Don't Let ME Lose It
Chapter 1 (AND THE ONLY CHAPTER)
It was late January (A.N: I am not really sure when this game is really suppose to be held, okay? Just made it up) and Ryonan High needs to win today's game to enter the IH and be proclaimed as the champions or the second place. One wrong move will strip them out of the opportunity and the one chance in entering the Nationals.
A year has passed, and Sendoh is now the captain of Ryonan. They haven't won the tournament for a very long time and Sendoh is planning to win this time. They were in the same position as last year, but this year would be different, he had a very good feeling about it.
The Ryonan Bus arrived at the coliseum hours before their game to avoid the raging crowd. Sendoh Akira was to first the step out of the bus. As a routine, he looked around his surrounding and marveled at the height of the building. He noticed a new flower had bloomed beside the tree near another team bus. It was the bus of Shohoku High, their opponent for today's game.
When the school of Shohoku was mentioned, the horrible image that pops in his mind was that fox, Rukawa. They never exchanged words that much but it was enough to know that Rukawa doesn't like him that much. He doesn't like that idea of being second best and Sendoh was the closest match. Well, for Sendoh, the feeling is mutual.
Ryota Miyagi stepped out of the bus, his earring on his left ear flashed. He stared at Sendoh with that gangster look the Shohoku members were known for, and left. Meanwhile, Sakuragi was eyeing Fukuda who has stepped out of the just seconds ago, remembering the wound he gave him the year back. Sakuragi made faces at him that 'Fuku' just ignored.
"How come I have a feeling I won't get tired of Sakuragi's Foolishness?" Sendoh presupposed.
"That's what you think," Fukuda replied, going back inside the bus to tell everyone to go inside the lockers, where coach Taoka would meet them.
They entered the hallway of the coliseum and after turning at a few corners, they reached the door with "Ryonan High" sign posted on it.
The locker room was the same old spacious room they get practically every game they have. A big table was placed in the center of the room. A few benches, a drink machine and a water fountain were found beside the lockers. They all dropped in the benches and started planning their strategies on how to defeat Shohoku.
* * *
The coliseum was already full of people an hour before the game would start. Meantime, they played a game that required the audience's participation. Ten contestants were chosen: nine were guys and only one girl dared to try. Whoever among them can shoot the most number of three-point shots in one minute will have a chance to play one-on-one with his or her favorite player.
Upon hearing this, the whole team of Ryonan rushed to the court to watch. Who knows, one of them might be the one chosen.
There were six racks in the three point area, each containing five balls. The first contestant positioned himself beside the rack on the right side. The timer started so he began shooting. His first shot was an air ball, the second was in and the third bounced out. This continued randomly in his play until the allotted time was over. Thirteen three pointers went inside the basket. The second contestant didn't do any better and so did the third but the fourth out did them all.
"What's your name, son?" the emcee asked the fourth contestant.
"Ken," replied the contestant.
"Okay Ken, it's your turn!"
Ken had nineteen balls that went in the basket. The other contestants gave him a high five. Are you familiar with the saying, 'the birds with the same feather, flock together'? In this case, the guys grouped together, the girl left out.
The remaining contestants followed, though none of them surpassed Ken. The brunette woman chose to be the last. Finally, the emcee asked for her name. Ryo was what she said her name was. She stepped forward and started her play. Her first shot was an air ball, so was her second, third, fourth and finally the fifth. She looked disappointed, the other contestants laughing with Ken, so smug about his 'sure victory'.
Surprisingly, as she moved for the second rack, a smile spread across her face. At that moment, all of her shots went perfectly through the net with the incredible swoosh sound as it went in.
'Oh, I just love that sound.' Sendoh thought, triumphantly, as if he was the one who was wining. 'Never thought she was that good.'
She continued her perfect form and perfect play. It was obvious she is the winner, having twenty-five basketballs. The audience was so sure that her last ball would go in but as she jumped and took the shot, her shot was short. She shrugged as the audience released moans, sighs and even rolling of eyes.
The crowd erupted in cheers when she was announced the winner. For the two competing teams, they were laughing out loud with Sakuragi's constant protests that she could have won because she missed five shots and Rukawa's frequent 'aho's. As usual, Ayako's paper fan came flying out of nowhere and landed on their heads.
"Whoa!" the emcee said with that fake expression in his voice. 'That was great! For that, you choose a player."
Accepting the microphone, she announced, "I challenge Sendoh Akira." His teammates cheered for him in a teasing way especially Hikoichi, who kept poking him in the ribs. He jogged towards the girl with the constant cheering from his club (A.N: Hey! Rukawa is not the only one with the fan club here!) And, of course, they also released noises, envious of the girl who challenged him.
"Yo." He said, offering a hand. "Sendoh Akira." She just stared at his hand, not even excited to have experienced such an opportunity. 'Guess, she's really serious bout this.'
"Yo" she finally said, her light brown eyes fixed steadily at his.
"Are you ready?" he asked.
"Ha!" she exclaims in disbelief. "I believe the question is, are you ready… for me?" Then she laughed as if it were a joke.
"Haha. Hilarious, Ryo," he said sarcastically. "Just hilarious."
"Thank You." She curtsied. "Can we play now?"
"Excited?"
"To play basketball, that is."
"Let's start then." He didn't bother to take off his varsity t-shirt, thinking the game would be a piece of cake.
The referee passed the ball to Sendoh but he offered it to Ryo.
"I challenged you. You take the ball."
"I'm impressed with your good basketball etiquette."
He used his right arm to guard and his left to dribble. Ryo's guard was tight, but this did not stop him to pass through. He advanced under the basket but she was quick and recovered immediately from his attack. Distracting the flow of the ball, she blocked his shot. Retrieving the lose ball, she found himself directly guarded by Sendoh. In a blink of an eye, he found Ryo behind him; apparently she made a swift turnaround. She went for the drive and made a smooth lay-up.
"Don't tell me that's all you can do," she said in utter disbelief.
"The game is just beginning…"
It was now Sendoh's turn. He passed it to Ryo, "Hold," and passed it back. He instantly made a pivot and ran to the hoop to make a lay up but failed. He immediately retrieved the ball and tried to carry out the same attack. She blocked the ball with ease and the rebound was his. She seems like she doesn't want the ball. She wanted to try him. But hey, that's all paart of Sendoh's plan
'Take it your way.'
He slowly moved backwards to three-point area, "Say, kid. You're good."
"Don't kid me. I am just about your age, for your information."
Sendoh jumped to take a shot, but she jumped a bit higher prepared slap the ball. Instead of worrying for that block, he smiled and allowed himself to fall back.
He just made a fade away and the ball went perfectly in the net like the net and the ball were meant to be together (A.N: they are right? Hehe. La lang).
"But not good enough," he commented.
The game was successful for Sendoh. He won.
'Well, it wasn't that he was planning to lose…'
In the end, Ryo finally accepted Sendoh's hand and shook hands. The score was three to two. After their two shots, none of them were able to score because none of them wanted to make the mistake of letting their opponent to score.
* *
The time finally came for the game to start. It was exactly four o' clock in that Friday afternoon and the crowd was cheering louder than ever.
The event was started with a prayer then the introductions. Shohoku were the first. The starting lineup was Rukawa Kaede, Yasuda (I don't know his whole name), Sakuragi Hanamichi, Ryota and Kyoshi Aki (freshman A.N. remember, this happened after Akagi, Mitsui, Uozumi, etc's time). For Ryonan, it was Sendoh Akira, Uekusa Tomiyuki, Fukuda Kiccho, Koshino Hiroaki and Hiroshi Nagasaki (A.N: yes, another freshman).
They all positioned themselves for the jump. Sakuragi, being the center situated himself in the jump ball area with the freshman. Rukawa guarded Sendoh, Ryota by Uekusa, Kyoshi by Fukuda and Yasuda by Koshino.
The game was thrown and the game began.
Sakuragi, as usual, jumped higher than the other player. He slapped the ball at the direction of their captain but Sendoh came in the way. He stretched an arm and caught the ball instead of Ryota. He made an underhand pass to Fukuda, who was immediately near the free throw area. A fast start, indeed, for the Ryonan High. Fukuda tried to make the lay up but Sakuragi blocked his chance, leaving him no choice but to pass back to Sendoh. Sendoh tries to escape the guard of Ryota with a crossover turnaround, eluded Sakuragi with the same turnaround and went for the lay up. Without thinking, Rukawa jumped for the block, but a smile in Sendoh's eye made Rukawa know it was a fake.
Sendoh did make a fake. He made a blind pass to Koshino at the three-point area and Koshino scored a three pointer.
The ball was now with Shohoku. Shohoku was on the run but Miyagi slowed things down. He passed to Hiroshi, who was confronted by Fukuda with a steal. Hiroshi retrieved the stolen ball and tried to shoot, but it went too high. All of a sudden, Hanamichi caught the ball and made an alley-op.
The Shohoku High was down by eight and Ryonan High was in high spirits. The score for the first half was thirty-one to thirty-nine. It wasn't long until Shohoku caught up with the score. In the latter part of the third quarter, the score was forty-five to forty eight.
For Ryonan, Kyoshi was fouled out and Tanoka replaced him, in the fourth quarter.
Two minutes before the game ends, team Shohoku adapted a man-to-man defense. Sendoh guarded Ryota with the utmost intensity. Ryota can no longer take control of the ball, therefore he made an overhead pass to Yasuda. Tanoka stretched an arm and a steal was done. He passed the defense of Uekusa with a spin and led on with the dunk he planned.
There were fifty-nine point eight seconds to go and the score was sixty to sixty-one in favor of Ryonan High. Sendoh threw an underhand pass for a fast break that reached to the other end of the court to Tanoka, Ryonan's sure three pointer. Miraculously for Shohoku, the ball bounced out. Sendoh, Hanamichi and Ryota jumped for the rebound. The ball reached Sendoh's hand. As Sendoh landed back on the floor, he found himself intently guarded by the Hanamichi and Ryota. Knowing that escaping from their guard would take long, Sendoh made a risky decision to pass back to Tanoka. But his shot was too strong that it bounced out and the rebound was Sakuragi's, who brought Shohoku's success with a slam-dunk.
The crowd roared at the smashing success of Shohoku. Sendoh dropped on his knees, as if he had lost all his energy. Some of his teammates patted him on the back and said, "It's all right." They all knew how hard he trained for this day and it was his last chance. Even Rukawa offered his hand but Sendoh refused to accept it.
'How could this happen?' He thought in agony. 'How could I have let this happen? What happened to your smooth, swift moves that could stop anyone, Sendoh?' he asked himself.
Coach Taoka approached him, bent down and whispered, "It's okay son. It's okay."
Almost in tears, the captain buried his head on is coach's shoulder and locked a one arm hug with his coach.
*
The following Monday, Sendoh didn't go to school. At dismissal, students found him leaning on the gym wall but ignored all who acknowledged his presence.
"Oi!" a familiar female voice came. He looked up to see his childhood best friend, Yumi.
No reply.
"What's up with you?" she asked in annoyance. "Hung up on basketball, again?" Ever since they were young, Sendoh would always talk about basketball and would never stop.
"Obviously," he replied, rolling his eyes, acting as normally around her even with the huge problem in his shoulders. The two had a very weird friendship. Sometimes, you won't know if they are fighting or if that's how they really are. They are not really best friends but everybody says so. They were caught to be walking in the beach during the sunset a couple of times, talking to each other, and sharing secrets that they often use against each other.
"Fine! Don't talk to me!" she exclaimed. "I don't understand you and your basketball, anyway." She turned around and started to walk away. "Go talk to it when you need anyone to talk to." She raised a hand and disappeared in the dark gates of Ryonan.
Sendoh stood up straight and faced gym's sliding door. He could feel the cold breeze touch his palms as he took his hand out of his pocket and opened the door. He let out a loud sigh at the scene before him: his dearest basketball court with all the balls scattered on the floor. Dropping the bag that was slung on his shoulder, he picked up one of the balls, remembering the first time he ever held a ball and promising to himself, he will be the greatest ball player… too bad he won't be able to fulfill his promise.
He decided to play one more time, before he completely stops playing basketball. He failed himself. But not only him, his teammates, coach, schoolmates… and most specially, his dad who taught him all he knew, but never lived the day to see his son be a great player.
Just one more time.
Imagining that there was an opponent, he squatted and started dribbling; slowly at first then it became faster. Escaping the heavy guard of his challenger. He made a pivot and raced to the hoop, ready to make a lay up. But a figure blocked him. His eyes widened then he made a successful reversed lay up.
He landed on the floor, panting. It was not because of exhaustion but the memory that seemed alive on his mind.
He was now on his knees as tears flowed from his eyes. He was about to punch the floor until someone opened the gym doors, picked up one of the balls lying in the ground and shot a three.
"That's what I call a three pointer!" a female voice said.
Sendoh couldn't believe his ears. He jerked his head around to see if he was correct. Ryo was standing near the door with a ball spinning in her index finger.
"Y-y-you," he stammered.
"Yeah, me. What's up?" She asked with a grin.
"Nothing," he replied wiping off the tears in his eyes.
"Really? Why are you crying then?"
He made no response.
"Oh come on! Is this really you?" Sendoh looked down with out a response. "Guess so… anyway, you want a game?" he accepted and she offered her hand to pull him up.
"Are you sure?" she nodded. "Okay. But don't tell me I didn't warn you." He laughed.
He passed him the ball and she passed it back.
"You never learn do you?" he was in question. "How many times do I have to tell you? I challenged you. Therefore, you get the ball," then she smiled.
"Okay, if you insist," he agreed.
He dribbled the ball and pushed forward and jumped for the shot, she jumped with him to block…
Haha, he laughed silently. She fell for it.
…then made a fade away.
"I guess I am not the only one with the learning problem here," he said.
"You love doing that don't you?" she asked. Shrugging, he smiled.
"Wait."
"What?" her expression turned from playful to serious.
"Tell you what," her expression turned from playful to serious. "To lose is okay."
"Why did you have to bring up the topic?" he asked.
"Nobody leaves the court without anybody losing. It just so happens that your team wasn't the tougher team," she continued.
"But I worked hard for it!" his eyes were full of reason.
"But it wasn't good enough was it?" she explained, as he tried to avoid her. "You don't get it. You are acting like a child. Never knew Sendoh Akira was like this. You don't experience losing that much, so you don't know the first thing about it." she turned back to leave but the sarcastic tone of the point guard annoyed her.
"Ha! Humor me," he said, letting out a laugh.
She spun around and moved slowly towards him. "In any game, winning is not everything. Sometimes, you learn more about yourself when you lose, you become stronger. You learn to stand up when you fall."
Silence.
"You know, my dad always told me. I never was a good loser," Sendoh said, looking straight at her eyes. "Sorry." From that, they continued their game with Sendoh having a new hope.
... It's just that, he keeps it all inside.
**
Author's Note: So, how do you like it? do you guys want sequel? Because I have a story building up in my mind… Review please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! For inspiration…