Yukinoshita Yukino, Yuigahama Yui, and Komachi were all headed to the gymnasium as a part of a request to the Service Club to help in fixing the gymnasium for an afternoon event. With them is Hiratsuka, their club adviser who was to be the speaker of the said event.
"So Hiratsuka-sensei, what's this event all about?" Komachi said in an attempt to break the awkward silence between them.
Hiratsuka whistled as she takes out her planner, "Something about the school's social gathering with the old geezers of the school staff."
"That sounds nice to hear," Yuigahama commented then turned melancholic. "But it would be more fun if Hikki is also here. I mean, he always gets the job done even if I don't approve her methods."
"He's probably enjoying himself with his teammates," the teacher honestly gave her opinion on the matter. "I don't know if you noticed but he has actually spoken more to his fellow cagers for just one game than everyone in his class for one whole year. That says a lot about his love for that game."
Yukinoshita didn't say anything but inwardly, she did agree with her sensei. Their clubmate did seem to enjoy his time in the national team more than their club.
But as they neared the gym, the four people heard ruckus, and not the typical ruckus that they're used to.
Hastening their paces, they opened the gym doors, only to see Tobe Kakeru holding on to his knees with a bored looking Korean guy in front of him while dribbling a basketball. On the sidelines, Yamato was lying on the floor and gasping his breath heavily.
"W-What's going on here?" Hiratsuka's voice boomed. She was more confused than angry though as she noticed that the basketball club of Sobu and Hayato's clique was merely watching from the sidelines. Aside from that…
"Well, that guy suddenly walked in here, pissed us off before slaughtering him and Yamato a while back in a one-on-one." Hayato answered, practically summed up everything that happened. He then turned to look at Villacorta. "He was hauled here by that Korean guy as a guide apparently."
Hiratsuka quickly recognized the Filipino, who immediately came up and apologized for what his fellow guard did.
"I know you are familiar with me and all but I didn't meant to barge here." He bowed. "Sorry for Jin Min-goo's behaviour. He told me he was just going to visit a random school to play one-on-one."
Meanwhile, Yukinoshita and Yuigahama gaped. They hadn't anticipated this and even wondered how the Korean guy named Jin Min-goo and Hikigaya's opponent two days ago found their school. But as they looked around, Iroha, Hayato, Miura Yumiko, and the other's faces looked a bit despondent. Tobe was still on the floor, seeming to be in shock.
"Isshiki-san, what's the score?" Yukino asked.
The foxy girl struggled to bring it up, "Eh, senpai, I think it's 21 to 0. He's just simply too good even with Hayato-senpai's two friends guarding him."
"No surprise there," Villacorta sighed, scratching his head. "He's a power player, just like Hikigaya and me."
He then yanked Jin, who was finished scoring the last layup to take Tobe out of his misery, into the sidelines and said, "Well, we're sorry for the interruption and trespassing so if you would permit up, we'd be on our way or rather, he would be on his way to find another school to trespass…"
The two were about to turn around—with Villacorta throwing Jin's bag back to him—and exit the gymnasium when suddenly, a second voice decided to make itself knows.
"Anou, since you came all the way here, can I also play you for a few minutes?
Villacorta, realizing that he was the one being called out, stopped and looked back, saying, "What?"
"Koga, you moron!" Kaitobi shouted at their freshmen point guard, who suddenly brought up the idea to play one-on-one with the Filipino.
"Look, senpai, it's just a few minutes!" Koga defended himself. "Who knows, I might be able to steal one in him if Hikigaya-san can do it. I know that he's strong but…"
"Alright, then…" Villcorta sighed, suddenly having the feeling that he was being underestimated.
As everyone once again watches from the sidelines, Mochida can only shake his head, "That moron…let's pray that it wasn't as bad as the earlier one."
"But let's make this interesting…" Villacorta announced. "You only need a basket to win over me."
Everyone's jaws suddenly fell at the bold statement of the Filipino, who added, "Or do you need a bugger handicap?"
Koga, now feeling small over the taller Villacorta, said in a gritted manner, "Shut up! You may be strong but don't look down on me! I will score over you before you know it."
The moment Koga got the ball, he then tried to dribble pass Villacorta but as soon as he got within five feet of the ring, the Filipino managed to stop him on his tracks. The amount of pressure he felt from Villacorta was enough to made him sweat profusely as he suddenly stopped dribbling the ball.
"Moron…don't stop dribbling the ball…" Mochida cringed at Koga, who got distracted and before the latter knew it, Villacorta knocked the ball out of his hands and caught it airborne. Koga then went to defend but Villacorta was simply too fast for him as he crossed him to the left and as Koga was struggling to recover, the Filipino point guard leaped in the air and made a one-handed dunk.
"Too fast…" Ebina commented, slightly worried over Koga, who was quickly breathing.
Getting the ball back, Koga tried to shoot a three pointer but was too slow and before he knew it, he got blocked and Villacorta quickly made a beeline to the net, where he made a reverse layup.
It went on like this for ten more minutes and by this time, the Filipino point guard is already up ahead by 15 to nothing as Koga looked like he wanted to cry. Deciding that it was time to stop it already, Villacorta decided to end it by posting up against Koga, who is still fighting nevertheless. Dribbling with his left arm, the floor general suddenly spun around and quickly faded away for a jump shot, making a smooth release as the ball didn't eve grazed the ring.
"Sit down, kid," Villacorta sighed as Koga simply slumped on the floor, now depleted of his stamina. "I know it when I hear shit-talking so don't call me out just to do this shit again…" Disappointed, he threw the ball back to Jin, who just grinned and said, "Surprised that you even wasted your time on that weak kid."
"Hn."
Only Kagetora was used to the weak presence of Kuroko, one of his own regulars in Seirin High School. It was fortunate that the younger team only have five players available, as amongst the veteran team, Kagetora had the fastest reaction to block passes to Kuroko. It was without question that most would have failed because he was supposed to be marking the point guard of the other team, Akashi.
Thus, the point gap just kept reducing. The team of previous national players all knew that this new generation of Japanese players would beat them without a sweat, but it was just a test, basically to see if their team dynamics were good and functioning, even if they lack some key players.
It seemed the case as they tried to find faults in their opponent's teamwork but it should be due to the vigorous team training that Akashi put them through for them to trust each other so much. But of course, they would not simply be beaten.
"Man-to-man!" Shirogane Eiji barked and everyone did exactly that as they quickly defended their own marks. It drained their stamina as a man-to-man offense is something that required endurance to pull off, especially that they're up against a younger and faster team but after a few more minutes, it would be half time where they could rest so it's all good. Man-to-man defense also allowed them to closely pin down their opponents. The good thing about this team was that they had been coaches, though Kagetora took a long time before he eventually accepted the head coach position in Seirin after the graduation of his daughter.
This allowed them to know each type of style of both offense and defense, giving them the flexibility. To cut down the gap in points, they started to use their boys' well-known tricks.
When they were on the offense, no matter how close they were in the box, they will not throw. Instead, they will pass it to Kagetora or to Harasawa instead, or anyone if the two are not available. Being veterans of the national team, which was dubbed then as the "Team Hayabusa" or "Team Peregine Falcon" for compensating their lack of ceiling with their quickness and ability to hit the outside shot, they were all capable of shooting threes with about 80 percent accuracy.
And when the youngsters started marking anyone who was at the three-pointer line, they would just simply penetrate and take an inside basket. It was an especially good trick to lure Hayama Kotaro out, leaving only Himuro and, Kami forbid, Kuroko to man the paint. Takeuchi had suggested the idea during the break as he had explained their counterparts aren't used to playing the slotman and the inside presence.
However, despite shooting a lot of three-pointers, the younger team was not as shaken as what they would have thought. Despite being undersized, Kotaro did managed to have his own moments as he used his cat-quick speed to explode for rebounds and he wasn't the only good defender on the team. They also had Kuroko, acting as the small forward currently who could quickly steal and tap the ball to his teammates. Finally, Hikigaya hasn't missed from the three point line as he nearly baited Kagetora for a foul but either way, he made his 12th three pointer already.
By the end of the first half, the other team had already caught up and passed them with 76-74 score, thanks to a rare dunk from the Himuro. As the team walked back to their locker room, Araki put her hands to her hips and scolded the older men, "Is that the best you can give?! You guys are supposed to be famed Team Hayabusa of Japan! How can you let these damned rookies beat you like that? I know you guys are not serious yet. Need me to give you a good hard slap?" Her shinai magically appeared in her hands.
Remembering the good old days of being smacked over and over, the veterans shuddered in fear. If it was already bad that she used it for Yōsen, the treatment she gave a former national team was about ten times worst.
"I bet you, some of them would be coming out in the next quarter," Araki seriously said. "Prepare yourselves for them and ME if you were to lag behind, more so if you don't do something to stop that Hikigaya brat. Let's get serious with this, you old geezers!" she yelled.
Kagetora sighed as he decided to add to the conversation, "If you don't remember, you're the same age as us, no? Well, except for the playboy and the boar over there." This earned him three whacks in the head.
Not long after, the third quarter started. There are no changes in the lineup as it was still consisted of Hikigaya, Akashi, Kuroko, Himuro, and Kotaro. This was going to be a tough battle. Shirogane Eiji thought as he wondered why Akashi decided to just have five players for this rather than to just recall everyone since it was easy as he was the captain.
The game started once again and not long before it started, they were all taken aback by a stunt from their bluenette. "Wha… what just happened?" Araki wondered as Hikigaya shot a lay-up out of nowhere.
Even Kuroko's other teammates were shocked. This pass made it seem that there were two phantoms. It was a marvelous pass. As the ball hit the ground after being passed by Kuroko, it bounced off in a different direction towards Hikigaya. Thus, it looked like another phantom player joined in the passing.
On the bench, Araki Masako was panicking. With this pass, if there were others who can be subbed in at any point in time, there would be more than just two phantoms. The veteran team would surely be unable to handle that. Furthermore, Kuroko was merely tapping the ball instead of holding it long enough, preventing Kagetora from getting used with Kuroko long enough to be used to his presence. Gritting her teeth, she hoped that her team could think of something.
The point gap was getting bigger. However, just when there was five minutes left, Kuroko's new pass was stopped by Eiji. "It seems I was right. This pass can only be caught by either Akashi or Hikigaya, am I right?" he smirked. Akashi frowned at that while Hikigaya can only make a 'tsk' sound as his touches were suddenly getting limited from the double team that he was attracting. It was true after all, as only the three of them could 'read minds' so he could know what pass Kuroko was going to execute.
With a small shake of his head, Kuroko, who was quite shocked and disappointed, got the message. It went something like using other passes until he was free of his mark. But he knew it was not so simple. Akashi wanted him to try that pass with the others, namely Himuro who can shoot the ball from anywhere and was always prepared should a ball be randomly passed to him. With a nod, Kuroko signaled that he understood.
The passes so far had worked, but Himuro and Kotaro had missed it twice throughout the game, allowing the other team to steal the ball. Fortunately, the game went on, still in the younger team's favor as the Rakuzan captain directed traffic for his teammates. That was until the other team got serious.
"Heh. The reason why I picked Aomine is that I've played street ball too in my earlier days," Harasawa grinned as they were walking towards the goal of their opponents. Catching the passed ball, he did a crossover to the other side. Just when Kotaro was about to snatch it away, he crossed it over again and passed him. With that, he did a fade away, preventing Hikigaya, who was nearest, from blocking him. "He isn't the only one with animal instincts."
"Hey, Katsu, don't forget about us, you dolt! We aren't that bad either!" Kagetora yelled as Eiji snatched the ball, passing it to the brunette male. "Tora! Stop!" It was currently Kuroko who was blocking the point guard as he tried his best to jump and block it. However, instead of stopping at the three-pointer line, he drove through and spun around the Seirin captain, arriving at the same spot again just as Kuroko landed after jumping. The ball safely found its target and rattled inside the ring before it sank in.
"Hey, hey, no fair! I'll show my skills soon too!" the others piped up just as it was the buzzer was heard and it was time for a two minute-break in preparation for the fourth and final quarter.
Once they were on the bench, Momoi gave the five of them bottles of cold Gatorade as she told what she had observed, "This is so far the highest scoring game for both teams that I have seen so far and they are down by just a couple of baskets. It seems like our coaches will be bringing out their A-game for the last quarter. And without the others to reinforce you, you will have to endure it out until the final buzzer…"
"While I believe that we're more than capable to finish them off, it seemed that you're observation warrants merit, Momoi," Akashi nodded while watching the bench of the old players. "It seemed that we will have to bring out our best as well. Hikigaya, can you still shoot the lights out? We're going to need it."
Hikigaya sighed as he replied, "Anytime, Akashi. Anytime."
The redhead nodded as he turned to the rest, "Kuroko, you'll have to power up your passes. Himuro, if you're free, take a shot or take it straight to the hoop if you can see a clear path. Kotaro…" There was a dark tone creeping into the voice the moment he called their last teammate, "…let them beat you again in the rebounds and I'll see through it that you'll have your training menu quadrupled."
The former Rakuzan small forward nearly choked in his sports drink as he merely muttered a "yes, captain" while slumping in his chair.
After using their two minutes to discuss their final strategies, the two teams slowly made their way to the court as everyone, even the spectators, could feel the overwhelming tension in the air.
With the younger team having the possession, they all decided that if they wanted to win this, they'll have to earn as many points as they can with an inevitable shootout. Akashi knew that when this happens, they'll team will win dominantly. It now just depends when the older ones can keep up in defending well.
After dribbling, Akashi quickly passes the ball to Hikigaya, who quickly releases it even before he can correct his stance. Despite that, the ball merely rattled inside the iron ring before it eventually sinks inside the net and out to the hard wood floor.
Grunting, Eiji was dribbling down the ball as soon as he got the ball from the inbounds pass. Nearing the three point area, he was about to pass to Kagetora when suddenly, a blur appeared before him and before he knew it, the ball was swatted away by Kuroko, who successfully stole the ball from the Rakuzan captain.
"Dammit! Everyone! Defense," Eiji yelled as his teammates tried to get back to their basket.
However, the ball was passed around as fast as lightning. The moment when Kuroko, who holding the ball, was marked, he would immediately pass to a free person, usually Hikigaya or Akashi. The same thing went on until the ball was close enough to be shot in. This continued for a minute until the opponent decided to go for a man-to-man defense.
"Damn! I can't get rid of my mark!" Kotaro yelled as the Kaijo coach was marking him.
"Don't get ahead of yourself, brat. This is what you get for calling me fat!" Takeuchi yelled. His arm span was long so he could defend quite a big area. He was considerably shorter than Kotaro, so his arms were nearer to the ground, preventing him from dribbling. His other teammates were marked too.
Just as he predicted beforehand, Kotaro held the ball for too long and took extra steps, causing a turnover. Kotaro frowned and whined, resulting in him forming a bruise on his head as Akashi karate-chops him.
"Don't hold the ball for too long, Hayama-senpai! You can do better than that, right?" Akashi reminded him, walking past him. The blonde calmed down although he was mumbling. Of course he could do better.
As the seniors were bringing down the ball, Shirogane Eiji decided to issue a challenge to their younger opponents.
"You want a shootout, brats? We'll give you that too!" Eiji smirked.
"Oi, cappy, you're starting to sound like that Hyuuga kid from Seirin," Nakatani slapped their captain on the shoulder. It seems like being bipolar was a trend.
Thus, the ball went zigzagging across the court as breakneck speed and even the referee looked dazed, as he could not catch up with the ball. "Hey…that's too much sweat, isn't it?" Momoi wondered as she scratched her chin. "They're overdoing it! Kantoku, should I recall in the others? It would be nice to have some substitute players."
Shirogane Kozo merely looked at their playing five before he reached a decision, "No, Momoi-chan. They're already having a good time there."
The people who are near the Teiko coach and Momoi merely sweatdropped at his comment as they watch the younger players immediately bringing out their peak in the game, with Hikigaya making his 18th three point shot in the game already.
"If he had the same height as Aomine or even Kise, Hikigaya would be one player I would like to play with," Hyuuga commented as he can't help but admire the shooting form of the Sobu student. "Provided that he hasn't even hit his growth spurt, he can still add a few inches in his height while not yet at 21."
"A good double clutch shooter and a three-point sniper. I wouldn't want to fight that guy one-on-one," Izuki grimaced.
"Sore aru!" Guessed who said that…
Meanwhile, Kuroko can only smile as he passes the ball towards Akashi, who manages to cut through the double team of Kagetora and Takeuchi. Yes. I've succeeded in my task as a phantom who supports them. He thought as Himuro gave him a weird look as if to ask why the hell he was smiling.
A satisfactory round of applause, followed by cheering was heard from the audience as the game came to an end. "I had to admit…that game was very entertaining to watch." Hyuuga said as he looks at the scoreboard. As expected, the younger team had won with a score of 121 - 110.
"It's like watching the new generation challenge the past generation," Izuki mused. "And it seemed that the youngsters are far better as the challengers than being challenged."
The veterans, on the other hand, were sighing in defeat at their lost. It was a very entertaining game, they had to admit that. "It's our lost. We'll treat the whole team to lunch, how about that?" Shirogane Eiji offered. The whole team quickly nodded, with Hikigaya mentioning to Kuroko that free food isn't being offered every day.
"A question coach," Akashi coughed up. "Does the free lunch include the rest of the team?"
The moment the redhead mentioned that, the five older men shuddered at the question as they suddenly remembered that the team also have Kagami, Aomine, and Murasakibara—the three strongest eaters of the Akatsuki Five. Quickly, Eiji asked, "You sent them away, right? Tell them to add another round?"
Akashi smirked as he pulled out a phone, "Of course, coach. I have no intention in letting those three fools ruin a peaceful lunch for once."
They decided to eat at an okonomiyaki shop that was not too far from the gymnasium where they played. They decided to take up three tables as one table was used to hang their bags. The rest just split themselves up as to who's going to sit with.
The moment they got their order and their ingredients, Kotaro was the one flipping the okonomiyaki as he decided to have fun cooking their lunch. Kuroko and the others tried to warm him not to do that but it fell to deaf ears. With a high flip, the food landed on a certain captain's hair. "Shit…I'm dead…" Kotaro stated as he stared in horror at the young captain, who looked at him with a dark stare as his eyebrows were twitching. "Look Akashi! I'm sorry! I'm very very sorry! I didn't—"
He was cut off when Akashi said, "Hayama-senpai. Your training menu is tripled." By this point, one could even sense the waves of killing intent spreading across the shop. Even the three show owners who were so oblivious to their surroundings (other than the ingredients they were preparing) whipped their heads to look at the Rakuzan captain. What a monster!
Evening had eventually seeped into the orange hew of the afternoon and by now, the beach is finally peaceful, with only the waves crashing at each other being heard. At the inn, all the boys were doing various activities after their dinner. Akashi and Midorima were busy playing shogi while they were wearing earmuffs. The reason for that is Aomine and Kise being noisy as usual as they were playing NBA2K somewhere in their room. The others were simply sharing light-hearted moments, with Kiyoshi sharing his coffee-flavored candy to the others.
And Hikigaya Hachiman?
He chose to just go outside of the inn as he was holding a basketball, intending to do some light exercise.
If he was being honest, this day has been exhausting for him. Aside from the game which saw him scoring from deep, he had to get away from Orimoto Kaori, who was borderline harassing him already and it was only thanks to Akashi that he managed to get away from the brunette, who was asking him for a 'shopping date.' What's up with girls like her?! He shuddered as he remembered how Orimoto said at the top of her lungs that 'there will be always next time'.
He then made a mental note to thank Akashi once again for saving his life from the hurricane in form of his former crush.
Whistling to himself, he puts down his phone and his can of MAXX coffee in the pavement as he began to dribble and take a shot. One down before I—
Unfortunately for him, his phone, which he set down just moments ago, began to ring. Grumbling to himself, Hikigaya put down the ball and quickly retrieved his device to answer it. The caller somewhat surprised the young man with rotten eyes.
"Hikigaya-kun…"
"Yukinoshita…" Hikigaya nearly had a heart attack the moment he heard the cold voice of his Service Club president. "What's with the call? Did something important happen? Did something bad happened to Komachi? Did—"
"Hikigaya-kun…I suggest you stop your perverted thoughts on the three of us."
A frown made way into his lips, "Look, as much as I love to exchange warm pleasantries with you, can you get straight to why you'd call me directly?"
There was a momentary silence between them before the other line continued, "Hikigaya-kun, the number five guy that you played against…he was in Sobu with a Korean player by the name of Jin Min-goo…"
The news surprised him very well, "Uhm…Villacorta-san? What is he doing in our school…better yet, how did he even know our school?"
"From what I learned a while back, he didn't know but rather, that Korean guy dragged in randomly to our school and from there, he challenged everyone who can play against him…" Yukinoshita narrated. "Tobe-san did accept his challenge but…"
"I take it that it didn't end well for him?" Hikigaya added, knowing where this is headed.
"He didn't even manage to score as they said his playing style was similar to yours…"
"I see…" Hikigaya felt that the Korean's name felt familiar to him but he can't just put it how. "What else?"
"Villacorta-san got challenged by a rookie and like Tobe-san, he also couldn't score a basket." Yukinoshita added.
The young man merely snorted. Whoever is that rookie, he is either too confident for his own good or he's plainly stupid. "When it comes to one-on-one, only a few could beat Villacorta. Well, is that all?"
"Hikki! I'm with Yukinon at the restaurant! Good luck to you!"
Hikigaya had to pull away from his phone as Yuigahama's voice nearly destroyed his eardrums, "You're too loud, Yuigahama. Well, have a safe dinner. I'll hang up now."
"Hey, Hikki—"
He didn't wait for Yuigahama to finish what she will say as he already hanged up and decided to just continue playing alone without anyone interfering. But alas, luck wouldn't be on his side…
"Having girlfriend problems, Hikigaya?"
"I don't think so, Ogiwara-kun. At least, it doesn't seem that way to me…"
Munch* Munch*
"And Kagami-kun, please chew properly. Bits of your saliva are actually landing in my face and I don't want to catch some of your germs."
"#&^%& *!"
Hikigaya sighed as he stopped dribbling while Kagami was busy yelling invectives at his Seirin captain, "Kuroko, what brings you all here?"
"Ogiwara-kun suggested that we play some quick one-on-one and Kagami tagged along since it was getting so rowdy inside," Kuroko deadpanned.
"Well, since you're here Hikigaya and you have a ball, then we can make it two-on-two," Ogiwara smiled with his foxy grin.
Hikigaya cringed at this sight. Oh well, it's not like I can send them away. "Fine then," he sighed. "I'll take Ogiwara as my teammate. Kuroko and Kagami are better suited as partners."
"You decided to quickly, Hikigaya-kun," Kuroko noted.
"Both of them are tall," Hikigaya explained. "I did it to make it equal."
Hikigaya then gave the ball to Kagami, saying, "Make it and you go first."
Unfortunately, the Seirin power forward shot it too strong, causing the ball to bounce off. Hikigaya sighed as he gets the ball while facing a defensing Kuroko, "Well, then. Here we go then…"
Sneak Peak: The whole national team continued to train heavily until the day of the Olympics Basketball arrived. Nothing much happened, besides, Yuigahama and Yukinoshita crashing into one of their last practices one night, Kagami and Aomine nearly punching each other's faces because of the latter stealing the former's teriyaki burgers, Kiyoshi accidentally dropping hot coffee into a visiting Hyuuga Junpei's flip phone, Akashi making a bet with both Kotaro and Mibuchi to beat him at Shogi, and Kuroko learning how to dunk. On the day of the tournament itself, everyone from Hikigaya's family attends as they watch him on his first career international tournament. Who would be the first country they will face? Find out!