That Manager - Kuroko no Basuke (Book 1)

第16Q

Yasu was piggy-back riding her brother as he walked along the stone path, looking at his side with a deadpan expression. "You know..." she trailed off after sighing. "If your plan was to watch the championship league all this while, I would've told my teammates that I would be joining them."

"What do you mean?" he asked innocently as the siblings were nearing the stadium. "Can't I spend time with my imouto-chan with watching a basketball match?"

"Of course you can." she said as the guard allowed them to enter the stadium, opening the glass door for them. "But you didn't have to carry me all the way here. Are my feet in such a bad condition?"

"Nope." he replied, making his way towards a double-door before glancing back at her with a sheepish grin. "I just miss carrying my baby sister like this."

Yasu let out a soft sigh before chuckling, leaning her head into the crook of his neck. "I can't deny it feels nice like this." she muttered, earning a warm smile from him. Giichi managed to open the door and stepped into the stadium. He stood at the back and helped his sister down, who gasped when she noticed what was written on the scoreboard. With six minutes and fifteen seconds left, Touou's score was double of Seirin's.

Seirin tried to make a basket but the ball bounced off the rim. Mitobe was about to rebound when Wakamatsu, a boy with light blond spiky hair, caught it. "Alright, take this!" he yelled before throwing the ball towards his teammate.

'Imayoshi-nii, huh?' thought Yasu, recognising the player, who had messy black hair that reached over his eyes and wore glasses over his squinting eyes.

"What are you going to say this time?" he mocked as he jumped to score a basket. Izuki tried to stop him but Imayoshi made a double clutch, eventually scoring two points for his team.

"When you heard Aomine would be late, I bet you thought you should score as many points as you can." said Imayoshi, as if he could read what Seirin was thinking. "Sorry, I guess I misspoke. We're only an opening act compared to Aomine." He used his finger to push up his glasses before adding, "We're probably stronger than you."

'They're strong.' noted Yasu. 'I didn't think they'd be this strong, neither did Riko-senpai. If Aomine joins in, we're screwed.'

"Hm?" said Giichi, looking at his smartphone with a raised brow. "I'm impressed with Touou's preliminary tournament scores." The scores were displayed on his phone screen, scores that were more than 100 points in every preliminary. He exited the browser and locked his phone before looking back at the match. "They're the total opposite of Seiho."

"Sorry!" shouted Touou's shooting guard, Sakurai, before he launched the ball at the basket. He had short brown hair and large brown eyes.

'Damn it, I can't block him!' thought an irritated Hyuga with an irk mark on his cheek. 'He's shooting while jumping! And if you're going to apologise, don't shoot in the first place!'

"Oh, sorry!" shouted Sakurai when he missed the shot, but his team scored the basket with the help of his teammate nudging it into the hoop, avoiding Kagami's block.

"These guys..." said Giichi, making his sister look at him as he stared at Touou's team. "Though we just started watching the match, I noticed that their care for their team is minimal, and there's no coordination at all. Their offense and defense is all one-on-one. They just get the ball themselves and score themselves."

"I see." said Izuki, who had realised the same thing. "I expected this, but that's your style."

"That's right." said Imayoshi. "Our team gathered athletes from across the country. The more skilled a player is, the stronger his sense of self. We've been trying all sorts of things in the last few years, though. More than holding hands and playing nice, this way works best. We're both offensive teams. This game should be interesting."