Chapter 10

The rain kept on pouring and seemed to go on forever. Setsuko lay on her plush bed and stared at the sports jacket that hung on a chair. 'Sendoh' she read the jacket. Then, she grabbed a pillow over her face and screamed out loud.

"YOU'LL LOSE TO KAINAN FOR SURE!"

The next day, Shohoku had won against Takezato and it was Kainan and Ryonan's turn to play each other. Inside their locker room, Coach Takato gave his instructions to his team. Setsuko was slightly absent-minded that moment and she didn't realize the coach calling her name.

"Setsuko. Setsuko! Ishibara!" Takato yelled, gripping his fan

"S-sensei?" Setsuko rippled back into reality, zipping her bag ad hiding the jacket inside

A vein popped out of Takato's head as he clenched harder at his fan. "You… weren't… listening! I asked if you have the player chart ready!"

Jin and Nobunaga sweatdropped and tried to pull Takato back and calm him down. Setsuko stared at him for a moment before handing him the chart and excusing herself from the room. Taking her bag with her, she left the room.

"What's gotten into her?" Takato asked, looking both puzzled and crazy mad at the same time

"Ask Jin. She tells him everything" Maki teased and the rest of the team jumped on, whistling and giggling

"N-not everything" poor Jin blushed as the team teased him

Before they could continue on laughing and teasing, Takato reminded them that the opponent was Ryonan. They shouldn't be this calm and slacked up. Takato nerved up again and scolded his boys. That sure quieted them.

Meanwhile, Setsuko graced the hallway with her bag flung behind her. She had mustered up enough guts to even think about walking into Ryonan's locker room and hand Sendoh his jacket back. As she reached the door something from her guts told her to back out now. There's no turning back

"I'm only returning his jacket, that's all" she sighed to herself as she positioned her hand in front of the door to knock. Before she could do so, she heard a man's loud voice giving instructions followed by a loud roar by the players. Setsuko sweatdropped. "Maybe now's not the right-"

The door suddenly opened and Setsuko was faced by a boy, shorter than her, who blushed as he saw her. He looked so adorable as he tried to comprehend who the lady in front of him was.

"It's Sendoh-san's girlfriend!" the boy squealed

"Nani?! No! Shut up you" she proceeded with pressing her soft hand over the boy's mouth to prevent him from getting any louder. Too late, they were already in the center of attention.

Setsuko was dressed in her usual on-court attire: The shirt clad by the team's jacket and her black jogging pants. Her long hair tied neatly into pigtails. She looked appalled by the sight of the team's reaction. Humiliated again… It was awkward for Setsuko, being Kainan's manager, to be the center of gazes by the opponent before Sendoh came into the scene with his usual cheerful grin.

"My Setsuko-chan has come back for me?" he sang with the big grin as he ran towards the door

"Baka yamerou yo! I only came to return your jacket" Setsuko hissed as she shoved Sendoh's jacket to his chest

Sendoh looked at the neatly pressed Ryonan jacket and adored the sweet lemon scent. "You scented it with lemons just for me? That's so sweet"

"I didn't do that! Kocho-san did" Setsuko blushed, referring to her nanny. "Anyway, thanks" Setsuko looked away

"Hey guys! Don't be rude. Say 'hi' to my girl-"

"Shut up!" Setsuko yelled at him before he could say 'girlfriend'. "I'm not your girlfriend!"

Coach Taoka was getting pissed off at the commotion and he was showing it. Uozumi approached Sendoh, who held Setsuko's hand, and gave him the 'boss monkey glare' and he sweatdropped. Setsuko took her chance and ran away.

"Uozumi-san, you scared her" Sendoh teased. Uozumi wasn't too happy and he punched Sendoh in the head.

"baka"

Sendoh was on fire as he led Ryonan towards the basket. Many were surprised that Ryonan had taken a two-digit lead against Kainan. Setsuko gripped her knees tightly as she shivered with nervousness. Kainan caught up, then Ryonan countered again. Setsuko couldn't bear it. She felt like fainting. Right now, Kainan was taking the lead.

"Kainan fight! Kainan fight!" Setsuko screamed at the top of her lungs

Jin took hold of the ball and threw in his three-pointer, giving Kainan a wider lead of nine points. Sendoh had taken the ball this time led a fast break. Jin and Maki ran after him and guarded under the basket. As Sendoh maneuvered his way to the hoop, his elbow had accidentally collided with Jin's face. The referee blew his whistle, fouling Sendoh.

"Offensive charging foul, blue seven!"

Sendoh and his teammates couldn't believe what just happened. How could he have been so careless? Jin lay on the floor, covering his left eye. The referee called for a timeout to give some first aid on Jin's wound. Setsuko ran as fast as she could with the first aid kit on her hand. Jin was still on the floor

"Jin, are you all right?! Wake up!"

"Jin-san, wake up!"

Setsuko carefully applied first aid on Jin's injury and gently lifted his torso to a sitting position. His eyes slowly opened and his vision cleared up. The first thing he saw was Setsuko's face looking dead worried and then everyone else came to view. Before he could speak, Setsuko threw her arms around his neck and embraced him.

"Don't scare me like that again, idiot" She winced, worry overcoming her voice

"Se...Setsuko-chan?" he smiled at her, "I'm fine. It was just an accident"

He was still feeling slightly dizzy from the impact but the bleeding had stopped and he was helped up by Kiyota and Setsuko. Takato had to temporarily sub Jin as he was not fit to play. Sendoh, feeling incredibly guilty, approached them and apologized.

"Nah, it's okay Sendoh. It's not like I died or anything" Jin laughed and waved off the apology, assuring everyone that he was all right.

Sendoh walked on over to Maki, "Why was Setsuko so worried earlier?" he asked.

"It's happened once during the inter high last year. He fainted and didn't wake up until a couple of hours later" the senior replied coolly and placed a hand on Sendoh's shoulder. "Don't worry about it. He's fine now"

Jin was still dizzy so he had to lie down behind the bench and rest his head. His head was slightly elevated, resting on Setsuko's lap, as he closed his eyes. Setsuko gently pressed her hand over the bandage and brushed it.

At the second half, Jin was ready to play again and he went on feeling confident. As usual, he promised Setsuko more three-pointers. However, the real showdown was between Maki and Sendoh, as they vied for the title of 'top point guard in Kanagawa'.

In the end, only one could emerge the winner and it was Kainan. For the seventeenth year in a row, Kainan were representing Kanagawa as the number one team. Both team's players were exhausted and the crowd was amazed at the performance. What caught the attention of many was Sendoh's play as point guard as he went head-on with Maki. He had made a name for himself.

At the end of the match, Sendoh approached Jin once more and offered to shake his hand. Jin took it, smiling, and congratulated the point guard.

"Are you sure you're all right?"

"Yeah don't worry about it Sendoh. That was excellent play you put out"

Sendoh smiled, glanced over at Setsuko who was handing towels to the players, then back to Jin. "Do you have any idea how lucky you are?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"To have an angel watching over you" Sendoh smiled and walked away

how was this chappie? misleading? lame? comment and critique ^_^