It took a while to get this chapter up. Been really busy IRL recently, but I'm glad I was finally able to post this chapter. I hope you enjoy it!

Everyone who reviewed, thank you!

With Kainan, most of their players would have graduated. Maki being the biggest factor to graduate. As such, I invented a few OCs to make Kainan still be a powerhouse.

Kainan Lineup:

Nobunaga Kiyota - Short player with extreme hops. Was shown in the manga as arrogant and proud.(2nd Year)

Soichiro Jin - Sharpshooter from 3 point line which now is also consistent from mid range, also shown in the manga. Main offensive weapon for Kainan (3rd Year)

Takashi Shiro - All-round player with a wide skill-set. Able to score, defend and rebound, however is not always consistent as a shooter (2nd Year)

Iburame Kenichi - Defensive athletic player with a mid-range jumper and a decent post game (2nd Year)

Nakamura Watashi - Big player who loves to dunk the basketball. Very aggressive inside the paint, and uses his size and strength accordingly. (3rd Year)

o.0.o.0.o.0.o.0.o

Shohoku High School Verse Kainan University Affiliated High

The Shohoku gym was packed with people. Shohoku, the rising powerhouse verse Kainan University Affiliated High, the Kings of Kangawa. Both stands were packed to the brim, Shohoku on one side and Showata on the other. The noise was deafening. Reporters were already in the building, with two commentators in Tsubaki and Hinamori. Being the first game of the season, the strong showing from Shohoku High in the National Tournament last year led to a much increased interest in their basketball team.

"And here comes Kainan University Affiliated High players" shouted Tsubaki enthusiastically into his microphone.

The group of players ran out, one side of the stands cheering their heads off.

"And now, here comes Shohoku High!" shouted Tsubaki.

A great cheer rose as they ran out onto the court, followed by a slowly walking Coach Anzai, Yoko, Ayame and Haruka.

"Look Tsubaki. Sakuragi Hanamichi is in the starting line-up, must have finally come back after some rehabilitation" said Hinamori excitedly.

"I wonder how healed he is, or if there's any rust in his game. He is one of the most electrifying players in Japan at the moment, already a fan favourite. We'll see how well he goes in his first match back" said Tsubaki.

Standing and facing each other, both teams nodded their heads in respect, before moving to the starting positions.

"Starting Lineups!" shouted Tsubaki.

"Shohoku, firstly at the point guard position we have the speedy Ryota Miyagi. At shooting guard we have the sharpshooter Hisashi Mitsui. At small forward, Ace player Kaede Rukawa. At power forward we have the electrifying Sakuragi Hanamichi and finally, at center we have Satoru Kakuta" said Hinamori.

"For Kainan, at point guard we have Nobunaga Kiyota. At shooting guard we have the sniper himself, Soichiro Jin. At small forward we have Takashi Shiro. At power forward, we have Iburame Kenichi. Finally, at center we have Nakamura Watashi."

At the jump ball, Kakuta jumped against Watashi, Watashi won, tapping it to Kiyota. Kiyota raised his hand, an arrogant smirk on his face.

"Okay, take it slowly" he said, dribbling up the court.

"Screen, rotate!" shouted Mitsui to Rukawa, who swapped opponents as Shiro screened for Jin to get free.

Rukawa sprinted towards Jin making good ground. However he was too far away when Jin received the ball and could only jumped and hope that Jin missed. To his surprise, Jin dribbled past him as he flew through the air, pulling up for a midrange jumper. Jin hit the basket, and a cheer went up.

2(K) – 0 (S)

Miyagi dribbled up the ball slowly, keeping the pace nice and steady. "Okay, let's score on this basket" he shouted. Sakuragi rushed forward, screening Kiyota, allowing Miyagi to penetrate into the arc. Miyagi drew Watashi before kicking it out to Kakuta. Kakuta grabbed the ball, only to be stopped by Kenichi. Watashi moved in for the double team, but Kakuta passed it out to Rukawa at the corner 3, who passed to Mitsui at the top of the key. Mitsui didn't hesitate one bit, taking the shot and scoring.

2(K) – 3 (S)

"Good play! Defense!" shouted Miyagi as they rushed back on defense. Kenichi had the ball in the post, pushing slightly against Sakuragi to see how far he would budge. Kenichi then dribbled the ball as he pushed backwards against Sakuragi, trying to gain ground. Sakuragi held him at bay, and he kicked it out to Shiro at the three point line. Shiro jumped from the line, taking a shot. It missed. Kakuta had boxed out Watashi, taking him out of the play. However, Sakuragi grabbed the defensive rebound.

"REBOUND KING!" shouted the crowd with a cheer, as he held the ball, before handing it off to Miyagi.

"Sakuragi, alley-oop" said Miyagi quickly as he jogged up the court with Sakuragi.

Sakuragi nodded, taking his position near the free throw line. Miyagi held up four fingers, before waving them to the left. Instantly, Rukawa and Mitsui shot from their opposite places, Rukawa taking a rounded route to where Mitsui was, while Mitsui ran in a straight line towards the diagonal point of the three point line. Kakuta moved quickly, standing behind Kenichi. As soon as Kakuta was in position Sakuragi spun around and ran towards the open basket. Miyagi tossed the ball up. Everyone stopped, watching wide eyed as Sakuragi reached the ball which was above the rim by a fair margin with one hand, before throwing it down ferociously.

2(K) – 5(S)

"ALLEY-OOP!" shouted the Shohoku crowd, leaping to their feet and cheering

"AWESOME!"

"AMAZING!" Sakuragi hung from the ring for a second, landing and grinning.

"An amazing play by Sakuragi with the pass from Miyagi, and the score is now 5-2 in favour of Shohoku" commented Tsubaki

"That was breathtaking" said Tsubaki. Hinamori nodded her approval.

"Did you see how high he got? That was spectacular" said Hinamori.

On the Shohoku bench, Yoko jumped up and down excitedly.

"Hana-kun!" she shouted, who gave her a thumbs up as he jogged back to defense.

Kiyota had the ball, on an isolation play. Miyagi carefully guarded him, however he bit on the ball fake to the left slightly. That was all Kiyota needed, shooting past him to his right, dribbling hard for the basket. Kakuta stepped forward, however Kiyota evaded him with another quick crossover drive, jumping for the lay up as he was too far to dunk. He released the ball in the air, before the hand of Sakuragi slapped it away out of bounds.

"Nice defense!" shouted Kakuta, high fiving Sakuragi.

Miyagi grinned and Mitsui smirked. Kiyota swore, before moving to receive the inbounds ball. Bouncing, he faked left before moving right. Miyagi followed him, forcing Kiyota to give it up to Jin on the three point line. Jin passed it to Shiro to his right. Shiro pivoted to face the basket, before moving left and passing it to Kiyota. Kiyota took a quick jump shot, clanking off the front of the rim.

"NO!" he shouted.

Again, they jostled for position as the ball flew upwards, and Sakuragi grabbed the rebound again.

"Rebound King!" shouted the crowd.

Passing it off to Miyagi, they jogged up the court. Miyagi passed it to Rukawa, and Kakuta moved forward to screen for Rukawa's right. Sensing the screen, Shiro moved to the right, however leaving the baseline open. Rukawa drove hard to the hole, jumping and dunking it hard, as Watashi simply stood out of the way to not draw a foul.

"Rukawa!" screamed his fan group.

2(K) – 7(S)

"Rebound!" shouted the crowd.

Sakuragi fought his way inside the paint, but was too far away to contest for the rebound after Shiro's miss. Watashi grabbed the offensive rebound, bringing it down. Kakuta held up his arms to the side, unable to do much against the bigger and taller player. Watashi, known for his aggressive play pushed off the ground, determined to dunk it. His arm pulled back, before slamming it home.

4(K) – 7(S)

Mitsui fought through the screen to get to Jin, who was poised on the three point line to receive the ball. But it was too late. Jin took the shot quickly, swishing the basket. Mitsui clenched his teeth.

7(K) – 7(S)

Sakuragi had the ball in the right hand post, Kenichi watching him like a hawk. Sakuragi bounced one, twice as he pushed Kenichi back, gaining more ground. As soon he bounced a third time, he shifted his body weight to his left and turned, jumping with a lovely hook with his right hand along the baseline. It swished in, with Kenichi unable to do anything as it sailed over his head, even as he had contested the shot.

7(K) – 9(S)

"Did you see that Hinamori? Sakuragi has a post game now" said Tsubaki, surprised.

"His potential is amazing! If Shohoku makes the National Tournament, Sakuragi will really fill the shoes of former star center Akagi who graduated last year" said Hinamori.

o.0.o.0.o.0.o.0.o

Kakuta grabbed the rebound off the hook shot by Watashi, passing it to Miyagi who sprinted up the court. Miyagi swerved through traffic, crossing over Kenichi and leaving him behind. He took it aggressively to the rack, forcing his way between Jin and Kiyota and scoring with a lay-up, Kiyota clearly slapping his arm on the way up. The referee blew his whistle.

"Shooting foul, one shot" he said.

Miyagi pumped his fist, high fiving Mitsui and bumping chests with Sakuragi. On the sidelines, Ayame smiled.

"Go Miyagi" she whispered.

Yoko looked to see Ayame smiling happily at Miyagi, who had given her a thumbs up. She watched as Ayame's face showed a hint of a blush. Yoko nudged her with her shoulder gently.

"Somebody is in loveeeee" she sang.

Ayame snorted, before watching Miyagi hit the free throw.

"Nice shot Miyagi!" she shouted.

Ayame then turned to Yoko again.

"Not a word" she said, glaring.

Yoko simply smiled and turned back to the game.

7(K) – 12(S)

Kakuta switched off the pick and roll, trying to guard Kiyota. He took two steps to the left to stall him, before switching back to the center and Miyagi came to defend. Kiyota passed to Jin, who quickly passed to Shiro who was open for the mid range jumper from a screen by Kenichi. Rukawa jumped to contest the shot, but was too far away. Swish.

9(K) – 12(S)

Kakuta's pass was too wayward to Sakuragi who was streaming along the baseline. Sakuragi jumped out, grabbing with one hand. He turned his head as he flew out of bounds, seeing Rukawa open at the three point line, looking at him with his hands out ready for the ball.

Flashback

Yoko laughed at Sakuragi, as he talked about the National Tournament and Rukawa and him high fiving before turning away.

"Hana-kun, you know how I told you about respecting the game?" asked Yoko.

"Yeah, that was a long lecture" joked Sakuragi, prompting a playful slap from Yoko.

"You need to respect everyone on that court. Referees, opposition, even Rukawa. You will never get far enough if you don't pass to Rukawa. Basketball is a team sport, and if you aren't a team then you will never win the National Tournament" said Yoko.

Sakuragi simply smiled and nodded.

"Okay" was his simple reply, and they turned back to the sunset.

Yoko smiled sadly in his direction.

'So many things he doesn't understand. It's a tragedy, losing your mother so early in life' she thought.

End of Flashback

Sakuragi flung the ball straight at Rukawa. Rukawa caught it, readied himself for a moment before shooting from three. Swish.

"RUKAWA!" screamed the Shohoku crowd.

Sakuragi jogged back, Rukawa sticking out his fist as he jogged backwards. Sakuragi punched it as he jogged by.

"Good stuff...Sakuragi" said Rukawa.

"Shot Rukawa" said Sakuragi.

9(K) – 15(S)

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How was that for some basketball action? Not enough detail? Too much?

Feedback will only make this story better!

Next Chapter will continue Kainan verses Shohoku.