"Murasakibara's on offence?" asked Tsuchida when the said boy left the three-point line and joined his teammates.

"I thought his specialty was defence." said Koganei.

"Murasakibara is one of the most combative members of the Generation of Miracles." explained Yasu, which grabbed their attention. "While he has little interest in basketball and is lazy, he's actually better at offence. In games like this that incur his wrath, he's scored a record of hundred points in a single game."

"A hundred?" gasped the listeners out of shock.

'I didn't expect Murasakibara to move, but it's a fortunate miscalculation on our part.' thought Araki. 'Thanks for waking the monster.'

"I'll show you." growled Murasakibara. "I'll show you such unfair play, it'll make your pretty words meaningless!" When Seirin had the ball, Murasakibara was triple-teamed by Mitobe, Hyuga and Kiyoshi.

"We don't expect to stop you with one." said Kiyoshi, who was struggling with the defence.

"Really?" scoffed the Yosen center. "So, what?" He pushed them back, and managed to catch the ball Fukui passed. Once the three Seirin players were a feet away from him, he jumped up high and slammed the ball into the hoop. The impact was so strong, it sent them to the ground.

"The hammer of destruction - Thor's Hammer." said Araki, who recognised the move he pulled off.

"Guys!" yelled Izuki worriedly.

"Oh, sorry." snarled Murasakibara. "I didn't think you'd be knocked down so easily."

"We're not finished yet!" defended Kiyoshi, who then passed the ball to Izuki.

'With Murasakibara on offence, we'll have opportunities for counterattacks.' thought the latter while dribbling the ball. 'We'll take back our points with fast breaks!' He felt a shadow looming over him, and saw Murasakibara running after him. 'He caught up? You're kidding!'

"Izuki!" called Kiyoshi when Murasakibara stopped in front of the said boy. Izuki didn't hesitate to pass the ball to his teammate.

"Kiyoshi the point guard!" shouted Tsuchida.

Riko gasped when they noticed that the three players each marked the other Seirin players, leaving Murasakibara to him. "They've stopped triple-teaming him?" questioned Koganei.

"I'll stop you myself." said the Yosen center. "Come on!"

Kiyoshi dribbled a few steps before jumping to make a shot, with Murasakibara following to block it. "He jumped for the block!" noted Tsuchida.

"But Kiyoshi-senpai's true skill is his ability to make passes with the Right of Postponement!" said Furihata.

But before Kiyoshi could pass the ball to Izuki on his left, Murasakibara swung his left hand and stole the ball. 'He blocked the ball with his left hand?' thought Kiyoshi.

"I'm tired of that strategy." snarled Murasakibara.

"He stopped it?" questioned Tsuchida.

"Kiyoshi the point guard has been defeated." said Koganei.

The said boy stood on his feet, and was in daze of what happened. But he was too late to respond when Fukui caught the ball and dribbled it towards the hoop. He made a high pass, and Murasakibara caught it before doing another Thor's Hammer. "No, you don't, Murasakibara!" yelled Kagami, who was attempting to block the dunk.

"Kagami!" cheered Koganei and Tsuchida.

But Murasakibara dunked the ball, and Kagami landed harshly on the ground. Yasu gasped when she saw the hoop snap and start to topple. "Basketball is a contest of shortcomings." said Murasakibara. "The hoop is three meters in the air. You can't call that fair. The game favours the tall. That's the foundation of this shitty sport. What's so fun about this?" Because it wasn't able to support the weight on the other end, the hoop fell to the ground, destroyed by the dunk he made. "To me, all ideals are nothing but trash."

'H-He broke the hoop?' questioned Yasu, who was as astounded as the rest inside the stadium.

"That's not funny." commented Hyuga.

"That surprised me, too." said Himuro.

"Honestly, I've never been more glad he's on our side." said Fukui.

The referee blew his whistle before announcing, "D-Due to the broken hoop, the game will be put on hold until it can be replaced!" Kiyoshi was panting, trying to catch his breath as he recalled his memory back in the Shoei middle school basketball team, where he wanted to protect his teammates but was overpowered by Murasakibara in one of their matches.

Yasu then noticed the purple-haired giant was walking towards her, which made her teammates that sat on the same bench flinch with uneasiness. Though he had a scowl, she noticed the worry subtly laced in his eyes. "Sorry, Ya-chin." he said while patting her head. "I guess I scared you."

"It's okay, Murasakibara." she assured with a wave, but she was smiling nervously. "I was just surprised. After all, it's not often you see people bring the entire hoop down."

"If you say so." he said, giving her another pat before walking back to his team's bench, leaving behind a confused girl and her petrified teammates.

The hoop was replaced, and the game resumed. There were five minutes left, and Yosen was ahead of Seirin by nine points. Kiyoshi was about to score a basket when Murasakibara blocked it. 'He's doing this right out of the gate?' questioned Hyuga. 'We can't stop Murasakibara!' The said boy got the ball and did another Thor's Hammer, scoring another basket for the team.

'Aren't I good enough?' berated Kiyoshi while clenching his fists.

"Rebound!" yelled Izuki when the ball bounced off the rim.

'No!' yelled Kiyoshi, snapping out of his thoughts. 'It's not over yet!' With Okamura and Liu reaching for the ball, Kiyoshi tried to grab it with his Vice Claw, but Murasakibara had beaten him to it.

"Is this how you do it?" scoffed the latter.

"What?" responded the shocked Kagami. "Murasakibara used the Vice Claw?"

"Impossible..." muttered Kiyoshi.

"No way!" yelled Hyuga.

Seirin's manager ruffled her hair out of frustration. 'You see, Yasu?' she berated. 'This is what you deserve for making him grab that rock as training!'

Murasakibara dribbled the ball towards the hoop, and easily broke past Izuki and Mitobe's defense. "You can't be serious!" said Kagami.

"No you don't!" yelled Kiyoshi as he stepped up to guard the hoop with Kagami. 'I won't let it happen again!' he vowed. But Murasakibara avoided their block and dunked the ball.

"Kagami!" called Izuki.

"Kiyoshi!" yelled Hyuga.

"Damn it!" cussed Kagami but gasped when he noticed the upperclassman was lying on the floor. "Kiyoshi-senpai!"

"Tep-nii!" yelled Yasu worried, getting up from her seat abruptly.

"It's not..." said Kiyoshi while struggling to get up. "It's not over yet." He noticed someone offering a hand, and he accepted it. "Thanks." But he was pulled up by Murasakibara, who began berating him.

"This is reality." he said. "Unable to do anything, you ran out of strength. If you're benched, you will die completely inside. No matter how you struggle, Seirin will lose." When he saw Kiyoshi's dejected expression, he continued, "How do you feel? You weren't able to protect anything again, but did you have fun playing basketball?" Kiyoshi gasped before clenching his teeth.

"Murasakibara, what do you think you're doing?" asked Hyuga angrily as he rushed towards his teammate.

"I just helped him up." he replied before releasing Kiyoshi's hand, making the latter fall into Hyuga. "Here."

"Kiyoshi..." called Hyuga worriedly.

The buzzer went off before the panel announced, "Seirin, member change!"

"Kiyoshi-senpai!" called Kuroko as he jogged up to him.

Kiyoshi removed himself from Hyuga and took a few steps forward. He gripped Kuroko's shoulder and muttered, "Sorry. The rest is up to you. Please." His grip on Kuroko's shoulder tightened, and he bit his bottom lip hard enough to draw blood.

"Murasakibara, you bastard!" growled Kagami.

"What are you so mad about?" he asked mockingly.

"You said if we benched Kiyoshi-senpai, Seirin would lose, no matter how we struggled." said Kuroko as he took a step forward while putting on his wristbands.

"Yeah." said Murasakibara.

"The game isn't over yet." said Kuroko seriously. "Besides, even if he's not on the court, his will is with us." He looked up at him with a glare and said, "I will beat you in his place!"

"Beat me?" mocked Murasakibara. "If you're bring serious, I'll crush you. Even you, Kuro-chin."

"I'll never lose to someone like you who denies the effort of others!" declared Kuroko.

"I keep telling you, your pretty words are so annoying, Kuro-chin." snarled Murasakibara.

Kiyoshi had a towel over his head with his gaze fixated on the Phantom Player, while Yasu was re-taping his knee. 'Please, Kuroko.' he prayed.

Th referee blew his whistle to resume the game. Kuroko caught the ball and was dribbling it when Liu guarded him. "I'll stop thee!" he declared. But Kuroko used his Vanishing Drive to break past him and got ready to shoot when Murasakibara was guarding the hoop, while remembering Himuro's advice on stopping the shot.

"He's closing in faster than the last half." noted the worried Izuki.

Kuroko launched the ball even though Murasakibara was in his view of the hoop. 'I can't touch the ball at this height?' he thought with disbelief.

"Atsushi, no!" yelled Himuro when he realised what the plan was. "It's a pass!"

From behind Murasakibara, Kagami grabbed the ball and dunked it into the hoop, scoring a basket with an alley-oop. Using the hoop to push himself away, Kagami landed on the floor and clicked his tongue. "I can't break it after all." he said.

"Bastard..." growled Murasakibara while glaring at him.

"Alright!" cheered Koganei.

Murasakibara heaved a sigh. "You're all about working together, aren't you?" he mocked. "But I told you. Everything is trash before me." Aomine and Momoi gasped when they saw the person marking Murasakibara, as well as the other Yosen players.

"Of course we're working together." said Kuroko. "However, I told you. Murasakibara-kun, I will beat you."

"Tetsu-kun's on Muk-kun?" questioned Momoi disbelievingly.

"If you keep playing around, you'll get hurt, Kuro-chin." scoffed Murasakibara.

"I'm not playing around." said Kuroko seriously. "I'm going to stop you, Murasakibara-kun."

'This is...' thought the said boy when he noticed Kuroko skid. He took a few steps back to see if he was right, and Kuroko moved when he moved. 'He's so light. You're so light, I can't even tell you're here. What are you made of, cotton candy?'

"It's like he's not even there!" remarked Fukui before passing the ball to him. "Make the shot, Atsushi!"

The said boy turned around and was shocked to see that Kuroko was gone. 'He's not there?' he thought. 'Where did he go?'

"Atsushi!" yelled Himuro when he noticed something, but was too late. Murasakibara moved, and knocked into Kuroko, making the latter fall onto the floor.

The referee blew his whistle. "Charging, white number 9!" he shouted. "Seirin ball!"

"I see." said Aomine when he understood Kuroko's motive to mark someone bigger than him.

"Are you okay?" asked Kagami as he helped his teammate up.

"Thank you." said Kuroko.

'Kuroko used his lack of power and presence to make Murasakibara think he wasn't even there, and moved into his path.' thought Yasu when she understood the motive behind Kuroko marking Murasakibara. 'It's dangerous, but it's one of the few ways to interrupt the flow of the game.'

"Basketball's not so simple that you can win just by being big, Murasakibara-kun." said Kuroko.

"You've done it now." snarled the said boy.

"Nice work, Kuroko." praised Hyuga.

"When you said you'd take on Murasakibara alone, I couldn't believe it, but that worked." said Izuki.

"I won't be able to use that strategy anymore." said Kuroko. "After this, let me use that defence formation."

The referee blew his whistle, and the game resumed with four minutes and thirty seconds left. Izuki retrieved the ball, and passed it to Hyuga, who was marked by Okamura. 'Barrier Jumper?' questioned Yosen's captain when Hyuga stepped away from him before making a shot. 'Is he pulling that out now?' He tried to block it, but Hyuga had launched the ball.

'A sudden three-pointer?' thought Liu disbelievingly. 'Kiyoshi's not on the inside anymore. If he misses, a counterattack is guaranteed.'

"What?" snapped Hyuga, who seemingly have heard what he had thought. "There's no way I'll miss!" The ball went through, and Seirin scored three points. "Kuroko's not the only one. I want to throw a wrench in your plans, too!" Kiyoshi stared at his friend with a surprised look.

"What?" gasped Araki when the Seirin players moved to their marks.

"Let's go!" yelled Hyuga. "New formation!"

"Full-court man-to-man defence?" questioned Momoi with surprise.

'This is their strategy.' thought Himuro. 'If they let Atsushi get the ball, they won't be able to stop him.'

'By setting up their defence before Murasakibara gets under the basket, they're forcing a battle of stamina and speed.' thought Okamura.

Fukui clicked his tongue in annoyance. 'In order to break through, we'll have to use speed, too!' he thought before receiving the ball from Liu. "Run!" he yelled to his teammates. "If you stop running, they'll jump on you!"

Murasakibara began running with Kagami beside him, but Okamura stopped when he realised that the Seirin ace was marking him. 'Hold on.' he thought.

"Atsushi!" called Fukui before passing the ball towards him.

'How long has he been marking me?' questioned Okamura, who was starting to feel uneasy about this new formation. Even Fukui gasped at the sudden change of marks.

'It's not just a full-court man-to-man defence.' noted Himuro. 'They're switching their marks continuously.'

'We told you.' thought Riko with a grin. 'It's a new formation designed by Yasu. This formation gives Kuroko-kun the highest chance of stealing. It's the Stealth Full-Court Man-to-Man Defence.' Before Murasakibara could touch the ball, Kuroko stole it and scored a basket with his Phantom Shot.

"Kuroko!" cheered Koganei. Kiyoshi looked at his teammates and smiled.

'Breaking through a full-court defence requires speed and passing, but with Kuroko-kun frequently changing his mark, we can't throw careless passes!' thought Himuro.

'If we can't pass...' thought Fukui, trailing off as he dribbled past Izuki, only to have Kuroko steal the ball again. "What?" he gasped when Izuki caught the ball. 'Did he let me on by purpose because he knew Kuroko was there?' Izuki made the shot, and the ball went through the net.

"Alright!" cheered Furihata.

"Izuki-senpai!" shouted Fukuda.

The referee blew his whistle, and waved his hands. "No count!" he shouted, surprising everyone else.

"Don't worry about it." assured Kagami to Izuki.

"Yeah." said the latter sheepishly.

"We will now take a two-minute break." announced the referee.

Yasu handed the players each a clean towel and refilled water bottle before they sat on the bench to rest. "Running a full-court defence is tough." said Izuki while wiping his sweat with a towel. "Can we last until the end of the game?"

"We'll make it last." said Hyuga determinedly.

"But I can't imagine that Yosen won't do anything." said Riko.

"Coach, about that." begun Kagami. "Once they break through our full-court defense, and move to a half-court game, let us run a 2-3 zone with me in the middle."

"What?" asked the surprised Izuki.

"The same formation as Yosen?" asked Hyuga.

"Like Murasakibara, I'll cover the entire two-point area." explained Kagami.

"You can do that?" asked Koganei.

"No matter who comes, I'll stop them." said the ace determinedly. "For Kiyoshi-senpai."

'Kagami...' thought the said boy, surprised.

Riko pondered for a while before glancing at Yasu, who gave her a small nod. "Got it." she said to the players. "In the fourth quarter, we'll run the Stealth Man-to-Man Full-Court and a 2-3 zone half-court..." As Riko went through her plans with them, Kiyoshi stared at his teammates with awe at their determination to win, and their support for each other.

"Kiyoshi, why are you just sitting there?" asked Hyuga. "If you have any ideas-" He suddenly stopped, and was shocked when he looked at the said boy. "Why are you crying?"

"Tep-nii?" called Yasu worriedly.

Kiyoshi snapped out of his thoughts and blinked away the tears. "Oh, this is..." he trailed off. "Why am I crying?"

"That's what I'd like to know!" yelled Hyuga. The others stared at him with surprise and worry.

"I don't know how to put it, but it's probably..." trailed off Kiyoshi again before continuing, "You guys seem so reliable, I'm relieved. When I realised I wasn't alone, I couldn't help myself."

"What?" growled Hyuga with a huge vein popping out of his temple. "Why are you stating the obvious now? I'm actually kind of pissed!"

"What?" responded Kiyoshi, confused by his reaction.

"Sorry." said Kagami. "Honestly, I'm angry, too."

"Me, too." added Kuroko.

"Yasu, could you get my slap stick out of my bag?" asked Izuki.

"Gladly." was her reply before rummaging through his bag to bring the giant paper fan out.

"Hey, this isn't the time for that!" scolded Riko, but the five players pounced on Kiyoshi as the others, with the exception of Yasu, tried to pull them away to prevent him from getting hurt.

'Oh, I get it.' thought Kiyoshi, who had a small smile on his face. 'A team isn't just something to be protected. A team also protects your. We don't support each other because we're a team. We're a team because we support each other.' When the two-minute interval was up, the five players went back to the court, and Kiyoshi watched them with a smile. 'I won't waver again. I...'

"Why don't we form a circle again?" suggested Kuroko, making his teammates halt in their tracks to look at him. "In some ways, I think Murasakibara-kun was right when he said basketball isn't fair. However, basketball isn't a game you play alone. I want to win together, and I believe we can do it." Kagami and Yasu smiled at him.

"Okay, then." said Hyuga, giving in to his suggestion. The team and the others huddle around in a circle. "Let's go! Seirin, fight!"

"Yeah!" they all shouted.

The five players then went back to the court to get ready for the fourth quarter. Kuroko stood in front of Murasakibara, who was glaring at him. "It looks like you were hyping each other up, but I'm going to crush everything." he growled.

"Seirin's not that weak." defended Kuroko sternly.

"I won't hold back." said Kagami, who was standing in front of Yosen's shooting guard.

"Of course." said Himuro. "Let's settle this."

"Let's go!" yelled Hyuga. "Let's win this game!"

"Riko, I really do like basketball." said Kiyoshi with a smile. "I'm glad I play."

"Where did that come from?" she asked, confused by his sudden statement.

"So I'm sorry." he continued before looking at her seriously. "This is the last time. I need a favour."