DISCLAIMER: The only thing I own in this story is the plot, nothing else. So go sue someone else.
P/S: The charas are slightly OOC—can't help it, you know.

~

            Sakuragi sipped his milkshake absentmindedly. The table was quiet. Miyagi tried to crack up some (silly) jokes but no one laughed, much to his irritation. Kogure, however, was too absorbed in his Chemistry book to join in the conversation—only there wasn't any.
            "Hey, Sakuragi…are you getting restless?" asked Mitsui. "If you are then how's about a one-on-one with me? That'll work you out." He grinned.
            Sakuragi nodded. He got up and departed first, Mitsui trailing behind him.
            "I'd better get going now," murmured Ayako, nodding to Haruko. "My mom will be worried."
            "Yes, my oniichan too." Haruko got up along with Ayako.
            "Hey, wait! Who's going to pay for the bill?" asked Miyagi.

             This is one weird day. How come I'm feeling low even with Haruko-san's presence? What's going on here? Don't tell me I'm sick! He felt his forehead for any temperature. Nope, I'm still 37 degrees. Then what the hell is wrong with me?
            "Sakuragi! Watch out for the lamppost!" warned Mitsui.
            "What lamppost? Argh, itai!!!" Sakuragi banged his face. He rubbed his aching nose to make sure it was still in shape. "Why didn't you inform me?"
            "I did, ahou, I did!" Mitsui insisted, hiding his amusement. "You're the one with slower reflexes!"
            "Speak for yourself, Mitchy!"
            "Just start walking all ready. Time is precious, you know." Mitsui resumed his pace.
            Sakuragi gave him a death glare from behind. While he was walking, he saw a black cat mewing endlessly. The cat eyed him sharply.
            "I have a bad feeling about this…" He sighed and ran after Mitsui.

            Akagi yawned. He was tired. He had just completed a day of hard basketball training and then his mother asked him to buy some groceries. GROCERY SHOPPING? The two words usually meant smelly fishes, meat and other edibles and going to the marketplace—the last place on earth he would ever think of stepping into.
            "Why me?" he muttered loudly, attracting attention from the bystanders. "Why not Haruko? She's the one who should be buying all these, but why me?" He shook his shopping list forcibly.
            Ten minutes had elapsed. In his right hand, was a bag full of fishes and meat. Akagi would rather die than meeting any of the team members at that moment. They would be laughing their heads off seeing the authoritative captain of team shopping for foodstuff. He waited for the lights to turn green. As soon as it did, Akagi marched quickly to cross.
            Out of the blue, a car came speeding, not showing any signs of stopping. The black sports car was racing exactly in Akagi's direction.
            Akagi turned to look, his mouth wide open. Nothing came out. The next second, everything went pitch black.

            "I'll get the phone!" offered Haruko cheerfully. She ran to the telephone and answered it. "Hello, Akagi residence—yes, Akagi Takenori, but he's not home yet—"
            "He's in hospital right now."
            "Nani!?" Haruko's eyes were bulging out of its sockets in shock.
            "He just got involved in an accident. It's best for you to see him now."
            Haruko stammered. "Hai, wakatta. Arigatou gozaimasu, sensei." The receiver slipped from her shaking hand.
            "Anything wrong, Haruko?" asked Mrs. Akagi.
            Haruko goggled at her, a shocked expression on her face. "Oniichan is in hospital!"

            Kogure scribbled his Physics notes into his workbook. As soon as that was over, he moved on to his Additional Mathematics homework. He was having fun doing schoolwork. There was nothing like a strenuous exercise in basketball and homework to complete afterwards—to him, that is.
            "There's a phone call waiting for you downstairs, son." His father's voice interrupted his mind at work.
            "I'll answer it, otou-san."
            "Your mother has been calling you for the past five minutes. Didn't you hear her?"
            "She did? Gomen ne, I was too busy with my schoolwork. It started first with my looking for the value of a, then b—"
            His father stopped him from going on until he reached z. "The phone. It's your headmaster."
            "Oh, yes, nearly forgot." Kogure ran down the stairs to get the phone. "Hello, Kogure Kiminobu speaking. Oh, hello Murada-sensei."
            "I'm calling to inform you of your application for the student-exchange-programme you signed up for last month."
            "Yes?" Kogure's heart skipped a beat.
            "I'm happy to say you're chosen. So you'll be off to Korea for two months."
            "Hontou ni? Oh, thank god!"
            "So you'll have to get ready. You'll be going next week."
            "Thank you, Murada-sensei!" Kogure practically bowed. He bid him goodbye and replaced the receiver.
            "I'm going to Korea next week—for two whole months starting next week—eh, matte!" He paused. "That means I won't be playing against Kainan!"

            "He's going to be fine." The doctor who attended to Akagi, Dr. Hajime Murasaki explained. "Only his right leg is broken—that's the worst injury he got. The others are merely minor bruises and such. He can handle them—being a big boy that he is." The doctor laughed whilst the Akagi household sweatdropped.
            "Onii-chan!" ejaculated Haruko as she entered Akagi's ward.
            Akagi muttered something inaudible. His right leg was in a cast, his eyes glaring at it. His left cheek was plastered and his forehead bandaged.
            "The fishes and the meat are ruined," he told his mother dryly.
            "Oh, who cares about the fishes! The main thing is that you're safe!" Mrs. Akagi smothered Akagi's face with motherly kisses, thus hurting Akagi at the same time.
            "You're harming him," Mr. Akagi told his wife.
            "Onii-chan—" wailed Haruko.
            "Nan de?" asked Akagi, frowning deep.
            "—can I sign your cast? Pretty please?"
            Akagi groaned in response. The cast is bad enough—now it has Haruko's signature on it! Oh, the humiliation!

            Sakuragi lied on his bed. He had just taken a nice, warm bath and now he was able to think more clearly. About many things that lingered in his thoughts.
            The game with Kainan. The words echoed in the perimeters of his brain cells. The previous night, he had the same dream—more like remembrance of the bitter defeat. The bitter defeat he had caused for the whole team. Everyone tried their very best, gave it their best shot, and he blew it all. With a simple action, he shattered everyone's dream into pieces. It was a strange thing no one actually scolded and blamed him directly for that and that made him feel guiltier. Even Rukawa—even the ice king blamed himself for the tragedy and not him, the do'aho. Not even one tiny bit.
            Sakuragi's eyes glued at the ceiling. Why on earth did kitsune blame himself and not me? Heck, why am I even thinking about him in the first place? Because it didn't seem like him…He was different that night. Sure, his selfishness caused him to think that way but is that all there is to it?
            Sakuragi smiled to himself. Why am I even trying to understand what he thinks? I am undoubtedly confused. His mind immediately thought of the black cat he saw earlier. He did not believe in superstitions, but that was about to change.
            He yawned and drifted off to sleep.

            The next day has arrived. The team was in the basketball court, waiting for Akagi. They sill had no idea about Akagi's unfortunate accident.
            "Gori's late." Sakuragi mumbled over and over again. "And he say he's always on time."
            Ayako joined the boys after inquiring about Akagi's absence. "I have one bad news, everyone."
            Everyone stopped talking in an instant, noticing the seriousness in Ayako's tone. This, of course, did not apply to Rukawa since he was not a talkative person.
            "It seems that Akagi-sempai is involved in some kind of an accident yesterday."
            The boys sucked in their breath in surprise.
            "Apparently he was shopping for a few groceries—"
            "Akagi buying groceries??" interjected Miyagi, unable to refrain himself. He was on a verge of laughing.
            "Yes, fishes, meats and some other vegetables—"
            By then everyone imagined a Gori holding a bag filled with fishes. The team snorted, obviously trying very hard not to laugh at the vision. Rukawa had a weird look on his face.
            "As a result, he broke his right leg. The doctor informed that he would not be able to play basketball for three whole months, due to his condition."
            "Poor Akagi must be heartbroken!" Mitsui chipped in.
            At that second. an image of a gorilla in bed with a cast on his right leg entered everyone's mind. Make that a crying gorilla in bed with a cast on his right leg.
            "So I'm sure this means that Akagi won't be playing with us against Kainan." Ayako frowned.
            "Don't worry, Aya-chan," Miyagi voiced out. "There are still the rest of us. I mean, we can't rely on guv'nor forever, now can we?"
            "Ryota, when did you get all sensible and logical?" asked Ayako, obviously impressed by Miyagi's words.
            "Yeah, as long as you have this tensai we won't lose!" Sakuragi laughed boisterously.
            "He's back. He has gotten over his sadness yesterday." Mitsui shook his head, smiling at the same time.
            Rukawa rolled his eyes coldly. Do'aho`s will be do'aho`s for the rest of their lives…
            Kogure entered the gym, not looking cheerful as usual.
            "Sempai! Have you heard the news?" asked Ayako.
            Kogure held his hand up. "Before that I have something to say—a bad news, I fear."
            Every eye stared at him. They did not think they could accept another bad news after what they heard about Akagi's case.
            "I'm really sorry, but—" Kogure lowered his head.
            "Sempai?"
            "I won't be playing for the friendly game against Kainan."
            The rest were expecting the worst once they heard what their vice-captain had said…
            "Doushite? Doushite, sempai?" demanded Ayako.
            "You look fine and healthy to me, megane-kun. What's the reason?" asked Sakuragi.
            "I'll be going on a student exchange programme next week…to Korea…"
            "Kogure! But you could refuse—"
            Kogure shook his head. "I tried negotiating with Murada-san, but he maintained that the game is only a friendly match, not as important as Inter High or something else. He didn't allow me to cancel—"
            "And what do your parents say about this?" questioned Mitsui.
            "They prefer to have me going for the student-exchange programme."
            There was absolute silence. Everyone was thinking about the same thing.
            "There's nothing else you can do, sempai," said Ayako. "It's better for you to go—since it's your parents' wish."
            "But will you be all right?" asked Kogure.
            "We will be fine, don't worry." Mitsui grabbed a basketball. "Wait for our good news."
            Kogure nodded in reply.
            "Aren't you going to tell him about Akagi?" asked Sakuragi, whispering to Ayako.
            The girl shook her head. "It'll ruin his concentration to go to Korea. I know he's been looking forward to this programme even though he doesn't show it, Sakuragi. I reckon it's better if we keep him in the dark about this."
            "Sakuragi Hanamichi! What are you whispering to Ayako about?" demanded Miyagi, enviously.
            "Nothing important Ryochin!"
            Ayako slapped her tessen on Miyagi's head. "Go and start the game!"
            "Hai, Aya-chan~" Miyagi ran off.
            Little did they know things were going from bad to worse. They would find out soon enough.

~{tsuzuku}~

A/N: Chapter two done. Chapter #3 will take awhile to upload due to some unavoidable reasons. Flames and reviews are both welcomed, though I must say I prefer the latter *grins*. Hai, thanks for reading! *bows*