In Shadows | Kuroko no Basket Fan Fiction

11. Unexpected End

In Shadows

Chapter Eleven

Unexpected End

It was now the third quarter of the match.

From the start, each team had come on and played seriously. In the beginning, it was hard to see who had control of the game. But, as the quarter progressed Shutoku was slowly beginning to break away and take control of the game, exploiting the weakness of Seirin's inside. Gina bit her lip as she watched the time begin to slip away. Come on, guys. They couldn't let Shutoku take too much of a head start before the fourth quarter if they wanted to win.

There was less than a minute left of the third quarter, and Midorima received the ball. Kagami went to block, but as he jumped, he couldn't get far off the ground. Midorima's shot went in but Kagami didn't seem to care - he was looking down at his knees. 

"Kagami!" Gina cried. No. He can't give out now, surely. 

The buzzer sounded. It's not the end of the quarter yet. It's a substitution. Gina glanced across and grinned, seeing Kuroko standing on the sidelines. This is it. He surely has something up his sleeve. Is he going to use his drive?

As soon as Kuroko came on, Seirin dropped their pace. Kise made not of this.

"If they play carelessly straight after bringing in their trump card, they'll lose control of the flow of the game," Momoi murmured. Gina glanced at Kuroko, wondering when he would bring out his drive.

It took some time, but Kuroko was able to reak free of Shutoku's defenses, and started running toward Midorima.

No. He's not looking to take on Midorima. Gina grinned, knowing what would come next.

Izuki threw the ball over to Kuroko, who caught it. After a few seconds, he drove forward.

Ilooked like an ordinary drive fromt where they were standing, but from the bewildered look on Midorima's face, Gina knew that Kuroko had just used his Vanishing Drive. She grinned widely as Kuroko passed to Kiyoshi, and he scored.

Gina looked over at Kise and Momoi, wondering what their reactions were like. Kise looked shocked. Momoi, while surprised, wasn't as shocked as Kise: she had seen Kuroko practice. Kuroko had even used it against her all those weeks ago.

"Tetsu-kun perfected his drive," Momoi breathed.

Shutoku next attempted to shoot but, caught off guard and shocked from Kuroko's drive, they missed. Kiyoshi managed to get the rebound and passed it off to Kuroko. He caught it again. Another Vanishing Drive.

The one who had been marking Kuroko for the beginning of the game ran forward, but Kuroko slipped past him once again. Kuroko passed to Hyuga, who managed to score a three.

Yes! Gina grinned as she watched.

Shutoku went for a throw-in, but Kuroko snuck in and stole the pass. He offloaded it to Hyuga, who scored yet another three, which evened the scores.

The quarter ended. Gina celebrated evenly, seeing the same scores for both teams on the scoreboards. Kuroko really brought it back for the team.

"Did you know he had perfected his drive, Gina-chan?" Momoi asked.

Gina shook her head. "No. But he's got it perfected now. It's going to be difficult to stop him." Then again, Shutoku now have a chance to recover and clear their heads. They won't be affected by his drive now they've had a chance to let it sink in.