Dilemma – Chapter 2
Disclaimer: Slam Dunk and its Characters do not, in any way, belong to me.
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"Swoosh" The ball fell silently into the net without even touching the rims. It's a three-pointer.
Rukawa went over and picked up his ball, oblivious to all the swooning in the gym.
Akagi shook his head. One Sendoh was bad enough. Practically where ever they practiced, huge groups of girls would follow. Being also Rukawa's captain in High School, Akagi remembered how popular he was back then. And now that Rukawa was also in the team along with Sendoh, he shuddered at the thought of the combined potency of their attraction.
As if in answer to his fears, bouts of nervous giggles filled the gym.
"Hi! Good Afternoon!" Sendoh stood at the entrance of the gym and greeted his teammates with his usual trademark smile.
Upon hearing his only friend's voice, Rukawa turned in the direction of his voice and saw him standing at the entrance, smiling. It was a familiar scene.
His thoughts drifted fleetingly back to the first time he saw Sendoh. It was a practice match between Ryonan High and Shohoku High and Sendoh was in Ryonan back then. He was also late for that game.
/I guess some things never change./
Ignoring the giggles and swooning of his fans, Sendoh walked over to his teammates.
"Gomenasai…was held up by…hmm…some fans." Sendoh smiled sheepishly with one hand behind his head.
Akagi rolled his eyes at the given explanation. "As usual".
Sendoh grinned even wider when he realized that Akagi was not going to give him a lecture today. Over the past year, he had grown real fond of his captain. Akagi was much like his previous captain, Uozumi, but more focused and disciplined.
Sendoh turned his attention over to the new first years and all of them were staring at him in awe cause of his laid-back confidence and also the fact that he was the top 5 players in the country according to last year's ranking. Sendoh smiled encouraging at them and searched the new faces for a particular someone.
His eyes stopped short at a familiar figure and flashing a genuine smile, he strode over to him.
"Ru….sorry, I got held up."
Rukawa nodded but said nothing.
"Wanted to come in early and witness your inauguration as a new team member. Now, you better call me sempai."
Rukawa cocked his head to one side as if acknowledging the joke but still said nothing.
"Well, I didn't know both of you know each other so well." Maki interrupted, noticing the small friendly exchange.
Maki was also now a third year student like Akagi in Kanagawa University. Co-captain of the basketball team.
"Haha…Rukawa and I have been playing one-one together for a couple of months. He has really improved, Maki, you will be surprised." Sendoh gave the younger Rukawa a wink.
The rest of the new players turned to Rukawa and stared, surprised that he had actually played one-one with Sendoh, the team's current ace on a regular basis. Just how good was this guy, they wondered.
Suddenly, a loud but familiar voice boomed across the gym.
"Hello everyone, the Tensai is here!!" The red head announcing his entrance.
"Shut up." A handsome guy with hair that had a beautiful shade of blue scowled from behind, his hands holding onto a sports bag.
Another bout of giggles erupted from around the gym, although this time, the giggles were fewer and softer. Besides Sendoh, Mitsui Hisashi was also popular among the girls with his manly face and deep penetrating eyes. But then he always carried a scowl on his face which explained why he was never mobbed unlike Sendoh.
A loud 'thud' echoed through the gym.
Akagi had given Sakuragi the 'Gori punch' on his head for being so late. Mitsui stared at Akagi, daring him to do the same to him.
"It's not fair!! Gori! Mitsui is just as late as me!" Sakuragi wailed, clearly incensed by the smirk look Mitsui was giving him.
Sendoh looked on incredulously. Sakuragi was still the same as he last saw him about a year ago. Secretly, he wondered why Akagi never ever tried his 'Gori punch' on him even though he's always late. But then he wished he never would.
Rukawa having seen this commotion numerous times during his high school days, just shrugged his shoulders and muttered, "D'aho."
"Nani!! How dare you call me that!" Sakuragi rushed forward, trying to pick a fight with Rukawa.
Both of them had been enemies since they first saw each other in High School. Sakuragi was in love with a girl named Haruko, also Akagi's sister, who happened to have a crush on Rukawa. But however, Sakuragi managed to win over Haruko's heart last year, much to the dismay of Akagi. From then on, things were much better between him and Rukawa.
Sendoh chuckled at the sight of the 2 younger boys who were still bickering. Other than himself, the other person Rukawa talked to the most got to be Sakuragi.
Their attention was averted to the other side of the gym where loud whistles and claps were coming from. Turning towards the source of the noise, they saw that a volleyball practice was underway.
Besides being strong in basket ball, Kanagawa University was also extremely strong in the girls' volleyball. Last year, they were second in the country, losing only to Shoyo University in the finals.
The loudest cheers were reserved for this particular girl in the team. She had long black, shiny hair held up in a ponytail. Her movements were graceful and agile at the same time. Though cheers erupted each time she touched the ball, she seemed oblivious to the distraction and remained fiercely focused.
/It's that girl. The girl I rammed into earlier in the morning. Hmm…She is pretty good despite the bruise I gave her./
Sendoh mused, having seen enough volleyball games to acknowledge her skills.
A thunderous clap from Akagi brought everyone's attention, including Sendoh's back to their own practice.
"This year, we have a real chance of being national champions with the joining of several new members", giving Rukawa a glance and also Sakuragi, albeit it's a grudging one.
"Last year, as you all know, we lost to the eventual champions, Tokyo University in the semi-finals. This year, we got to beat them and also Shoyo University in order to become national champions. Last year, Shoyo managed to pull through into the finals, even though high scorer Soichiro Jin was out with injury throughout the entire competition. This shows that with just Fujima Kenji, Toru and company, they are hard to beat. Besides, Kainan's Kiyota will be joining them this year so they are a force to be reckoned with."
"That wild monkey….I will beat him." Despite Sakuragi's loud exclamation, nobody paid heed to what he said.
"OK, now let's split into two groups and have a game match."
With that, they were split into two groups of five and the only new comers that were selected were Rukawa and Sakuragi. Sendoh, Maki, Mitsui and another two players named Ishi and Noma were in one group while Akagi, Rukawa, Sakuragi and another two players named Aniki and Nakata were in another group.
With a blow of the whistle, an intensive match was underway.
Akagi managed to tip the ball during a jump start against Sendoh and Nakata got hold of the ball. He looked around the court for someone to pass the ball to and sported Rukawa running clear. He faked to his right before passing out the ball to Rukawa on his left, without even looking in that direction.
But Sendoh had anticipated that pass and intercepted it beautifully, making a steal. The crowd screamed as if knowing something spectacular would happen.
Sakuragi ran up to guard Sendoh but was beaten to it by a glaring pale boy who wasn't exactly pleased that his pass was intercepted.
"Kitsune!! I want to guard Sendoh. With your skills, you will never be able to stop him!"
"Shut up!" I will be guarding you, Sakuragi. Let's see how much you have improved." Mitsui said in a taunting manner, mocking him.
"Nani!! How dare you mock at me? I will make you eat your words." Sakuragi was clearly fired up too.
"Looks like we are fated to play against each other, Ru, even though we are on the same team now." Sendoh smiled, thinking back to the first time he played against Rukawa, how he was impressed by his skills and his cool demeanor.
Rukawa looked back at those blue eyes which very much resembled his own except that they reflected warmth instead of coldness. "Let's get it on."
"You ready, here I go!"
With that, Sendoh using his strength, forcefully dribbled his way against Rukawa into the area. With his back facing Rukawa, he faked to his right pretending to attempt a shot but he suddenly sent out a left pass onto the outside of the circle to Mitsui who had now eluded Sakuragi. Mitsui got hold of the ball and shot a 3-pointer, but Sakuragi reappeared and managed to get a touch at the ball.
The ball lost its perfect balance and rebounded off the rim.
At this moment, a strong muscular hand chose to reach out and slammed the ball into the basket. Although it was a one-handed dunk, the impact of the slam was so great that the rim was still reverberating even after Sendoh had landed on the ground.
There was silence and then screams and shouts of 'Sendoh' followed.
Sendoh smiled at the younger Rukawa, slightly amused at the icy cold glare he got in return.
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Yuki looked up from the bag which she was packing her stuff into, towards where the cheers of anticipation were coming from. She looked up just in time to see a player sending out a perfect pass onto his teammate to attempt a shot, only for it to be tap by a funny redhead. The next thing she knew, the earlier guy who had sent out the pass had done a spectacular one-handed dunk.
Yuki was momentarily stunned by that display of power. Deafening cheers then erupted from around the gym.
/Well…that was something. That guy's not bad/
Noticing that most of the screaming spectators were girls. Yuki took a closer look at the guy who was by now smiling at his teammate.
/That smile….seems so familiar. And that hairstyle…/
Yuki's eyes widened at the recognition. He was the guy who rammed into her this morning and caused her to develop a huge lump on her forehead.
/It's that baka./
"Hey, Yuki, what you looking at? Ready to go?" A voice from behind her interrupted her thoughts.
Yuki quickly turned around and nodded.
"Who you looking at so intently?" Her friend peered over her shoulders.
"Ohh…Sendoh Akira. He is the ace player of the Basketball team and also happens to be one of the most sought after guy in the school…hmmm…no…make it the prefecture. Don't tell me you also got a crush on him?" Her friend asked in a surprised manner.
Yuki was known as the Ice Queen. It would really be shocking if she ever took interest in any guys.
*Flashback*
"My name is Sendoh Akira, I am a sophomore. What's your name?"
*End of Flashback*
"No. He knocked into me this morning and gave me this bruise." Yuki said as a matter-of-factly, pointing to her bruise at the same time.
"Ohh…he is the baka you mentioned earlier."
"Yup" With that, Yuki picked up her sports bag and left the gym, with her friend in tow.
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TBC