Chapter 9: Seiho vs. Seirin
"…and we'll start off with formation 1. So that'll be Kuroko-kun, Kagami-kun, Hyuuga-kun, Izuki-kun and Mitobe-kun. Remember to try and conserve some energy. We're up against Shutoko after this when we win," says Riko-senpai, as she finishes drawing out the game plan. "And as Kuroko-kun mentioned, it'll be even more difficult considering they have one of the Generation of Miracles playing for them."
It was around 10 in the morning at our first game at the preliminaries. We all came with high spirits and hopes that'd we win. But when we found out we'd be playing against two of the three kings back to back, Seirin's fighting spirit began to deteriorate.
Changing out from my track suit, this time I no longer cared who watched me. I was here for Seirin and myself. Not them.
As I reposition and tighten my pony tail, I begin my stretches away from the team while giving myself a little pep talk.
I didn't come here to prance around and sit on the bench the whole time. I came to finally prove myself and help the team. I needed to focus the attention on Seirin while bringing out my potential. It was just like what Kagami-kun had said, "If you want it, you'll get it."
That's all I needed to know in order to go into this game with everything I had.
Taking a seat on the bench, I watch as formation 1 makes their way onto the court. The game was about to begin and here I was on the bench. I really wished I had been starting but asking Riko-senpai to put me in right now just showed how little faith I had in my team.
Still sitting on the bench, I watch as the first quarter draws to an end. It was difficult, the way the game was going it could be anyone's. No one was willing to give up a point unless getting one in return. As Kagami-kun and Kuroko-kun take a seat beside me on the bench, I hand them each a towel and bottles of water.
"I thought she was supposed to be playing for Seirin. Or is her job only to wipe them down and give them a bottle!"
I watch with vacant eyes as two boys walk by our bench, giving me unpleasant looks while they do so.
"Kagami-kun, Kuroko-kun. I want you two sitting out for the sec-"
"That's-"
Riko-senpai shuts up Kagami-kun's protest with a slap on the head. "You two are tired and we need you both for Shutoko. Plus, you guys haven't really seen your senpais' true strength. Koga-kun and Yuki-chan, I want you two subbing in."
Koga-senpai and I nod our heads in agreement as we listen to the coach's other observations about Seiho.
In a few minutes, the referee blows his whistle signalling the start of the second quarter. My check is their number 7 player. He kindly asks me what my name is.
"Aisaka Yukari," I say politely, as I flash him a kind smile. For once, a polite, nice opponent.
"Kenjiro Sakamoto. It's a pleasure-"
The whistle blows and the ball is thrown, Seiho getting possession of it first. I watch stunned as it's passed to Sakamoto-kun.
"Too slow," he whispers, before he flashes me a smile. He flies past me, causing my hair behind to whirl around my face. Standing there shocked, it was the first time ever that I had been fooled by own move. Hyuuga-senpai and the others run past me, yelling at me to get on him. It's the passion in his words that bring me back from the sudden shock. Quickly glancing to the bench of Seiho, a few of them are laughing at my misfortune. No way could I be out fooled by myself.
Being the last remaining one in the middle of the court, I turn around and begin to book it down the end of the court. I catch up to #7 with ease, sliding in front of him. Stopping in my tracks, he's too overcome with surprise to stop himself. I brace myself as his body comes ramming into my smaller frame, causing me to tumble to the ground in a heap.
The referee blows the whistle, the game coming to a stop. "Charging, #7. One free throw for #1 of Seirin!"
Standing back up with the help of Hyuuga-senpai, he pats me on the back with a smile.
Drawing fouls was one of my specialties after all.
Grabbing the ball from #7, I flash him a smile as he had done so from before. Walking with everyone else to our side of the court, I stand in the middle of the free throw line concentrating on getting the ball into the basket. Shooting, I can't help but smile when it goes in. So this is what Kaagami-kun meant.
Jumping into action, the play begins as soon as the ball goes in, Seiho managing to grab their hands on it. I find myself struggling to move my eyes quick enough to watch where the ball is heading to next. It'd been a long time since I played with a team who was this quick in their defense.
After watching their quick movements, I think I've figured out how their pattern works. But I realize it's too late when the captain of their team slams the ball in. A time out is called on their side before continuing the second period. Running to the bench of Seirin, I kindly refuse the bottle of water from Furihata-kun.
"I've figured it out."
"What out?" asks Riko-senpai, her voice calm, yet slightly tense.
"The way they move. It's not like a normal basketball teams'. They're using old martial art techniques to help them win this game. Specifically for the way they run. I've seen it before back when I used to watch my brothers' games when they were in high school. I think it's called Nanba running. They keep their arms close to their sides and only follow the movements with the timing of their legs. They conserve energy but can still run incredibly fast," I say quickly, as I use myself as a demonstration to show them what I meant.
Riko-senpai remains quiet before a smile slowly creeps on her face. "But they're still high school students. So they can still fall for our little tricks. Yuki-chan, how many more fouls do you think you can draw?"
"Depends. They know now I'm fast so they'll be cautious. I can draw maybe two more in this quarter."
"What if I saved you for the last?"
"Then probably double that."
"Okay. For now, keep playing as you are. You guys need to run faster if you want to catch up to Seiho. We still have around 6, a little less than that for the second. It's still anyone's game right now. Guys think you can kick it into high gear for the last 6?"
They nod their heads in agreements, all looking at one another with a sly grin.
The whistle is blown once again and before I head out, Kuroko-kun tries handing me a bottle of water.
"I'm alright!" I say, as I wave a thank you to him. He gives me a blank look before sitting back down besides Kagami-kun.
"Try not to fall for the same thing," says #7, as he towers over me with a smirk on his face.
The whistle blows and Hyuuga-senpai grabs possession of the ball.
"The same goes for you," I say quietly, as I jump behind him grabbing Mitobe-senpai's pass. Dribbling and running at the same time, I notice Seiho's #10 right on my tail. I could immediately tell he was a first year like myself by the wide smile on his face. Slowly down my pace deliberately, he tries to take the ball away from me but I quick pass to my left, watching Mitobe-senpai run and jump for a hook shot. But a few of the boys from Seiho jump as well, blocking his shot. They pass to their captain and he immediately takes down the court. Going after him, I watch surprised as Izuki-senpai and Mitob-senpai fly by me, with Hyuuga and Koga-senpai trailing behind. The two up front double team Seiho's captain and take the ball from him, passing up front to Hyuuga-senpai. He begins coming down the court but Seiho is right on him. Forcing to a stop, he passes the ball through their legs and towards the hands of Koga-senpai. No one can get on him quick enough so he shoots the ball from the 3 point line, earning us a 3 point lead over Seiho.
After, the second period comes to a stop. Seirin in the lead. Walking back to the bench of Seirin, we all head up to the upstairs locker room.
As the third period makes it's end, I watch on the bench as the ball goes flying down the court thanks to Kagami-kun's rough pass. A player of Seiho runs to catch it, but the balls speed proves to be too much for him. The ball will go out of bounds and end up Seiho's hands. But out of nowhere comes a running Koga-senpai, chasing after the ball with all his might. Running towards us, he slaps the ball back in just before he heads out of bounds. But it seems he can't stop himself from going out either. Continuing to run into our direction, I quickly move to the left just in time to watch Koga-senpai fall off the bench.
"Koga-kun!" yells Riko-senpai, as we all run to a fallen Koga. His eyes are in a daze as he grows unresponsive.
The whistle blows and the rest of Seirin makes their way over.
"Looks like a concussion. Yuki-chan, can you go in for the last three?"
Nodding my head, I stand up and make my way onto the court.
"Do you think you can do it?" asks Kagami-kun, his voice a low whisper beside me.
Staring up at him, I quickly glance towards the score board. We needed at least a point to get in front of Seiho.
"Yes," I answer, as I give him a smile.
He runs towards the center line before nodding his head in approval. I run quickly to Kuroko-kun and tell him we were going to score with "the jump".
Seiho get's the ball, causing us all to jump on our checks.
Number 7 seems to be quite the chatter box. "Give it up. Seiho's one of the three kings. Seirin's just a school that keeps coming back to only get their ass handed back."
"You talk a lot," I mumble, as I escape his defensive lock on me. As Seiho has brought the ball into their side, their players begin to scramble, urgently waiting for a pass so they can put the ball in.
I look towards Kagami-kun, giving him a nod. Trailing close to him, I wait for his move. Surely enough, their captain passes to a team mate and they instantly go in for a dunk. I watch as the colour drains from Seirin's face as they watch him going in for the point. Unknowingly to them, Kagami-kun jumps higher than any of us could have expected. Slapping the ball from his hand, the people in the stadium erupt in shouts of amazement. Slapping the ball into my hands, Seiho is quick to jump on me. But I'm quicker to get past them all. Dodging their slapping hands and bodies, I make my way down the court with the ball still in my hand towards Kuroko-kun, who was standing patiently underneath our hoop. Everyone had failed to notice him.
Seiho's captain appears beside me, giving me a stern look. "There's no way you can reach," he says, as he realizes that I was going in for a lay up.
"Try and stop me," I challenge haughtily, as I pump my legs faster towards Kuroko-kun. Right now, the only people on our side was Seiho's captain, Kuroko-kun and myself. Although I wished it had been someone smaller than the captain, I knew that the plan would still work. Seiho's captain slows down, realizing that this was the time for me to jump. But I don't. Instead, I run towards Kuroko-kun with one hand up in the air with the ball still in it. With my other hand, I place it on Kuroko-kun's shoulder, placing my weight and strength into jumping and balancing off of him at the same time. If I had jumped myself, then Seiho's captain would've slapped the ball easily out of my hands. But with Kuroko-kun giving me his extra height, I slam the ball in just in time as the buzzer goes off. Landing on the ground, I stumble to catch my balance.
The people in the stadium once again cheer in amazement, some were even standing up. I walk to Seirin with Kuroko-kun by my side, the both of us talking about how well the play went.
Everyone on the team begins to gush about the move I had just did and how I had managed to keep my balance.
Jumping off the bench, I hug Furihata-kun as the fourth period comes to an end. Seirin had won the game against Seiho. We were now going to face Shutoku.
Congratulating everyone, we grab our stuff and head back to our locker room. On my way there, I stop to call Satsu-chan.
"We won!" I yell happily, as I fight to hold my excitement.
"That's great, Yuki-chan! Did you remember to drink throughout the game?"
I remain quiet, remembering that I hadn't. I had a very bad habit of not drinking water whenever I played a game. When Satsu-chan and I were younger, I remember playing a game in elementary school and I had passed out due to dehydration. Ever since that, Satsu-chan had always been reminding me to always be drinking whenever I had the chance.
"Yeah!" I lie shamefully, as I rub the back of my neck. She remains quiet for a few seconds before believing me. Telling her I'd talk to her later, I run to catch up to the team. But I suddenly stop as I feel my vision grow blurry and my balance begin to go off. Almost falling to the ground, someone grabs me from doing so. Looking at my arm, I noticed that whoever had caught me had their left hand neatly bandaged up.
Practicing a little before our match starts with Shutoku, I try to hide the fact that I was feeling very uneasy. Physically wise. After being caught by a boy with forest green hair and glasses, I thanked him immediately and wobbled my way to the locker room. There, I hid the fact that I was feeling very dehydrated. Riko-senpai began to explain that since we were up against a Generation of Miracles player, that she'd sub out Mitobe-senpai for myself. I refused quickly, half because that Mitobe-senpai's abilities were needed on the court and half because I felt like I was going to pass out. I try to drink the bottle of water in my hands but I find myself growing more and more repulsed by the sight.
She insisted that this was what she thought would benefit Seirin, putting my protests to an end. Now here I was, trying to keep my eyes from shutting.
Shooting the ball and watching it miss, Kuroko-kun taps me on the back. He nods behind us, motioning that over there was his former team mate. I stare intently, a little shocked. The boy who had caught me earlier was a player of the Generation of Miracles. Interesting.
"So he can shoot from anywhere on the court and get it in?" I ask, as I wipe the little sweat from my forehead. I begin to panic as I realize I had been sweating less and less. A sign of dehydration.
"That's right. He's left handed, so that's why it's bandaged up. Not only that, Midorima-kun is very strong and smart."
Still watching Midorima-kun, he walks around the court with a serious expression. His face unreadable. It scared me for some reason.
"So what's our plan?" I ask, as Kuroko-kun and I join everyone else on the bench
"Depends. Kuroko's the only who's played Midorima. We'll need to play through the first with everything and then decide what to do once we get a time out. Although I am worried about Midorima-kun, it's that Kazunari Takao that has me interested," she muses out loud, as she keeps a watchful eye over Shutoku's number 10.
Before we head onto the court, Riko-senpai gives us a few pointers before we do so.
Standing in front of my check who adorns the number 8, I make no attempt to talk to him. Seirin grabs possession of the ball, Hyuuga-senpai passing to Kagami-kun. Midorima-kun stops his efforts, quickly putting up a line of defense. Shutoku is surprised to see Kagami-kun blindly throw the ball, but they fail to notice Kuroko-kun coming out of nowhere, misdirecting it to Izuki-senpai. He runs towards the hoop, but Takao-kun catches up with him easily, slapping the ball out of his hand. He begins to run with all of us after him. He passes to Midorima-kun who isn't even at the half court line. Surely it wouldn't go in!
Staring in amazement, I feel every nerve in my body tense as I watch the ball crisply fly into the net. Shutoku had gotten the first point. What did this mean for Seirin's outcome? Could we bounce back and score? Still in amazement, no one runs to continue the play. The audience in the stadium still continues to cheer. But then my attention is reverted back to the hoop. Kuroko-kun catches the ball, a dangerous glint in his eyes. Something I never saw before. It sent chills up and down my spine.
I watch as Kuroko-kun takes the ball, spinning himself in a circle as he grasps it tightly in his palm. He throws the ball with his final spin, barely missing the side of Midorima-kun's face. Stunned, we all watch it fly down the court into Kagami-kun's hands. How he managed to catch something like that was beyond my comprehension. Since no one was on him, Kagami-kun slams the ball in making the score even.
The audience in the stadium goes mad with excitement. I look at Kuroko-kun, astonished at what just happened. Who would've thought someone like him was capable of such greatness. That's why they called him the Phantom Sixth.
Seirin was taking a time out in the middle of the third quarter. Taking a seat on the bench, I wipe the little sweat off of my forehead with my towel.
By now, Seirin didn't look too good. We were about 9 points behind Shutoku. In the 3 periods, we had come to realize the true strengths of Midorima-kun and Kagami-kun. Midorima-kun could truly shoot at any given time and get it in. But that is if Kagami-kun wasn't there to jump higher and higher with each passing minute to stop his shots. Not only that, we realized Takao-kun had the Hawk's eye. Unlike Izuki-senpai's Eagle eye, Takao-kun could see the whole court and everyone's plays. This proved that Kuroko-kun's misdirection to be useless until we found a strategy to fix that.
"I've found a way to fix Takao-kun's hawk eye," says Riko-senpai, as she takes a seat on the bench.
"How?"
"If we purposely get his attention on Kuroko-kun, then his Hawk's eye is the same as Izuki-kun's Eagle eye. It'll be fixated around Kuroko-kun and the small area around him. Kuroko-kun then can make himself invisible and get back to using his misdirection," she finishes, as her eyes lay upon the bench of Shutoku.
With this newfound information, the time out is over and we head back to the court.
"Yuki-chan!" calls out Riko-senpai, as she calls me back.
"Yeah?" I breath out, trying to hide the fact that I was panting more than usual.
"I want you to sit out for the last 5. I want to use the rest of your strength in the fourth," she says, as she pulls me back. Hesitantly I nod my head in agreement and take a seat. Mitobe-senpai subs in for me and goes back into the game.
I was dying. Well, not literally speaking but I knew I was on the brink of dehydration. To go out and play the fourth quarter with everything I had? I wasn't sure if I'd be able to stand. Grabbing a water bottle from behind the bench, I hold it up to my dry mouth once again. I try to drink but my hand begins to shake uncontrollably. Twisting the cap back on, I throw it behind the bench in agitation. Even if I wanted to drink water my mind kept telling me not to. Why?
Watching the third period intently, I watch in awe as Kuroko-kun's misdirection and Kagami-kun's jumps begin to get better and better. By the end of it, we're only 3 points away from catching up.
But now came the difficult part. The very last quarter where I had to play.