The new set of the Akastuki Five had already made out their way towards the court while on the other side, the Filipinos didn't even sub out at least one of their starting members. Being an Asian power, that kind of entitled ranking makes the Filipinos unconsciously think that they can win this game without having to switch players. Hikigaya didn't know whether he should be amused or not as he saw Villacorta, who was drinking a Powerade bottle, speaking to one of his teammates. Damn evil guy. A guy like him who knows how to expose your weakness without even mentioning it in plain words is purely a genius—albeit, a demonic one.

"Strange, are they going to be alright?" Kagami asked as he stretched his arms, "They didn't even make a substitution."

"Kagami-kun, if they're not going to be fine, I'm sure their coach would have done something about it," Kuroko make it sound more polite although he was actually jabbing the mental capacity of the Seirin ace, "Besides, they're professionals. Everything that we needed to play against is presented here before our eyes."

That's right, Kuroko. Hikigaya sighed. There's no point in getting angry over something that isn't present at all.

"Besides, we have Hikigaya to handle Villacorta, right?" Ogiwara slapped the back of his close friend, "They say that the most silent member on a team is the one that an enemy should watch out for…"

"Ow…" Hikigaya scratched the part that got slapped, "Although I guess what Ogiwara said is a bit persuasive…"

"Let's just all have fun," Kiyoshi then patted the shoulders of the Sobu student, "Have more faith in yourself…"

Actually, you're the one who needs some pep talk with the height that you're facing off! Hikigaya mentally groaned as he saw Pangalangan already positioning himself under the basket. Well, my assignment is far different so good luck to you.

From the bleachers, Isshiki can't help but watch like a seaman as she even imitated the pose of a sailor trying to venture into the seas. "Hmmm…I conclude…I don't know if senpai can even win or not!" Everyone only looked at her with a funny expression as Akashi seemed to hear her opinion and before she knew it, the redhead captain stared at her while he smiled in a mysterious way. This sent the student council president nearly tripping as she staggered back to her seat. Scary! She shivered as Yukinoshita can only feel sorry for her.

"Too small, huh?" Hiratsuka observed the Iron Heart suddenly felt so small against a professional center from the Philippines and honestly, how Hikigaya and the rest of the playing five plans to handle this somewhat interested her, "I guess Hikigaya had no room for mistakes, especially since they decided to go undersized."

"Shizuka-chan, what bothers me is why their coach isn't bothered by this unless he's placing too confidence in what Hikigaya-kun and the rest will do," Haruno pointed out, "And that doesn't even include that number five guy. He looks like someone who could give the boys a run for their money."

"We'll just have to see how this plays out," Hayama H. didn't sound too convincing as Villacorta finally gets the ball from the inbounds as the whistle was blown to signal the start of the second quarter.

But the moment he passed the ball to Torres, an invisible hand suddenly swatted it. Fuck! Villacorta cursed out for the moment as Kuroko managed to intercept the leather ball and soon, the men in white began to scramble back to offense as the Phantom Sixth Man passed it to Ogiwara, who was facing off against the taller Capinpin. No openings! He would have liked to try and go for the shot but seeing the tight defense of the number four and the pressure under the net that Kiyoshi had to deal with, Ogiwara decided that he should passed it outside. Perfect! He found Hikigaya simply waiting for the ball at the top of the arch.

The fish-eyed boy caught it with ease but immediately, Villacorta came rushing towards him.

"Here it comes!" Yuigahama exclaimed.

Dribbling the ball behind his back, Hikigaya began to quickly assess the situation in front of him. Kiyoshi-senpai's under the net and he's defending it with all he can together with Kagami. Ogiwara is also under pressure. Kuroko's lurking behind but unless I checkmate Villacorta's defense, he would end up not being able to do anything. He then shifted to the left but the Filipino guard also did the same towards the same direction. But with that being said, I guess it's time that I make my own move now…

Suddenly, before Villacorta can react, Hikigaya suddenly pushed the ball between his legs. A pass? Or a dash? Villacorta didn't have any time to think that as suddenly, Hikigaya ran pass him before he recovers the ball as quick. Seeing that their guard got stuck in his position, Pangalangan decided to move but the moment he got nearer, Hikigaya merely moved the ball behind his back towards the left side as he then shifted towards that direction and when Cuan decided to move as well, he spun around him and decided to take a layup.

The Filipino shooting guard saw this and broke away from Ogiwara just in time to jump and tried to block the layup.

"Hikigaya!" Kiyoshi called out in an apparent attempt to postpone the move.

Hold your horses, Kiyoshi-senpai. This will only get better. Hikigaya smirked as quickly, he ducked in the air while lowering the ball and as he descended on the floor, he shot it over his head, far from the outstretched arms of Torres. The ball ended up bouncing off the glass before a swish was heard, signifying that the ball did ended up punching through the net.

"There goes his signature move. Double Clutch," Hiratsuka was amazed to see him pull out that move despite having three guys over two meters tall hover above him, "And what made it more amazing it that he had little space."

Was Hikio always like this? Yumiko thought to herself.

"And most of all, he simply spun his way when he realized there is no open man," Hayato K. commented, "It looks like it came naturally for him."

"Neh, neh, Hikki's personality really changes when he is on the basketball court?" Yuigahama's eyes were sparkling as she faces their Service Club president, "It's like he is a different person whenever he plays basketball…"

"Uhm…" Was all that Yukino can manage for now.

Back to the court, Villacorta was bringing down the ball as his teammates run pass him. But as he was five feet from the rainbow territory, Hikigaya suddenly was in front of him, "I'm not sure if I could stop you and it would be a drag to figure it out since it's a lot of effort to do so," Hikigaya drawled but a hint of challenge was felt from his voice, "But for you, I'll make an exemption."

"I feel honored, hearing that from you," Villacorta liked the challenge being presented before him, "Though I admit that you seemed much lazier right now, judging by your defensive stance.

When Villacorta looked his surroundings, he noticed that the defense of their opponents had no gaps. Ayos… The Filipino guard bounced the ball continuously and then switched his hands. In the moment, he suddenly dashed to the left but the moment Hikigaya started moving to the same direction, Villacorta grunted and step back as all of the sudden, his right hand "accidentally" pushed off Hikigaya, who slightly slid back but was able to get back to his feet.

Oi, that was dirty! Hikigaya was seething mentally.

When Villacorta went to the right, Hikigaya followed and quickly moved in front of him. The guy in blue was surprised a little but he planted his left leg and quickly spun back before entering into a fadeaway shot. But the moment he shot the ball, Hikigaya jumped up after a second and without hesitation, slapped it towards the bench.

"Seriously?" Isshiki thought that the Filipino's speed was too much for his senpai to handle.

"He completely shut down that guy…" Hiratsuka muttered as the referee whistled for the call.

"And here, I thought Hikki's going to lose it…" Yuigahama didn't sound particularly encouraging.

In the Japanese bench, Akashi was glad to see Hikigaya block the shot, "Not even I was able to block Villacorta-san," he calmly noted to Coach Shirogane, "That should restrict his movements for now."

"To think it wasn't Akashi who made the first block…" Aomine whispered to his fellow Miracles in the bench, "It makes me wonder if shortie's still the superior one like what he's always babbling all the time…"

Suddenly, Akashi felt the urge to skin someone alive. Hmmmm…

The game then resumed and to Hikigaya's misfortune, Torres quickly made a three-point shot against Kuroko's weak defense. Grunting, he then gets the ball back and as soon as he got it, he began to run towards the Philippine's goal. He made a simple cross against Torres but it was very fast and agile that it made the Filipino shooting guard fall into his knees as Hikigaya then attacks the free throw key. Capinpin comes to stop him but Hikigaya hesitated quickly and as soon as he was able to draw in the taller forward, he then dashes past to his right and he jumped quickly in the air and as soon as he saw Pangalangan coming, he then decided to duck in quickly as he aimed for another double clutch shot but the moment he then sent the leather basketball flying over his head, a hand appeared and to the shock of the resident loner of Sobu, the ball was slapped in the board.

"What?!" Yukino and Haruno were quickly taken by surprise to see Villacorta quickly catch up and, in what must have been the shock of their lives, had just completely shut down one of Hikigaya's signature movements in basketball.

"That damned Villacorta! He just stopped one of Hikigaya's favorite weapons…"

"No way…" Kuroko can only gasp as the ball was sent flying out of the boundary.

Hikigaya, though, had a different reaction as he calmly faces Villacorta, who heavily breathes for hare but had a smug carved in his face, "That somehow caught me off guard but it didn't surprise me a bit," Hikigaya declared, "I already know that you can block that any time since you're a player better than me…"

"Why thank you…" Villacorta walked pass the fish-eyed young man, "After all, it wouldn't be fun if we just let you shoot freely and whenever you want…"

The ball was inbounded back as Hikigaya grabs the ball. Before he makes his move, he spotted Ogiwara waiting in the shadows. He nodded to him, which meant as 'Ogiwara, screen me!' and fortunately, the brunette managed to get the memo and quickly moved to barricade Villacorta from behind. As soon as the latter moved to his right, he found himself getting face-to-face with the taller Ogiwara, who did everything he can to slow down the Filipino defense and to give Hikigaya breathing room. Hikigaya and Ogiwara then went the same direction as Cuan then tried to help in defense. But the moment Cuan decided to guard the more dangerous Hikigaya, the latter surprised his mark by throwing a lob to Ogiwara, who catches it mid-air and scores a dunk.

"That's a very good pick-and-roll strategy. He knows his basics…" Himuro nodded in approval as Ogiwara and Hikigaya exchanged high-fives, although the latter was a bit awkward about it.

"Senpai," Kagami suddenly called out to Kiyoshi, "Thanks for the box-out…"

"It's fine," Kiyoshi flashed his trademark grin, "It's my duty to defend and control underneath the basket."

Dribbling the ball, Villacorta then made a remark as soon as Hikigaya comes to defend him, "I'm surprised by that screen. Usually, you would have sent a tapping remark…"

Hikigaya looked unimpressed, "Exactly why I didn't made the tapping in the head since you already know that…"

His counterpart didn't say anything but his body language and lips were approving his sneaky tactic. Great. Just great.

Dribbling the ball, Villacorta slowed down as everyone was now picking their positions. He then made a finger signal that screams "Two-Three!" to his minions across him and at once, three Filipino giants abandoned defending the perimeter and the outside shot to focus on sealing the inside of the shaded area to their advantage. Due to this, Ogiwara, Kagami, and Kiyoshi found themselves having to put up stiff resistance against the weight of the Filipino frontline that was thrown against them without any hesitation. Damn it! I can't jump higher at this position and stance! Kagami was mentally complaining as he felt the weight push him back like a rush of water threatening to destroy a concrete dam. At this rate, I'm going to lose position here. Kiyoshi himself found it harder to get a good position for rebounding as he was outmatched by a taller Pangalangan, who had established his presence directly under the basket.

This just leaves Kuroko in the open but… Hikigaya saw that Kuroko lingering out there and for the moment, he thought that he can help in double teaming.

But Hikigaya knows better.

The moment the attention of the Filipino floor general has been distracted for a second, Hikigaya decided to try and swipe the ball away. He didn't steal it completely but he was able to chip away the valuable seconds in the shot clock as Villacorta recovered to get the ball, saving it from almost getting pushed out towards the line.

"That Hikigaya…he's trying to force a 24 second shot clock violation…" Hiratsuka had a pretty good idea on what he's trying do down there.

"A what, Hiratsuka-sensei?" Komachi asked.

"Simply, it's the seconds allowed for a team to shoot the ball when they're in offense," the sensei explained, "If, under 24 seconds, they failed to score or at least attempt to do so, you would be slapped with a 24 second shot clock violation and thus, it's a turnover."

"But if that's the case, then Hikitani-kun should just cover him until that so-called 24 second violation comes…"

"It isn't that easy, Tobe," Hiratsuka cut him off, "Hikigaya's already doing a good job considering he's up against a refined player and, keep in mind, someone who's from the powerhouse Philippines. But it's a five-on-five ball game. This isn't like volleyball or soccer where you the most that can happen is a rally. How they managed to completely shut down the whole team is up to those other four, especially that tealnette-haired boy since I heard that stamina-wise, he would be dead meat in no time."

Back at the game, Hikigaya was shouldering the burden of having to deny Villacorta alone as he knew that Kuroko's thin defense would cost them to lose more points. It wouldn't be so bad if every one of us are prodigal scorers, he thought. The only problem is that not every one of them can standout one-on-one, especially in Ogiwara's case.

"You're a fool…" Villacorta suddenly drawled.

"What?" The boy with spoiled eyes muttered.

"Didn't you realize that you eorcing me to this very corner is only half an answer? There's a reason why I already secured the shaded area," The Filipino muttered and before Hikigaya can even reply, he had already flung the ball towards the glass board and in a blink on an eye, Pangalangan's outstretched arms was seen appearing upwards out of the bumping and converging of men and muscles.

"An alley-oop!" Was the only thing Momoi was able to utter as Kagami then left his own mark to help Kiyoshi shut down and possibly block the Filipino slotman. Pangalangan, though, was much faster as he got the ball in the air and as Kagami tried to swat it away, he directly slammed the leather orb beneath the two teammates, who ended up crashing on the floor.

"Too tall…" Isshiki whispered.

"That guy. He's been a problem too for Hikigaya and the crew," Hiratsuka muttered.

Quickly standing up, Kiyoshi helped Kagami get back to his feet while inbounding the ball. Dribbling it, Hikigaya said to a passing Kuroko, "Kuroko, I need your passes. Villacorta may know about you but as long as he's occupied in front of me, chances of you slipping by is larger. However, simply doing that isn't enough against a professional team like them. We have to score in the inside and your Phantom Shot is more than enough to make them think twice."

"I understand, Hikigaya-kun," Kuroko nodded without any hesitation, "But the risk is my misdirection would quickly decrease."

"It's fine," Hikigaya sighed, "It's not like you're going to stay in the court the whole 40 minutes unless we're desperate or we're short of offensive-minded players."

The Japanese five then got to their opponent's goal as Hikigaya has the ball. As instructed Kuroko quickly slipped behind Villacorta and before the latter knew it, Hikigaya had already passed the ball seemingly into thin air. At first, the Filipino thought that Hikigaya seemed to have lost his mind until his eyes caught the sight of a mop of light baby blue hair and as he finally realized that the one who is holding the ball got free, he can only gape.

Torres, who was the closest to where Kuroko is, spotted the orange ball and quickly closed in to try and block Kuroko. Unfazed, he then enters his Phantom Shot stance, confusing his defender, who can only look at him with a weird and curious expression to his face. And before he knew it, the ball was gone in the Sixth Man's hands.

What!?

Torres can only hear the swish of the basketball ring as Kuroko had successfully made the basket.

"Kurokocchi made it!" Kise cheered from the bench.

"Kyaa! Go Tetsu-kun!" Momoi screamed like a fan girl.

Capinpin then retrieved the ball, and passed it to Torres, who decided to bring it down. The shooting guard bounced the ball until he reached the centre circle, and then he passed it Villacorta. Hikigaya was ready to block the point guard but swiftly, Villacorta dashed away from Hikigaya and the latter had no choice but to go on chasing after him. But when they reached into the free throw circle, he stopped when Ogiwara decided to rise and challenge the shot.

"No foul, Ogiwara!" Kiyoshi shouted upon realizing what would happen. But it was too late. The small forward bumped into Villacorta but that was the very least. Villacorta still made the shot by shooting it under the underarms of the outstretched arms of the brunette.

"Basket counts! One free throw!" the referee announced.

"Shit. And it's an And-1 foul…" Kagami mumbled, gritting his teeth as they seemed to have gotten outsmarted. The Japanese audience can only murmur in silence as Yuigahama said, "Hikki's best friend made a foul."

"He rushed a bit too much," Hiratsuka whistled.

"Sorry, Hikigaya, Kiyoshi-senpai…" Ogiwara said to the two. He looked sad as well.

"Don't worry about it. Get ready for the next play." Hikigaya said to at least cheer him up. "Though I suggest that nest time, you try to slow things down." Kagami then walked over to them with Kuroko and then he taps the shoulders of the brunette.

"It was almost a good block." Kagami said. "It just happened that it was a lucky shot coming from his off-balanced foot."

Villacorta then made his free throw.

Kiyoshi then grabbed the ball and passed it to Kuroko who then passed it to Hikigaya. As soon as he got the ball, Villacorta reached in front of him.

"I had to admit that you're still this strong even when you left basketball three years ago." Villacorta said to Hikigaya. "But I do have a few words. It's not easy to just go back to playing basketball in just one blink, especially that you're out of shape."

Hikigaya laughed out loud and shook his head. But because of these, everyone from the Sobu High School nearly had the most severe heart attacks of their young lives as Yuigahama hugged their Service Club president out of fear, "Yu-Yukinon! Did you see that! Hikki just laughed for the second or third time!"

"I-I saw it, Yuigahama-kun. No need to hug me so tightly like this," Yukino replied.

"Mou, that Number Five guy must have said something either funny enough or ridiculously stupid to make Hikigaya-kun laugh like there's no tomorrow." Haruno pouted. Usually, when the elder Yukinoshita tried her best to make him laugh, all she gets is the usual cold treatment.

Ebina had different ideas, "Kyaaa! A mutual understanding between two lovers! A good plot for a smutty Yaoi play!"

Akashi, who was busy drinking his water, nearly choked although he didn't show it when he heard the remark of the Fujoshi. I think I need to make sure Hikigaya never gets near that idiot no more than 100 meters.

Back at the court…

"You have no idea what you're talking about," Hikigaya said. "Sure, I maybe the laziest out of the fifteen but it's not like it would be hard to recover your state when you have the basics seeped down to your bones." Hikigaya then looked at his four teammates. "Besides, I don't need to work hard that much. Those four can cover me for a long period of time."

"Huh?"

The moment Villacorta said this, the latter saw Hikigaya inhale and then exhale. Hikigaya then shifted to the left and then to right, and then when he reached on his left again, he made a drive to the basket. The ball was in his right hand, so the moment he brought it down; he passed it behind him to Ogiwara who ran pass.

Hikigaya was surprised. In this moment of distraction, Hikigaya slipped pass to retrieve the ball from Ogiwara. He continued towards the net, while Ogiwara got into position. However, Villacorta caught him back quickly, and since Villacorta was behind him, he stopped and passed the ball through their legs into Kiyoshi's waiting arms. The centre then passed it to Kuroko, who rediverted it to Ogiwara, who sank a three.

Everyone except the Japanese basketball team was surprised. Up in the audience, the Sobu students gasped in shock.

"Amazing…" Yukino can only utter.

"A pass between two pairs of feet?! How is that possible!?" Yuigahama shouted. "He doesn't even that freaky Akashi's demonic eyes to do that and the space is pretty cramped!"

"Well, it's Hikigaya," Hiratsuka said, as if stating a point. "A point guard whose passing is second to none in Sobu. I just don't think there's a pass that he cannot do."

"You knew he could do that?" Haruno asked.

"Nope, it's the first I'm seeing something like that." The sensei replied, "But I have seen Hikigaya's passes going through narrower spaces so I think this isn't really surprising."

The Sobu people then refocused their eyes again on the match, seeing Villacorta with the ball, but the strange thing was that, Hikigaya was nowhere near him. Kuroko blocked his path, but that was when the Sobu student jogged towards him. He stood behind the guard, but Villacorta didn't mind.

"Double teaming me?" he said. "Interesting but have you lost your mind. With that shadow player, this―" he broke off when he felt the weight of the ball disappear from him hand. Looking, he saw Ogiwara already had the basketball.

Because Kuroko and Hikigaya were blocking his view, Ogiwara was able to steal the ball without him realizing. Quickly, the small forward did a baseball pass to Kiyoshi who then passed the ball to Kagami. Getting pumped up, the Seirin power forward gathered his momentum before executing a powerful tomahawk dunk.

"Nice, Kagami!" Kiyoshi said when they were heading back.

"Of course, senpai." The redhead said proudly.

"Hikigaya, aren't you going to call for a time-out, though?" Ogiwara asked as he looked at Kuroko. He knows that around this time, Kuroko should have been in the bench.

"Not this time, Ogiwara. But…" Hikigaya trailed off. "…you'll hear everything at half-time."

The two teams continued their bout, shots were being made; Ogiwara and Kagami made their shots and sometimes sunk threes to back up Hikigaya, Kiyoshi making layups and rebounding occasionally. Kuroko just kept doing what he had to do and the same thing goes for Hikigaya.

For the Philippines, Villacorta mostly had the ball, although he made sure that his teammates are in the perfect spot. The latter constantly blocked Hikigaya while Torres was blocked tightly by Ogiwara so he couldn't make his threes. Pangalangan had Kiyoshi while Kuroko was just lurking somewhere. Cuan and Capinpin just held their own.

The game went on like that until the end of the second quarter, Philippines on 46 while Japan was on 40.

"The second quarter is over!" The scoring officials announced, "There is a ten minute intermission!"

The two teams made their way to their changing rooms, and without hitch, Akashi started.

"So far, everything is going fine. But if we don't prepare ourselves, we're screwed. It doesn't matter if we're the best in team in Japan if we can't even compete against a professional team like the Philippines." He said. Everyone nodded. "We can take this up a notch. For this quarter, Hikigaya and Kuroko will get the ball around. As much as I hate the idea of having to extend Kuroko's playing time, his steals are of importance to us as well as fast passes. Himuro-san, get ready fake them out and to sink as much baskets as possible, Okamura-san, we're counting on you for rebounds and pressure defense under the basket. Murasakibara, I trust that you would be able to hold down that Filipino center unless you'd rather want to cut down your intake of maiubo snacks after our game."

"Eh, Aka-chin…" The purple-head groaned as to why he's the only one who is being grilled that much. Nevertheless, he nodded. He valued his life so much.

"In the middle of the third quarter, we'll increase our speed, but what is more, Hikigaya should try to put down the clamps on Villacorta by having the freedom to play according to his own style."

"Can you do that Hikigaya?" Shirogane asked.

"I get it." Hiigaya nodded, "It's troublesome though but I'll do it anyway."

"Well, things look to be going pretty well so by the fourth quarter, I would be able to roar back." Aomine responded.

"Aomine, don't treat this like this is the Interhigh or Winter Cup…" Akashi sternly warned him up. "If you're not even up for it, then I have no choice but to bench you for the rest of the game."

"Okay, I get it, mommy Akashi…" Aomine whispered, grunting.

"Mou, Akashi-kun, Dai-chan's only that excited," Momoi came to the defense of her childhood friend.

It was at this point that Hikigaya then got up and asked, "Can I go outside for a bit?"

"Yeah, just come back soon." Shirogane gave him his permission.

Hikigaya Hachiman leaned on the railing, enjoying the cool breeze. He wanted to clear his head to remember everything about what he's supposed to do as well as reflect on what Villacorta had said to him. Strangely, he doesn't feel nervous anymore, and as much as he hated to admit it verbally, actually he couldn't wait to get back into the game. If everything goes to plan, then the game's surely in our bag. He thought with a smile.

"That's a very creepy smile you got there, Hikicreepy-kun," he heard a familiar voice say.

"I'm surprised you even took the effort to go here, Ice Queen," he answered. He knew the voice anywhere. "Besides, even I know how to smile. Remember the Teiko years I had with Kuroko?"

Yukino shrugged her shoulders. Hikigaya then asked, "So, what are you doing here? It's strange for you to just suddenly show up here—just a few meters away from the locker room…"

"Don't waste your time in satisfying your delusions," Yukino nonetheless offers him a Powerade drink, "We went to buy drinks but I lost the others and they lost me, so I just wandered until I ended up out here."

"Oh…" Hikigaya didn't really know how to respond on that.

Actually, I'm glad I did. Was the true thought running into the younger Yukinoshita's mind.

"For someone who'd rather be a siscon and a lazy crook, you seemed to be working hard," The Ice Queen jabbed him, "In fact, you actually put more effort in this day more than the days when you're supposed to be a productive in our school."

"There's nothing wrong in being a sister and I'm not creep…" Hikigaya retorted back, "Or maybe there's something you see in me."

"Your delusions seemed to have reached to a level that is akin to a depraved and obsessed mongrel," Yukino stepped back while crossing her arms, "I believe you should try and seek some medications from a psychologist. That would be quite helpful for you."

"Is that supposed to be an advice for me?"

"No, sarcasm…"

Hikigaya sighed, "Well, whatever."

There was a momentary silence as the boy was busy slurping his drink.

"By the way, Hikigaya-kun, what's with you today? And who is that number five? It appears that you and that guy seemed to share that kind of history that you have with those former Teiko teammates of yours," The cute girl asked.

Is that Haruno-level interrogation tactics? Hikigaya gulped as he noticed that the air around him was getting colder and more intense. If he had no intention of answering before, he would certainly be forced to answer right now.

"He's a former opponent that I had played once or twice back when Teiko is holding special overseas training camp in the Philippines," Hikigaya replied, "He's a genius like the seven of us. He might not have Akashi's Emperor Eyes but his tactics is professional level. He thinks ten steps ahead and if anything, he would adjust their formations, whether offense or defense. In some ways, he's slightly more cunning than even Akashi although it did help that most of his teammates are already playing in a professional league."

"That's quite a high-level comprehension coming from you but I supposed I can't disagree with you based from what I had watched," Yukino nodded, "By the way, I know it might sound farfetched but if you were given a choice, would you actually choose to play professional basketball after this?"

Hearing that question, Hikigaya gave it a thought before he replied, "Hmmm. Supposed that my dream as a house husband doesn't go off as planned, playing professional basketball isn't really a bad second option. As much as a loathe work, it's much better than becoming a company slave."

"Professional sports is work though, Hikigaya-kun,"

"Being a company slave is far different from a professional player," Hikigaya shrugged, "Look, I hate work but if it's between the two, then it's no choice at all. Besides, only an idiot would prefer working overtime in an office to being guaranteed at least millions just playing 40 to 48 minutes in every game or even less. Though I had to accept the fact that there are tradeoffs in professional sports such as keeping a dietary regime, the results are satisfying to no end."

"I never knew you could use your head for once, Hikigaya-kun…"

"I always use my head, Yukinoshita. You see it every day, right?"

"No. You're being twisted."

Just then, they heard a ringtone, which caused them to stop. Fishing out his phone, Hikigaya turned his head away while Yukinoshita blankly watched him do so. When he saw the caller I.D, he swore.

"Ah, it's Ogiwara. It's probably starting soon," he said.

"Yeah, I probably have to get back too, Hikigaya-kun." Yukino smiled genuinely. Yukino then took a few steps and then Hikigaya said, "Since Komachi had made an effort to watch me today, I'll make sure we win this practice game."

"Good luck then." Yukino was facing the entrance, "By the way, speaking with you today somehow helped me get relaxed."

Hearing Yukino's voice like that, Hikigaya nodded and said, "For strange reasons, I feel the same too." The pale beauty then left him alone, hoping to catch up with the others. Hikigaya then followed, remembering that he had a match to finish.

Sneak Peak: It was finally down to the last two quarters and Hikigaya and the rest of the team were finally forced to do their best against a revitalized Philippine team. Of course, Villacorta had no intention in letting his team lose the game and so, he had a trick up in his sleeves. Even so, Hikigaya Hachiman came prepared for whatever ace his opponent will bring.