Kuroko no basket: sweeter than marshmallows

-24-

Murasakibara Atsushi

Yeno-chin is looking at me, her sky blue eyes won't leave me for a second.

I can't let her down.

I turn my attention back at the ball, Kaga-chin has it, he's coming at me with a smile on his lips and it annoys me.

I'll crush him.

I run towards him and steal the ball from him, let's show them what I can really do. I run to the three point line and shoot the ball, watching how it goes in without touching the sides.

It's too easy like this, they are all too weak.

"Good job Mura-kun!!!" Yeno-chin yells, she's standing on the bench with a big smile on her face.

She came up with four different strategies, one for each quarter, she predicted everything that would happen. She told us what to do, when to score, who to pass.. We've been practicing the same formations ever since the couch left a couple weeks ago.

Kaga-chin grabs the ball and runs to our hoop with Hyuuga  and I run after them. I've been running back and forth for the last fifteen minutes, I did have a break in between but I'm starting to feel it in my legs.

I'm just a second to late with jumping and Kaga-chin dunks the ball over me. I grit my teeth, I can't let them score.

I won't let them win from me again.

"You won't win." I say to him "we are twelve points ahead. Just give up already."

Kaga-chin shakes his head "we won't give up." He says, before guarding me.

Pointless.

There is just one minute on the clock.

They won't be able to win thanks to Yeno-chins strategy. Kaga-chin failed to get into the zone because of her strategy, Kuro-chin was subbed out because of her strategy.

She thought of everything, she figured everything out.

She's amazing and terrifying at the same time.

The bell rings and I feel my focus fade away. The crowd starts to cheer and Yeno-chin is jumping in the air of excitement.

The team runs towards her and they throw her in the air, she starts laughing when everyone starts to hug her.

"Line up!" The referee yells and we do what he says. Shaking hands with Seirin and thanking them for this play.

We won, that's all that matters.

We all change and walk outside, the cool summer air hits me in the face when I walk trough the exit and Yeno-chin sighs in relief.

Seirin walks towards us and coach Riko goes to stand in front of Ru-chin "I know what you did back there.."

Yeno-chin smiles, it's a terrifying sweet smile "I don't think you did."

Coach Riko frowns "you used two strategies, making us think that you were exhausted from your earlier game."

Yeno-chin laughs softly and shakes her head "I'll explain it to you" she starts "I used more strategies than you'd think or believe. The first one was meeting you before the match, telling you that we won't hold back against you. You were expecting us to play like that from the start that's why you put in number 4 from the start, which was the first thing I wanted you to do, we let you create the ten point gap in the first quarter to make you feel good about yourself, that's the second strategie."
She shrugs "I already knew that there is a time limit on number 4 and that number 10 only dunks and enters the zone when something is triggered, I couldn't exactly figure out what it is but that's not the point. Our third strategie was for you to believe that we weren't a threat"

She points towards me "my fourth strategy was to provoke Mura-kun to play on offense, I didn't expect him to enter the zone I'll give you that... Our fifth stratehy was to create a twenty point gap, crushing every bit of confidence you had left, only to give you new hope in the last quarter by letting you pass him a couple times. That is the sixth strategy."

Yeno-chin truly is a terrifying person...

Even the coach looks surprised

I lean with my arm on her head and look down on coach Riko to see her expression. She's looking at her with wide eyes.

"We already won before we even started playing." Yeno-chin says with a smile "I do have something to tell you though.." She looks at coach Riko with a look I can't describe "don't try to beat me when it comes to strategies, you won't stand a chance." She gives her a sweet smile before looking at Kaga-chin "you should focus more on your toes when you jump, it takes the pressure off your knees, and try to look for some braces. They can save your knees and reduce the pain." She waves at coach Riko and the rest of their team "have a nice day!"

We continue to walk and Yeno-chin starts yawning again. She must be exhausted...

"Yeno-chin, aren't you tired.." I look down on her and watch how she shakes her head. "Are you sure?"

She nods.

I bend down a bit and lift her in the air, she's way too stubborn.

She falls asleep in no time. Resting her head against my shoulder.

The coach looks at us and shakes her head a bit "I can't believe her..."

"She helped Kise with his ankle during our game against Kaijo." Muro-chin says "she even put Atsushi on the bench."

"She wanted to prove a point." I say, shaking my head a bit before yawning, I can't wait to get to the hotel and sleep...

"She is a terrifying opponent." The coach says and we continue walking to the hotel.

But she is, I wouldn't want her as my opponent in anything.