Part 4
I rushed to the gym where the Miuradai game was held. It was over.
I saw Kogure starting to walk towards the locker room.
"Where is Micchy?" I asked.
Kogure couldn't speak for awhile. "Um, I think he's resting 'cuz he's tired- "
"Then I'll take care of him!" I opened the door to the locker room. "B-but Niki-"
"C'mon Megane-san. Micchy's my best bud." I said. "See 'ya 'round." Kogure sighed.
When I went in, almost everybody was done.
"Hi Niki," Yasuda greeted me.
"Hello," I answered. Then I spotted Ryota.
"Where's Micchy?" I asked him.
Ryota, like Kogure, could not speak for a while. He swallowed hard and bit his lip. "Please, don't. get mad. at Mitsui-san, ok?"
"Why?" I asked.
"Because he.he. he broke your promise," Miyagi said.
I furrowed my brow. "What do you mean?" I asked. Ryota didn't answer. Then I just remembered. Our phone call last night. He promised.
"What happened to him?!" I demanded Ryota.
"Well.. It wasn't that bad but-"
I didn't wait for Ryota to finish. I ran to where Micchy was.
Then I saw Mitsui wearing his jacket. "Mitsui!" I called angrily. Sure enough, he had many bandages on. I ran to him and slapped him. "You promised!"
Mitsui couldn't answer. He just looked at the floor.
"You promised me that nothing will happen to you!"
"I know. But. I had to help Tetsuo. He's my friend!" he said.
"But I'm your best friend!" I retorted. "What if you got really hurt? What if they killed you?!" I shook him. "I hate you!"
"But he's my friend too! My old friends were going to hit Tetsuo! Who knows, they might kill him too! Please understand-"
"But Mitsui, you promised-"
"But this is one promise that I have to break! I'm sorry."
"I hate you!" Then I slapped him again.
"Go on, slap me more. I have to admit, I broke my promise." Mitsui uttered silently. I couldn't move my hand. I was just crying in front of him.
"Go on and slap me again!" he roared. "What are you waiting for?!?"
I just ran away.
"Dammit!" I heard Mitsui shout and kick the lockers.
Then I bumped into Kaede. He looked at me. "Why are you crying?" He asked. Then I wiped away my tears.
Kaede and I sat on a bleacher together. He put his left arm over my shoulder. "What's wrong?" He asked gently.
I tried to suppress the other tears. I tried to speak. "M-M-Mitsui." I stuttered. "He got hurt. He fought with his old friends. He-"
"Mitsui-san didn't fight. Hanamichi was with Mitsui that time. Mitsui was almost hit but he didn't fight back. Hanamichi came to his rescue and to Mitsui's friend's rescue as well. Then Sakuragi and Mitsui didn't fight. Yohei, Tetsuo and the rest of the gang handled the fight." Kaede explained.
"But still, something happened to him. And he promised he would come home okay." I said, sniffling.
"That is a promise broken," Kaede said. "But if you promised Mitsui that you wouldn't kill anybody but had to kill when they hurt your friend Ami, wouldn't you break your promise to Mitsui too? Like that, Tetsuo is his friend. He has to come and 'save' him. That's an act of courage, right?" Kaede asked.
"Yeah. I guess you're right." I said, wiping away the stray tears on my eyes.
"C'mon, let's go. Say sorry to Mitsui for slapping him." Kaede took my hand.
I looked at him. "Will he forgive me? I hurt him a lot,"
"He will forgive you, I'm sure. You're his best bud, right?" Kaede asked.
"Okay. Thanks." I hugged Kaede. Then we walked back to the locker room.
Inside, we spotted Mitsui. He was almost leaving.
"Mitsui. I'm sorry." I said. "I don't know how to say this but. I'm really sorry for what I did. You have bruises and wounds and yet I hurt you more. I'm really sorry. I hope you forgive me." I apologized. Mitsui was just staring at the floor.
"Kaede told me everything. If you're not ready to forgive me yet it's okay. I'm gonna go now." And I started to leave.
"Niki." Mitsui called me. "I'll forgive you if." he glanced at me. ".If you forgive me too."
I started to smile. "Oh of course I have forgiven you." I went to Mitsui and hugged him. "If it weren't for Rukawa I would've still been close- minded."
Mitsui looked at Rukawa. Rukawa was looking out the window. "Hey Rukawa," Mitsui said. "Thanks."
Kaede didn't answer. Instead he turned his back and started to leave. "I know you're still cold towards me but, what you did was great. Thanks." Mitsui thanked Rukawa. But Rukawa didn't budge. Mitsui just sighed.
"Let's go." I took his hand. "How many points did you get?"
"Oh, um, about eighteen," Mitsui answered. And we talked about the game until we went home.
+++
When I arrived at school, the students were laughing at Hanamichi.
"Hey Sakuragi, I heard you're now the King of the Fouls." I said. Micchy laughed.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Sakuragi snapped. Then I went to him and patted his back. "But Sakuragi, you know, I think you're not what they think you are. I think you're a sensible player with a great potential. You're just starting out that's why that's normal. But maybe if you have been training for years now, maybe you would be the ace of Shohoku." I encouraged him.
"Really? You think so?" Sakuragi asked him.
"Of course! You're the genius, right?" I reminded him.
"Oh yes, I forgot about that, hahahahahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!" And Sakuragi went on his self-ego-boosting.
After we left him, I asked Mitsui whom would they face next.
"A couple of teams then if we're lucky enough, we might face Shoyo." He answered.
"H-hey. Weren't they the 2nd best team in the Kanagawa Prefecture last year?" I asked him. Micchy nodded.
"We need to win in order to get in the Inter-High Tournament. That's the Seniors' dream." Mitsui looked at me. "And obviously, I'm a senior so that's my dream, too."
"Well, then if it's your dream, then it's now my dream, too." I said with a smile.
"Thanks. You're really supportive." Micchy said. And he brought me to my classroom.
+++
Shohoku won all the next games. And sure enough, our school will compete with Shoyo next. I was overexcited because it was the first time I was going to watch a big game. I wasn't able to watch the others because they were on a school day. But now they made the game extra-special that they scheduled it on a weekend.
Before the game, I said my good lucks to the team. Especially to Micchy and Rukawa. I looked at the bench of the Shoyo people. They were so many! You will never see school spirit as great as Shoyo's. There were cheerers on the bleachers with composed cheers. And there were the supporters as well.
Well, don't ask about Shohoku.
Anyway, I was with the gang of Sakuragi, Ami, Haruko, and her two other friends. We were all so overwhelmed with the Shoyo spirit. We couldn't help dropping our jaws.
"Oh my gosh! Look at all the people!" Haruko gasped.
Then, suddenly, I still felt the need to see Micchy. I stood up.
"Where are you going?" Ami asked.
"I'm going to their locker room." I told her.
"Okay, but come back immediately, okay? The game's gonna start soon. We don't want you to be stranded in the huge crowd." Ami said.
"Sure. I'll be back in a jiffy!" I said as I left.
As I entered the way to the locker room, I saw some huge guys from the other team. One guy with a number six jersey was so ugly. I looked at him in disgust. He looked at me too. Then, I heard them talk.
"I'm gonna beat that Hisashi Mitsui. You'll see. He's over. His basketball days are over." I turned around to cuss at them. But they were already gone.
That ugly bastard! They'll see! Micchy is no ordinary player! He was once an MVP!
Then, Mitsui bumped into me.
"Hey!" we both said at the same time. Mitsui panted. "Niki," Micchy held on to my shoulders.
"What is it?" I asked.
"Did you see some Shoyo Players walking around? One has a number six jersey."
"Of course I did! I was about to tell you something about that freako!" I cried. "He said your bball days were over and he was going to beat you! That assface!"
"Niki. He said he's not gonna let me score more than five points. Please Niki, pray for me and the team. Don't let him beat me. I wanna prove to everybody that I can still play." Micchy squeezed my hand. "Please." He smiled.
"Of course you'll still score." I looked at him and smiled. "You're the best, right?"
"Thanks." Mitsui thanked me. "By the way, why are you here?"
I looked at him. Then Rukawa passed by. I looked at Rukawa, then Micchy.
"Is it because of him?" Micchy asked, again, with a sudden decadence in his voice.
"If my reason was really Kaede, then are you jealous?" I asked with a grin.
Micchy turned red. "Of course not!"
"You're defensive." I remarked, then I slapped him jokingly on the face.
"Hey." Micchy said. "Go back to the bleachers. We're gonna start soon."
"Okay. Good luck, best buddy." I hugged him then I left. When I looked back, he was still looking at me. Then he went back to the Shohoku locker room.
+++
"Go, go, Shoyo!! Fight, fight, Shoyo!"
That was the cheer of the Shoyo High School Team.
"Argh, could somebody JUST PLEASE cheer for Shohoku?! It seems as if Shohoku is not in this game!" One friend of Haruko cried. We all shook our heads. Tsk, tsk.
I put my hands together for a silent prayer for Shohoku, especially Mitchy and Rukawa.
Please Lord, let Shohoku win. It's their dream. Please let Rukawa do the best he can. Please let Micchy shoot more than five points. I don't want him to be disappointed. I know he wants to prove to everybody that he can still play.
I opened my eyes. I looked at the Shohoku Team. They were already going out. I looked at Kaede. Then Mitsui. Do well, best bud.
He looked at me. He smiled and gave a thumbs-up. I smiled back and gave a thumbs-up to Mitsui too. Then, I looked at Rukawa. He was already getting ready.
After a few moments, the game was already getting ready for a jumpball. One, two, three. JUMPBALL!
Akagi was the one who hit the ball. We cheered. Thank You, Lord! Then, the referee whistled. Foul.
TO AKAGI?!?
"Oh my gosh. it's a jumpball violation." Haruko said. Then she explained what a jumpball violation was.
This is getting freaky.
We watched the game. The game that was at Shoyo's pace.
+++
I rushed to the gym where the Miuradai game was held. It was over.
I saw Kogure starting to walk towards the locker room.
"Where is Micchy?" I asked.
Kogure couldn't speak for awhile. "Um, I think he's resting 'cuz he's tired- "
"Then I'll take care of him!" I opened the door to the locker room. "B-but Niki-"
"C'mon Megane-san. Micchy's my best bud." I said. "See 'ya 'round." Kogure sighed.
When I went in, almost everybody was done.
"Hi Niki," Yasuda greeted me.
"Hello," I answered. Then I spotted Ryota.
"Where's Micchy?" I asked him.
Ryota, like Kogure, could not speak for a while. He swallowed hard and bit his lip. "Please, don't. get mad. at Mitsui-san, ok?"
"Why?" I asked.
"Because he.he. he broke your promise," Miyagi said.
I furrowed my brow. "What do you mean?" I asked. Ryota didn't answer. Then I just remembered. Our phone call last night. He promised.
"What happened to him?!" I demanded Ryota.
"Well.. It wasn't that bad but-"
I didn't wait for Ryota to finish. I ran to where Micchy was.
Then I saw Mitsui wearing his jacket. "Mitsui!" I called angrily. Sure enough, he had many bandages on. I ran to him and slapped him. "You promised!"
Mitsui couldn't answer. He just looked at the floor.
"You promised me that nothing will happen to you!"
"I know. But. I had to help Tetsuo. He's my friend!" he said.
"But I'm your best friend!" I retorted. "What if you got really hurt? What if they killed you?!" I shook him. "I hate you!"
"But he's my friend too! My old friends were going to hit Tetsuo! Who knows, they might kill him too! Please understand-"
"But Mitsui, you promised-"
"But this is one promise that I have to break! I'm sorry."
"I hate you!" Then I slapped him again.
"Go on, slap me more. I have to admit, I broke my promise." Mitsui uttered silently. I couldn't move my hand. I was just crying in front of him.
"Go on and slap me again!" he roared. "What are you waiting for?!?"
I just ran away.
"Dammit!" I heard Mitsui shout and kick the lockers.
Then I bumped into Kaede. He looked at me. "Why are you crying?" He asked. Then I wiped away my tears.
Kaede and I sat on a bleacher together. He put his left arm over my shoulder. "What's wrong?" He asked gently.
I tried to suppress the other tears. I tried to speak. "M-M-Mitsui." I stuttered. "He got hurt. He fought with his old friends. He-"
"Mitsui-san didn't fight. Hanamichi was with Mitsui that time. Mitsui was almost hit but he didn't fight back. Hanamichi came to his rescue and to Mitsui's friend's rescue as well. Then Sakuragi and Mitsui didn't fight. Yohei, Tetsuo and the rest of the gang handled the fight." Kaede explained.
"But still, something happened to him. And he promised he would come home okay." I said, sniffling.
"That is a promise broken," Kaede said. "But if you promised Mitsui that you wouldn't kill anybody but had to kill when they hurt your friend Ami, wouldn't you break your promise to Mitsui too? Like that, Tetsuo is his friend. He has to come and 'save' him. That's an act of courage, right?" Kaede asked.
"Yeah. I guess you're right." I said, wiping away the stray tears on my eyes.
"C'mon, let's go. Say sorry to Mitsui for slapping him." Kaede took my hand.
I looked at him. "Will he forgive me? I hurt him a lot,"
"He will forgive you, I'm sure. You're his best bud, right?" Kaede asked.
"Okay. Thanks." I hugged Kaede. Then we walked back to the locker room.
Inside, we spotted Mitsui. He was almost leaving.
"Mitsui. I'm sorry." I said. "I don't know how to say this but. I'm really sorry for what I did. You have bruises and wounds and yet I hurt you more. I'm really sorry. I hope you forgive me." I apologized. Mitsui was just staring at the floor.
"Kaede told me everything. If you're not ready to forgive me yet it's okay. I'm gonna go now." And I started to leave.
"Niki." Mitsui called me. "I'll forgive you if." he glanced at me. ".If you forgive me too."
I started to smile. "Oh of course I have forgiven you." I went to Mitsui and hugged him. "If it weren't for Rukawa I would've still been close- minded."
Mitsui looked at Rukawa. Rukawa was looking out the window. "Hey Rukawa," Mitsui said. "Thanks."
Kaede didn't answer. Instead he turned his back and started to leave. "I know you're still cold towards me but, what you did was great. Thanks." Mitsui thanked Rukawa. But Rukawa didn't budge. Mitsui just sighed.
"Let's go." I took his hand. "How many points did you get?"
"Oh, um, about eighteen," Mitsui answered. And we talked about the game until we went home.
+++
When I arrived at school, the students were laughing at Hanamichi.
"Hey Sakuragi, I heard you're now the King of the Fouls." I said. Micchy laughed.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Sakuragi snapped. Then I went to him and patted his back. "But Sakuragi, you know, I think you're not what they think you are. I think you're a sensible player with a great potential. You're just starting out that's why that's normal. But maybe if you have been training for years now, maybe you would be the ace of Shohoku." I encouraged him.
"Really? You think so?" Sakuragi asked him.
"Of course! You're the genius, right?" I reminded him.
"Oh yes, I forgot about that, hahahahahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!" And Sakuragi went on his self-ego-boosting.
After we left him, I asked Mitsui whom would they face next.
"A couple of teams then if we're lucky enough, we might face Shoyo." He answered.
"H-hey. Weren't they the 2nd best team in the Kanagawa Prefecture last year?" I asked him. Micchy nodded.
"We need to win in order to get in the Inter-High Tournament. That's the Seniors' dream." Mitsui looked at me. "And obviously, I'm a senior so that's my dream, too."
"Well, then if it's your dream, then it's now my dream, too." I said with a smile.
"Thanks. You're really supportive." Micchy said. And he brought me to my classroom.
+++
Shohoku won all the next games. And sure enough, our school will compete with Shoyo next. I was overexcited because it was the first time I was going to watch a big game. I wasn't able to watch the others because they were on a school day. But now they made the game extra-special that they scheduled it on a weekend.
Before the game, I said my good lucks to the team. Especially to Micchy and Rukawa. I looked at the bench of the Shoyo people. They were so many! You will never see school spirit as great as Shoyo's. There were cheerers on the bleachers with composed cheers. And there were the supporters as well.
Well, don't ask about Shohoku.
Anyway, I was with the gang of Sakuragi, Ami, Haruko, and her two other friends. We were all so overwhelmed with the Shoyo spirit. We couldn't help dropping our jaws.
"Oh my gosh! Look at all the people!" Haruko gasped.
Then, suddenly, I still felt the need to see Micchy. I stood up.
"Where are you going?" Ami asked.
"I'm going to their locker room." I told her.
"Okay, but come back immediately, okay? The game's gonna start soon. We don't want you to be stranded in the huge crowd." Ami said.
"Sure. I'll be back in a jiffy!" I said as I left.
As I entered the way to the locker room, I saw some huge guys from the other team. One guy with a number six jersey was so ugly. I looked at him in disgust. He looked at me too. Then, I heard them talk.
"I'm gonna beat that Hisashi Mitsui. You'll see. He's over. His basketball days are over." I turned around to cuss at them. But they were already gone.
That ugly bastard! They'll see! Micchy is no ordinary player! He was once an MVP!
Then, Mitsui bumped into me.
"Hey!" we both said at the same time. Mitsui panted. "Niki," Micchy held on to my shoulders.
"What is it?" I asked.
"Did you see some Shoyo Players walking around? One has a number six jersey."
"Of course I did! I was about to tell you something about that freako!" I cried. "He said your bball days were over and he was going to beat you! That assface!"
"Niki. He said he's not gonna let me score more than five points. Please Niki, pray for me and the team. Don't let him beat me. I wanna prove to everybody that I can still play." Micchy squeezed my hand. "Please." He smiled.
"Of course you'll still score." I looked at him and smiled. "You're the best, right?"
"Thanks." Mitsui thanked me. "By the way, why are you here?"
I looked at him. Then Rukawa passed by. I looked at Rukawa, then Micchy.
"Is it because of him?" Micchy asked, again, with a sudden decadence in his voice.
"If my reason was really Kaede, then are you jealous?" I asked with a grin.
Micchy turned red. "Of course not!"
"You're defensive." I remarked, then I slapped him jokingly on the face.
"Hey." Micchy said. "Go back to the bleachers. We're gonna start soon."
"Okay. Good luck, best buddy." I hugged him then I left. When I looked back, he was still looking at me. Then he went back to the Shohoku locker room.
+++
"Go, go, Shoyo!! Fight, fight, Shoyo!"
That was the cheer of the Shoyo High School Team.
"Argh, could somebody JUST PLEASE cheer for Shohoku?! It seems as if Shohoku is not in this game!" One friend of Haruko cried. We all shook our heads. Tsk, tsk.
I put my hands together for a silent prayer for Shohoku, especially Mitchy and Rukawa.
Please Lord, let Shohoku win. It's their dream. Please let Rukawa do the best he can. Please let Micchy shoot more than five points. I don't want him to be disappointed. I know he wants to prove to everybody that he can still play.
I opened my eyes. I looked at the Shohoku Team. They were already going out. I looked at Kaede. Then Mitsui. Do well, best bud.
He looked at me. He smiled and gave a thumbs-up. I smiled back and gave a thumbs-up to Mitsui too. Then, I looked at Rukawa. He was already getting ready.
After a few moments, the game was already getting ready for a jumpball. One, two, three. JUMPBALL!
Akagi was the one who hit the ball. We cheered. Thank You, Lord! Then, the referee whistled. Foul.
TO AKAGI?!?
"Oh my gosh. it's a jumpball violation." Haruko said. Then she explained what a jumpball violation was.
This is getting freaky.
We watched the game. The game that was at Shoyo's pace.
+++