ＭＳ. ＣＯＡＣＨ - ＫＵＲＯＫＯ ＮＯ ＢＡＳＫＥＴ

CHAPTER 25 - HIMURO TATSUYA AND KIYOSHI TEPPEI

WORDS BETWEEN -   - MEANS THOUGHTS
WORDS IN BOLD MEANS ENGLISH

3rd POV - AUTHOR

And like (F/N) said, once the 3rd quarter started, Kagami was on Himuro. 

"Huh? Seems like Yosen changed their formation to Triangle Two." (F/N) sighed. 

"Seems like Taiga and Tatsu are gonna start their battle now." She commented.

Aomine squinted his eyes. "He wasn't here in middle school but he's pretty good." Momoi looked at her childhood friend in disbelief.

"HAHAHA! Who knew the Aomine Daiki could sense danger from him!? But you're right, Tatsu came to Japan this year. He's my childhood friend. We met when he came to America when I was in 2nd grade and he was in 3rd grade. He's basically on par with you, GOMs." (F/N) smiled.

Himuro jumped up and so did Kagami but later, he realized that it was a fake. 

Hyuga came to block him but he scored too fast to get a reaction out of the captain. Everyone was in such shock. 

Aomine and Momoi turned to see if their former coach was shocked but saw her and Alex neutral.

"Aren't you surprised, Coach (F/N), Alex-san!?" The pink haired girl yelled.

"Kinda. We taught him that so no surprise. Though, he has gotten better." (F/N) replied. "But!" They were cut off.

"If you think that there was a trick, there wasn't. Tatsu just made a fake, did a drive, stopped, and jumped. Unlike you, Daiki, who is all about formless shots, he likes to play textbook style. He takes that and polish it to make it look easy, like a dance."

Hyuga then had the ball and scored a 3 pointer. There was some teasing between Yosen and also some tension between Kiyoshi and Murasakibara. 

Kagami and Himuro were back at it again. Himuro then jumped to shoot the ball and Kagami jumped along to block him. That was when the ball went past his hand and into the basket.

Everyone was surprised and started to go crazy. 

At first glance, it looks like Kuroko's 'Phantom Shot' but it is different. 

"'Mirage Shot' is what the shot is called. Before Tatsu went to Japan, he did some training with me and Alex." (F/N) stared at the court. 

"All the skills we taught him, he's gotten better with them." She continued.

The 4 couldn't help but feel anxious about what was bound to happen. Kagami was then subbed out. 

(F/N) sensed something off about Kagami. It was now Kiyoshi vs. Murasakibara. Kiyoshi went for a shot but Murasakibara hit the ball. 

Quickly, Kiyoshi grabbed the ball again then went to the 3 point line.

He jumped and shot the ball and scored. That point surprised everyone. 

For the next plays, Kiyoshi moved to playing point guard, making everyone shocked again. 

Kiyoshi then jumped, making 2 Yosen players jump after him but he passed the ball to Izuki. 

Yosen's players then mark the said boy after he jumped with the ball. 

Izuki released the ball into mid air and Kiyoshi grabbed the ball and dunked it, performing an alley oop. "WE WILL WIN!" He yelled.

POV - (L/N) (F/N)

Ever since Kiyoshi-senpai started to be a point guard, Serin seems more confident about scoring. They pulled fakes and were able to score 3 pointers until Yosen took an emergency time out. 

I looked at Atsushi and saw him very agitated. During the game, he usually never lets anyone pass him but Seirin was able to score.

"Seems like Kiyoshi-senpai pushed Atsushi's buttons to make him act like that. He usually thinks before he acts but he's been moving out of pure instincts." I said.

"Despite his gentle face, he's pretty sly." Daiki commented.

I smiled. "He ain't an 'Uncrowned King' for nothing." I stopped smiling. -He would be so much better if Hanamiya Makoto didn't do that to him.-

I met the dude before; in middle school to be exact. I was just walking by, finished filling the water bottles for the team since Satsuki was sick when he cat-called me. 

It happened a few times during tournament season. Oh how much I hate his guts. His face is just so ugly. At times, I dredged game season.

Once the time out was over, I saw Taiga back in the game again. He was back against Tatsu but there was something off about him. 

As Tatsu was about to pull a fake on Taiga, he was able to smack the ball out of his hands. 

The ball then went to Izuki-senpai's hands who then passed it back to him.

Taiga raced down the court and was face to face with Atsushi. He jumped up from the free throw line. 

"Oh? He's trying that already, huh?" Alex asked.

"This is Taiga we're talking about. Of course he wants to try something new during a game." I said. "You're right." She nodded.

Sadly, Atsushi blocked the ball out of bounds and Taiga fell.

When the ball was back in and Kiyoshi-senpai had the ball, he was triple teamed. -Yikes.- 

One of them tapped the ball out of his possession and ran to the other side of the court. 

He then passed to Tatsu when Taiga was able to reach him. When Tatsu jumped, I saw how Taiga slipped on some sweat on the floor.

Despite that, he was able to touch the ball, making it hit the rim and out. Taiga seemed lost in thought when he had the ball. I smirked. 

-Seems like he found out the secret about 'Mirage Shot'.- I then scanned the court but my eyes landed on Kiyoshi-senpai's knee. 

-Oh shit. He needs to get out of the game or he'll collapse.- I bit the inside of my cheek. -This is not good.-

Taiga then passed the ball to the centre but once again, he was triple teamed. 

He then passed to Izuki-senpai who tried to score a 3 pointer but missed. 

Kiyoshi-senpai didn't waste the chance and dunked the ball into the basket. I winced at the sight of his knee. 

Just as Seirin was heading back to the other side, Kiyoshi-senpai's knee gave up. -Crap.-

He got back up and brushed everyone off. I just stared at his knee. When Yosen had the ball, Hyuga-senpai intercepted the pass and passed to Kiyoshi-senpai. 

-He's overworking himself.- Just when the triple block was about to happen, he passed to Izuki-senpai who passed back to Kiyoshi-senpai who tried to score a 3 pointer.

The ball hit the rim and bounced back but then Taiga jumped and dunked the ball into the basket. 

"THEY MADE IT!" "SERIOUSLY!? NOW THE GAP IS ONLY 5 POINTS!" The crowd yelled.

I looked at the scoreboard and indeed, Seirin was only 5 points behind. 

Though, there was a very scary aura around Atsushi. -All I know is that things are about to go down.- I sighed.