Title: Versatile
Summary: Sendoh was determined to bring Ryonan to inter high in his third year, but before that, he needed to make some observations ahead. Sen/?
Pairing: Sen/? (I really had no idea who I am focusing on.)
A/N: I hereby to accept your challenge, Star7! And there goes this story in one day, hope this is enough. Oh, and by this, did that mean you agree for me to make occasional one-shots?
Disclaimer: I don't own Slam Dunk! Sheesh, I'm tired of writing it!
Word count: 1452 overall for the story.
It was odd to be the captain, I had to say. And worse, I had to carry the burden to bring Ryonan to inter high championship, in which the previous captain had failed to do.
I put the tape Coach Taoka had given me inside the player before slumping myself onto the couch. I need to learn something new as a captain, he had said. In other words, more jobs...
I stared at the dim monitor half-liddedly. It was midnight already but I had to watch it now or he would scold me for good tomorrow. Damn my fishing routines!
My eyes went shut as the monitor flashed brightly in my dark room. I was tired already, and I held no interest in watching some stranger's game. The dribbling sound I heard shifted into a loud crash. Curiosity had forced my eyes open.
I was wrong, by miles.
As soon as I saw something red, I knew that this was a match deserved to be watched. Sleepiness left my body and soul as I saw the red head lying on the floor, the orange ball was thrown to someone.
That happened to be Rukawa. What the heck had happened with them?
Rukawa immediately brought the ball and faced the number four player. The camera focused on him, completely ignoring the red head on the floor. With a swift move, Rukawa put the ball inside the rim with a jump shoot.
It was official that Shohoku had taken the lead by one point.
Rukawa's shoot was greeted with utter silence. Even the recorder seemed to stand still in shock. Well, not like I didn't do the same myself.
The next second, everyone cheered for them. Every each of Shohoku's member showed their joy in each own ways. Then the camera shifted to the score board. 77-76 in Shohoku's favor, and 23 seconds left.
It's the recording of their last stage in the inter high, I finally realized. Inter high, huh... That brought back memories.
The past was the past, no use contemplating them now. I stared at the number four who was dribbling the ball across the court, followed by the fat number four and the ever-so-energetic number nine.
Why did I have the feeling that the number nine was not a stranger to me?
The number four passed the ball, much to Shohoku's number 7's surprise. Rukawa seemed to know who the person he was aiming at as he already made his way to intercept. But the number nine caught it first. A skid next and he passed Rukawa.
As expected from Sannoh, they were still in full energy despite the hard fight Shohoku brought. Shohoku had brought Ryonan to it fullest power on the previous match. There's no way the one point gap could come up so easily.
Akagi and Rukawa jumped to prevent the number nine from shooting, but none managed to block it.
With that, he had taken Sannoh's lead. The crowd cheered again. Seemed that those crowds were going with the flow, weren't they?
Even though I was just sitting here, fully aware of the final result, watching the game by my own eyes made me wish I hadn't fail back then. I would have my rematch with Eiji had we won last year.
Finally I remembered his name. Eiji Kitasawa, the one I had failed to defeat in my junior years.
I nearly jumped on my seat when I heard Sakuragi's shout. It really worked in waking everyone else up, including me and my neighbors I bet.
News said that he ended up having a back fracture as a gift from the match with Sannoh somewhere in the middle of the game. But seeing Sakuragi shouting and running like that, it was hard to believe that the news was false.
Seven seconds left. Rukawa gave a sign to his captain to pass to him. Rukawa's face at that time… no words were suitable enough to describe it. Let's just say, a face that he hadn't give to anyone before.
He headed to Eiji, and I found myself cursing silently at his bold move. He even attempted a shoot while he was guarded by two players!
How stupid of him. I had told him how his one-on-one style was just one of various form of offence? I should have beaten him on that day. Then maybe he would actually listen to me.
Two seconds left. There was no time in second attempt anymore. I was too absorbed in the match that I had forgotten the absolute outcome of the match.
I waited until the painful moment to come, the moment where Rukawa's shoot would be blocked. But it never came.
The ball was passed to his right through the small gap the Sannoh's players had made. So he did listen! Thank God! That was, until I saw who he had passed to.
Sakuragi caught it.
I couldn't believe my eyes! First it was Sakuragi who passed to Rukawa , and now it was the opposite. Just like the first practice match against Shohoku with Rukawa and Sakuragi in the team. Seriously,
did they take passing to each other as a debt that needed to be paid at once?
Sakuragi raised the ball upon his head, and jumped, releasing the ball at his peak. The last second seemed to freeze as the ball made its way to pierce the air and to the place they all but Sannoh hoped for.
*BUZZ!* the bell rang at the same time as the ball plopped itself inside the rim. I turned my gaze to the referee.
One arm rose, my heart beat was the only sound inside my room. Two fingers up, it was getting faster.
The whistle soon replaced my heartbeat, followed by the referee's hand swinging down. So that was how the game ended. No one cheered yet, all too shocked with the outcome. The only sound left was the bouncing ball.
I had expected the next scene, shouts of happiness. I didn't think that I need to watch that, do I? I grabbed the remote on the arm side and was about to hit the power button off when my thumb froze in spot.
A hi five, done by Sakuragi and Rukawa. It's almost like imagining Maki and Fujima clapped each other. A phenomenon, in other words.
The crowd cheered for them, but I didn't bother to see the next scene anymore. I turned the power off and shifted my position with my head on the arm rest and my feet on the other one.
It's funny how I realized that I put the wrong disk after I had watched the whole thing. I closed my eyes; the images were still playing in my head. The dribbling, skidding, and other voices echoed along, accompanying the self made film precisely like the original.
Now then, for my task. What did I need to improve for my last year?
Offense? No, I was even with Rukawa. And I had no intention in returning to my old 'scoring machine' self. I would be licking my own phlegm if I did.
Defense? Kitasawa's defense was good, I gave him that. But I didn't lack anything myself, did I? I dared to say that my defense was equal to Kitasawa's
I scanned the ongoing film in my head, mixed with the previous matches in where Ryonan had won and lost to Shohoku by a landslide. Ryonan surely had something lacking that Shohoku had.
The pass Sakuragi had been mad off during the practice match. The pass he did during the match. He was fine with the latter, muttering no curses like he once did during the former.
I found it!
Whether I want it or not, I had been licking my own phlegm all this long. Not because of me, but because of my whole team. They had me as the person they trusted to bring them to victory, end of sentence. I had no one like Rukawa to depend on with Uozumi's departure. Fukuda was in the list, but he couldn't hope much.
Oh well, if they wanted to lean onto me, then let them be. I should try to be the hardest wall, the one that wouldn't crumble even if there were a thousand people leaning onto it.
I couldn't be Shohoku, which was a five men team. Or Sannoh, which had more than five amazing players with a dependable ace. Ryonan was, like it or not, a one man team.
Had fortune came onto my side, then that fact would disappear soon. Had it not, then I just had to become the versatile player. Just like that. Yeah, just like that…
A/N: Sendoh is admiring everyone, isn't he? I apologized for getting out from the challenge a bit, but I found it impossible for the Genius to admire someone as much as a newbie do. Speaking of which, I actually had a hard time writing this. I have really limited knowledge in basketball, so I had no idea what to focus on. And second, I'm not much of a diary writer, thus it is absolutely hard for me to express emotions with words. Urgh! I hope that you are not disappointed, my readers!
P.S: The name Kitasawa was done by purpose. lol