Rebirth in KurokoNoBasket

Shun hadn't felt this much fatigue in a long time, but he was feeling something like the runner's high.     

His mental state was at an all-time high, and he walked to the court with a smile on his face.     

Tokiwadai got into defensive positions. The ball was going to be in Teiko's possession following the alternating possession rule.     

-*-*-*-     

Teiko had pulled Kuroko out of the game, and all Generation Of Miracles was back on the court.     

Tokiwadai was going to go back to double-teaming Midorima, but this time Hyakuzawa was in the place of Kaitani.     

Tokiwadai wanted to tighten their defense on Midorima to the limit, and Hyakuzawa's height was the perfect means for it.     

-*-*-*-     

Akashi carried the ball past the half-court line, and as the arrangement, Yuki was ready to guard him.     

Yuki had done a good job at defending Akashi and had kept him on the outside, but he wasn't able to stop Akashi from scoring from the outside.     

Yuki concentrated on keeping Akashi out of the inside area.     

Akashi stepped in Yuki's range.     

A very faint light glowed inside Akashi's eyes, as he did a simple right-to-left crossover, and Yuki stumbled to the right and felt like something was pulling him in that direction.     

He didn't slip, but he wasn't in the position to chase after Akashi.     

Commentator A: "A skillful crossover by Akashi-kun. He disrupted his defender with such ease."     

Commentator B: "True, it looked so effortlessly done."     

Akashi moved inside the three-point arc, towards the basket.     

Shun decided to leave Aomine alone so that he could move to Akashi because he was free at the moment.     

Akashi looked ahead and said to Shun.     

Akashi: "Move."     

Shun was confused for a moment, and then he recognized the words, but it was too late as Akashi performed a behind-the-back wrap from his right to left hand, and then drove forward while passing the ball between his legs.     

Shun's eyes widened as he felt himself slip backward.     

Shun: 'That was...'     

Akashi passed Shun and put the ball in the basket with a finger-roll.     

Teiko's students felt life return to them as they saw Shun slip. The player that had been a pain in the butt was finally embarrassed on the court.     

Commentator B: "Akashi-kun showed excellent ball-handling skills. Two Tokiwadai players weren't able to stop Akashi-kun's run to the basket."     

Shun sat there on the ground, not moving at all. He could feel the room open, and a new throne materializing in the room.     

A throne that was blood red in color graced the room, and a silhouette appeared on the throne.     

Aomine, Murasakibara, and Midorima looked at Akashi, walking back to their side of the court.     

They all also felt Akashi finally entering the room and the presence of his throne.     

Akashi stopped near Aomine and 'ordered' him.     

Akashi: "Daiki, I will be the one to defend Kageyama from now on. You should be ready for fast attacks. The turnovers will be increasing from now on."     

Aomine just nodded, feeling the tone of Akashi's speech.     

Current Akashi was nobody they wanted to argue. They just saw him breaking Shun's ankles.     

-*-*-*-     

On the other hand, Shun slowly got up.     

Shun: 'One...'     

Mibuchi jogged to Shun and patted him on the back.     

Mibuchi: "Don't worry about it. It happens, you do it often."     

Shun looked at Mibuchi and said.     

Shun: "I will be the one defending Akashi from now on."     

Yuki, who was nearby, raised his eyebrows. Shun turned to him and said.     

Shun: "Yuki, you should move to Kise. We will be leaving Aomine alone. He is too strong for a defender to be on him to make a difference."     

He glanced at all his teammates and said.     

Shun: "Two exchanges. Give me two exchanges. I may fail in those two exchanges. But after that, I will be able to keep up with him, or so I think."     

Mibuchi was worried at those words, but he also saw the serious expression on Shun's face.     

He nodded and spoke.     

Mibuchi: "Okay, we will do that. Yuki is on Kise, Aomine is free, and Shun will be on Akashi."     

Mibuchi was worried about leaving Aomine alone, but he just hoped that Shun would be able to keep outscoring them.     

He turned to others and said.     

Mibuchi: "We need to tighten up on the defense. We need to keep up our lead."     

-*-*-*-*-*-*-     

Shun crossed the half-court line and saw Akashi waiting for him just a few steps ahead.     

Shun stopped near him and noticed that the color of his eyes was different.     

Shun: 'Heterochromic eyes...'     

Shun spoke.     

Shun: " What you did just before, that was amazing. The way you moved changed."     

He pointed at his eyes and smiled.     

Shun: "I saw the moves change."     

Akashi smiled back and replied.     

Akashi: "Ah, the copy ability. I guess you would notice the change with that ability. It's nothing serious, the previous me and I(boku) have switched places. I am in control now."     

Shun noticed the difference in Akashi's speech.     

Shun: 'He is using I(Boku) instead of I(Ore).'     

Akashi smile faded as he said.     

Akashi: "Enough talk, let get to work. I have a hefty point-gap to close."     

Akashi's eyes glowed with a ring in each eye, showing the activation of Emperor-Eyes.     

Shun took a deep breath as he got ready for the attack. He thought of the move to pass Akashi.     

Shun: 'A left-to-right crossover, followed with a pullback and ending with a drive to the left.'     

Shun began his move and tilted to the left for the left fake of the crossover.     

Akashi read Shun's breathing, heartbeat, muscle contractions, and center of mass, and concluded. [1]     

Akashi: 'A left-to-right crossover.'     

Shun switched the ball from his left hand to his right hand and instantly moved to the right.     

Akashi shifted to the right to block Shun and continued his observation.     

Akashi: 'A pullback and... a drive from the left.'     

And, as Akashi predicted, Shun pulled back at the last moment and exploded to the left.     

Akashi calmly raised his right hand, and with ease, got a hand on the ball.     

Shun narrowed his eyes when he felt the ball leave his hand, but he wasn't going to give up so easily.     

Shun gritted his teeth and chased after Akashi.     

Even though Akashi had lost his perfect Akashi, he still retained the vision at the level of Hawk-Eye.     

He knew that Shun was chasing behind, he calculated the speed and the time it would take Shun to catch up to him.     

When Shun caught up to him, Akashi stopped surprising Shun. Shun put a little force on his leg to come to a similar stop and turned to close the gap between them.     

Akashi chose the perfect moment and charged forward. Shun tried to compensate by trying to move back and slipped once again.     

Akashi moved ahead and put the ball in the basket, with an overhand layup.     

Shun clicked his tongue as he thought.     

Shun: 'Two....'     

-*-*-*-     

In two exchanges, Tokiwadai's lead had become ten-points.     

A lot of people were worried about the score.     

On the bench, Sora tapped his feet as he worried about the score.     

Kaitani looked at his junior and slapped him on the back.     

Kaitani: "Don't worry about the score. We still have the lead and didn't captain signal not to call a time-out. Which means they are fine.     

Now, put some energy behind those cheers."     

-*-*-*-*-*-*-     

Inuzuka sighed as he spoke.     

Inuzuka: "I would've loved to see Kageyama slip if this was a game in P.E. class, but this is an official game."     

The others were also worried about Shun and the game.     

Shikamaru pointed out something he noticed.     

Shikamaru: "Kageyama switched to defending that guy after the first half. The redhaired guy had been passing every time, but now he is scoring on his own.     

Something changed since the start of this half."     

-*-*-*-*-*-*-     

Once again, Shun had the ball, and Akashi was in front of him.     

Shun was thinking about his move, but before he could decide, Akashi speared his hand towards the ball and dislodged it out of Shun's hands.     

Shun was shocked this time, as he didn't think that Akashi would move so early.     

Shun: "Dammit!"     

Akashi lunged forward and retrieved the ball. The situation had reversed, and now Shun was on the defense.     

Akashi moved the ball with excellent ball-handling techniques, and the moment he saw Shun's weight in a vulnerable position, he did a crossover to disrupt his balance.     

Shun went to the side and landed on one knee.     

Akashi moved forward, and just like before, Shun followed after him.     

Different from the last time, Shun got up much faster than before and was up just as Akashi had taken a step.     

Akashi used that to his advantage and stopped immediately, and Shun, who had rushed to follow, didn't have the time to regain his balance completely.     

Shun wasn't expecting this and landed on all fours.     

Akashi looked at Shun and said.     

Akashi: "Lower your head."     

Akashi rushed ahead and once again put the ball in the basket with a finger-roll layup.     

Shun closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and said to himself.     

Shun: "Three..."     

-*-*-*-*-*-*-     

The crowd's mood had changed. The three exchanges between Shun and Akashi had launched a wave of reviews among the people in the stands.     

Shun had lost in three exchanges and lost six points for Tokiwadai. The lead was back in single-digit territory.     

The support was shifting in Teiko's favor, and the three simultaneous effortless ankle breaks were just too cool to watch.     

Akashi had singlehandedly wretched the momentum from Tokiwadai.     

Plus, Shun had been too dominant on the court during the first half. That gave Teiko an underdog feel when Akashi won against Shun.     

*     

Person A: "Wow! Teiko's captain sure did step up in the second half. Did you see him breaking ankled at every exchange? That was so cool!"     

*     

Person B: "He made that Kageyama Shun fall three times! That was so amazing!"     

*     

Person C: "Teiko immediately cut the lead to single-digits. As expected of the Generation Of Miracles."     

*     

Person D: "This is bad! I am getting really excited. Are they really middle schoolers? How can a middle school game be so awesome?!"     

-*-*-*-     

The cheering of Teiko's students was the loudest in the game. Even the students who were not that interested in basketball were cheering happily.     

The bench's morale was at an all-game high.     

And, the ball was in Tokiwadai's possession.     

-*-*-*-*-*-*-     

At the baseline, Yuki passed the ball to Shun and ran forward to the other side to guard Kise.     

Shun, on the other hand, jogged to the half-court line and then walked between the half-court line and the three-point arc, where he met Akashi.     

Akashi looked at Shun with a relaxed expression.     

The rest of Teiko's members were also ready for offense, as they looked ready to run for a fast break.     

All of the players' eyes were on Akashi and Shun.     

Akashi was about to move into Shun's range to steal the ball from him when something happened that surprised him and even the rest of Teiko.     

Shun willingly stepped closer to Akashi. He was at the optimal distance for Akashi to steal the ball.     

Kise felt confused as he saw Shun that close to Akashi.     

Kise: "What is he doing?"     

Kise and others might've been confused, but Akashi, who could see Shun's eyes, understood it all.     

Shun's eyes said it all.     

He looked at Akashi, and Akashi instantly knew what Shun was doing.     

「Go on, try to steal the ball. Let's see if you can do it.」     

Akashi felt that Shun was insulting him and decided to take the ball immediately.     

The rings glowed in his eyes as Emperor-Eyes activated to reveal all of Shun's secrets.     

Akashi waited till the most vulnerable moment and moved his hand to steal the ball.     

Akashi: "I will take tha-."     

Akashi's eyes widened as he saw Shun dribble the ball from his left hand to right hand the moment he moved to target his left hand.     

Akashi looked at Shun's face in pure unadulterated shock.     

He saw Shun tilting his head and saying.     

Shun: "What happened? The ball is still with me."     

A mocking smile appeared on Shun's face as he looked at Akashi.     

The first exchange between Emperor-Eyes and God-Speed Impulse and their wielders was about to begin.     

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-     

[A/N [1] - It seems Akashi's Emperor-Eye can also read Heartbeat and sweat. I decided not to write them. Dunno why....]