A/N: Okay, okay, I know I'm a little lazy in updating… but here's chapter 15, hope you enjoy it!!
Chapter 15-Acceptance… or Basketball?
To simplify things, Aya and her friends were wearing Ryonan's uniform. They were playing against a team from Kobe prefecture. The guys were all big-built, and they stared down at them all, Aya especially, in scorn.
'Don't you think you should change players? We won't be nice on you just because you are a girl,' no. 5 from the team said, glancing at Hanagata.
'I didn't ask you too,' Aya retorted, filled with anger.
'Tip off!' the referee cried. The whistle blew. Sendo who was acting as the jumper for our team got the jump ball, and the ball fell straight to Fujima. He dashed forward, passing the ball to Rukawa who was behind him without even looking. Rukawa continued running, taking all the spectators' breath away with his speed. He stopped at the three-point line, in a position to shoot. Then, a number 7 player, who was a few inches taller than him blocked his shooting course. Rukawa faked a shot, and passed the ball to Jin, who got them three points.
Now, it was the opponent's offence. Number 5, the guy who looked down on Aya, was dribbling the ball. Apparently, they didn't realize the fact that their team didn't have any advantage even though they were all very much taller then Fujima's team just yet. With an air of arrogant confidence, he dashed forward. Aya, who was waiting, stole the ball very suddenly. Number 5 didn't have any time to react, as she was already dashing forward, passing the ball to Fujima at the same time. As Fujima went for a jump shot, a tall number 10 blocked him, and the ball hit the ring.
'Rebound!' Fujima shouted a fraction second after the ball left his hands. Rukawa jumped, and smashed the ball into the hoop. 5-0
'I hate to admit it, but they are right. They're teamwork is… scary,' Takotah sensei commented.
'Yeah. Two point-guards, Fujima and Kenzen, stealing the ball, causing confusion among the players. They have a great sense of basketball, and are real fast. They are also really good in cutting in, messing up the opponent's plans. They are the one cutting in,' Anzai sensei said.
'Two tall guys too… Rukawa and Sendo, who steal all the air balls and get the rebounds. They act more as finishers and defenders compared to Kenzen and Fujima, who are more towards assisting,' Taoka sensei continued, still marveling at the way they… understand each other.
Sendo and Rukawa… they are the last person on Earth I would think would work together.
'Yeah, they are acting as finishers, even Kenzen and Fujima too, at times. But still, the most important and biggest point-getter of them all is… Jin,' Takotah sensei said, looking at the fast-paced, and yet, one-sided game in awe. Ryonan's coach concluded their little chat by saying,
'They are all aces. They're… indestructible.'
By the time the second-half started, Fujima's team (Fujima is the most fit to be a captain, although they didn't really need one) were already leading the other by 30 points or so. Everyone, every single person in the gym was astounded by their fabulous play… their teamwork. It was as if they could read each other's mind! Although they didn't have a specific defender or point-getter, their abilities were concentrated on different areas of basketball.
'Sugoi,' Maki said softly, filled with wonder. He had to admit, even though Fujima, Sendo, Rukawa and Jin were in the team, he had underestimated them tremendously. And he knew that the other team had done the same. It was obvious that they were filled with shock and wonder at the beautiful teamwork they were all displaying. Then, there was that Kenzen. She was so… terribly good! They had definitely underestimated her ability.
* * * * * * * *
The five days passed, and Fujima's team from Kanagawa was the best. Next was Nakajima's team, from Kyoto. These two teams would be representing Japan for the games, which would start in two days time.
* * * * * * * *
This time, we were sleeping in Jin's house. We usually avoided sleeping there because his mom didn't really approve of me.
'Boy, the games are starting soon,' Sendo commented.
'Akira, you're waiting, aren't you?' Fujima asked naughtily.
'Ne-onichan, who wouldn't?' I questioned, not looking up from my novel.
'It's kinda nice playing together. I mean, we never got to do this last time. No stress, no strain, ne-Kaede,' Jin asked, purposely directing his question to the raven black haired boy who was nodding away.
'Nani?' he asked innocently, sounding sleepy.
'Kaede! Can't you ever stay awake?' Fujima asked.
'Did I do something?' he asked bewildered.
'I rest my case,' Sendo said, sighing. Rukawa looked at him with narrowed eyes.
'I wasn't talking to you anyway,' he muttered incoherently.
'I said it's nice to finally be able to play in a team isn't it?' Jin questioned again. Rukawa merely nodded, falling asleep again. Fujima jumped onto the bed Rukawa was on and started showering punched onto him. Unfortunately however, Rukawa could fight better than Fujima could. That was before Sendo joined up with Fujima.
'Hey! No fair! What did I do?' Rukawa asked.
'Too quiet. 24-7 sleeping!' Fujima grunted. While all these were happening, I was watching them, a smile playing on my lips. I was amused. I cast my memory back to the days I first met all of them. At that time, if someone told me that things would turn out like this, I would have laughed at his face and told him that he had lost his mind. Yet, now…
'Kenzen,' I whispered. If he didn't treat me the way he did, I'll probably never be as happy as I was now. I wouldn't understand what love is, nor how important and precious it is. Maybe… maybe it was for the best. Maybe I have been blaming him far too much.
* * * * * * * *
Jin noticed that Aya was far away, in her own mind, her own world. He went over to her softly, leaving his friends 'fighting' on the bed. When he reached her, he tickled her.
'Oni-chan!' Aya cried out, frustrated. The two on the bed started laughing, while Rukawa only smiled.
'Soichiro,' Suddenly a female voice called. Jin turned
'Otou-san,' Aya and Jin greeted their dad.
'Okaa-san,' Jin said, waiting to hear what they wanted to say.
'Jin, we want you to quit basketball,' she said, going straight to the point. His four friends were visibly startled, and Jin's shock showed itself plainly on his face, and she felt… satisfied. There was a pause, in which, Jin tried to figure out how to protect himself and at the same time, not hurt his parents.
'Uh… mom, dad, I really respect you, but I can't quit. Not now… not ever. Basketball is… everything to me,' Jin answered. Mrs. Jin's eyes flicked dangerously towards Aya, and she felt totally elated when she saw understanding dawn upon the five innocents faces in front of her. Aya and Jin looked especially uncomfortable. Their dad also shifted from foot to foot, uncomfortably.
'Otou-san, do you want me to quit too?' Aya asked her dad, her voice was wavering, filled with anger. His eyes widen in shock, and he thought that she had interpreted his wife's look wrongly. He shook his head wordlessly.
'Then why do you want oni-chan to quit?' she attacked. He was taken aback at her sudden viciousness. Mrs. Jin too was a little shock. And he realized that she had not misinterpreted his wife's meaning. He shifted his eyes away, running away from her murderous glare.
'Well, Soichiro?' Mrs. Jin asked, ignoring Aya..
'Demo, aunty… it's not fair that Soichiro should be the one to choose. We're…'
'Urusei Akira!' Jin shouted, seeing the dangerous look in his mother's eyes. He knew perfectly well what she meant, but he couldn't believe that she could actually put him through this.
'No!' Aya's voice cut through before he could make his decision.
'I've had enough of your games! If you don't want to accept me, that's fine. I can sacrifice some of my pride and things to be accepted, but not to the extent of hurting my brother and his pride,' Aya continued.
'Aya…' Jin said, but Aya cut him short.
'Basketball is very important to him… to us all, and I won't let you take it away from any of us. Being officially called your daughter is also important, no doubt. It's a matter of pride… pride in the family that I come from. But then, at times, knowing is good enough. And I know perfectly well that my dad and brother love me and accept me, deep down in their heart, and… for me, that's enough. It doesn't matter whether I'm officially called your daughter or not, I still know that their love is there. Love can't be taken away, and isn't proved with just one meaningless word of daughter. It's more than that… just the basketball is more than just a word to us. It's not fame… it's more. It has a totally different meaning, something that others can't interpret.
'So… you want us to disown you?' Mrs. Jin asked, a foul grin playing on her lips.
'I'm not going to do it… your dad is,' she continued, obviously thinking that Aya would soften at that. Aya's eyes flicked to her dad, then back to her. The old Aya was still there, somehow, and yet, another Aya had aroused in her. One who knew her place and fought for it. Jin's mom's breath caught in her throat when she saw how determined she was. Aya had not said anything, but she clearly felt that she was losing. She turned to her husband, and nodded.
The poor guy looked back at her, his eyes pleading. But she stood her ground.
'Uh… Aya… em… come on, don't be so harsh, so determined… I don't want to disown you. Come on…,' he said, avoiding her eyes.
'Oh my goodness! How low can you get?' Rukawa said aloud, directing his words to Mrs. Jin. She was so startled.
'Nani? How dare you say such a thing to me?' she asked, totally furious.
'He's only stating the truth,' Sendo backed him up. She turned towards him, flames leaping in her eyes.
'Watch your…'
'You are so weak… but to use such a technique… you're the lowest of the lowest,' Fujima said, totally disgusted. By now, red was rising on her cheeks. She was so angry at their insolence.
'Otou-san,' a calm, yet sad voice cut through her anger.
'If you don't want to disown her, why are you doing it? It's not only okaa-san's fault if you also agreed to do this. If you mean what you say, I don't know why you would disown her. If you don't mean what you say… how low can you get? For goodness sakes! After all the quarrels about Aya between you and mom, you're just going to dump her away?' Jin's voice wasn't calm anymore. It was filled with anger.
'Is she something you can forget so easily? If you want to remain on the good side of okaa-san, and is doing this for the sake of doing it, that's not as bad as really not meaning what you say. I admit, we should be peaceful at all times, but I don't understand why you would want to put Aya through all this. I… I... ,' he ended his sentence in disgust.
'Just a question… you do know how much it would hurt Aya to stand up against you and say no, don't you? Why? Why out her through so much? Why don't just disown her?' Rukawa asked, walking towards Aya and putting his hands around her.
All the while, Aya was just watching everything, she felt really sad at what her dad did… but she was encouraged by the love her friends were pouring out to and for her.
'Basketball is important to us, and if a parent really loves us, he or she wouldn't try to take it away from us,' she murmured softly.
Mr. Jin started in shock at that.
She was making it sound like we don't love Soichiro too.
Even though there was no visible signs, he felt that she was disappointed in him.
'We're doing this for Soichiro's own good,' Mrs. Jin seemed to have recovered her composure, and she told them that confidently.
'For Soichiro's own good my foot!' Fujima said.
'Em… so tell me, uh… Mrs. Jin, what good exactly can quitting basketball do to Soichiro?' Sendo asked sarcastically.
'Are you that selfish? This is your son's future! You're going to manipulate it for yourself?' Rukawa asked sounding disappointed and sad at her.
'Studies are important, no doubt, but they aren't EVERYTHING! The world is made out of more things than that, to each own, a different thing would bring a meaning to his life. Can you tell me what you're living for?' he paused, but she didn't answer.
'Well, to us basketball is important. I'm not suggesting that we live only for basketball… but we might be, of course that is besides the motive of glorifying God. We have to live for something. We don't live because we have to… we live because we want to. There is something out there that we want to do. Of course, there's also our relationship with others, and in this case with them and me. I love them, and we share something together. A lot of things, and we're really happy this way. What good would it do if Soichiro is really good in studying? Even if he was stupid I wouldn't really care. Big fat deal, nobody cares. And it's not like he's bad or terrible, in fact he's above average… so why don't you get of his back?' Fujima asked.
'Do you think the world is that innocent? You're too young to know what's in the world. Do you think your life can be so happy-go-lucky? Basketball here and there… there's more evil in the world than you think,' she said, smirking.
'Innocent? I think Aya can tell you just how not innocent the world can be… far from innocent, it's evil. And that's because some people don't understand,' Rukawa said.
'Don't understand?' she asked looking into his blue eyes.
'They don't know why they are living. That makes them insecure, and to hide from insecurity, they create a reason to live. Whether it is to sleep around, make money, take drugs or even killing people. If they only admitted that they were insecure, if they opened up and realized that everyone is as insecure as they are, and draw strengths from them, there'll be far less evil in the world… people trying to hide from insecurity… people like you!' Sendo attacked. Mrs. Jin took a step back
'You try to create a reason for living. What? Bringing up your son? You hide behind that reason in everything you do… but it's obvious that you're doing this more for yourself than for him,' Fujima said softly. There was another long pause.
'I can't… and I won't quit. I need basketball, I need them all. I don't want to do something I would regret later,' Jin said quietly. Jin's mom's eyes flicked dangerously to Aya again, but she met her eyes.
'You want to disown me? No prob! Go ahead! I won't see my friends sad because of me. To hurt me physically is one thing. Even if you hurt me mentally and abuse me, I might still be able to take it, but this… to take something important away from us all… well…' she continued icily. But her eyes were warm… and it seemed to saying something else. It was as if she understood just how Mrs. Jin felt, deep down.
'We aren't going to say anything or gloat if you change your mind. There's no pressure from us either way, the only person pressuring you is… yourself.'
A/N: Well? You do know what to do, don't you? Review!!! Thanks a lot!
