A NEW BEGINNING
Chapter 3
"So Ayako-san, what is it that has been plaguing your mind about Kazuha?" asked Sakuragi.
It has been three days since Kazuha came to basketball practice. She had been coming since then and the team sort of took her in as a new player and taught her something new each day. At the moment; Sakuragi, the gundam, Ayako and Miyagi were walking to school together. Sakuragi and the gundam met Ayako accidently and later on Miyagi, who was following Ayako.
"Yes yes, what is it?" the gundam seconded. Miyagi only nodded while rubbing his steaming head compliments of Ayako's paper fan.
"Well... I did say that she reminds me of someone didn't I? Think hard guys, the answer is actually so easy!"
"AH!" exclaimed Ryota excitedly. "It's him isn't it, Ayako-chan?"
Ayako merely smiled and nodded.
"Oh…." The gundam got it now.
While Sakuragi, "What! What is it? Come on! Tell me!"
"So that's why Haruko was acting so fussy around her all this time," said Noma.
"Hey! Will somebody tell me what the hell is going on!" He was feeling quite bewildered and frustated by then.
"Think hard Sakuragi, and the answer will come to you. In fact here he comes now."
Sakuragi gaped in astonishment as a sleeping Rukawa came into sight on his bicycle. He was jerked awake as he crashed into Sakuragi and landed on top of Ryota while his long suffering bicycle laid on it's side on top of Sakuragi.
"Baka Kitsune!"
Rukawa picked up his bicycle and stopped momentarily before entering the school, "Do'aho"
"Argh! Wait till I get my hands on you!" It took all the gundam and Ryota to hold him down.
"See it now Sakuragi?" asked Ayako calmly.
"You don't mean him do you?"
"Surely you can see the resemblance."
"After all didn't she call you do'aho on the first day of school. Just like him." Yohei interjected.
"Well… now that you guys mention it she does act like him. Waitaminute! You don't mean that's why Haruko-chan… noooooo! They're both girls!"
Prak! "Not like that, you baka. Such a dirty imagination. Haruko probably hasn't realised the real reason for her behaviour around Kazuha - maybe her subconcsious does, so perhaps it's confused and instructing Haruko to behave as she behaved around Rukawa."
"But I don't see her go all girly and giggly and stuff like that around Kazuha."
"Maybe her subconcsious realised the difference in gender, and is altering her behaviour to accommodate the change," Yohei provided.
"Hai hai," the others agreed.
"Ohayo everyone! Why all looking so serious today?"
"Ha-Haruko-chan! Ohayo!" replied (as you guessed it) Sakuragi with a blush.
"Ohayo Haruko-chan. It was nothing, we were just talking about Kazuha- chan," Prak! A lump formed on top of Takamiya head.
"Ho ho ho! Nothing interesting… just stuff," said a slightly embarassed Ayako, fanning her face.
"Kazuha-chan?" then a sigh came out of her mouth, "She is such a cool person. She can do anything she sets her mind on - so smart in class too, although I don't know how she managed that, sleeping between lessons."
"Eh? She sleeps in class too? Hey! Just like-" Prak! Another one landed on Takamiya's head.
"Can't you keep your big mouth shut," said Ayako through gritted teeth.
"Yes, she sleeps in class - not all the time. Usually it's during break time and she looked so tired that I don't have the heart to wake her up after break's over. Ah well, ja ne, see you guys later at practice!" With that, she ran lightly away, her hand waving cheerfully at them.
"Noooooo! My life is ruined now! There's not just one but TWO kitsunes now!" Sakuragi bent over at the waist with his hands covering his face in a dramatic show of anguish. He straightened when he saw Kazuha coming from the other way and pointed, "You! You Haruko-stealer!"
Kazuha barely gave him a glance at his accusation but continued on her way.
"Do'aho… Red monkey."
"Don't mind her Sakuragi," Yohei soothed his best friend.
"Aiii! Life's certainly going to be interesting," commented Miyagi. The others nodded, it certainly will be.
*****
"Not like that, like this," instructed Miyagi. He showed her the correct way to hold the ball.
Kazuha silently followed his hands movements. Taking a deep breath, she passed the ball from one hand to the other repeatedly and with sudden movement, eluded him and shot a slightly clumsy three pointer. The ball spun on the rim for a few seconds before going into the hoop.
"Yosh! That was fantastic Kazuha-chan!" Haruko jumped up and down. "Only four weeks practice and you're playing as good as anyone else in the team. Well, almost."
Akagi, Miyagi, Mitsui and Sakuragi huffed and puffed, feeling proud of themselves. Every one of them taught her something of their own, and the end product was a mixture of everyone. By normal standards, anyone should have only taken in less than half of what have been taught to Kazuha. But she had a determined look about her and she practiced intensely if not with the team, by herself.
She also looked less uptight and her movements were more relaxed - although her vocabulary remained limited. Sakuragi had also given her a nickname (since he couldn't call her kitsune - it would be too confusing having 2 kitsunes running around), so he called her "aisu" (ice) to get a reaction out of her - but Kazuha being Kazuha ignored him.
Rukawa, to the surprise and amazement of everyone, had approached her one day when she repeatedly made a mistake and showed her how it was supposed to be done.
As a whole, it seemed that the team had adopted Mitsuhito Kazuha. Even Anzai-Sensei accepted her, he looked into her eyes and without a word merely nodded when she came for the second time to the basketball practice.
"Kazuha-chan! There's someone to meet you!" shouted Ayako from the entrance of the gym.
Kazuha wiped her sweat with a towel and made her way towards where Ayako was standing. It was her grandmother, she looked pale and frail at the moment, not the formidable woman she always was.
"It's your grandfather, he had a heart attack."
*****
It's over now…
Kazuha looked at the frail body lying on the hospital bed, his chest rising and lowering slowly. Her grand-mother sat in the chair on the other side of the bed, holding her grandfather's gnarled hand. She raised the hand and placed it lovingly against her wrinkled cheek. Without a warning, a sob escaped from her mouth and a tear trickled down her cheek.
Kazuha was stumped. Her emotionless grandmother was no longer so, in the face of fear of losing her loved one, she had discarded her mask and was now showing her true self. Something swelled in Kazuha and a sob unexpectedly burst out of her.
She went to the grandmother's side and knelt besides her. For the first time in her life, Kazuha wrapped her arms around another person and said softly, "It's going to be alright."
*****
It was half past nine and her grandmother was fast asleep in her chair, her head laid on the bed and still holding her husband's hand.
I guess this is it, the time for me to be moved to yet another aunt or uncle. She looked at her grandparents and a ghost of a smile appeared briefly. They're too old to even take care of themselves, let alone taking care of me. I guess this scare probably made them realised that.
She wrapped her arms around herself and looked out the window.
But I now have basketball.
Without the Shohoku team it wouldn't mean much - a voice whispered inside her.
It will, she argued. I'll make it matter.
She let out a sigh and picked up her bag. With a last glance towards the occupants of the bed, she headed home to packed up her stuff.
Chapter 3
"So Ayako-san, what is it that has been plaguing your mind about Kazuha?" asked Sakuragi.
It has been three days since Kazuha came to basketball practice. She had been coming since then and the team sort of took her in as a new player and taught her something new each day. At the moment; Sakuragi, the gundam, Ayako and Miyagi were walking to school together. Sakuragi and the gundam met Ayako accidently and later on Miyagi, who was following Ayako.
"Yes yes, what is it?" the gundam seconded. Miyagi only nodded while rubbing his steaming head compliments of Ayako's paper fan.
"Well... I did say that she reminds me of someone didn't I? Think hard guys, the answer is actually so easy!"
"AH!" exclaimed Ryota excitedly. "It's him isn't it, Ayako-chan?"
Ayako merely smiled and nodded.
"Oh…." The gundam got it now.
While Sakuragi, "What! What is it? Come on! Tell me!"
"So that's why Haruko was acting so fussy around her all this time," said Noma.
"Hey! Will somebody tell me what the hell is going on!" He was feeling quite bewildered and frustated by then.
"Think hard Sakuragi, and the answer will come to you. In fact here he comes now."
Sakuragi gaped in astonishment as a sleeping Rukawa came into sight on his bicycle. He was jerked awake as he crashed into Sakuragi and landed on top of Ryota while his long suffering bicycle laid on it's side on top of Sakuragi.
"Baka Kitsune!"
Rukawa picked up his bicycle and stopped momentarily before entering the school, "Do'aho"
"Argh! Wait till I get my hands on you!" It took all the gundam and Ryota to hold him down.
"See it now Sakuragi?" asked Ayako calmly.
"You don't mean him do you?"
"Surely you can see the resemblance."
"After all didn't she call you do'aho on the first day of school. Just like him." Yohei interjected.
"Well… now that you guys mention it she does act like him. Waitaminute! You don't mean that's why Haruko-chan… noooooo! They're both girls!"
Prak! "Not like that, you baka. Such a dirty imagination. Haruko probably hasn't realised the real reason for her behaviour around Kazuha - maybe her subconcsious does, so perhaps it's confused and instructing Haruko to behave as she behaved around Rukawa."
"But I don't see her go all girly and giggly and stuff like that around Kazuha."
"Maybe her subconcsious realised the difference in gender, and is altering her behaviour to accommodate the change," Yohei provided.
"Hai hai," the others agreed.
"Ohayo everyone! Why all looking so serious today?"
"Ha-Haruko-chan! Ohayo!" replied (as you guessed it) Sakuragi with a blush.
"Ohayo Haruko-chan. It was nothing, we were just talking about Kazuha- chan," Prak! A lump formed on top of Takamiya head.
"Ho ho ho! Nothing interesting… just stuff," said a slightly embarassed Ayako, fanning her face.
"Kazuha-chan?" then a sigh came out of her mouth, "She is such a cool person. She can do anything she sets her mind on - so smart in class too, although I don't know how she managed that, sleeping between lessons."
"Eh? She sleeps in class too? Hey! Just like-" Prak! Another one landed on Takamiya's head.
"Can't you keep your big mouth shut," said Ayako through gritted teeth.
"Yes, she sleeps in class - not all the time. Usually it's during break time and she looked so tired that I don't have the heart to wake her up after break's over. Ah well, ja ne, see you guys later at practice!" With that, she ran lightly away, her hand waving cheerfully at them.
"Noooooo! My life is ruined now! There's not just one but TWO kitsunes now!" Sakuragi bent over at the waist with his hands covering his face in a dramatic show of anguish. He straightened when he saw Kazuha coming from the other way and pointed, "You! You Haruko-stealer!"
Kazuha barely gave him a glance at his accusation but continued on her way.
"Do'aho… Red monkey."
"Don't mind her Sakuragi," Yohei soothed his best friend.
"Aiii! Life's certainly going to be interesting," commented Miyagi. The others nodded, it certainly will be.
*****
"Not like that, like this," instructed Miyagi. He showed her the correct way to hold the ball.
Kazuha silently followed his hands movements. Taking a deep breath, she passed the ball from one hand to the other repeatedly and with sudden movement, eluded him and shot a slightly clumsy three pointer. The ball spun on the rim for a few seconds before going into the hoop.
"Yosh! That was fantastic Kazuha-chan!" Haruko jumped up and down. "Only four weeks practice and you're playing as good as anyone else in the team. Well, almost."
Akagi, Miyagi, Mitsui and Sakuragi huffed and puffed, feeling proud of themselves. Every one of them taught her something of their own, and the end product was a mixture of everyone. By normal standards, anyone should have only taken in less than half of what have been taught to Kazuha. But she had a determined look about her and she practiced intensely if not with the team, by herself.
She also looked less uptight and her movements were more relaxed - although her vocabulary remained limited. Sakuragi had also given her a nickname (since he couldn't call her kitsune - it would be too confusing having 2 kitsunes running around), so he called her "aisu" (ice) to get a reaction out of her - but Kazuha being Kazuha ignored him.
Rukawa, to the surprise and amazement of everyone, had approached her one day when she repeatedly made a mistake and showed her how it was supposed to be done.
As a whole, it seemed that the team had adopted Mitsuhito Kazuha. Even Anzai-Sensei accepted her, he looked into her eyes and without a word merely nodded when she came for the second time to the basketball practice.
"Kazuha-chan! There's someone to meet you!" shouted Ayako from the entrance of the gym.
Kazuha wiped her sweat with a towel and made her way towards where Ayako was standing. It was her grandmother, she looked pale and frail at the moment, not the formidable woman she always was.
"It's your grandfather, he had a heart attack."
*****
It's over now…
Kazuha looked at the frail body lying on the hospital bed, his chest rising and lowering slowly. Her grand-mother sat in the chair on the other side of the bed, holding her grandfather's gnarled hand. She raised the hand and placed it lovingly against her wrinkled cheek. Without a warning, a sob escaped from her mouth and a tear trickled down her cheek.
Kazuha was stumped. Her emotionless grandmother was no longer so, in the face of fear of losing her loved one, she had discarded her mask and was now showing her true self. Something swelled in Kazuha and a sob unexpectedly burst out of her.
She went to the grandmother's side and knelt besides her. For the first time in her life, Kazuha wrapped her arms around another person and said softly, "It's going to be alright."
*****
It was half past nine and her grandmother was fast asleep in her chair, her head laid on the bed and still holding her husband's hand.
I guess this is it, the time for me to be moved to yet another aunt or uncle. She looked at her grandparents and a ghost of a smile appeared briefly. They're too old to even take care of themselves, let alone taking care of me. I guess this scare probably made them realised that.
She wrapped her arms around herself and looked out the window.
But I now have basketball.
Without the Shohoku team it wouldn't mean much - a voice whispered inside her.
It will, she argued. I'll make it matter.
She let out a sigh and picked up her bag. With a last glance towards the occupants of the bed, she headed home to packed up her stuff.