The game resumed with Kagami having the ball while in the Zone. Like he did when scoring the first basket, he jumped up high from the free-throw line and aimed the ball at the hoop. "What?" gasped Reo. "He can't be doing it again!" Nebuya attempted to block the shot, but Kagami hurled the ball at the hoop while avoiding the defence, scoring another basket for the team.
"Kagami-kun." muttered Kuroko, who was as astounded as the rest when he did another Meteor Jam. Akashi only stared at the said boy over his shoulder.
'Amazing.' thought Izuki. 'When he's in the Zone, Kagami's attack powers are at a different level. But...'
"Isn't this a bad thing?" asked Susa. "Zone uses up stamina like nothing else, right? Is he going to last till the end?"
"There's no way he'd last." replied Aomine, diverting his teammates' attention towards him. "Let's say you filled a bathtub full with water."
"Huh?" responded the confused upperclassman. "A bathtub?"
"When you enter the Zone, it's like pulling the plug on the drain." explained the ace. "The hot water drains out in no time."
"That's an easy way to understand analogy, but does he think I'm an idiot?" muttered Susa.
"No, doesn't he like you or something?" remarked Imayoshi.
"If they don't do anything about this, he won't last the first half, let alone the whole game." commented Aomine seriously.
Mayuzumi attempted to score with a lay-up, but Kagami slapped the ball away. 'Even his defence is unstoppable!' thought Nebuya.
"Amazing." said Koganei when he saw the scoreboard. "He's holding Rakuzan completely scoreless."
"This is Kagami's one-man show..." trailed off Tsuchida.
However, Riko's brow furrowed before turning to the benchwarmers. "Mitobe-kun, get ready to swap in!" she ordered.
"Coach?" called Furihata, who was as confused as the rest.
"Rather than half-assedly putting on the brakes, I'll go with this!" she said. "But so he doesn't run out of stamina, I'm going to have Kagami-kun concentrate on offence." When the ball went out of bounds, the referee blew his whistle, and Riko took this chance to request for a member change with Mitobe standing next to her in his jersey. "Kuroko-kun, swap out!" The said boy looked at her with surprise, as well as the other four.
"Mitobe for Kuroko?" questioned Izuki.
"I see." said Kiyoshi, who understood what was going on. "If it's just defence, Mitobe is still better overall."
Kuroko arrived at the bench looking pale from top to toe, and had dark lines covering one side. "I went out thinking I'd pretty much go all-out." he said sulkily.
"Don't get so depressed." consoled Koganei with a sheepish smile.
"What, he's being swapped out already?" complained someone from the audience, which immediately got Yasu's attention.
"I wanted to see him play a bit more." added another.
"The crowd has great expectations of you, so you'll be back in no time." said Koganei as Kuroko sat on the bench while wiping away his sweat with a clean towel.
"Okay." he responded. But Yasu stared at him from the corner of her eyes, and frowned deeply.
The game resumed with Izuki dribbling the ball while the team's ace ran with him. "And so, Kagami, you're going to concentrate on offence." he instructed.
YOU ARE READING
That Manager - Kuroko no Basuke (Book 3)
Hayran Kurgu(Third Book of "That Manager") Yukimura Yasu was the manager of the Teiko Junior High basketball team, a team that consisted of six team players each with special skills and abilities. However, during her Senior year, she had to move to another coun...
