Ｌｉｇｈｔ

nine - scores

With their declarations of war finished, the game could continue uninterrupted, at least for a while. Hyuuga threw in the ball to Sasaki, who started towards the other end of the court. But then, just as he got to the half court line, he jumped and shot the ball.

Shoosh~

Sasaki smirked at all of the jaw drops his action had just caused, especially since the ball had gone in. "What the?!" Riko stood up, her eyes wide.

"No way.."

"That was insane!"

"Who is that guy?!"

"That was incredible, Sasakicchi!" Kise's eyes were as bright as his smile as he said that. "You can shoot from half court and make it?"

"Yeah, as you can see," He peace signed, bluffing with the best of them, "so better watch out," Sasaki warned. They didn't actually need to watch out, since his half court shooting percentage was about 30%. It would at least bounce off the rim, that's the only thing he could promise.

"Restart, Kise! What the hell are you doing, chatting on the court?!" Kasamatsu probably would have kicked him had he not had the ball at that moment.

Suddenly, the game was kicked into a higher gear, both sides going at it like if they didn't score, they would die. Sasaki wasn't sure he liked that energy.

Both sides were scoring repeatedly, it was an all out brawl at that point. The teams were mostly leaving it up to the two aces, Kagami and Kise. Sasaki was slowly disappearing into the background; since he was doing less, the other team didn't focus on him as much as they had after his three point shot from half court.

Utilizing Kuroko as much as possible was almost easy because of how used to being around him Sasaki was. Of course, using him too much was not exactly the best idea, either.

Heads up, alley-up! He thought as he dove in from the outside. Going to shoot the ball, he faked around the block and tossed it over them to Kagami, who slam dunked it into the hoop.

"Nice pass," Kagami grunted when he landed, making Sasaki chuckle. "What's an alley-up?"

"Oh shush! Come on, gotta get back~" He said, both darting to the other side for defense as one of the Kaijo players threw in the ball to Kasamatsu.

Almost every time Kise and Kagami squared off, the blonde would copy whatever the redhead had done previously. It was honestly getting ridiculous, in Sasaki's opinion.

Suddenly, Riko called a time out, which made sense to Sasaki. The pacing they were going at was way too harsh, not for him since he'd been through worse during street ball, but it was taxing to say the least.

After a water break, Riko squatted down to talk strategy. "We have to deal with Kise-kun first," She explained, moving a piece on the board.

"I can't believe Kagami can't handle the guy himself," Hyuuga grumbled, almost making Sasaki want to facepalm. "Should we put another guy on him?"

"Yes, for now I want Sasaki to guard Kise instead, but if that's not enough, I'll have Kagami and Sasaki double team him. That will most definitely work," Riko nodded, so Sasaki hummed in affirmation.

"Orders have been received, chief."

"It's coach."

"Same thing, both command respect and results, right?" Sasaki grinned as if he'd just won something. "Don't worry, none of us have crumbled yet, so we can still put up a fight."

"That's not what we're worried about, daho," Hyuuga hit him on the back of the head, making him cry out like a scorned puppy.

"The high paced game is already taking a toll on everyone, and my effectiveness is wearing off as well," Kuroko added to the conversation as Sasaki rubbed the spot he had been hit. "I can't use my misdirection the entire forty minutes."

"Yeah, no one expected you to," Sasaki yawned, then blinked as everyone else stared at him. He spluttered, "Wait, you expected him to keep it up the entire game?! That's ludicrous!"

"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US SOMETHING SO IMPORTANT SOONER?!" Riko yelled, using a chokehold on Kuroko as several angry veins bulged on her face.

"I'm sorry! You didn't ask.." Kuroko replied as best he could from the position of being chokeholded.

"Do you not say anything unless you're asked?!" The coach demanded, her grip on him tightening. Sasaki was a bit impressed with her technique.

Suddenly, the referee blew the whistle and announced that the time out was over, startling everyone. "All I got to do was strangle Kuroko-kun!" Riko gasped, aghast at herself as the players headed back onto the court. "Switch to zone to zone defense! Focus on stopping Kise-kun!"

"Yes ma'am!"

"Looks like you guys had fun," Kise commented, making Sasaki shrug.

"Chief had the most fun, strangling Kuroko."

"Seriously?" The blonde laughed. "Anyway, looks to me like you've switched marks," His eyes flared, "I won't go easy on you."

"If you say so," Sasaki shrugged again, and the game resumed a few moments later. Getting the ball, Kise looked startled that the team was doing a box and one defense.

However, the first two were Kagami and Sasaki, so when Kise passed to Kasamatsu. Sasaki followed up and blocked him easily. "Don't get carried away now," He winked at the captain.

Disgust lined his face, making the white haired male chortle as he headed towards the other side, where the others were.

"Kagami!" He called from behind said person, who looked to be in a bind with Kise in front of him. He could tell Kagami was about to pass to Kuroko, but Sasaki could tell that the Kaijo players were beginning to see him now, so it would be bad to pass to Kuroko at that moment.

The redhead glanced back at him, as a fake, and still passed to Kuroko. It was stolen, making Sasaki huff as they scored. "Freaking nuts, this isn't exactly a good start, now is it?" Sasaki mused, looking at the score. It was Kaijo 30 to Seirin 25.

"What should we do, Sasaki?" Hyuuga asked behind him, making him shrug.

"I'm down to do another three if need be, but I can't promise it will go in again."

"Then don't, just pass to me," The captain said, making the kowhai smirk.

"Very well captain, your wish is my command."