Chapter One Hundred: Running Wild
"No one's saying anything..."
"What should I do? I need to say something to inspire everyone..."
Aida Riko's brow furrowed. When it came down to it, the score gap wasn't that large. The outcome was still unknown.
But the situation heavily favored Shohoku. First, they had no way to stop Shohoku's offense. Even with Kuroko connecting the team's attack, they could only match Shohoku's scoring—not take the lead.
Second, Kuroko's stamina was an issue. His passes seemed to be getting read by the opponent. In the second half, his passing probably wouldn't have the same effect as before.
And during those few minutes when Kuroko wasn't on the court, Seirin's score gap had rapidly widened...
"Mmm, everyone's nerves are too tight!" Aida Riko cleared her throat, making her decision. "To get you all fired up, I thought of a special reward!"
Seirin's players all looked toward Aida Riko. She struck a cute pose, throwing out a wink.
"If you guys can win this game, I'll give each of you a kiss on the cheek! How's that?"
"Whoosh—"
Despite being in an enclosed locker room, it felt like a cold wind had just blown through.
Mitobe: "..."
Izuki: "What was that stiff wink..."
Koganei inexplicably recalled a line from a period drama he'd recently watched: "...Why does the old woman put on such airs?"
"Hey, you idiots, at least pretend to be happy!" Hyuga's words dealt Aida Riko a fatal blow.
Still, the team's atmosphere did seem to ease somewhat.
"Kuroko, what are you doing?" Kagami asked from the side.
"Oh, I'm watching video of the first half." Kuroko replied. "Mitsui-senpai will probably still be guarding me in the second half. I'm thinking about countermeasures."
"...!"
"Do you have a chance?"
"I don't know." Kuroko said blankly. "I only know I really want to win. But I haven't thought about whether I can win."
"Before the final whistle, I want to do everything I'm capable of doing."
"..." Kagami lowered his head, murmuring. "Yeah... we have to win."
---
After the 15-minute halftime break, the game continued.
Seirin maintained the same lineup from the end of the first half. Shohoku brought Mitsui back onto the court.
"Huh, Little Kuroko still isn't playing?" Kise watched the court without much interest.
"Before finding a breakthrough, putting him in won't help." Kasamatsu said. "And Shohoku's Mitsui is back on the floor. From the current situation, they're guarding against exactly that."
"But if Little Kuroko isn't on the court, doesn't Seirin have even less of a chance..." Kise frowned.
"Wait, which side are you even on?" Kasamatsu glanced at him. "Shohoku's a Kanagawa team, at least."
"Huh? Of course I'm supporting Little Kuroko—I mean, Seirin." Kise scratched his head. "Doesn't this give us a chance to avenge our loss to Shohoku?"
"Oh. Then I'm supporting Shohoku," Kasamatsu said expressionlessly.
"Kasamatsu-senpai!"
"Revenge and all that—let's handle it ourselves at the Winter Cup." Kasamatsu cut off Kise's banter, speaking calmly.
---
The game started. Seirin's possession.
Using a screen, Izuki drove into the paint, drawing the defense before passing to Koganei lurking on the wing.
Rather than continuing to cut inside, Koganei dribbled horizontally toward the right baseline, leading the relentlessly pursuing Sakuragi all the way into the deep corner.
From an almost zero-degree angle, Koganei unexpectedly rose for a shot—a difficult long-range two!
"He's that far from the rim—should've just taken a three!" The stands immediately buzzed with confusion.
"That's just forcing the difficulty up. Too reckless!"
"Swish!"
But the response was a crisp swish through the net.
"Huh?"
"What?!"
Koganei's two points!
[Seirin 45 - Shohoku 49]
"That went in?" The doubters immediately fell silent.
"Ohhh, that one went in!" Seirin's bench erupted with delighted cheers.
Koganei, running back on defense, heard his teammates' "heartfelt" shouts. He nearly stumbled, wanting to cry. "What's that supposed to mean!"
"Hehehe~" Seirin's players gave him thumbs up.
---
Change of possession. Shohoku's offense.
Though Shohoku led in the first half, Mitsui had only contributed 4 points.
First, because guarding Kuroko had consumed massive amounts of his energy.
Second, because Hyuga's defense stuck so tight, giving him almost no comfortable catch-and-shoot space. Under those circumstances, Miyagi preferred feeding Akagi in the paint or letting Rukawa finish from the right side.
By comparison, Hyuga—who should've been matched up with Mitsui—had gone 3-for-5 from three with Kuroko's passing, plus hit a crucial 2+1 near the end of the half, already scoring 12 points.
This can't continue!
"Miyagi!" Mitsui called for the ball from the left 45-degree angle.
Miyagi hesitated momentarily before passing it over.
Mitsui caught it, trying to shake Hyuga with a pump fake, but he didn't bite at all. The shot clock dwindled. Mitsui gritted his teeth, forcing up a contested fadeaway jumper!
"Clang!" The harsh sound of iron rang out.
"Damn it!"
The moment the ball left his hands, Mitsui's heart sank. The arc and power were both slightly off.
Akagi boxed Mitobe out from behind, preparing to grab the board. Kagami crashed toward the basket. Seeing this, Sakuragi also charged in.
Chaos erupted under the rim.
All three bigs jumped simultaneously, arms tangling. Amid Akagi and Sakuragi's encirclement, Kagami's fingertips reached the falling ball first!
"Smack!"
The ball changed direction, caroming off the backboard. Koganei rushed to the basket, perfectly positioned to grab it.
"Give me the ball!!!" After landing, Kagami spun and sprinted toward Shohoku's half at full speed.
Hearing the call, Koganei didn't dare delay. He whipped the ball out hard.
Rukawa's defense was already set, positioned in front of the three-point line, waiting intently.
Without a moment's hesitation, without even adjusting his footwork, Kagami suddenly stopped mid-sprint. Right in Rukawa's face, he brazenly rose for a pull-up jumper!
"He has a three-pointer?" Rukawa's brow furrowed.
"Swish!"
Nothing but net!
[Seirin 48 - Shohoku 49]
The gap instantly closed to one point.
"We absolutely can't lose!"
Kagami quickly retreated on defense, the competitive fire burning brighter in his eyes. His mind replayed that rebound battle—he'd wanted to grab it cleanly!
"Not enough... To beat these guys, this level isn't enough..."
"That bastard!"
Meanwhile, Shohoku's "Kong Brothers" glared daggers at Kagami's back.
---
Change of possession. Shohoku's offense.
After Miyagi crossed halfcourt, Rukawa extended his hand on the right wing beyond the arc, silently calling for the ball.
"Swish!"
The instant Rukawa caught it, Kagami pressured aggressively—more intensely than at any previous moment.
But Rukawa remained completely unfazed. After several between-the-legs dribbles, he suddenly accelerated left, using that instant of explosive first step to burst inside the three-point line.
"He got past!"
"Not yet!"
Rukawa pulled up inside the arc for the jumper.
Kagami forcefully twisted his body, leaping from behind, his hand sealing toward Rukawa from above!
Forced into a heavy lean-back, nearly losing balance, Rukawa released the ball high toward the rim just as his vision got completely blocked—
But that wasn't a shot. It was an alley-oop pass!
Under the basket, Akagi read it perfectly. He muscled Mitobe aside, jumped from his spot, cleanly caught the ball in mid-air, and slammed it through with both hands!
[Seirin 48 - Shohoku 51]
"Still not enough!" Kagami's battle spirit ignited completely.
He charged directly to the basket, grabbing the ball as it fell through the net. He quickly inbounded from the baseline, then nearly "seized" possession from Izuki, bringing the ball himself at full speed toward the frontcourt!
"Fighting strong opponents is definitely exciting, but if we can't win in the end, I'll be absolutely furious!"
Miyagi tried to delay at halfcourt but got blown past with one simple yet explosive crossover—pure speed and power bulldozing through!
Kagami accelerated again, exploding into the paint!
"Can't let him score!" Akagi positioned himself between Kagami and the rim, rising to swat directly at the ball in Kagami's hands!
Kagami's eyes showed no fear. He challenged Akagi head-on. In mid-air, he showed no retreat, continuing to climb. His powerful core allowed a brief moment of hangtime. His right hand held the ball high, and through Akagi's contest, he savagely hammered the ball toward the rim!
"BOOM!!"
A tremendous crash—the ball got forcefully jammed through!
Posterizing Akagi!!!
Kagami landed, his eyes filled with exhilaration. "If we can't win, none of this means anything!!"
"Tweet!"
"Shohoku number 4, defensive foul! Basket counts, one free throw!"
Kagami sank the free throw.
[Seirin 51 - Shohoku 51]
Score tied!
"Yes! This is the breakthrough!" Aida Riko pumped her fist excitedly, seeing the light of victory.
But beside her, Kuroko felt an ominous premonition. This overly fierce competitive spirit felt painfully familiar.
"Kagami-kun's condition seems... off..." he murmured, filled with worry.
---
At Shohoku's bench, Kogure was shaken by Kagami's sudden explosive momentum. He quickly looked toward Coach Anzai. "Coach, should we call timeout?"
"Oh ho ho ho," Coach Anzai chuckled steadily, his gaze behind the lenses still appreciatively following Kagami's figure. But his words carried deeper meaning. "No need to rush yet."
"We have players like that too, don't we? If he's only staying at this level of performance... there's no need to worry too much."
---
Change of possession. Shohoku's offense.
Facing Kagami's surging momentum, Rukawa responded with action.
He caught the ball expressionlessly. After a series of fluid and deceptive fakes, he rose for a pull-up jumper. The ball went cleanly through!
[Seirin 51 - Shohoku 53]
---
Change of possession. Seirin's offense.
"Give me the ball!"
Kagami hadn't even crossed halfcourt before calling to Izuki, urgency in his voice.
"I have to win—even if it's just me alone, I have to win!" The obsession grew wildly in his mind.
After catching the ball, Kagami accelerated past Rukawa, driving to the paint.
"I knew that fox couldn't stop you." Sakuragi quickly helped.
"Idiot." Rukawa responded coldly, spinning to chase.
Letting him through was a fact. But deliberately letting him in was also a fact.
In an instant, Sakuragi and Rukawa formed a double-team on Kagami in the paint!
"Kagami!"
Left wide open in the right corner, Koganei called out anxiously. But Kagami didn't hear at all. His eyes only saw the rim.
Kagami tried dribbling out of the trap, but under their tight pressure, he couldn't move an inch. With no choice, he yanked the ball back. In an extremely off-balance position, facing the defense, he forced up a pull-up jumper!
"Clang!"
The heavy sound of iron announced the result of this forced shot.
"If I miss, I'll just tip it back in!" Kagami roared, charging to the basket. With incredible explosiveness, he jumped again, grabbing the bouncing ball in mid-air, violently trying to slam it through!
But a larger hand pressed on the other end of the ball!
Akagi firmly pinned the ball in Kagami's grip! The two battled in mid-air, locked for a brief moment. Ultimately, Akagi's superior strength forcefully swatted the ball toward the boundary!
Kagami's body completely lost balance. He crashed heavily to the floor.
"Want to run wild in Shohoku's paint?" Akagi looked down at Kagami on the ground, his voice booming. "You're ten years too early!"
Meanwhile, Rukawa had already spun and accelerated, scooping up the blocked ball for a one-man fast break. With a series of ghostly changes of direction, he blew past both Izuki and Koganei before scoring an easy layup.
[Seirin 51 - Shohoku 55]
The gap widened again.
"How can this be? Kagami, he..." Aida Riko watched the court in disbelief.
Kagami seemed to have reverted to his first day joining Seirin. That was absolutely the worst possible offensive decision!
"Coach." Kuroko looked at Aida Riko with grave concern.
Kagami was running back to Seirin's half with an irritated expression, preparing to receive the baseline inbound.
Aida Riko quickly nodded, standing and walking briskly toward the scorer's table.
"Tweet!"
"Seirin requests timeout."
"Damn it!!" Kagami sat heavily on the bench, anger radiating from him. "Damn it! This is when we need to make a run..."
"Kagami, you're too impatient." Izuki reminded from the side. "You need to pay more attention to your surroundings."
"Yeah, and just now you shouldn't have forced it. Koganei was on the wing..."
"What good would passing to him do?! Huh?" Kagami growled quietly. "Right now, the only one who can score consistently is me!"
"What we need isn't teamwork—it's letting me score!"
"Bang!"
Kuroko suddenly punched Kagami in the face. "Basketball isn't a sport one person can play alone."
"So as long as we stick together, it doesn't matter if we lose together?" Kagami grabbed Kuroko's collar. "If we can't win, none of this means anything!"
"Winning alone has no meaning either." Kuroko stared into Kagami's eyes. "You said you'd defeat the Generation of Miracles. But your thinking right now is no different from theirs back then."
"If you don't trust your teammates, even if you win alone, no one will be happy."
"Hmph, quit with the pretty words." Kagami pushed Kuroko to the floor. "If we can't win, everything you say is useless."
"Are you happy right now?" Kuroko sat on the floor. "You just tried doing it alone, didn't you? Why can't I see any happiness on your face?"
"..." Kagami suddenly froze.
"You don't need to fight desperately alone. We don't want to lose either," Izuki said.
"Actually, when no one's guarding me, my mid-range percentage is pretty high." Koganei added. "And with you and Mitobe under the basket, I can shoot with confidence."
"Exactly. If you want to win, going solo won't work. You need to use your strength in the right places," Hyuga said. "Any objections?"
"I'm sorry." Kagami lowered his head. "I understand."
"Then let's fight for victory together." Kuroko stood, looking directly at Kagami.
"I can only pass, but... my passing can still evolve one more level."