That Manager - Kuroko no Basuke (Book 2)

第41Q

Somewhere in the far end of the hall, the regulars of Kirisaki Dai Ichi were watching the match, all wearing their school uniforms. "Not even the Hawk Eye of Shutoku's Takao or your Spider's Web could stop him." commented Kentaro when he and the others saw Imayoshi marking Kuroko. "It can't be stopped through spirit. What is he thinking?"

Hanamiya chuckled. "How would I know?" he remarked. "He's the right person for the job, though. No one's character is worse than his."

"I don't really know him, but are you one to talk?" asked his teammate.

Kuroko tried to shake Imayoshi off, but whenever he moved an inch, Imayoshi guarded him so closely that Kuroko couldn't budge from the defence. 'We've never experienced this before.' thought Izuki, who was having the ball. 'Kuroko's passes have been stopped before, but we still managed to break through with passes and drives. But this time, it's different. His misdirection isn't working. They're completely shutting Kuroko down.'

"Don't be so hard on me." said Imayoshi darkly with a wide smile. "Let's be friends."

'Imayoshi-nii's face guarding Kuroko.' noted Yasu. 'People tend to think Kuroko is invisible throughout the entire game. But in actual fact, he's just difficult to notice due to his weak presence. Because of that, they often lose sight of him. However, that gaze is most easily misdirected. The harder they try to look at him, the deeper they fall in his trap, and hence, making them easier targets for his misdirection.

'But there is one drawback in his misdirection - he uses it when coordinating with his teammates. Just before he does, he always makes eye contact with the player he's coordinating with. The player he makes eye contact with is a mirror that reflects him. He will be in that player's vision. In order to stay on Kuroko without losing track of him, one must look at the mirror - the player he makes eye contact with. More than his passes or drives, the real threat is the misdirection that supports all his techniques. When that becomes useless, the headache comes in.'

Yasu heaved a sigh before mentally scolding herself. 'Maybe I shouldn't have told Satsuki so much.'

Kuroko tried to move away from Imayoshi, but the latter inched towards where he moved while keeping his gaze on Izuki, whom Kuroko was focusing on. 'The expert ways they've stopped Kuroko-kun until now must be Momoi's schemes.' thought Riko. 'However, a normal player shouldn't be able to detect Kuroko's gaze when he's undetectable.'

"But he can do it." said Hanamiya, as if he was explaining to her.

"Your senior's amazing." commented one of his teammates. "Maybe he's actually smarter than you."

"I don't know how smart he is." said Hanamiya. "Like I told that manager from Seirin, I just wouldn't want to play poker or anything like it with him."

"What?" responded the former.

"He reads his opponents thoughts by observing their expressions and actions." explained his team captain. "He's a monster when it comes to reading minds. He's practically psychic. When it comes to doing things people hate, no one can beat him." Before his five seconds were up, Izuki passed the ball to Kuroko, but it was smacked away by Imayoshi, who started dribbling it towards the hoop and scored with a three-point shot, leaving Touou ahead by four points.

"Hyuga!" called Izuki when passed the ball to the said boy.

Hyuga caught the ball, and Sakurai marked him. 'I'll return the favour.' he snarled. 'Take this!' As soon as he stepped away, Sakurai followed up, decreasing the distance between them.