-Emiko POV-
But it was too late...
He used the pass and Aomine managed to stop it...
"Did you think the same move would work against me twice?" said Aomine. "Try not to disappoint me so much, Tetsu. If this is your answer to defeating me, I'll make it clear. It's a useless effort"
Aomine grabbed the ball and scored again...
Wakamatsu stole the ball from Izuki and scored again...
'Clock, please stop...'
When the ball finally went out, our time out was called.
I gave Tetsuya a towel and sat down next to him...
He was defeated...
"First things first, Kuroko-kun, you're out" said Riko.
"Okay" said Tetsuya defeated.
"Now listen up, everyone" said Riko. "There's something I noticed watching the flow of the game"
I wasn't listening, I was looking at Tetsuya, who was breathing heavily...
He bolted his fists...
"Damn it" he whispered, he was crying... "Damn it"
I laid my hand over his fist, he relaxed a little bit and I bounded my fingers with his.
I felt him squeezing my hand so tight that it hurt, but I didn't care.
I wanted to show him I was there to support him... I wanted him to rely on me for once...
"It's not useless, stupid" said Kagami and laid a hand on Tetsuya's head. "Everyone believes you'll come back. Don't give up this time. While you're sitting out, I'll show him. There's no such thing as useless effort"
The game began again, Tetsuya didn't let go of my hand.
"You'll be back out there, Tetsu" I said and he looked at me. "I know you will"
Kagami passed to Kiyoshi, who managed to score.
'A change of pace' I thought when I saw Aomine go one-on-one with Kagami.
Kagami was relaxed...
'Here it comes' I thought when I saw Aomine.
But... Kagami managed to block Aomine's shot...
"You're kidding" I whispered in disbelief.
Even Tetsuya was surprised.
'Did seeing Tetsuya lose... unleash Kagami's full strength?'
Seeing them play was unbelievable...
Aomine went faster and faster, but Kagami was able to keep up most of the time.
Aomine scored behind his back.
"He's still an annoying show off" I said.
Kagami managed to score.
"Kagami's evenly matched with Aomine" said Tsuchida.
We couldn't keep our eyes off them...
And then... Kagami blocked one of Aomine's formless shots...
I gripped Tetsuya's hand a bit tighter.
'Is Kagami... better than Aomine?'
We were two points behind...
Kagami went for a forced shot, but Aomine got a finger on it, making him miss.
The second quarter ended...
-Kagami POV-
"Where's Kuroko?" I asked to Maeda.
"He went outside for a bit" she said. "Give him this, will you? He went outside without his jacket, the idiot"
She smiled and I understood it.
"Got it" I said and went outside.
I found Kuroko outside and threw his jacket on him.
"You'll get a cold, idiot" I said.
"Kagami-kun" he said.
"If you don't come back soon, the second half will start" I said.
"Sorry, I'll be there soon" he said and put on his jacket.
"Hey, what were you just thinking about?" I asked. "It doesn't look like you need cheering up, but you didn't just come out here for some air"
"Kagami-kun, do you like basketball?" he asked.
"What?" I asked, why would he ask such a stupid question?
"I wasn't thinking about anything complicated" he said. "I'd do anything to win this game. I have my promise to Momoi-san, but, the truth is, I just want to see it again. Aomine-kun always played with a smile. He truly loved basketball. I don't inted to reject who he is now nor put him down. I just... I just want to see Aomine-kun play with a smile again. If we win this game, maybe..."
"Who knows?" I said. "People aren't that simple. I don't know if winning will change who he is. But losing definitely won't change anything. The only thing we can do is play as hard as we can to win. And if we win, you should tell Maeda how you feel"
"Heh?" he said and blushed.
"You heard me" I said. "She's worried about you right now. You don't let a pretty girl like her guess or wait like that. You're in love with her, aren't you?"
"Yes" he admitted silently.
"Well then, what are you waiting for?!" I asked. "Tell her after the game, before it's too late"
He nodded and I smiled.
~
-Emiko POV-
When Tetsuya came back, something had changed... he seemed... more determined now...
He gave me back his jacket.
"Thank you" he said and I smiled.
"You're welcome" I said.
"You want to start in the third quarter?" asked Hyuga to Tetsuya. "It has been tough playing without you, but will your misdirection last until the end of the game?"
"No, it won't" said Tetsuya.
"What are you going to do after that?" asked Koganei.
"At this rate, isn't until the end of the third quarter the best we can hope for?" asked Tsuchida.
"When my misdirection runs out, it will be easier for me to focus their gaze on me" said Tetsuya. "We can use that to prevent them from looking away from me. It will be as though a tenth player suddenly appeared on a nine-player court. Immediately afterward, it will be easiest to misdirect their gaze to myself. The team should match their plays to that"
"Tetsu" I said and he looked at me. "You do realise what you're risking with that, do you?"
"What do you mean?" asked Tsuchida.
"He'll be basically showing them how his misdirection works" I said. "It won't work against Touou in the future"
~
Tetsuya touched my hand softly, before going back onto the field.
'Go Tetsuya'
I smiled and felt my heart beating faster.
'Ah...' I realised. 'Tetsuya... I realise it now... what this feeling is...'
I blushed and watched the game.
Tetsuya was in Aomine's way, Aomine didn't see him so he barged right into Tetsuya.
'Jeez... and you guys wonder why I worry'
"Charging! Black No. 5!" said the referee.
Tetsuya used his misdirection again and we got our passes through.
He used an Ignite Pass to Hyuga, who caught it and scored a three.
"Kuroko!" shouted Hyuga.
"Nice shot" said Tetsuya.
"That pass hurts really bad!" said Hyuga, making me chuckle.
"Sorry" said Tetsuya.
Touou scored again...
But then...
"You're kidding!" said Riko.
Imayoshi was on Tetsuya...
I looked at Satsuki, who looked a bit guilty.
"Shit" I whispered.
Tetsuya didn't manage to shake Imayoshi...
'You really did it this time, Satsuki...'
Even when Hyuga tried his Barrier Jumper, Sakurai stayed close this time.
"The Barrier Jumper!" said Tsuchida.
"Did he predict it?" asked Koganei.
"No" I said. "Satsuki told them how it works, they can read it now"
Kagami had the ball, everyone was still blocked.
Kagami hesitated for less than a second, but Aomine took advantage of it and stole the ball.
Aomine scored again...
The gap was getting wider...
The second quarter was almost over...
Tetsuya's mark changed, everyone could see him.
But... that was what we had planned.
He did look pretty exhausted...
"We'll win now!" I heard Tetsuya say and I smiled proudly.
Izuki passed Imayoshi easily, using Misdirection Overflow.
Using Misdirection Overflow, Tetsuya can give the others the effect of the Vanishing Drive.
"Yes!" I shouted and jumped up from my seat.
Imayoshi was shaken up and made a careless pass, so Hyuga stole the ball.
He worked together with Tetsuya and scored.
"We're only ten points behind!" said Tsuchida.
I looked at Tetsuya, who was breathing heavily...
'Hang on, Tetsuya... just a bit longer...'
It worked, even against Aomine...
"We'll worry about the future when we get there" I heard Tetsuya say.
We closed the gap to a single digit difference.
But then... Imayoshi forced a three and it went in...
"Tch" I said. 'What an asshole'
Everyone was exhausted.
"Tetsuya" I said when I saw him breath heavily.
I put my hands on his shoulder and he looked at me.
"Drink some water, slowly" I said. "Try to take deep, even breaths"
"Okay" he said and touched my arm before I went to Kiyoshi.
"I'll re-tape your leg" I said.
"Thank you" he said and I began taking off the tape to put new one on it.
"You're thinking too hard, idiot" I heard Hyuga say to Kiyoshi. "That's not a good habit. You should have more faith in us. This team is strong. You made this team"
"How does it feel?" I asked when I was done taping.
"Great" said Kiyoshi. "Thank you, Maeda"
The signal went off, the fourth quarter was about to begin...
"Win or lose, those are the last ten minutes" said Hyuga. "Let's win!"
"Yeah!" they all shouted.
Hyuga started with making a three, thanks to Tetsuya's Misdirection Overflow.
We weren't shaken by the buzzer beater.
But Aomine scored the points back immeadiatly...
Aomine was giving me a bad feeling...
Like he was getting more and more intense...
Aomine used a fake, which made Kiyoshi foul...
"A three point play" I got irritated. "You have got to be kidding me"
Now we were 10 point behind again.
I saw Tetsuya talk to Kagami and Kiyoshi, he had a plan...
"Damn it! The gap isn't getting smaller!" said Furihata.
"What are we supposed to do?" asked Fukuda.
"Trust them" I said and looked at the triple team on Aomine. "They have a plan, trust them"
I saw Kagami let Aomine past him.
'Oh, Tetsuya, you are amazing'
I smiled when I saw Tetsuya use his overflow to make Aomine miss.
"Yes!" I shouted.
We were finally closing the gap.
"Only six points behind!" shouted Koganei.
"Don't pull back! Meet them head on!" shouted Hyuga.
'It's a zone press' I thought. 'Heh, so he does listen to me'
-Akashi POV-
When I saw the zone press, 1-2-1-1, I knew this was Emi's idea.
She was quite the strategist sometimes.
'It's a high-level formation that makes steals easy, but is weak once broken through'
I looked at Emiko, she was standing up, her eyes going from one player to another.
She was worried about them, I could tell. They were exhausted, especially Tetsuya.
"Defence! Defence! Defence!" shouted the bench of Seirin.
'Impressive' I thought.
-Emiko POV-
Tetsuya managed to steal the ball and passed it to Hyuga.
Hyuga went for a three, but Sakurai fouled him.
"Pushing, black No. 9!" shouted the referee.
"All right!" I shouted, we were all cheering.