That Manager - Kuroko no Basuke (Book 1)

第12Q

Shutoku was ahead of Seirin throughout the second quarter. The rain pouring heavily outside seemed to have matched the mood of Seirin team, as they were in their locker room, not uttering a word as their moods were dampened from Midorima shooting three-pointers throughout the second quarter.

'No one's talking.' noted Yasu as she watched her teammates with a worried look, feeling hopeless knowing there was nothing she could do to lift their spirits. 'What should I do?'

Riko shook her head, worrying about the same thing as the manager was thinking. 'Focus, focus!' she scolded herself before she realised what she had said. 'Fo-kiss?' She then remembered what she had told the boys before the first match began. 'I said I'd kiss them during the Seiho game!' Soon, she was having a debate with herself. 'What should I do? I can't do the same thing again, can I? Or maybe... But wouldn't that be more than a kiss? That's ridiculous! But...' Finally giving in to the thought, with her fist clenched, she stammered, "Hey, everyone..."

"Coach, it's okay." said Hyuga, knowing what she was going to say. "You're probably going to say something stupid anyway." She blushed with embarrassment. "Read the situation."

'But I have to give credit to her for trying to cheer them up.' thought Yasu with a small smile.

"Kuroko, what are you doing?" asked Izuki, noticing the junior watching a clip from a video camera.

"Someone taped Takao-kun during the first half." he replied.

"Do you have a plan?" asked Izuki.

"I don't know." replied Kuroko, surprising him.

"You don't know?" he repeated.

"I have thought about winning, but I have never wondered if I can win or not." added Kuroko, which got Kagami's attention. "Even if we lose by 100 points, there's a chance a meteor will strike the other team's bench in the last second."

Yasu blinked owlishly at him with a sweat drop on her temple. 'How can he say that so calmly?' she wondered. 'And where did that idea come from?'

"You're right." agreed Izuki, followed by the others giving a nod.

"Don't give me that!" scolded Hyuga, shooting up from his seat. "There isn't going to be a meteor. That's a crazy thought."

"But what if they all got stomach aches?" wondered Tsuchida.

"Don't get carried away." scolded the captain. "That won't happen either."

"Well, compared to that, a second-half comeback is way more realistic." said Koganei with his hands placed on the back of his head, smiling. Mitobe nodded in agreement.

'That sounds better.' thought Yasu, softly chuckling to herself.

"Let's just keep running and think after the game's over." said Hyuga. "Let's go!"

"Yeah!" shouted the boys in unison.

Once both teams returned to the court, with Koganei substituting Kuroko, the buzzer went off. "Let the third quarter begin!" announced the referee.

'Something...' prayed Riko desperately. 'We just need some kind of opening.'

'What's this?' thought Takao, noticing his opponent was on the bench. 'I thought they would try a little harder.'

'Their eyes aren't all dead yet, but what is this?' thought Midorima with his gaze focused on Kagami. 'This is more than just not giving up. Well, no matter. I will simply crush him.'