97 Chapter 97 : VS Senshinkan High VI - The Strength of the Bench Unit

"Okay, this is starting to get ridiculous now," Riko states, her eyes full of dissatisfaction. All the players who were on the court earlier just bowed down, no one dare to raise their heads at their coach. "I know I have said it a lot before, but why the hell did you lower your guard when the game is not over yet? Hell, it is still the beginning of the third quarter, are you really looking down at your opponent? Having already felt better than them?"

Seeing no one dares to speak, she roared, "Answer me, Goddamnit!"

Furihata on the other side of the bench couldn't help but wince at the sudden rise of Riko's voice. However, just like the other, he didn't dare to speak anything right now, as he knows Riko needs to vent out all of her frustration to anyone.

"Kagami-kun! Teppei!" Riko barked out, causing those two who she called to straighten their backs. "How many times do I have to tell you to always communicate with each other? I know you both are still new to each other, but I have never seen you both try to do that even for once, goddamnit! If you couldn't do that, I will put a handcuff on you both so you will learn how to communicate with each other!"

Kagami and Teppei winced while looking at each other worriedly, not really looking forward to it. They have no reason to not believe the threat that Riko just threw at them. They just hoped that Alex or anyone in the school would save them from that embarrassment.

"Izuki-kun!"

"Hai, Coach!"

"Out of all the players on the court, I have a high hope that you would be the one who communicate the most with each other. But what did I see? You have a gift in your hawk eyes, yet you never used it to guide your teammates on defense. Do you really think I wouldn't notice that?"

"No, Coach!" Izuki gulped nervously when facing the narrowed eyes from his coach. Seriously, nobody wanted to be near her when she is this furious.

"And why the hell did you not participate in the defense more actively? Do you think just because you are an offensive specialist and our playmaker, you are above playing defense?"

Seeing Izuki couldn't answer her question without making her angrier, Riko just rubbed her temple in frustration, thinking about what to do. After a while, she finally decided.

"Okay, as a punishment for your ignorance earlier, I will have to put the three of you on the bench."

"WHAT?!!!!" Out of all the Seirin players, Kagami is the first one to react. He wanted to protest, but one glare from his coach is enough to make him fold like a wet paper.

"As I said before, I will put you three on the bench. I hope you can reflect on yourself and think, what is your mistake? What should you do to fix your problem? Clear your head and think about what I said, do you understand?"

"Yes, Coach…."

Riko just ignored the depressed state of her three players and turned around at her other bench players "As for the substitutes, Furihata-kun! Kawahara-kun! Fukuda-kun! You three are in!"

"EH?!" Fukuda and Kawahara widened their eyes in shock collectively, couldn't believe what they just heard. "Are you serious, Coach? I mean, not that I would object, of course. But why me and Kawahara? Not Kuroko-kun or Mitobe-senpai?"

However, Riko just waved her hand, avoiding answering the question. "I have my own reason. All you need to do is just do your best on the court, and you will be alright." Even if Fukuda and Kawahara didn't understand, they are not stupid enough to reject this rare opportunity.

Truth be told, at first, Riko wanted to do what Fukuda just asked, putting Kuroko and Mitobe back on the court. But seeing the slack attitude of her first team, she feels the need to put more pressure on them. If they saw their kouhai, the usual bench warmers, putting on a good show, it would embarrass them more.

"Listen, you two." Riko paused for a moment, her eyes locked into the two first-years. "You know it is quite a rare chance for you both to play together, right? So, show me all your best there! 100 percents is not enough, give me your 120 percents! Convince me that you have a place on this team! If you can do that, your opportunity will come soon."

Fukuda and Kawahara looked at each other before they nodded solemnly. They are not stupid. For rookies to get minutes play other than at garbage time, it would be like God suddenly feels generous today. So, of course, they would give more than their best on the court. If they couldn't seize this rare opportunity, they would regret it in the future.

Seeing the determination that burned in her two rookies, Riko nodded in satisfaction. "Good. Just do your best, and everything would be alright."

"Yes, Coach!"

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A few seconds later, the timeout for Seirin is finally over, and the game is about to be restarted again. However, after seeing the new composition of Seirin players, Oda couldn't help but furrow his brows.

"All of them except your captain are just bench units, and even two of them are rookies. Are you really underestimating us?"

Furihata who heard that raised his eyebrows slightly.

"Don't worry about it. Even though we are just bench units, you will be surprised by us." He waved his hand nonchalantly. "Moreover, it is not like we underestimate you. It is just, Red and the other senpai messed up a little before, so our coach saw the need to punish them. Don't worry about us."

"Well, if you say so…"

A second later, the game finally continued again, and now, the ball went to Furihata's hand directly. Just like when he was on the court before, Oda closed down the distance between them quickly, not giving him any chance to launch his super long-range three-point shoot.

'Well, with only one big man on our side, it would be harder for us to attack the paint. Let's stretch out their defense first.'

After a few seconds of thinking, Furihata finally makes a move. First, he signaled Hyuga to approach him, asking for a screen. And right when the screen is ready, Furihata leaned his body forward, ready to drive.

"Don't think I didn't notice the screen, Seirin!"

Yeah, Oda saw it clearly that Hyuga approached him from the wing. However, it was not Furihata's concern, as the screen that Hyuga set was just a staggered screen. That means it was just a fake to fool Senshinkan players to think that Furihata would drive, when in the reality, it was just their Hyuga's attempt to get closer to the ball.

Unfortunately for Senshinkan, Oda noticed that a bit too late, as when he felt it was too easy for him to escape from the screen, the ball is already on Hyuga's hand.

"Damn it! Saki, cover!"

Seeing Hyuga is about to take a shoot, Saki, Senshinkan's shooting guard, extended his arms into the air quickly, trying to block Hyuga's eyesight. However, in the triple-threat position, Hyuga lowered the ball on his hand immediately and changes his attack from trying to pull up a three to slashing toward the paint area.

"Shit!'

Seeing Hyuga is about to get away from his guard and drive toward the paint area, the other Senshinkan players tried to cover up for Saki. However, with his quick thinking, Hyuga didn't hold the ball for too long. Instead, he gave it to Fukuda who is in the low post area, trying to push Narita and get closer to the basket.

"Nice pass, Senpai!"

"Don't think about it, rookie! I will not let you go closer more than this!"

However, Fukuda didn't need to get closer anymore. Right after he received the ball, the first-year center shakes off his body from the left to the right, trying to fool Narita and give him more space. And when Narita is trying to push him back, Fukuda suddenly turned around and released the ball from his highest point.

*Splash!*

A hook shoot!

"Yosshaaaa!!!!!"

"Nice hook, Brat!"

"You too, captain! Good pass!"

"Go back! Defense!"

"Koganei-senpai, keep your eyes close on Oda! Let Fukuda and Kawahara worry about the paint area! Captain, secure the shooter! Don't let them shoot the ball easily!"

"Yes!"

Everyone on Seirin didn't celebrate for too long, as they know with how fast Senshinkan's transition is, it would be a fool to let them have a chance. As a result, in the next play, Senshinkan had a hard time to attack, as their fast break advantage before could be neutralized by Seirin this time.

"Nice defense, Furihata-kun! Keep locking him in!"

"Damn!"

Right now, the ball is still in Hara's hand. But Furihata didn't give him a lot of space, as the first-year point guard keep pushing his body and trying to poke the ball from his hand. When his foot is about to touch the middle line and caused back-court turnover, he felt glad that suddenly, Oda came to rescue him from the paint area.

"Thank you, Captain!"

"Don't worry!"

Seeing Negi, the power forward is about to come, Kawahara suddenly shouted at Koganei, "Senpai, screen! Switch!"

Knowing what is about to come, Koganei took one step behind immediately, letting Kawahara switch the defense with him. Now, he is responsible for securing the rebound, while Kawahara is the one who guards Oda.

And Kawahara proved that he was a good defender, as he stuck around Oda for a while, not getting fooled by Oda's fancy trick and trash talk.

'Tch.'

Seeing that he couldn't do anything comfortably, he asked Narita to come forward, his purpose is to stretch out Seirin's defense one more time. After Negi setting a screen before, with Narita did the same, there would be no one guarding the paint area right now, and it would be the best chance for anyone from Senshinkan to cut from the backdoor.

And the other Senshinkan players know about it too, as Hara who couldn't get away from Furihata earlier suddenly slashed from the wing toward the basket. Seeing that no one is ready to guard him, he shouted immediately, asking for the ball.

"Captain!"

Oda grinned slightly, happy that his teammate is smart enough to catch the opportunity. But when he is about to pass the ball over Kawahara's head, out of a sudden, he couldn't feel the ball in his hand, and before he could realize it,

"Nice steal, Furihata-kun!"

Yeah, it was Furihata, the one who was responsible for guarding Hara who suddenly comes out of nowhere, poking the ball from behind while he was busy guarding it from Kawahara. The moment he realized it, Oda couldn't help but curse.

"SHIT!"

However, it was too late, as Kawahara and Furihata are already on the other side of the court. They both did a fancy move, with Furihata throwing a lob to the board, and when it bounced back, Kawahara caught it in the air before putting it back to the basket.

*Splash!*

"YOSSHAAAA!!!!"

"Nice defense, Furihata-kun, Kawahara-kun!"

"Keep it up, everyone! Keep it up!"

Right now, Oda wanted to scream, venting out all of his anger. The last play was definitely his fault. If only he was more aware with his surrounding, the ball wouldn't get stolen by Furihata. That's why, he wanted to retaliate.

"Hara, here!"

Seeing the anger on his captain's eyes, Hara didn't dare to not obey his order. He passed the ball immediately to his captain and ran quickly to the other side of the court, preparing himself for their next offense.

Unfortunately, anger clouded his mind, blurring everything under his eyes. When he is about to turn around and start the offense, the ball suddenly got stolen once again, and this time, it was Kawahara who stayed and sneaked from his blind spot, stripping the ball out of his possession.

"WHAT?!"

"Nice, Kawahara-kun!"

All the Seirin players who had already been on their own side suddenly run forward vigorously, ready for another offense. Knowing that attacking is not his strongest point, Kawahara backed down a little before he passed the ball toward Koganei who is running from behind, ready to attack the rim.

"Nice pass, Kawahara-kun!"

But when he was about to put the ball into the basket, he was stopped by Oda who rushed back and jumped in the air, blocking the path of his layup.

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

Unfortunately for him, Koganei suddenly lost his balance, causing the cat-like senpai to release the ball quicker than what Oda thought. And it messed up his timing, as instead of the ball, his hand caught Koganei's resulting in the sound of the whistle getting blown by the referee.

*FWEEEEE!!!!*

When he heard that sound, Oda turned around immediately, hoping that the ball wouldn't go into the basket. If it went in, the three-point play would hurt the team's morale and he would be afraid they couldn't recover in time to catch up. Fortunately, the ball hits the board once before it bounced back to the court.

*Clank!*

"Senshinkan #2 defensive shooting foul, one free throw for Seirin #6."

However, even though the ball didn't go in, it's not enough to dampen the enthusiasm from Seirin players, as they all roared excitedly, celebrating the play with Koganei.

"YOSSHAAA!!!"

"Nice offense, Koganei!"

"Yeah, nice attempt, Senpai!"

"You too, Kawahara-kun! I cannot believe you can be sneaky like that!"

In the middle of their celebration, Furihata's head suddenly turned around, his gaze meets Oda's eyes. Seeing the despair in Senshinkan's ace, Furihata couldn't help but smirk, thinking inwardly,

'See? Even if we are just bench units, we can still surprise you here.'

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Author note :

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You can also read this fanfiction up to chapter 117 on that page. Thank you! :)

-Zeta Faes-

Seirin High 51 – 41 Senshinkan High