49 Chapter 49 : VS Shutoku VIII - Kagami VS Midorima
"Oh, damn!" Furihata suddenly cursed out loud, gaining everyone's attention on Seirin's bench.
"Something wrong, Furihata-kun?" Riko asked curiously. Instead of giving a clear answer, Furihata shook his head a little before saying,
"Look at his eyes." He pointed his finger at Midorima. "Red is really poking the sleeping tiger here. Let's hope he can still keep it up."
When all of them turned around to see what Furihata meant, they winced a little at the furious gaze Midorima sends to Kagami and Kuroko. If look can kill, Kagami and Kuroko would probably have been six feet under for the third time right now. However, Riko is not really worried about it.
"This would happen sooner or later." She spoke. "We are fortunate it happens when Kagami-kun is in his best form. Let's trust him for now."
Furihata nodded, but still couldn't help but muttered,
"I hope you are right on this, Senpai."
He really had a bad feeling about this. However, seeing as Seirin is still having the upper hand in this game, he couldn't do anything about it.
The game restarted again with the ball in Shutoku's possession. And just as Furihata predicted, Midorima decided to be aggressive and play an isolation game against Kagami.
"So, you finally come again, huh?" Kagami showed a feral grin. Midorima ignored it as he dribbled the ball slowly, approaching the three-point line. And the moment his feet touched the line, he retreated quickly with a step-back move before pulling up a three.
"Damn!"
Kagami who is taken aback by the sudden step-back movement is jumping too, trying to disturb the shoot. However, the space that Midorima created with the step-back move is enough for the shooting guard to convert his shoot for another three-point.
*Splash!*
Nothing but net!
"You think you can stop me twice?" Midorima stares coldly. "Dream on!" However, his provocation only makes Kagami's grin wider.
'I was not expecting Japan has a lot of strong players like this! Moving from America is not that bad, I guess.'
A second later, the game restarted again with the ball in Izuki's possession. However, before the point guard could decide what to do, Kagami suddenly ask for the ball.
"Senpai, here!"
Seeing as Kagami is still on fire from the earlier play, Izuki didn't hesitate to hand the ball to Kagami. And to the red-hair's excitement, the one who approached him for the defense is none other than Midorima.
"This is how it should be." His grin is getting wider with every second. He signaled his teammates to push forward and leave him alone with Midorima in the middle of the court, voicing his desire to do isolation.
"So, you think you can score against me?" Midorima raised his eyebrows slightly. "How arrogant.."
"I don't know about arrogance, but this is what I called confidence!"
Right after saying that, he charged toward the left side, trying to get away from Midorima with a spin move. When he saw Midorima's hand is about to poke the ball from his hand, he shifted it to his other hand with a quick crossover and do another spin in the opposite direction from the first.
However, Midorima showed his capability as a top defender by taking one step back to avoid body contact while still maintaining a reasonable distance between them.
"You stubborn bastard!"
Kagami gritted his teeth as he found a hard time trying to get away from Midorima. But when he saw Kuroko moves toward him while being followed by Takao, his instinct kicked in, telling him what to do.
He grabbed the ball with both hands, making a move as if he wanted to pass the ball to Kuroko. However, Takao managed to get the upper hand with his better speed and set a screen to stop Kuroko from helping Kagami.
But that was what the red-hair wanted, as instead of passing the ball to Kuroko, he dishes it over both Takao and Kuroko's heads toward the high-low-post area where Tsuchida is there.
"What? Not here?"
Takao was taken aback for a moment as it is the first time Kagami passes the ball to players other than Izuki, Furihata, or Kuroko. And that second of surprise is what Kagami needs to get away from Midorima by using Takao's body as his screen.
"Shit!" Midorima cursed out loud as he was blocked by Takao's body.
Meanwhile, Kagami is cutting in from the sideline, approaching Tsuchida who has the ball and yelled,
"Senpai! Here!"
Tsuchida didn't hesitate for a second as he handed the ball to Kagami while setting another screen, trying to create more space for the red-hair.
"Damn!"
Otsubo gritted his teeth, trying to get away from Tsuchida's screen. But he is way too late as the moment he got away from the screen, Kagami is already jumped in the air, slammed the ball into the basket with another powerful dunk.
*BAAM!*
And the moment he landed on the floor, he smirked at Midorima in the same way Furihata did to him in the past.
'How about that, Bastard?'
Furihata who saw the last play from the bench muttered under his breath,
"Finally, he uses his brain!"
Riko who heard his mutter beside him smirked while nodding her head,
"Yeah, finally indeed."
The game restarted again, and the confrontation between Midorima and Kagami is still not over. Now, Midorima is holding the ball in a triple-threat position, ready to act.
"Come on, Bastard! Show me your three again! I will stop it right now!" Kagami licked his lips in excitement, keeping the distance as close as possible.
Midorima who feels the immense pressure Kagami radiated frowned for a bit. However, he is still confident he could score against the red-hair anytime he wants as long as there is enough space for him.
And that is what he intends to create for himself.
He lowered the ball as if he wanted to take a dribble. However, right before Kagami could poke the ball out of his hand, he retreated it back with a jabbing movement and makes a quick step back before he raised the ball over his head, trying to score from another three.
However, the moment he releases the ball,
"Not that easy, Bastard!"
Kagami jumped while extending his long arm as high as possible, trying to reach the ball in the air. And to Midorima's surprise, Kagami's hand is probably just 1 cm away from the ball, almost stopping his shoot for the second time.
'Damn! Is his jump getting higher again? How is that possible?!'
Fortunately enough for Midorima, Kagami's hand still couldn't stop the ball as it went straight into the basket, creating a beautiful arch in the air.
*Splash!*
Everyone is too surprised by Kagami's sudden improvement in his vertical jump that no one could react to the shoot. As for Kagami, even though he couldn't stop the shoot, he still let out a wide smirk before turning around and said,
"Almost got you, Bastard."
Midorima snorted, decided to just turn around and go back for defense without saying anything. However, his heart is throbbing as he replayed the last play inside his head.
'Damn! That was dangerous! A second late and he would be able to block the shoot. I have to be careful around him.'
The game restarted again with the same pattern as before, an isolation game between Kagami and Midorima.
"Let's dance once again."
Kagami drives forward, trying to get rid of Midorima's guard with a hesitation move. When he saw Midorima is able to keep up with his movement, he increased his speed one more time, trying to attack the paint area again.
Tsuchida and Hyuga who played the role of Seirin's big men did their job by attracting Otsubo and Kimura to stay away from Kagami's path. Seeing the clear path in front of him, Kagami grinned before he jumped toward the basket, trying to slam it in once again.
"Don't think you can do it easily, you Bastard!"
Midorima gritted his teeth, following Kagami's movement with another jump, trying to block the dunk attempt. They both hang in the air for a second with one of Midorima's hands already on the ball, trying to snap it from Kagami's hand.
However, even though they both have almost similar body built, Kagami is more trained in a physical confrontation like this.
Seeing Midorima's hand is already on the ball too, Kagami increased his strength, trying to dunk over Midorima forcefully. And it works, as with Kagami's sudden strength increase, Midorima couldn't hold the ball any longer, and it didn't take more than a second before Kagami overpowered him in the aerial battle.
*BAAAM!!!*
Another posterized dunk!
"LET'S FUCKING GOO!!!!!" Kagami roared as he landed with both his feet, leaving Midorima who is falling to the floor. As for Midorima, he is clearly dumbfounded by the play.
'What the hell?! What kind of power-up is that? Isn't this a cheat code? Or is he an Anime protagonist?'
However, he didn't have any time to think about it, as the game is about to start again. But now, seeing how Kagami almost stopped Midorima in the last play, Shutoku decided to go with Takao again this time.
'Shin-chan is really in shock. I cannot blame him, I guess. This is the first time I saw someone hold himself own against Shin-chan. This is really dangerous.'
Takao dribbled the ball slowly, scanning the court carefully to find a hole in Seirin's defense.
'With the blue-haired boy double-teaming Shin-chan, Miyaji-senpai can cut inside anytime he likes. But the chase-down block from the earlier play is kinda scary. Otsubo-senpai and Kimura-senpai also have a tough time inside the paint. I guess I have to do it on my own.'
A second later, he leaned his body, trying to drive forward. Seeing Izuki is able to follow his movement, he shifted the ball to his other hand with a quick crossover move, followed by another crossover to get away from Izuki.
Unfortunately for him, Izuki is not giving him an easy time as Seirin's point guard keeps the distance close, not giving any space or time for him to think.
'Tch! How stubborn!'
Seeing he doesn't have any leverage against Izuki, Takao decided to pass the ball to his left side where Miyaji is trying to cut inside. However, having his focus completely on Izuki, he forgot to check Kuroko's whereabouts this time, and the Phantom took advantage of it by cutting the pass route between them right in time.
'What the hell?! Since when is he there?!'
Takao has his eyes widened in surprise at the sudden appearance of Kuroko. However, he couldn't react in time as Kuroko already had the ball, trying to initiate the fast break.
"Damn! Defense!" He cursed out loud as he tries to close the distance between himself and Kuroko in a second, trying to slow down the attack. However, it doesn't matter as Kuroko launched his laser pass toward the other side of the court right before Takao could stop him.
"Kagami-kun!"
"Nice pass, Kuroko!"
Kagami who is already in a wide-open position grinned. He dribbled the ball a little, took two steps forward before he jumped for another dunk. However, right before he could slam it in, he could feel another hand touch the ball from behind, and before he could realize what happened, the ball was snapped from his hand.
"Not that easy, Bastard!"
Midorima roared as he managed to chase him down and blocked his attempt from behind. The ball fell into Miyaji who is running back to help the defense.
"Nice block, Midorima!"
"Fast break!"
"Otsubo!"
Miyaji launched the ball forward, straight to the paint area where Otsubo is waiting. The center catches the ball with ease and tries to push forward immediately. However, he met an immovable wall in front of him, as Tsuchida is pushing him back with all his strength.
When he saw his senpai couldn't get any upper hand in the low post situation, Takao moves to get closer to Otsubo before he yelled,
"Senpai, here!"
Seeing as he couldn't do anything before Seirin's defense assembled once again, Otsubo decided to kick the ball out to Takao. The point guard didn't hold the ball for too long before he sends it back to Midorima who appeared once again after blocking Kagami's dunk attempt.
"Here we go, Shin-chan!" Takao grinned as he saw Midorima is ready to pull up another three from the logo.
However, before the green-haired boy could release the ball, Kagami popped up in front of him, displaying his incredible explosive jump in an attempt to block his shoot.
"Not this one, Bastard!"
Midorima gritted his teeth as he could see the path of his shoot is completely blocked by Kagami's hand. Since they both are already in the air, Midorima knows the only thing he could do that would result in more points for Shutoku is by forcing a foul from Kagami.
He twisted his hand a little so it made contact with Kagami's hand, and when the ball is off his hand,
*Slap!*
Kagami blocked the shot!
But the red-hair knows what Midorima did, so he could only grit his teeth as the referee blows the whistle and announced,
"Seirin #10 defensive shooting foul, three free-throws for Shutoku #6."
And after that, cheers erupted inside the Tokyo gymnasium.
66 – 73
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Author note :
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