Chapter 111 : VS Yosen High III - Furihata in Action!

Riko bit her lips nervously.

It has been six minutes since the game started, yet her team still couldn't do anything much against Yosen's incredibly tight defense. In total, they have been trying to attack their paint area three times, using the mid-range twice, and attacking from the outside twice, yet they couldn't score even once from the open play.

And all of that was because of the immovable wall called Atsushi Murasakibara.

'Damn it! They really know how to use him!' Riko cursed inwardly, her face darkened at the situation on the court. And it was within a reason why her mood was a mess right now.

Because nobody could break Murasakibara's defense, the other Yosen players decided to put their focus on defending the mid-range and outside area. It doesn't matter if they were fooled or outmatched; as long as they could guide Seirin's players toward the paint area, their 'guillotine' would punish Seirin's players severely, while giving them a chance to do a quick fast-break at the same time.

"Riko-chan.." Alex's voice snapped her from her thought. "If we didn't make any chance right now, we wouldn't be able to save this game…"

Riko nodded slightly, knowing about that. "What do you think we should do?"

"Put Mitobe-kun and Furihata-kun for Tiger-chan and Izuki-kun." Alex said without hesitation. "Tiger-chan is a mess right now. We need to calm him down, or he will always confront Murasakibara-kun recklessly in every play, which would cost us another possession if we let him do that."

"But how about Murasakibara?"

Alex shrugged. "Well, it was not like Tiger-chan could win against him even for once." Riko cringed at her harsh comment. "And unlike Tiger-chan, Mitobe-kun is a system player. He would be able to help the team stabilize the game."

"And what about Furihata-kun?"

She couldn't help but feel guilty when she mentioned the first-year point guard. The mess and the tense atmosphere on the team, all of that was caused by her unfair treatment of Furihata. Hell, sometimes, she even received the disapproval gaze from Hyuga, as if telling her how hypocritical she was.

It is not like Riko dislikes Furihata. Hell, compared to Kagami's antic, the first-year point guard is far tamer for her to deal with. All of her harsh treatments were just a statement to protect Izuki's pride.

Oh, she knows it was silly. But unlike Kagami who won by miles against Koganei or Tsuchida, Riko felt that even though Furihata played better, it was due to their different playing style, not skill-wise. If she didn't protect Izuki, she was afraid the first-year invasion would demoralize the senior members of the team.

What she didn't expect though, was that the players would open up toward Kagami first rather than Furihata.

'Well, maybe it is true that talent attracts people.'

But the harm is already done. The rift between Furihata and the team couldn't be undone by a word or two.

"Riko-chan, are you still listening?" Alex's voice woke her up from her daydreaming.

"I am sorry, Alex-san. What did you say before?"

Alex sighed before explaining again. "If you observed the game carefully, you would notice that they would always guard Izuki-kun's passing route, but still give him enough space to do whatever he wanted. That is because they know Izuki-kun's passiveness toward scoring. Replace him with Furihata, and our offensive option would be unlimited."

Seeing the hesitation on Riko's face, Alex couldn't help but sigh.

"I don't know what is your problem with Furihata-kun. But you cannot deny his ability. If you wanted to save this game, you will need his scoring ability."

After a few seconds of silence, Riko finally nodded, agreeing with her decision. Seeing the approval nod from the younger girl, Alex couldn't help but mutter,

'Sure enough, no matter how smart she is, she is still just a teenager. I shouldn't expect her to be decisive enough in a crucial time like this.'

The blonde woman shook her head slightly, walking toward the bench.

"Mitobe-kun, Furihata-kun, you are up."

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A few seconds later, both Furihata and Mitobe walked into the court, substituting Izuki and Kagami. Furihata couldn't hide his smirk as he saw the unhappy scowl on Kagami's face, probably too frustrated after getting bullied by Murasakibara repeatedly.

'Well, let's not think about him now.'

When he looked at the scoreboard, he couldn't help but let out a bitter smile.

'18 – 2, and the only two points we scored were from Hyuga-senpai's two free throws. They really locked us down.'

"You okay, Furihata-kun?" Hyuga asked, snapping him from his thoughts. "Don't worry, Senpai. I would be alright."

"Good." He patted Furihata's back. "We need to score now. So, don't be afraid to shoot the ball."

"Sure."

A moment later, the game restarted again, with Mitobe giving him the inbound pass. Furihata scrutinizes the court for a second, thinking about what to do.

'Their defense line is getting higher again. They are a bit worried about my shooting range. Now, what should I do? Hmm… Let's do the usual.'

Right after Furihata passed the middle court, he pulled up a three-point shoot, shocking the entire Yosen players.

"SHIT!" Fukui who was tasked to guard Furihata cursed, knowing what Furihata intended to do. However, he is too late to stop the shoot, as the ball has already been released from Furihata's hand.

The ball went high through the air, creating a beautiful arch before it went straight through the hoop, not even touching the rim.

*Splash!*

The entire gymnasium was silenced with that ultra-deep three. Almost everyone could be seen having their mouth gaped wide, couldn't believe what they had just seen. Seirin has been struggling to score for the entire game. But the moment Furihata stepped onto the court, he scored three points immediately, with such a ridiculous method?

What the hell!?

However, it didn't last long, as the silence was broken by the roar of the Seirin players.

"OOOHH!!!!"

"NICE SHOOT, FURIHATA-KUN!"

"That's nasty!"

"Good one, Brat!"

Furihata let out a small smirk as all of his teammates congratulated him.

'Sure enough, the best way to mend the tension is just by showing your might.'

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Looking at their opponent who celebrated like crazy, Fukui couldn't help but twitch his eyebrows in irritation. Seeing the state of his senpai, Tatsuya approached him immediately.

"Are you okay, Senpai?"

"Don't worry." Fukui waved his hand. "Just surprised he would do that right after he stepped into the court. But thinking about it, that was indeed the best moment to pull up something like that."

"Do you need any help?"

"Nah." The third-year point guard shook his head. "Just focus on scoring. Let me handle him."

Seeing the determination in Fukui's eyes, Tatsuya could only shrug.

"Well, if you are sure."

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When the game restarted again, to all the Yosen players' surprise, Seirin switched their strategy, and now, they use high-pressing defense against them.

"Wow, you guys are desperate." Tatsuya threw a joke. Furihata who guarded him returned his smile while saying, "Yeah, if we couldn't close the gap, we could just say goodbye to this damn tournament right now."

"True enough." The second-year shooting guard nodded. "But if you think it was enough to stop us, you are in a rude awakening!"

Within a second, Tatsuya changed his state from walking to sprinting toward his teammates, and when Furihata wanted to follow him, Seirin's point guard met a brick wall named Okumura.

"Fukui-senpai, here!"

Seeing Tatsuya managed to escape from Furihata's guard, Fukui didn't hesitate to pass the ball toward him. However, in that chaotic situation, they forgot about the presence of one person who always lurked in the shadow, and it cost them their possession.

"WHAT?!"

When the ball changed its possession, no one in Yosen could figure out what just happened. It was Murasakibara who reacted first, as he covered the entire paint area immediately.

"Don't think it would be easy, Kuro-chin!"

Kuroko who stole the ball in the last possession smiles. "Of course, not."

And right after that, he kicked out the ball to Furihata behind the three-point line. In a scrambled position like this, Furihata is ready to pull up another three-point shoot from his spot.

"Close him down!"

Two Yosen players, Wei Liu and Tatsuya run toward his direction, trying to prevent the shoot. However, by doing so, it opened up the other players; and Furihata knows about it too. So, instead of taking the shoot, he slides the ball to the other side, where the most unexpected players act as Seirin's hero.

"It's Mitobe!"

"He is wide open!"

"Wait! He is going to shoot?!"

Yeah. Mitobe is behind the three-point area and is going to take the wide-open three, shocking even his teammates.

"Stop him, goddamnit!"

Even though Okamura tried to stop the shoot, even though Mitobe's stance is a bit awkward, and even though his release time is slow, nothing could stop the ball from going through the hoop. And a second later,

*Clank!*

*Splash*

Even though the ball hit the rim first, it bounced back to the hoop, resulting in another three points for Seirin.

"Nice shoot, Mitobe!"

"Nice steal too, Kuroko-kun!"

"Keep pressing! Don't give them enough space!"

Facing the high pressure from Seirin, there is only one thing Yosen could do, and their coach knows about it too.

"Yosen High, time out!"

And right after hearing that, all Seirin players finally could celebrate their last play.

"YOSSHAAAA!!!!"

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"Man, that was intense." Kise huffed from his seat, taking a breath after unconsciously holding it since Furihata entered the court. "As expected of Furihatacchi. He could change the game right after he stepped in."

"Yeah." Kasamatsu nodded. "No disrespect to Izuki-kun, but he is way too passive. When Seirin needs to score, Furihata is indeed the best option they have on their bench."

Kise nodded in agreement before he frowned.

"I didn't expect he would be able to tear their defense that easy though."

"That is also understandable," Kasamatsu answered that unasked question. "They have gotten used to Izuki-kun's slow tempo, so when Furihata-kun initiated the high-pressing defense out of nowhere, it caught Yosen off guard. As for the first shoot… Well, we were also the victim of that shit, right?"

Kise grimaced, remembering when Furihata pulled up his ultra-long distance three-point shoot against them.

"So, does that mean Seirin could overcome this score?"

Kasamatsu snorted at that naïve question.

"Even though you have an amazing talent, you are still a rookie in basketball, Kise." Noticing the confused gaze from his kouhai, he just gave a vague answer. "Just observe the next play. You will see how a top team like Yosen adjusts their strategy to this state."

Knowing that his senpai wouldn't explain any further, Kise just nodded, waiting for the next play to begin.

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Author note :

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-Zeta Faes-