Chapter 89: The Phantom on the Court
Reo Mibuchi wasn’t doing much better either, gulping down air in heavy, ragged breaths.
To defend against Shintaro Midorima’s shots, he had to jump with everything he had every single time. On offense, to avoid being blocked by Midorima, he had no choice but to keep relying on 【Heaven】 again and again.
When Reo glanced at the clock—one minute remaining—and the score, 36–35, he let out a helpless sigh, his gaze settling on Shintaro Midorima.
‘Have I really been pushed this far…?’
Reo gave a bitter smile. If he kept using 【Heaven】 like this, he might collapse from exhaustion halfway through the second quarter. He really didn’t want to use that move—but the game had already reached this point.
He knew very well that if he were forced off the court due to exhaustion, the match would be completely handed over to Teikō. That was something he absolutely couldn’t accept.
Having made up his mind, Reo took a deep breath, caught the pass from Rakuzan’s point guard, and looked at Shintaro Midorima with a faint smile.
“Superstitious kid,” he said lightly, “you’re strong. You’re the first one who’s ever forced me to use this move.”
Shintaro Midorima found the remark baffling. Being called “Superstitious kid” also irritated him slightly.
Reo Mibuchi had no idea what Midorima was thinking. He raised the ball, bent his knees, and made a shooting motion.
Midorima tensed instantly. Thinking Reo was about to jump and use 【Heaven】 again, he sprang high into the air.
Only after leaving the ground did Midorima realize that Reo hadn’t jumped at all. Instead, Reo was standing there, smiling at him.
Midorima’s pupils shrank.
‘Damn it!’
Reo Mibuchi watched Midorima rise with a smile, then jumped immediately afterward. As he collided with Midorima in midair, Reo released the basketball.
Swish!
The ball dropped cleanly through the hoop.
“Beep! Teikō #11 foul! Three points count—plus one free throw!”
The stands fell silent for a brief moment before erupting into heated discussion.
“Hey, wasn’t that a 3+1 just now? He still scored through that kind of collision?”
“That’s insane. Getting four points off a single shot is just ridiculous.”
On the sidelines, Miyamoto Tokima watched quietly, thinking to himself:
‘So he already has two kinds of shots… Reo Mibuchi.’
Shintaro Midorima landed stiffly, shock written all over his face. His lips trembled slightly as he asked,
“So that’s your second move?”
Reo Mibuchi flicked his hair back, revealing his refined features. The corner of his mouth lifted as he chuckled softly.
“That’s right, Superstitious kid. How was my 【Earth】?”
Midorima pushed up his glasses.
“Barely passable.”
Reo burst out laughing at Midorima’s tsundere response.
“So the Superstitious kid is a little tsundere too, huh?”
Midorima’s hand froze mid-motion as he adjusted his glasses. He snapped angrily,
“Don’t use your low-level vocabulary to give people nicknames!”
With that, he turned away in a huff.
As Reo prepared for the free throw, Kōzō Shirogane called a timeout, substituting Tetsuya Kuroko in for Seijuro Akashi to set up a surprise offensive play.
...
After the timeout, Reo Mibuchi sank the bonus free throw and turned to head back on defense.
The moment he did, he saw that Shintaro Midorima had already sprinted to the frontcourt. His heart jolted.
‘Not good!’
Whoosh!
A violent rush of wind swept past Reo’s back. The basketball tore through the air beside him, stirring the airflow and whipping his hair upward.
Shintaro Midorima caught Tetsuya Kuroko’s pass cleanly. Standing at the three-point line, he gave the rim a brief glance, bent his knees, and launched himself upward.
The Rakuzan power forward closest to him reacted and rushed over to contest the shot.
But he was too late.
All he could do was watch as Midorima released the ball.
Swish!
The net rang crisply.
Reo stiffened and slowly turned his head, his pupils trembling as he stared at the blue-haired boy who had made the pass.
‘He… when did he even come onto the court…?’
Reo suddenly remembered what Teppei Kiyoshi had once said about Teikō’s players. In an instant, his confusion vanished.
‘So he’s… the phantom on the court Kiyoshi mentioned?’
With 36 seconds left on the clock, Reo didn’t choose to stall for time. Instead, he went for a fast break, determined to secure one last score for his team.
Ignoring Midorima’s defense, Reo went straight into a shot using 【Heaven】. Midorima clenched his teeth and jumped with all his strength.
Perhaps Reo was too anxious—this 【Heaven】 shot missed.
Atsushi Murasakibara grabbed the rebound. With 28 seconds left, he hurled the ball forward into the frontcourt.
Rakuzan’s players sprinted desperately back on defense, despair filling their hearts as they watched the number 8 charging ahead of them.
‘Why… why is he so fast?!’
Daiki Aomine surged ahead like a lone spear, storming toward the basket. Catching Murasakibara’s long pass, he gathered the ball, took two steps, and rose high before slamming it through the hoop.
The score became 41–39. With more than 20 seconds remaining, Rakuzan still had the final possession.
Rakuzan’s point guard slowed the pace, dribbling the ball across half court. When he reached the three-point line, he suddenly realized no one was guarding him at all.
Though puzzled, he didn’t hesitate, driving straight toward the paint.
Reo Mibuchi seemed to sense something was wrong. His expression changed drastically as he shouted,
“Watch out!”
The point guard was still confused by Reo’s shout when he suddenly heard a sharp snap, followed by a strange emptiness in his hands.
‘The ball?!’
He whipped his head around to see who had stolen it. When he saw the person responsible, disbelief flooded his face.
‘This… when did this guy get onto the court?!’
It turned out that Tetsuya Kuroko hadn’t gone to defend him at all at the start. Instead, he had used his faint presence to linger at the edge of the court.
Only after the point guard crossed half court did Kuroko slowly circle around behind him.
Catching him off guard, Kuroko reached in from behind and cleanly stripped the ball away.
Author's Note
Comments (0)
Please login or sign up to post a comment.