Chapter one: Mitsui
That stupid Sakuragi…why did he have to run off like that? Made the big Gorilla nearly trained us to death….kutso!! My knee hurts…..
I leaned my arms against the railing of the bridge, overlooking the quiet street below……if I had never left, I guess I could have become captain….huh….now Gori's the one taking us to the nationals. Eh….itae….I'm still not used to all the strain…it's payback for those two years…..
Flashback~ " Anzai……sensei……basketball…….I want to play basketball!…"~
Why had I left? I wanted to play so much…basketball was, still is, my life…..
The wind blew, wrapping around the forlorn Mitsui. Something brushed against his cheek….hmm, sakura des?…….otousan……
Flashback~ " Urusai! Ta me da ro, Hisashi!" a furious man with hair streaked with grey, slammed his hand hard on the table. An equally resentful 15-year-old Mitsui barked back, " Nande? Nandeyo,otousan! I want to play! The nationals……"
The burning heat on his cheek told the mark of where his father hit him…all he could hear was, " Mitsui Hisashi, the club won't accept a player with an amputated leg. This is the second time you are injured. If I catch you with a basketball again, you don't have to return to this house! Wa ka naie?!"~
I bowed my head. I still remembered that day well. After the fight with otousan, I left but did not go back to basketball…it was the start of a long two years, the time when I blamed otousan for everything. I hated him, never talked to him, was always out every night…I took joy in letting him know that he was responsible for what I had become…..
Then I found back what had been missing….Anzai sensei….and basketball……but otousan…..he is now in the hospital. During my stubbornness, I never realized that otousan had been sick for some time. Okasan tries to look after otousan, but after he was hospitalized, she had to work..
Flashback~ " Hisa-ke, you will come home early?" asked a weary middle-aged woman. Mitsui shrugged and turned to leave… "Hisa-ke…otousama is in the hospital.." Mitsui's head snapped up….. " I depend on you to be home early, onegai…otousama may need me…"the woman continued…..~
My fingers opened to let the sakura blossom return to the wind…. Wa ka taie mash ta….
A blossom encased in ice,
Will it be frozen in time