That Manager - Kuroko no Basuke (Book 2)

第42Q

"He made the shot." said Kise after Aomine had broken past Kagami's defence and scored a basket.

"They took back the points they lost already." said Kasamatsu. Seirin's benchwarmers only looked with uneasy expressions when the gap widened to a ten-point difference.

'I can't stop him.' thought Kagami while wiping away the sweat on his chin with the back of his hand. 'Damn it! We're not closing the gap. What should we do? How can we stop him?'

Hyuga went up to him and gripped his shoulder, making him snap out of his thoughts. "Don't worry about it." said the captain. "Let's shift gears."

"But..." trailed off Kagami.

"You've been able to stay on that monster as much as you have because of who you are." said Hyuga. "They can't stop you, either. We'll take three points at a time." And in the next round, Hyuga shot the ball despite Sakurai trying to defend him.

'He's not afraid of missing at all.' noted the latter as he watched the ball aiming for the basket. 'Can he trust his own shots that much?'

"Yeah, I believe..." said Hyuga with a smile. "I believe in my teammates! I'm not shooting because I won't miss. I'm shooting because it's okay even if I do!" The ball went through the net, and Seirin scored three points, leaving them behind Touou by only seven points. Hyuga exchanged high-fives with Kiyoshi.

Wakamatsu passed the ball to Sakurai. 'He's been making three after three against me.' thought the latter while glaring at Hyuga, who was marking him. 'I'll get those points back!'

"Sakurai!" yelled Imayoshi when he saw the said boy forcing a shot. 'It's no good.' he thought. 'His rhythm is off.'

Meanwhile, Aomine was running towards the hoop. "Getting flustered just because they closed the gap a little." he remarked before stopping across Sakurai. "Give me the ball!" His teammate didn't hesitate to pass the ball, and he prepared to shoot it.

"No, you don't!" shouted Kagami. But Aomine got around him and prepared to shoot.

Kiyoshi jumped up to block, but he realised that Aomine was still on the ground. 'Crap!' he cussed. 'It's a fake!' Aomine jumped to score a basket, but Kiyoshi accidentally bumped into him.

"Pushing, white number 7!" shouted the referee after blowing his whistle. "Basket counts! One free-throw!"

"It counted." said Hyuga with a surprised look.

"It's a three-point play." said Izuki, knowing that Aomine would score an extra point if he made the free-throw.

"Touou emphasises individual skill, but we believe in something, too." said Imayoshi. "It's Aomine's strength." After the referee blew his whistle, Aomine shot the ball, and it went through the net, scoring an extra point for the team.

"They're ten points behind again." said Takao when he saw the scoreboard.

Kuroko panted a few times before walking towards his teammates. "Kagami-kun, Kiyosi-senpai, do you have a minute?" he asked, making them turn to look at him. "I'll stop Aomine-kun. Lend me your strength."

"You want to triple-team, huh?" said Kiyoshi. "I'm not sure even three of us can stop Aomine now."

"I know." said the first-year. "That's why I want Kagami-kun to let him past at first. Stopping Aomine-kun now is probably impossible. When he shoots, I'll draw his attention away from the hoop for a moment using my Overflow."

"That's can't be enough." said Kiyoshi skeptically.

"It would probably have hardly any effect on a normal shot." continued Kuroko. "However, aiming for the hoop while moving at high speed is a different story. The faster he's going, the more effective a moment of distraction will be. As long as you two push Aomine-kun to the limit, he will miss." Kiyoshi and Kagami looked at him for a moment before nodding, agreeing with the plan.