Disclaimer: I do not own SD or any of the SD characters, but I love them anyway…
Aces Come In Spades
Prologue
Rukawa dribbled the ball through his feet and jumped to shoot. The net swished as the ball went in.
"Show off!" Sakuragi muttered under his breath.
"Ahhhh! Rukawa! Rukawa!" (Rukawa Oneade Girls)
"Shut Up!" yelled Sakuragi. They ignored him, as usual, which only made Sakuragi angrier. But before he could react, a huge fist landed on his head, causing, pain (obviously).
"Idiot! Concentrate on your play!"
"Gori…"
"I said 'Concentrate'!" Akagi hollered, giving Sakuragi another hit on the head. Sakuragi only turned away, saying, "I'll show you, Rukawa!"
"Do'aho."
"What did you say, Rukawa!"
"Do'aho."
"Nani?"
"Stop it!"
"Ow, Gori…"
"How many times do I have to tell you!"
Akagi was on the verge of breaking into another loss of his temper. "Akagi, maybe that's enough for today." Kogure said, slightly pushing Akagi away from Sakuragi. "Let him do what he wants, Kogure, Sakuragi deserves it." Mitsui said.
"Micchy!"
The gym door slid open.
"Is everything alright?"
Mitsui leaped to his feet.
"Anzai-sensei."
Coach Anzai adjusted his glasses and peered in each of their faces. Akagi quickly went to his side and whispered something in his ear.
"Hmmm, I see. Thank you Akagi-kun." Coach Anzai stepped forward while Akagi stayed in his place. "It looks like you all worked hard," Anzai said, "Practice is over, you can all go home and rest."
"Arigato-gozaimasta!"
As the whole team began to walk towards the locker room to change, Anzai called, "Akagi-kun." Shohoku's captain turned back. "Hai, sensei?" Anzai scratched his chin, reluctantly and said, "I was going to announce this tomorrow, but," he paused, "I may have scheduled a practice game with Shizouka High."
"Shizouka High?"
"I haven't confirmed it yet."
"Hai, sensei."
"You can tell the others about it tomorrow."
"Hai."
Haruko almost ran towards the gym. "Hurry up!" she said breathlessly to her friends. "Why are you in such a hurry?" Matsui asked, teasingly.
Haruko stopped. "What do you mean?" she asked, starting to blush. Both of her friends grinned. "We both know you only want to see Rukawa." Fuji said in the same teasing tone. "No-o, I don't," Haruko stammered.
"Then why are you always in hurry?"
"Because I want to see them practice!"
"Why do you cheer so loudly?"
"To support them!"
"Really?"
"Yes!"
Haruko sighed heavily, "You guys are so mean." Her friends grinned at each other.
"Oi, Haruko-san!"
The girls turned.
It was Yohei, along with Sakuragi's other friends.
"Yohei-kun!"
Haruko and her friends walked towards them, who were already watching Shohoku by the gym door. They were all grinning. "What's going on?" Haruko asked. Takamiya faced her with his goofy grin in place. "You should watch this Haruko-san, Hanamichi's making us laugh again."
"Eh?"
Haruko and her friends turned just in time to see Sakuragi hit his head on the headboard in an attempt to dunk. Yohei and the others laughed loudly. Sakuragi only glared at them, yelling "Shut up, you idiots!" which made Akagi punch him in the head.
As Sakuragi's friends laughed, louder this time, Haruko shouted her encouragement.
"Good luck, Sakuragi-kun!"
Sakuragi looked up and brightened while a faint color tinted his face.
"Haruko-san!"
Haruko waved.
"Did you see my dunk, Haruko-san? It was a 'tensai' dunk!"
Behind Haruko, Sakuragi's friends laughed (again).
"Nani, Hanamichi? It didn't even go in!"
"How can you call it a 'tensai' dunk?"
"Besides, you're not a 'tensai'!"
"Shut up!"
From the far side of the room, Rukawa sighed while surveying the room.
"Do'aho."
"Listen up, everybody!"
The basketball team gathered around its captain.
"You should train harder this week. That means more footwork, more shots and more BASICS." Akagi said, looking meaningfully at Sakuragi, who just ignored him. Akagi turned back to the others, who were now asking question.
"What for, sempai?"
Akagi turned more serious (if possible). "Because…"he paused (for effect). "Next week, we'll have a practice game with Shizouka High." he finally said.
Miyagi frowned. "Again?" he said uncertainly, not really knowing what to say.
"Who?" Sakuragi asked cluelessly.
"Shizouka High, baka, the one we played against a month ago." Miyagi chastised.
"How the hell was I supposed to know that? I wasn't there!"
A vein appeared on Akagi's neck, signaling his impatience. ""Shizouka High, not Shizoka, it's different!" he yelled.
"Oh."
Miyagi scratched his head. "Who are they?"
"I never heard of them," Mitsui added. Akagi nodded. "True, they're not really well-known, but that doesn't mean we must relax!" he said.
"What are you talking about, Gori? You can always relax because you have a 'tensai' here."
BLAM!
"Ow…"