Chapter 162: Dual Personality
"Tweet!"
"Rakuzan timeout."
Due to Akashi Seijuro's dangerous play, Rakuzan had surrendered six points in a single sequence. The atmosphere in the arena shifted subtly—the scales of victory had tilted entirely toward Ryonan!
"...Everyone else needs to give their all too."
"Akashi! Akashi!" Coach Shirogane stared at Akashi with grave concern. "Are you alright? Did you hear what I just said?"
"...Yeah." Akashi responded hesitantly.
Shirogane's brow furrowed, but he chose not to press further.
"Look, we're only down ten. There's still plenty of time. Every single possession from here needs to be executed precisely. We need to score!"
"Yes!" Rakuzan's players responded.
The timeout ended. Play resumed.
"Yagami, are you sure you don't need a breather?" Sendoh asked. "You could sit until the fourth quarter—that'd be fine."
"I'm good. Feeling much better now." Yagami rotated his body. "If I want rest, I'll have all the time in the world after we win the championship."
"I think after winning the championship, Yagami's even less likely to rest." Hikoichi said with a knowing shake of his head.
"Agreed." Fukuda nodded.
"Looks like everyone thinks the same way!" Uozumi's voice boomed. "Stay sharp! Protect our lead!"
"Yes!!"
Both teams returned to the court. Rakuzan's ball. Akashi advanced with the ball.
"Akashi's state seems off." Midorima, his most familiar middle school teammate, spotted the issue immediately.
"This guy—not only did his Zone get broken, but he's lost his fighting spirit too?" For some reason, Aomine felt irritated.
"You've reached your limit, haven't you?"
"Don't be ridiculous—I absolutely cannot lose!" Akashi dribbled mechanically, responding to another voice deep within his mind.
"...Give up. You know perfectly well—there's no chance of winning anymore."
"Shut up!" Akashi's expression grew vicious without realizing it. "I'm the winner! I've always been... and I always will be..."
"Smack!"
Yagami stripped the ball clean from Akashi's hands!
Hayama: "Huh...?"
Mibuchi: "What?!"
Nebuya: "Huh—?"
Akashi gave chase mechanically, only to find he couldn't catch up at all!
"BOOM!!"
Yagami went coast-to-coast for an easy dunk!
Ryonan 64, Rakuzan 52.
"Hm? Was Akashi spacing out just now?" Kasamatsu said in surprise. That was a serious mistake. "Don't tell me he still hasn't recovered from that flagrant foul?"
"No... Akashi isn't that simple." Kise's expression grew serious. "Rather than being shaken by the foul itself, he's probably more rattled by the fact that even in Zone, he got his shot blocked, and even fouling couldn't stop Yagami's three-pointer..."
"This is the first time I've ever seen Akashi like this."
Transition. Rakuzan's ball.
Akashi's eyes turned ice-cold, the brief wavering seemingly buried beneath renewed focus. He crossed halfcourt. Yagami stepped up to defend.
"Pulled yourself together?" Yagami taunted.
"I will not lose!" Akashi executed rapid between-the-legs dribbles, attempting to shake Yagami's balance.
But Yagami remained composed, his footwork staying tight, arms constantly disrupting Akashi's space.
"You can't do it." The voice in Akashi's mind surfaced again.
"Stop bothering me!"
Akashi's dribbling suddenly grew frantic. After a behind-the-back dribble to create space, he abruptly pulled up!
Yagami hadn't lost position. He stepped forward and jumped to contest!
Akashi, facing defense practically in his face, forced a fadeaway—
The ball's arc was high but lacked proper force.
"Clang!"
The basketball hammered off the front rim, bouncing high.
"Akashi missed?!!"
"Dammit!" Nebuya growled, using more aggressive positioning and explosiveness to tip the rebound away from Uozumi's fingertips!
Mayuzumi read the trajectory, but Fukuda stayed glued to him from behind.
"Smack!"
The ball changed direction mid-air, flying back to the perimeter. Akashi caught it!
"Akashi, watch out!!" Mibuchi shouted.
The instant Akashi secured the catch, Yagami closed the distance like lightning, his right hand striking toward the ball!
Akashi's grip was unstable—Yagami's long arm knocked it loose, the ball nearly slipping free! Akashi stumbled, barely managing to pull it back to his side, but his offensive rhythm was completely disrupted. He was trapped.
At that moment, Hayama arrived from the left, using his body to seal off Yagami's pursuit, buying Akashi breathing room. Simultaneously on the left baseline, Mibuchi reversed direction to shake Hikoichi by half a step, calling loudly for the ball!
"Zip!"
Akashi passed.
"He passed again?!"
"Wait, something's still wrong!"
Akashi's pass came with too much force and poor direction, flying straight toward Mibuchi's waist on the outside—extremely difficult to handle.
Mibuchi barely managed to secure it before it went out of bounds, but Hikoichi had already closed out on him.
"What the hell! This is supposed to be Akashi's pass? His touch is absolutely terrible!" Mibuchi held the ball high to protect it. At least Hikoichi's height wasn't enough to disrupt his shooting pocket.
"Country bumpkin, don't underestimate me!"
With the shot clock winding down, Mibuchi used his height advantage to force a shot, fading back to launch a high-difficulty three over Hikoichi's head!
"Smack!"
Sendoh emerged from the shadows at Mibuchi's side. His help defense timing was exquisite—the instant Mibuchi released, Sendoh swatted it down!
Rejection!!
After landing, Sendoh immediately adjusted and launched. Ryonan in transition!
Yagami crossed halfcourt at the same moment. Sendoh immediately fired a pinpoint full-court pass.
Akashi fronted Yagami defensively the instant he caught it.
"Bang!"
Yagami didn't slow down, driving forward with the dribble. Akashi reached for the steal!
"Bang!"
Yagami stopped on a dime, lowered his stance, executed an exaggerated crossover. Akashi, whose momentum carried him forward, body shifting, forced himself to change direction.
But that was still a fake!
Yagami violently yanked the ball back, stepping back dramatically.
Akashi's pupils constricted. His body followed instinctively.
"Thud!"
"You've got to be kidding me..."
"Akashi got dropped!!!"
Yagami calmly looked down at Akashi, the corner of his mouth curling slightly. After waiting one second—as Akashi's face turned ashen while getting up—Yagami rose for the shot!
The basketball traced a beautiful arc.
"Swish!"
Nothing but net. Three-pointer, good!
Ryonan 67, Rakuzan 52.
"OHHHH—!"
"Beautiful shot!!"
"Yagami! Yagami!"
The gap stretched to fifteen!!!
"Tweet!"
Shirogane had no choice but to call their second timeout.
"Are you kidding me?!" The moment they reached the sideline, Nebuya grabbed Akashi by the collar, unable to contain his fury. "Are you sleepwalking out there?! What the hell was that third-rate performance?!"
"This is the championship finals! Get your act together, you bastard!"
"Nebuya, let him go." Mibuchi separated them but didn't even glance at Akashi.
"Your performance is even worse than mine, you know." Hayama said irritably from the side. "If you don't want to play, then get off the court."
Akashi kept his head down, saying nothing.
Shirogane watched his team implode, a headache forming. Even now, he couldn't believe that a player named Akashi Seijuro could be this fragile.
No wonder when he'd visited his older brother Kozo recently, his brother had been more concerned about Akashi's mental state than his skill development.
Coach Shirogane remained silent for a long while. Even if Akashi had psychological issues, this brief timeout couldn't solve them.
"We need to substitute you out, Akashi..."
"Heh. How pathetic." Mayuzumi couldn't help but laugh with contempt. "Never thought you were only at this level after all."
"You talked such a big game before. A mere first-year acting all high and mighty like that—you don't seriously think anyone's going to comfort you or encourage you now, do you?"
"Absolutely hilarious."
"Come to think of it, you put on quite the act before. Or has something changed?"
"Are you really Akashi Seijuro?"
"What, does Akashi actually have a dual personality?"
Hearing Yagami's casual remark, even Sendoh couldn't help feeling a bit surprised.
"Ah, Kise told me." Yagami said breezily. (He hadn't.) "So if Akashi undergoes some kind of change, don't be shocked."
"..." The Ryonan players fell speechless.
"Why couldn't you mention this earlier?" Ikegami complained.
"Huh? Why would I?" Yagami raised his head, his eyes frighteningly serious. "Whether or not he has a dual personality, we're going to beat him."
"Right?"
"!!!"
Ikegami felt genuinely intimidated by Yagami's gaze, his heartbeat involuntarily accelerating.
"..." Ikegami swallowed. "Yagami, don't tell me you also have dual personality disorder..."
"..." Yagami rolled his eyes, choosing not to respond.
"Asking who I am is pretty hurtful, Mayuzumi-senpai." Akashi lifted his head with a gentle smile. "Of course I'm Akashi Seijuro."
"—?!"
The words that slipped from Akashi's mouth and the natural expression on his face left Rakuzan frozen in place.
"Coach, I apologize, but could you let me play a bit longer?"
"Akashi?" Coach Shirogane couldn't read the situation at all now.
"You say you want to stay in, but you were just playing like that..." Nebuya said in confusion.
Mibuchi asked hesitantly, "Akashi, are you really okay?"
"Yes. I apologize for the embarrassment." Akashi stood, bowing his head slightly toward his teammates. "Regarding what happened earlier, I'm truly sorry."
"I apologize."
Coach Shirogane: "..."
Nebuya: "...Oh."
"Eh eh?!" Hayama felt cold sweat breaking out.
"No way... Akashi is actually apologizing?!" Mibuchi stared at him in disbelief, though he quickly recovered. "Then can I call you Sei-chan from now on?"
"Sure, Mibuchi-senpai." Akashi nodded naturally. "For the rest of this game, I hope you'll lend me your strength once more."
"To defeat Ryonan!"
"Tweet!"
The whistle blew again. Play resumed. Both teams returned to the court.
"Everyone, for better coordination during the game, I won't add the senpai honorific. Please don't take offense." Akashi said.
"Ah, y-yes, okay." The Rakuzan players responded.
Honestly, while being called "senpai" by Akashi felt good for a moment, the overwhelming emotion was discomfort.
"Thank you."
Rakuzan's ball.
Akashi brought it across halfcourt. Yagami immediately pressured up.
"I apologize—I haven't apologized for that foul yet, have I?" Rather than attacking immediately, Akashi spoke with genuine remorse. "I'm so relieved you weren't injured. Otherwise, I wouldn't know what to do."
"...It's fine." Yagami sensed the completely different aura emanating from him now. He had to admit—it was genuinely uncanny.
Akashi's apology wasn't whispered quietly, so nearly every Ryonan player on the court could hear it. At this moment, everyone wore expressions of complete shock.
The Rakuzan players nodded: Exactly. That's the feeling. We understand!
"Pleasantries aside—let's officially begin!"
The moment Akashi finished speaking, his form suddenly accelerated, attacking hard past Yagami's left side. Yagami quickly slid to cut him off. Akashi pulled the ball back between his legs, making a motion to pass to Mayuzumi on the right elbow.
Yagami adjusted his center of gravity, reaching to intercept.
"Zip!"
The ball flew out—but the direction was the left corner. Mibuchi caught it.
"—!"
"Amazing touch... completely different from before the timeout!" After catching it, Mibuchi experienced a miraculous sensation. "Even better than Akashi's previous passes—"
The passes from the Akashi Seijuro that Mibuchi knew were accurate, yes, but they felt rough—nothing like this gentle delivery.
"Whoosh!"
Mibuchi rose over Hikoichi's contest for three.
"Swish!"
Nothing but net!
Ryonan 67, Rakuzan 55.
"Beautiful shot!"
"Three-pointer good!"
"A clean swish! Rakuzan's two-minute scoring drought finally ends!"
"Well done, Mibuchi." Akashi smiled. "That's your shooting—as elegant as always."
"Ugh..."
Hearing Akashi's praise, Mibuchi suddenly felt close to tears.
"That's the first time I've received such a comfortable pass in a game! That feeling just now was like a dream!"
The positioning, the timing, even the angle when touching the ball...
"Is that so? I'll pass to you plenty more from here on."
Akashi smiled as he retreated to Rakuzan's end, settling into his defensive stance, eyes locked on the opposition.
"Yagami, bring it on!"
patreon.com/Twilightsky588 - 50 advanced chapters