68 Chapter 68 : VS Toō Academy I : The Beginning of the Game

Three weeks later, Furihata found himself back in the Tokyo Gymnasium again, ready to play against Toō Academy. Kuroko is standing beside him, staring at the opposite of the court where Aomine is warming up.

"Do you want to greet him?" Furihata asked. Kuroko just shook his head slightly.

"No. It would be better to put our concentration on the game."

Furihata nodded, approving his way of thinking. He also feels the same, only giving Sakurai a subtle nod. However, they were interrupted by the sudden cheerful voice that came from Toō's bench, calling them out.

"Tetsu-kun! Kouki-kun! Good morning!"

Yeah, the source of the voice is none other than Satsuki Momoi. Furihata still couldn't believe how well he could get along with that girl, especially after how bad their first meeting is. Hell, two weeks ago, Furihata's opinion of her is still not good. He could still remember how awkward it is when Kuroko asked him to meet Momoi.

----------Little Flashback----------

It was after the training session that Kuroko asked Furihata to stay behind, waiting for Momoi to arrive. But right after she was here and facing him, the situation turned into an awkward one.

Furihata could see the uncertainly in Momoi's eyes, didn't really know what to say. She nudged over Kuroko, which was answered by a shrug as the blue-haired boy didn't want to involve too much in this conversation.

Furihata could only sigh as he decided to get over this conversation quickly.

"So, Momoi-san, what do you want to talk about?" Furihata asked with a flat voice, didn't give any hint of emotion.

"Anoo…." After a few seconds of hesitation, she finally bowed down at him. "I am sorry! I know I was being inconsiderate the last time we spoke! But believe me, I really didn't want to put you in trouble! I am also very sorry for putting Dai-chan on you and Kagami-san too! It was very unresponsible for me! Please, forgive me!"

Honestly, Furihata is speechless about two things. First, from how much apologizes she fired at him, and second, how genuine she is right now. With how her eyes got watery while waiting for his answer, he doubts this apology is fake.

He finally let out a deep sigh as if Momoi is brave enough to admit her mistake and apologize, there is nothing else he could do except accept her apology.

"It's okay, Momoi-san." He replied with a soft tone. "I am sorry too for calling you bitch, ice queen, and anything bad that you don't like. I was a bit too hot-headed at that time and let my emotion control me. I apologize for that."

He followed her gesture and bowed down deeply at her. And in the next second, he could hear the sigh of relief coming out from Momoi, who definitely feels glad that the situation is resolved.

"Thank you, Furihata-san." She smiles softly at him, vanishing all the tension around them. "I hope we can be friends in the future."

Furihata also nodded at her, feeling glad that this little drama has been resolved.

----------End of the flashback----------

What Furihata didn't expect is for him and Momoi to get along pretty well. After the apology episode they had, they exchanged Line ID and conversation for several days, and to his surprise, they clicked in pretty quickly to the point when Momoi feels comfortable enough to call him by his first name.

Honestly, who would have thought that a girl with a bubbly and playful personality like her would get along with a sarcastic person like him?

Definitely not Furihata.

"Momoi-san, what are you doing here? Look at your teammates. If glares could kill, we would be under six-foot right now." Furihata decided to ask, cutting the conversation between Kuroko and Momoi.

The girl just rolled her eyes slightly at him.

"You are exaggerating, Kouki-kun. They are really nice players. Please be nice to them."

Furihata sweatdropped by the comment about the nice players from Momoi, especially when they all have thick veins popped on their temples. Hell, one of them even knuckled his fist, ready for any confrontation.

However, before he could make any comment about that, a voice suddenly snapped them from their attention.

"Oi, Satsuki! What are you doing there?" When they all turned around, they could see a tan-skinned boy walking in their direction. "Mingled with your opponent? I cannot believe you would go that low."

Momoi just rolled her eyes once again.

"You know I am just greeting Tetsu-kun, right?"

"I know." Aomine nodded. "But since when did you get chummy with that bastard?" He pointed his fingers at Furihata, which resulted in a slap from Momoi immediately.

"Don't be rude!" She scolded him. "And Kouki-kun is not that bad, you know! You lost against him, right?"

'Oh, damn. Her annoying tendency kicked in.' Furihata cursed inwardly. 'It is really incredible how she flamed Aomine and manipulate him to get his spirit up like this. Better be careful around her.'

And just as he thought, Amone now grinned excitedly, looking at him with murderous eyes.

"I know, Satsuki. That's why I will take my revenge now. Don't lose too early, Tetsu, Bastard."

Furihata rolled his eyes at his new nickname.

'Why is everyone calling me a bastard?'

Well, he got no answer, as the buzzer suddenly rings, the sign that the game would begin.

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One minute later, all the players who played had already gathered on the court, ready to start the game. For Seirin, Kagami is still in recovery, so he was replaced by Furihata. It would of course change the dynamic of the team, considering Kagami is their main scorer in this tournament.

The odds really favored Toō Academy. But what can Seirin do?

"If you cannot defend him alone, tell us immediately. We will help you." Hyuga spoke to Furihata before the game. Furihata nodded, smiling gratefully at his senpai.

As the one who was tasked to guard Aomine, he would definitely need all the helps he can get right now.

The game finally started with a tip-off between Mitobe against their center, Wakamatsu. Mitobe managed to tip the ball to Hyuga, earning Seirin the first possession of the game.

"Okay, everyone! Let's move!"

Hyuga handed the ball to Izuki right after he got it and run quickly to Toō's side, searching for an open position. Meanwhile, Furihata who is being guarded by Aomine decided to do nothing but observe the play first, trying to find out how intense their defense is.

"What happened, bastard? Got scared?" Aomine taunted him, trying to get any reactions. However, Furihata decided to ignore him and put his focus on the play.

Now, the ball is changing its possession in Mitobe's hand. The silent center is trying to harass Wakamatsu under the basket, trying to draw a foul. However, Wakamatsu showed everyone that he is an excellent defender by keep pushing Mitobe away from the basket without drawing a foul.

That was when Furihata suddenly got a brilliant idea. Seeing the pressure from the other is not very intense, he wanted to test how fast Aomine's reaction was today. So, he makes a subtle signal to Kuroko to come forward and appeared in Aomine's eyesight.

And right to his predicament, Aomine reacted to Kuroko's movement. When Furihata saw that, he moves immediately in the opposite direction, trying to cut inside.

"SENPAI!"

He tried to ask for the ball from Mitobe. However, he didn't have too much time as he was followed by Aomine quickly.

"Don't think you can use Tetsu like that, bastard!"

Aomine realized what happened and closed down the distance in a second. But Furihata didn't have any intention to slow down. He keeps moving forward for the ball, and when it was handed to him, he didn't even touch it for more than one second as he passed it behind through his leg.

"Phantom!"

Yeah. Kuroko who he uses as the bait before now is in an open position, scanning the court to see where to go. The blue-haired boy decided to push the ball gently in Hyuga's direction, wanting to open the game with the three.

However, before the captain could take the shoot, he was closed down by Sakurai immediately.

"I am sorry!"

Hyuga clicked his tongue in annoyance as he had no space to shoot and decided to pass the ball back to Izuki. But that was when the disaster comes. He didn't see that Izuki was followed by Imayoshi, so when he passed the ball, Toō's point guard intercepted his pass easily, resulting in a steal.

"DAMN!"

"Nice steal!"

"Fast break!"

All Seirin players are trying to run back to their side to defend the fast break. However, Imayoshi didn't go for a quick fast break. Instead, he took his sweet time and passes the ball to Aomine who grinned in excitement.

"Not bad, bastard. Are you ready for me?"

Furihata who is guarding him instantly heightened his guard, trying to read Aomine's movement. However, before he could bait him into moving to his tempo like what Godai thought, Aomine has already made a move, startling him for a moment.

"Follow me, bastard!"

And right after that, Aomine makes a little feint as if he wanted to go through the left side. It was so subtle that only Furihata who is guarding him noticed. But because of that, he fell for the trap.

The moment Furihata followed his subtle movement to the left, Aomine changed direction quickly to the opposite direction with a quick crossover. Kuroko tried to sneak into his blind spot and slow down Aomine's movement. However, Aomine noticed that immediately and went for a spin move, escaping from both Furihata on the left side and Kuroko on the right side.

"Don't think it would work against me, Tetsu!"

However, even though it wasn't enough to stop Aomine, it was enough to give Furihata time to recover and defend the tan-skinned boy again.

"Nice defense, Phantom!"

Now, he joined Kuroko to form a double team against Aomine. However, the more he is under pressure, the more excited Aomine is.

"Not bad. However, I will return the favor and show you how to do this!"

And right after that, Aomine backed down with a quick step back, startling Furihata and Kuroko, before he raised the ball with one arm and use the other arm to protect the distance between them in a similar form of a quarterback before passing the ball.

Furihata widened his eyes as he knows this form. It is definitely what he did against him two weeks ago.

"DAMN!"

He tried to close down the distance between them. However, he is a bit too late as Aomine launched the ball directly, hitting the board once, and went down to the basket straight after that.

A formless shoot by Aomine!

"That's how you do it, bastard!"

Furihata cursed inwardly as he saw the ball go in. He knows that the ball would go to the basket, so he decided to move on and start running to Toō's academy.

"Senpai! Here!"

He yelled out loudly, trying to start the next play as quickly as he could before Toō's players could go back and reorganize their defense. Mitobe who is holding the ball for the inbound situation knows his intention, so the center throws the ball straight in Furihata's direction.

"Shit! Everyone, go back! Fast break!"

However, what they didn't expect is for Aomine to come back quickly and ready to defend him.

"Shit! What the hell are you doing here?!"

Furihata cursed once again, trying to get away from his guard. He took a quick step back and tried to launch a three from a long distance. However, Aomine is prepared for that.

"Don't think you can use it twice against me, bastard!"

He jumped immediately, blocking Furihata's eyesight within a second. Fortunately for Furihata, right before he pulled up a shoot, he saw Kuroko moves to the paint area, so even if Aomine managed to disturb his form, all he needs is to adjust his shoot into a lob.

And that is what he did. He launched the ball low and far from the basket, gaining confusion among the other players. However, right before the ball went out of bounds. Kuroko suddenly appeared on the sideline, catching the ball in the air and tossing it straight to the basket.

"What?!"

"Since when is he there?!"

His sudden appearance shocked the entire Toō players. However, they couldn't do anything as the ball has already left Kuroko's hand.

*Splash!*

"Nice one, Kuroko!"

"Good assist, Furihata-kun!"

His teammates celebrated the point like crazy. However, Furihata couldn't relax for a bit, not when Aomine is grinning at him like a maniac.

"That's how it should be.. Bring it on, bastard!"

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Author note :

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You can also read this fanfiction up to chapter 88 on that page. Thank you! :)

-Zeta Faes-