Disclaimer: As usual, the characters in Slam Dunk do not belong to me and belong to their respective owner(s). Aside from the characters I create, I do not mean to infringe on any current copyrights on the series and this fan fiction is merely a means of promoting Slam Dunk and to serve as a creative outlet for my writing. Thank you.
Authors Note: I'd just like to thank all the readers and writers on FanFiction.net. Also, thanks to Inoue Takehiko for creating the wonderful series and I hope he knows we are all still expecting that sequel someday.
Reviews: Xiaoj- Glad to see you enjoy it. I'll try my best!
Yun Fei- Thanks for reviewing, once again.
As for the parts that seem familiar, I'm actually glad you caught that. I'm impressed with your knowledge of the series, and it makes me very happy to see dedicated Slam Dunk fans still around.
There are two parts to speak of that I based off the manga. The first is the most obvious, probably: it's the hard foul that Takuma does on Hiroshi. Mitsui's intervention is exactly what he does when Kainan's Maki smacks Sakuragi down in Volume 14, and I included it because I felt that really shows that despite Mitsui's aloof personality, he still genuinely cares about his teammates and won't stand for cheap shots. I felt it appropriate to include, because it shows Mitsui slowly caring about his teammates more— especially after the scene where Mitsui steadily becomes closer with Sakuragi instead of just dealing with him in a business-like manner. The only difference is that Sakuragi becomes directly involved this time around instead of being the victim, but Hiroshi halts his anger when he gets back up.
The second might be a bit harder to pinpoint, and I'm actually not sure what you saw that was familiar… however, I'm guessing it's the dialogue that the referee has with Miyagi and Sendoh, which mirrored the discussion of Akagi and Toyotama's captain when the game started to get physical. That scene was almost coincidental in my mind, because I just felt what the referee said before should apply there also in taking captains aside to calm down their teams.
Again, I'm impressed with your ability to remember the details of Slam Dunk, and giving me an opportunity to rant about why I based them off the manga. Thanks for your comments, and I'll look forward to more in the future!
Laziness Incarnate- Hey there. It's been a while.
Thanks for your compliment about me updating rapidly, although it hasn't really been a problem for me.
As for the nickname thing… yeah, Sakuragi just seems to have a problem of calling people he doesn't know well/doesn't like by their actual names, and it's always hilarious to see him make up names for people. Glad to see both you and Yun Fei enjoying the continuation of Sakuragi's tradition.
Thanks for your review!
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Chapter 13- Sakuragi, the Tensai"Whew, that was a close call." The Sakuragi Army breathed a sigh of relief, frightened to see Sakuragi get thrown out a game. If worse came to worse, the gundan knew they would intervene to prevent the ejection of their friend.
Haruko, of course, was completely oblivious to Sakuragi's
rage. "Oh? What's a relief?"
Youhei smiled faintly at her. "No, it's nothing." How can that girl not
notice…?
On the other hand, Ryonan's bench was a flurry of activity.
"Damnit!" Taoka was giving the team a piece of his mind. "You let them go off on a 12-0 run in the last, what was it, Hikoichi?"
"Um, a little over seven minutes?"
"Right!" Taoka's eyes were blazing. "And the turnovers! Quit
turning the ball over! Take care of that damn ball! Don't be so careless! Make
sure that #5 doesn't lock us down; he's a rookie who hasn't even shot the ball
yet!"
The rest of the team was silent, taking the abuse that Taoka was offering.
Taoka finally lowered his voice a bit. "Listen, we can't
lose. All of our training should have easily been able to take Shohoku down.
You guys were able to do that in the first few minutes, and you can do it
again."
Sendoh listened, but shook his head slightly upon these words. Sorry,
sensei, but you're wrong… the team we're facing now is completely different
from the team that started!
"Okay!" Taoka patted Sendoh and Fukuda on the shoulder. "You two! I want you two to direct the offense. Sendoh and Fukuda will be the attack points. Take down those two second years!"
The team nodded and placed their hands together. "Let's go!"
Shohoku's bench was completely different from Ryonan's: it was incredibly
quiet. All the players sat around, wiping sweat off their faces. Anzai-sensei hadn't
said a single word.
The referee blew his whistle. "Time out is over."
Ayako poked Anzai. "Um, Sensei, now might be the time to say some words…"
Anzai looked at the team. "Don't change strategies. Direct the offense through
Sakuragi. You guys are playing very well now." He looked at Hiroshi, who had a
small patch on the side of his head. "Keep up the good work, everyone."
Miyagi threw his towel off. "All right, Shohoku…"
The team began to take the floor again. "…show your might!"
Hiroshi walked up to take his free throw. He bounced the ball three times, then
spun the ball in left palm and shot. The ball swished neatly through the net.
17-13.
Mitsui patted Hiroshi's back. "Nice job."
Hiroshi smiled and took the ball again. He went through the same routine and
shot again, but this time it came up a bit short.
"Rebound!" All the players jumped for the ball, and it winded up in the hands of Takuma.
"Good!" Koshino began racing downcourt. Takuma heaved a pass to Koshino, who drove to the basket.
"It's a two on one break!" the crowd watched the game excitedly. The lone Shohoku captain, Miyagi, was guarding Koshino and Sendoh as they sprinted downcourt.
Koshino bounced the ball to Sendoh, and Miyagi jumped to try and steal the ball. However, Sendoh caught the ball and dunked the ball right over Miyagi.
"Whoa!" the crowd gasped in surprise. "Sendoh dunked over
that shorty!"
Miyagi's eyes blazed. Shorty…?
Rukawa inbounded the ball to Miyagi. Mitsui looked over at the seething Miyagi.
"Hey, calm down."
Miyagi took a deep breath. Mitsui is right; I have to lead the team…
"I'm calm." Miyagi breathed deeply again, and exhaled. "I'm
calm enough to defeat Ryonan."
Miyagi passed the ball back into Sakuragi. Sakuragi dribbled the ball once, and
turned. "Watch this! Tensai jump shot!"
Miyagi slapped his forehead. Not again…
The ball air-balled and came short of the rim. However, this time Hiroshi was there to steal the rebound and he quickly passed the ball right back to Sakuragi. Sakuragi saw he was wide open, and he shot the ball from under the basket, bouncing it off the backboard. The ball went through the net.
"All right! I'm a genius!" Sakuragi cheered, lifting his hand triumphantly. Miyagi grinned in relief.
"Good work Sakuragi."
Sakuragi laughed. "Haha, isn't it, Ryo-chin?" The scores read 19-15.
Sendoh dribbled downcourt and passed the ball to Fukuda. Fukuda, however, was outside his comfort zone and was farther from the basket than he'd like. Fukuda quickly shot over Sakuragi anyway.
"Don't rush it!" Sendoh called, albeit a bit too late. The ball clanged off the front of the rim, and Sakuragi ripped down the rebound.
"That redhead jumps so high!" the crowd was becoming very excited, now that the game was close. Sakuragi handed the ball off to Miyagi, and went back downcourt.
Miyagi dribbled carefully, and once again fed Sakuragi in the post. Sakuragi leant backwards, sensing Fukuda's arm again on the small of his back. Sakuragi turned around, facing Fukuda.
"Fukuda, you bastard…" Sakuragi grinned. "Don't you think you're underrating this Tensai? I don't have to drive to the basket."
Sakuragi's eyes suddenly became focused, and his face lost all former humor. He floated into the air, and shot a controlled jump shot, letting the ball fly with a smooth flick of the wrist. The ball swished through the basket. 19-17.
The Sakuragi Army and Haruko were cheering in the stands.
"Great work, Hanamachi!"
Sakuragi grinned towards the crowd as he went back downcourt to defend.
Sendoh grasped the ball with surprise. Fukuda looked over at him.
"Did you know he could shoot the jump shot?"
Sendoh shook his head slowly. That guy really has improved since we last
played him…
Taoka was thunderstruck at the sidelines. How did
Hanamachi learn the jump shot?
Miyagi punched Sakuragi playfully on the shoulder. "Not bad, not bad! Keep that
up!"
Crap, they're running an isolation play like they did last time… Ryonan is
really trying to match Fukuda up against Sakuragi!
Koshino grinned. "Don't you guys get it? Fukuda's desire to get that ball into
the basket will help us win! That time he didn't play basketball due to his
suspension drives him to play better than ever!"
Fukuda faked left. Sakuragi fell for it, and flinched. Fukuda took that
opportunity and rushed past the redhead to the unguarded basket. He held the
ball up in his right hand and went up for the unprotected dunk.
Or so he thought, as a white uniform breezed right to the basket and leaped up. A long arm knocked the ball Fukuda held aside, and the loose ball went straight to Sakuragi.
Fukuda landed, completely shocked. He turned to see Hiroshi under the basket.
Hiroshi looked at Fukuda seriously. "You left the ball unprotected, even though you gave yourself extra height. Not all defensive players will fall for nuances like that."
Sakuragi zipped downcourt and jumped towards the unprotected
basket. "Commoner's shot!"
The layup attempt bounced off the front of the rim. The crowd burst into
laughter, the Sakuragi Army among them.
"Hahaha, Hanamachi missed the layup!"
Miyagi quickly picked up the loose ball. "Sakuragi!"
Miyagi lobbed the ball upwards, and Sakuragi managed to recover from his
embarrassment. "What are you doing, Ryo-chin? That's too—"
Suddenly Sakuragi knew what was going on. He soared upwards and gripped the ball, dunking in the alley-oop. 19-19.
The crowd's laughter turned into cheers. "Whoa, nice dunk redhead!"
Miyagi gave Sakuragi a high-five. "Yeah!"
Miyagi looked at Fukuda. Yes, you have great desire… but Sakuragi, who loves basketball, had to stay away from basketball for a year too. And now… that craving to help the team, that yearning to play basketball, that longing to win…
Sakuragi has it too…
Haruko clasped her hands tightly together. Sakuragi-kun, you are still a true basketball player…Sendoh's eyes grew deathly serious, and his smile disappeared. He gripped the ball tightly, then exploded downcourt.
Rukawa was left behind as Sendoh blew right past him. Sendoh spun around Mitsui, bounced the ball through Hiroshi's legs, and went for the layup.
Sakuragi jumped up to block him, but Sendoh switched hands in mid-air and laid the ball in with his left hand. 21-19.
The cheers from the crowd grew louder. "Great work, Sendoh!
Excellent!"
Miyagi watched in shock. He's done that move so many times on us…
Sendoh tossed the ball to Mitsui. "Don't expect to get the
lead so early."
Mitsui caught the ball. Damn that guy…
Miyagi motioned for the ball, and Mitsui passed to him. Miyagi dribbled straight through Ryonan's defense, and waited for Fukuda to collapse on him too. Come on, Fukuda… you better get over here!
Miyagi looked to the side and grinned.
The ball flew from out of the group of Ryonan defenders into Sakuragi's hands. Sakuragi was once again unguarded, and Sakuragi shot the jump shot calmly again a few feet from the basket. It swished neatly through. 21-21.
Mitsui watched all this approvingly. Miyagi drew the defense straight to him, without any intention to shoot… he wanted to get Sakuragi an open shot. Miyagi… you have really improved your play since becoming captain…
Miyagi took the ball and passed to Sendoh. "Don't expect us
to give up so early, either."
A smile spread across Sendoh's face. "Interesting…"
Hikoichi watched from the sidelines in anticipation. "Sendoh is going to
unleash his strength soon…"
Hiroshi managed to overhear this as he jogged past, and continued onwards without a word.
Sendoh bounced to Koshino. "Hey, Koshino, pass it back."
Koshino immediately did so. Shohoku, be afraid… Sendoh is about to pay you
all back!
Sendoh spun around Rukawa again… but he didn't notice that Rukawa had let him get past this time. Sendoh crossed over Mitsui and stopped at the side of the basket. He jumped up for the jump shot.
And suddenly realized the ball wasn't in his hands anymore, but floating in the air.
Sendoh watched in surprise as Hiroshi jumped up and caught the ball. It then dawned on Sendoh— Hiroshi had knocked the ball from Sendoh's hands as Sendoh had gone up for the jump shot.
Hiroshi scanned the floor and saw Miyagi and Sakuragi open. "Guys!" Hiroshi reared back and threw the ball down the length of the court.
Miyagi caught it and without hesitation threw a behind the back pass to Sakuragi. Sakuragi dunked the ball right over the much shorter Uekusa, making the lead 23-21, with 2:28 remaining.
Shohoku had finally taken the lead.