Jun Seo dribbled only once.

A single, clean bounce.

Miho raised his hand.

Not a signal.

A command.

And the floor shifted around him.

Davis pivoted, forming a strong-side seal.

Ryan tried to swim around

Davis absorbed him like a black hole.

Brandon moved to help

And Miho moved.

Nothing quick.

Nothing flashy.

Just a step.

A single step, but with perfect weight transfer

every angle lethal.

Ethan slid to match and Miho smiled almost invisibly.

Yes. Follow me.

He took one more step.

Ethan followed again.

The defense rotated with the both of them

because they had no choice.

The entire Vorpal formation tilted a few degrees.

Just enough.

And that was all Miho needed.

Because the real attack

Was never Miho.

It was Jun Seo.

He broke left

but not with a speed burst.

With timing.

Lucas followed

shadow-perfect

But timing is a blade sharper than mimicry.

Jun Seo's foot landed half a beat earlier than his usual rhythm.

Lucas mirrored

but mirrored the old cadence

Meaning in basketball terms

He was exactly one heartbeat late.

Jun Seo turned the corner.

Ayumi gasped softly.

"He changed his internal tempo signature…"

Charlotte whispered,

"...and Lucas couldn't copy what didn't exist before."

Miho never even looked.

He already knew the lane was open.

Jun Seo rose—

Not for a layup.

A floater.

Soft.

Delicate.

High arc.

The kind that punishes any defender who jumps.

Lucas didn't jump.

But Ethan—

Closed the gap from behind.

One step.

Two.

His hand rose

Not to block.

But to adjust trajectory.

Micro-precision.

But Jun Seo's release was already sealed.

The ball floated.

Hung—

Then dropped clean:

SWISH.

The crowd roared.

VORPAL 23 – EASTGATE 17

Miho didn't celebrate.

He didn't smile.

He just looked at Ethan.

Eyes steady.

Voice soft enough only Ethan could feel:

"You read me. But you didn't read him fast enough."

Ethan didn't flinch.

His reply was quiet, measured.

"Good.

Make us sharper."

Miho's eyes lowered half a centimeter.

Not irritation.

Respect.

Warrior to warrior.

But he added one more thought, cutting and cold:

Don't fall behind.

The ball entered Evan's hands.

But Ethan didn't run to his usual wing spot.

He walked.

Slow.

Deliberate.

His footsteps dictated the floor pattern like a conductor stepping onto a podium.

Miho saw it immediately.

His eyes sharpened.

Triangle formation…?

Not the basic one.

The inverted variation.

Ryan slid to weak-side short corner.

Brandon positioned near the high elbow.

Lucas hovered on the extended wing spacing, not initiating.

Evan held the top.

Louie waited on the opposite corner.

Ayumi whispered to herself, fingers gripping her clipboard:

"This isn't the triangle for scoring… This is the triangle for distortion."

Charlotte nodded.

"He's going to move Miho first."

Ethan didn't ask for the ball.

He simply walked toward Lucas's wing.

Lucas began his cut

But Ethan didn't take his place.

He stopped one step short.

This micro-shift tilted the geometry of the entire play.

Miho's breath paused.

So that's your plan.

If Miho slid left to maintain spacing alignment →

the passing lane to Brandon opened.

If Miho stayed put

Lucas got a direct slasher lane.

A forked dilemma

but only one step created it.

Ethan's voice, quiet but edged:

"React wrong."

Miho didn't move his feet.

But he adjusted his shoulders

just enough to signal Eastgate's defense to shade.

That was the move Ethan wanted.

Evan snapped a bounce pass to Brandon at the elbow.

Davis reacted instantly

shifting weight to body up

But Ryan had already moved.

Not in front.

Not behind.

Under.

He cut under the basket, low and sharp

escaping from Davis's blind side.

Brandon didn't even look.

He knew.

Their timing was years of silent friendship turned into geometry.

The ball dropped

a perfect overhead lob.

Ryan caught it mid-air

not jumping rising.

Davis turned

too late.

Ryan laid it in with the smooth arrogance of someone who didn't need to brag.

SWISH.

VORPAL 25 – EASTGATE 17

The arena exploded.

Louie slapped the padding of the scorer's table, screaming:

"THE BABYSITTER AND THE PLAYBOY COOKIN' AGAIN!!"

Brandon didn't celebrate.

Just walked calmly back on defense.

Ryan jogged beside him with a crooked grin.

"You feel that?"

Brandon didn't look at him, but the corner of his mouth lifted.

"Always."

Miho

He didn't show disappointment.

He didn't show irritation.

He simply inhaled.

A slow, controlled breath.

He used spacing distortion against me.

His eyes slid toward Ethan.

There was no malice.

Only acknowledgment.

So you truly understand geometry on the court.

Ethan's gaze met his.

Calm.

Precise.

Unmoving.

His internal voice was a blade:

And I'm still not done.

Eastgate Brings the Ball Up

Jun Seo pushed the dribble.

Lucas shadowed

not matching the rhythm

but the breathing.

Every footstep mirrored to the heartbeat tempo.

Miho walked alongside the play

not to cut to the ball…

…but to test the world around it.

He watched Ethan.

Ethan didn't chase the ball.

He tracked the center of gravity of the offense.

The invisible pivot.

Miho's thought was ice:

Let's see how far your vision reaches.

Ethan's answer was fire:

To the end of the court—and beyond it.

Eastgate Possession — Tempo Explosion

Jun Seo didn't walk the ball up this time.

He attacked the court.

Three steps crossed halfcourt

and his dribble suddenly dropped to ankle level, fingertips rolling the ball instead of bouncing it.

Not flashy.

Predatory.

Lucas set his stance.

Knees loaded.

Shoulders relaxed.

Eyes not on the ball

On Jun Seo's core line.

The gym grew louder

but in their world, everything was silent.

Miho didn't move to interfere.

He simply watched.

Show me your level.

Lucas exhaled through his nose, slow.

I see you.

Jun Seo shifted pace.

Not speed.

Timing.

A half-beat pause, then a sudden acceleration

but only in the hips, not the feet.

A bait.

Lucas didn't respond.

He waited.

Not the ball.

Not the shoulders.

Move on the heel.

Jun Seo's heel TWITCHED—

Then the world snapped.

Rhythm-Break: Cross-Into-Hop Step

The ball disappeared from vertical bounce and became horizontal glide, dragging like liquid mercury across the hardwood.

Lucas slid

Not to follow

To intersect.

The crowd gasped.

But Jun Seo wasn't done.

His body went weightless for half a second

A hop step, suspended, like gravity paused

Then

ANKLE CUT STEP

Foot lands behind Lucas's lead foot at a diagonal angle.

A move designed to force a stumble.

A move that breaks balance.

A move that ends defenders.

And Lucas—

Saw it.

Not in real time.

But before it completed.

His pupils sharpened like a camera lens snapping into perfect focus.

So that's your step.

Lucas shifted his lead foot back instead of forward, breaking the angle trap.

He didn't dodge.

He mirrored the exact same foot placement Jun Seo attempted to force on him.

The crowd ROARED—

But no one screamed louder than the players who understood the impossible:

Charlotte stood from her seat.

"HE SAW THE MICRO-STEP—IN LIVE PLAY—WHAT EVEN—"

Ayumi's hand covered her mouth, eyes wide and shining.

"He didn't copy the move.

He copied the intent behind the move."

Jun Seo landed the hop

Expecting Lucas to be off balance.

But Lucas was already there.

Their chests almost touched.

Their eyes locked.

Heat vs steel.

Jun Seo's thought trembled

…You read THAT?

Lucas's answer was steady, sun-bright

"I told you.

I'm not behind you."

Jun Seo's grin shattered wider

Not anger.

EXCITEMENT.

He slammed the dribble behind his back

but Lucas's hand was already there.

CLAP.

Palm hit leather.

The ball popped loose

A LIVE STEAL.

But Lucas didn't dive.

He didn't scramble.

He guided the ball with his fingertips

A redirect.

A steal turned pass.

Evan caught it in stride.

The gym exploded into a hurricane.

Evan accelerated

Ryan and Louie flaring wide

Brandon trailing like a silent hammer

Evan's layup

NO.

He wrapped the pass behind his back.

Right into Ethan's shooting pocket.

Ethan rose.

Feet square.

Shoulders calm.

Kobe Fadeaway — Shoulder Drop Variant

ARC.

SILENCE.

SWISH.

VORPAL 27 – EASTGATE 17

Jun Seo stopped at the free-throw line.

Breathing hard.

Not from fatigue.

From adrenaline.

His heart thundering like a war drum.

He mirrored a move I invented mid-drive.

Miho's hands slipped into his pockets.

Eyes low.

Voice soft.

"Lucas Graves…

Your evolution rate is obscene."

Lucas rolled his wrist, breathing steady.

No celebration.

No smirk.

Just quiet fire.

And I'm nowhere near my ceiling.

VORPAL 27 – EASTGATE 17

Timeout – EASTGATE

The whistle cuts through the feverish roar of the gym.

Miho's hand shoots up.

Timeout.

The crowd reacts like a wave crashing into concrete

"EASTGATE NEEDS TO FIX THIS! THEY'RE GETTING READ!"

"VORPAL'S COOKING! ETHAN'S CALLING PLAYS LIKE A VETERAN!"

Lucas and Ethan, walk to the bench calm focused while Eastgate jogs to theirs with tight jaws and restless eyes.

Miho wipes his sweat. His face is unreadable.

Ayumi in the stands leans forward, whispering, "This is the real Miho now."

Charlotte nods slowly, voice low:

"When she gets serious… the board changes."

To be continue

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