3 minutes since Mizuki came on court, Seirin had scored a total of 15 points. All 15 points came from 3-pointers. And all the 3-pointers came from Mizuki.
Kagami stared in wonder at the small girl standing on court, a few meters in front of him. "How did I manage to block that the last time? "He asked out loud.
Riko rolled her eyes, still facing the court and said, "Really? You're only wondering now? I'll tell you. You were lucky. That's all there was to it. You were lucky it was an one-on-one. Nobody could pass to her. So once it was her turn to get the ball, you were already in front of her. That's why you only received a few of those shots. Instead of using three types of shooting style, she was only able to use two. The normal high arc ones and the formless ones. Thanks to you having fast reaction, you were able to block those. "
"But half of the time, I couldn't even defend those. And I was really surprised she could throw such long distance for so many times. It's even hard to defend her sometimes. "
"Yeah, her numbers are really different from other people. "
"Her numbers? Huh, different? How high are her numbers??? "
"I'll tell when the whole team is gathered. So wait until we have time. "
Back on court
Arai breathing speeded up as he jumped as high as he could, but still failing to block the high arc ball flying across the court now. 'Another three-pointer. Does she ever gets tired?!' He couldn't even count how many times he'd jumped in that 3 minutes and she wasn't even breaking into a sweat. 'What's with her?! Damn it, I won't lose!' Even though his spirit has risen, he knew the undeniable truth. He wouldn't be able to last like this.
'Her shooting style is almost impossible to defend against.
If she sees that I won't be able to get there in time, she crushes all hope of me blocking by shooting that ridiculously fast and straight ball.
If she sees that I'm not right in front of her but can still jump to block her when she shoots, she makes the ball impossible to reach by shooting a very high ball.
If she sees that I will reach right in front of her in time to completely block her, she gives me no chance of blocking her by falling back and shooting a fade away or other kind of ridiculous formless shots. 'Once the ball was in her hands, that would be 3 more points to their team. To sum it up, there was no way a normal being could stop her from shooting when the ball was in her hands. That's why the only way to stop her was to stop her from even touching the ball.
Her formless shots were impossible to counter. 'Seriously, how can a human's reaction speed be so fast?!'
It would be hardly possible to assess the situation in such a high-pace basketball game and choosing the best between three types of style. She would need to have two things to carry that out. Inhuman reaction speed and unrivaled experiences. Not to mention how every ball she shot had entered the ring perfectly.
Kuroko watched the small girl on court, just casually shooting to play against the Kings. Her shooting accuracy has definitely improved and it made him curious about how amazingly she would be able to do if she not only shoot immediately but dodge or show some of her other skills too. After all, shooting was what Midorima was known for and as for Mizuki... to her, all those shooting she had done could not even be considered a skill because to her, those were just the basics of basketball.
"He can't last for that long you know? "Kasuga said as he ran alongside Iwamura. (A/N: that's the captain, for your info. :) )
Iwamura gave a small smile back to his childhood friend. He smirked as he said, "Why? Looking forward to some challenge? " He knew Kasuga better than he knew himself. That lower tone of voice and his fingers which can't seem to stop twitching was all the prove Iwamura needed to know that his childhood friend was excited. He wanted to have a go with the small girl.
Kasuga puffed, "You're the captain. Do something, will ya? "
Part of the crowd who had been 'boo-ing' 3 minutes ago, now erupted into claps and cheers. While the others were still unconvinced. The Seirin members looked at their only female player. 'That's the same face as when she played against Kagami last time.' They looked at the girl as she walked away from Arai who had bend down trying to get as much oxygen into his lungs as fast as he possibly could. Her usual laid back and shy demeanor were gone, replaced by a determined gaze with a small smile playing across her lips in a provocative manner. They had thought that she was a petite and shy girl. It had surprised the Seirin members greatly when they had first seen her played against Kagami. Kuroko had answered that it wasn't all that surprising if they think about it. People show a different side when they get serious.
FWEEEEEEEEE!!!
The sound of the whistle made everyone look at the referee. "Seiho, Timeout! "
The players went off the court to their respective benches. The timeout was unexpected to many people. To think that the King of the North would take a timeout against a mere team.Iwamura took a glance at Arai, grimacing at his heavy breathing. It's only been 3 minutes into the second quarter and he was already panting too much. "Arai, you will be substitute by Ban. And-... "
"Demo, captain! I can still play! I can still play against her. I'll find a way! I'll find a way to overcome her. "Arai exclaimed.
"You are out of breath. You won't be able to last. Rest and catch your breath. Then I'll let you on court. " Listening to his captain, Arai reluctantly nodded his head. Iwamura then turned to look at Kasuga. "And you... will be marking no.14. "
Anyone a few hundreds meters away could see the the man grinning from ear to ear. "Sure! I knew you were the best, Iwa-kunnnnnn!"
His happy and excited atmosphere could reach anyone within 100m radius of his. Crawling into the skins of the Seirin members. They, excluding Kuroko, Kagami, Mizuki and Riko, shuddered before slowly turning around to the source. Seeing the cunning man, they turned around and gulped. Koganei gave Mizuki a nervous hollow laugh. "Heheh... Mizu-chan, good luck! It seems like that creepy guy is going to guard you. W...will you be okay? " "Huh? What do you mean? Of course I'll be fine! "Mizuki said with a cheerful smile on her face.
Kuroko took a side glance at the small girl. The same girl who had cried her eyes out that day. The same girl who had broken down. 'But now, thanks to Seirin, part of the old Mizu-chan is back.'
FWEEEEEEEE!!!
Mizuki stood up and gave another charming smile to her teammates. "I'll be fine. Just you watch! We're going to be Japan no.1! " Everyone returned her smile, having cheered up considerably. 'She always has that influence of hers. Bringing smiles to everyone she meets.'
Kasuga walked on court. Coming up to Mizuki, face-to-face. No, that's not right. It was more like face-to-chest. Yeah that's more accurate! He gave a sly smile down at her. "Hey, I'm Ryuuhei Kasuga. Your name, Miss? " Mizuki returned the smile as she replied. "Mizuki Yui. "
"Ah, so Miss Mizuki, I'm looking forward to a game with you. "
Mizuki turned flustered, her shy mode on as she said, "M... Miss?! There's no need to call me Miss! Just Mizuki will be fine. "The game continued. Iwamura held the ball as he looked around. His eyes caught Kasuga's gleaming ones. He saw the excited Kasuga using all of his focus and guarding the small girl the best he could. Which didn't seem hard -from his point of view. The small girl was being pushed back by Kasuga who was almost twice her size. There was no way she could break past. Even if she used her swaying moves, Kasuga simply took up too much space for her. She was being completely blocked out. Iwamura threw the ball to Kasuga. In the blink of an eyes, he had shot the ball into the ring.