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Chapter 21

"Go Shohoku!"

"Gambatte!"

Rukawa stepped into the stadium with his teammates for the second time in the Kanagawa Interhigh Tournament. He looked around the stadium with his cool eyes. It was fully packed, just like the last time when Shohoku played against Shoyo.

Slowly, he sat down on the bench and adjusted his armband. So far his plan had worked. At the first match of the Tournament, he had not shoot any baskets and gain points for Shohoku, but he tried his best to assist and make good passes to his teammates, so Shohoku could win, but only by a few points, in the last match. Since he didn't score at all in the match, a lot of reports in the newspaper said that he had lost his touch of scoring, but he didn't care. If he continued this tactic until the end, Madam Ingrassia would have to keep her end of the bargain and let Miharu to be with him again.

Then, when he was 21, he would marry Miharu, officially.

Rukawa stared at his engagement ring, which he had been wearing ever since the first match in the Tournament. It was a little tight around his finger, but he asked the owner of the jewelry shop to give him a smaller size on purpose. Because he wanted to wear it and play basketball at the same time, so that it would never drop out from his finger.

Miharu, have you seen my performance in the last match? Just wait for me, I will not lose…

"Gather!" called Miyagi and everyone gathered in front of him and Anzai.

"We have done well so far in this Tournament, but…"

"I afraid that it's still not enough for today's game. We have to work harder."

"Why?" asked one of the first years.

Miyagi didn't respond, but he glanced at the familiar blue banner at the railing of the spectators' seats.

Ryonan High's banner.

"Can you do it?" asked Anzai suddenly to Rukawa.

Rukawa stared at Anzai before he nodded.

"Yoshi!" said Miyagi. "Let's go and beat them!"

He held out his hand and the rest of the players placed theirs on it.

"Go, Shohoku, go!"

They let go and they went out to the court. Now that Akagi had left, Sakuragi was now the Center, leaving the Power Forward position to Rukawa (unwillingly) and the Small Forward to Satoru, another first year. At the same time, the players from Ryonan High entered the court as well. Since Uozumi and Ikegami had left, the remaining players were the new center Yanaida, Koshino, Uekusa, Fukuda, and of course, Sendoh.

"Sendoh, Sendoh!"

"Sendoh, ahhh!!"

Sendoh looked at his screaming fans and smiled. "What adorable fans… but I still prefer my Nanami…"

He turned and saw Rukawa, who stared back at him with great determination.

"Rukawa-kun, ready?"

"Ready."

The match started with Sakuragi and Yanaida jumped up for the ball. Naturally, Sakuragi the natural-born jumper reached it and hit it towards Mitsui.

"Damn it…" cursed Yanaida as he ran off with the rest of the Ryonan players.

"Nyhahahaha!! Compare to Boss Monkey, you are still too weak!" said Sakuragi, laughing.

"Just concentrate, do'aho." said Rukawa, running past him.

"Eh?!" Sakuragi exclaimed and he ran off, chasing after Rukawa. "Darn you, kitsune, take that back!"

Rukawa went after Mitsui, who was being chased by Koshino and Fukuda. Sendoh was behind him, but he didn't make an effort to run and block him.

Mitsui threw the ball to Rukawa and he ran, dribbling the ball.

"Block him!" called Taoka. "He might score in this match!"

Sendoh ran beside Rukawa and Rukawa gave him a glance. Catching the glance, Sendoh smiled and he suddenly slowed down.

"Nani?" Taoka exclaimed.

Rukawa saw Miyagi at Sendoh's left and he passed the ball to the Shohoku point guard. Miyagi ran, successfully ducked Uekusa and sent the ball through the hoop easily.

2 – 0

As Shohoku fans cheered, Sendoh smiled at Rukawa and Rukawa just shrugged.

The match went on. Sendoh didn't really try to block Rukawa, but when other Shohoku players got the ball, he would go and get the ball away from them, sending it to his own teammates. Sometimes he would go and gain points by himself, so the match wasn't one-sided. The current score was 30 – 26, Shohoku in the lead.

"This rebound is mine!" yelled Sakuragi as he caught the rebound.

But when he landed on the floor…

"Be careful below, Hanamichi!" called Miyagi.

Sakuragi looked down and Koshino, his knees bended, ready to get the ball.

Quickly, Sakuragi shifted the ball away from Koshino's reach.

And Sendoh took the ball neatly behind Sakuragi's back.

"Thanks," he said as he ran off with the ball.

"Argh! Oi, that's cheating!" shouted Sakuragi. "Referee, did you see that, referee?!"

The referee didn't do anything.

Scowling, Sakuragi ran after Sendoh. "You broom-head, come back with the ball!"

Sendoh skidded to a halt as Rukawa stepped into his path to block him.

"Sendoh, over here!" called Koshino, his arms outstretched as he tried to get away from Satoru's blocking. They were standing right under the basket.

"Good job so far," said Sendoh, smiling to Rukawa. "You haven't scored a point at all."

"Thanks to you." said Rukawa quietly.

Sendoh suddenly stepped to his left, but Rukawa blocked his way.

"Sendoh!" yelled Koshino impatiently.

"Sorry, I'm taking this." said Sendoh and he leaped.

Rukawa followed and found that Sendoh was leaning backwards as he leaped.

"Fadeaway jumpshot!"

Sendoh pushed the ball forward and it flew. Rukawa turned to run after the ball, but to his surprise, Sendoh ran as well.

"Oi, what are you…" started Rukawa.

Sendoh smiled mysteriously.

Koshino shook Satoru off before running towards Sakuragi.

The ball bounced off the rim.

"Rebound!" called Ayako.

Sakuragi jumped, trying to get the rebound, but then he noticed…

Koshino was standing below him again.

"Trying to get me to fall for that trick again? Dream on!" called Sakuragi and he landed on his feet.

"Sakuragi!" yelled Mitsui as Sendoh jumped.

"Argh!!" screamed Sakuragi.

Rukawa jumped as well, his hands out to stop Sendoh. Sendoh shifted his hand swiftly and he caught the ball with his two hands. But that's not all, before Sendoh reached the ground, he slammed the ball with huge force through the hoop.

"It's now only 2 points apart!"

"Nice one, Sendoh!"

"You did it!"

"Sendoh, Sendoh, Sendoh!" chanted the Ryonan fans.

"Chikuso…" scowled Sakuragi with embarrassment, his fists clenched.

"Stupid…" muttered Mitsui, his hand on his forehead.

"Shohoku's disgrace." said Miyagi.

"Ha, serves you right." said Koshino, grinning.

Pointing at the scoreboard, Sendoh said cheerfully, "See? We are only 2 points apart. Better buck up."

Rukawa was silent before he said, "Oh shut up."

Sendoh grinned as Rukawa smiled slightly back.

The buzzer sounded, announcing the end of the first half.

"Maki-san," said Kiyota at the seats with the rest of the Kainan players. "Rukawa haven't scored since the first match, is he going to do the same in this match? Ryonan will catch up anytime soon!"

"Unless he has given up on my sister," said Maki and frowned slightly. "But it's Sendoh he's playing against. Sendoh and I know his situation, Sendoh doesn't want his good friend to be heartbroken, and I don't want my sister to be separated from her only love. But…"

"But?"

"There's one problem. Sendoh may be helping Rukawa now, but I don't know what will happen in the second half… there's only one person that will stop Sendoh from what he's doing now…"

"Huh?"

Shohoku Changing Room

Rukawa sat on the bench, wiping the sweat off his face while Sakuragi was arguing with Miyagi.

"Can't you be alert? You are going to make us lose!" said Miyagi.

"Lose? With me the tensai in the team?"

"Tensai? More like aho…" muttered Mitsui.

"Nani? How could you say that?" Sakuragi exclaimed.

Rukawa didn't hear. He was now in a daze, wondering about Miharu's well-being.

Ryonan Changing Room

"2 points… we are behind them by only 2 points! We will catch up easily!" said Taoka. "Don't let your guard down, we have lost to them last time, we couldn't lose again this time round."

"Hai!"

Sendoh was one side, drinking Pocari Sweat, not quite listening to what his coach was saying.

"And there's one thing… Sendoh?"

"…"

"Sendoh!"

"Huh? What?" asked Sendoh, looking up.

"What is wrong with you today?" demanded Taoka.

Sendoh blinked. "I'm all right, just a little love-sick, but never mind, that will be cured…"

Taoka rolled his eyes. "It's not that!" he said in frustration, throwing up his hands. "I mean your performance in the match today!"

Sendoh pretended that he didn't understand. "… Hah?"

"You are not blocking Rukawa! If you do your job properly, we might score much better!"

"… Oh?" asked Sendoh slowly. "Is that so? I didn't block Rukawa? Hmm, I thought I did…"

"Don't play dumb with me, Sendoh," snapped his coach. "Do you want to win this match or not?"

Sendoh was silent. He did want to win the match, but he didn't want to give Rukawa so much pressure… if he blocked Rukawa completely, Rukawa would not have a chance to assist his friends and Shohoku would lose the match. Rukawa hated to lose and Sendoh was afraid if he pressured Rukawa too much, Rukawa would do a bad pass or go snap and score and gain points for Shohoku on his own…

"Well?" asked Taoka.

"We are behind by 2 points…" said Sendoh. "If we continued like this we might win…"

"Or lose if YOU continued like this." said Taoka. "I don't care, you better snap out of your so-called love sickness and concentrate on the match. If Ryonan loses to Shohoku again, you will find yourself sitting on the bench as a reserve for the rest of your high school years."

"That means … a ban?" asked Sendoh.

"Not really," said Taoka quietly. "You could still watch the rest of your friends play."

The rest of the Ryonan team was hysterical.

"Coach! You can't let Sendoh sit on the bench forever if Ryonan loses! He's our star player!" said Hikoichi.

"Well he certainly doesn't act like one today." said Taoka, folding his arms.

"Sendoh, say something!" said Koshino. "What will the rest of Ryonan say if they see you sitting on the bench?"

Sendoh was quiet.

The second half began and once again, Rukawa got the ball from Miyagi.

"Over here!" called Satoru.

Rukawa was about to throw the ball to his teammate when someone came and blocked him.

"… Sendoh?"

"Sorry, pal," said Sendoh quietly. "I have no choice. But whatever I do, keep your cool and don't let your mind go snap."

Rukawa tried to shake Sendoh off, but he couldn't. Unlike during the first half, Sendoh was trying his best to block Rukawa and no matter what Rukawa did, Sendoh just wouldn't let Rukawa to have a chance to pass the ball fully to his teammates.

"Something is not right…" said Ayako, watching from the side.

Mitsui ran towards Rukawa and seeing that it was his teammate, Rukawa tried to throw the ball to Mitsui, but as the ball was released, Sendoh jumped and caught it instead.

The Shohoku fans groaned in disappointment while the Ryonan fans cheered and applauded as Sendoh ran off and threw it to Koshino, who scored.

"It's even!"

"Go Ryonan!"

Sendoh turned and looked at Rukawa, who was staring at him in disbelief. Straightaway, he knew what was Rukawa thinking. He was probably thinking that he, Sendoh Akira, was a betrayer to him.

"Don't let yourself go snap," said Sendoh, shaking his head.

Rukawa just glared.

"And do your best." he ended, his eyes were filled with seriousness.

At that moment, Rukawa didn't hear what Sendoh was saying. All he was thinking was how Sendoh had "betrayed" him.

That bastard … he never changes… once his team is behind, he will show no mercy…And I thought he will help me… I will show him, I will get the points back…

With that thought in his mind, Rukawa went off with his teammates.

"See? This is what I'm talking about," said Maki to Kiyota at the seats. "We may want to help Rukawa, but there are various factors that stop us from doing what we want fully. One is the thirst for victory. Shohoku wants to win, but so does Ryonan. Ryonan's coach must have pressured Sendoh at some point, so now Sendoh couldn't help Rukawa. Now Rukawa is on his own. Now let's pray that Rukawa haven't forgotten about his agreement with Miharu's mother out of anger…"

"If this happens to you, Maki-san," said Kiyota. "Will you give in to coach?"

Maki looked at Kiyota for a while before he said, "Kiyota, this is the most difficult question out of all you have ever asked me."

Soon, Rukawa got the ball in his hands and again, Sendoh came to block him.

"Watch this, bastard," said Rukawa and he tried to throw out the ball towards the rim.

"Rukawa-kun!" Sendoh exclaimed and grabbed Rukawa's hand just as Rukawa was going to throw out the ball.

Rukawa was off-balance and the ball missed.

"Let go of me!"

"Have you forgotten?" asked Sendoh. Sendoh had Rukawa's hand up and in a tight grip, letting Rukawa to have a clear view of his hand… and his engagement ring.

Rukawa blinked and his eyes widened slightly.

Straightaway, the referee blew the whistle at Sendoh.

"Foul! White jersey No. 4!" (Since Sendoh was Captain, I figured that he might be wearing the No.4 instead of No. 7 now…)

Sendoh let go of Rukawa.

"Penalty!"

"I told you, keep cool," said Sendoh seriously to Rukawa stared at his ring. "Now you better don't score."

Rukawa nodded and went to the penalty line to receive the ball. He bounced the ball twice and lifted it up to do his penalty. For a moment, he hesitated. He could even throw the ball in with his eyes closed, now how was he going to miss the two shots?

"Hurry up." said Koshino impatiently.

Rukawa didn't do anything. All he did was wait, until…

"5 seconds! Overtime!"

The Shohoku fans screamed in anger and shock as the Ryonan players looked at Rukawa in surprise.

Rukawa sighed and bounced the ball again. He then threw out the ball listlessly. Not surprisingly, the ball landed on the floor before it even hit the hoop.

"Air ball!"

"Rukawa, what are you doing?"

Rukawa just went back to the game, ignoring his fans completely.

"Nice." said Sendoh.

Rukawa looked at Sendoh before he said, "Thanks for the reminder. Now YOU watch out, don't let your mind go snap."

Sendoh smiled. "Fine, bring it on."

There was only 2 minutes left in the game. The score was 55 – 51, Ryonan in the lead. As Sendoh and Rukawa were busily blocking each other, none of them could help much in scoring or assisting their teammates, so it was like having 8 instead of 10 players on court.

Rukawa got the ball and Sendoh was blocking him. Rukawa's eyes moved swiftly to see if there were any Shohoku players available to let him to pass the ball to…

Sakuragi was clear, but he was too busy with Yanaida… Miyagi was blocked by Uekusa, Satoru was clear, but he was too far away from the basket… Now there's only…

At the corner of his eye, Mitsui ran away from Koshino, his hand out. As quick as lightning, Rukawa threw the ball behind him and Mitsui caught it.

"Mitsui!"

Koshino ran to stop Mitsui, but Mitsui was much faster. Fukuda blocked his path and Mitsui raised the ball, decided to throw it.

Fukuda jumped and Mitsui skipped back a few steps.

Until he was out of the three-point line.

"Darn." cursed Fukuda as Mitsui threw out the ball.

The ball went in smoothly and the crowd in the Shohoku area was wild.

55 – 54.

"Just one point!"

"Go!"

At the last minute, Sendoh got the ball and he raced towards the basket after shaking Rukawa off.

"Sendoh, we are counting on you!" yelled Taoka, his fist clenched together.

Sendoh jumped into the air, ready to score. Rukawa and Sakuragi jumped in front of him, blocking his view of the basket.

"I'm not going to let you score!" shouted Sakuragi.

With the ball in his hands, Sendoh shifted and a thought came to Rukawa's mind.

"No…"

As Sendoh's hands moved to their right, Rukawa's hand reached out and hit the ball away before Sendoh could use his left hand to throw the ball through the hoop behind the two Shohoku players.

"Ahhh!! Rukawa!" screamed his fans in excitement as the ball flew off and landed into the hands of Miyagi.

"You go, Rukawa!" called the rest of the Shohoku players at the bench.

"Oi…" started Sendoh.

"You used that stunt too much." said Rukawa as they landed onto the floor.

Miyagi raced off to the opposite side of the court as the rest of the team-mates followed.

"Rukawa!" called Miyagi and he threw the ball to Rukawa before Uekusa could get the ball.

Rukawa got it and he threw it back to Miyagi when the Point-Guard was clear. Miyagi reached the basket and he threw out the ball.

"Victory is ours!" he said loudly.

The ball bounced off the rim and Sakuragi, Rukawa, Sendoh and Yanaida jumped to catch the last rebound.

"10, 9, 8…" counted the crowd.

Four hands touched the ball and the ball flew up in the air again. The four of them jumped again and during the chaos, Rukawa's hand pushed the ball slightly while he was trying to catch it.

The ball flew towards the hoop under the force of Rukawa's hand and hit the rim.

"7, 6, 5, 4…"

It circled the rim for a few rounds and then it…

went through the hoop.

Sendoh's jaws dropped open and Rukawa turned to see the scoreboard. To his horror, the scores had changed from 55 – 54 to 55 – 56.

"Oh no…" muttered Maki, buried his face in his hand.

"… 3, 2, 1!"

The referee blew his whistle.

"End of match! Shohoku win!"

"Yay, Rukawa!"