Kuroko's Basketball: I'm not the boss?

“Kise and Yuki’s family, Hikaru and Hori, plus Hiroshi Ohara, that’s it. Hikaru will choose the other members on both sides and fight two rounds.”

Takeuchi slapped his forehead, gave a few simple instructions, and then handed everything over to Mukayo. Perhaps spoiled by the reliable senior Kasamatsu, Takeuchi's work attitude has been getting worse lately! He even seems to be giving up early, just waiting to die…

With his hands on his hips and a speechless expression, Xiang Yang watched Coach Takeuchi, his beer belly protruding, sway back to the office. He couldn't help but complain, "Is he Coach Kaijo or am I? It feels like I'm the one doing all the work."

As soon as he finished speaking, Xiang Yang turned his head and found that his players were all looking at him expectantly, waiting for his instructions.

Xiangyang: ...

"You, you, and you over there, stop looking around, I'm talking to you..."

While rubbing his temples, Xiang Yang raised his right hand and pointed to several substitute candidates, dividing them into...

Don't add Kise's team or your own team.

As the referee from Haichang blew his whistle, the training match, which could be said to have been arranged by Xiang Yang, began.

Kise ran over to Yuuki with a grin, gave him a high five, and then looked at Xiangyang with a provocative expression, saying, "Xiangyang, even though you're the captain, Yuuki and I won't hold back."

This guy…

Xiang Yang raised a tic-tac-toe sign above his head and laughed defiantly, "You two geniuses, if you lose to us even when you're teamed up, won't you be crying?"

Even though it was just a training match, the Kaijo fans on the sidelines seemed to smell gunpowder, cheering for both teams. However, in terms of sheer volume, Kise's team was more popular than Xiangyang's team. After all, Kise was a guy with his own cheerleading squad, and when it came to cheering, especially for their idols, the girls were just as good as the boys.

Not only Kise, but Yuki also unknowingly gained a small cheering squad. Although it was not as large as Kise's, it was enough to make others envious and jealous.

"Damn, these two guys are so popular it's infuriating."

Xiang Yang spat, his dead fish eyes staring at the cheerleaders on the sidelines, his envy practically overflowing!

If only Ms. Masako could cheer me on like that...

Despite his daydreaming, Xiangyang didn't forget to encourage his teammates. He walked around, patted each of them on the backside, and laughed, "Kids, let that big star over there taste the bitterness of defeat!"

"Hi!"

……

beep—

The whistle blew, and since it was just a training match, Kise didn't specifically stand in the center circle to compete with Hori for the jump ball, so the right to attack first unsurprisingly went to Xiangyang.

Xiangyang slowly dribbled the ball across half-court, looking at Yuki in front of him who looked a little nervous, and pondered his offensive plan.

For the first ball... let's play it fairly standardly.

Xiang Yang made up his mind, raised his hand and waved to Ohara Hiroshi on the right, asking for a screen. Then, using his own driving advantage, he successfully cooperated with Ohara Hiroshi who was cutting to the basket and scored!

Upon receiving the assist from Xiang Yang and scoring the goal, Da Yuanhao's excitement was palpable. He pounded his chest with both hands, loudly venting his emotions.

Xiangyang's pass... was amazing!

The sheer scale of their celebration startled Xiang Yang. He turned to look at the still-excited Da Yuanhao, scratched his head, and sighed, "Youth is truly wonderful."

On the other side, Kise couldn't stand it anymore. After Yuki dribbled past half-court, he immediately ran to the three-point line to ask for the ball. Facing Kise, Yuki naturally had no chance of refusing and passed the ball directly to him.

"It's just one goal, celebrating so loudly might just ignite the opponent's fighting spirit."

Kise licked his lips, glanced at the defender in front of him, and with a simple triple threat breakthrough, he instantly rushed into the penalty area!

However, Hori and Hiroshi Ohara were prepared; they never expected Kise to be defended beyond the three-point line.

"How could we possibly let you pass so easily!"

With a roar, Kobori, along with Ohara Hiroshi, moved to flank Kise.

The combined attack of these burly men would make most people, even if they didn't make a mistake, feel somewhat uneasy.

Unfortunately, this person is Kise.

Holding his breath and concentrating, Kise's expression remained unchanged. Facing the two defenders' help defense, he leaped up, raising the basketball high above his head, as if to dunk.

Seeing this, Hori and Hiroshi Ohara jumped decisively. If the two of them combined their strength, even if their opponent was Kise, it would be impossible for them to dunk over each other!

We've saved that shot!

A hint of confidence flashed in Kobori's wise eyes, but before he could even feel happy, Kise proved him wrong with his actions.

Hori's judgment was correct. Even for Kise, it wouldn't be easy to complete a dunk under these circumstances. Unfortunately, there are many other things in the rules besides dunking.

Kise, in mid-air, didn't rush to shoot. Instead, he maintained his ball-holding posture and jumped forward along his center of gravity. His jumping ability was truly exaggerated. Although he jumped earlier than Hori and the other two, his cheat-like ability to hang in the air created an opening.

Sensing the opportunity, Kise's lips curled up slightly. He tucked the ball into his abdomen, then flicked it up from his left side for a layup, successfully scoring with a reverse layup!

Ooh-woo~

The crowd in the stands couldn't help but gasp in amazement. This goal, which was like a work of art, deserved their praise!

The female fans went wild, screaming and whistling. If you only saw this scene, you would hardly imagine that they are usually so quiet and reserved.

On the court, Yuuki watched Kise's retreating figure, her eyes sparkling. To be able to pass the ball to someone like him, she could die happy.

Xiang Yang watched as his old partner easily scored against his teammates and shook his head helplessly. It was really no wonder they couldn't be blamed. Even if it were him, he could only make it slightly more difficult for this freak to score.

In fact, let alone "zone", Kise didn't even activate "perfect imitation"!

This guy is no longer an opponent that can be defended against by sheer numbers.

Realizing that no matter how hard they tried, they absolutely couldn't stop Kise, Xiangyang's face relaxed. He clapped his hands to attract his teammates' attention and said loudly, "It doesn't matter, let him attack. As long as we score more points than them in the end, victory is still ours!"

Since there's no way to stop you from scoring, I'll score too, which means your score is invalid!

Offense is the best form of defense, and in basketball, this statement is indeed a semi-truth!

So, both sides then began a scoring battle. The pick-and-roll offense centered around Xiangyang was something the Kise family couldn't handle either. A single screen from Kohori gave Xiangyang countless ways to score, and then there was Ohara Hiroshi! Despite his muscular build, he was also very effective at screens.

Kise attempted to coordinate with Yuki, using a two-man zone defense to break Hikaru's double pick-and-roll. Unfortunately, there were three of them. Even if they could barely contain Hikaru, Kobori and Ohara Hiroshi would roll to the basket, and the paint would be completely destroyed. Although Kaijo's average strength was good, asking these substitutes to defend Kobori was really asking too much.

At the end of the first half, the score was 31-32, with the Kise family holding a slight lead.

Hikari and Kise

The two had reached a consensus before the competition to conduct training matches as a regular practice. If they both unleashed their full potential and entered the "zone," the competition would become a two-person show between the two of them. If no one else could participate, what was the point of training?

Under this premise, not only Kohori, but also Yuki and even Hiroshi Ohara can gain considerable training benefits from the training matches.

However, even though Xiangyang was fighting Yuki in a normal way, he still maintained the advantage. Although Yuki was very talented and posed a great threat to Xiangyang's attacks, he could feel that he was being suppressed by Xiangyang. This feeling was strange, but he could feel it!

During halftime, Yuuki looked at Kise hesitantly, but finally couldn't help asking, "Ryota-senpai, is there any difference between me and Hikaru-senpai?"

Hearing this, Kise, who was drinking water to replenish his energy, was taken aback. He put down his water bottle and asked, "What's wrong, Yuuki?"

"It's nothing...it's just a feeling, I don't know why, but Senior Xiangyang seems to be a little stronger than me."

Yuki hesitated before speaking, then seemed to realize the inappropriateness of his words and hurriedly waved his hands, saying in a flustered manner, "Ryota-senpai! I didn't mean to look down on Hikari-senpai, I just... wanted to find my own shortcomings."

Kise looked at his adorable junior with a smile in his eyes. He could tell, of course, that Yuuki didn't mean to belittle Hikaru.

"Okay, okay, I know."

Kise patted Yuuki on the shoulder, gesturing for him to sit down, then stroked his chin thoughtfully and said, "I don't know exactly what makes Hikari better than you, but if we're just talking about differences, I do know quite a few!"

"After all, I've lost count of how many times I've received that guy's passes."

Kise's words made Yuki's eyes light up, and she immediately straightened her posture, looking like she was listening attentively to the teacher's lecture.

"Ugh... I don't really know how to put it, but Yuuki, your passes always find the perfect spot, and you make it so easy for me to receive them. As a point guard, you're really amazing!"

Kise rubbed his nose, acknowledging Yuuki's passing skills, then closed his eyes and frowned, saying, "As for Hikaru's passes, they rarely reach my ideal position, so they're not as comfortable to receive as yours, Yuuki, but..."

"It's like, 'I've passed it over there, if you can't score, you're in for a beating!' That feeling, hahaha, sorry, am I being too abstract?"

Kise scratched his head and chuckled, even he felt that what he said was a bit nonsensical.

To everyone's surprise, Yuuki was half-lowering his head, deep in thought. He seemed to have grasped something, but was still just a little short...

"Seriously? Yuuki, you can understand what I mean?"

Kise was somewhat surprised. If he were to engage in such a mysterious conversation with Xiangyang, he would most likely get chopped in the hand again.

beep—

At that moment, the referee blew his whistle, and halftime was over.

Kise turned his head to look at Yuuki, who was still deep in thought, and patted him on the shoulder to interrupt, "Let's go, Yuuki, the second half is about to begin."

"Moreover, instead of thinking so much about it yourself, you should..."

Why don't you just ask Xiao Xiangyang?

Faced with Kise's curious gaze, Yuuki opened her mouth, unsure how to answer.

Why not ask Senior Xiangyang? He's a point guard too; he could definitely offer some useful advice on your problem, but for some reason…

Yuki didn't want to ask him.

Perhaps it's because they both play the same position, and Yuki is unwilling to just be his substitute before Xiangyang graduates. She also wants to stand on the court as a point guard and pass the ball to Kise-senpai!

This is someone you absolutely have to defeat, yet in order to improve your strength, you ask Senior Xiangyang for advice and then steal someone else's position? That's just too shameless!

Just as Yuki was lost in thought, unsure how to answer, Kise saw through his thoughts, put his arm around Yuki's shoulder, and whispered in his ear.

"Yuki, how about we make a bet? Xiangyang knows exactly what you're thinking, and if you ask him, he'll answer your question one hundred percent!"

After saying that, Kise looked at the shocked and dazed expression on Yuuki's face, smiled and winked at him, then put his hands behind his head, humming a little tune as he entered the stage.

Behind him, Yuki, after her initial shock, secretly clenched her fist, wiped her face to smooth out her stiff features, and then looked at Hikaru, who was chatting with Kise, and silently made up her mind.

……

The second half began with the Kise family serving first. Yuki was still the one to initiate the tactics, while Kise was responsible for finishing off any failed tactics. This strategy had been proven effective after the fierce battle in the first half! The Mukayo family couldn't handle it!

Similarly, facing the Kise family's defense, Xiangyang's two-way pick-and-roll tactic still achieved excellent scoring efficiency.

Thus, the second half became a microcosm of the first half. In this pace of play, Yuki's tactical instincts and ability to seize opportunities were greatly honed. Meanwhile, Hiroshi Ohara excelled in pick-and-roll and finishing plays on the roll.

Both of the Kaisho kids gained a lot from today's training match. However, training matches are training matches, and there still has to be a winner and a loser.

Neither Hikaru nor Kise are people who take victory for granted!

The result doesn't matter; the process is the greatest reward and the source of happiness.

That's pure nonsense. It's like playing a game: which is more enjoyable, losing a match where the opponents are evenly matched or winning because your teammates carry you?

The answer is obvious: the stars you get are everything!

"You can tell they're having a lot of fun."