The path was closing.
Hiro could see it happening in real time. The converging defenders, the shrinking angles, and the window that existed briefly. He could see all of it.
Had it been someone else, they would have acted on it.
The logical move was to either shoot or pass, and every coaching manual ever written said the same thing: when you have a chance, take it.
However, he acted otherwise.
He didn't capitalize on the chance that presented itself. His feet slowed down, almost as if he were hesitating.
However, that wasn't the case.
In the stands, the crowd felt it before they understood it.
That collective inhale — twenty thousand people breathing in at the same time. Something that only happens when something has gone wrong.
Or when something impossible is about to go right.
Murmurs rippled through the red-and-white section.
"Why isn't he shooting?"
"He's lost it—"
"No, look—"
"What is he doing?"
