Shin-chan," Takao replied as he followed after Tetsumi.
Midorima jogged after his teammate and watched as Seirin defended the hoop. Miyaji was in possession of the ball and the shot clock was in the single digits. Takao broke around Izuki and called out to Miyaji. The blond passed the ball, and Takao took a shot. It bounced off the glass and fell in through the hoop. Hyuga caught the ball and passed it in to Kagami, who dribbled it back down the court. He picked up the pace and went to dunk it in, but was blocked by Midorima.
"You've got to be kidding," Hyuga sighed as the two landed back on the ground. Midorima quickly scooped up the ball and passed it around Kagami. Kimura caught the ball dribbled it down the court, but was blocked by Mitobe. He quickly did a bounce pass over to Takao, who caught the ball and took a bank shot. The crowds cheered for Shutoku, and Hyuga wiped the sweat from his face with his jersey. "We're so evenly matched this might come down to who can score faster before long."
"Then we should take control," Tetsumi said to her captain with a smile. "I think it's time for some run-and-gun play, wouldn't you say?"
"I'm beat, but looks like we have no choice," Hyuga replied with a smirk and nodded to the girl. She gave him a thumbs up and looked to Kagami and Izuki, who had heard the conversation. They both nodded in agreement, and Mitobe silently gave his compliance with a determined nod. "Let's get them!"
Six minutes into the game, it was time for one of the teams to take control. Seirin seemed pretty amped up, but Midorima planned on shutting them down before they caught their stride. He looked over to Takao, who rolled his shoulder around and walked up beside him. The green haired teen didn't say a single word; his eyes were just fixed on Kagami. There was something about the redhead that made Midorima curious. He felt like Kagami had more to offer than what he was showing.
"Catch my pass," Tetsumi said to Kagami, and he nodded as she got into position between the arc and the pocket of the three-point line. Shutoku had the ball and were heading back to their side, but Tetsumi came up behind Miyaji. She knocked the ball from his hold. The blond cursed and watched as Mitobe scooped up the ball and passed it back to Tetsumi.
"Get it back!" Otsubo shouted to his teammates as they started blocking Seirin, so they couldn't make their shot. Kagami ran to the hoop to get a rebound while Otsubo and Miyaji stayed on him. His scarlet eyes landed on Tetsumi as she passed the ball to Hyuga. He was position at the top of the arc, but Midorima got in front of him. With a windmill like pass, Hyuga passed the ball to Tetsumi over in the left side pocket. She caught the ball and held it for a moment as Kimura tried to block her from shooting.
"Kagami-kun!" Tetsumi shouted as she faked an over the head pass. Kimura jumped to block her, but she slipped past him, bouncing the ball on the ground. When the ball hit the ground it had a low bounce right into Kagami's hand. Miyaji and Otsubo both went to block him, but Kagami slammed it in with ease and landed back on the ground. "Nice," she congratulated Kagami as they started going back down the court.
"Let's keep it up," Hyuga said as he ran past the two when Shutoku started coming down to score again.
Midorima had the ball, but Kagami quickly turned around and watched him. Midorima stopped a step after the half line and shot the ball with ease. Kagami jumped, but was unable to stop the ball. Everyone watched, as the ball slowly made it's decent towards the hoop. When it fell in, Tetsumi shook her head.
"Unbelievable," Izuki commented as he wiped the sweat from his brow. He caught the ball as Tetsumi passed it in, and looked around the playing field. Shutoku had upped their defense after they had managed to steal the ball from them. Out of the corner of his eye, Izuki spotted Tetsumi and quickly passed to her. The moment the ball was in her hands, she did a small step back to avoid Kimura and made a teardrop shot. The ball arc high but went straight into the hoop and the crowds roared with cheers of excitement.
"Where did she even come from?" Kimura grumbled. He didn't even notice she was there until it was too late. He shook his head and dribbled the ball back down the court. Kimura was about to go for a pass, but Tetsumi deflected the hit and passed it over to Mitobe. The silent Seirin played raced back down the court, but was met by Otsubo. Mitobe turned his body and dribbled a few times scoring another point for Seirin with a hook shot.
"Kimura, stay on her!" Miyaji shouted, getting annoyed that they were losing control to Seirin.
"She comes out from nowhere," Kimura explained as they raced down the court. Miyaji caught the ball when Otsubo passed it in and turned. He passed the ball to Midorima at the half line and right as he was about to take the shot, Kagami blocked him. Midorima narrowed his eyes and dribbled the ball a few times before passing it over to Kimura, who ran by him.
Tetsumi smirked as she stood in the paint, waiting for Midorima to make his three. He knew she could make that pass and if Kagami was at the half line, he would without a doubt run back to the other end to make a dunk on her fast break. With Seirin with a four-point lead, Midorima didn't want to risk making it a six-point lead.
-###-
"She always was a smart one," Nijimura commented as he walked up to Akashi Seijuro, standing quietly at the top of the stadium. The two previous captains of Teiko both had their eyes fixed on the match as Shutoku managed to score. Akashi smirked and looked to Nijimura. "And now, you lead Rakuzan."
"Shuzo," Akashi greeted with a slight nod, and Nijimura raised a brow. Tetsumi had been right Akashi was different. He had always radiated being excellent, but now him emanated ruthlessness. "You no longer play basketball?" he asked, noticing that he wasn't wearing a team jacket.
"Not competitively," Nijimura replied as he leaned his back against the wall across from Akashi. There were roughly three steps of space between them, and Nijimura had his hands stuffed into the pockets of his beige colored pants. "My father passed away, so I have to work as much as possible."
Akashi turned around and looked at his former captain. "I'm sorry to hear that."
Nijimura shrugged his shoulders and pushed off the wall. "Shrimp's worried about you," the older teen stated as he walked up to Akashi and stood beside him. He looked at the redhead's eyes and raised a brow, realizing they weren't the same color anymore.
"She has nothing to worry about," Akashi assured him, dismissing the matter quickly. Nijimura chortled, but decided not to press the matter. He learned a long time ago that if Akashi didn't want to talk about something he wasn't going to do it. There was no force in heaven or on earth that would get him to speak. "I will agree with you though, Tetsumi has always been a clever girl."
Nijimura smirked as he looked back onto the court, seeing that Tetsumi was in possession of the ball. She was dribbling defensively, searching for an opening. Unfortunately, Shutoku's players tied up her team. Midorima stood before her, and she lowered herself before cutting around him and driving straight to the net. She bounced the ball off the glass and scored another point.
"She's not using her Bullet Drive," Nijimura noted, seeing she was being slower than usual when she drove to the basket. He assumed that she either didn't want to use it yet, or she couldn't use it.
"Her knee is bothering her," Akashi explained as he leaned on the rail. "She won't last the entire game."
-###-
The first quarter had come to a close with the score of 22 to 19, Seirin being in the lead. Coach Nakatani of Shutoku looked over at Tetsumi and pursed his lips. As it was, Tetsumi didn't do much to bring any attention to herself. Out of the whole team, she was probably the hardest to predict. One minute she was making impressive passes, the next she was invincible and suddenly cutting through the team to make a shot. While it was most subconscious, most of the Shutoku members probably didn't think much of her merely because she was a girl. And by the looks of it, Tetsumi exploited that. She had been able to shake Kimura very easily and it was a bit frustrating to everyone.
Coach Nakatani looked back to his team as they drank water and rested quietly on the bench. He licked his lips and looked to Takao, who was sitting next to Midorima. With his unstoppable hawk eye abilities, Takao would easily be able to keep up with Tetsumi. He was fast and agile, probably on the same level as Tetsumi. Coach Nakatani also noticed that the girl had been favoring her leg, it was barely noticeable, but she wasn't putting much weight on it at all. This information was be crucial to putting them back in the lead during the second quarter. If Takao could shut Tetsumi down to keep her from passing, Midorima could go back to taking his threes.
"Keep playing as you are," Coach Nakatani said, and his team looked up at him. "Takao, Kimura switch marks. Number 11 isn't invisible; she's just good at breaking free from your attention. I don't want her to make another pass, clear?" Coach Nakatani asked looking directly at Takao.
"Yes sir," Takao replied firmly and looked over at Seirin's bench. He smirked when he saw Tetsumi look over at him. "I can see how she played with you back in middle school," Takao commented, turning his attention to Midorima as he opened up a water bottle.
"I told you before," Midorima began as he took a quick sip of his water. "Tetsumi-chan isn't easy to read. She constantly changes her style of play based on her opponents. While her passing abilities are probably one of the best in the league, her shooting and steals are note worthy as well."
"You know, you sound almost star struck," Takao teased, earning a hit on the back of the head by Midorima's bottle. "Ouch! That's not very nice, Shin-chan!"
"If anyone is going to shut her down, it'll be you," Midorima explained, and Takao's mouth fell open. He almost didn't believe that a compliment—albeit indirect—came out of Midorima Shintaro's mouth. "If you fail though, you'll pull the cart for the rest of the school year."
"And he's back," Takao muttered with an eye roll. The referee blew his whistle, alerting everyone the two-minute break was over. As the teams got back onto the court, Takao jogged up to Tetsumi and stood in front of her. They were in position on the court, and she raised a brow. "I'm looking forward to this, Tetsumi-chan," Takao said with a smirk.
"You have some impressive skills, Takao-kun," Tetsumi replied. Her eyes drifted over to Otsubo, who had the ball in his hands. "But I won't lose to you."
"Hey, hey now, that's my line," Takao said with a chuckle, and Tetsumi rolled her eyes laughing lightly. "Passing is something we have in common, and that kind of makes me hate you."
"I guess in a sense, Rima-kun just couldn't survive without me," Tetsumi teased, and Takao raised a brow. "I mean you're a copy. I'm the original."
Takao glared at her. "Snarky, aren't you." Otsubo passed the ball and Takao quickly caught it just before Tetsumi could steal it. He wrapped the ball around his back and passed it off to Miyaji, who broke free from Hyuga. When the blond scored the shot, Takao smiled and looked back to Tetsumi. "You ready to go?" he asked, wiggling his brows a bit.
Tetsumi clapped her hand slightly and nodded her head. She had to admit it Takao was an interesting guy. His moves were seamless, he was quick on his feet, and his passing was definitely a threat. Her eyes drifted to Midorima, who was being marked by Kagami. It all made sense now why Midorima liked Takao so much. He may not have admitted it out loud, but having someone like Takao or herself on a team was a true trump card.
"Fancy moves," Tetsumi complimented Takao, and he chuckled a bit. "Wanna see mine?"
Izuki passed her the ball and she raced down the court. Takao followed after her, and managed to cut her off. She swiftly did a bounce pass over to Mitobe right when he passed them by. When the silent player had the ball he tossed the ball up towards the hoop and Kagami jumped into the air, sinking it with a powerful dunk.
"I see your fancy move, and I raise you two more," Takao joked, and Tetsumi raised a curious brow at him. He caught the ball when Miyaji passed it in. The girl darted after him, feeling the pain in her knee starting to increase. She did her best to ignore it and tried to block a pass as Takao passed it over to Kimura. When he had the ball he did a crossover, breaking a little distance between himself and Izuki. When he saw his opening he passed the ball back to Takao, who passed the ball around his back, handing it off to Otsubo who dunked it in dodging both Hyuga and Mitobe's blocks. "You taking notes, Tetsumi-chan?" Takao laughed as he jogged up to her.
"Maybe a few," she retorted.
"Tetsumi!" Hyuga called out as he passed the ball. Tetsumi turned and lifted her hand to push the ball over to Mitobe, who was open. Just when she was about to strike the ball, Takao swooped in and knocked the ball out of her reach. Tetsumi's eyes went wide as Takao stole her pass and ran to the hoop, putting Shutoku in the lead. "She missed the pass?" Hyuga asked in disbelief.
"No way," Kagami commented with a shake of his head. "She never misses her passes."
"It was Takao," Izuki said as he walked up, staring at Shutoku's point guard as he jogged back around. "He's like me…no, his field of vision is even better."
"What are you saying?" Kagami asked, looking at Izuki.
"I'm saying while I can see part of the court," he paused and looked to Hyuga and Kagami, "Takao can see the whole damn thing."
"So you're saying, Munchkin's shut down?" Kagami inquired, slightly worried. It was not the time for them to be shut down. Tetsumi's ball movement was key to a lot of their plays. If she couldn't move the ball around, there was a good chance they would struggle the next half of the game.
"I'm saying her passing will be as long as Takao is marking her," Izuki explained and looked over to Tetsumi, who was staring at Takao slightly annoyed.
"And here I thought we could be friends," Tetsumi said sarcastically to Takao, who chuckled.
"Well, friends are supposed to challenge each other right?" he asked just as the game started again. Kimura passed the ball in and Takao went for it, he took hold of the ball and Tetsumi went after him. When she got in front of him, Takao laughed lightly and passed the ball behind his back not taking his eyes off of Tetsumi for a second. Midorima had the ball and quickly shot a three pointer before Kagami could stop him. "Take away your passing and invisibility and you become pretty useless don't you?"
"Takao!" Midorima scolded.
"It's fine, Rima-kun," Tetsumi interrupted, and Takao looked away from Midorima. His stormy eyes fell onto Tetsumi as she tightened up her ponytail. "Passing might very well be my strongest point, but it's not the only thing I can do. I won't go down without a fight, so prepare yourself."
"Challenge accepted, Tetsumi-chan," Takao said with a smile on his face.
She nodded to him and looked back to Midorima. "You told me once that you'd prove to me why making threes was better than dunking or any other shot. Was that just a bluff? Cause I'm calling it."
Midorima raised a brow at the girl and smirked. He pushed his glasses up and glanced to Takao, who nodded in understanding. "Allow me to prove that it wasn't merely a bluff," Midorima said to Tetsumi as Shutoku was put in possession of the ball. Before any of the members of Seirin had time to think, Midorima stood just behind the half line and took a shot. Everyone watched as the ball spun perfectly and went straight through the net. Midorima had moved to the three-point line to intercept Kagami if he had planned on making a dunk off of Tetsumi's fast break.
"Well this is just ridiculous," Hyuga huffed, feeling very out of breath. "He's three steps further than he was the first time."
Tetsumi narrowed her eyes and stared at Midorima as he looked back at her. "His range…" Tetsumi muttered and shook her head. "It's gotten better."
"Hey, come on, get it together," Kagami said as he caught the ball when Izuki passed it in. He raced down the court with the rest of his team following. Midorima stood just inside of the three-point line, prepared to block Kagami. "You're strong, but Seirin's stronger."
Midorima scoffed. "You won't beat me."
"Not alone, but with them," Kagami nodded back towards his team. "I will." He got into a shooting form and Midorima's eyes widened. The redhead took a three point shot and Midorima blinked a few times as he watched the ball arc. When he looked back down, Kagami rushed pass him to the hoop.
"Well he's an unorthodox player," Midorima snorted as Kagami dunked the ball in when it bounced off the rim. Otsubo stumbled back and cursed when Kagami landed on the ground and looked back at Midorima. When the redhead walked back, Midorima chuckled and walked over to the baseline. Otsubo handed the ace shooter the ball, and Midorima got into shooting form.
"No…freaking…way," Tetsumi breathed as Midorima shot the ball from one end of the court to the other. Everyone held their breaths as the ball hung in the air; slowly making it's way to the other hoop. When it fell through the net their was a loud snap from the net. "His range is the whole court?"