That Manager - Kuroko no Basuke (Book 1)

第11Q

"They can pass like that?" asked Takao, taken aback by the pass, like everyone else.

'I've never seen that before either.' thought Hyuga with a grin. 'But thanks to him, the flow of the game hasn't changed. This game is just getting started!'

It was Shutoku's turn to get the ball. Midorima's teammate passed him the ball and was about to shoot when he saw Kuroko running towards his team's basket again. Realising it would only repeat what had happened earlier, he passed the ball instead. 'Has Midorima been shut down by Kuroko's long-distant pass?' wondered Yasu when she saw he didn't shoot. 'Now that I think about it, he might have been. Midorima's team returns to defence during the long hang-time of his shots, and that's good for stopping run-and-gun plays.

'However, not everyone goes back. Just in case he misses, they leave someone to rebound the ball. If Midorima can go back, Kagami can also run back. They can counter Midorima with a super fast break by running past him. That's why Midorima can't shoot. But the timing and decision to execute that pass, the confidence to get in one shot; it's reaffirming.' She then smiled when her gaze landed on Kuroko. 'He's really a battle-hardened warrior.'

Takao smirked as he glanced at everyone around him. 'We can't have people think this is all it takes to shut us down.' he thought. He drove by Izuki and did a backward pass when Mitobe stood in his way. Otsubo received the ball and shot the basket. When Kuroko had the ball passed to him by Hyuga, he glanced back to see Mitobe raising his hand as he neared the basket. Kuroko passed the ball to him and the upperclassman shot the basket.

"Takao, Kimura, change marks." called Shutoku's coach, who was a middle-aged man with black hair and wearing a formal white shirt with a black tie. "Takao, get number 11."

'He's marking Kuroko?' thought Hyuga, surprised at the coach's decision.

"It doesn't matter who's on him." said Furihata.

"He's so invisible, anyone would lose him." added Kawahara.

But Riko and Yasu knew something was up. 'They're already taking a direct approach.' thought the former suspiciously. 'What are they trying to do?'

Takao had the ball and did another backward pass with his gaze kept in front, surprising Izuki. 'That pass!' he thought as Shutoku shot another basket. 'He has it, too!'

"I knew this would happen." said Takao as he ran backwards, facing Kuroko until the two stopped. "Shin-chan would say it's our fate to fight against each other. I didn't think we'd face each other soon. It occurred to me the first time we met. You and I are the same kind of person. We're both first years, too. Passing is our bread and butter. So I guess you could say I hate you because you're like me. I just don't want to lose to you."

"What do you think you're doing?" asked Kagami when he saw Takao marking Kuroko directly. "No matter how fast Takao is, that's not the way to handle Kuroko."

"I am already familiar with Kuroko's abilities." said Midorima, not directly replying his question. "You will see soon enough."

Takao stole the ball that was passed to Kuroko and threw it to his teammate, who passed to his teammate, who scored the basket. "I've never felt this before, but I think it's because there's something different about you." he said to Kuroko, trapping him with his strong gaze.

"I'm sorry." said the latter. "No one has ever said that to me before, so I don't know what to say." Takao looked at him with wide eyes, taken aback by his sentence. "But I think I have a similar feeling."