"Twelve-point gap." noted Himuro. "Akashi's defending a deeper area than ever before. I assume his defensive area is ridiculously huge like Taiga's. The others are going with it-"
"No." corrected Murasakibara, interrupting his teammate mid-sentence. "After that many mistakes in a row, I don't think Aka-chin expects anything from them."
"I-Impossible." gasped Himuro before looking back at that court with shock. "He'll play defence by himself too?"
Suddenly, every Seirin player felt the atmosphere became dense, and that was when they realised they were inside Akashi's defensive area, catching them off guard. 'No way!' thought Izuki. 'We're already in his defensive area?' Before he could react, the Rakuzan captain knocked the ball out of his hand and started dribbling across the court.
"A steal into a fast break?" gasped Wakamatsu, who was also surprised by the sudden attack.
Kagami then caught up, trying to stop Akashi as much as he could. 'Focus.' he reminded himself. 'Even if it's just clinging on, I have to stop him!' Akashi did an ankle-break dribble, causing Kagami to fall forward on his knees. "Damn you!" he cussed before abruptly turning around to steal the ball, but Akashi, too, suddenly stop. Kagami lost his balance and fell forward again.
"A comical show of resistance." scoffed Akashi while getting into his shooting position. "Stay there on your hands and knees." He released the ball, and it went into the hoop. Everyone on the court stared at him with surprise, including his teammates.
"Sei-chan..." trailed off Reo when the said boy walked passed him.
"On defence, watch out for threes." he ordered. "Even you can do that much, correct?" This took his teammates by surprise again.
"Surely you..." argued Reo, but he couldn't find the words to continue as he trailed off at the end.
"Akashi!" called Hayama.
"I have no expectations." he said coldly. "If you cannot do even that, I will do it myself too." Yasu frowned deeply at their exchange, clearly not liking how Akashi suddenly abandoned his teammates during the match.
"Offence or defence, the biggest threat is the Emperor Eye." said Imayoshi, who caught Wakamatsu's attention. "If Akashi won't rely on his teammates anymore, it's similar to our situation with Seirin. A duel between the two in the Zone. Back then, two players were almost even, but Akashi is totally overwhelming now. Reflexes that move after seeing the opponent's movement can't overcome prediction."
The game resumed with Seirin on offence, but Akashi had knocked the ball out of Kagami's hands, and it bounced out of the court. "Out of bounds!" shouted the referee after blowing his whistle. "Black ball!"
Kagami stood to catch his breath while Akashi calmly went back to defence. 'Dammit, it's no good!' berated the former. 'No matter what I do, I can't play any better than I am now!' Like Aomine, Kagami began to picture himself deep inside the water as he sunk deeper to the bottom. 'I entered the Zone, but now I'm at the bottom of the water. But I can't find a way to open the new door that I see down there! I have to get the guy in front of to step aside. Just waiting will never open it! What should I do? What should-'
"Kagami-kun." called a familiar voice from next to him, suddenly snapping him out of his thoughts.
"Kuroko." responded the said boy.
"Why don't we give up for now?" was his question, which caught off his teammates by surprise.
"What are you saying?" asked Kagami. "We came this far!"
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...
