Chapter 015: They Still Have Mirai!
Ōdai Gymnasium.
Several more rounds passed.
During this period.
Mirai finally missed a few three-pointers.
But thanks to the defensive capabilities of the 'Spider Step,' Iwaori still couldn't take advantage of this opportunity to widen the score. It wasn't until the current offensive possession that they finally broke the scoring drought with an alley-oop play connecting inside and outside, narrowing the gap back to 4 points.
However, right after.
Ōdai Middle School attacked.
Mirai once again drove into Iwaori's paint, weaving nimbly around four opposing interior players. Tsugawa was excellent at defending the ball handler, but he struggled immensely against this kind of off-ball movement.
For a moment, Iwaori's interior was thrown into chaos by Mirai!
Then...
Mirai made a sharp turn and quickly dashed to the perimeter. Having been burned last time, Tsugawa pursued with all his might, but Mirai cleverly used Shinshu's screen, and the latter handed off the ball, delivering it securely into his hands!
Catching the ball beyond the three-point line, he rose and shot!
As Tsugawa stumbled while fighting through Shinshu's screen, he collided directly with Mirai's side!
Even in such a situation...
Mirai still displayed immense confidence!
His release was incredibly quick!
Before his motion was fully complete, the ball was already airborne!
Tweeeet~!
Swish~!
The moment the referee's whistle and the sound of the net snapping echoed almost simultaneously, Mirai could almost hear the excited thumping of his own heart. Despite Tsugawa's desperate chase, he not only made the three-pointer but also drew a foul!
Instantly.
The entire gym seemed struck silent by Mirai's three-point bomb, pausing for a breath. The Iwaori player serving as the referee on the sideline saw it all clearly from such close range, leaving him utterly stunned!
Even the whistle he'd blown had been purely instinctive!
"..."
What an incredible three-pointer!
He made it even under those conditions?
...
With Tsugawa chasing him down, Mirai sank the three-pointer and drew a foul on Tsugawa, earning a free throw. Immediately after, Mirai made the additional free throw.
By now, only a few seconds remained in the third quarter...
Finally...
The score was locked at 86–86, a tie!
From trailing by twenty points to tying the game, it had taken only half a quarter. This scoring pace was nothing short of terrifying, and it all stemmed from Mirai's defense locking down the opponent's key player, combined with his steals and barrage of three-pointers, completely turning the tide for Ōdai!
The atmosphere in Ōdai Gymnasium peaked as Mirai left the court.
Cheers and heated discussions continued unabated.
...
Quarter break.
Nearly all the Ōdai players crowded around to high-five Mirai. He felt a slight thrill inside—this was a scene he'd never experienced in all his years playing in his previous life. Yet now, after just two games, the entire team was relying on him.
At that moment.
A first-year underclassman rushed over with the stat sheet, face alight with excitement.
"Senpai!"
"Guess what your stats are right now!?"
Mirai shook his head and asked, "How are they?"
Earlier, all his attention had been on the court, focused on playing each possession well. As for how many points he had scored or how many three-pointers he had made, he truly hadn't paid attention.
His junior handed him the stat sheet.
Mirai looked at the statistics on it.
19 points!
In just 6 minutes, he had scored 19 points, including 6 out of 9 three-pointers and 1 out of 1 free throw, plus 2 steals, 2 assists, and 1 block. This was the stat line Mirai had produced in that brief 6-minute stretch!
Even he felt a bit dazed looking at these numbers.
Setting aside the defensive stats for now...
But these 19 points...
They were genuinely earned through the three-point shooting ability he had already solidly mastered.
He turned his head to look at the Iwaori bench.
His gaze settled on Tsugawa.
In the Kuroko's Basketball storyline, it was revealed that Tsugawa possessed near Miracle-level one-on-one defensive skills. Regardless of whether that was an exaggeration, after personally experiencing the defense of the second-year middle school Tsugawa today, at least Mirai felt this guy's defense was quite formidable. The reason he had completely overwhelmed Tsugawa offensively in the third quarter wasn't that Tsugawa's defense wasn't strong enough—it was simply because he had exploited a clever tactic.
Tsugawa's defense was extremely oppressive against ball handlers, and Mirai happened to be playing off-ball. If he were to handle the ball and go one-on-one against Tsugawa, given his current ability, he would definitely end up the same way as Kise Ryōta.
However...
Judging by the frequency of this 'Advance On-Demand' ability—once per game—ball-handling skills would likely appear sooner or later, right?
He looked forward to it, anticipating the next time. Then, he would battle again using the ability to attack with the ball, earned through 'hard work and sweat,' rather than being limited to playing off-ball as he was now.
...
Soon, the fourth quarter began.
Ōdai Middle School had Shinshu resting, and Mirai also remained on the bench for now.
In Coach Akira's view, although it seemed like Mirai had only played for 6 minutes, defensively he had to deal with Kōji, and offensively he had to constantly move off screens and shoot threes. It could be said that on both ends of the court, he hadn't stopped for a single second.
Therefore,
Coach Akira intended to let Mirai rest for a bit.
Moreover, he had another consideration. Based on these two games, Mirai had already proven himself to be a quality 3D player. Such a player was ideally suited to pair with a strong, physical slasher like Shinshu. So, he planned to have Mirai return to the court when Shinshu was playing.
On the court now, without Shinshu and Mirai, center Tarō was leading a group of substitutes to hold the fort. However, what Coach Akira hadn't anticipated was that after both teams subbed in their bench players, Iwaori's bench still had a fairly good point guard who could organize the offense. As a result, Iwaori's offense remained relatively smooth in the first half of the fourth quarter, while Ōdai's substitutes continued their iron-forging tendencies.
Eventually, with 6 minutes left in the fourth quarter, Iwaori had cut the deficit to 9 points.
But in response, the entire Ōdai gymnasium—whether it was the Ōdai players or the spectating students—shared an almost unanimous attitude of calm, because they all knew very well...
They also have Mirai!