Chapter 126 : VS Yosen High XVII - Reversing the Situation! The End of the Third Quarter!

"This is incredible…." Riko muttered under her breath, a hint of excitement and amazement could be heard from her tone. "This is like the game against Too all over again, yet we are the ones who had the power boost in Furihata. If thing goes down like this for the rest of the game, we might have a chance!"

And it was not just Riko. Furihata's craziness makes the dreadful atmosphere on Seirin's bench vanish, only to be changed by the excitement that grew in all of the players there. Almost all of them stood up in excitement, shouting and cheering for their teammates on the court.

"Kagami-kun, defense!"

"Don't let him get through you again!"

"Come on! Where is your arrogance before!"

"Show them your strength!"

However, the same excitement couldn't be seen on Alex's face, who still kept her eyes on Furihata closely. As the person with the most experience with basketball on Seirin's bench, she had a slight idea of how much pressure Furihata bears for the team right now.

Moreover, having been playing with a player who could enter the zone in the past, she knows the temptation to take over the game alone would rise from Furihata, and if she lets that happen, he would collapse sooner than later.

"Tsuchida-kun, Kuroko-kun, come here." She spoke clearly, gaining her players' attention. "Go prepare yourself. You both will replace Kiyoshi-kun and Mitobe-kun."

Both players were a bit startled for a second, didn't expect to enter the game again at such a crucial moment like this. However, when they saw the pitiful state of the players who they would replace with, they understood why they were needed.

"Good. Your task is simple. Help Furihata-kun in any way you can. In defense would be to prevent the ball from going to Murasakibara-kun. Tsuchida-kun, you will replace Kiyoshi-kun and join Kagami-kun to double-team him. Tell Kagami-kun to do that full court. Kuroko-kun, make sure you cut off the pass route between Murasakibara-kun and his teammates."

"Yes, Coach!"

"And for offense, I don't care how you will do it, but I want you both to clear the path for Furihata-kun. Stretch out their defense, make a screen and distraction play, do your little misdirection trick, anything. Furihata is currently in a state that would burden him either physically or mentally, so I want you to help him ease his burden. Do you understand?"

Kuroko and Tsuchida looked at each other for a second before they nodded at the same time.

"Understood."

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"Substitution for Seirin High! #9, #11 in. #7, #8 out!"

Kagami took a deep sigh, inwardly relieved that he was not the one who got replaced. To be honest, he wouldn't blame Alex if she replaced him. Hell, he himself was appalled at how terrible his performance is today, and he had no one to blame but himself. Nonetheless, he still wanted to be on the court, and he was glad that he still was.

"Kagami-kun, you are with me." Tsuchida's voice snapped him from his daydreaming. "We will go double-teaming Murasakibara full court. Don't let him get the ball. You get it?" Kagami nodded silently, decided to listen more as Tsuchida passed along Alex's instruction.

"Furihata-kun, you are still on your hottest performance, so you would be the one who carries the ball. We will try to open the path for you."

Kagami groaned inwardly as he heard the instruction. He is Seirin's main scorer, and even though he would never admit it, he is a bit of a ball hogger. To be told that he was not the main actor in their offense again, even though he knows the necessity, that doesn't mean he had to like it.

And to make it worse, it was bloody Furihata who replaced him!

Kagami huffed a little, trying to calm himself. It was not like he had a problem with Furihata. Well... Maybe a little. But he swore he acted professionally and didn't let their conflict affect his game, and he could see Furihata did the same too.

It was Furihata's current state that made him uneasy.

Kagami had no idea why, but the mere presence of Furihata near him was enough to make all the hairs in his body rise. His instinct screams danger whenever he stares at the black lightning that dances in Furihata's eyes. And when Furihata stared eye-on-eye with Murasakibara earlier, he swore he could feel the temperature around them drop, and he could feel a shiver down his spine.

He didn't know that everyone felt the same, and it was only due to the fact that the other had the experience of being in close proximity to the zone when they faced Aomine that no one reacted as badly as he is right now.

It was quite unnerving, and coupled with Furihata's sudden outburst, Kagami knew if he didn't do anything, he would be replaced as the ace of the team sooner rather than later, and he didn't like that thought at all.

'Damn, I need to ask Alex about this later. There is no way this is a scientific phenomenon. Who knows, maybe I could do it too?'

However, he buried that thought right now, as the play is about to start again.

'Well, for now, let's think about how to stop that damn giant again. Fuck it. First Kise, then Midorima and Aomine, and now Murasakibara. Are all of the Generation of Miracles have some sort of power-up button that could be switched in the middle of the game? Freak, all of them!'

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"Defense!"

"Coem on, Seirin!"

"Captain, fall back! Be careful!"

"Don't let him pass the ball!"

Furihata could feel it. As the play went along, he could see the frustration on Yosen's players, as they found how tough it was to penetrate through Seirin's area. Hell, he could even hear the growl from Murasakibara, unhappy that the ball didn't come in his direction.

And all of that was due to the zone state.

Honestly, it kind of freaked him out, how all of his senses were heightened up to an abnormal level, where he could even hear the nervous whisper from Riko on the bench while simultaneously keeping track of Kuroko's movement at the same time. However, he wouldn't make a fuss about it. For now, he would utilize it at the best he could do, hoping that it could make a difference for the team.

"Furihata-kun! Behind!"

Hyuga's voice snapped him mm from his thoughts. However, even without that reprimand, he could see it clearly, Wei Liu sneaked from his blind spot, trying to open up a position for Tatsuya to exploit. With his new uncanny abilities, he avoided the screen easily, still pestering Tatsuya closely, not giving Yosen's shooting guard a good time to do anything significant.

"Damn!"

Tatsuya tried so hard, using all of his tricks to get away from Furihata. However, Furihata didn't bulge even for a second. And when he found out Tatsuya was finally about to do something, his eyes moved rapidly, scrutinizing the entire court.

'Phantom is still covering the pass route for Murasakibara. The big men are protecting the interior, and the Captain is guarding Wei Liu. The question is, what would he do? Hmm.. He is trying too hard to make it look like he would pass the ball. That means he would do it and hoped I would think he faked it. The question is… Where would he pass the ball? Ah, an idea!'

Furihata moves his body aside slightly, opening up his guard to guide Tatsuya to do what he wants. And like a fish caught the bait, Tatsuya fell into his trap, passing the ball in the direction he opened up, and in a second, Furihata floated quickly, and grabbed the ball in the air before it could reach the destination.

'Got you!'

"SHIT!"

"OOOOOH!!!"

"It is a steal!"

"Damn! Did you see how fast he moves?!"

"GO BACK! FAST BREAK!"

Furihata grinned widely right after he cut off the pass to Okumura successfully.

'Ha! Playing mind games against me? Too naïve!'

Even though they only played against each other today, Furihata managed to grasp a bit of Tatsuya's ability and personality, and to his surprise, they both are quite alike, a trickster and a shot creator. That's why it was quite easy for him to guess what he would do.

And now, it's time for him to show Tatsuya how it should be done.

"Someone! Slow him down!"

Even without looking behind, Furihata knows there are two players who tried to chase him down. And based on the big step that he heard, he concluded that one of them was Murasakibara.

'I need to be faster! If I slowed down even for a second, he would be able to catch up.'

Gritting his teeth, he uses all of his speed and strength to drive forward forcefully, ignoring the pressure from Tatsuya who tried to disturb his form. An eye contact was made with two of his teammates who came to help him, and a second later,

"He did it!"

"He entered Yosen's area!"

Using Kuroko's misdirection as a wall pass and Tsuchida's screen, Furihata accelerated rapidly, leaving Tatsuya behind and passing through Yosen's three-point line. But he didn't stop just like that. He knows that a simple screen like that wouldn't hold Tatsuya for too long, and Murasakibara and another defender are also approaching from behind. So, he thought quickly and took off right after hitting the free-throw spot, surprising everyone on the court.

"What is he doing?!"

"Is he trying to dunk the ball from there?!"

"No, he has never done a dunk before! It was another trick of him!"

"He would release the ball from that far?!"

"Impossible! It was just him panicking over all the defenders behind him!"

From the outside, it seems like it was a desperate attempt by Furihata. But Furihata himself knows what he did. It was his attempt to attract two of his chasers. And right to his thought, Murasakibara, and Wei Liu jumped at the same time, trying to shoot down his attempt right at the spot.

"DON'T MESS WITH ME!"

"WE GOT YOU!"

Anyone who witnessed the play gasped in horror and some even closed their eyes in fear as they watched Furihata surrounded by two giants in the air. Even a single clash with Wei Liu would knock Furihata down, considering the astronomical difference between those two in height and weight, let alone with Murasakibara.

But once again, Furihata showed off his new uncanny agility powered up by his zone, as using Wei Liu's body as his pivot, he spun around in the air, avoiding the collision with the two giants from Yosen High. And not just that, he also showed off his craftiness, by passing the ball back to Kuroko who is following him behind, and right after he landed on the ground, he dashed out to the corner area instantly, asking for the ball again.

"PHANTOM!"

It was another of Seirin's playbook strategy, with Furihata and Kuroko playing wall pass to open up a position for a three-point play. And they both did it flawlessly, as the ball flew toward Furihata's direction once again the moment he arrived at the corner area. Seeing the disoriented state of Yosen's defense, Furihata had no problem pulling up the three from his spot, and it went through the hoop smoothly, resulting in another three points for Seirin.

*Splash!*

"YOOOSSHAAAAA!!"

"Come on, Seirin!"

"Keep it up!"

Furihata could see it. The momentum changes in Seirin's direction. All of the Seirin players are in high spirits, while the Yosen players are getting frustrated and impatient. Now, he only needs to do one thing as a final blow, to bring the giant back to earth.

"TWENTY SECONDS LEFT!"

"Keep up with your pressure!"

"Captain, don't let the ball pass the half-court line!"

"Red, Tsuchida-senpai, double team!"

"Come on! We can do it!"

Yeah. If he could hit the buzzer-beater, the momentum of the game would shift completely toward Seirin's favor, and except if Murasakibara went berserk again, there was a big chance they would be able to pull up a comeback in this game.

"Captain, behind!" He shouted loudly, gaining Hyuga's attention. However, it was a bit too late, as Wei Liu put up a screen to help Fukui escape from Hyuga's tight defense. After scrutinizing the entire court once again to see the position of the other players, Furihata made a quick decision by leaving his spot and running toward Fukui's direction, trying to cover the hole that Hyuga left.

But by doing so, he opened up his defense for Tatsuya, and the shooting guard didn't wait or hesitate for too long before he dashed in the opposite direction, trying to stretch up Seirin's position more while asking for the ball.

"SENPAI, HERE!"

Okumura who handled the inbound pass saw Tatsuya's movement and gave the ball quickly. However, it was a mistake for them to think they could fool Furihata with such a simple distraction, especially when Seirin did a lot of the same kind of play during the game.

Right before the ball reached Tatsuya's hand, a blue-haired boy suddenly appeared between Tatsuya and the ball, extending his hands to cut off the pass. Tatsuya and Okumura who saw that had their eyes threatened to pop up, didn't expect that Seirin had already anticipated this.

"Goddamnit!"

Yeah, Furihata didn't just leave Tatsuya alone earlier. Furihata saw Kuroko walking around in the middle of chaos when all the players ran to open up position, and he knew it was Kuroko's little misdirection to go unnoticed while observing Yosen players' movement. That's why he left Tatsuya so easily, knowing that Kuroko would be able to cover up his spot.

"Himuro! Move your ass!"

Tatsuya gritted his teeth, extending his hand too and contesting Kuroko. Fortunately for him, Kuroko's only advantages lie in his surprise attack and misdirection. In terms of athleticism, Tatsuya is far superior to the blue-haired boy. With a quick dash, he dives through the floor, flicking the ball first before Kuroko, not allowing Seirin to get possession again.

"Oh! Nice save, Himuro!"

"Follow!"

In a second, chaos fell down through the court, as everyone tried to get their hand first on the ball. Hyuga collided with Wei Liu, Tsuchida screened Okumura, and Kagami was in a contest with Fukui to get the ball. However, when Fukui tapped the ball far into the half-court line to protect it from Kagami, it fell into the worst person possible for Yosen.

It was Furihata, who picked the ball first in a scrambled position.

All the players on the court stare blankly for a millisecond before almost all the players with purple striped white jerseys shout in horror,

"STOP HIM!"

Time seemed to slow down as everyone watched Furihata take a stance to pull up a buzzer-beater. The clock is ticking down, showing that there are only four seconds left, meaning this is the last play of the quarter. If the ball went in, it would hurt Yosen's mind more than anything before.

However, instead of releasing the ball, Furihata ducked from his initial position, taking a pump fake to his left side. And it was proven to be the right decision, as from his blind spot, Murasakibara suddenly appeared with one of his hands in the air, trying to disturb the shoot.

"Don't think you can do it that easy, Bastard!"

Furihata snorted a little at the nickname. "Well, I would like to see you stop it."

Now, with they both facing against each other, with only three seconds left, everything seems to be frozen. They both showed off their insane skills, with Furihata trying to bait Murasakibara and drawing a foul, while Murasakibara kept reading his movement and didn't get caught in his trick.

It wasn't until the clock showed 00:01 that Furihata finally launched his shoot. However, Murasakibara didn't let that happen so easily. He keeps pestering Furihata until the end, and it works quite perfectly, as right when the buzzer rang loudly, the sound of the ball hitting the rim could be heard across the gymnasium.

*Clank!*

"Oooooh!"

"Damn! That is a close one!"

"Yeah, a little bit short."

"You cannot blame him, though! He was under time pressure and did that in front of Murasakibara!"

"Yeah!"

The chatters exploded, as everyone kept recounting the last play excitedly. With how fast the pace of the third quarter happened, they knew the final quarter would be as intense or even more than this. However, no one noticed the state of the main character in the third quarter who kneeled down, panting heavily.

A really bad sign for Seirin High.

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Author note :

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You can also read this fanfiction up to chapter 146 on that page. Thank you! :)

-Zeta Faes-