Ｌｉｇｈｔ - 𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮

two - counting down

"Team play at the Zone's speed?" Mibuchi gawked as he stood with the rest of Rakuzan. "How is that even possible?"

The score was 122 Rakuzan to 118, only a four point difference; just two baskets would fill in that gap. And that's exactly what Seirin went about doing. "Defense, let's stop them!" Hyuuga yelled as he fronted Mibuchi, and everyone else got into position with a shout of confirmation.

Kuroko was on Mayuzumi, Kagami was on Akashi, Sasaki was on Hayama, and Kiyoshi was still on Nebuya as they all fought for the win like their lives depended on it. Mibuchi went for a three, but it was a fake and allowed him to get around his mark, except Kagami was waiting for him. When he tried passing to Nebuya, Kagami made eye contact with Kuroko, who burst between them and stole the ball.

Sasaki was already booking it, so Kuroko threw the ball to him, then to Hyuuga, who passed to Kagami as the redhead zoomed ahead and made eye contact with everyone. This time, he passed to Sasaki, who proceeded to give it to Kiyoshi and then Kuroko, who gave it back to Kagami as the redhead made it past Rakuzan's defense.

"Get Hyuuga, Mayuzumi!" Akashi ordered as Kagami was charging through. Luckily the Rakuzan phantom didn't hesitate, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to get a hand on Hyuuga's shot. Nebuya got the rebound, so Seirin retreated to their side of the court as Rakuzan went on the offensive.

"If we can stop them, victory will be in reach!" Hyuuga told the team as everyone got on their marks. "Dig deep! Give every last drop!"

"Defense! Defense! Defense!" The bench called out, but Akashi wasn't going to let Seirin win so easily. Charging in, he ankle breaked Kagami and shot, making the point gap increase back to six.

"I will win," Akashi said, his heterochromic eyes fierce. "You're far too inexperienced to beat Rakuzan."

"I mean, you aren't wrong," Sasaki made a face. "But like come on, dude, that's a bit mean, don't you think?"

"Perhaps so," the captain agreed once he had landed, his gaze softening as he looked at his lover. "I lost my temper for a moment."

"Well this has been really stressful, so I totally get it!" The azurette beamed as he made a waving motion.

"SASAKI, FOCUS!"

"Ack, sorry!" Sasaki quickly went to throw in as the clock wound down from 42 seconds, the scoreboard showing 124 to 118.

"Defense, focus up everyone!" Akashi demanded as he fronted Sasaki. "Once we stop them, it's over!"

"Yeah!" The rest of Rakuzan cheered, getting on their own marks. This time, Kagami was being double teamed by Mayuzumi and Hayama, making things a lot more difficult. Sasaki pursed his lips as he moved the ball around, keeping it out of Akashi's reach but making sure to keep his eyes peeled for any openings.

"Sasaki!"

"Have at it," The azurette passed to Kiyoshi, but Nebuya wasn't an easy person to get passed, or even budge in any situation. Thus, Kiyoshi soon was forced to pass to Hyuuga, who found that Mibuchi was very intent on not letting him move an inch.

"Captain!" Kuroko called, so the shooting guard threw the ball to him, allowing the blue haired boy to shoot the ball to Kagami right between the redhead's two marks. The unexpectedness of the pass got Kagami the few seconds he needed to get a shot in, thus boosting Seirin's score, breaking one twenty at 121 to Rakuzan's 124.

"What's the time?!" Riko demanded, her eyes shooting towards the timer. "Twenty seven seconds left."

"DEFENSE!" Hyuuga called. "Give them everything!"

"Yeah!"

"DEFENSE!" Seirin's bench yelled out, stomping. However, Rakuzan wasn't shaken in the least, and passed the ball around, not rushing anything and going at their own pace. There was no chance to steal, and time was running down. 17 seconds, 16 seconds, 15 seconds, 14 seconds, 13 seconds, 12 seconds.

It was a mistake to let me fade from your sights, Sasaki thought to Akashi as he stole the ball that Mibuchi was trying to pass to Nebuya. "Run!" The azurette yelled, and immediately Seirin was gunning for the other side, the seconds still counting down: 10 seconds, 9 seconds. "Kagami!" Sasaki called, but Akashi got in front of him to cut off that path.

Good thing I wasn't actually going to give it to him, Sasaki thought to himself as he maneuvered the ball to Hyuuga, who caught it with a shocked look on his face. However, he didn't have time to hesitate with Mibuchi closing in on him, so as the Rakuzan player went up to block him, Seirin's captain got an idea.

There's a way not just to retaliate, but to win!

Atta boy, Sasaki smiled as Hyuuga made Mibuchi foul him, and shot the ball at the same time. The ball bounced on the rim, circled it, and then fell through the basket. "Basket counts, one free throw!" The referee announced.

The score was tied at 124s, the timer paused at 4 seconds as all of Seirin practically screamed in excitement. "He made the three!"

"And he gets one free throw! It's a miraculous four point play!"

"Yeah!"

"You did it, captain!"

They were three points behind, Mibuchi thought to himself, hands closed into fists. We could've at least gone into overtime if I'd let him shoot a normal three, but... "Sorry guys," He hung his head as he approached his team.

"Don't apologize," Akashi rejected, causing his teammates to look at him as he used his jersey to wipe his face. "Now isn't the time to blame yourself. The next rebound will be the moment of truth."

"Don't you dare miss, Hyuuga," Kiyoshi held his fist up, causing the captain to huff and shake his head.

"Like hell I will, daho," He sneered, but fist bumped him anyway.

"Yo, Sasaki," Kagami spoke up, causing the azurette to glance at him with raised eyebrows. "We've gotta be ready," He held his own fist out. "So I'm counting on you to have my back under the net."

"I'll be there," Sasaki smirked with a nod, bumping his fist against the redhead's. "Now, let's do this."

"Right!"

[Want more without the wait? Several more chapters are already published on my Patreon page, so look for them under the Light Side Story subscription! Link is on my profile~]