A/N: Hello! I've added material to the middle of the story. The new material begins with the line "Kogure has not spoken" and ends with "three point line," and consists of the third and fourth sections (each section is divided by the little stars ). But really, it's not a very long story, so it's not going to kill you to reread the two hundred or so words of old stuff.
Hope this improves the story somewhat. Thanks to Hisashi Loves Yelen for her suggestions!
Kogure is the best three-point shooter on the team.
There it is, the fact of it, staring at him in Ayako's notes. The numbers themselves are hardly spectacular - one out of two shots in the game against Miurudai, one out of three against Yoshimoto, zero out of two (here he winces) against Ryonan , two out of three (here he is surprised and pleased) against Fujimura - in fact, the numbers are pretty average. But on a team like Shohoku, a team where he, Mr. Average himself, has just become vice-captain, the numbers are downright miraculous.
Kogure should not be the best three-point shooter on the team. He knows that his shooting form is decent, but he also knows what perfect form looks like. He knows that he misses seeing the grace of it, the sheer joy that can invade a body as it does what it was made to do, as it bends, straightens, lifts from the ground ever-so-slightly, releases.
He means Mitsui's body, of course.
Mitsui was the best three-point shooter on the team for one day, or half a day if you want to be picky. But Mitsui has not shown up for practice for three weeks now.
Kogure knows that a word from Anzai-sensei will bring Mitsui back. He also knows why Anzai-sensei says nothing, because he asks him.
Anzai-sensai says, "I won't force anyone to play if they don't want to."
Kogure asks if Anzai-sensei can make an exception. This is the national middle school MVP there are talking about here, after all.
Anzai-sensei is gentle. "I don't treat star players differently from anyone else. Mitsui will come back on his own when he is ready."
It is the only time Kogure has known Anzai-sensei to be wrong.
Kogure knows Mitsui. He knows that he worships Anzei-sensei, but he also knows that he is proud. He knows he has no close friends, only those hanger-ons from Takeishi who abandon him and the basketball team as soon as it becomes clear that Mitsui is not going anywhere near the MVP award this year. Kogure knows that Mitsui knows this, deep down, but cannot help but pander to these so-called friends.
Kogure wonders if he is a so-called friend.
The first time Kogure phones Misui's apartment he is answered by an electronic voice on the answering machine that he does not recognize. Mitsui's father, he supposes. Kogure leaves a message.
The second time Kogure phones Mitsui's apartment he is answered by a woman's voice he does not recognize. Mitsui's mother, he learns. Kogure asks for Mitsui and she says just a minute; in just a minute she comes back and says her son is not at home, would you like to leave a message? Kogure knows Mitsui is home, he hears his muffled voice in the background, so Kogure does not bother leaving a message that he knows will not be answered.
The third time Kogure phones Mitsui's apartment he is answered by a voice he recognizes. The voice has nothing to say to him.
Kogure has not spoken to Mitsui for almost a year now.
Sometimes, Kogure catches glimpses of Mitsui around the school grounds. His hair is long and the lines of his face have hardened so that he looks almost entirely unlike the boy Kogure once knew. Mitsui surrounds himself with others like him and never looks in Kogure's direction.
At school, no one ever speaks of Mitsui the MVP anymore. Now it is all whispers of fights and gangs and worse things.
In the gym, among the basketball players, Mitsui's name is, by unspoken agreement, never mentioned at all.
Kogure knows that Mitsui is still there in the back of their minds, but most of the time he is able to forget. Which is why it comes as a shock when they hear about what happened to Miyagi.
Anzai-sensei is grave. He tells them about Miyagi's injuries. He tells them that the team has been suspended from the IH.
Akagi asks if the school can make an exception. This is Miyagi they are talking about, here, after all.
Anzai-sensei is weary. "We don't treat star players differently from anyone else."
Kogure and Akagi decide to go visit their star player at the hospital. The nurses urge them to talk to Miyagi, keep him awake, because he has a concussion. Miyagi is repentant. He thinks Mitsui and his gang went after him because of his attitude. Kogure and Akagi look at each other and say nothing.
Kogure knows that this conspiracy of silence is only hurting the team. Before he leaves the hospital he asks the receptionist for the room number of Mitsui Hisashi.
It is the first time in almost a year that Kogure has spoken that name.
The receptionist says, just a minute, let me check; in just a minute she raises her head and says, there is no Mitsui Hisashi staying at the hospital.
Kogure, startled, asks if she is sure. She says, yes, I am sure. Kogure knows now that he has made a mistake, so he thanks the receptionist and leaves.
Basketball practice always ends early now. Akagi is always arguing with the captain about it. We'll never be national champions if we don't practice, Akagi insists.
The captain tells Akagi to stop dreaming such impossible dreams.
Kogure knows that those dreams are impossible right now. He also knows that Shohoku is not the team that it should be, that there is so much going to waste here.
So Akagi and Kogure often stay behind and practice into the night. Kogure knows that he is getting stronger, his motions more fluid, his mind more confident. And as his confidence grows he finds himself, more and more, putting his body behind the three point line, to bend, straighten, lift from the ground ever-so-slightly, release.
His body was not made for this, but it will do
Kogure is the best three-point shooter on the team. He knows that he will probably stay that way until he graduates.
And he knows that it really is a shame.
Author's notes:
Obviously, Kogure doesn't yet know that Rukawa is going to join the team and kick his ass at three-point shooting next year.
One of the reasons I wrote this piece was to fill up some of the plot holes in Mitsui's backstory. Because really, shouldn't Anzai-sensei have been able to convince Mitsui to come back to the team fairly easily?
The other reason I wrote this story is because I luuuurrve Mitsui. I really do think Inoue did a great job of fleshing out his character (considering that this manga isn't exactly bursting with character development) in subtle ways. Like in the flashback when Mitsui gets annoyed at being called MVP all the time. "I have a name, you know!" And the way that Mitsui revives himself in the Shoyo game by remembering how strong he can be, rather than remembering that he beat Hasegawa in Middle School. With Mitsui it's his own sense of self that he has lost, and he wins because he focuses on himself rather than on his opponent (unlike poor Hasegawa).
Speaking of Hasegawa, I might write a story on that guy. It'll still be Mitsui-centric though. Meh, I like writing about Mitsui from other characters' perspectives.