Kasamatsu looked at Kise, who was slumped like a deflated balloon, then placed his hand on Kota's head and leaned in to whisper,
"You better have a solution for this. It's only the first quarter and our ace already looks like roadkill."
Honestly, Kasamatsu knew deep down that Kota definitely had a plan. Otherwise, there's no way he'd let Kise face Aomine, who was in Zone, all by himself. Besides, even the coach didn't step in to stop it. That was enough proof that this was the best strategy Kaijo had at the moment. Maybe not perfect, but at least Kota and the coach were on the same page.
Kota chuckled, raised his index finger, and explained,
"Aomine's ridiculously strong right now. So strong that even if all five of us gang up on him, we still might not stop him. That's exactly why I've got Kise guarding him."
Kasamatsu frowned.
"Then why are you sending Kise to just get beat up without letting him attack? Wouldn't a one-on-one at least help drain Aomine's stamina?"
Kota wagged his finger like a teacher scolding a clueless student.
"Remember what happened last time we played Too? We used the exact same strategy. Yeah, we won, but that was only because Aomine ran out of gas. After losing to us, the guy went back to training hard. Now, even if he can't stay in Zone the whole game, I bet he can hold it for three quarters."
Saying that, Kota patted Kise's shoulder like someone comforting a man going into battle. "That's why I made this call: Kise locks him down, and I'll run the offense. Aomine can't guard both of us at the same time. As long as we keep the score close and hold on, the moment he drops out of Zone... that's when we strike!"
On the sidelines, Coach Takeuchi had been standing there eavesdropping with his arms crossed. He couldn't help nodding in approval.
"This kid's a genius... Looks like the team's set for the next three years."
Coach glanced at Kise, then at Kota, and grinned so wide his nose nearly made a bubble. The guy looked way too happy for someone coaching a tense match.
The timeout ended quickly, but Kaijo stuck to the same plan — sacrificing their own ace like a lamb to the slaughter.
Too, seeing how things were going their way, didn't change either. Aomine said he was fine stamina-wise, so they were happy to keep things rolling.
Both sides jumped right back into the same rhythm as before.
BEEEP — The buzzer signaled the end of the first quarter.
28:2
Too in the lead. Kaijo's bench didn't look stressed at all — chatting, laughing like they were at a picnic.
Too's side… well, the atmosphere was as dead as ever. To be fair, they were always like that. Nobody liked talking much.
Momoi scanned her team, sighed internally, and grumbled in her head.
"I swear I'm one bad vibe away from transferring to Too… if it wasn't for Dai-chan being here, I'd be long gone. But whatever... guess I'll survive."
Clearing her throat, she chirped,
"Good job, everyone. We've got the lead right now, but stay sharp. Kaijo's gonna try to fight back."
She paused, then added with a mischievous glint,
"Also, Kise didn't go on offense at all that quarter. Pretty suspicious. I bet they're saving his energy. Let's try throwing him some bait in the second quarter — lure him into attacking. Can't let them get too comfortable."
The Too players nodded in agreement. No one had forgotten how they got stomped by Kaijo in that last practice match.
BEEEP —
Start of the second quarter.
Since Kaijo won the tip-off, both the second and third quarters started with Too's possession.
Imayoshi casually dribbled past half-court without a second thought and instantly passed the ball to Aomine. Watching that, Kota couldn't help clicking his tongue.
"Man, dictators are the worst..."
Aomine wasted no time. He drove straight into the paint. Kasamatsu stepped in for help defense, but Aomine went airborne, switched hands mid-air, and dropped a smooth floater right over him.
Kasamatsu didn't even look disappointed.
"Yeah, getting wrecked by Aomine… not my first rodeo. What was that quote again? 'Success doesn't have to come from me.' Yeah, let's go with that."
Shrugging it off, Kasamatsu inbounded the ball to Kota.
Kota sauntered up the court, dribbling like he was on a Sunday stroll. His laid-back vibe seemed contagious — Kaijo players all looked relaxed. Down ten? Please. Ten points? Twenty points? Child's play.
Imayoshi eyed Kota, lips pressed together, but didn't step up to pressure him. On the other end, Aomine noticed and eased back too, even deactivating Zone, giving Kise plenty of shooting space. Looks like Momoi's words had gotten through.
Kota observed the scene, then glanced toward Kise. Without warning, he quickly gathered the ball and fired a pass in Kise's direction.
Master of Fakes, Activated: Your fakes become hyper-realistic.
Imayoshi's eyes lit up like a kid on Christmas. He whipped around and dashed toward Kise, fully expecting to double-team him with Aomine and strip the ball.
"Man, I can already picture Kota's face when we pull this off—"
Wait.
Where's the ball?
Imayoshi turned to Kise, who blinked back with an innocent face that basically said,
"Bro, what do you want from me? You trying to fight or what?"
He snapped his head back—just in time to see Kota grinning at him, casually pull up, and drain a perfect three-pointer. Nothing but net.
A photographer courtside caught the whole thing at the perfect angle: Imayoshi looking completely bamboozled, Kise acting all clueless, and Kota's silhouette with his shooting form frozen midair.
Kaijo's bench went absolutely nuts. Players were on their feet, some waving towels like crazy, others whistling, and a couple linking arms doing some weird little victory dance.
Kota glanced at the chaos on the bench and couldn't help but smirk. He turned, shrugged with his hands out, and pouted like,
"What can I say? Scoring's just too easy. Blame the fact my fakes are this good."
The bench exploded even louder, hooting and hollering. The crowd wasn't stingy with applause either. Breaking someone's ankles with a fake pass and then drilling a clean three? Yeah, that's crowd-pleasing material.
Even the Seirin crew and the two guys from Shutoku watching from the stands gasped in surprise.
Kagami couldn't hold back.
"This guy's athleticism is whatever... but man, he's smart. I'll give him that."
Kuroko nodded in agreement, eyes glued to Kota's back, a flicker of admiration passing through them.
Kota grinned at Aomine, teasing,
"You know, technically I'm still Kaijo's top scorer this game. Kinda hurts that no one appreciates me enough."
Aomine's eyebrow twitched. As always, Kota's dumb jokes ignited a special kind of rage in him.
Aomine didn't bother answering. His eyes flashed purple again as he re-entered Zone. The earlier exit had been nothing but bait to trick Kise.
Kota's smile widened, but gradually he wiped away the playful smirk. Aomine wasn't falling for his games and went right back to bullying Kise.
"Tch... figured he'd lose his temper and come at me instead."
Licking his lips, Kota thought,
"Nope. He's cool-headed. Opened Zone not out of anger, but because he's still got gas left. He dropped it earlier just to help bait us... You've changed, Aomine. For someone who talks big about not trusting teammates, you're a total tsundere."
30:23,
Too still leads. 8 minutes left in the second quarter.