Rika tried to ignore the glower she was receiving from Rukawa; pretending not to notice; pretending to be more intent on the players than anything else...pretending, yet utterly failing as she scowled at nothing that was in front of her and suddenly straightening her face when she realized what she was doing. She tried to be friendly, but he wanted to be annoying; if that's the case, she would have to ask him then, but not as low as Rukawa's level of hard-rock emotions.

Soon, the freshmen were finished and they started their mock-battle on the court. She sat down next to Anzai and asked him if Rukawa really was irksome. "I mean," she said continuing, "How could anyone else stand him, much less his 'brigade.'"

"He's not really like that." Anzai replied choosing his words properly. "You just...don't know him well yet."

She shrugged and watched the game once again. One of the freshmen was very good, his moves weren't haphazard and he is swift to think. If she remembered correctly, his name was Ishijiro, Hizo. That was someone that the team needed. On the other side, however, there was a towering guy that seemed to be all over the player she set her eyes on - Kimori, Eiji. To the old members, he seemed to be like Akagi; to her, he was huge, just like Patrick Ewing.

With that thought, she remembered America, and then trailed her mates in basketball, then...her and Rukawa's first meeting. Her eyes glowered again at nothing, then, she returned her smile once more. He was one of the few who really got to her.

Rukawa would laugh if he could, rather, would. He knew perfectly well that Rika was frowning because of him. That wasn't the reason he was amused, though, the way her expression keeps on changing, he could pass for Gollum in the Two Towers Movie. The bruise he saw on her once, though, immediately wiped all his amusement away. Was she a troublemaker? That could may as well be since she seemed a tomboy when he first saw her.

As he continued to stare at her, he noticed that she had an unusual pair of eyes - blood red in color, but, unless his eyes deceived him in a manner he cannot understand, they turn to burnished silver when she was mad. He shook his head. He wasn't delusional. He was perfectly sane...and determined.

He glanced at the game once more and saw, as much as he hated to admit it, great talent in both Hizo and Eiji. They could very well replace Akagi and Mitsui. And speak of the devils, most of the old Shohoku players, diverted their attention from the game when both of them arrived obviously having their free time and bored as hell else they wouldn't even think of visiting.

"Michy! Gori!" Sauichiro called out to them. "Nice of you to visit."

The two of them nodded and proceeded to greet Anzai who in turn acknowledged their greeting and motioned them to sit at his other side.

*** The game was finally over resulting in a tie by the two rookies who were almost as good as the two past team members who were present. The freshmen were dismissed and were told that the list of those who passed would be posted tomorrow as assessed by Ayako, Haruko, Rika and Anzai.

"Nice of you to drop by, Akagi," Anzai said turning to the former captain, "I forgot to introduce you to the new assistant coach, Canson, Rika."

"Nice to meet you," she bowed at him, "I have heard so much about you from the coach. I hope you do well in college."

"A pleasure to meet you, too." Akagi said in response, "So you are Anzai- sensei's granddaughter. I, too have heard much about you from him. Why have you decided to continue here rather than the States?"

Almost everyone murmured in shock. It wasn't told to them that she and Anzai were related in any way. Anzai laughed at the initial reaction everyone gave. Akagi clearly understood that they weren't told of the fact yet. Rika, however, sighed disappointingly. She thought that once they knew she was related to Anzai, they wouldn't trust his judgment and think that he did it just for the sake of having another member of his family there.

A mumbled protest came from one of them saying, "No wonder you're the assistant coach."

Rika took several deep breaths. She didn't have to be staying long with the players to find out who it was that said it; Hanamichi Sakuragi. The so- called "tensai." She looked down at the soccer practice outfit that she changed in, in getting to the gym.

Rika rolled her eyes, [Here we go...] she knew that their proficiency in English was not that well so she muttered in her language, [Even if you say that though, I will not - no! Never get that to me; not even if Kaede pisses me off badly.]

Rukawa's ears picked up, "I understood that, dou ahou."

She slapped her head, she completely forgot about Rukawa. All that went to the drain when Sakuragi immediately cut in. "I want to know how good you really are. Play against me one on one. I, the genius, will give you a lesson or two about what basketball is all about! Best two out of three."

Akagi glared at Sakuragi, but Anzai stopped him and nodded as Rika asked him for approval. Rika smiled at him, although vexed, she smiled as if they were going to play a game that they usually played. "I just hope I can stand up against you. You seem to be a very good player." Sakuragi glowed at that comment and Rika's smile turned into a grin, 'That ought to bloat his head and make him underestimate me.' She thought.

Akagi knew what the end result would be since Sakuragi's ego was boosted as he went on his ego trip again. And, if he heard from Anzai correctly, her skills in soccer and another thing which he doesn't know about, had earned her agility that a basketball player cannot easily match up with.

The two started on the court and Sakuragi gave the first attack to Rika who gave him an emotionless smile. She walked, dribbling toward him then suddenly dashed to the right then pivoted left then, feigning to turn right again, she dashed forward making an easy lay-up as Sakuragi was eluded. "Lucky shot." She told him before he could say the same thing.

The ball was in Sakuragi's hands now. He quickly dashed only to be blocked by her and getting by her was no easy task since she was so agile. Taking advantage of her height disadvantage, being only 5'7" in height against his height of 6'2", she timed the ball and slapped it out of its dribble, hitting his foot and going out of bounds. Sakuragi growled at the people who watched knowing that they were all laughing at him. Rika put a hand to her mouth and told him in the most apologetic voice she could muster, "Sorry, my hand slipped."

The ball was in Rika's possession again. This time, Sakuragi was on his full guard and Rika found it a bit hard to gat past him. He did his most feared defense that was exactly like the wall that Uozumi faced before. She didn't want to sweat; not here, not now. She had to go somewhere else after this. Sighing, she did one of her best moves. She dribbled the ball far right spinning in the counter-clockwise direction as she dashed to the left. Sakuragi though that she lost the ball and did nothing more but stare at the ball with a mind to get it for his own. As he decided, the ball immediately bounced back to the left, taking its cue from the spin. Rika caught it and did a shot under the basket leaving Sakuragi no time to react. "The goddess of fortune smiles upon me today." She told him making a peace sign.

The others roared with laughter at Sakuragi's failed attempts. In anger and busted ego, he screamed, "I did it because he was a girl and I didn't want her to be put to shame since she's the assistant coach."

To his surprise, Rika rode in with him, "He's right." That silenced everyone, "He told me that he'd do it before the one on one began. If it was serious, I would have sweated myself, wouldn't you agree?"

Anzai, Rukawa, Akagi, Ayako and Mitsui believed otherwise but did not object; the others nodded, however, not knowing what to believe. With the little amusement over and done with, the practice began.

***

At the end of the practice, Rika hurriedly stuffed her duffel bag with the records and said her farewells to the team but not before Akagi and Mitsui talked to her. "Canson-san, why did you let Sakuragi gat away with his bluff?" Mitsui asked puzzled.

"That?" she asked, "Being assistant coach, I have to understand the feelings of others or else I can't keep the team together. I don't want any one of them falling out of the team. I already hurt his ego, there's no need to add more."

"If you ask me, he deserves it." Mitsui interjected. "But, I guess you're right."

"Well, good luck." Akagi said and they parted.

Rika hurriedly took the bus out of their district and, without her noticing, someone followed her eager of what she was up to. Eager to find out why she was in such a hurry.

***

Sofia/3h: thank you very much for your review. Hope to hear more form you soon.

How sad. Only two reviews? Oh well, ces't la vie.