24 Chapter 23

A/N: For those who are asking, here's your bonus chapter.

And again thanks for all the support. God bless you all!!

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Even with the intentional foul, Mieko's team was not in penalty, so Teiko only had a sideline inbound. They inbounded the ball again, and Ogiwara fouled Akashi once more.

The referee blew his whistle, signaling Akashi to take his position at the free throw line. Perhaps due to his irritation, Akashi missed his first free throw, but quickly redeemed himself by making the second one.

The game resumed as Ogiwara inbounded the ball to Ichigo. As Ichigo received the ball, he sensed someone closing in on him and protected it.

Aomine immediately applied pressure on Ichigo as he caught the ball. However, Ichigo didn't feel much pressure from Aomine's defense and quickly burst past him towards the other side of the court. Aomine, shocked by his speed, reacted late but immediately chased after Ichigo.

Ichigo stopped at the three-point line to shoot. Seeing this, Aomine chased him to block his shot. Sensing Aomine on his back, Ichigo faked shooting, causing Aomine to panic and jump to block the shot. But it was a fake, and all Aomine could do was watch as Ichigo jumped towards his body, attempting to draw a foul.

The whistle blew, and Ichigo released the ball towards the basket. Since Ichigo's shot was not heavily contested, he made the three-point shot.

"Shooting foul, number 6 from Teiko. Basket counts, plus one free throw," the referee signaled, confirming that the basket was good.

Ichigo easily made the additional free throw, making the score 93-112. Seeing that they were within 20 points, Meiko's players were fired up and prepared to defend, determined to make a stop.

With 55 seconds remaining in the game, Teiko had possession. Immediately after they inbounded the ball, Mieko intentionally fouled whoever caught it. This time, it was Aomine, as Akashi was tightly guarded by Ichigo.

Aomine easily makes the first free throw, but on his second attempt, he almost misses. His shot is a little too strong and hits the back of the ring. Luckily, it bounces a few more times before finally going in, bringing the score to 93-114.

With only 53 seconds remaining in the game, Ichigo's teammate passes him the ball while Aomine guards him closely. However, it's not just Aomine pressuring him; Akashi is also nearby, prepared to double-team him if he makes a mistake while dribbling.

Upon realizing Akashi's proximity, Ichigo dribbles the ball cautiously. With Aomine applying pressure and Akashi nearby, he struggles to advance the ball past half court and comes close to being called for an 8-second violation. Fortunately, he manages to cross the half-court line just before the referee's countdown reaches 8.

Despite his efforts, Akashi and Teiko manage to waste precious seconds off the clock. With Aomine still tightly guarding him, Ichigo has no choice but to drive towards the basket, as Aomine refuses to let him shoot from outside.

Ichigo drives in with Aomine closely guarding him, making him uncomfortable while dribbling the ball. With Aomine's proximity, Ichigo couldn't risk attempting a three-pointer because there was a chance that Aomine could strip the ball from him.

Instead, Ichigo decided to take the ball inside, bursting through Aomine's defense. With Aomine trailing behind and only Murasakibara standing in front of him, Ichigo bravely challenged Murasakibara's defensive skills.

Upon seeing Ichigo attempting to challenge him once again, Murasakibara was reminded of the previous occasions when Ichigo had scored against him – not just once, but twice. Determined to redeem himself, Murasakibara prepared to block Ichigo's shot.

Undeterred by Murasakibara's presence, Ichigo leapt high into the air, soaring toward the basket. Murasakibara, anticipating the shot, jumped up with both hands raised to block it. However, he failed to anticipate Ichigo's explosive speed. Just as Murasakibara was about to make contact with the ball, Ichigo forcefully dunked it into the basket.

*Boom*

The resounding sound of Ichigo's dunk echoed throughout the entire stadium, igniting the crowd's excitement and causing them to go wild.

"WHAT THE FUCK!" someone in the crowd shouted.

"Wohh, a posterize dunk!" another person exclaimed, gripping their head in disbelief.

The crowd buzzed with chatter and murmurs as they discussed and relived the last play. It was the first time they had witnessed a player from Teiko being posterized in such a dramatic fashion. And it wasn't just any player, it was Murasakibara, renowned as the best rim protector in all of Middle School.

Considering Murasakibara's towering height, athleticism, and impressive reflexes, it seemed nearly impossible to score against him, let alone dunk over him. However, on that day, the crowd witnessed not just one, but multiple successful scores against him, including a jaw-dropping posterizing dunk.

With that dunk, the score stood at 95-114, with Meiko narrowing the gap to within 20 points. There were only 43 seconds left in the game.

The game had a slow restart because the crowd was still loudly chattering. The scoring officials at the scorer's table had to use a buzzer to calm them down.

Upon hearing the buzzer, the crowd slowly began to quiet down. As the noise inside the stadium subsided, the referees resumed the game, with Teiko in possession of the ball. However, Meiko's players immediately fouled the Teiko player who had the ball.

This time, it was Aomine again. Akashi was still being tightly guarded by Ichigo. Perhaps feeling the pressure from his previous free throw almost missing, Aomine's shot fell short, hitting the front of the rim.

The referee then signaled for Aomine to take his position for his second free throw. This time, Aomine took his time, trying to calm himself down. However, due to his eagerness to redeem himself, he overshot the free throw. The ball bounced off the back of the rim but unfortunately did not go in.

Seeing Aomine's miss, the players positioned themselves for the rebound. However, Murasakibara's height, length, agility, and reflexes allowed him to quickly get under the basket. He boxed out the other players and reached for the ball as it bounced to the left side of the basket. Just as he was about to grab it, someone jumped over his back and reached out for the ball.

Ichigo, realizing that Murasakibara was in a good position for a rebound, got close to Murasakibara's body in preparation. As the ball went to the left, Ichigo jumped over Murasakibara to prevent him from jumping. Murasakibara was unable to reach the ball due to Ichigo's body blocking his arm.

After landing, Ichigo immediately rushed to the other side of the court. Akashi noticed Ichigo pushing the ball to the other side and instructed Midorima to guard the paint, preventing Ichigo from scoring near the basket, while he defended him at the three-point line.

Ichigo, seeing Teiko's defense already set up, slowed down. Just as Akashi thought he would wait for his teammates to set up an offensive play, he was shocked to see Ichigo pull up for a shot from between the halfcourt line and three-point line.

Akashi could only look up at the ball as it flew through the air with a nice arc and landed in the basket. This surprised both Akashi and Midorima, as the only person they knew who could shoot from that distance and make it was Midorima himself.

Midorima, taken aback by someone shooting from his own shooting spot, didn't expect a middle schooler to have the audacity and confidence to attempt such a shot.

With that three-pointer, the score became 98-114 with 39 seconds left in the game.

As he approached the baseline, Midorima swiftly inbounded the ball to Akashi. However, perhaps still rattled by Ichigo's previous shot, his pass to Akashi appeared weak. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Ichigo applied intense defensive pressure on Akashi, utilizing his height and wingspan advantage. Consequently, Ichigo managed to intercept the ball before Akashi could get a grip on it.

Seizing possession, Ichigo swiftly dashed outside the three-point line, positioned himself in the corner, and launched a fadeaway shot, with Akashi closely contesting and attempting to block his line of sight to the basket.

Undeterred, Ichigo released the ball, displaying a picturesque shooting form that the crowd marveled at. As the ball smoothly sailed through the air, it effortlessly swished through the net, eliciting applause and admiration from the spectators. With this successful shot, the score now stood at 101-114, with only 35 seconds remaining in the game.

Akashi was irritated by him and his team's consecutive errors and turnovers. He made the decision to inbound the ball himself to ensure it reached his teammates' waiting hands.

As he prepared to inbound the ball, Akashi noticed that Ichigo was standing in front of him, aiming to disrupt his pass. Despite this, he easily spotted Aomine, who was being guarded by the smaller Ogiwara.

Upon passing the ball to Aomine, he swiftly spun around Ogiwara's defense, evading his intentional foul. Realizing that he had left Ogiwara far behind, Aomine casually dribbled past the half-court line, attempting to waste time off the clock.

However, just as he was about to cross the half-court line, Aomine noticed a reddish lightning approaching him. This time, he was prepared. He skillfully dribbled the ball behind his back as Ichigo passed by him.

Unfortunately, Aomine had forgotten about Ogiwara, who was chasing closely behind him. Unintentionally, the ball ended up in Ogiwara's hands as he was pursuing Aomine with the intention of fouling him.