The Medical Manager (Kuroko x OC)

Chapter 8

-Emiko POV-

It was tense in the locker room. Nobody saying anything...
Riko clapped her hands. "You're all a little too uptight. I thought of a reward to cheer you up" she said. "If you win the next game, I'll give each of you a kiss on the cheek. What do you say?"

"Why did she laugh?" asked Izuki.
"You can't be serious" said Koganei.
"You idiots, pretend to be happy if you have to!" yelled Hyuga.

'That's even worse'
Riko began to laugh and stood back up, with tears in her eyes...
"Shut up and get it together, you idiots!" she yelled. "Don't you want to pay them back for last year?! Hasn't it been all you've thought about for the last year?!"

"Sorry, sorry. We know" said Hyuga. "All right. Before we start, I'll tell you again. I'm sure you'll feel it as soon as the game starts, but first years, prepare yourselves for the worst. Seiho is strong. After last year's crushing defeat, we hated basketball so much we nearly quit. Don't be so gloomy. We got over it. We're better now. If anything, we're happy. This won't be the same as last year. I'm confident we've become strong enough to be sure of that. Now we just have to win. Let's go!"
"Yeah!" they all shouted.

~

When we were about to go onto the field, Tetsuya stayed behind a bit.
"Is something wrong?" asked Kagami.
"Kagami-kun, have you ever hated basketball?" asked Tetsuya.

"What?" asked Kagami. "No, I haven't"
"I have" said Tetsuya. "I believe my reason was different, but I know the feeling. They're cheerful now, but hating something you love is a painful feeling. When I spoke with Midorima-kun, I told him the past and future aren't the same, but they're not completely separate. I think this game is important for our seniors to get over the past. So... now that I think about it, I really want to win this game"

"Let the first A Block semi-finals match between Seirin High and Seiho High begin" announced the referee.

-Kasamatsu POV-

"You took so long buying a drink, the game's already started" I said.
"You just wanted to see Maedacchi so badly" he said and I hit him.
"Huh?" he said and I was surprised when I looked at the score.

They were already four minutes in and Seirin hadn't scored yet...
"Whoa, seriously?" I said.
I looked at the bench, where I saw Maeda, she was nervous, I could tell.

Her eyes were going from the one player to the other...
"What are they doing?" said Kise.
"I thought so when we played them" I said. "But Seirin's a slow starter. Kagami's usually the one to put his foot on the gas, but without that, they can't hit their stride"

Kagami made a foul...
And I saw Kise tremble with fear.
"Maedacchi can be really scary when she's mad..." he said and I looked at the girl.
She was small, but her aura was indeed very scary...

-Emiko POV-

"I'm going to kill that guy" I said. "Two fouls already, what is that idiot thinking?"
Tetsuya got the ball, but there was no one to pass to...
We asked for a break, I gave everyone a towel and some water.

"Seiho uses old martial arts techniques" I explained.
"Old martial arts?" asked Kagami.
"To be precise, they incorporate movements from old martial arts" I said. "One of the techniques they use is called 'namba running'. Usually your arms and legs move in opposite directions when you run, but when namba running your arms and legs move together. By avoiding twisting, you reduce the strain on your body and expend less energy"

"You know a lot about this" said Kawahara.
"Emi used to do martial arts" said Tetsuya. "Before she became a permanent manager in our second year"
"Really?!" said Furihata.