When the ten-minute interval was over, the buzzer went off before the panel announced, "We will now be starting the third quarter."
"Alright!" yelled Hyuga to his teammates as they huddled in a circle. "Seirin, fight!"
"Yeah!" shouted back the rest.
"Oh man, look at that spirit." said Wakamatsu with amaze. "They haven't given up despite being so far behind."
Reo seemed to have heard this and humphed. "We'll see about that." he remarked. "To me, it looks more like they're trying to shake them off the shadows of despair that will completely surround their hearts at any moment."
'I'm counting on you, Hyuga-kun, and...' trailed off Riko before her gaze landed on the ace.
"Kagami-kun." called Kuroko, getting the said boy's attention as he stopped to look at him. "I ask of you." He then reached out his fist to him, and Kagami understood what he meant.
"Yeah, leave it to me." he assured before bumping his own fist against Kuroko's.
The game resumed with Seirin on offence, and Koganei replaced Mitobe. Izuki started dribbling the ball towards the hoop while his other teammates followed behind. Hyuga went around Reo, who was about to catch up with Koganei settled a screen. Izuki passed the ball to the team captain, and the latter scored with a three-point shot.
"Defence!" he yelled. "Let's stop one!"
"Well I'll be." commented Okamura. "Even in the situation of despair, Seirin's heart is still managing to barely hold on. There's no one move to turn everything around in basketball. But as long as you don't give up, the probability of victory will never fall to zero percent."
"You know, I hate to say this." said Murasakibara, getting his teammates' attention. "When I said they can't win, it wasn't because I was just looking at this situation."
"Seirin doesn't even have one percent of a chance?" questioned Susa while looking at Aomine, who was telling his teammates the same thing. "What do you mean by that, Aomine?"
"No, I meant they're going to lose that chance." he corrected. "Because Akashi is down there. He plucks out every possibility from his opponents until they have nothing left."
When it was Reo's turn to have the ball, he jumped, and Hyuga followed, but the latter realised that Reo was still on the floor. 'Can it be?' he questioned disbelievingly, seeming to know what Rakuzan's shooting guard was planning. And just like he had predicted, Reo jumped in an angle that made Hyuga bump into him when he released the shot, causing the referee to blow his whistle.
"Defence" he shouted. "Black, number 4!"
"What?" gasped Hyuga.
"Hyuga!" called Izuki with shock.
'That's his third one.' noted Yasu, who had uneasiness written all over her face. 'This isn't good.'
"It was a short while, but it was fun, Junpei-chan." mocked Reo.
'Using the Heaven shot as a decoy, he went with the Earth shot!' thought Hyuga when he recognised the shooting motion Reo did earlier. 'But more than that, I didn't hit him! No way! Not at this moment! We're desperate, and we're just about to get things going. What is this?'
"Number 4, hurry and raise your hand." said the referee.
"What's with that?" argued Hyuga desperately. "There was no contact just now."
"Wait, Hyuga-kun?" called Riko, who was surprised by his behaviour.
"Hands up." ordered the referee. "Now!"
YOU ARE READING
That Manager - Kuroko no Basuke (Book 3)
Fanfiction(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...
