The captain

Chapter 35.

A/N: 8k reads?? bRUH Y'ALL ARE AMAZING I CAN'T🥺🥺

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Kuroo and (y/n) sat on the bleachers, waiting for the game to start and finally a woman's voice announced the two opposing teams, calling every player out in numerical order. The two teams greeted eachother and then proceeded to get into position. The two tallest players at center court ready to fight for possession of the ball and the rest of their teams around them ready to back them up. (y/n) felt herself get emotional, it should have been her at center court right now. Her spot was taken by one of the first years. She was the second tallest on the team and her skills were there but they weren't completely honed yet. She needed a lot of backup from the team and she was visibly nervous about starting for the first time. Let alone in the finals. (y/n) felt her heart clench at the fact that she wasn't on that court. Kuroo noticed a single teardrop fall onto the ground and he looked toward her. She was trying so hard to keep it in but her pain was too much for her to handle. Minako was too far from her, she couldn't see her. But she knew what her best friend was feeling, and in that moment she looked at her teammates and taking one deep breath she spoke loudly.

MINAKO: For our captain!
NEKOMA: Yeah!

The team responded in unison and (y/n) looked up to the court, she grinned at her team with tears in her eyes and answered them.

Y/N: LET'S GO NEKOMA!

And the entire Nekoma crowd repeated after her, cheering the team on. The twins on the opposing team looked her way, their eyes filled with respect for the former Nekoma captain.

Kuroo wrapped an arm around her.

KUROO: Let's do this.

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The first quarter was head to head. Whenever one team scored, the other would take the points back and neither of them could seem to get ahead. The team was playing well, the plays were working, (y/n) noticed they'd changed some of them so that they'd be able to do them without her and she was glad that she didn't take that big a toll on the team, or so it seemed in that first quarter.

Minako was like a machine, she'd learnt to be active offensively too, so she never stopped moving. The one thing they had on the other team was height. Minako wasn't as fast as the twins but she was taller so they had to use both her speed and her size if they wanted points. Right after the defensive play was over she had to run to the other side of the court to do a fast layup with an assist from Sakie.

That play worked pretty well, if only it weren't that tiring for Minako. Nekoma knew they had limited uses on that one, so they tried to rack up as many points as possible in the first quarter and then start getting thought through points, that were slower to get. The twins did not hold back, and were getting points just as fast as Minako was. Sakie occasionally got a three-pointer in, but right after one of the twins would get one too.

To stop Minako's play the other team opted for pressure defense. The playmaker was to have two defenders on her so that her pass to her helping teammate wouldn't be as clear. However, (y/n) made the team learn the same type of pressure defense, so they knew exactly how it worked, and managed to get around it.

The first quarter ended up favorably for Nekoma with a solid 37-35. But the real trouble began when the opposing team brought in a player that Nekoma didn't have any research on. She was big and tall, and her presence was definitely noticeable.

Y/N: Oooohhh ssshit.
KUROO: What? What happened??
Y/N: Akane Furutani happened. She used to go to a different school, I guess she switched and... Now we gotta play against her too. Shit.
KUROO: What's so special about her?
Y/N: She's super big and she's crazy good when she's close to the hoop. She's definitely gonna be a problem for them.

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And she was. The second quarter was disastrous.

47-69 was the score. Nekoma had completely lost their advantage, the first years lost their hope and the second and third years were struggling to keep them in check.

The game was going downhill and (y/n) knew her team too well. She knew they needed a push to get back on track. And she had to be the one to give it.