Chapter 114: Chapter 114 : VS Yosen High VI - Conflict & Anger Issue
"Kurokocchi really improved a lot, huh?" Kise slumped on his seat in the middle of the audience, his gaze wandering far, reminiscing the old days when they were still in middle school. "I still remember how people would mock him whispering behind his back about how he paid to be on the team or something similar. It used to piss me and Aomincecchi off. Man, how time flies…."
Kasamatsu who heard his kouhai's rant just rolled his eyes. "Why do you sound like an old man, Kise?"
"But it is true, Senpai!" The blonde whined childishly. "He grew up sooo fast! I am so proud of him!" He said, whipping an imaginary tear from the corner of his eyes.
Kasamatsu just gave him a deadpan expression before ignoring the blonde, turning his eyes around at Seirin's bench.
'Now that you got the momentum, what would you do, Seirin?'
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Meanwhile, on Seirin's side, even though they are in a high spirit, right now, they faced another problem before the second quarter began.
"Kuroko-kun, how much time do you need to recover?"
Yeah, having been playing for the entire quarter, Kuroko's stamina was quite depleted, as the blue-haired boy still panted heavily. Added to how drenched his jersey was with the sweats, anyone could see Kuroko's exhaustion.
Kuroko just shrugged a little, still trying to steady his breath. "I don't know. Maybe 15 minutes?"
Alex frowned at that. Fifteen minutes… Kuroko was quite instrumental in Seirin's successful offense in the last quarter. If he is not there, the team will suffer a drawback in the next quarter.
Before she could get any idea, Furihata suddenly asked, "And if you just need to stand on the court, even without doing anything, do you think 10 minutes is enough?"
"Yes, it is possible," Kuroko answered, before furrowing his brows. "But if I didn't do anything, why would I go to the court?"
However, it was not Furihata who answered his question. Instead, it was Riko who realized what Furihata tried to do.
"You want to play a mind game here." The girl said. "Even though Kuroko-kun didn't do anything, his presence on the court would make Yosen overthink about us, and it would create a flaw that you wanted to exploit."
Furihata nodded. "Yeah. If we could keep our offense on the same level as we did before the first quarter end, Phantom wouldn't need to do that. But right now, like it or not, he is our biggest weapon in the offense."
There was silence on Seirin's bench as his words sank into everyone's mind. Even though Furihata played a big role, it was Kuroko's play that opened their way toward Yosen's defense. Without him on the court, they doubted they could do it again in the next quarter.
"Okay, so, here is what we are going to do!" Alex clapped her hands, gaining everyone's attention. "Izuki-kun, you will replace Kuroko-kun. Your task would be to slow down the tempo, staling time to wait for Kuroko-kun's return."
"So, like how we played against Kaijo?"
Even though Alex didn't know about their match against Kaijo, seeing the nod from Riko, she knew Izuki understood what she wanted, so, she decided to address another issue.
"And Kiyoshi-kun, I will replace you with Tiger-chan."
There is a sudden silence on the bench, as everyone looked at each other uncomfortably. It makes Kagami reacted quite badly when he saw that reaction.
"Hey, why are you looking like that?!"
However, he was ignored by everyone, as all eyes suddenly fell on Furihata. Receiving those gazes, the first-year point guard just rolled his head exasperatedly.
"What? You think I would throw a tantrum?" He huffed indignantly as the others snapped their heads around, trying to avoid his eyes. At least, they had the decency to be embarrassed by their thought. "Even if I don't like him, he is still useful enough to distract Murasakibara. And it is not me who you should be wary of. Don't you all forget who threw the punch first?"
"HA? Care to say that in my face, Bastard?"
Furihata rolled his eyes at the drama queen in front of him.
"You need to keep your temper in check, Red. Not everyone would favor you here." Alex and Riko could feel their faces burned in embarrassment, Furihata's words feel like it was directed at them. "And let's be honest here. You were pretty useless in the first quarter. Not following the order and jumping around like a buffoon, just to be stopped multiple times by Murasakibara. To be honest, bringing Tsuchida-senpai would be more productive. At least he knows how to follow the order."
"Enough, Furihata-kun!" Hyuga feels the need to interrupt, especially after seeing the boiled red face of Kagami, about to explode at any time. "It is not the best time to talk about it, so, don't provoke Kagami-kun any further!"
Receiving the sharp glare from the captain, Furihata just rolled his eyes.
"Sure, Captain, just take Red's side. He is your darling princess, after all. Compared to him, me, who was just a bench member, would be expendable, right?"
If anything, his words just make Riko want to bury herself alive. It was the exact words she uses when scolding Furihata after the fight with Kagami. She just didn't expect that Furihata would be bold enough to throw it on her face at this critical time.
Why would Furihata do that?
Well, if anyone thinks carefully, the answer is simple. No matter how mature Furihata seems to be, he is still a teenager. After receiving unfair treatment from the team, no matter how many times he said he didn't care, resentment grew in his heart. Even though he didn't speak anything before, it was not because he forgot. Instead, he waited until the right moment, and it came right here.
He played really well, saving the team from the pit hole that Kagami created due to him playing very badly. So, right now, when the team needs him more than ever, he dares himself to strike back, aggravating the Kagami, knowing that this time, he would have everyone on their side.
So, yeah, it was just his pettiness and vindictive side to strike right now.
"Okay, enough!" Not, it was Alex who interrupted the conversation. "We will address it later. And don't worry, Furihata-kun. I will try to be fair."
Seeing the genuine look from Alex, Furihata just shrugged a little.
"Sure."
"Good." Alex took a relieved breath. "My decision still stands. Tiger-chan, you are in. But if you cannot control your temper and cannot follow the command, you will sit down for the entire game. Do you understand?"
Even though he wanted to object, a single sharp glare from Alex silenced Kagami for a second. The red-haired boy huffed and decided to warm up a bit before joining the game again.
Alex just sighed, rubbed her temple tiredly. This decision to put Kagami back on the court is not favoritism. Alex did that in the hope that after playing together for a while, it would help Kagami and Furihata mends their relationship. But right now, she isn't very sure about that plan.
"God, give me strength please.."
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Soon, all the players from both teams entered the court once again, ready for the second quarter. Seeing Murasakibara still on the court, Furihata couldn't help but mutter, 'Why is he still playing? Isn't he supposed to be lazy?'
He shook his head quickly, trying to be ready for the next play. Now that Izuki is back on the court, Furihata and Hyuga's positions shifted into shooting guard and small forward. That means he would be the one who was responsible for Tatsuya.
"So, Tiger is back, huh?" Tatsuya suddenly asked. With a grimaced face, Furihata answered, "Yeah, unfortunately." Which makes Tatsuya laugh a little.
"Well, let's see if he could make your team perform better."
"Yeah.. Let's see…"
Right after the horn rang loudly, indicating the second quarter to begin, the ball went straight to Tatsuya, as Yosen was ready to attack. Just like what Hyuga did earlier, Furihata tried to stick to Tatsuya as close as possible, not giving him any space to get creative.
However, that was not a problem for Tatsuya, as right after he passed the half-court line, he sent the ball high, only to be caught by Murasakibara in the low-post area. Now, it is another matchup between Murasakibara and Kagami.
"Did we somehow offend him or what?"
Tatsuya snorted in amusement, knowing what Furihata meant. Murasakibara who has never shown any interest in the offense now suddenly feels like doing it? Yeah, there is definitely something wrong with it.
"Blame your teammate on this one, the blue-haired boy." He added the last part immediately. "He makes Murasakibara-kun curious and a bit annoyed, so, he just returned the favor."
Furihata could only sigh helplessly, knowing this would come sooner or later. First, it was Aomine, and now it was Murasakibara? Somehow, this team always had a way to poke a sleeping bear.
Not long after that, Murasakibara started to move. It was just a simple low-post game. But every time they bumped into each other; Kagami felt like he was hit by a truck.
'Damn! This is a joke!'
Kagami gritted his teeth, trying to resist the attack. However, he didn't notice that somehow, they were already under the rim. So, when Murasakibara jumped suddenly, he was caught off guard.
"WHAT?!"
*BAAAAAAAM!!!!*
A two-handed dunk! It was simple and crude, yet definitely an effective method for a lazy and overpowered person like Murasakibara.
"YEAAAHH!!!"
"Nice dunk, Murasakibara!"
"Come on! Let's do it again!"
While all the Yosen players roared in celebration, Murasakibara gazed coldly toward Kagami who was on the floor, and to everyone's surprise, he stepped over Kagami's body, doing exactly the same as how Allen Iverson did on Tyronn Lue in the NBA final in 2001.
'Ouch!' Furihata winced inwardly. 'This wouldn't end well.'
And right he is, as Kagami snapped, anger exploded from the red-haired boy. He stood up quickly, running toward Murasakibara, and pushed the pink-haired center down until he fell on the floor.
"What is your problem, Bastard!"
It didn't take a long time before all the Yosen players backed up Murasakibara.
"What the hell?!"
"What is your problem?!"
"You want to fight? Come here!"
"If you are angry, use your skill, not your fist!"
"Bastard!"
"ENOUGH!"
When things started to get out of control, the referee stepped in, coupled with several more people to separate the players from each other.
"This is a basketball tournament, not a street brawl! If you wanted to use your fist, get out of here!" The referee shouted; his eyes glared at Kagami. "I don't want to see this kind of thing again from any of you! If any incident like this happens again, I will send you out early!"
Kagami is furious. In his little mind, it was Murasakibara who provoked him, doing that kind of atrocious thing toward him. So, why is it that he was the only one who got scolded?
Fortunately, though, Hyuga grabbed the collar of his jersey and pulled him forcefully before he could do anything stupid.
"Gomennasai, Sensei." Hyuga bowed down 90 degrees. "We will try to keep his temper in check."
The referee snorted a little. "Make sure you do that."
After the situation is a bit calmer, Kagami is about to explode to his senpai.
"What the hell, Senpai?!"
"Shut up, Idiot!" Hyuga hissed sharply. "Use your fucking brain for once and think about the consequence for the team! We are still chasing down the score, and you doing this stupid little stun would only feed your ego, not helping us at all!"
To be honest, Hyuga knows his words would hurt Kagami a little. However, the red-haired boy needs to know that not everyone would just let his stupidity slide without getting punished. And this time, his stupidity kinda crossed the line.
"Now, calm your head down, or I will personally ask Alex-san to replace you right now. God knows she wanted to do that."
And true to Hyuga's word, Kagami could see Tsuchida is preparing to join the court. When his eyes landed on Alex, he couldn't help but flinch at the sharp glare he received from his old coach.
'Oh, man… She is pissed….. Please, don't let this get worse.'
Unfortunately for him, a moment later, the referee finally announced the punishment.
"Seirin High #12 first technical foul. One free throw for Yosen High and possession change."
Damn. Not only one free throw, but the possession change would hurt Seirin the most. They are the ones who chased down the score here, so, every possession would matter. To lose it due to stupid reasons, yeah, they are not happy with it.
And right after that, the horn rang loudly, and the referee suddenly announced,
"Substitution for Seirin High. #9 in, #10 out."
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Author note :
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-Zeta Faes-
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