Three - Involving is a Bad Idea

Verona's POV

Scoring 5 times. 5 baskets, no matter points.

That's not hard.

Well, it is.

Their opponent is not that terribly bad.

Team members that started: Akashi Seijurou, Midorima Shintarou, Aomine Daiki, Kise Ryouta and Murasakibara Atsushi.

well, if you have to know the points...

Team Miracles VS Team Bullies: 2:1

Basically 3 baskets for the win.

Oh, never mind.

2:2.

They scored.

And Kise-san's leg hurts again.

Crap.

That injury hasn't healed well enough.

From this play, it looks like he is the copy ninja.

I can help, but the pressure...

I wish I can be like Brother when he was in the Nationals...

What was his name again? Akakage Yukine (赤影雪音, meaning red, shadow, snow and sound as individual kanji). Brother helped me a lot in battle style and basketball. His style is the same as mine. I guess that how we are clone-like buddies?

I pray for your success, the Generation of Miracles.

Third person

The team Bullies are quite successful in passing the ball. They are capable of dribbling through the defence and dirty play.

And here comes Satsuki Momoi, pink hair flowing in the breeze.

The door of the court just happens to be left open, and she just happens to enter the court.

And they just happened to throw the ball at her face.

"PAAM!"

Verona sprints, quickly into football goalie stand, catches the ball, just before it hits Momoi.

"Few..." Verona sighs in relief. Then starts to stress.

Does that mean I'm in the game?! Oh, gods, save me...

"Eh~ Seems like someone knows some sport! You caught the ball. You're joining in." Captain Bully shouts.

"Um... Thank you for saving me," Momoi says.

"N-no problem..." Verona says awkwardly. She looks towards Akashi with the message of "I'm sorry, if I snap, please help me".

"No problem." was her reply from Akashi's eyes, a sign of trust.

I don't even trust myself not to snap... Verona thought.

She walks up to them.

Momoi becomes the referee. "Member Change!"

Kise raises a hand to high five.

"Is your leg okay?"

"It's fine."

"You liar, it's not. Go get some proper rest. I'll get your revenge." Verona glares at him with murderous eyes of ruby red, speaking in a cold tone.

"O-oh..." Kise shudders.

She walks up on to the court.

Inhale. Exhale.

"I'm ready."

I do hate the style of their basketball, so I'll give it all.

If I lose, I die.

If I win, I survive.

The Survival of the Fittest.

She passes the ball to Akashi.

"Akashi-san, please start. I want to see if they are human or not."

"Human or not?"

"Yes. Human or not."

"Okay..." That tone is saying "I don't know what you are saying, but I'll follow."

You will understand, everyone here.

You're not the only monster.

This monster here is a gender-fluid, bloodlust assassin, who has eyes of Madusa.

In time, people will fear me.

Just like my brother...

Akashi's POV

As she comes closer, I can see clearer, the facial features and her posture.

Head held high, slowly walks up to them, cool and calm, like she is going to school. A smile curled up her face. The face, the hairstyle, looks familiar somehow.

Who in the world are you? Why do you look familiar?

As the people in the opposing position look at her skinny, bony structure, they look like they are going to burst out laughing.

"She's a twig! Can she even play basketball?"

"Depends," She answers calmly like the insults aren't hurting her at all.

After a few passes, I can see the teammates are quite tired. Except for Verona, she just came up.

I'm a bit worn out, too.

"I just want you to know, my style of basketball is dead or alive. You lose, you die; you win, you survive."

Who was the one who said that? Why am I getting the message from the piercing cold eyes of hers?

"So you guys are beasts after all," Verona smiles.

She... Smiles?

Flashback

"Why are you smiling, Akakage-kun?"

"Ah, because I know you are a worthy opponent, a beast of strategy. I have no worries because..."

"I can play without limits now."

End of Flashback

Akakage?

The pass got cut in the process.

The player shoots.

The eyes of everyone stares at the ball in shock, except one.

The eyes of scarlet.

Eyes of murderous intent.

3...

2...

1...

0!

Air turbulence starts to form underneath the twist of legs. A scarlet shade raises up.

"PAM!"

"My shot's blocked!?" Idiot Shooter states the obvious in shock.

The scarlet shade catches the ball, pushes it with strength and aims directly to the board on the other end.

The group of Bullies hope that it will not go in.

The further the orange ball goes, the slower it becomes, as it reaches the board, it gently taps the square, just as Verona gently touches the ground to land. The ball landed through the hoop.

3:2

That move... I think I've seen it somewhere...

Akakage?

Akakage Yukine?

Was that his move?

The opposing team reacts quicker than expected. This time they are defending Verona.

Two people on Verona, putting pressure on Verona.

Verona's POV

"Kah... Ah..."

My head hurts.

My mind's squished.

Pressure.

Don't come close.

It hurts.

I'm breathing hard.

Ow... I'm losing consciousness.

Scarlet, please don't kill people.

I beg you...

Midorima's POV

The atmosphere's changing a bit.

Colder, darker... Tenser?

I can hear Verona screaming in pain for a bit, leans and drops forward like she lost consciousness, then stops.

She raises her head, holds it up high, like a queen.

The eyes are different.

So... Cold.

"I'm free at last." was her saying as she stares into the defenders' eyes.

The two defenders freeze, unable to move.

She waltzes through them, leaving a scarlet trail of shade. And then asks Akashi for the ball.

Just what is she?

Akashi passes the ball to her.

She passes the ball through the hoop.

4:2

Then Akashi approaches Aomine, who was breathing hard, and a tired-out me.

Akashi's POV

"Shintaro, Aomine."

"Huh?"

"You guys look pretty worn out. Switch with Kagami and Kuroko."

"Huh? Oh."

They are pretty worn out.

Kagami and Tetsuya are up.

"Um... Akashi-san?" Verona questions.

"Christine?"

"Ah, Christina. Scarlet Christina, the monster inside Verona Christine. Just asking... Can Kagami-san be the maker for the last basket? I want to try something out."

"Sure... What are you going to do with the defenders around you?"

"Freeze them."

"Huh?"

"Freeze them like they are stone statues. Like your Emperor Eye, I have Medusa's Stare. They will all go stiff in front of me. I'll stop anyone who wants to rebound the dunk Kagami's going to make while you can pass to Kuroko. Murasakibara-san will be fine as he is now."

"How can you make sure all this happen?"

"It's easy to force you lot into making decisions." Scarlet smiles mischievously.

What happened? Why am I listening to her all of a sudden? How does she know all of the people's strengths? How does she know Tetsuya's lack of presence and Kagami's speciality with dunks and jumps? They haven't played in the game yet.

What makes me feel like I could trust her?

She closes her eyes.

"Keep your eyes on the ball and don't stare into my eyes when playing."

"Hm." Was all I can manage through the tie of thoughts.

The scarlet shade is full of secrets that I don't know of.

I want to find the answers to my questions.

Kuroko's POV

The swift movements, weaving through the defence of the opposing team; freezing all of them that's in in the way... The cold gaze in her eyes...

This all looks so familiar.

Akashi passes to ball to me.

I push the ball to Kagami-kun.

Verona smiles.

The scarlet gleams in her eyes give me chills.

Three people from the opposing team ready to rebound or block.

She walks casually in front of them.

The two in front of Akashi and I shouts, "Block the shot!"

The three people are ready to block Kagami's shot.

It's not going to go in.

"Look at me, idiots."

Huh?

Their eyes turn to look at Verona with no hesitation, as Kagami jumps over them, they did not move an inch.

The ball goes through the hoop.

Verona closes her eyes, turns and walks away.

The three people unfreeze, looks at the ball bouncing on the ground.

We've won, but all went silent.

Like Verona just killed everyone's senses. The pressure in the atmosphere is like when Takao-san is defending me, no, much thicker than that.

The sky is turning scarlet-red.

The pounding of the ball stops.

The silence is killing us all.

Then a scream broke it.

The next thing I know, Verona-san is kneeling down on the ground with her hands around her head, breathing hard.

-----

Hello!

Hope you guys like this chapter. Describing basketball movements is so hard...

You see, Verona's style of basketball is just passing the ball through the hoop. That's how she shoots.

This is the scale of 0-10, 0 being not successful, 10 being excellent.

Skills:

Physical Ability: 8

Technique: 7

Stamina: 10

Mental Strength: 9

Special Ability: Well... I don't know... 10?

'Til next update!

Silence as Deduction/Sweet Silent Death

Total word count: 1353