[Chapter 27: "Consecutive Pseudo Vanishing Drive"]
Soba who got the ball tried shooting at three pointer distance, but misses. I rebounded the ball and.
Just after having the ball between my hands, the enemy team were already four teaming me, trying to fully restrict my movements.
"There's no escape now."
When all four now defending against me. I gave out a smug grin, as if saying, this is exactly what I inted to happen.
They took notice of the face I was making, they felt something off, like the feeling that they have made a big mistake.
As we stood under the ring, I threw the ball upward as far off to the opposite side of the court.
"He's shooting it at this distance?"
"Wait, no..."
'I call this move, "The Shadow Sniper Pass".'
There, were the spots where I threw the ball, my team mate was already ther, waiting.
"Quickly, fall back! Fast break!"
At first glance, the throw that I did looked very random, however, it was accurately aimed at my team mate whose already waiting at the opposite side of the court.
Because of the accuracy, my team mate didn't have a hard time catching the ball and charged.
They shot for the basket and went in. With that, it makes the score tied back at 6-6.
'Are we really this weak...? No. He's just too strong for our levels...'
Team Soba's moral got lower and lower as the game progress.
Kaido dribbled and advanced forward.
While being cautious of me, glancing at my direction every second, the girls dived in and the ball got stolen from Kaido-kun's hands. He's gotten too comfortable about the girls' ability to defend that he let his guard down that ultimately lead to his downfall.
Shiki tried stopping her but I was already advancing trying to cross their path.
That made Shiki conflicted with who will carry the ball to the basket. If it will stay with her or it will be passed on to me who has the higher chance of scoring.
Still keeping watch of me while still trying to block the girl, when I caught up to her. Shiki confused who to defend, I reached out my hand and-
'She's passing it to Saito!'
Because of me trying to reach out my hand in a ready to catch position, he got distracted waiting for the pass to happen.
Having not been paying much attention to the girl, he didn't notice that she already crossed him and was too late to realizing I was just a distraction.
Before he could run and catch up to her, I screened him holding him off from chasing my teammate, she layup and got another point for our team.
We are now on the lead with the score of 6-7.
The next round commenced. Their jump shot failed yet again and I performed the same fake passing distraction like the last time.
Because I was the one they are most wary of, they prioritized defending against me and always loose sight of my team mates advancements.
The game after that, and the game after we performed the fake pass distraction, and everytime it worked. Giving us the latest score of 6-10.
'Hm, how was that? I call that move "The Consecutive Pseudo Vanishing Drive!"
It was a move that take away the the enemy's attention, taking their eyes off from our real attacker.
It was a move I learned from master Kuroko who I considered as one of shadow heroes.
His invisibility and moving things from the background is really shadow hero like. His contribution to the team is not recognize by the spectators but is actually the heart of their team play.
He's what I like to call a shadow MVP.
'This is probably fine, right? Even though I scored a couple of points, just like Tetsuya and his Phantom shot, I returned to being invisible by giving the last points to my team, so I probably didn't stand out with them overwriting my presence.' I nodded to myself, thinking that is the case. [Yeah, no.]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile, on Mocha-san's side of the story, where the volleyball court is located.
What's happening. I can't see.
Because of people blocking her view. She didn't see much of the game and only saw the beginning parts of it. This is when about in my team's forth or fifth point.
"Mocha, it's our turn"
"Ah-! Y, yesh!" Mocha replied while accidentally twisting her tongue.
'Ugh, I feel like throwing up...'
Mocha became more and more anxious as she entered the battle she did not prepare for.
...
After the first batch of students to use the volleyball court finished, the time for Mocha-san and the others to use the court has arrived.
It is now time for Mocha san to fight her own battle which is finally about to begin.
The team they are up against are the upper classmen from the second years.
*Whistle*
The game started. The enemy team served.
'W-W-What should I do! I don't even know how to receive!'
The ball that was served was falling towards Mocha-san's direction.
Thinking too much what she should do, she froze in place from total nervousness.
Luckily the ball fell closer to her other teammate that was beside her so she didn't get the full responsibility of receiving the ball.
Their team properly receive the ball and somehow scored.
*Gulp*
'THAT WAS CLOSE!'
She silently screamed in her head, with shaky hands and a grim expression on her face.
The second set starts. Their team served, the ball went over the net and was received by the opposing team.
They toss the ball in the air, going for a spike.
This time, the ball really went to Mocha-san's side of their court.
'Kya!'
She reflexively moved out of the way and dodged the ball out of panic.
"Mocha-san, are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine"
'N, next time for sure.'
Mocha-san was trying to get a feel of receiving, but instinctively dodged. Determined, she declared to herself to receive the ball properly next time.
The game continued, the enemy served and Mocha's/Hitomi's team successfully received the ball.
However, due to the power of the serve and angle of receiving, it bounced too far and went over to the opponent's side of the court.
The positioning of the ball is ideal for an easy receive so the enemy team took advantage of that and give a good toss then spiked.
Just like the last time, the ball went flying straight towards Mocha-san's direction.
Instead of dodging, she tried receiving the ball properly this time, but it just bounces off the side of her arm making the ball fall slanted, hitting the floor and loosing another point for their team.
"Mocha, are you really alright?"
"Y-Yeah, I, I'm fine, really..."
Mocha replied, already sweating and out of breath even though the match had just started.
The heavy sweating was most likely from hyperventilation from being overly anxious, and Mocha-san wasn't really that athletic when it comes to sports to begin with.
'Could it be that... Mocha-san doesn't know how to receive? Does she...?'
Class Rep Hiromi-san started to notice the possibility of Mocha-san not knowing how to play volleyball judging by her performance.
Also, from the moment they talked with each other in the locker room, Hitomi-san already noticed, or the very least had a hint that Mocha-san was a shy person. So she thought of the possibility that maybe Mocha-san was too shy to tell her "no" when she invited her over to play.
'I should have asked before dragging her in the court.'
"Mocha, could it be tha-"
When Hitomi-san was about to confront Mocha-san about her ability to play, she saw the look Mocha-san was giving.
She was making a face full of determination, as if, seemingly not wanting to back down right now just yet.
"... Okay then. ...J, just tell me right away if you need to take a break."
"? S, sure."
Hitomi-san slightly felt responsible for leading Mocha-san into this. She considered asking Mocha about her ability to play, but after seeing that determined face she was making, they carried on and let her play further into the game.
The next serve came, and it was again directly aimed at Mocha-san.
The enemy team already noticed Mocha-san's incapability of receiving, so they targeted her every chance they get.
3-1
4-1
5-1
6-1
Focusing their assault on Mocha-san, they repeatedly targeted her as they made a huge gap on points.
"Haa... haa... haa..."
'At this rate, our team we'll lose without even putting up a fight. I'm a burden...'
Mocha-san was losing steam by the second.
"Gulp. Haa... haa... haa..."
'Should I just tap out and admit I don't know how to play? I don't want to be hated for dragging everyone down like this.'
She considered stepping out cause she knows and gets that the longer she stays, the easier for the enemy team to score points.
Putting herself in their shoes, Mocha-san assumes that she was only dragging the team down and making it less fun for everyone.
'I bet everyone is really disappointed in having me as their teammate...' She thought, grinding her teeth in frustration.
She felt guilty and responsible for her team losing because of her presence.
'And just that I thought I could play with Hitomi-san, in attempts to deepen our friendship... I guess I made her feel disappointed in me too...'
She became all the more negative and disappointed in herself, the more she overthink her presence inside the court.
"Woahh!"
All of a sudden, screams can be heard in the other side of the gym where the basketball court is located.
Due to the noice, Mocha-san and the others looked toward that direction. It was also the time our match against Soba Hito's group ended.
Looking at our direction, Mocha-san saw a sight of me interacting with everyone. It was mostly our classmates, and sports club members attempting to recruit me to their teams, and the upperclassman girls I teamed up with.
'Mr. Delinquent Prince has already rejoined himself to society...'
"Sigh..."
She took a deep breath, then suddenly palmed both sides of her cheeks, trying to wake herself up.
'Alright! It's my turn to do the same as the strong willed shoujo heroine.'
Finding her determination once more, Mocha-san disregarded her doubts for a moment, and decided to put all her focus on the game, in promise to give it her all.
'I'm not gonna get left behind!'