DISCLAIMER : Following the word itself "fanfiction", I do not own anything in this fiction and credits belong to the rightful creators of the manga: Inoue Takehiko, the publisher, the broadcasting company of the anime and etc.
"EEEEEEEEEH!"
"T-that?" Naomi stammered by astonishment. "THAT GUY?"
"Yeah! His full name is Sawakita, Eiji... although I usually call him Eiji-kun haha. He is 17 and I repeat, just like you he is a National MVP / Super Rookie last year! Not even college folks have beaten him when it comes to One on One! He's EXTREMELY GREAT!"
"Sa- Sawa-kita?... Sa- Sannoh?" Naomi uttered inadvertently still perplexed, being reminded of something...
"Captain, we just apologized to Sawakita-san, we accidentally hit him with the ball in his face..."
"Sawakita-san? You mean, that ball-headed goof over there...?" Naomi contemptuously raising a brow at Sawakita who stood outside the court still looking at them blankly.
"Yeah!" One of the girls answered enthusiastically. "He is from Sannoh, and he was an MVP..."
"Big deal..." She interrupted before the girl could finish her word. "We had no time to moon over a fool labelled MVP who cant even dodge a ball with his hands."
"Why? What's the matter?" Mika asked confused with Naomi's reactions...
"N- NOTHING!" She reacted immediately without thinking. "Just... kinda... reminded me of something..."
"What the fuck! So he was that goofball we accidentally bumped into yesterday?! Unbelievable..." Naomi thought to herself as she continued eyeing Sawakita from head to foot, paying attention to his every move and familiarizing his features as well...
"Not bad at all..." She grinned.
"Dammit! Only 10 minutes left..." Fujima muttered, he looked back at Hanagata, who was actually gesturing him to move along and trust the whole team.
[Shoyo - 40 Sannoh Kogyo - 60]
"Amazingly, they made it into a 20 point difference within just a short period of time..."
And we're all dead exhausted...
We are all trying our best to score... but looks like they can do it 100 times better...
So this is what they call Japan's #1...
Why am I feeling all this? Why of all times to lose confidence, just now?!
I was never like this...
Can we make it?"
"FUJIMA!" Nagano yelled the moment he passed the ball to Fujima, jolting him away from his thoughts when all of the sudden...
SLAAAAAPPPP!
"Nice Intersect, Fukatsu!" Minoru blurted out as he made his way to score once more succesfully.
SHOOT!
2ND half : 9:54 left.
[Shoyo - 40 Sannoh Kogyo - 62]
"Donmai, Captain..." Hasegawa pat Fujima's shoulder.
"IKE IKE SHOYO, OSE OSE SHOYO!"
The cheers for Shoyo still loud and even getting louder despite the increasing lead and the decreasing chance of winning. Something Fujima cannot hear no more.
"Not good... Im the Captain... I must do something!"
BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!
The student-referee called out.
"CHARGE TIMEOUT - SHOYO!"
"I'm sorry..." Fujima uttered in a low remorseful yet strict monotone.
"W-what?" His teammates confused and worried at the same time reacted upon, as they all stood surrounding Fujima who was sitting on the bench.
"Forgive me... I was too preoccupied and stunned..." He continued. "I'm not usually like this... and if I continue being like this, I would surely drag the team down."
"Fujima..." With a tone of slight anxiety Hanagata uttered. "Don't you trust us?"
"I do. It's not you guys." Fujima responded... "It's just me..."
"Why of all times, NOW?"
"I know... I was thinking too much about winning, and paying back to Shohoku that I forgot I needed to get a hold of myself and the whole team before being able to do so..." Fujima continued.
"Listen up..."
"Fujima is getting too tensed. He was never like this..." Miyagi noticed. "I can't blame him though..."
"Looks like he feels intimidated..." Haruko stated worriedly.
"No matter how full of confidence that guy is, of course at some extent, facing Sannoh would get him to that point..." Akagi interposed. "I know... I've been through that..."
"Maybe because of his beard... he needs to shave it up..." Hanamichi rubbing his chin retorted. "He really does... (nods nods)"
"(sigh) Why can't you just leave his beard alone and mind your own fucking business?" Miyagi told Hanamichi.
"Maybe he wanted to grow his own beard too, huh?" Mitsui addressing to Hanamichi sardonically.
"MIT-CHIII!?"
"Yeah, and dye it red too..." Miyagi added further.
"RYO-CHIIIN!" Hanamichi wailed loudly. "GRRRRRRRR, OI! HOKETSU KUUUUUN!" Hanamichi addressing to Fujima yelled louder impatiently. "Are you just gonna stand there and watch till Sannoh beats the crap out of you over! FUCK IT! DO SOMETHING!"
"Sa-Sakuragi..."
The rest of the Shoyo members looked up at the angry red-head showing his quirky way of support for them.
"So what if they're Sannoh! From AA-rank they're now demoted to just A-rank! You guys are an A-rank team too! YOU'RE JUST AT THE SAME LEVEL NOW SO NO REASON TO SULK THE HELL OUT AND ACT LIKE LOSER DOGS IN HERE! Prove yourselves worthy of a payback match to us! GODDAMM-"
KABLAAAAAAAAMMMM!
"SHUT THE FUCK UP! Stupid monkey!" Akagi, once again hitting Hanamichi on the head growing it another lump...
"G-goooriiii..." Hanamichi, hunching in pain, mussing the lump in his head.
"And why the hell do you think we're trying to win this over just to be proven worthy of a rematch with you guys?" Hanagata retorted sardonically with a smirk. "You're just another A-rank team just like us after all... Shame on you talking so big like that..."
"You'll see, Sakuragi... Beating Sannoh is enough proof we have beaten you. No need for a rematch..." Fujima finally stood up, now with a determined gleam on his eyes.
"Heard that?" Doumoto-sensei called them out. "Just reminding you guys that you are now JUST an A-rank team..."
The rest of the Sannoh members, eyes down the floor in guilt and contempt.
"Why are we here again?"
"To bring ourselves back to where we should be... yo..." Fukatsu now flaming with determination spoke in his monotonous voice.
"Good!"
BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!
The sound of the whistle as a signal that the break is over and it's time to get back on the court...
Once again, the sound of the cheers, the screeching of the shoes against the floor and most of all the sound of the bouncing ball echoed around the gym.
Thanks to Hanamichi, boosting their morale drastically, they are all ready to go face to face with Sannoh, gaining back the points they lost to them.
THUD!
The ball bounced towards Hasegawa... him catching it, then jumping out of the line, going for a three pointer.
"TOO HASTY!" Minoru blurted out, trying to stop him in which unfortunately it still went through...
SLAAAAMMM!
The ball bounced on the ring, failing to put it in...
"REBOUND!"
The giants Nobe, Masashi, Takano and Nagano sprung up with all their might, competing on who gets to the ball first just when...
"This is ours!" Hanagata from behind jumped up tapping the ball forward, bouncing it to the ring once again...
and eventually falling it in...
SHOOT!
"WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOO!"
2nd HALF : 9:00 left
[Shoyo - 42 Sannoh Kogyo - 62]
Fujima, locked his eyes on Fukatsu, with full confidence...
"I told you... This is our comeback..."
END OF CHAPTER 10