Spark | Kuroko no Basuke x OC

Resolution

Tomoko drew her salmon eyes towards the fighting duo; she didn't want to admit it, but she felt a pang of worry when she heard the punch land across Murasakibara's cheek. It looked like it hurt a lot, if the glaring red mark on the giant's face was any indication.

"It looked like they were fighting about something," Hyuuga remarked from Seirin's side of the court. "Is everything okay?"

"It's probably the opposite," Kuroko revealed once he saw the renewed look on Yosen's faces. Murasakibara was tying up his long purple hair into a messy ponytail; violet eyes bore dangerously into his own sapphire ones as the buzzer sounded for the fourth quarter.

"They're more dangerous than ever."

Yosen's seemingly renewed drive posed as a problem for Seirin. They all knew that the result of Kagami being in the Zone had pushed them further than ever during this game, but being in the Zone is taxing on the user's body. There was no guarantee that Kagami will last until the end... However, what was more conflicting was Murasakibara.

Tomoko was ready to believe that he had given up after the third quarter, but it seemed that Himuro had changed his mind. It was both a good thing and a bad thing. Murasakibara was an overpowering opponent to start off with, and now that he's motivated again, he will be even harder to deal with.

As the last quarter commenced, she watched carefully as her team tried to counter Yosen. It was like Yosen had completely changed their formation and structure of their gameplay; she found it surprising that they were employing tactical team play.

Not once had she seen Murasakibara ever pass the ball when he was near the hoop in the game previously... But in order to win, he was willing to do anything it takes. Even the other Generation of Miracles who were present at the game expressed their awe at the abnormality.

Really... Tomoko's eyes stayed on the miracle's a bit longer as he ran back with his encouraging teammates. What caused this change?

She knew that the only thing Murasakibara could possibly lack at this point was his motivation and actual love for basketball. She understood that as the key factor to push him further and the one thing that could throw a wrench into this match. But even though she knew his motivation at the moment was fueled by his hatred for losing, she wondered if there could be a possible alternative...

Does Mura-kun truly hate basketball as much as he says?

Meanwhile, Kagami had ran up to Izuki to speak to the senior about a plan that he had in order for Seirin to push through. Immediately, he started off the next play with him becoming the point guard. This threw Yosen off briefly and he strategically made a comeback shot with the help of Kuroko's misdirection. The game went on like this with using Kagami as the sole offensive power while Murasakibara and his teammates worked together on offense to counter the unstoppable redhead.

It was ironic how both team's method of play had seemingly switched; but as the clock on the scoreboard ticked to the last two minutes, Tomoko knew that a change was going to have to happen soon because this kind of back and forth method wasn't going to let up. Yosen was still slightly in the lead, and any missed shots from either team could become fatal under such a time constraint.

"Okuma-chan!"

Tearing her eyes away from the court to look at Riko, the coach asked for her to retrieve a certain center who was resting in the gym's infirmary.

It was time.

-----

"White ball!" the referee called when the ball bounced out of bounds. Seirin was all running out of breath, and when a familiar buzzer sounded immediately after, they whipped their heads towards the direction of their hope.