Chapter 135: Akashi Seijuro vs. Aomine Daiki
What an unpleasant type.
Mayuzumi Chihiro thought it quietly, eyes moving with mild irritation over the Touou captain standing in front of him.
Imayoshi Shoichi wore that half-smile that never quite became a real one, and behind his glasses there was a quality of attention that felt like it could pass straight through you.
As players, the two of them were almost entirely different in kind. Mayuzumi had spent his first two years at Rakuzan practically invisible, only discovered by Akashi Seijuro and slotted into the team's system as an unremarkable piece of the machinery. Imayoshi, by contrast, had always been exceptional in court sense and technical ability, and even on a team as individualistic as Touou, he was the one who bent all those sharp-edged personalities into something that actually functioned.
That kind of guy specifically singling me out to guard me.
It made Mayuzumi uncomfortable. And underneath the discomfort, just barely, something that felt like interest.
In that moment, Rakuzan maintained their familiar offensive rhythm. Akashi's pass cut across the court on a precise, perfectly timed line heading straight toward Mayuzumi.
"Well. Worthy of the name Rakuzan. Very clear identities."
Imayoshi's reaction was immediate. He shifted sideways to sever Mayuzumi's connection to the rest of the Rakuzan players, and in the same motion reached to intercept as Mayuzumi's hand moved to redirect the ball.
"Every move you make is an open book. Don't even think about getting that pass off."
But.
Mayuzumi's redirecting hand shifted in midair without warning, closing smoothly around the ball and pulling it in. In the same instant, using the fraction of a second when Imayoshi's weight tipped forward chasing the steal attempt, Mayuzumi stepped back fluidly, raised the ball, and went up.
"What?" Imayoshi's eyes opened slightly.
The ball traced a flat, honest arc through the air.
SWISH.
A clean mid-range two, no fuss.
Touou 73, Rakuzan 74.
"Nice shot."
"I'm not that fond of passing either." Mayuzumi glanced at Imayoshi briefly as he landed, then turned back to get on defense.
"I see." Imayoshi watched Mayuzumi jog away, something amused settling in his expression. "So that's what the new model means."
"My bad. I got careless." He spoke toward his teammates as he dropped back. "Next possession."
Transition. Touou offense.
When Hayama Kotaro picked up Imayoshi again, there was a visible shift in his focus. Letting Aomine go was one thing. Letting Imayoshi exploit him too was something Hayama simply would not accept.
Imayoshi used Susa Yoshinori's screen again, same as before. But Hayama's around-the-screen recovery was sharper this time, and he was back in front almost immediately.
At the same time, Mayuzumi released Susa and moved to double-team Imayoshi.
CRACK.
The ball threaded between them and found Susa's hands.
Susa's three-point percentage was low. He drove instead, attacking from the right side of the free-throw area and rising from his preferred spot.
"Not today!"
Hayama had switched onto him cleanly, exactly where Touou wanted him. This was the breakdown they had been working to create.
CLANG.
Susa's shot came out under contest. It didn't fall.
But Wakamatsu Kosuke, who had been getting compressed in the paint all game, saw his moment and converted the putback.
Touou 75, Rakuzan 74.
"Good job, Wakamatsu!" Susa exhaled with relief. If he had given the lead away on that miss, he would never have forgiven himself.
"Yeah!" Wakamatsu answered loudly.
He was gradually finding a rhythm against Nebuya Eikichi, and that was partly owed to Uozumi Jun. These two were matched in raw strength, with Nebuya carrying a slight edge in post technique but a real disadvantage in height. The interior battle was still winnable.
"Down low, I will not lose."
Transition. Rakuzan offense.
Rather than running a pass through Mayuzumi, Akashi turned and went directly at Aomine Daiki.
They worked at the three-point line, Akashi probing, and when the crease opened he burst through it suddenly. Aomine rode him tight. Akashi, moving at full speed, sent a no-look pass behind his back toward Mibuchi Reo in the corner.
"Sakurai!" Aomine called immediately.
CRACK.
Sakurai Ryo came around the front and got his hand on the pass. The ball changed direction and skipped out of bounds.
"Great defense!" The Touou bench erupted.
"Even under Aomine's pressure, Akashi can't control everything perfectly out there!"
But they didn't celebrate long.
Rakuzan inbounded. Akashi attacked off a hard crossover and got half a step on Aomine immediately. Aomine scrambled. Akashi drove into the paint, faced Wakamatsu's help, and finished with a small pull-back floater off his fingertips.
Touou 75, Rakuzan 76.
"Akashi!"
Transition. Touou offense.
Aomine called for the ball and Imayoshi delivered without hesitation. Aomine caught it with Akashi already in position.
Aomine drove hard. Their bodies locked together in sustained contact, Aomine muscling toward the free-throw line before planting and faking a pull-up jumper.
Akashi had no choice at his height. He had to go up.
Aomine pulled the ball back and swept past him, heading for the rim.
"He's past him!!"
The crowd reacted with a sharp collective intake. For the first time in the game, someone had beaten Akashi Seijuro going one direction from the front.
Nebuya was already there, filling the lane.
Every Rakuzan player knew the weakness of any Generation of Miracles member not named Akashi: they don't pass. Even with Murasakibara showing occasional glimpses of it in this tournament, Aomine had not passed out of a coverage situation once. Not one time.
Aomine didn't slow down at all. He planted his foot at the edge of the paint and left the ground, body fully extended, right hand raising the ball to its highest point.
"Exactly!" Nebuya roared and surged up to block.
Both bodies collided in the air head-on. Aomine went backward.
The whistle sounded at the exact instant Aomine's body was still falling, and in that fraction of a second his body torqued and he flung the ball upward.
SWISH.
Dead center.
"WHAT?!"
Aomine hit the floor.
"Number eight, Rakuzan. Blocking foul! Basket counts! One free throw!"
The arena exploded. Aomine had converted in an impossible position and drawn the foul in the same motion.
Aomine walked to the line, shook out his wrist, and sank the free throw without drama.
Two-plus-one.
Touou 78, Rakuzan 76.
"There he goes again. A completely unreasonable basket." Yagami Sorato in the Ryonan section clicked his tongue mildly.
"It's an impossible-looking shot, but it isn't random." Sendoh Akira had the same expression. "After a collision like that, maintaining enough core stability to still get the ball that high off your fingertips takes something special. That isn't luck."
"Which is exactly why Uozumi-senpai shouldn't be jumping when he closes out on Aomine," Yagami said. "Whether or not the block attempt works, the foul is essentially guaranteed."
"Yeah. I get it." Uozumi Jun listened with full attention.
Transition. Rakuzan offense.
Akashi passed to Mayuzumi. Imayoshi immediately clamped down on his position and prevented any clean first pass.
"Hmm."
No driving lane. No passing lane. Nothing.
Mayuzumi understood his own role precisely. He was a relay point, not an initiator. He didn't possess the ball-handling to create offense for himself.
And now he understood that he had underestimated Imayoshi Shoichi.
Seconds drained away.
"What is taking so long? Get the ball out!" Nebuya called from the post.
"You think I don't want to?" Mayuzumi seethed internally. And none of the others were cutting to bail him out.
It was Susa who read the situation first. He came up to pressure, immediately cutting off angles.
Mayuzumi had no choice. He forced a step-back jumper under heavy contest.
CLANK.
Complete airball.
The ball flew directly to Wakamatsu's hands.
Touou in transition.
Wakamatsu pushed it to Aomine, who caught it in stride and pushed immediately. Akashi was in pursuit.
The two of them charged toward the Rakuzan basket side by side, leaving everyone else behind.
Aomine had no interest in anything technical this time. He ran. He absorbed Akashi's interference through the frontcourt, stepped into the paint, and rose as high as he could rise before hammering the ball down through the rim with both hands.
Touou 80, Rakuzan 76.
Touou had extended their lead.
Beep.
"Rakuzan timeout."
"TOUOU! TOUOU! TOUOU!" The chanting rose in waves through the arena.
Everyone watching could feel it. Since Akashi and Aomine had begun guarding each other directly, the team holding the game by the throat was Touou.
"Honestly surprising." Ikegami Ryoji said. "On paper, Rakuzan is supposed to be the stronger team."
"And they've been playing with more teamwork too." Koshino Hiroaki frowned. "Hard to believe that still isn't enough to win."
Yagami Sorato stared at the court, brow furrowed.
Rakuzan had led the entire first half. The shift had come in the second half, after Aomine's scoring run prompted Akashi to guard him personally.
Everything had changed from that moment. So where exactly had it broken down?
Yagami's gaze moved across both rosters and finally settled on Aomine and Akashi.
Timeout over. Both teams returned.
Rakuzan's bench carried a heavier atmosphere than before.
Hayama Kotaro received the ball and scored in isolation against Susa.
Touou 80, Rakuzan 78.
Transition. Touou offense.
Imayoshi used Susa's screen to cut into the paint again, drew Nebuya's help, and kicked it underneath to Wakamatsu for a clean layup.
Touou 82, Rakuzan 78.
Something clicked.
Yagami felt it all at once.
Touou looked like they were playing isolation-heavy ball because Aomine dominated possession. That created the impression of individualism. But strip Aomine out of the equation, and the other four were running coordinated, intelligent offense.
Because Imayoshi had been set free.
When Imayoshi was matched against Akashi, his playmaking was severely restricted. His own scoring threat was completely neutralized. The only outlet was Aomine in isolation.
But the moment Akashi switched onto Aomine and Hayama took Imayoshi, Touou's team offense came back to life.
And on the other side of it, Rakuzan's team offense ran entirely through Akashi Seijuro. Every thread connecting Hayama, Mibuchi, and Nebuya to each other ran through him. Without those threads, they had no system.
So when Akashi and Aomine became locked in mutual containment, Rakuzan's team offense didn't just slow down. It vanished entirely.
Mayuzumi might have been the answer to that problem. But Imayoshi had him completely neutralized.
This was a strategic victory for Touou.
And it was a strategic victory they had deliberately engineered.
Which meant Rakuzan should have been able to see it during the timeout and adjust.
Yagami looked at the matchups on the floor. Nothing had changed.
"Then why is it still the same?"
Three minutes left.
Touou 92, Rakuzan 88.
From the shape of the game, Touou appeared capable of holding this lead to the end.
Rakuzan ball.
Akashi stood at the top of the key with the ball, trailing by four, less than three minutes left, and no urgency in his posture whatsoever.
"You all look like you think you've already won."
Aomine heard the words and grinned, something wild and free in it. "Akashi, you know better than anyone. The only one who can beat me is myself."
"Daiki. Let me tell you something." Something crossed Akashi's eyes. A faint red current, barely visible. "I am absolute."
"Changing the future is the easiest thing in the world for me."
Then he attacked.
The move wasn't complicated. A crossover, advanced slightly earlier than expected, with speed behind it that left no time to process.
Aomine reacted instantly and shifted to cut off the path.
Akashi's weight dropped. He was already into the next action, his wrist tilting at a small inward angle, the ball brushing close to the floor as it passed through his own legs.
Aomine didn't assume that was the end of it. He stabilized and pushed forward.
The ball bounced back into Akashi's right hand. He didn't pause. One more step forward.
The two bodies were about to meet.
Akashi planted his left foot and slid through a half-turn with a dancer's smoothness, frictionless and complete. He came through Aomine's right side, went straight up, and released the ball with a gentle wrist.
SWISH.
Two points. Clean.
Touou 92, Rakuzan 90.
"Something is off about his dribbling." Sendoh Akira's brow had been creasing deeper. "It's like he has nothing to do with Aomine being there. Or more like, every step Aomine takes is already known to him, so he's just going through his own motions."
"Has Akashi entered the zone?" Yagami leaned forward involuntarily, eyes narrowing.
Transition. Touou offense.
"Give it to me." Aomine wasn't going to let that stand.
Imayoshi had just been about to control the tempo. He looked at Aomine's eyes, burning like something was lit inside them, and passed without another thought.
The ace was always worth trusting.
Aomine caught the ball, shoulder dropping the instant his hands closed around it. Like a leopard coiled before it moves. He drove hard right.
Akashi didn't block the path. He slid along Aomine's side and stayed attached as they moved into the paint together.
Rakuzan's defense converged. Hayama and Nebuya both arrived.
Aomine wasn't arrogant enough to force himself into a three-man trap. He yanked the ball back through his legs, stepped back to create room, and rose with eyes only on the basket.
But in the instant the ball came up—
SMACK.
Akashi cut it loose with surgical precision.
"What?!" Aomine's hands went empty.
"STRIPPED! HOW DID HE DO THAT?!" The commentator's voice cracked. In the stands people were already on their feet, sensing this might be the pivot point of the entire game.
Akashi turned and went immediately. Aomine was half a step slow getting back from the takeaway, but even running everything he had, he had closed to within striking distance by the time Akashi crossed the three-point line.
"I told you. I am absolute."
Akashi pulled the ball back. Aomine's body defied physics to brake and twist at full speed.
It wasn't quite enough.
Akashi rose smoothly and released.
The ball climbed a perfect arc.
SWISH.
Three. Dead center.
Touou 92, Rakuzan 93.
"UNBELIEVABLE! AKASHI SCORES FIVE CONSECUTIVE POINTS, COMMANDING BOTH ENDS OF THE FLOOR! RAKUZAN RETAKES THE LEAD!"