In the Stands
Kagami clenched his fists quietly as he watched the two intense teams battling it out on the court.
When they had faced Aomine, they were completely crushed. But Kaijo was holding their ground and fighting back.
"Is... the gap really that big?"
Kagami fell into self-doubt. Beside him, Kuroko also looked guilty.
"If only I were more useful... Kagami-kun wouldn't have to carry so much, and maybe we wouldn't have lost..."
At this moment, Seirin's famous "Light and Shadow duo" were both spiraling in depression mode.
The others in the stands didn't notice their emotional breakdown and continued watching the game, fully focused.
Aomine had been in the Zone for almost two quarters now, still relentless, attacking furiously without letting up.
Kaijo, meanwhile, had shifted their offense heavily onto Kota. With Kota taking the initiative, Kaijo's entire attack was centered around him. Even though Aomine could defend two players within a small area thanks to the Zone, Kota deliberately positioned himself diagonally opposite from Kise. Even in the Zone, Aomine couldn't cover both Kota and Kise at the same time.
"Step up! Get in his face!"
Kota shouted from the corner, his voice straining. Honestly, with his lack of athleticism and mediocre defense, camping in the corner fishing for open shots was a much better idea than pretending to help on defense.
Suddenly, Kota noticed Kise was a step behind his man. His gut dropped.
Sure enough, Aomine, mid-dribble, suddenly flicked the ball towards the basket. The ball hit the backboard, bounced awkwardly, and still rolled perfectly into the hoop.
Kota's eye twitched.
"Seriously?! How does THAT go in?! How is this called 'formless shooting'? This is basically 'chuck it and pray'... except it works."
"Sorry, my bad"
Kise gasped between breaths, raising his hand to admit fault. Yeah... his defense had completely collapsed on that play.
Kota glanced at him, shook his head without saying anything, then turned and threw a meaningful look at Coach Takeuchi.
The coach paused, glanced at the scoreboard:
52:40 — Too leading.
2 minutes left in the second quarter.
BEEEEEP—!
Timeout, Kaijo.
Kise dragged himself to the bench like an old man with back pain and collapsed into the seat, looking absolutely wiped.
Kasamatsu hurried over, patting Kise on the back, but then immediately shot a glare at Kota.
Kota looked deeply wronged.
"Hey, don't look at me like that! Letting Kise solo guard Aomine was YOUR idea... and Coach approved it too! How is this my fault?!"
Sensing Kota's desperate "help me" look, Takeuchi cleared his throat and said,
"Kise, take a break for now—"
"NO!"
Kota instantly jumped up, cutting him off before he could finish.
Just as he was about to argue more, he noticed Kasamatsu glaring at him like he was ready to commit a homicide.
Kota immediately changed tone,
"I mean... no... but also... not no-no, y'know..."
Kise, who had been lying slumped under a towel like a wilted vegetable, suddenly sat up straight.
"I'll do whatever Kota says" he said seriously, then proceeded to stare holes into Kota, waiting for his decision.
Not just Kise — everyone on Kaijo was now staring at Kota. With all those eyes on him, Kota sighed.
"Why do I feel like I'm the villain here...? I didn't break Kise... Aomine did..."
"Kise stays on the court."
Kota said it with the tone of a man about to shoulder the sins of the universe.
"Fine. I'll be the bad guy."
"Yeah, sure, Kise's in rough shape... but trust me! Aomine's not doing much better. If we let Kise rest now, Aomine gets to rest too. And all that punishment we took earlier? Completely wasted."
Kota scanned everyone, voice steady.
"Believe me. He can't stay in the Zone forever. It's either third quarter or fourth — our chance will come."
After finishing, he calmly looked at Kasamatsu. If there was anyone besides the coach who had the right to reject his plan, it was Kasamatsu.
Kasamatsu stayed silent. Yeah, he felt bad for Kise. But more than anything, he felt guilty.
"If I were just a bit stronger... the weight of this team wouldn't fall on a first-year..."
Kasamatsu mentally cursed himself.
"Some captain I am... what a failure."
His mind drifted back to last year's Nationals. As a second-year, all he could do was watch his seniors' backs...
"I promised them we'd win the championship... If I already failed them as a junior, I can't fail my juniors too."
With that thought, Kasamatsu nodded firmly at Kota.
Seeing Kasamatsu's approval, Kota finally let out a relieved sigh. Honestly, he was a bit worried. Even though Kasamatsu trusted him a lot, his affection for Kise was... significantly higher than for him. And that's saying something...
At that moment, a sharp whistle sounded. Timeout over.
Kasamatsu stood, glanced at his teammates, and barked,
"Let's go, boys! We're taking the championship!"
"YEAH!!"
...
In the Too Locker Room
"Daiki... how're you holding up?" Momoi asked, her face full of worry.
Aomine waved dismissively, trying to act cool. "I'm fine, Satsuki."
Yeah... except his voice was laced with exhaustion. Two quarters of Zone were catching up to him, no matter how much he pretended otherwise.
Momoi bit her lip, about to try and convince him to take a break, but the words that came out were,
"Kaijo's really putting up a fight... Keep it up, Dai-chan! This game might just be getting started!"
Aomine grinned, nodding. He couldn't help but chuckle, remembering Kaijo's furious counterattack after that last timeout.
"This... This is the kind of game I've been looking for. Satsuki, I think I've found the fun in basketball again"
His smile grew wider.
Seeing him laugh like that, Momoi couldn't help but smile too, her eyes curving into crescents.
...
Kaijo Locker Room
"I'm guarding Aomine for the third quarter" Kota announced, casually straddling the bench like he owned the place.
"You?" Kasamatsu looked at him, thoroughly skeptical. Sure, he trusted Kota, but...
Kota's defense was, let's be honest, impressively consistent — consistently terrible. Outside of giving off some weirdly intimidating aura that occasionally scared people for no reason, his defense was about as effective as an open window in winter.
"Of course, not me alone! Listen up, everyone..."
Kasamatsu immediately perked up, thinking maybe Kota had cooked up some genius plan. But the more Kota explained, the weirder Kasamatsu's face became. By the end of it, he couldn't help but point at Kota.
"You—!"
Kota spread his hands innocently, acting like he had no idea what he did wrong.
Kasamatsu stood there pointing for a solid five seconds before letting his arm drop with a deep sigh.
"Screw it. Fine."
Kota grinned mischievously.
"Get ready, Aomine... I've got a 'special surprise' waiting just for you..."