Coming Back [Kuroko no Basket]

"They're down twelve points," Himuro noted. "Akashi's defending from even farther back. Like Taiga, his defensive range is probably enormous. The other four are matching that and-"

"No," said Mursakibara, interrupting the boy mid-sentence. "After all the mistakes they've made, Aka-chin expects nothing from the others."

"What? You mean... He's defending alone, too?" Himuro said with shock as he stared at the red-haired captain on the court.

Suddenly, every Seirin player noticed Akashi's defense zone suddenly expand and that they were inside it already, catching them all off guard from the heavy atmosphere. Before Izuki could react, Akashi stole the ball from him and started dribbling across the court.

"A steal into a fast break!" Wakamatsu yelled as he was also surprised by the sudden attack.

Kagami caught up to the Rakuzan captain though and tried to stop Akashi.

Focus! He must be stopped!

Akashi quickly dribbled around the boy, causing an ankle-break on Kagami and had the boy fall forward on his knees. Kagami tried to steal the ball by turning around and knocking the ball away, but he failed as Akashi suddenly stopped which caused Kagami to fumble and fall forward again.

"The way you struggle is laughable," scoffed the Rakuzan captain. "Stay there on the ground."

Releasing the ball and making the basket, both the Seirin and Rakuzan players stared at him in surprise while the audience was riled up from seeing Akashi dominate the court.

"He made it!"

"Akashi is dominating!"

"Sei-chan..." Reo trailed off as the boy passed by.

"Watch for threes while we're on defense," Akashi ordered when he stopped in his tracks. "Even you can handle that."

"What?" Reo said in surprise.

"Akashi!" called Hayama.

"I expect nothing from you," Akashi said in a cold tone, no sympathy laced in his voice. "If you can't do it, then I will."

"The greatest threat on offense and defense is Emperor Eye," Imayoshi said, which seemed to catch Wakamatsu's attention. "If Akashi has abandoned his teammates, then it's like the time we played against Seirin. Single combat between two players in the Zone. That was an even contest, but Akashi is completely overpowering him. Reacting to your opponent's movements can never beat predictions."

The game resumed with Seirin in possession of the ball, but Akashi had managed to knock the ball out of Kagami's grip and let it bounce off the court.

The referee blew the whistle and declared, "Out of bounds, black ball!"

Kagami stood there breathing heavily as he tried to catch his breath while Akashi calmly resumed his position for defense.

Crap, it's no use. I can't play any better in my current state! I've entered the Zone and reached the bottom, but... I can't open the new door I see there. I need to move the guy standing in front of it. It'll never open if I just wait! What am I supposed to do?

"Kagami-kun."

Hearing his name be called, Kagami snapped out of his thoughts and looked up from the ground to see Kuroko standing next to him.

"Kuroko."

"Why don't you give up?" asked Kuroko, catching all the Seirin members off guard.

"Why would you say that now, Kuroko?" questioned Kagami.