Chapter 4
"Let's start the game." Coach Anzai beamed at the team.
Haruko was still staring at Rukawa when Takenori called for their attention. "Haruko, Ayaka. Jot down notes on the team's performance. Especially, Rukawa's." Captain Akagi ordered the two girls.
The team was divided into two: Akagi's and Sakuragi's team. It would be a three on three game. A signature coaching style of Coach Anzai.
"Rukawa and Mitsui" Coach Anzai turned to them. "You'll be in Akagi's team."
"Ryota and Kogure, Sakuragi's team." Ryota scoffed in disagreement as he detested approaching the smirking Sakuragi.
"Let the game begin." Ayaka beamed, causing Ryota to flush as he heard his crush.
"I'm gonna beat you! Watch me." Sakuragi sneered at Rukawa who just raised an eyebrow.
"Idiot" He said under his breath after the retreating figure of Hanamichi.
"Let's see what you got newbie." Akagi turned and grinned at Rukawa.
A whistle was blown, after Coach Anzai tossed the ball into the air for jump ball. Akagi and Sakuragi both jumped as high as they could. This is going to be an interesting game. Haruko thought, as she paid close attention on the boys and held onto her pen and paper.
Sakuragi took over the ball then passed to Ryota.
"Stay low Ryota!" He ordered, as the 5'11" Ryota ran at full speed towards the other side of the court, dribbling the ball and holding onto it.
"Rukawa! Don't let them make a score." Akagi's voice ordered. Rukawa ran twice as Ryota's speed. Startling the whole team, Rukawa kept guard on Ryota who was now looking for a back up.
"Kogure!" Ryota called the guy wearing his glasses. Kiminobu instantly turned. However, Mitsui kept his guard on him making it hard to get the ball without Mitsui stealing it. Man, he really is Mitsui after all. Kogure thought.
"Here!!! Give it to me!" Sakuragi was running after escaping Takenori's guard.
Ryota made a move to pass the ball to Sakuragi. He tossed the ball, but to his shock, Rukawa managed to maneuver himself in a way that he was guarding both Sakuragi and the ball. He jumped, and then, Voila! The ball was already in the newbie's hands.
"What the!?" Sakuragi turned to Ryota whose jaw was dropped in shock.
"He's got skills, I must admit." Kogure tapped the fuming Sakuragi's shoulders.
Rukawa then ran towards the opponent's ring and angled himself to make a lay up. Sakuragi ran in full speed in the attempt of blocking the shot. He braced himself in front of Rukawa, thinking that he will shoot the ball. To his and everyone's surprise, Rukawa pivoted in front of him in a blink of an eye and made a jump shot.
Everyone had their mouths hanged open for a minute, as they stared at Rukawa's original move in disbelief.
"He manipulated Sakuragi's move!" Ayaka screamed in bewilderment.
Akagi requested for a time out as the two teams sat on opposite benches. Sakuragi's team was still in the state of shock after Rukawa's obvious domination over them.
"The element of surprise hit hard on you. Right Hanamichi?" Ryota teased.
"Shut up curly boy!" Hanamichi yelled. "I thought about that move too." He fumed. Kogure and Ryota just shook their heads.
"That guy has the moves. He's almost as professional as Sendoh. You see they way he pivoted in front of Hanamichi? A little bit of training, and he is one of the candidates for the National team." Kogure said, analyzing Rukawa's performance.
"That is so subjective Kogure!" Hanamichi yelled, causing heads to turn in his direction. "We've been practicing so hard for too long! And yet! Yet you think that guy is a candidate for the national team! That is so unfair!!" He pressed on.
"Say what you want Hanamichi. Kogure's just stating the facts you know!" Ryota defended.
"Stop arguing over there! Let's get back to the ball game." Akagi commanded.
With two points on the lead made by Rukawa, Akagi's team dominated the 1st half of the game. Everyone inside the gym watch the game in shock with how the game is going. Both teams try to manipulate each other. Aside from that, everyone was also surpised with Rukawa's performance considering that he's one of the newest addition to the team. Coach Anzai scrutinized the game, thinking of ways to improve everyone especially Rukawa. With this kind of players on the team, for sure, they will stand a chance in the incoming Championship game.
Back to the ball game, Akagi managed to get the rebound from Sakuragi's missed jump shot. He passed the ball to Mitsui's waiting hands for fast break. Mitsui faked a jump shot startling his guard Kogure. He passed the ball to Rukawa missing an inch from Ryota's hands. Rukawa now took over the ball and made an easy lay up.
4 points made by Kaede Rukawa alone. His speed is only seconds slower to Ryota Miyagi's. Good at fake attempts to shoot. Good guard and made profound records with jump shots. He's totally gorgeous. What the hell did I just write?! Haruko's face twisted as she erased the last sentence on her statistic's notes. I'm hooked with this guy! Darn!
The 3rd quarter ended with the score of 10 to 6 in favor of Akagi's team. 8 out the 10 are made by Rukawa alone. This fact amazed the whole Shohoku team.
"Hanamichi! Do you have problems with your eyesight!? Seems like Kogure's vision is better than yours! You passed the ball to MITSUI! For crying out loud!!! He's our opponent!!!!! We're fighting against them! YOU IDIOT!" Ryota yelled, remembering Hanamichi's lame excuse for forgetting that they were against each other.
"Stop that, you two. Enough with the bickering. Let's try to catch up." Kogure's voice was hard. Perhaps he was taking this seriously already.
The 4th quarter started, and Sakuragi's team got the advantage of getting the ball on their side due to one of Mitsui's errors. However, Rukawa seemed to be like a bullet when he stole the ball from Kogure. He passed it to Takenori's waiting hands for a slam dunk. The dunk Akagi made gave them another 2 point lead.
Rukawa was now guarded by Ryota, on of the best point guards in the entire district of Kanagawa. Rukawa had the advantage of taking the ball in his possession.
"There is no one way to escape from that guard by Ryota. Unless Rukawa would…" Kogure analyzed Ryota's move, it was the very same move he had used when they were against Ryonan. That was the specialty guard of Ryota Miyagi. Nobody has ever escaped without him stealing the ball.
Everyone was dumbfounded when…
Rukawa slid to the right, but raised the ball in his left. In that very moment, he was like a bullet that switches from right to left, and then stepped backward. In a split second, Rukawa was running past Ryota whose eyes were wide with shock. He knew fully well that no one has ever escaped from that guard of his. Not until Kaede Rukawa proved him wrong.
"He…." Akagi watch with eyes wide open.
"That's…" Mitsui blabbed
"He actually 'change phased'." Kogure ended the two's unfinished sentence. "A special technique that is so hard to master. It requires a lot of speed and agility to perform that scheme. Even the NBA players seldom use that move in games. You will look like you're about to slide in one direction. Obviously, the guard would assume you'd take the left or the right. But you'd go otherwise, you'll never go on the left or right, but you'll switch foot and take a step backwards."
"That's the coolest move I had ever seen in my entire basketball life!" Mitsui said, a wide smile flashing across his face as he tapped Rukawa's shoulder.
Sakuragi "hmpt" and turned. "Show off!" he murmurmed.
Finally, the clock zeroed. The verdict: Akagi's team won with a score of 20 to 9. Everyone stared at Rukawa with astonishment and disbelief. Everyone wanted to get top know him better and wanted to ask for tips. Even the girls, mostly cheerleaders were already screaming out to him.
"WE LOVE YOU RUKAWA!!!" They were screaming their hearts out. Another set of girls in need for hospitalization due to Rukawa syndrome.
"ARGHHH!!!" Sakuragi threw his towel on the floor then went to the washroom. Apparently, he was annoyed by Rukawa's instant popularity.
"EGG HEAD!" Ryota said after him.
After the game, Haruko summed up all the courage she could get after almost an hour of staring intently on the almost perfect features of Rukawa. She went to their team, pretending to approach and congratulate her brother.
Good thing he's teamed with oniichan. Haruko grinned to herself.
"Hey guys, Congratulations." Haruko smiled to each of them giving compliments. She tried to look composed, but she failed.
"Oniichan, you jump higher this time." She told her brother.
"You're better in jump shots today Mitsui sempai." She turned to Mitsui.
When it was Rukawa's turn for her assessment, she couldn't find her voice. She was stuttering to herself. Making Akagi look at her with a: what's-wrong-with-you look.
"Uhm, Rukawa… Eh…" She stuttered as she turned tomato red when the guy looked up at her, meeting her gaze.
"???" was all Rukawa said in response.
Come on Haruko, talk! You can do this! Gosh I can't find my mouth! "You… well… Er…"
Just before she could say anything, Sakuragi joined them and blurted out: "Yow Haruko. How well did I do?"
"Oh, Uhmm…"Really Sakuragi! When the timing is right, you bust out like a wildfire! GRR!!! Haruko thought before sighing, then said "Hanamichi, You jump better than Captain Akagi. But you suck in eye coordination. If you were on the championship game, the team could expect that you would give the ball to the opponent."Haruko said, a small smile on her lips forming. The whole team laughed. Haruko could swear she heard someone say "Idiot" under his breath.
Sakuragi turned tomato red again; his face was buried altogether with his hair. Then Haruko went on, "Ryota, you happen to be decelerating. Rukawa almost overtook you before." She was surprised at how Rukawa's name brought electricity on her body. "But you are always as good in being a point guard." She added, and then continued: "Kogure sempai, you are good in assists and steals. You did less jump shots today. In fact, your team relied on semi dunks and lay ups only."
Rukawa on the other hand gave Haruko a questioning look when she turned away. What about me? How did I do? Ugh, GIRLS! Rukawa thought.
"Thank you Haruko." Coach Anzai said, as he smiled at her and she bowed in return. "Rukawa, it seems like I've forgotten to introduce you to one of Shohoku's biggest fan." Coach Anzai turned to pull Haruko slightly and placed his hands on her shoulders. "This is Haruko Akagi., younger sister of your team captain. She's here often to assist Ayaka in taking down notes on the team performance." Coach Anzai added.
"Hi" Rukawa said, his eyes showed no interest now.
"Pleased to meet you." Haruko said under her breath. Instantly, she turned tomato red. Sakuragi noticed this and threw a killer stare at Rukawa.
Haruko whose face was now hot and red excused herself from the practice. She ran towards the drinking fountain to drink. Gosh! That guy sends electricity in my system. I could turn on a light bulb already. Geez! The look on his eyes, the sound of the masculine voice-- I can't resist! This guy will drive me insane in no time. Haruko breathed deeply.
"Hey." Somebody said from behind her. Upon hearing the voice, Haruko was immediately stunned. She was like frozen in place. She slowly turned, and confirmed that the owner of the voice was the guy who never left her mind.
"…" was all she could say. Fat drops of cold sweat are trickling down from her forehead.
"You forgot." Rukawa said as he gave her a scrutinizing look.
"What? No I didn't" She thought about the night he had saved her. "No I didn't forget about you." She said.
"Yes you did. How did I do? My statistics?" This girl, Is she sick or what? Rukawa was impatient now.
"Oh. That… Uhm" Oh no, stutters arising. No! Haruko panicked in between her disappointment.
"What?" Rukawa is growing tired of their word per word conversation.
"You, uhm.. You… good, all in all. Perimeter shots, assists… everything." Haruko stuttered wondering if Rukawa understood a word.
He didn't even acknowledge me as the damsel in distress. He mustn't remember me from the other night. She thought sadly.
"Thanks." Rukawa said. He walked towards her which caused her heart to throb out of her chest.
I could light up the whole town now!! Oh dear did you remember me in the park? Did you know I dreamt about you? Are you going to kiss me? Haruko was screaming in her mind.
"Excuse me…" Rukawa said glumly.
"Yes??" Haruko smiled.
Rukawa sighed and said, "Do you mind stepping aside? I want to drink."
"Oh!" Haruko said, too consumed by her thoughts that she didn't realize she never moved an inch away from the drinking fountain. "Sorry" She said as she turned to walk away. Too upset to say anything more.
She was the girl isn't she? Rukawa thought, as he looked at Haruko walking away. I'm glad you're okay now, Haruko Akagi.
Rukawa went back to Shohoku high's locker room to get his sports bag and to change into his daily uniform. He was the only one left in the locker room.
It feels nice to be here alone. I can think straight. The girl, Takenori's younger sister, she was the girl I saved wasn't she? Did she ever recognize me? Did she even glance at me? Damn it! Why do I even bother to care? She's just a girl. Rukawa! snap out of it. Your goal is to win and be a famous basketball player. It is what you had in mind before you left the states. You're not here to like anyone anyways. You're here to beat some attitude to that Akira Sendoh. Don't think about anything else besides that!
Rukawa was arguing in his thoughts until he went out of the school's vicinity to go home.
A/N: Sorry for the late updates, I was into so much at the moment. I'm kind of rushing everything. hehe. Well hope you find some sense into the latest chapter. Thanks for the reviews. I would appreciate more feedbacks from you guys. Thanks so much! muah!