3rd POV

'i understand that they let izuki guard mayuzumi since misdirection doesnt work on the hawk eye but..' 

Hayashi's eyes directed towards a shivering furihata as akashi eyed furihata with motionless eyes. 

'he's a klutz!'

Hayashi thought and facepalmed, slightly irritated. "you know, y/n. i'm starting to think seirin is a circus." She stated as y/n quickly pouted. "hey! they're amazing! riko is intelligent so just watch and trust the process." y/n defended as hayashi chuckled.

"hey, kiyoshi." nebuya mumbled, catching kiyoshi's attention as nebuya quickly turned his head, crying. "WHAT'S THE COLOR OF SEIRIN'S BLOOD?!" He cried which made kiyoshi startled and confused. 

"That brat will be torn to pieces! this is like a horror movie i cant watch anymore. this isnt a joke that works on akashi!" Nebuya stated as kiyoshi slightly got taken aback, but he quickly smiled.

"i appreciate your concern, but we're serious" Kiyoshi smirked. 

"so they used that chihuahua for kagami to go 1 on 1 with akashi huh.." Himuro mumbled, chuckling. "This is so nervewrecking." Hinata stated near, his butt out of his seat as he watched intensely. 

"in that position, akashi-chin can't use ankle break, i think." Murasakibara said beside himuro which y/n's father nodded. "that's right. when this akashi does an ankle break, you'd need bigger space behind. but since they're inside the court, it's too crowded." He said as y/n's mother gave him a side eye.

"you sure know your basketball." 

"honey, i was a player remember?"

"uncle that sounds so wrong. please add sports in it."

Kazuko sweatdrop, awkwardly smiling.

the game surely went on. surprisingly to everyone, furihata was able to somewhat keep up. 

"i gotta say, that riko is good. they cant fully ignore furihata acts as a hindrance for akashi in finding a person to pass to." Iwaizumi stated next to oikawa which the latter nodded. "they're good. she's surpasing other normal coaches." oikawa added.

Suddenly, rakuzan called for a timeout, which was the first timeout called.

"seems like rakuzan is very cautious." Hayashi grinned, her hands intertwine behind the back of her head. As rakuzan talked, Reo suddenly looked up hayashi's eyes. they stared at each other before Reo smirked. 

then, the timeout ended. 

"WOAH! A SHOOTING GUARD SHOWDOWN!!!" Nishinoya beamed, his eyes turning into stars as he jumped out of his seat.

"you sure you wanna do this?" Reo asked hyuuga who irked a tick mark.

'he has the quality both i love and hate.'

hyuuga thought.

"he's too far." Hayashi stated as y/n looked at her. "what do you mean?" She asked as hayashi hummed, pointing at the court.

Reo smirked, jumping as hyuuga's eyes widened. 

"a fade away 3 pointer?!" He exclaimed as the ball went in the hoop. "way to go, reo-nee!!" Hayama stated with a smile. Reo turned his head, blowing a kiss at hayashi.

that didnt go unnoticed by y/n's father, kazuko, y/n, himuro and some other people that were present.

"Does Reo-san like you?" Y/n asked hayashi who rolled her eyes. "he's a flirt." She replied which made himuro hum. "He's stealing her away.." Yamamoto frowned, clenching his heart as if it was breaking as futakuchi chuckle beside him.

The exchange of shots were done between seirin and rakuzan, neither backing down. but, the pressure was on hyuuga. it may look like reo was only doing two variety of shots, but he had alot up his sleeves.

"He's the general in 3 shots." (y/f/n) mumbled.

"The Yaksha." 

"as far as shooters go, i can't deny Mibuchi Reo is better in every way." Kazuko mumbled. Kenma, who was beside kuroo was also watching intensely, his console out of his face, intrigued by the game.

"oh? now its a showdown between centers? Seirin is really going at it." Y/f/n stated with a grin, clapping his hand. "LET'S GO KIYOSHI!" he cheered.

"honey, stop."

"its a 15 point difference." Atsumu pointed, as osamu slightly hiss in pain. "can they catch up?" Osamu asked as kita silently analyzes. "I have no experience in basketball, but it seems that seirin will fall. They need that kuroko after all." He stated, eyeing kuroko who was thinking.

y/n eyes suddenly went wide when akashi jumped, doing an alley hoop. "I DIDNT KNOW SEI CAN DO THAT?!" Y/n gasped as murasakibara responded with a 'nyom' 

"aka-chin is showing off." 

"even so, it looks like its hopeless for them."

Hayashi stated as everyone looked at the scoreboard.

A 25 point difference in just a few minutes.

"we'll now be entering half time. the game will resume in 10 minutes"

Y/n then stood up, turning to her father before they stared at eachother. her father then noded as y/n quickly left without a word.

"ne, where is n/n going?" bokuto asked from a few seats away as hayashi turned her head.

"to seirin."

---

"oh? kise-kun? midorima-kun?" y/n tilted her head as she met the two teams. kise smiled, running up to her and hugging her. "n/n-cchi! could we sit near you guys?" Kise asked as y/n happily nodded, pointing at the vacant seats near them. 

"looks like you've brought your whole crew." Midorima stated, pushing his glasses up as he noticed most players seated near y/n were the volleyball players. "yeah, they said they had nothing to do anyways." y/n replied, smiling awkwardly as she sat back to her seat.

"i honestly feel like crying right now." y/n whispered next to hayashi. y/n watch as kuroko walked in the court as a substitution which shocked every member of the miracles. eyes wide and mouth gaped at the unexpected decision.

"WHOO GO KAGAMI!" y/n suddenly changed her attitude, seeing kagami was deep in the zone. 

"dang, that's gotta hurt." Suna stated, noticing mayuzumi was being used to let passes through. 

"that's heartless." y/m/n stated next to y/n's father, feeling slightly hurt that the play was getting that out of control.

"a llama told me, compared to akashi, you're much lamer." Izuki smirked at hayama. Hayashi, adjusted herself in her seat, crossing her legs as she uses her arm to support her head, placing it on her palm with an amused smile.

"izuki's doing well." 

Y/n and kazuko heard that, which made them smirk.

"you've been complimenting alot of guys now, nee-chan." kazuko said in a teasing voice. "yeah, ki-chan i wonder why." y/n added, wiggling her eyebrows which made hayashi slightly annoyed.

"is it not normal for someone to acknowledge strengths of others?" 

y/f/n laughed, shaking his head. "you know, my love is once like that, look where that got us." he said as y/m/n rolled her eyes. "can you be quiet?"

"i think reo-chin noticed." Murasakibara munched, slightly snickering that even koganei was able to caught reo off guard. Koganei continues to tick reo off, making the latter pissed. 

"that would mean, koganei really is able to catch up, whether or not he can jump?" Kageyama asked, tilting his head as sugawara smiled, patting his head.

"the third quarter has ended! we will now be entering a 2 minute intermission"

"this feels awfully long." y/m/n mumbled as y/f/n quickly jumped up. "come dear, let's grab some water and snacks for you first." He said and grabbed her hand. y/m/n smiled, nodding. the two then left which kazuko pouted.

"Give me a relationship like that." He whine as hayashi shook her head. "you can't date yet. that goes for you, y/n." hayashi gave y/n a side glance as y/n sweatdrop.

"a 20 point difference? can seirin surpass that in 10 minutes?" Hayakawa asked to yukio who shrugged. " i wanna hug koganei so much." Y/n frowned, feeling teary eyed as kuroo was quick to stand up, handing her a handkerchief. 

"here, chibi. hold onto it." 

y/n smiled at him. "thank you very much, kuroo."

"LET'S GO RAKUZAN!" 

Seirin's uproar made most of the crowd go wild. 

"that's some good defense." Kimura stated as midorima pushed his glasses up. "that is true. but hyuuga has to avoid getting a foul for 10 minutes. if he's out, then they lose." He said, his eyes, going back and fourth. 

"REBOUND!" izuki yelled as reo missed a shot due to hyuuga. "I'M GONNA PEE I CANT WATCH." kazuko closed his eyes. "KIYOSHI YOU BASTARD! JUST HOW MANY YEARS HAVE YOU BEEN CENTER ALREADY? YOU CANT LOSE TO THAT FUCKING MUSCLE ASSHOLE!" hyuuga yelled with anger. teppei quickly did a spin, jumped and grabbed the ball. he passed it to kagami quickly who made a point.

"LET'S DO IT SEIRIN! A FIFTEEN POINT DIFFERENCE!" 

"you've gone and done it, huh junpei-chan? I'm really gonna destroy you now." Reo furrowed his eyebrows, staring at hyuuga as hyuuga stood his ground. "let's see you try. and stop calling me by my first name and adding 'chan' to it" hyuuga responded. 

with that, the game continued on with another shooting guard showdown. and with a big jump, hyuuga successfully blocked reo's shot. 

"COUNTER!" Y/n yelled from her seat. quickly the ball was passed to kiyoshi who jumped and in mid air, he passed to hyuuga, who shot a 3 pointer once again. "a 3 basket in a row! seirin is surging a comeback!!" the crowd cheered happily.

once again, teppei caught a ball that was about to go to the opponents and quickly pushes the ball in the hoop.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME? 4 BASKETS IN A ROW? AND A 10 POINT DIFFERENCE!" 

as kagami was about to shoot, akashi suddenly, pushes it out of his hand. 

" to all of you gathered here, in this place, i'll show you the difference in our position." 

akashi was in the zone. 

the miracle's eyes went wide, even y/n and hayashi was shocked. 

"he easily opened it. what a bastard." hayashi stated, her eyes heavy on the court. 

akashi was far faster. And with that, he took down every seirin member and shot the ball by himself. even the rakuzan players stood there, flabbergastered.

'does...he really not need us anymore?'

the rakuzan member stood there, silent and heads down as they wipe off their sweats.

seirin quickly called for a timeout. 

"sei is being mean again." y/n mumbled as hayashi scoffed. "told yah you should've have forgave them." 

"i can hear you, ki-chin" 

"of course you can, murasakibara. and that's senpai to you." hayashi glared at murasakibara. 

"ne, ive been meaning to ask, what do you mean deep into the zone, aomine?" imayoshi asked, as touou was seated a few seat away from the other group. "if you get into the done, you pass a big door as you submerge in the water. but at the very bottom, another huge door, and standing infront of it is a faceless man, like a gatekeeper." Aomine explained, his eyes still glued to the court. 

"so if you manage to open the door then?" wakamatsu asked loudly. "hell if i know. i havent opened it. i've only reached below the surface. however, i believe that door is a zone that surpasses the zone. and if kagami wants to have the possibility to beat akashi, he has to open that door." 

as the game continue, kuroko stood behind kagami. as kagami stepped to the right, quickly kuroko stepped to the left, stretching is arm to push the ball out of akashi's grip. 

akashi stood there, his teeth gritting. quickly he caught up to kagami, but he was once again deceived as kagami got the ball, doing an alleyhoop. akashi fell down, as everyone was shocked. during the play, akashi continued to miss and miss some more. 

"this is the first time i saw akashi like this." aomine said beside momoi. 

"to think akashi was weak." midorima mumbled. "heh, he's fucked!" y/f/n stated, shaking his head. and again, rakuzan kept failing as seirin was catching up, nebuya grabbed akashi by the collar. seemingly arguing with each others. 

and as the timeout was called and ended, rakuzan came back differently.

"NO WAY..." 

"how is that possible?!" 

"this is too pitiful." 

rakuzan looked like they were all in the zone and kagami is all out of stamina.

a figure then arrive, looking at the court and sighing.

"kuroko.." 

the figure mumbled.

the game was going on for rakuzan, which seirin was losing hope. adding up to that, kuroko got a foul for pushing. breathless, seirin's first five, looked down.

"YOU CAN DO IT, SEIRIN DONT GIVE UP!!" 

the figure yelled loudly, grabbing the attention of everyone in the stadium. kuroko looked up, his eyes teary as he realize who it was. 

"ogiwara-kun." kuroko mumbled, his tears flowing down as he smiled.

"geez, dont look at me." aomine mumbled before standing up. "HEY TETSU, KAGAMI! YOU WON AGAINST US YAH KNOW. IF YOU CAN'T BEAT SOMEONE LIKE RAKUZAN, I'LL BEAT YOU UP." Aomine was next to yell which shocked kagami. "THAT GOES FOR KAIJO TOO!" kise was next to yell, grinning. "DEFEAT THEM! AKASHI AND RAKUZAN!" midorima also yelled which shocked takao. 

"you aint doing it?" hayashi smirked at murasakibara who looked away making himuro laugh. 

every single group seirin has beat, cheered on loudly. 

"SEIRIN!!!" y/n was last to stand up, using her hands to cup around her mouth as she yelled along with the others. 

"hah, do you guys suddenly feel energized?" kagami asked. "it wouldnt be interesting without this." akashi smiled as kuroko looked at them. "we arent over with this match yet, rakuzan!" 

and with that, the game continued once again, seirin's spirits up. kagami suddenly, blocke a shot.

"huh, so that was it?" aomine scoffs before covering his face, laughing loudly.

'there was no way i couldve opened it.'

"the one standing infront of that door wasnt a gatekeeper. the one standing infront of it....it was you all along, was it?"

"tetsu"

Aomine slightly teared up, his heart bursting into different feelings. kagami went beyond the zone. all of them were now in sync. the time was running out, it was a game with thrill now.

"GIVE IT YOUR ALL!!" 

teppei quickly grabs the last rebound and quickly kuroko grabs the ball. the last shot that will declare the final winner.

"akashi. i am the shadow that has overcome the light." 

and with that, he passes to kagami.

"TIME'S UP! WINNER BY 1 POINT DIFFENCE, SEIRIN!!!"

"AT THE END OF THIS FIERCE BATTLE, THE ONES WHO HAVE FINALLY TAKEN DOWN THE STRONG KINGS, WHO HAVE REIGNED SINCE THE VERY BEGINNING OF THE WINTER CUP, THE MIRACULOUS NEW STARS WHO WERE ESTABLISHED BUT TWO YEARS AGO.

SEIRIN HIGH SCHOOL ARE THIS YEAR'S WINTER CUP CHAMPIONS!!"

And with that, the stadium erupted into loud cheers as seirin quickly celebrated. The two teams quickly bowed to each other as y/n quickly grabbed hayashi and kazuko's arms. 

"HURRY HURRY!" She excitedly tugged them running down to the court. She quickly jumped at kuroko, engulfing him in a hug.

"IM SO PROUD OF YOU GUYS!" She squealed as hayashi sighed, smiling. "i've got to say, you guys did very well." she smiled as she stride towards shun, patting his head. "you too, kid." 

"you're just a year older." 

y/n laughed before turning to kuroko. "how do you feel now?" she asked as she stood infront of him. "happy. thank you for supporting me, n/n." he stated as y/n grinned, giving him a thumbs up. "of course! anything for you." 

with her words, kuroko smiled softly, looking at her with a gaze that could melt y/n. kagami then patted y/n head, grinning. "i think i deserve a good ass feast huh?" he questioned as y/n laughed. "yeah sure, i'll ask my father to booka private restaurant for everyone." she state as she patted kagami's back before running to seijuro. she tackled seijuro down in a backhug as seijuro turned around.

"n/n?" 

"huh?? sei? is that you?? t-the real you?!" she said in shock as akashi gave her a soft smile. 

"its been long, n/n." 

with tears in her eyes, y/n hits akashi in the arm. "stupid!" she mumbled as akashi pulled her in a hug. "sorry for my sweat, n/n. but i missed you."

"i missed you too, sei-kun." she sniffled, hugging back.