Chapter 11
Awe hung over the entire court after that showing of both Midorima and Kuroko's abilities.
But Kise, knowing both Midorima and Kuroko personally, could tell that the showing had shifted the board for now. And he was right.
The next time Midorima had the ball, Kuroko was close to the basket, waiting to use his Cyclone Pass. And Kise watched as Midorima no doubt hissed before he passed the ball.
With a quiet glance at Kasamatsu, Kise decided to play dumb.
"Midorimacchi, you could've made that shot." The copycat said, adding a note of confusion to his voice.
"I see." Kasamatsu hummed.
"Huh?" Kise questioned, curious to what his senpai had understood.
"They shut him down." Kasamatsu stated as Kise leaned further forward in his seat, clasping the railing and feeling Kuroko's glittering determination in the back of his mind.
"Midorimacchi's been shut down?" The copycat said aloud.
"Yeah, with that kid's spinning long distance pass." Kasamatsu confirmed. "Midorima's team returns to defense during the long hang time of his shots, and that's good for preventing fast breaks. However, not everyone goes back. Just in case he misses, they leave someone to rebound the ball. That hang time bites them in the ass. If Midorima can go back, Kagami can also run back. They can counter Midorima with a super fast break by running past him. That's why Midorima can't shoot. But the timing and decision to show us that pass and the confidence to complete it...it confirms things."
Kise allowed his dumb blonde mask to fall the slightest bit as he gazed at Kasamatsu from the corner of his eye.
"I can see how he played at Teiko with you." The Kaijo captain smiled. "He's a battle-hardened warrior."
Aren't we all…? Kise thought, entirely monotone as he remembered the crueler days of Teiko, the ones where his only solace was in his bonds, which were now only five empty ties and one complete one within his mind. Kise shook his head to get rid of those depressing thoughts, however, and turned his attention back to the game while his hand held his cell phone tightly in his hand.
He made plans with Momoi to go shopping on their next day off, since Aomine was apparently too lazy to do so. Kise had planned on inviting Midorima when the game was finished today, no matter the outcome, so the three of them could get manicures together at the end.
He wasn't alone and he never would be again. Even if only Kuroko's bond returned, he wasn't alone.
Shutoku was, unsurprisingly, not shut down entirely with Midorima being unable to shoot. Kuroko watched as Takao expertly passed the ball to his captain, Otsubo, who scored.
But the balance wasn't broken yet.
Hyuuga threw the ball to Kuroko and a glance over his shoulder confirmed Mitobe was near the basket. Kuroko adjusted his pass before he sent the ball flying towards Mitobe, who scored a lay-up.
5-4, Shutoku.
The game continued on, both teams scoring back and forth, until Takao was marking Kuroko.
"I knew this would happen." The point guard mused as he ran alongside Kuroko, saw Kuroko, easily. "Shin-chan would say it's our fate to fight against each other, but I didn't think we'd face each other so soon. It occurred to me the first time we met. You and I are the same kind of person. We're both first years too. Passing is our bread and butter. So I guess you could say I hate you because you're like me. I just don't want to lose to you."
Kuroko was on guard. Something...Takao had to have something up his sleeve.
"What do you think you're doing?" Kagami demanded as he looked from Midorima to Kuroko and Takao. "No matter how fast Takao is, that's not the way to handle Kuroko."
If Midorima was so inclined (or Aomine), he would have rolled his eyes towards the heavens. Honestly, was this arrogant tool so dumb as well? Did he actually believe Midorima was that dumb? How utterly ridiculous. He played alongside Kuroko for three years. Midorima was one of six people who knew Kuroko better than anyone else in the entire world (and no, his heart did not ache when he thought of just how closely he had once known Kuroko's very soul, idiot).
And Midorima knew Takao as well.
"I am already familiar with Kuroko's abilities." Midorima blandly reminded the stupid tool. "You will see soon enough."
The ball was coming towards Kuroko and the phantom raised his hands to pass it-
Suddenly, Takao was there, stealing the ball and passing it to his own teammates to score.
"I've never felt like this before, but I think it's because there's something different about you." Takao commented as he stared at Kuroko.
"I'm sorry. No one has ever said that to me before so I don't know what to say." Kuroko admitted.
"What?" Takao gaped at him.
"But I think I have a similar feeling." The phantom stated, watching. Watching. Watching.
"That's good. We're ready to go." Takao smirked...and blinked.
Kuroko moved.
"Hey, wait! Just how rude are you, suddenly disappearing like that?" Takao shouted, but Kuroko didn't pay him much mind.
Izuki passed the ball and Kuroko spotted Hyuuga ready to catch. He passed the ball-
The ball went off course as suddenly Takao was there, stealing the ball again.
And that was when Kuroko felt the shock and fear freeze his veins. Takao didn't just see him, he could stop him.
He could shut Kuroko down, something nobody had ever been able to do, not even the Generation of Miracles when they played three-on-three.
The style that Aomine had inspired, that Akashi had helped cultivate, that Midorima respected, that Kise had learned from, that Murasakibara could not stop and that Momoi had claimed to love…
It had been stopped, all too easily.
And Midorima watched silently as this realization hit Kuroko before he whispered under his breath,
"Too bad, Kuroko."
Takao's Hawk Eye had, successfully, shut Kuroko down entirely.
The buzzer went off, with the score 11-8 in Shutoku's favor.
"Seirin, time out." The ref called out.
"Uh oh. Seirin's in trouble." Takao hummed as he sat beside Midorima and drank from his water bottle.
"Do not let your guard down." Midorima warned. "Kuroko will not go down so easily."
"It's fine." Takao shrugged his words off. "Once you take away his lack of presence, he's worthless."
Midorima felt the knee jerk reaction to clench his fingers tightly and defend Kuroko, but he bit the inside of his lip to silence it. He had to make Takao understand, Kuroko was not to be underestimated.
None of the Miracles were. The instant you did, it was all over.
"Do you know why I don't like him?" The sharpshooter asked instead. Takao hummed in curiosity in response. "Because I respect Kuroko. He has no physical strengths. He cannot do anything by himself. Despite that, he wore the same uniform as the rest of us at Teiko and led the team to victory. His abilities are nothing like ours. His strengths are of another kind. That is why I don't like him. Because a man I respect has chosen to bury himself with a team that cannot fully utilize his abilities."
If they were all together, all seven Miracles, Kuroko would be unstoppable. But with Seirin? With Seirin, he was able to be stopped, by Takao and by others too, no doubt. And Midorima could not forgive Kuroko for that, for lowering his standards.
And he would show him this...by winning.
"Hey, don't tell me you're going to keep letting them shut you down." Kagami said as his hand grasped Kuroko's hair. Normally, Kuroko would jab Kagami in punishment, but his mind was spinning so fast, trying to find a way around Takao, that he couldn't be bothered.
"Focus, Kurokocchi. You're trapping yourself." Kise's voice rang in his mind, creating sunbursts of light that lit up the ice Kuroko was sealing himself within.
"Well, I suppose I don't like it." Kuroko admitted aloud as he took a deep breath and cleared his mind, allowing some of the ice to melt as he sent Kise his thanks.
"That's what I like to hear!" Kagami grinned. "Coach! Let us keep going like this, please."
"Like this?" Riko repeated, looking lost. "You know your misdirection won't work against Takao-kun, right? Are you going to be okay?"
"I'm not okay." Kuroko stated. "I have a problem."
"Yeah, I see...I mean, what are you going to do?" Riko's eyes narrowed as she avoided his blunt tactic.
The buzzer went off.
"The time out is over!" The ref yelled.
"Take care of Takao." Kagami stated as he stood up.
"Okay." Kuroko agreed, like he didn't already know that. He couldn't beat Midorima, after all, if he didn't beat Takao first.
"Hey, did you come up with a plan?" Takao smirked as he marked Kuroko when they returned to the court.
"I'm still thinking." Kuroko stated plainly.
"You're doing what?" The Hawk Eye user laughed, as if he couldn't believe Kuroko would admit that.
But Kuroko didn't hide when he was planning something, only what the plan was until the moment it was needed. And he would get around this, he had to.
Akashi had high hopes for all six of them and Kuroko would not fall short of those so easily.
The game continued on, but it was obvious Seirin was particularly exhausted. Shutoku was able to steal the ball from Izuki and score a basket.
13-8, Shutoku.
Shutoku obviously thought they had control, but that wasn't something they took easily.
"Who cares about kings? Go die!" Hyuuga shouted as he scored a basket.
Shutoku had the ball. One player, Miyaji, passed the ball around Izuki to his captain, Otsubo, who also passed it off quickly.
Kuroko stole the ball-!
But Takao was there again, stopping the ball from reaching Hyuuga.
Kise bit the inside of his cheek as he watched Kuroko. This didn't make sense, what was Kuroko doing?
It isn't like Kurokocchi to make the same mistakes. Kise thought, but he could still feel the ice sculpture forming in the back of his mind, Kuroko's focus and determination made into a beauty of art that Kise knew Midorima would appreciate, yet it didn't cut Kise off from him either, allowing his own feelings to reach the phantom.
There was something else at play here, there had to be!
"What are you doing?" Midorima demanded from the center line as he glared at Kuroko. He was making the same mistakes, acting as if Midorima and Shutoku were to be underestimated, as weak as every school they played as third year middle schoolers. It disgusted him. "We are doing everything we can. Defend harder."
Takao passed him the ball and if Midorima were so inclined, he would have smirked.
"My shooting range isn't that short." The sharpshooter scoffed instead. And he shot the ball from the center line, hitting nothing, but the net and leaving all, but two people in utter shock and disbelief.
16-11, Shutoku. And Midorima used that time of shock and disbelief to run back to his basket.
"As long as I'm back here, you cannot get behind me with Kuroko's passes." Midorima stated. "But it's all irrelevant. My shots are three points, and your counter is only two. Even if we do nothing, the gap will still grow wider."
Seirin passed the ball to Kagami and the tool stopped right in front of Midorima.
"You've got something interesting there, but…" Kagami smirked as he suddenly backed away.
He threw the ball.
A three? Midorima thought, gaping for a moment. I thought he wasn't good from the outside.
But Midorima realized too late what Kagami was doing and by then, the tool had already passed him. The ball struck the rim and Kagami dunked it in a second later before anyone could catch it as a rebound.
"What was that?"
"A one-man alley-oop?"
People cried out around Kise as he watched the play.
"That guy…" Kise whispered. He could practically see Kagami's potential flaring off his skin, like a small fire that would become wild and untamable as soon as it received the spark it was missing.
He would never reach the height of the Miracles, but Kise had a feeling he was witnessing the creation of an Uncrowned King. He wondered if this was how Akashi had felt, watching Kuroko and then Kise himself come into their own abilities.
16-13, Shutoku. One basket behind and only seconds left in the first quarter.
Kuroko had hope that they could pull it off, when he heard it.
The basketball hitting the court's floor.
He turned and there was Midorima, standing near his own net and bouncing the ball.
"That was a pretty good shot for you. However…" The sharpshooter said as he caught the ball and got into that familiar stance.
Sudden starbursts flashed in the back of Kuroko's mind as Kise figured out what was happening in the same instance.
Kuroko had revealed the Cyclone Pass, one of his trump cards. And now…
Now Midorima was revealing one of his own in return.
The Generation of Miracles' sharpshooter shot the ball and it soared through the air in a high, overreaching arc.
"I told you, it's not that short." Midorima stated. "My shooting range is the entire court."
And the ball swished through the net, not touching the rim even once. A perfect three point shot.
The buzzer sounded.
"The first quarter is over!" The ref yelled. "We'll have a two minute break!"
19-13, Shutoku was the current, final score of the first quarter.
"Kuroko, has he always been able to do that?" Riko questioned when they all returned to the bench.
"No, I only knew he could shoot as far as the half line." Kuroko stated, though he had suspected Midorima would be able to shoot across the entire court someday. He just didn't expect it so soon, when he should have. "That's the first time I've seen him shoot from there."
"I've seen videos of NBA players making that shot during practice, but trying that in an actual game is ridiculous." Izuki groaned.
"The Generation of Miracles are ridiculous." Hyuuga corrected, looking done with the world.
Yes, we are. Kuroko agreed, unable to help the swell of pride at the thought. As if in response to his pride, Kise sent out a sunrise in the back of his mind, the pride now doubled and more than earned.
"How are we supposed to stop that?" Koganei questioned.
"They'll try to stop Midorima first." Coach Nakatani said as Midorima sat on the bench with his team. "There's a few ways they could do it, but let's see…"
"Coach." Midorima cut in, drawing his coach's attention. "Give me the ball for the entire second quarter."
Otsubo stiffened at Midorima's side.
"Coach, can I hit him?" Miyaji asked, his voice pleasant despite his violent words.
"Miyaji, why don't you throw a pineapple at him? My family runs a produce store." Kimura offered.
Takao cracked up laughing.
"Just how self-centered are you?" He laughed as he patted Midorima's shoulder enthusiastically. "I love it!"
"No matter how they come at us, I will shut them down." Midorima vowed, his eyes never leaving Nakatani as he ignored everyone around him.
"Okay. Let's call that three of your selfish actions for the day and do it." Nakatani nodded after a moment of thought.
"Seriously, Coach?" Miyaji cried, shocked. Kimura was speechless.
"You know I'm at my limit. If that's what the coach says, I have no choice." Otsubo said, glaring fiercely at Midorima's profile. "Do what you want for the first half, but if we lose…"
The threat hung in the air and Midorima gulped. Otsubo was not nearly as absolute as Akashi, but he still managed to strike fear into Midorima's heart, not that he'd ever say that aloud.
"You have to stop Midorima!" Riko insisted as she stared hard at Kuroko. Kuroko nodded in agreement as the buzzer announcing the second quarter went off.
Takao had the ball and passed it to Midorima.
Kuroko was on him instantly.
"You think you can stop me with that?" Midorima scoffed as he moved to pass Kuroko.
Kise smirked from above, remembering how Kuroko used the same tactic to steal the ball from him with a back tip.
Their real objective's coming up, Midorimacchi. He thought.
Kuroko moved to steal the ball-
When suddenly, Takao was there as a screen.
"Hey, now. Don't do crude stuff like that!" Takao smirked at him.
"They saw it coming?" Kise gasped in shock. And yet, he knew he shouldn't have been surprised.
Akashi, Midorima, Momoi and Kuroko were the best tacticians of the Generation of Miracles, and all four knew every Miracle inside and out. Of course Midorima knew what Kuroko planned to do and had Takao on guard to stop it.
As Midorima passed Kuroko, Kagami stepped forward. The expression on his face said he thought he was going to stop the sharpshooter right here.
Stop me? Impossible. Midorima scoffed internally. He moved fast, fast enough to make Akashi proud if he were there as Midorima's captain, and got far enough away from Kagami to shoot.
Another three points.
"Don't get in my way, Takao." Midorima called out.
"What are you trying to say?" Takao smirked that infuriating smirk.
Kagami had the ball next and Midorima moved to block him. Kagami passed the ball and Kuroko passed it again, only for Takao to interrupt the play and send the ball back to Midorima.
Midorima shot the ball as he remembered a day from years ago.
"The coolest shot?" Kise repeated as he turned to Midorima with a smile, holding his ice cream happily. But of course he was happy, the six of them had convinced Akashi to actually join them today instead of holing himself up in some office at Teiko for either the basketball team or student council. "That'd be the dunk. It's the best for the guy doing it and the people watching!"
"That's why you are no good." Midorima scoffed. "Shooting from further away is obviously the best, since it's worth three points."
Kise sighed, obviously not willing to argue. Aomine simply grumbled under his breath while Murasakibara was focused entirely on his ice cream. Momoi simply smiled at them all, looking as if she were having the time of her life. Akashi didn't step in either, seemingly interested in what would happen next.
Midorima had no doubt their captain predicted exactly what would happen next.
"Midorima-kun, you're usually smart, but sometimes you can be stupid." Kuroko stated bluntly.
"W-what?" Midorima cried, turning towards Kuroko in shock.
"Kurokocchi, you're so blunt." Kise sighed fondly.
"Between two and three points, more is obviously better." The sharpshooter argued.
"What are you, a child?" Kuroko questioned, turning towards Midorima.
"The truth is simple." Midorima smirked. "I will prove it to you someday."
And that day had finally come, as the ball swished through the hoop.
24-13, Shutoku.
Seirin didn't give up easily, however. Instead, the senpai worked together and scored a basket.
But Midorima was under the net.
"No matter how much you score, you cannot stop my shots." Midorima stated as he went through the familiar motions.
"No, you don't!" Kagami shouted. The tool ran over and jumped to block Midorima, but it was a foolish endeavor. Midorima released the ball and it swished through the net.
27-15, Shutoku.
"This isn't good." Kasamatsu commented. "It looks like Seirin has reached its limit."
But Kise wasn't paying attention to his senpai or the Shutoku players or even the Seirin players.
His eyes followed the same line of sight as Kuroko and Midorima.
All three of them stared at Kagami, who was laughing.
And Kuroko could see it, see the potential of an Uncrowned King within him, waking up.
And the phantom also felt the first shivers of fear, remembering a rainy day where Aomine left his side and Akashi changed before his very eyes and Kuroko wasn't strong enough to hold them all together.