A/N: Here is Chapter 3, starring Sakuragi, featuring the (former) benchwarmers - Kuwata, Ishii, and Sasaoka. They don't really show up much in the anime/manga so their personalities are just what I think they're like. Plus they need some love, too, so bear with them in this chapter! Right now the story's a bit more centred around Sakuragi, so Rukawa fans would have to wait a bit... I'll try to update more frequently in the future!

Reviews:

mrsklemzak: You always have the best ideas! I'll try to integrate your input into future chapters. Your feedback is the best, the type that I always look out for. Thank you so much! :)

Little Ms Pumpkin: Here's a new chapter and I hope you enjoy it!

aznpikachu215: I do love the basketball in the anime/manga, since that's the central point of the story there. So it's up to us fans to imagine what they do besides basketball, haha. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy the story!

Happy holidays, everyone! :)

Chapter 3

"I don't see why this Tensai needs to go for tutoring." Sakuragi grumbled. He was walking back from basketball practice with Ishii, Kuwata and Sasaoka. The quartet were heading for Sasaoka's house for their study group, which met three nights a week. Tonight was the first time Sakuragi was joining the other three sophomores, since Miyagi had roped him into the arrangement with no way out just a while ago, the moment practice ended. Initially, Sakuragi had outright refused to even entertain the idea of tutoring, but Ayako had mentioned something about Rukawa failing his classes…

With renewed vigour, Sakuragi's competitive fire had been ignited; he'd enthusiastically agreed to Miyagi's idea, as if he was the one who'd suggested it in the first place. He, Sakuragi Hanamichi, the Tensai, was going to be a million times better than that fox! But now, he'd been relegated to hanging out with these commoners, and his spirit had dampened once again.

"Well, if you don't get good grades, the school won't let you play basketball." Ishii pointed out.

"Are you saying that this Tensai is stupid?" Sakuragi shot back sharply.

"I didn't say that!" Ishii replied quickly, remembering the redhead's temperament.

"Don't worry, Sakuragi. We'll be helping each other out with today's homework, that's what we usually do. It's not a proper tutoring session." Kuwata countered, smiling at Sakuragi. "Besides, it'll be good bonding for us sophomores."

"Hmmm." Sakuragi rubbed his chin, deep in thought. "If you put it that way…"

Kuwata sighed inwardly in relief. Ishii had decided to clam up for the rest of the journey, in fear of arousing the redhead's anger once again, and Sasaoka was one of the shy ones and barely said a word. Finally, Sasaoka announced that they had arrived after another ten minutes of walking in silence. Kuwata grinned at Sakuragi to appease him, but the center had a blank look on his face, unsure of what to expect.

"I'm home." Sasaoka called out, removing his shoes. Ishii and Kuwata, who were regulars at Sasaoka's on Wednesday nights, followed suit, leaving Sakuragi awkwardly fumbling at the back.

"Welcome back, Satoro." His mother greeted him with a smile. "Hello, Ishii-kun, Kuwata-kun." Her eyes fell onto the redheaded giant towering at the back of the group. "Satoro, who's your new friend?"

His hair is so red! Mrs Sasaoka almost voiced out her thoughts, but managed to hold onto her tongue, eyeballing Sakuragi's intense red hair.

"Mum, that's Sakuragi Hanamichi. He's on the basketball team as well, and he's joining our study group." Sasaoka explained. He turned to Sakuragi, and introduced his mother.

"Welcome, Sakuragi-kun. Come on in, everyone. Make yourselves at home." Mrs Sasaoka invited them in with another smile, then disappeared to the kitchen, but not before one last glance at Sakuragi's shockingly red hair.

"Your mother's nice, benchwarmer." Sakuragi commented, looking around the hallways, taking in the atmosphere. Sasaoka simply nodded and led his friends to the living room. "Your house is nice, too!" A thin smile adorned Sasaoka's face.

"Well, I guess we can get started." Sasaoka said, inviting his friends to sit at the coffee table. The four of them sat on cushions, and Sakuragi glanced around as the other three boys took out the day's homework. Since he was the Tensai, Sakuragi never wrote down his notes, let alone carry around a notebook! Scrambling around in his book bag, Sakuragi found a crumpled-up maths worksheet that was due yesterday. He smoothed it out onto the table, a satisfied grin creeping onto his face.

"So you want to do maths first, Sakuragi?" Kuwata had been watching the redhead's actions. Ishii and Sasaoka were already bent over their books, pen scratching on paper, immersed in that day's essay assignment.

"Do you need help with maths? Of course the Tensai can help you!" Sakuragi laughed.

Kuwata sweatdropped. "I'm here to help you, Sakuragi. I've done my assignments, anyway. But it wouldn't hurt to revise, I suppose."

"I can do this on my own, Shorty." Sakuragi snatched his crumpled worksheet off the table and started perusing it. Kuwata shrugged and turned back to his own work.

Ten seconds later, Sakuragi poked Kuwata's shoulder. "What does this mean?" He jabbed a finger at a figure on the paper. Kuwata explained it effortlessly, and once he was done, Sakuragi nodded as if he knew it in the first place. Kuwata returned to his book, as Ishii and Sasaoka were wrapped up in a discussion on the history essay they were writing.

Another poke on Kuwata's shoulder. "Can I borrow a pen?" Sakuragi asked shamelessly, his grin unwavering.

"Here you go." Kuwata handed him a pen. As Sakuragi scribbled his name on his crumpled worksheet, Sasaoka's mother popped in, bearing a tray of hot tea and biscuits.

"Thank you, auntie!" The worksheet that the redhead had been writing on was all but forgotten, as he focused his entire attention on the food. "Studying makes me hungry!" He stuffed a couple of biscuits into his mouth. Mrs Sasaoka could only smile weakly at the redhead's outrageous antics, and retreated back to the kitchen once she served the boys. As Sakuragi chowed on the snacks, Ishii didn't want to point out that it had been barely five minutes, peering at the redhead from behind his thick glasses.

Not long after that, Sakuragi lay back, his tummy full. The biscuit saucers were empty – the other three boys didn't even touch the snacks – and Sakuragi drank the remnants of his tea. Letting out a burp, he scratched his head and looked at Kuwata. "Hey, Shorty, I don't think I can study anymore."

Luckily for Sakuragi (and everyone else in the house), Kuwata was a patient boy who also knew not to aggravate the tenacious redhead. "Are you sure, Sakuragi?"

Ishii and Sasaoka glanced at each other. Captain Miyagi had entrusted them to help Sakuragi in his studies, and they were failing miserably. "Miyagi-senpai said that if you don't study, the school won't let you play basketball." Sasaoka said quietly.

Sakuragi raised an eyebrow at the timely reminder, barely remembering the reason that he was here in the first place. He knew it had something to do with basketball and grades and that stinky fox Rukawa…

"And like we said earlier, we help each other out. We're teammates, remember?" Sasaoka continued, grabbing Sakuragi's full attention. The redhead scrambled over to Sasaoka's side, bundling him into a tight hug.

"Benchwarmer, you're absolutely right! You're lucky to be teammates with the Tensai." Sakuragi held the scrawny Sasaoka, almost suffocating the poor boy with his immense power. "You want to help me defeat Rukawa, don't you?" Sakuragi released Sasaoka from his embrace and stared at him. Sasaoka let out a nervous laugh in response.

Kuwata simply smiled at the redhead's unpredictable behaviour. "We'll help you, Sakuragi."

"Yes!" Leaping up to his feet, Sakuragi pumped his fists. He returned to his seat next to Kuwata, who was ready with Sakuragi's abandoned maths worksheet. For all of forty minutes, Kuwata patiently guided Sakuragi through the maths problems, dotted by interjections from the brainy Ishii. Sakuragi stared at the completed worksheet in amazement, it was an achievement for him! He slammed the paper back onto the table, laughing his loud Tensai laugh.

"That wasn't so bad, right, Sakuragi?" Kuwata grinned at the taller boy. Sasaoka looked up from his essay and offered a smile.

"Any more worksheets, Shorty? You can call me the Homework King!" Sakuragi laughed so loud that even Mrs Sasaoka could hear him from the kitchen, making her wonder what the boys were up to.

"Well, do you have any other homework?" Kuwata asked back.

Sakuragi racked his brain, trying to remember what had happened in class that day. He'd been daydreaming about Haruko all day (in various scenes where she admired his basketball skills when he defeated that stinky fox), and generally slacking at the back of the classroom with his best friend Mito Yohei. Mr Yoshimoto may have said something about homework for his science class, but it was only a vague memory in his head. He shrugged, looking back blankly at his teammates.

"It's best to come for study sessions prepared, Sakuragi." Sasaoka advised, capping his pen, finally done with his essay. "I have some extra maths practice problems, if you want."

"Bring it on, benchwarmer!" Sakuragi said, grinning confidently, waving his pen in the air for extra dramatic measure.

Sasaoka excused himself and left the room. Ishii leaned back, stretching his limbs and looked at Sakuragi. "Take a break. Your brain needs to rest after all that hard work."

"I know, Glasses Boy!" Sakuragi leapt to his feet and began an elaborate stretching routine.

Kuwata and Ishii fell into a conversation that Sakuragi ignored, opting to pace the room instead, judging the simple household décor, once he was done with his stretching. He was looking at an old family photo when Sasaoka returned soon enough with a bundle of worksheets, which lured Sakuragi back to the study table.

Sakuragi's focus was now unbreakable. When he set his mind to achieve a goal, he was relentless, and that was what was happening now. Sakuragi Hanamichi was actually taking an interest in his studies! He was going to pass his exams, play basketball in the Regionals, leading them to victory in the Nationals and impress Haruko! And somewhere along the way, the smelly loser fox Rukawa would bow down to his Tensai-ness. He was Sakuragi Hanamichi, the Rebound King and the Homework King, all rolled into one, thanks to his Tensai-ness!

"Matsui-san, you know, Haruko-san's friend…"

At the mention of Haruko's name, Sakuragi's ears magically enlarged, picking up onto his friends' conversation. He dropped his pen and turned his attention to the three other boys. "What's this about Haruko-san?" There was a tinge of jealousy and curiosity in his voice.

"You know her friend, Matsui?" Ishii asked, a cheeky grin on his face, waggling his eyebrows.

Sakuragi pictured the other two girls who were always with Haruko, and decided that Matsui was the shy one with the short hair. "What about her?"

"Our friend Kuwata wants to be friends with her." Sasaoka teased.

Sakuragi looked over at the curly-headed Kuwata, who was now blushing profusely. "Oh."

"I don't know how to talk to her, though, she's always with the other girls." Kuwata rambled on, getting redder by the moment. Sakuragi glanced at the smaller boy with concern in his eyes. He'd had his fair share of girl troubles, after all. He'd been rejected by fifty girls in junior high, a record that was unbreakable. It seemed that Sakuragi wasn't going to repeat the feat, having eyes for only Haruko, and filled his free time with basketball, a sport he once hated but now loved.

"It's okay, Shorty. Just talk to her, it'll be fine." Sakuragi said confidently. Seeing the determined look in the redhead's eyes, Kuwata felt reassured. "You would be lucky if she doesn't like that fox." Sakuragi's thoughts drifted over to Rukawa, who had the biggest female fan base in Shohoku, probably even in the whole prefecture. Simply thinking of his rival made him disgusted, yet motivated. "Ugh! I don't want to think of that fox! I'LL BEAT HIM." He returned to the worksheets Sasaoka had brought over, scribbling on the paper with such force that it almost tore in half.

The other three boys looked at each other, before looking back at Sakuragi, who was now focused on his work. Then as if on cue, they all resumed their work, the earlier conversation forgotten.

After all, they were teammates, looking to enter the Nationals once again – their future riding on their academic performance. And like on-court, their teamwork seamlessly integrated into their study session. For once, Sakuragi returned home that night with a brain saturated with maths formulas that seeped into his dreams.

to be continued...

A/N: Pop a review below if you like (or dislike) where this is going!