Ｌｉｇｈｔ - 𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮

one - beginning of the end

[Hello all, and welcome to Light's side story! As you know, this story is picking up right where the second-to-last chapter of Light left off since that's where things diverted. I know it was a long wait, but we're finally here! Enjoy~}

Kagami blinked.

"No damn way," he breathed as he looked at Sasaki. There was a newfound respect and awe in his eyes before he suddenly blinked again, and those eyes hardened with determination as he straightened. "Thank you," He swallowed, looking embarressed, before turning to the rest of the team. "Do you have a sec?"

"What is it?" Kiyoshi asked, glancing between him and the azurette.

"I'm sorry to change things up so suddenly, but I," The redhead glanced at Sasaki, not wanting to take credit for doing something that the azurette had been the one to do, but Sasaki just smiled. Go on, I believe in you.

Kagami felt his chest tighten at those words as an immense amount of guilt suddenly fell over him. He had been so awful to Sasaki, taking out his frustrations on him even though he was obviously doing his best to help the team. It was a wonder that Sasaki was able to smile at him, or even look him in the eye without disappointment or anger or outright hate in his eyes.

And yet, Sasaki continued to smile at him like he hadn't insulted him, hadn't outed him, hadn't betrayed him, hadn't battered him, hadn't turned his back on him. Kagami would have preferred those things to that smile in that moment because each second longer that he could see it, knew it was there, was another second that the guilt swarmed and tried to overwhelm him.

If we win this game--no, when we get out of here, I'll apologize properly, so please let me make this up to you, He broke eye contact with Sasaki, causing the male to hum.

Sounds good to me, Kagami.

"I have a plan to win," Kagami finally finished his sentence from earlier. He went on to explain, and his teammates all agreed to do their best to execute the plan. As they were spreading back out to get the game back on track, the redhead locked eyes with Sasaki once again.

Once this is over, I'll thank you too.

Sure, Sasaki's lips twitched up higher. I'd appreciate you putting more emphasis on the thank you when you do. And then, the game was going again with Seirin on defense and Rakuzan on offense.

They're running a tight man-to-man defense with Kagami on me, Akashi observed as he moved the ball around himself, one eyes flashing yellow briefly. Foolish, at least Hayate had a chance against me. In any case, his eyes returned to vibrant pink. Kagami has recovered, but not enough to reenter the Zone. It's the same for the other three. They're moving, but they're not faster than before.

Hayate worries me, though, he thought to himself as his eyes moved to look at his significant other. Sasaki was guarding Hayama easily, but wasn't trying to do anything drastic. He doesn't look like he's given up, but rather that he's toning himself down. No way, Akashi's eyes shot to Kagami with livid procision. What did this bastard say to him this time for him to be acting this way?

Passing the ball around quickly, Akashi kept the redhead in his peripherals. He was dangerous, both his potential in this game and in impacting Sasaki's mental state. Akashi could not afford to have Sasaki's mental state deteriorate any further, lest he be too far gone to save.

But then Akashi felt something shift in the air. Or maybe the air hadn't shifted right then, maybe he had only been able to sense it right then because of how close an eye he was keeping on Kagami; everyone on Seirin was syncronizing their movements to Kagami's.

How was that possible?

Before he could attempt to figure it out, Mibuchi called out to him, so Akashi passed to Hayama. If Sasaki wasn't going to go above how everyone else was going, then Akashi would exploit that. He could always make it up to his boyfriend later.

Kiyoshi was quick with the follow up, but Hayama got around him with a quick spin. Going up for a layup, Kagami got there first, but Hayama seemed to have expected it and double clutched. Right then, Hyuuga came out of nowhere and smacked the ball out of the cheetah's hand, making it go out of bounds.

Rakuzan was stunned. The Seirin bench went up in cheers, as did the crowd. "They stopped him!"

What was that? Akashi's eyes darted around like he was searching for answers. We caught Seirin off guard, but they all reacted immediately. Regardless, how are they able to coordinate with Kagami's movements?

Then suddenly in the crowd, Aomine burst out laughing. So that's how it is, he thought as he held a hand over his face. That's why it never opened for me. Now I understand why I was so drawn to you, why I felt complete whenever I saw you. You were the answer, you were always the answer, he smiled down at the court. Aya, you were just waiting for us to figure it out, weren't you?

Maybe, he sent back, glancing up briefly at the stands to where he knew his boyfriend would be.

The true Zone, Akashi realized with widened eyes.

"That's right," Kagami confirmed his thoughts like he had somehow inherited Sasaki's ability. "It's been right in front of us the entire time. Fighting alone was never the answer. Sasaki always said," He said, then his voice got louder with his next words. "WE WIN FIGHTING AS A TEAM!"

Kagami ran forward with the ball, now completely confident in himself and his teammates as the Zone beyond the Zone fueled him. They're synchronizing their movements with a second of eye contact.. Super high speed teamwork matching Kagami's Zone speed.. Akashi could barely track the ball with his eyes as the redhead threw to Kuroko and rounded Akashi just in time to catch the returning pass. The Direct Drive Zone!

"He passed him!" The crowd cheered as the bench roared. "Go Kagami!"

As Kagami neared Hayama and Nebuya, he made eye contact with Kiyoshi, who steeled himself quickly, caught the ball that was passed to him, and projected it up to the basket for the redhead as he easily broke through the two defenders. Grabbing the ball mid air, Kagami slammed it into the net.

And thus began the beginning of the end.

[ Next update will be next Friday, the 12th of May, so we'll see you then unless you wanna check out my Patreon 👀 bye! ]