Akashi was anything but slow. One look at the court, he could understand the respective teams' strategies and predict the outcome of the game.
Sometimes he could hear the audience or the other teams around him whisper their own speculations. Some are actually not that far from the truth, whereas some are just so ridiculous that it would be a waste of life to listen to one syllable.
However, during the Winter Cup, there was one of the rare moments when Akashi was as confused as the audience.
He looked at the trembling Seirin player, who was struggling to move forward. He quickly scanned the player and found......nothing worth mentioning. The closer No.12 got to him, the more he resembled a shaking mess.
The audience drew in a sharp breath and then made pitying and confused noise. To be honest, he understood their confusion.
"Sei-chan," he heard Mibuchi's call. He nodded and walked towards his teammate and heard a large crash behind him. Like someone had just fell onto the ground.
He turned and saw No. 12 on the floor, whose feet were tangled together.
Akashi had to suppress the urge to sigh. He figured that if he did, the Seirin player might die, right there.
And he could hear that the audience shared his opinion. Their murmurs weren't exactly subtle or quiet.
"What the fuck..."
"This is too brutal to watch. This is going to be worse than season 8 of Game of Thrones..."
"The hell is that coach thinking..."
"See? Girls really suck at basketball. She's more of a glorified cheerleader."
Akashi heard that comment. He strongly disagreed.
Although he did not understand why she sent out a seemingly terrified and weak duckling to go up against him, she was definitely one of the best strategists among coaches. The fact that he failed to see through what she was playing at was the best proof.
He was proven right, as always, when no.12 actually scored seconds later.
...tbc
