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

edited on june 23rd, 2022 @ 9:07am

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CHAPTER SIXTEEN - I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS

THE BALL WAS ONCE AGAIN passed towards Midorima as he jumped up to shoot and Kagami jumped to knock the ball out of his hands. "All right! Kagami blocked him again!" Furihata cheered.

"They've been replaying this scene since the first quarter!" Kawahara exclaimed as Seirin had 23 points while Shutoku had 16.

"We've been keeping our lead against Shutoku since the beginning!"

"You guys are amazing!"

"I wish I could celebrate, but it won't be that easy." Hyuga noted.

"What are they thinking? Why do I feel so uneasy?" Kiyoshi wondered.

"They've got to be planning something." Daigo thinks to himself, looking over towards Kagami who was out of breath. "Taiga won't be able to block Midorima for much longer."

"What's wrong? Exhausted so soon?" Midorima taunted, making Kagami glance his way. "In that case, I'm disappointed."

"Of course not. Bring it on!" Kagami challenged.

Izuki was dribbling the ball in his hands. "He's not looking well. Kagami's clearly more exhausted. Kuroko was able to help him last time, but... This time... No, it's this time, as well. He's making this really difficult. Shutoku's first-year point guard, Takao." He thought.

"It's still only the second quarter. What's wrong, Kuroko?" Takao asked.

"Kuroko's greatest weapons are his ever-changing passes that ultlize his misdirection. They've saved us countless times. But he sees the entire court. His hawk eye is stronger than my eagle eye. Last time we avoided it with a trick of misdirection." Izuki noted.

Kuroko didn't respond to Takao as he tried to run but Takao was quick on his heels. "You're not going anywhere. That won't work anymore." Takao claimed, making Kuroko get taken aback.

"Kuroko's misdirection can only be used for a limited amount of time. Not only that, but against an opponent he's played before, his effectiveness drops significantly."

Izuki tries to pass the ball towards Hyuga but Miyaji ended up blocking him. "Crap!" Izuki exclaimed. Midorima grabbed onto the ball and was about to make a shot.

"Kagami!"

"No, you don't!" Kagami shouted out, jumping up into the air. However, it ended up being a fake.

"A fake?!" Hyuga exclaimed.

Midorima went past Kagami as he jumped up once more. "I'm not finished yet!" Kagami claimed.

"A second super jump right after he landed?!" Takao thought as Midorima released the ball.

"Midorima was a second faster!"

"He finally missed!"

The ball was flying into the air. "Will it go in? No..." Hyuga thinks to himself as the basketball missed the hoop, shocking the Shutoku players.

"What?!"

"He missed?!"

"No. Was he quick enough to touch the ball?" Midorima wondered.

"What unbelievable leg strength." Takao noted before noticing something.

"The ball's still in play!"

"Run!"

Kuroko then grabbed onto the ball.

"Wha... What?!"

"Seriously?! He was running for the ball after Midorima's fake. He believed Kagami would touch the ball."

Kuroko throws the ball over towards Daigo, who grabs it. "All right!" He exclaimed, throwing the ball into the hoop and scoring a point for Seirin.

"He made the shot!"

"Who made the pass?"

"That was incredibly fast!"

"No, more importantly..." Kagami trailed off.

"He's mixing in fakes." Riko finished. "This is getting worse and worse for Kagami-kun."

Izuki went to block Kimura who tosses the ball over towards Midorima as Kagami marked him. "Again!" Hyuga thought.

"Which is it? A fake or a shot? Damn it! There's no time to think!" Kagami scolded himself as Midorima got ready to shoot. "Either way, I don't have Daigo's explosive power. If I wait for him to jump, it'll be too late! Jump!"

Just as Kagami jumped, Midorima dived down to avoid him. "Then..." Kagami landed on the ground. "I just have to jump again!"

"He won't reach this time. This isn't good!" Izuki panicked.

Suddenly, Daigo jumps up in front of Midorima, shocking the Shutoku bench players. "You're not making this shot!" He claimed.

"We've been waiting for this to happen!" Takao exclaimed.

Midorima passes the ball over towards Takao, shocking Seirin as Miyaji was dribbling the ball.

"It's two on three!"

"There are fewer defenders!"

"They're completely outnumbered!"

Shutoku eventually ended up scoring as Kagami was breathing heavily. "Seriously? Midorima passed?" Kagami thought.

"This is no joke." Daigo commented. "He acted like he was doing it for himself, but he was shooting for his team. This must be the reason for Tetsu's uneasiness."

"Midorima has never relied on his teammates before. That's how we found openings and defeated him with teamwork. But now it's the opposite. Midorima has stopped fighting alone. Shutoku is a true team. They're more than formidable." Hyuga said.

"I don't believe this. They were strong enough before. They don't have a weakness anymore!" Furihata exclaimed.

"This is crazy! How are we supposed to handle this?"

"Don't lose your heads!" Riko shouted. "Keep cheering for them."

Koganei nodded in agreement. "Shutoku aren't the only ones who've grown. Besides, we have him now." He claimed.

"I won't deny the situation is difficult. We're just in a bit of a pinch, though. It's not over." Kiyoshi reassured.

"He's great at times like this, a man like Kiyoshi!" Koganei exclaimed.

"Let's have some fun." Kiyoshi finished.

"Yeah, I know." Hyuga said.

"What are we going to do, though?" Izuki questioned.

"I can't think of any way to stop Shutoku." Hyuga added.

"We'll come up with something." Kiyoshi reassured.

Hyuga whacked the side of his head angrily. "You don't have any ideas?!" He scolded.

"That hurt..." Kiyoshi rubbed the side of his head in pain. "Well, we can start by benching Kuroko."

"What?"

"If your misdirection doesn't work, you'll only hold us back."

Something struck from within Kuroko.

"You're doing your best, but you're more of a hinderance."

Another strike.

"There's really no reason for you to be on the court."

Kuroko had a gloomy aura as Izuki pat him on the shoulder. "There, there. Let it be, newbie." Izuki told him.

"Izuki, shut up." Hyuga scolded.

The buzzer then sounded as Mitobe was subbing in for Kuroko.

"The coach seems to be thinking the same thing."

Kuroko slaps Mitobe's hand as he goes to sit down on the bench. "You'll get your time to shine. Don't lose focus." Koganei reassured, handing him a towel.

"Thank you." Kuroko thanked him as he placed the towel over his hair.

"Don't worry. Leave it to everyone else." Koganei said.

"I'm fine. If anything, this will make it easier to use my new drive. Besides... I'm not worried. I believe in them." Kuroko claimed.

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Momoi was rushing through the halls until she finally arrived at the stadium, out of breath. "They already started. Aomine-kun's such an idiot. He didn't even come." She said to herself.

"Oh? Momocchi." Kise said, walking up to her. "Are you here to watch Kurokocchi, Daigocchi, and Midorimacchi's game?"

"Ki-chan." Momoi greeted.

"Could you stop calling me that?" Kise told her.

"But you're Ki-chan. Are you alone?" Momoi asked.

"Yeah. I invited my team, but they all turned me down. It's disheartening." Kise replied.

"Is that something you should say? I'm the one who's feeling disheartened." Momoi thinks to herself.

"I know. Why don't we watch together?" Kise offered.

"Huh?"

"It's a little weird standing with someone who beat us, but we're both going to the Winter Cup. How about a temporary truce?" Kise suggested.

"Sure." Momoi accepted. "Anyway, how's the game going?"

Kise chuckled in response. "It's getting pretty interesting." He replied as Momoi widened her eyes, seeing Kiyoshi and Kagami double-teaming Midorima.

"They're double-teaming Midorin?" Momoi questioned.

"They're not letting Midorimacchi take any shots." Kise answered.

"We have to stop Midorima. Kagami and I will continue to double-team him." Kiyoshi spoke.

"But..." Kagami began to protest. "I can handle him myself."

"I appreciate your enthusiasm, but we have no choice now that he's faking and passing." Kiyoshi stated.

"If you can't jump anymore, we really will be finished." Daigo pointed out, making Kiyoshi nod in agreement.

"That'll make it harder for us. Mitobe can't handle the inside alone." Izuki informed.

Hyuga let out a sigh. "In that case, there's only one thing to do." Hyuga announced, causing his team to look towards him.

Kiyoshi glanced over, seeing Hyuga was blocking Miyaji, who easily went past him and scored. "It's no use. We're stopping Midorima, but our inside is useless." Tsuchida stated.

"If we can't stop them, we just have to score more than them!" Hyuga declared.

"Let's go!"

The ball quickly got passed around. "They're fast!" Momoi exclaimed.

"What a quick attack!" Kise commented.

"No, you don't! I'll kill you!" Miyaji exclaimed.

Kiyoshi tosses the ball towards Mitobe, who scores a point. "It looks different, but they're playing just like us." Momoi thought.

Izuki passes the ball over towards Kiyoshi, who passes it over towards Hyuga in which he makes the shot.

"All right! We're keeping up!" Furihata cheered.

"We can't stop Shutoku, but we're keeping pace!"

"This offensive power... Is this the new Seirin?" Takao asked himself.

"No, not quite." Otsubo replied.

"What?"

"It'd be more accurate to say they're back." Otsubo stated.

"Back?" Takao repeated.

"Seirin's style is offensive team basketball. It was even faster last year with Kiyoshi. Kiyoshi and Hyuga, the stars of the inside and outside. Scoring with the speed passing of all five players... It's run-and-gun speed basketball. This is their true form." Otsubo explained.

"Two things have changed since Teppei joined. The first is the strengthening of our inside. The other is the quickening of our passing by cycling the ball with our point guard Izuki-kun." Riko said. "High-paced point wars are our specialty."

"They're good. At this rate..." Kagami trailed off.

"It's far smarter than trying a poor defense. However..."

Izuki tried to score a basket, but missed as Otsubo got the rebound. "Oh, no!" Kiyoshi thought as Otsubo passed the ball over towards Midorima.

"Shit!" Kagami exclaimed in his head.

Midorima shoots the ball up in the air and ended up scoring a point, making Kagami grit his teeth in irritation.

"It's Midorima's super-long three pointer!"

"How did he make that?!"

"He's not human!"

"Stop daydreaming. You can't lose focus for even a moment, if you want to stop me." Midorima claimed.

"All right!"

"Nice, Midorima!" Miyaji stated, slapping his back.

"Don't let it get to you, Kagami!" Hyuga exclaimed as he hit his chest. "If they score, we'll score ourselves."

"Let's score." Kiyoshi added, hitting Kagami's back.

"You're getting worked up over that? How totally lame." Daigo stated bluntly, causing an irk expression to appear on Kagami's head.

"All right!" Hyuga shouted.

"Let's go!" Both teams shouted as the buzzer went off.

"It's already over?"

"I can't wait!"

"I hope the second half starts soon!"

"Wow, they're really excited." Momoi pointed out.

"Yeah." Kise agreed.

"Ki-chan, how do you think the second half will go?" Momoi asked.

"Huh?" Kise began to think for a moment. "I have no idea."

"You really are useless." Momoi insulted.

"The second half will definitely be a point war. Seirin is at a disadvantage, though." Kise said.

"What?"

"Seirin has no way to stop Shutoku, but it's not as though Shutoku can't stop Seirin. Seirin will be the first to fall." Kise then closed his eyes. "Well, that's only true without Kurokocchi and Daigocchi."

Momoi looked at Kuroko, who was sitting on the bench. "He won't be able to keep his mouth shut. The phantom sixth man of the Generation of Miracles is the real deal. And, well, you already know about Daigocchi." Kise finished.

"Listen up. Honestly speaking, stopping Shutoku is really difficult for us right now. Our only choice is to score more than they do." Hyuga informed. "Let's go!"

It was the beginning of the third quarter as Seirin was ahead by 45 points and Shutoku had 43. "Even with Teppei back, things will keep getting harder. We can't stop Shutoku, and they've probably studied our performance as far back as last year. If we have any chance of winning, it's Kuroko-kun's new drive. If they pull too far ahead before we put Kuroko-kun in, we're finished." Riko thinks to herself.

Kagami and Kiyoshi tried to block Midorima who passed the ball towards Takao. "It sucks, but..." Kiyoshi began.

"They're good!" Kagami finished.

Takao soon had the ball. "All right! Here we go!" He exclaimed, rushing forward.

"They're trapped!"

"Shutoku's sure to take this!"

"It's four on three!"

"We know it's coming, but we can't stop it!" Izuki exclaimed in his mind.

"Just kidding." Takao said, throwing the ball in between his legs as Izuki went to block him. "Don't miss."

Midorima jumped in the air. "Quiet, fool." He said.

"A return?" Kagami guessed. "They can do that?!"

Midorima shoots the ball in the air as everyone watched it fly into the air and it went straight in, getting a point to Shutoku.

"Yeah, Midorima!"

"Shutoku takes the lead at the top of the second half!"

Koganei realized something. "What is it, Koga?" Tsuchida questioned.

"Just now, was he smiling for a second?" Koganei asked.

"Don't falter!" Hyuga shouted. "Let's go!"

"Oh, shut up. You're making me cry." Miyaji commented as Izuki was dribbling the ball down the court. He tried passing the ball to Hyuga but Miyaji ended up stealing it.

"Our team is more than just Midorima!" Miyaji claimed.

"What?!"

"Don't underestimate us!" Miyaji exclaimed, throwing the ball over towards Kimura, who caught it.

"Shutoku counters!"

"We've studied all your favorite plays. No matter how fast you are, if we know what to expect, we can stop you."

"Don't let the first years steal all our thunder, Kimura!" Miyaji shouted.

"Got it!" Kimura responded as he scored a point for Shutoku.

"At least do something exciting like dunk!" Miyaji complained.

"Shut up!" Kimura retorted, turning to face him. "Not everyone can do that!"

The game resumed as Midorima now had the ball when Kagami suddenly stopped. "Kagami-kun!" Riko shouted out.

"Kagami!" Kiyoshi shouted in concern as Midorima jumped up. He threw the ball up as it went into the hoop.

"You seem to be at your limit." Midorima commented.

"What did you say?" Kagami asked in irritation.

"He's unbelievable. Not even Kagami and Teppei can stop him together. The Generation of Miracles are monsters." Riko thought.

"Midorin's changed, hasn't he?" Momoi asked.

"Really?" Kise questioned.

"So have you, Ki-chan." Momoi turned to look at him.

"What? How so?"

Momoi only smiled. "Are you sure he hasn't been changed?" Kise questioned as Momoi gave him a confused look.

"Damn it. Are things really this different with Midorima's change?" Furihata asked.

"His change? Is that how others see him? He hasn't changed, though. Not much, anyway." Takao noted as he was recalling some memories. "I guess he has changed, though. Once in a while when we're playing together, he'll smile. It might be because of him."

"I wonder what it is. Since playing him, I've stopped thinking of relying on others as weakness. It's something you can't do without strength." Kise stated.

"Coach."

"What?"

"I think I can do it now. My new drive." Kuroko claimed.

The buzzer sounded, signaling a member change. "He's finally coming off the bench." Midorima spoke.

"Please." Tsuchida began.

"Change the flow of this game." Koganei added on.

"We still won't go easy on you. That and this game are different stories. We've been waiting for you, Kuroko."

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

Word Count: 2573 words.