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

"You're good at passing the ball, but the seniors should step up their game in the second half."

During halftime, Kise approached Xiangyang to strike up a conversation. Xiangyang looked at him and replied, "It's okay, you're here."

"Our chances of winning are still quite high."

Kise was taken aback, then burst into laughter, "You're quite the smooth talker. But they'll probably double-team me in the second half, since it's embarrassing for an upperclassman to lose to a freshman, isn't it?"

Xiangyang shrugged, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

"So, the second half is all up to you guys. I have a general idea of ​​their level; it'll be hard for them to break the deadlock. It'll all depend on you, you guys who are really good at passing."

"My name is Xiang Yang. Since you want to see my skills, then you'd better watch out, genius."

Hearing Xiangyang's peculiar title, Kise was slightly taken aback, but the title of genius was quite fitting for him.

At the start of the second quarter, Kasamatsu passed the ball to Kaijo's current starting center, Kobori Hiroshi. The rookie center, a freshman, couldn't stop Kobori in the paint and could only watch as he jumped up and slammed the ball down with both hands.

"Don't underestimate us!" With Kobori's roar, Kasamatsu said, "It's about time to get serious. Don't let the newbies look down on us. If we lose this match, everyone will have to run 10 laps around the track."

"Ow!"

Kise, who was standing to the side, watched this scene and hummed softly a few times.

"They're really getting into a good mood."

Kise, hands on his hips, looked at Xiangyang: "Ready? It's your turn to perform."

Xiangyang did not respond. After receiving the serve, Kasamatsu immediately rushed to the frontcourt and began to press.

Is it a man-to-man marking game? No, their positioning is shifting towards Kise; they've definitely started double-teaming him.

With solid fundamentals and outstanding vision, Xiangyang can easily observe the overall situation of the game even when facing Kasamatsu's tight defense.

After a few crossover dribbles, Xiangyang shook off Kasamatsu's tight defense and stopped in front of the court to observe the defense.

Are the two of them flanking Kise? This kid isn't even moving. Is he trying to test my strength?

Xiang Yang looked to the weak side again, and his two teammates didn't seem to want the ball at all.

If I really can't count on them, then I'll have to do it myself.

Xiangyang raised his hand to signal for a screen. The center was taken aback. After all, Xiangyang had been passing to Huangse for one-on-one plays in the first half. Although he had passed the ball to them, he hadn't shown any intention of cooperating with them. After his moment of surprise, the center quickly ran to the high post and set a screen for Xiangyang. Xiangyang broke through the screen and had a lot of space to shoot. Xiangyang raised his hand to make a gesture as if he was about to receive the ball.

Oh no! That kid's going to shoot.

Kasamatsu quickly maneuvered around the screen and leaped with all his might.

"Not bad, you jumped pretty high." As soon as he finished speaking, Xiang Yang rushed towards the penalty area.

Oh no! A feint. Kasamatsu's eyes widened, and he turned to shout, "Cover up the defense!"

Xiaojue immediately stepped forward, but Xiangyang didn't even glance at him. He delivered a bounce pass between Xiaojue's legs to the center who had just made a pick-and-roll. Facing an unguarded paint area, the center jumped up and slammed the ball down with one hand.

"The white team's two points are valid."

Chapter 3 Light and Shadow? Be My Jordan

"Good shot!" the coach couldn't help but whisper from the sidelines. Although Kise's playing style was more explosive, it still relied on his outstanding talent. Hikaru's playing style, on the other hand, fully demonstrated his basic skills and ability to read the defense.

This style of playing easily resonates with the audience, as everyone is just an ordinary person, and geniuses are still rare.

With Xiangyang's outstanding performance, the senior team had to spare some players to deal with him. However, Kise himself was a big problem, and he also had to deal with Xiangyang. Did he really think the other three players were invisible?

Under pressure from Kasamatsu, Xiangyang dribbled and adjusted his position, finding gaps in Kasamatsu's balance to lower his center of gravity and accelerate past him. Even though Kasamatsu had quick reflexes, he couldn't effectively contain Xiangyang's breakthroughs alone.

Kobori, who was already prepared to help defend inside, saw Kasamatsu get past him and immediately came up to delay him, trying to double-team him and prevent Hikaru from passing the ball.

"From this position, you can't pass the ball anymore, can you? You're blocking the way so well, even your teammates can't see you!"

Kobori smiled confidently; his double-team was quite clever!

Xiangyang lowered his center of gravity, dribbling the ball low with his right hand to prevent it from being stolen by Kohori in front, while his left hand protected the side and blocked Kasamatsu behind him. Although his position was blocked and he couldn't see his teammates on the court, he had already memorized the positions of his four teammates beforehand.

Let me think... Based on your position, you'd probably run to that spot, right?

"That spot, you should be able to reach it, right?"

Xiangyang took a step to the right, leaped up on the spot, and leaned his body backward at an exaggerated angle in the air.

Kasamatsu exclaimed in shock, "Impossible! How could a fadeaway jump shot from that angle be possible...?"

"Of course not, senior."

Xiangyang in mid-air changed his posture and pushed the ball out with both hands. It wasn't a shot, but a pass!

A figure swiftly passed through the restricted area from the baseline, leaped into the air, and a golden light flashed through the air.

After Kohori came to help defend, Kise spotted an open space under the basket. Based on his observation of Hikaru's playing style, he roughly judged that Hikaru would pass the ball! So he made a run ahead of time. Hikaru also judged that Kise's position was such that he could immediately get to the open space under the basket and complete the play. The two played with perfect teamwork.

Unfortunately... Xiangyang overestimated Kise's jumping ability. The ball went too high, and even though Kise stretched out his arm, he only managed to touch the ball with his fingertips and couldn't reach it.

"Hey! Who are you going to pass that to? What do you take me for?"

Kise was very unhappy when he landed. The high jump seemed to be mocking his poor jumping ability.

"You're not from the Generation of Miracles, are you a genius? You can't reach that height."

"I'm from the Generation of Miracles, but I'm still human. Can anyone really reach that position? But you could say I'm a genius, that's for sure~"

"If you're a genius, you should be able to do it. You couldn't even catch such a good pass. What a waste of such a cool pass from my buddy. You call yourself a genius?"

"What did you say, you bastard!"

"Who are you calling a bastard?!"

"Alright, alright, you're both geniuses."

"We need to separate quickly, the senior students and the coach are still watching, it's so embarrassing."

The three of them had little presence.

The teammates quickly separated the two who were playfully fighting.

The coach, sitting on the sidelines, paid no attention to the two's playful antics. He was already happily fantasizing about getting a promotion and a raise after winning the national championship, which would enhance his coaching resume.

Is that kind of passing and teamwork something high school students can pull off? Especially between two complete strangers who are first-year high school students. Such chemistry is a complete game-changer at the high school level.

The coach is finding Xiang Yang increasingly pleasing to the eye and would love to promote him to the starting point guard position on the spot. However, Li Song has a lot of influence in the locker room and the players respect him. Moving Li Song to the bench... might not be appropriate.

"Looks like I'll have to have a talk with Kasamatsu," the coach thought to himself, rubbing his chin.

Kasamatsu stood on the court, panting, staring blankly at his own basket, not even noticing the referee's signal to inbound the ball.

"Why are there so many monsters? He's only a freshman, he's practically another Generation of Miracles, and he's even playing the same position as me..."

Kasamatsu's heart sank; his starting position seemed to be in danger.

Lost in thought, Kasamatsu was urged by the referee to serve the ball and run to the frontcourt, where he continued to drift off into his own world.

Hmm? Xiangyang keenly sensed that Kasamatsu's condition was off; his movements had become stiff, and his mentality seemed to have been affected. Had he been discouraged by me? After all, he was still a high school student. Being suppressed by a newcomer must have been tough for him.

But... that's basketball, kid. If you're not as skilled, you have to step aside. I respect you as captain, but let me have the starting point guard position. Or... maybe talk to the coach and let the captain play shooting guard? His defense and attitude are pretty good.

Even before joining the team, Xiang Yang had already started planning how to assign positions to his teammates. As the future second-in-command of Haichang, he had an obligation to assign responsibilities to everyone on the team!

Not only Kasamatsu, but other second and third-year players also felt the gap between themselves and Kise and Hikaru, and began to play passively.

Sensing that the opposing team was demoralized and unwilling to continue fighting, Xiangyang also lost the will to push himself and instead passed the ball to his teammates. The opponents, who had no fighting spirit, had no sense of accomplishment after defeating them.

Beep! Match ends, 56-48.

"You're really good at this game! Xiang... Yang, right? How about we grab a bite to eat together?" Kise walked over, gave Xiang Yang a high five, and said with a grin.

Xiangyang also gave high fives to the other three teammates, then slowly turned to look at Kise and replied, "Okay, genius, you have to treat me to dinner."

"Hey, hey, why are you still teasing me? That pass you made was completely illogical. But I have to admit your skills."

Xiangyang picked up the conversation and walked out of the stadium with Huangse, glancing back at them.

Several senior students were bowing their heads, accepting the coach's reprimand. Although they hadn't played badly this game, they not only lost to the freshmen, but also lost their fighting spirit in the second half of the match. This is fatal for a team. Even if they lost their fighting spirit because of their own teammates, they still need to correct it immediately.

This isn't surprising, since not many first-year students are like Kise Hikaru, who immediately crushes the upperclassmen upon arrival.

However, let the coach worry about these things. I'm neither the boss nor have any intention of vying for power, so why should I concern myself with so much?

Well.

……

"Kasamatsu, stay for a while."

The coach looked at his beloved student and sighed: "Kise himself is a member of the Generation of Miracles, and that rookie named Xiangyang is also very good. As the team captain, you should be happy."

Kasamatsu bit his lip and lowered his head unwillingly, saying, "Coach, I won't give up my position so easily. I will prove that I am the best point guard at Kaisho!"

The coach knew his beloved student's thoughts well, but didn't know how to comfort him. Telling him that he was no match for Xiangyang and that he should obediently give up his position would be too hurtful to Kasamatsu. The coach, unwilling to hurt his beloved student, closed his eyes and pondered.

"Here's what we'll do. There's a practice match tomorrow against Shirakawa Rin. You and Xiangyang will each play the first and second halves of the game, respectively."

Kasamatsu was taken aback, then quickly replied, "Yes! Coach, I won't lose to..."

"Kasamatsu!" the coach interrupted in a deep voice, "I'm not asking you to compete against Xiangyang."

Seeing Kasamatsu's bewildered expression, the coach sighed and closed his eyes: "You should go back now."

Kasamatsu opened his mouth but didn't say anything, then turned and left.

……

on the street

"You're really popular, aren't you?" Xiangyang was speechless. Ever since then, girls had been constantly coming up to Kise to chat with them.

Seeing Xiangyang's jealous expression, Kise teased, "Don't be too envious of me. Maybe if Xiangyang works harder, he'll have it too."

"We're having a practice match against Shiro Rin tomorrow," Xiang Yang said, ignoring his provocation: "Aren't your old teammates there?"

"Yeah, you mean Kuroko? He's over there. I already went over to say hello." Kise waved to the girl across the street who was staring at him: "Kuroko is different from me. He doesn't have the ability to become light, but he is shadow."

Seeing the look that Xiang Yang was giving him, Kise explained, "That might sound a bit abstract, but he's in a bit of trouble, but I can handle it."

Seeing Kise's confident demeanor, Xiangyang asked, "Besides your old teammates, doesn't Shiro Rin have anyone else worth paying attention to?"

Kise stroked his chin, looking deep in thought: "No."

Xiang Yang shifted his gaze back. It seemed that Kagami hadn't yet caught Kise's attention. Speaking of which, wasn't Kise getting a little too cocky? Should he let him lose tomorrow? Otherwise, it wouldn't be easy for him to fight the other members of the Generation of Miracles.