Chapter 2

Mitsui slapped his forehead hard. How could he forget? It was no wonder why his morning was much better than the last. He walked over to the badly injured victims to see how far his deadly cousin had gone.

"Urgh . ach . Mi-Mitchan ."

"Hotta!" Mitsui blurted out. "How did you get into a fight with that girl?"

"W-we k-kicked and p-punched her b-because she c-called us g-giant senior elephants ." Hotta stuttered. It was hard for him to talk because his lips were swollen.

Mitsui sighed.

"You shouldn't have ."

"I p-promise I w-won't fight a-anymore for t-the rest of t-the year ." Hotta managed to say through his now thick-goldfish lips.

Mitsui patted Hotta's shoulder.

"Gomen, but I have to go now. Hope you get well soon, Hotta."

Mitsui headed to the basketball gym. This was terrible. She got into a fight on her first day in Shohoku. He dreaded to think what might happen next. The last time he saw her was in Higetou Junior High, which was three years ago. The worst thing she had ever done was spitting chewing gum onto one of the bald teachers' head. Mitsui opened the door of the gym to find Sakuragi and Rukawa debating on whose shoes looked nicer.

"Yours are so dull and plain, Rukawa!" shouted Sakuragi.

"Do'aho . your shoes are so dirty," said Rukawa.

"Teme, Rukawa!" Sakuragi retorted. "Yours are even dirtier!"

"I'm not the one who's dirty; you are."

"Dirty?! I'm not dirty! You are! It's just that-that . I ran out of shoe washing stuff!" Sakuragi lied.

"Liar."

"I'm not lying!" shouted Sakuragi, his face turning red.

"You just need to use soap and water, do'aho ."

"I knew that!"

"No, you didn't."

"Yes, I did!"

Rukawa didn't reply.

"Ha! So now you know that you're wrong, eh, kitsune?"

"Do'aho."

"Teme, Rukawa!"

"Ne, yamero," Mitsui finally said, stepping into the court.

"Eh? Micchy?" said Sakuragi.

"Stop it. Akagi's coming. You don't want to get hit again, do you?" said Mitsui.

Even before Sakuragi could reply, Akagi and the rest of the players walked into the gym, followed by Ayako.

"Line up, Shohoku!" shouted Akagi.

Everyone made a straight line in front of captain Akagi.

"Run around the court twenty times! No stopping!"

"Hai!"

Mitsui ran at the back of the pack, still thinking about his dreadful cousin. Then, as if his nightmare could still get worse, the gym door opened and in came . who else but his cousin?

"Shimatta ." Mitsui muttered to himself. What was his cousin doing in the basketball gym?

She walked over to Ayako, who greeted her with a hug. Mitsui could not hear what they were talking about, but he still kept his eyes on them. Suddenly, a thought struck Mitsui.

"Masaka . did she join?"

Did his cousin join the basketball team? No-it can't be . it just couldn't be . it would be all over for Mitsui if she did.

"Oi, Micchy, look where you're going," said Ryota, who was running beside him. "You might run into someone."

Mitsui couldn't take his eyes away from his cousin. He really wanted to know the reason why she was in the gym.

"Mitsui-san! Watch out!" shouted Yasuda.

Mitsui turned his head in time only to see a solid wall in front of his eyes. The only problem was that he couldn't stop in time, so he hit the wall, head first. He fell backwards.

"Mitsui-san! Daijoubu ka?" asked Kogure.

"Daijoubu . daijoubu ." he replied. He straightened himself up and ran with the rest again. However, he still kept his eyes on his cousin even though he had to risk himself bumping into the wall again.

"Dash!" shouted Akagi.

The whole team ran as fast as they could while trying to avoid colliding into each other. Mitsui could see that his cousin seemed to have a dirty plan; there was a malicious grin on her face. As Mitsui ran past Ayako and Anzai-sensei, he came face to face with his cousin, not knowing that he was going to be her victim. She quickly stuck her leg out to make Mitsui trip and fall. Of course, her plan worked and he fell again, hitting his head hard on the floor.

"Micchy, are you sick or something?" asked Sakuragi. "You need glasses like megane-kun."

Mitsui instantly got up, tolerating the pain in his head and faced his cousin.

"MIYAZAKI SHIZUMI!!! WHAT DID YOU DO THAT FOR?!" Mitsui yelled into his cousin's ear.

"For fun," she replied, grinning.

"You know her?" asked Ryota.

"I'm his cousin," said Shizumi.

"NANI?!" the whole team burst out.

"So-so YOU'RE his cousin?!" said Kogure, sweating. "H-hajimemashite, Shizumi-san."

"Hajimemashite, oto-san!" said Shizumi cheekily.

"Oto-san?" chorused Kuwata, Ishii and Sasaoka.

Mitsui slapped his forehead.

"I-I'm not your father!" said Kogure.

"She's just giving you a nickname. Beware because she's going to give EVERYONE a nickname," said Mitsui.

"Oy, sushi-san, shut up for a minute, will you?" said Shizumi.

"Sushi-san?" chorused Kuwata, Ishii and Sasaoka.

"I've already got one," sighed Mitsui.

"Ne, muffin head, pass me that basketball," she said to Ryota.

"Muffin head?" chorused Kuwata, Ishii and Sasaoka.

"Muffin head?! I'm not giving the ball to you unless you call me Ryota," said Ryota, bewildered with the name she had just given him.

"Muffin head number two, pass me the ball."

"Number two?" chorused Kuwata, Ishii and Sasaoka.

"Will the three of you stop doing that?!" said Ryota. "I'll hit you the next time you do it!"

"Oy, I want the ball, muffin."

"Watashi?" said Kuwata, pointing to himself.

"Yeah, you."

Kuwata picked up the basketball and tossed it to Shizumi. She immediately started dribbling it and ran towards the basketball hoop. Everyone gave way and watched her play. She jumped and did a 3-point shot.

"Show-off," muttered Mitsui.

The ball went through the hoop neatly.

"Sugoi ." said Kogure.

Suddenly, Sakuragi started to laugh insanely. He stuck his hands into his pants.

"That was nothing! Even the tensai basketball man Sakuragi Hanamichi could do that!"

Shizumi turned to Sakuragi.

"What did you just say, red-haired baboon?"

"Red-haired baboon?" said Shiozaki to Yasuda. "I dread to think what she might call us."

"I'll call you goldfish," Shizumi said to Shiozaki.

"G-goldfish?!"

"- and I'll call you tiny eyes."

"Tiny eyes?!" Yasuda blurted out.

"- and I'll call you tiny eyes number two," she said to Kakuta, who was standing behind them.

Ishii and Sasaoka, who were right beside Shizumi, noticed how dangerous she was and hid behind Kuwata.

"Matte, you haven't got your nicknames yet!" said Shizumi, pulling Ishii and Sasaoka away from Kuwata. She had to pull harder than usual because they were hanging on to Kuwata's T-shirt.

She placed her left hand on Ishii's right shoulder.

"I knight thee, Sir Baldie Megane."

Then she turned to Sasaoka and placed her right hand on his left shoulder.

"I knight thee, Sir Shittake."

With her hands on their shoulders, she pulled the two of them together and knocked them into each other.

"Itai ." muttered Ishii and Sasaoka, lying on the floor while massaging their heads.

"Hmm . I've missed out someone ." said Shizumi, rubbing her chin while looking around.

Rukawa pretended to look innocent.

"Hah, you can't hide, Rukawa!" shouted Sakuragi.

"Ah, yes . I've missed the star player out," said Shizumi. "I'll call you . onee-chan!"

"Nani?!" Rukawa blurted out, his eyes larger than usual.

"Onee-chan?" chorused Kuwata, Ishii and Sasaoka.

BOK! DOK! TOK!

Ryota hit their heads with his super-hard fists.

"Argh! Didn't I tell you to stop doing that?!" said Ryota, annoyed.

"Gomen, Ryota-san," said Sasaoka, rubbing his head.

"Onee-chan! Onee-chan!" Shizumi repeated.

Rukawa gave Shizumi a killer look. He picked up a basketball and threw it at Shizumi, who ducked. She threw the ball back Rukawa, but she missed. Akagi stood frozen like a statue in the middle of the court, watching everything that had happened from the beginning and had not said a word. Then, he exploded.

"BAKAMOONGA!" he roared. He punched Rukawa and Shizumi's heads.

"Itai ." Shizumi groaned, rubbing her head. "Ne, what did you do that for, fish gorilla?!"

Akagi's face turned red, his veins were throbbing till everyone could see the outline of it on his face.

"WHAT-DID-YOU-CALL-ME?!" he shouted.

"Uh oh," said Mitsui. "Not again."

"Fish gorilla. It's a nice nickname, don't you think?" she replied, grinning. "Your ape face and thick goldfish lips tells the whole story."

Akagi couldn't take it anymore. He released his anger by throwing Yasuda out of the gym.

"Yasu!" said Kogure. He ran outside to see what had happened to Yasuda. Shiozaki and Kakuta followed him.

"Yamette, Shizumi-san. You've caused enough trouble already," said Mitsui, placing a hand on Shizumi's red head.

"All right, but I dare you to find someone who can stop me from causing more trouble, sushi king," said Shizumi. "Well . that is, if you WANT me to stop."

"Deal," replied Mitsui.

They shook hands.

"I guess I'll be going now. Ja'na, minna-san," said Shizumi to the rest. "I'll be back again tomorrow. Matash'ta!"

Shizumi left the gym and everyone gave a sign of great relief.

"That cousin of yours is a pain in the head, Mitsui," said Akagi, his face still as red as Sakuragi's hair. "I don't want anymore nonsense or I'll kill you."

"Hai, sempai."

Mitsui walked to Ayako.

"Did YOU ask her to come?!" asked Mitsui.

"Yeah, she was my friend during elementary school," Ayako replied. "She's good at basketball, so I asked her to join."

"JOIN?!" Mitsui exploded, pulling his hair. "NO! THIS IS THE END OF MY LIFE!"

Ayako patted Mitsui's back.

"Don't worry, Mitsui-sempai. I'm sure it'll be all right in a few weeks."