"Mibuchi, you four go on offense, just for the next possession."
Akashi Seijuru said, surprising his three core teammates. Mibuchi was shocked and even questioned the decision. "Wait! Sei-chan, what does that mean!?" He muttered, holding a ball.
However, Akashi just glared. His faded golden eyes pierced Reo Mibuchi. The team captain had the shortest frame in Rakuzan, yet his authority exceeded his physical stature.
Right now, his three teammates could only accept what Akashi had said.
The silent passer, also their teammate, kept their distance and lazily stared.
"Run," Akashi ordered as he motioned for the ball. His four teammates then ran to the other side of the court and took their positions. Akashi threw the ball, a one-handed full-court pass.
A shooting forward caught the ball mid-air and dribbled inside. Kotaro Hayama.
"All the way mid court!?" A young female coach and manager from Seiren said. Riko Aida.
"This is bad! Go back!" Seiren's team captain, Junpei Hyuga, shouted but stopped as he noticed that Akashi Seijuru, Rakuzan's most lethal weapon, stayed back and guarded their side of the court.
"He's not moving from his side!?"
"Think about it later, focus on defense!"
(Akashi... just what do you have in mind.) A player, even smaller in frame, said. Kuruko Tetsuya was his name, Seiren's silent golden child and passer.
Seiren's awakened wild beast was guarding Kotaro. Taiga Kagami. Kotaro was then forced to pass the ball towards a teammate, but the raging wild beast intercepted it.
Kagami, successfully intercepting the pass, ran to the other side of the court. Eyes full of focus and determined hope.
"Can they score five in a row!?" An observing player from Shutoko said.
"It's possible." The green-haired shooting guard, Shintaro Midorima, answered.
(I'm sinking this, he can't break Meteor Jam here like in the first half!) Kagami thought as he prepared a roar and planned to jump over Akashi.
"Take this Akashi!"
However, the ball was effortlessly stolen from Kagami as he tried to jump over the silent yet calculating Akasi. Kagami, surprised by the steal, lost his balance and rhythm, causing him to fall and slide across the inside court, hitting the hoop's post.
A small quake was felt by everyone, not just the players, but also the observers and hyped spectators.
"An earthquake?" The star player of Kaijo High, Ryota Kise, said.
"Today's not a lucky day..." Midorima muttered to himself and then promptly excused himself to the bathroom, a bad feeling was surging inside him.
The players inside the court ignored it. Way too immersed in the game in front of them.
"Akashi!?" Kuroko Tetsuya said, his expression full of worry as Kagami clicked his tongue and stared in shock.
"Allow me to teach our difference in social standing to all individuals on this court." Akashi said, eyes full of intense focus.
All the generations of miracles were surprised by the sudden activation of the Zone. The thought of Akashi having access to the Zone filled them with excited surprise.
"Akashi's zone..." The ace of Too Academy, Daiki Aomine, muttered.
Akashi sprinted forward as Kagami followed. "Not so fast." Akashi ran past a teammate, stopped for a moment, then maneuvered behind Kagami, leaving Kagami in the dust.
"Impossible!"
"STOOOOOP!"
Junpei Hyuga shouted with Shun Izuki by his side, blocking and trying to intercept Akashi; however, with a single change of Akashi's rhythm and a single under-dribble. The two guards broke their defensive postures.
A two-man full zone ankle break.
"You've defied me this long, it's not enough for you to sit." Akashi said. "So, kneel."
The two players kneeled before Akashi.
However, a strong earthquake interrupted the match, instantly dispelling Akashi and Kagami's Zone. Their focus was broken by something unnatural and unexpected.
The referee blew his whistle, signaling the end of the match. The observers sought protection as the players inside the court hurriedly sought cover.
"Sei-chan! Over here!" Mibuchi shouted.
"The hell is this earthquake!?" Kagami said, hiding beneath a bench. Kuroko was already there, and the two faced each other. "Wha! Why are you here!?" Kagami said in surprise.
"I got here first." Kuruko said, his breathing very close to Kagami. The two remained silent for a moment as the earthquake persisted. They both locked their eyes, staring in silence.
"Do you think we can win?" Kagami asked with uncertainty.
"With you, we can." Kuroko said, smiling.
However, their moment was interrupted as the earthquake intensified. The score tally hanging from above, fell and crashed into the court's imprinted logo.
"Please, remain calm!" An announcer shouted.
What happened next remained a mystery for days and even weeks. Via hundreds of witnesses' accounts, the court and the arena's walls apparently shone with a light green hue.
Some chairs, benches, and items also apparently fell through the floor.
Not only that, but two basketball players had apparently fallen through the floor. They remain missing, even today. It wasn't a mass psychosis event as some people theorized. Surveillance cameras and some handheld cameras confirmed that objects were passing through the floor.
However, the most damning evidence was the hoop post. It collapsed and got stuck on the floor; half of it was phased through the floor.
The sudden event reached worldwide news.
And made worldwide questions.
A week later...
Several reporters were following Kagami Taiga. At this point, he was tired of the questions and endless probing. He can't even head to school without some journalists who have no heart to leave him alone.
The school's guard sympathized and then locked the school gate as he entered the school's premises, blocking the nosy reporters.
The event kept repeating in front of him, inside his fractured mind.
Kuroko Tetsuya suddenly fell through the floor; he would've fallen had he not reacted quickly. He managed to crawl away just in time.
The court at that time felt strange, as if it were slowly losing its cold, hard touch.
Kagami entered the school's basketball court. There were already people inside, quiet and unenergetic.
"Hey, you okay?" Junpei Hyuga said, scanning Kagami. "Kiyoshi's in the rest room. He's still taking it hard." He added as he shot the basketball upward, it missed, clanging the rim.
"Who isn't?" Kagami added.
"Just what the hell is happening with the world!?" Hyuga said. "Apparently, somewhere in America, the same thing was happening."
The restroom door's opened, revealing a tall yet sullen figure. "Kiyoshi..."
The basketball court's door opened as well, revealing another sullen figure.
It was Kise Ryota, and his hands were full of missing posters of his two former teammates. Kuroko Tetsuya and Akashi Seijuro.
"Kagami, are you coming...? Murasakibara's on his way."
"Yeah, hand me a bundle." Kagami sighed, eyes lifeless.
Hyuga released another shot. It missed and clanged against the rim, but this time, it was louder. "Izuki, are you also going?"