Fragile Toughness

Serin Versus Shutoku (Part 2)

Kagami smacked the ball to Hyuga who tossed it to Izuki who was nearby. Just as Izuki was about to pass, he realized that the Shutoku players guarded all of his teammates.

Daymn!

"Kuroko said run-and-gun should work for now but at this stage..." His eyes darted around the court, allowing him to see a bird's eye view of the court and all the players in it. Just then, he saw a figure moving towards him rapidly.

"KUROKO!"

Izuki shot the ball. This was luck-based since he was somehow unable to see where Kuroko was.

"Got it!"

Signal 3.

Kuroko caught the ball and tossed it to the hoop, which Kagami quickly followed with an alley-loop. With both hands, Kagami jammed the ball into the hoop. The ball bounced onto the floor with a thump.

~~~

The bystanders were all in shock.

~~~

"That was the same thing Kurokocchi and Kagamicchi did that day!" Kise pouted. "I should be the one, not that Kagamicchi!"

~~~

The team cheered happily. The first point was theirs. If only they could continue with this much vigor throughout this match...

Kuroko frowned. This was all too easy. Midorima could have easily stopped us. Could he-

Kagami cheered as he got possession of the ball again.

"One more time!"

However, just as predicted, Midorima was there. His glasses glinted, reflecting off light as he appeared before Kagami. With the most arrogant face, he smacked the ball out of his hands right before the ball entered the hoop.

"As expected. You are useless without Kuroko."

Kuroko frowned as he returned to his place. Similar to how he could read Midorima's moves, he could also read his moves. Adding the fact that both their IQs were at least 170, it was not hard to read each other's minds.

~~~

Eight minutes in and the game was not looking good for Seirin anymore. With their control being stolen, it was close to impossible to gain back some control before the first quarter ended.

The spectators buzzed among themselves, with the different school teams all agreeing on one thing. There was no way Seirin could win back this quarter.

~~~

Hyuga ran to block Takao who was holding the ball, deciding where to shoot. He could not let the ball land in Midorima's hands. After watching the match against Shinkyo personally, Hyuga witnessed the terror of shooting specialist inflicted on the opposing players.

Maybe he needed more running exercises, Riko thought as Hyuga nearly missed the ball and it landed into Midorima's outstretched hands. The ball soared, making a pretty arc as it flew passed half-court worth of players, and over many Seirin players' heads before landing in the hoop.

"Shit!" Hyuga cursed.

Kuroko looked at the ball as it soared through the air before running forward. Passing a confused Kagami, he motioned him to start running to the opposite side of the court.

The ball went in neatly. Almost too perfect. It barely touched the net. The perfection earned Midorima the entire stadium's cheers at his three-pointer half-court shot.

~~~

"Midorin is performing well today."

"Yeah... but Kuroko ain't letting that slide past him."