Kokoro
~ The Will to Win~
Episode Two: Heart
He was breathing heavily.
And he was still 10 points ahead.
*
She was breathing heavily.
And she was again 10 points behind.
*
Rukawa Kaede had the ball.
Rukawa Keiko watched him warily.
Focus. Timing. Steal. Point after point, she clawed her way back up, and fought her way back into the game.
*
Rukawa Kaede looked almost aghast as his sister made the successful shot that sent the game into a tie.
*
Their mother had come, sending the game into their version of overtime - by mutual consent, such games ended with the winner of the next shot.
Rukawa Kaede was starting. Rukawa Keiko waited.
Careful. Patience. Focus. Timing. Steal.
*
The look on Rukawa Kaede's face was priceless as the orange basketball went in for a beautiful lay-up shot: she had won! Her smile was beautiful, her expression ecstatic. She had won! Her mother, standing on the perimeter, smiled as well.
*
Rukawa Kaede high-fived his sister. And this time, as they walked away from the court, he held the ball.
*
Rukawa Kaede, aged sixteen, gave the net a last look before leaving the dimly lit court, late in the evening. He would never see her smile again. But for eternity, he would remember it.
*
Rukawa Keiko, aged nine, died of cancer. A younger sister with a big heart who taught Rukawa the rule of the game when she was just nine, and he, ten.
*
Never give up. And Rukawa didn't. Never had. Never would.
Author's Note: Wrote this second chapter hours after the first, when South Korea came back from a goal down to score an 87th minute goal that had me literally jumping up and down. Never give up, indeed.