Ore Wa Tensai Sakura: Midway
Part 2

by Annie D
the_80s_chick@lycos.com



Only two people were thinking about the situation with Sakura's height and how it would hinder her rebounding abilities which were the basis of her talent on the court. One was of course Sakura, who kept telling herself that she'd practice her jumping more, even if it meant straining her legs to their maximum every day, because the tensai does not care for a little pain. The other was Rukawa, who had a more logical approach to the problem.

And so the next day Rukawa waited, leaning against the wall of the gym while idling passing a basketball from one hand to the other in a perfect centrefold pose that made his fans swoon from the abovehead audience seats, not that he noticed.

Practice was about to start, although some of the players had yet to arrive. He knew that Sakura would arrive late like she usually did (more so now that she was no longer a freshman and didn't have to clean up the gym beforehand), and that suited well with what he was about to do.

Haruko entered the gym, talking with Ayako. Approaching the bench, the two then separated ways, Ayako going to talk to some of the players while Haruko stood alone near the wall. Bracing himself for the onslaught of overly-sparkling eyes that was imminent, Rukawa walked over to the short-haired girl and tapped her on the shoulder.

Haruko turned around, and sure enough she started blushing furiously. "Ru-Rukawa-kun?"

"Takemoto's height," he said, trying to minimise the number of words that needed to come out of his mouth. He didn't want the girl to get ideas just because he was talking to her.

"H-hai," stammered Haruko. "It's okay, I talked to her yesterday, she's coming back."

Rukawa clenched his jaw briefly. "Train her as a point guard."

Haruko's eyebrows raised. "Point guard? O-oh, yes… Like Ryota-san. She does have the stamina for it, and she won't have to rely on her height as much… Point guard, good idea, Rukawa-kun!"

Rukawa nodded, then walked away.

*****

"Absolutely not!" Ryota snapped. "I'm the point guard!"

"No, no, no…" Ayako said quickly. "Train her as one. Get her to stop relying on her height and more on her speed and stamina. Goodness knows she has plenty of those."

"It was Rukawa's idea," Haruko said proudly, still dazed that he had spoken to her. Rukawa had spoken to her! Personally! She giggled. "Isn't it a good idea, Anzai-sensei?"

"Hm, hm. It would do Takemoto good."

"What would to me good?"

All four heads turned to Sakura, who was standing in the threshold of the gym doorway, eyes wide. She walked toward them and leaned inward into the quartet mini-huddle, peeking her ears open.

"Ryota is going to give you some special training," said Ayako, thumping Sakura on the back.

"Special training?" Sakura echoed.

"Point guard training," said Ryota, who still looked like he didn't want to go through with it, but with Ayako forcing the other way, there wasn't really much of an option for him. "Quicken your reflexes, get your eyes open to the team plays, that kind of thing."

Sakura looked at each of them, then at Anzai-sensei. "Uh… wha?"

Anzai-sensei nodded. "You have good stamina, Takemoto. Point guard training will help you improve that strength."

Sakura frowned. "But I'm a power forward."

"Yes, you are still the power forward, Sakura-chan, but—" said Haruko, getting the taller girl's full attention, "—you have extra stamina that needs to be put to good use. Your reflexes are quite good already, and not to mention since your arms are, er, thinner now, you're built just right for a point guard."

"I'm still the point guard," Ryota grumbled, but Ayako thumped him over the head with her fan.

"The point guard guides the rest of the team," Haruko continued. "The control of the ball in the centre court depends on the point guard, who also needs to be able to judge the players of the other team well. Remember Ryota-san's steals always change the flow of the game?"

Sakura nodded, thinking it over.

Ryota gritted his teeth and whispered to Ayako, "She's not getting my job. You know there can't be two point guards on a team."

Ayako whispered back, "I know, Ryota-san. But we just need to get her to stop trying to dunk and rebound all the time. Divert her attention."

"So what do you think, Sakura-chan?" Haruko asked. She leaned forward and whispered conspiratorially, "It wouldn't be too much to say that the point guard controls both attack and the defense and as such is key to the game control."

Sakura's mouth widened into an open grin. "I will do my best, Haruko-san! Special point guard training it is! Finally you are accepting the talent of the tensai! Hahahahahahahaha!"

Ayako sighed with relief. Thank goodness she's still a simple-minded idiot. She turned her head just in time to see Rukawa nod briefly, but not at anyone in particular.

*****

Two weeks to Shohoku's final block match of the Inter High eliminations and Sakura had settled in pretty well into her role as a power forward - point guard hybrid, still blissfully unaware that the reason she had been given the task was not "to use her tensai powers as widely as possible" as she continuously claimed, but to reduce the pressure she would have otherwise placed on herself to take the rebounds.

Although not consciously, Sakura may have subconsciously noticed it, because she had started calling herself not the Rebound Queen but the Basketball Thief (steal = thief, geddit? Ha ha ha).

"Watch out, the tensai is on the move!" Sakura shouted as the opposing team of their intra-Shohoku practice game started their offence.

"Remember, Sakura, watch the hands!" Haruko shouted from the bench.

Ryota cursed as the always overconfident Sakura's eyes glittered.

Yasuda tried to pass to Rukawa, but Sakura dived forward and stole the ball midway. She laughed hysterically as she charged in the opposite direction.

Although annoyed that the ball was no longer in his team's possession, Ryota felt a flicker of pride. He had been teaching her the basics of point guarding for a very short time, but once again Sakura had surprised all of them by learning ultra-quick. It would have been even quicker if Sakura didn't keep complaining or picking fights with him all the time.

"Jimi!" Sakura shouted, and passed the ball to Nakajima, who made the shot that sailed in.

"Great pass, Sakura-chan!" Haruko cheered.

Sakura scratched her head and blushed. "It was nothing, Haruko-san."

Unnoticed to all, Rukawa's eyes flicked briefly in Sakura's direction. Although they were, as always, the same icy blue, one could just barely read something akin to satisfaction or pride within them.

"I think we're ready for the first game, don't you?" Anzai-sensei asked Ayako.

"Hai, sensei," agreed Ayako, nodding firmly. "Should I tell them now?"

"Hm, hm."

"Team, attention please!" Ayako shouted. Everyone quieted down and turned to her. "Next Monday we're going to the city centre to watch the Shoyo-Miuradai game. Anyone who wants to follow please be in the gym by 8 o'clock." The way she said anyone-who-wants-to-follow clearly meant absolutely-everyone-and-no-exceptions, but that was a-given.

"Ooooh, Shoyo," Sakura said, nodding to herself. "We shall beat them again, with the tensai's new power – Hahahahahahaha!"

Haruko fiddled with her fingers nervously. "Shoyo are in our block, aren't they?"

Ryota nodded at her. "So it's high chances that there'll be the ones we face up against in the final block match. We'd better go see what their new team is like."

*****

Monday. The Shohoku basketball team packed into a train heading to the city centre to make their first public appearance.

The trip itself was rather typical. Various players either read magazines or tried to pick up girls. Ryota spent most of the time talking with Ayako. Anzai-sensei just… sat there. Sakura popped gum, humming her theme song under her breath. Rukawa slept. Haruko gazed adoringly at Rukawa.

Same old, same old.

Within the sports centre things went pretty much as expected. The civilian audience members oohed and aahed the height of the players (and Sakura sulked a bit before telling herself that she'd show everyone her true power on the court later), while various whispers of recognition passed around and such.

"We sit over there!" Ayako said, pointing.

"Wah, things look so different," Sakura commented.

"That's because you're shorter," Ryota teased, which earned him a smack behind the head.

"Oh, it's Shohoku!" a familiar voice exclaimed. It was Hikoichi, still armed with his trusty pen and notebook. Behind him stood the full Ryonan team with Taoka-sensei, all of whom (except Taoka-sensei) were donned in dark Ryonan basketball jackets.

"Anzai-sensei," said Taoka, bowing before the old man.

"Taoka-san, it's a pleasure to see you again," said Anzai-sensei. "Ho ho ho ho."

While the two coaches made on with their chatter, Ryota and Sendoh stepped forward to shake hands.

"I hope we meet on the court, Miyagi-san," said Sendoh with a little smile.

"So do I, Sendoh-san," agreed Ryota, who gave a cheeky little smirk of his own.

Sakura looked at Sendoh up and down. She pointed at him, then asked Haruko, "Is he the Ryonan captain now?"

"Hai," replied Haruko. "It's kind of expected, really."

"Miss, you don't know Sendoh-san?" Hikoichi exclaimed in fanboy horror. "He's the best—"

"Don't embarrass me, Hikoichi," Sendoh said mildly, waving off the boy. His eyes moved up briefly to Rukawa's glaring ones – the ice-man probably plotting how to beat him rotten – before returning to Ryota. "I heard about Sakuragi. I'm sorry."

Sakura opened her mouth to tell him who she was, but Ayako quickly thwacked her with the paper fan. Ayako mouthed clearly, NO.

Ryota nodded at Sendoh, his face carefully blank. "He was a good friend."

"And a great player," said Sendoh. "I was looking forward to playing against him again."

Sakura looked at Sendoh through narrowed eyes. You *are* going to play against me again, spikey-smiley. And you shall see the tensai's power has not diminished at all…

Ryota nodded, then his mouth twitched into a smile. "And don't think that because now we don't have Akagi, we can't beat you."

Sendoh equalled the smile. "Don't think that because now we don't have Uozomi, we can't beat you."

*****

"Who was that red-head girl, you think?" Hikoichi asked Sendoh after they had settled into their seats that were not that far across from the Shohoku team's. "Another team manager? Yo-check-ya!"

"Doesn't look like it, Hikoichi," said Sendoh, who turned to see said red-head girl argue with Rukawa over the seating arrangement. Ayako's trusty paper fan came to the rescue, and the girl finally settled on sitting between Ryota and Rukawa, although she didn't look too happy about it and kept glancing at Haruko, who was sitting between Rukawa and Ayako.

"Red hair… Do you think maybe she's a relative of Sakuragi's?" Hikoichi asked.

Sendoh pondered it. "Maybe."

The Shoyo-Miuradai game was pretty interesting in its first half, although Sendoh had to admit that the team didn't really have the same zest that they had when Fujima was around. The Shoyo best member line-up, lead by now captain Ito, had the same advantage of height but somehow lacked the coordination and control that Fujima had brought to the team.

But for some strange reason, Sendoh found himself watching the Shohoku team almost as often as he was watching the court.

The red-head girl was familiar… Not physically, because Sendoh was pretty sure that he had never seen her before, but the Sakuragi resemblance in other ways was just simply outstanding.

Like when at one point during the game a Miuradai player had told a Shoyo player that, "We will beat you and then get our revenge on the 'freak winners' Shohoku!" In response Ryota and the girl had leapt to their feet and started shouting at the Miuradai players.

"How dare you call us freak winners, you're just jealous that we whooped your asses!" the girl had shouted.

"Beat them, Shoyo!" Ryota shouted.

"And then you will see the true power of the tensai when—" And girl was cut off by Ayako's paper fan. The girl had argued a bit more with Ayako, waving her arms as she pointed frantically at the Miuradai players, but then Haruko had said something that finally shut the red-head up and caused her to sit down again without much fuss.

Sakuragi… Sendoh wondered, watching the red head girl, whose eyebrows were now scowling dangerously as she followed the game closely.

A tingly sensation at the back of his neck made Sendoh's eye move a little further past the girl to the person in the next seat, and he found himself being subjected to a blast of icy blue.

"Whoa, Rukawa!" Sendoh exclaimed out loud, chuckling a bit under his breath.

"Huh, Sendoh-san?" Hikoichi asked, turning away from the game to see what Sendoh had been looking at. Then he shrieked in surprise while sweatdropping wildly. "Rukawa-san looks so angry! He must be feeling very competitive this year."

Sendoh smiled. "Very competitive."

*****

The game had been enjoyable and very educational for Shohoku, who were now pretty sure that Shoyo would be the first team they'd meet up with. Shoyo had won over Miuradai 101 to 58, and the second half had been rather dull, but what they lacked in court entertainment they made up by observing and criticising every nuance of the Shoyo players for future reference.

"Why are you so worried about Shoyo, Ryocchin?" Sakura asked, bumping the shorter boy with her shoulder as they walked down the corridor to the exit. "Worried about your height, eh?"

"Look who's talking," Ryota shot back.

"Hey look, it's Kainan," Nakajima said softly, almost in awe.

Sakura looked up and sure enough, the Kainan team were walking in the opposite direction down the corridor, hence heading right toward them. Her crosshairs immediately located a certain small forward with long hair.

"Sakura, don't do anything funny," Ayako warned her softly.

"What?" Sakura chirped.

"Ho ho ho," Anzai-sensei, at the head of their little troupe, greeted. "Good to see you, Kainan. Takatoh-san. Didn't expect to see you here."

"Likewise, Anzai-sensei," Takatoh said. Smalltalk was kept small, and they started to walk past each other, the players giving simple acknowledging nods to one another.

Sakura drew her lips into a tight smirk. She drew herself up to her full height, Kiyota was strolling directly toward her, she flexed her torso muscles, ready to stick out her shoulders at the right moment…

PAM! Sakura widened her eyes innocently as she looked down at the fallen Kiyota. "Oh my, I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there. Did I hurt you?"

Kiyota scowled as he picked himself up. The expression on his face made it clear that the only reason he wasn't cursing liberally was because she was a girl. "No, don't be silly. Heh heh."

Sakura grinned as Ayako tugged her arm urgently. "Nice to see you, wild monkey." She turned and walked away, pleased to feel Kiyota's questioning gaze boring into her back. "That was fun," Sakura said.

"I thought I said not to do anything funny," Ayako hissed.

"Can we go back now?" Nori whined.

Suddenly Haruko tugged at the sleeve of Ayako's shirt. "I… I need to go to the ladies' room."

"I'll come with you!" Sakura volunteered gallantly. "You guys go ahead, we'll catch up."

"Come to think of it, I think I need to use little boy's room, too," said Nakajima.

"All right," said Ayako, raising her hands. "Those that need to use the washroom, go now. The rest of us will wait by the exit. Take no more than ten minutes."

"Hai!" and they scattered.

The public washroom was pay-to-get-in, and so the fly-broke Sakura hovered outside the entrance as Haruko went in. The boy's bathroom was further down the corridor so, not having anyone to bug, Sakura put a fresh batch of bubblegum into her mouth as she waited alone.

"Konnichiwa," came a cheerful voice.

Sakura nearly choked in surprise. "Sendoh-san?"

The spikey-haired basketball player strolled up to her, hands in pockets. "So how did you find the game?"

"Oh, it was nothing," said Sakura, waving it off with a flick of her wrist. "Actually I feel sorry for Shoyo if they end up playing against us because we're going to trash them. Hahahahahaha!"

Sendoh smiled. "I don't believe I know your name."

"Oh. It's Takemoto Sakura. You better remember that name, Sendoh." Suddenly she remembered that she wasn't supposed to tell anyone that she was a player, and quickly shut her mouth. I am the secret weapon, and I cannot let the Ryonan know about me yet. Heh heh heh…

"Are you related to Sakuragi Hanamichi?" Sendoh asked.

The question took her completely by surprise, so chewed a bit on her gum to stall. "Ah well, sort of."

"You're a lot like him," said Sendoh. He eyes dropped down briefly. "I'm really very sorry about what happened to him."

Sakura shrugged, trying and failing to muster any fake concern. "Well, yeah… I'm uh… I'm here to support Shohoku now that he's gone."

Sendoh nodded. "I figured as much."

Nani?! You think I'm just a supporter?! No, no, calm down Sakura… Don't let him know who you are… Sakura laughed a bit, then jabbed a finger at Sendoh's chest. "We're going to beat you, then we're going to win nationals."

Sendoh looked down at the finger, then back to her face. "Best of luck then, Takemoto-san." He started to leave, but then paused.

What now? Sakura wondered.

Then, to her complete shock, Sendoh reached out a hand to stroke her cheek with his long fingers. Too surprised to move, Sakura felt the fingers move gently across her skin to rest momentarily at the corner of her mouth before dropping down to her chin.

As suddenly as it happened, Sendoh pulled away, then laughed while scratching his head. "Gomen, I don't know what happened to me right there. Gomen nasai."

"Uh…"

"So, ja ne, Takemoto-san." He smiled cheerfully.

"Uh…"

Sendoh walked off and disappeared round the corner. Sakura stared after him, eyes bulging, mouth gaping open so wide that the bubblegum almost fell out.

"Sakura-chan." Haruko finally stepped out of the ladies' room. "Sakura-chan?"

"Huh? Oh, Haruko-san."

"You look pale, Sakura-chan. Are you feeling okay?"

"No, I'm always okay hahahahaha – ugh!" She accidentally swallowed the bubblegum.

"Come on, the others should be waiting for us." Haruko patted Sakura gently on the back. "Let's go."

*****

Sendoh turned to corner just to be bodily slammed against the wall.

He blinked rapidly, and found himself looking into the eyes of a very pissed off Rukawa Kaede. Sendoh chuckled. "Rukawa-san, fancy seeing you here." He reached up to pull the other boy's hands off his shirt, but they just tightened their grip.

"Don't touch her," Rukawa said, his voice dangerously low.

Sendoh's eyes widened. "Takemoto-san?" There was no point in pretending not to understand.

Rukawa nodded.

"Oh, don't worry, she's Shohoku," said Sendoh, looking at him sincerely. "I'm Ryonan, we're rivals. It was a mistake, I didn't mean anything by it, really. Don't need to be so possessive, Rukawa-san."

Although the motion felt reluctant, Rukawa finally let him go. "Don't touch her."

"I promise," said the spikey-haired boy, clasping his hands together sincerely.

Rukawa turned to leave.

Then Sendoh added cheerfully, "As long as we're on opposing teams."

*****

I'm sure it was nothing, Sakura told herself on the train ride back home. Sendoh Akira is just a hentai, he cannot stand looking at a pretty girl. She smirked. Wait 'til he sees that I'm not just a supporter, I'm a player! And not just a player, but a super Basketball Thief!

"Nyahahahahahahahaha!"

Nori leaned toward Ryota. "Why does she always laugh for no apparent reason?"

Ryota shrugged. "She's crazy."

Sakura relaxed into the seat, feeling better as the thin focus of her already simple-minded brain settled back down. How just like the sneaky Sendoh to confuse her like that. Hah! She'd show him and then he'd think twice about getting all touchy-feely with pretty girls.

She looked up. "What are you staring at, kitsune?"

"Hmph."

Huh, the kitsune's jealous of me, too, Sakura thought. He knows I'm going to upstage him in the upcoming game, heh heh heh. Out loud, she told him, "Yes, you have every reason to be afraid, kitsune. Don't you forget it."

Rukawa eyes shifted briefly, but before Sakura could detect what they meant, he turned away.