A/N: Hello, readers! Welcome to another chapter! Enjoy!

edited on february 10th, 2023 @ 6:26pm

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CHAPTER SEVENTEEN - I SURPASSED YOU LONG AGO

"KUROKO, ARE YOU READY?" Kiyoshi asked as the rest of the team came up towards Kuroko.

"Yes." Kuroko nodded.

"Of course he is." Kagami said, slightly pushing Kuroko forward. "You're sure you can scare them, right?"

"Yes, of course." Kuroko responded.

"They're putting him in now? I thought his mis-whatever didn't work anymore." Miyaji commented.

"They're not getting that desperate, are they?" Kimura asked.

"If anything, it's the opposite. He wouldn't be coming onto the court now without something up his sleeve." Midorima responded. "He must have something."

There were 43 seconds left of the third quarter as Seirin had 68 points while Shutoku had 76 points. Hyuga passes the ball over towards Izuki as Takao marked Kuroko.

"As always, Takao's all over Kuroko." Koganei pointed out.

"But he can't stop him now. He developed this technique to defeat the Generation of Miracles. Show us what you can do." Riko said.

"Seirin's dropped their pace." Kise commented.

"If they attack carelessly right after bringing in their trump card, they'll completely lose control of the flow of the game." Momoi added on.

"They're calculating the best time to use their trump card." Kimura thought.

Izuki passes the ball over towards Hyuga who grabs it and throws it over towards Kiyoshi as Kuroko moved away from Takao, who tried to follow him but was blocked by Kagami and Daigo double teaming him.

"A screen!"

Takao then saw Kuroko heading towards Midorima. "They can't be serious. He's taking on Midorima?!" He thinks to himself.

"Kuroko!" Kiyoshi shouted, passing the ball over towards him.

Kuroko then grabbed the ball as he faced Midorima. "He caught it?!" Kise exclaimed in surprise.

"Impossible!" Midorima thought. "Kuroko can't use his misdirection while he has the ball."

"This doesn't look good! Watch out, Midorima!" Miyaji warned.

"Sorry, but it's not like that." Kagami spoke.

"It's not about speed or skill. Only Tetsu can pull off..." Daigo trailed off as Kuroko moved the ball back as he went past Midorima.

"... the Vanishing Drive!" Kagami and Daigo finished in unison.

"What?!"

Kuroko passes the ball over towards Kiyoshi who slammed the ball into the hoop.

"He made it!"

"That was amazing, Kuroko!"

Kuroko turned to look back towards Midorima, who had a frightened look in his eyes.

"How did he get past Midorima so easily?"

"Kurokocchi..." Kise mumbled.

"Tetsu-kun perfected his drive." Momoi said.

Kimura now had the ball. "That bastard!" He shouted as he jumped up to score.

"Keep your head, Kimura!"

Kimura tries to score, but the ball hits the rim of the basket. Izuki reaches for it before he grabs it.

"I'd given up on the rebound, but we're in luck!" Izuki thought as he sends the ball towards Kuroko's way. "Kuroko!"

"No, you don't!" Takao shouted out. "I don't know what you did, but you won't get past me!"

Kuroko uses his Vanishing Drive again as he goes past Takao. "I don't believe it. He disappeared from right in front of me!" Takao thinks to himself.

Kuroko passes the ball over towards Hyuga, who scores a point as the bench players cheered.

"A three-pointer!"

"We scored again!"

"Let's keep calm!" Miyaji exclaimed. He tried passing the ball over towards Takao but Kuroko ended up stealing it, shocking both Miyaji and Takao.

Kuroko passes the ball over towards Hyuga once more who did another three-pointer, getting another point for Seirin.

"We're tied!"

"Amazing!"

"All right!"

"We've jumped eight points since Kuroko went in!"

"Seirin's tied!"

"We're back where we started." Kuroko informed as Midorima pushed up his glasses.

"Interesting." He commented.

The third quarter was now over as Seirin was sitting on the bench. Kagami was panting in which Kiyoshi took notice of.

"He's pretty tired. He's been on Midorima this whole time. It's no wonder." Kiyoshi noted.

"Kagami, are you okay?" Izuki asked.

"I'm totally fine. Besides, I can't give up before him." Kagami responded.

The buzzer sounded as the fourth quarter began. "Okay, let's go!" Hyuga told his team as he stood up, followed by his teammates. "We'll go hard in the remaining ten minutes! Seirin, fight!"

"Yeah!"

Midorima and Kagami stared at one another as Takao walked up to Kuroko. "Nice. He's worked up, too. We can't let him outdo us." He said.

"Honestly, I'm not quite sure what his trick is yet, but..." Takao trailed off. "I'll stop you even if I have to cling to you."

"I can't have you beating me so easily." Kuroko claimed.

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The fourth quarter soon began with both teams tied with 76 points. "It's the final quarter." Kise pointed out.

"Seirin's playing their run-and-gun style!"

Kiyoshi passed over towards Kagami, who passed over towards Izuki. "They're fast, but we know what's coming. From No. 5 to 4 to 7, they'll cut in from the outside. In that case... Gotcha!" Miyaji thought as Kuroko went by Takao.

"Oh, crap!" Takao exclaimed.

Kuroko then knocks the ball, keeping Miyaji from stealing it and passing it over towards Kagami.

"Kagami!"

"Go!"

Kagami soon jumps up as he got marked by two players.

"Two of them?!"

"Kagami, careful!" Hyuga warned.

Kagami ended up scoring a point for Seirin in which they cheered.

"He dunked through two of them!"

"The ball curved suddenly before it went in!"

"Seirin's magic passes are back! They're not easily stopped!"

"Nice shot." Kiyoshi complimented.

"You're lucky it went in!" Hyuga said, whacking his head with his fist.

"Am I stupid? I underestimated them! Passing is Kuroko's specialty!" Takao scolded himself.

"Izuki and Kiyoshi's fast passes have changed with the addition of Kuroko. Their rhythm suddenly changes. It's an ever-changing run-and-gun style. This is the final form of Seirin's basketball."

Takao passes the ball over towards Miyaji who passes it over towards Midorima. "Don't get ahead of yourselves." He thought as both Kagami and Daigo jumped up to block him.

"Shit! I was a second late getting on my mark!" Kagami noted.

"He should be running out of steam soon." Riko thought. "He said he increased his endurance, but by how much?!"

The ball went into the hoop, getting a point for Shutoku.

"Amazing, Shin-chan. Are you okay? You must be approaching your limit." Takao said.

"Fool. There's no way I wouldn't know how many shots I can take. I surpassed my limit long ago." Midorima claimed.

This caused Takao to laugh. "What are you talking about? What a man." Takao commented.

"So, that's how it is." Kagami thinks to himself.

The audience then started cheering "Seirin!" as the game continued.

"I thought that might be it." Hyuga said as he took the ball. "But we're not here to lose!"

Hyuga scores a point as the audience also shouted "Shutoku!" over and over.

"Neither are we!" Takao claimed as he scored a point right back.

The audience were now cheering for both teams. "Listen to them cheer." Momoi commented.

"The players on the inside are having the most fun, though. They're absolutely focused and experiencing a high, like..." Kise trailed off from his thoughts as he whined. "I feel like playing basketball!"

Kagami soon jumped up and knocked the ball out of Midorima's hands. Hyuga soon scores another point as the game continued, both teams doing their best to score.

"Amazing. No one's giving any ground."

"Yeah. You don't see games like this often."

"I wish it'd never end." Furihata commented.

"What?"

"Uh, I mean..."

"First-years, I can't hear you!"

"Y-Yes, sir!"

Seirin had 103 points while Shutoku had 102 with only 30 seconds remaining in the final quarter. Otsubo then scored a point.

"There's no time!" Koganei shouted.

"Get them!"

Kuroko then charged forward past Takao and passes over towards Kiyoshi. "Nice pass, Kuroko!" He praised.

"Kiyoshi!"

"Go!"

Kiyoshi then tries to send the ball up in the hoop as Midorima goes to stop him. "No way, Iron Heart!" Midorima shouted out.

The ball then gets knocked out of the hoop as the referee blew the whistle.

"Defense, pushing! Shutoku No. 6! Free throw, two shots!"

"Two seconds left." Momoi stated.

"The game comes down to two free throws." Kise added on.

"Don't worry about it, Midorima." Kimura reassured.

"It was actually a nice play." Miyaji said. "If you hadn't done that, he would've made it for sure."

"Damn it. I meant to block without fouling him. No wonder they call him the Iron Heart." Midorima thinks to himself.

"We're still hanging by a thread. All we can do now is pray." Kimura informed.

"You idiot, that's not all we can do." Miyaji said.

"If he makes these shots, we have to accept that it's over. Even if he misses, if we don't get the rebound..." Takao trailed off.

"There's no way he isn't feeling the pressure now. Before you start praying, give it your all! We need to get that rebound!" Otsubo told his team.

"Yeah!"

Kiyoshi's legs were shaking as Hyuga looked towards his direction. "Screen them out! Don't let them get the ball!" Hyuga said.

"We're just being prepared. We're not telling you to miss, of course." Izuki stated.

"Of course. Making both of these is the fastest way to win." Kagami informed.

"A lot of pressure has been put onto us." Daigo grinned.

"Let's have some fun." Kuroko added on.

Kiyoshi then exhaled. "That's what I'll do." He said.

The referee was holding the ball. "Two shots." He informed, handing Kiyoshi the ball.

The whistle blew as Kiyoshi bounced the ball a few times before spinning it in his hands while everyone waited for him to make the shot. Kiyoshi throws the ball up into the air towards the hoop.

"Miss, miss, miss!"

"Make it, make it, make it!"

The ball soon enters the hoop, making Seirin tied with Shutoku at 104 points.

"The fateful shot..." Kise mumbled as the referee handed the basketball to Kiyoshi once more and blew the whistle.

Kiyoshi spun the ball in his hands again before throwing it in the air. Everything seemed to be in slow motion as the ball was in the air for the longest time before it hit the rim of the hoop and bounced off.

"Rebound!" Both coaches shouted out.

Otsubo reached up to grab the rebound until Kagami prevented him from doing so. "What?" Otsubo said in surprise.

"Kagami!"

Both Kagami and Midorima jumped up, grabbing onto the ball at the same time until the timer went to zero.

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A/N: Another chapter is completed! Thanks for reading!

Word Count: 1752 words.