"There it goes! That shot that doesn't have a single spin! How does that girl do it?!"
Akina scored a three pointer by using Moriyama's signature shooting style whenever Fuyu or Natushi guided the ball to her. The ball will only go to her if the quintuplets focused all of their defense on the other players; the ball will go to the player with the most open space.
"Akina..." Moriyama felt a sense of pride whenever he saw his signature shot from her. It's as if Akina was telling him she will win with the shot he taught her and she will be the one to carry on in his place.
Natsuhi looked at the score to see 20-45. They neeed to make as much three pointers as possible! The defense got tighter for the two taller players of Aozora; the sisters decided to stop the guideposts no matter what.
'The defense is tight! There's no way we can pass it forward...' Natsuhi didn't look at Fuyu and she passed it to her.
Fuyu was about to throw the ball at an arch so it would land to either Fuu or Shiki. Fuyu's plan was seen by the quintuplets and they all jumped up and arms raised up high in order to catch the ball if it left her hold. Without looking, she threw the ball backwards and let it land to Akina's hold. Akina was literally a few steps away from Aozora's own basket, she's not in shooting range.
"Akina?!" Moriyama can see her about to shoot the ball, she's going to attempt such a faraway shot?! 'I know Midorima can shoot from anywhere on the court but for you to try the same thing...can you do it?!'
"I like how you are showing me more of your expressions." Moriyama said to Akina, "You're really beautiful when you play basketball." He was talking to himself as he watched Akina practice her shooting.
Akina looked at him once before focusing again. It was proven very hard since his words were getting cheesy by the minute.
"I'm not playing anymore." Her words sent him into panic mode in an instant.
"Why?!"
"Because you are embarrassing me."
"Huh? Embarrassing?! No, no, that won't do at all! Come here and let me shower you with my love~."
"Ahh! I'm sweaty!" Moriyama didn't care about her being sweaty because he just wanted to hug her close to him and tell her how important she was to him.
"It doesn't matter~!"
"Ugh..."
"You have been practicing so much, good job." Moriyama started to pat her on the head , much to her pouting.
"I'm trying to shoot from very far away. We Shooting Guards are the team's attack force from the outside. I don't mind being far away from my team members during the game if I can support them."
It was a gamble but she did it anyway. Even if she missed, she believed her teammates will be able to pick up after her.
The ball went through the basket with a clean swish. The bounce of the ball to the floor made the audience cheer loudly for Aozora's sudden out of range attack. Moriyama was amazed; she finally did it! She finally achieved the far distant shooting she has been training for!
With this, Aozora was able to completely turn the game into their favor. If the defense was too tight on the inside, they will pass the ball to Akina; if the defense focused on the outside, they will continuously pass the ball forward with speed, and if the defense tried to balance on the inside and outside then Shiki and Fuu will go in for the attack with their speed.
"It has become like a game of chess..." Kise was amazed that the team was doing so well despite their Ace not being in the game yet. "Each time the defense make a move, Aozora will make a counter! It's like an onslaught of attack with no means of hesitation!"
"When it comes to attack, they are straightforward." Kasamatsu looked at the score to see it increasing little by little.
35-45.
"Let's keep it up!" Shiki threw the ball to Fuu and let her break through the defense on the inside.
Fuu was very quick, her movements looked very complex and unpredictable, making it hard for the tall girls to get the ball. Fuu was pressuring two of them at once, amazing the audience that she can handle the ball like it was a part of her. Just when she was about to drive through them from the middle, Fuu tripped one of their foot, falling forward. If she fell forward with the ball, it will fall out of the court!
Fuu looked at the side to see Shiki. Before she hit the floor, she twisted herself so her back faced the floor. She threw the ball to the side and let Shiki have the ball.
The moment Shiki received the ball, she knew what Fuu was trying to convey. She didn't look back and she carried on forward, performing a lay up and scoring an extra 2 points. At the same time, the buzzer for the 2nd quarter ended and Fuu's back met the floor with a painful thud.
"Fuu!" Shiki ran back to her and tried to sit her up, "You okay?!"
"Yeah...I can still carry on."
'There's no way she can carry on. That fall on her back could cost her next year if she attempts to jump again.' Shiki was going to save Harumi for the last quarter but the plan has changed. "Fuu, I want you to follow Kumo-san and go to the hospital."
"But-!"
"It will be fine."
"What about the plan?!"
"There is a slight change. It will be fine because we won't lose."
"Shiki-senpai..." Fuu couldn't help but cry a little; she felt she's the one ruining their strategic plan.
"Oi, don't start crying on me."
Kumo came over with some staffs, who were carrying a stretcher.
"Take care of her." Shiki left the rest to Kumo and the others. She can see from the audience that Nakamura left the Kaijou members and quickly made his way to catch up with Fuu. 'Fuu will be fine. I know it's making a change to the plan but if it means aggravating Fuu's injury then we'll think of something else.'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
During the break, Shiki was telling Harumi of the change of plans.
"For us, nothing much is needed to be changed. For you, I need you to stay out of the Zone no matter what."
"Is it really okay?" Harumi asked. She will listen to Shiki no matter what but what if there's more to the quintuplets than meets the eye?
"Unless I say so, got it?"
"Okay."
"Good. Let's go and win!"
When they went back out to the court again, the audience cheered loudly for Aozora to win and show them the ongoing attack.
Shiki stopped in her tracks when she looked at the opposing team coming back out. They all looked like they had just went through something traumatizing and now looked as if they were ready to kill. What was this killing intention in the air? It's only a game, why were they looking as if their line was on the line?
"Shiki?" Natsuhi called out to her, "Is something wrong?"
"Yeah. Looks like this game won't game easily."
The game resumed and the timer for the 3rd quarter continued. Aozora's strategy hasn't changed much but all five of them can see the great difference in terms of ferocity of the defense.
'The holes in their defense is all covered up?! What's with them?!' Shiki couldn't drive past them like before because somehow their reaction was on par with Shiki's. Shiki had no choice but to go for a pass but the ball was intercepted by one of the siblings, who quickly made a three-pointer.
"These girls..." Shiki didn't think they would get the best of her like that. "Don't mind! Carry on!"
'Hmph, there is no way for these girls to win.' The Coach from Tsuchi Academy was a female Coach with beautiful looks that hid a very scary personality. 'I have whipped them into the perfect basketball players! Knowing the consequences of losing, I have driven fear so deep into them that they have no choice but to win. Only fear can ensure them not losing.' She twirled her long hair, pushing her square rimmed glasses up once, smirking at the Aozora girls, 'I'm sorry, you girls have no chance of beating us.'
Shiki can only rely on outside shots in order to score, the ball had to successfully reach Akina or Natsuhi.
"Fuyu!" Shiki shouted for the blue haired girl's name but the ball was intercepted by Natsuhi. Natsuhi looked at Shiki once before passing the ball to Harumi, who passed the ball to Akina.
Akina was far away from Tsuchi Academy's basket again but she managed to score a three pointer.
"Judging from Hakanai's and Yukihime's faces, they did not expect Natsuhi to do that." Kobori smiled with confidence because he knew it was part of Natuhi's plan as a support for the group; by letting the opposing team think Shiki was about to pass to Fuyu, Natsuhi will intercept it and pass it to another member.
Natsuhi high-fived in front of Fuyu. Fuyu's eyes widened and she realized what it meant.
"Fuyu, can I talk to you?" It was the middle of the night and Natsuhi happened to coincidentally run into Fuyu in the kitchen.
"Yeah?"
"Shiki, Akina, Harumi, and now Fuu. They are the team's most needed players and they need to be in the spotlight on the basketball court. Even if it is only support, we need to be there to back them up; if there is someone much stronger than them, we need to be the ones to carve a path for them."
"Natsuhi..." Fuyu smiled at Natsuhi's words. The blonde always has a way to make people feel better. "Do you have a plan?"
"Yeah. I was thinking if we can trick the enemy on our own. We will use this only if the time calls for it."
"Okay. What do we do?"
"Intercept Shiki's passes."
"What? Won't she hit us for it?"
"Don't worry. To trick the enemy, we must trick our own friends. Now, if I high-five Harumi, I am telling you to intercept Shiki's pass. This way, we will pass the spotlight from Shiki to Akina or Harumi."
With them two only knowing the plan, they will help the team gather two points and three points! How many points can they gather before their plan break?