Author's note:
Hagaki: Minna-san! Hello! If you see some weird country names, that's because we don't want to offend any country, so we made code names for each.
Minami: Yup.
Hagaki: Hope all of you guys are still tuning in this fic. Thank you also for all those who reviewed. We appreciate them and treasure them in our hearts. ;)
Minami: Here's chapter thirteen.
Hagaki: By the way, these are our replies to those who reviewed (in the net or at school…)
The Reviewers: Well, sorry if you hate this fic. I'M REALLY SORRY!!!!! (Let me speak in Filipino, okay?) Hindi ko alam kung ano ang point of view ninyo sa isang MAGANDANG fanfic. Magkaiba tayo, k? Kung nakokornihan ka, di fyn!!! Okay lang naman sa akin kung may magdiskriminate sa fanfic naming e, but please be picky with your words. Tsaka, anong magagawa ko kung nilagay ako ni Teril-er-Raei sa bio niya?!?!?! Isa pa, iba kami ng appeal sa tao. 100+ ang reviews niya at ako 29 pero okay lang sakin. Sorry kung nabababawan ka sakin at sorry rin sa galit na pinapakita ko. TAO lang po. Di ako perfect. Malaki man ang kahinaan ko, yun ay dahil gawa ng diyos at hanggang dun lang yung talent ko.
akira: Hehe..thanks for the correction.
Bhuy: We have the same opinion. We made an OC because we thought that if HarukoXSakuragi, Haruko is too good for her. If HarukoXRukawa, Rukawa is TOO good for her. Since Haruko and Yohei look *CUTE* together, we decided that they'd be a pair and Sakuragi would have another girl.^^
Lorissa: At last! You gave my beloved folder back!!!!!!!!!!
Disclaimer: SD belongs to Takehiko Inoue. We are just borrowing his characters. The only characters we own are Akane, the National team, and…nah. You know who are the others…
Chapter 13: For as you practice, I watch, and you win
-
Swirls of confusion encircled his poor head as he heavily fluttered his eyes open. He heard a soft, mellow voice call out his name, and the rest of the words he heard were unbearably blur. He then closed his eyes, gradually opened them, and felt something weird. Water…he had water in his eyes…it was flowing heavily. He was crying. He didn't know why. Noticing a familiar figure standing in front of him, surely…the worst is going to happen.
There was a vivid flicker of light from the figure's hand. Abruptly, the figure leapt at him that made him alarmed at the sudden movement. For some reason, he shifted his flustered gaze at the hand of the figure…it was an axe that shone brightly…its point looked utterly hair standing. Without any further ado, the figure let out a yelp of confusion and dug the axe straight at the man's chest. The man cried out in entire throb and cracked his fingers together at once. It was almost the end of the world for him when he saw the axe being dragged lower, causing a bigger wound on it. Blood violently gashed out of the panicking man, it smelled…it was painful…it was horrible…but why didn't he blacked out? But it was not the time to think of that; the figure opened the wound rashly that made him shriek a thousand times louder than before. The pain crept from the tip of his hair until the very end of his toenails…slowly…throbbing…
Afterwards, the most unbelievable happened…
The figure reached out a shaky hand to take - no- rip off the man's heart out. The man was too weak and was dying, therefore, he couldn't protest anymore…but then, he unexplainably felt the figure's feelings…it was as if he knew the figure for a long time… * I'm sorry...* he heard from the figure's lips. * I'm very sorry…*
After an excruciating minute, the man's heart was fully pulled out, and he was left lying at the floor, with blood, tears, and sweat…
The figure slowly left crying out repeatedly his sorry; on his hands were the man's heart…
* W-wait…*
He tried to get up, noticing little by little whom the figure was. He wanted to follow him, but to no avail. Instead of getting his feet flat on the floor, he accidentally thud his head heavily on the ground. He lost his energy…and finally collapsed…
* Don't die...I'm here…*
He heard another voice again, but this time, it was sweet and melodic. Who's that? He miraculously flung his eyes open and saw an incredible sight before him…an angel…
" I…am here…"
He then looked down and was surprised to see the wound healing. He felt a familiar beat on his chest.
Confirmed.
His heart was back…
~~~~~~~~~~****^^^ ^^^****~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~****^^^ ^^^****~~~~~~~~~~
Sakuragi, Takamiya, Noma, and Ohkusu sat at the front seat, looking around for signs of other players around. This was Sakuragi's first time to enter a national stadium OF Volleyball, and the number of people who were in it amazed him. Today's game was the first game so far, the game of volleyball between the country A and Japan. He felt pretty nervous for Midori, since he haven't seen her plays yet, but he betted that Midori should be a great player, since he said that he's a tensai. (DUH!)
" Midori's not here yet!!" Sakuragi said restlessly, looking over the sign that blocked him from the court.
" Baka ne, Hanamichi. They'll still be introducing the players later, just like what they did to you before. Remember your old days in Shohoku high, when you were introduced first?" Ohkusu reminded, giving Sakuragi a Huh-what-do-you-think look.
Sakuragi took a little time before he could even react. *BLINK BLINK*
" Hahaha!! Yappari! HAhA!!! Eh-"
~ In a moment, the games would start. We demand silence from the crowd…~ an announcer said in English, then followed by a Japanese speaker who translated this, and other languages in Asia who did the same.
" Oh! They're coming!" Sakuragi said excitedly as he leaned forward on the sign that read "MIKASA, the official volleyball brand used in the 14 Asian Games" to have a better look at the players exiting from the two doors. He then quickly spotted Midori, who was wearing her Jersey number 9, her hair in pigtails tied in braids, two armbands, and two knee bands. Almost everyone in the court cheered heartily, welcoming the two teams, who lined up and faced each other, sparks flashing from their eyes and bumping into the sparks from the opposite team.
" A and Japan had a good fight last time, right?' A person said from behind Sakuragi, whose ears grew in hearing interesting news.
" Yup. And from that day on, they were rivals."
"This' gonna be a nice match."
~ And now, the players…. From Japan…~
" Oh! Here's the annonce thing!" exclaimed Sakuragi, choking Takamiya in excitement.
" It's announce, not annonce." Ohkusu corrected.
" Hanamichi baka…" Noma said.
" Nani?!?!"
" I-iie...nandemonai…."
~ Jersey number 9, Takeshima Midori. ~
Midori then stepped out of the line, clapped the hands of each member she passed by, and then went to her position on the court. Spotting Sakuragi and Company at the front seats, she smiled at them and waved her hands happily.
" Midori!!!! Ganbatte!!!!!" The guntai and Sakuragi said in unison.
" HAII!!! Sankyuu ne!!!" She replied as the names of the other members were announced.
~ And now the players from A…~
After all the members were introduced, the referee then called the captains to choose between heads or tails. He then flipped the coin without any further ado and it showed heads. It was Japan's ball.
Midori was the first to spike. She then prepared for a shocking attack to be thrown at the opposite team. Silence filled the stadium as she threw the ball in the air, and with a heavy and strong slap (sorry for the term^^), the ball went straight to the other side. The A'ans were unable to hit it, for the impact of the strong spike was too powerful.
It was Japan's first score!!!!!
~ …And there you have it folks! Unbelievably, the rookie Takeshima Midori displayed a magnificent super spike! ~ The announcer boomed happily as the all-Japan volleyball team rejoiced, clapping their hands together victoriously.
" Midori-san!!!!! Sugoi!!!" Sakuragi cheered, raising a fist in the air. Midori waved at him as she positioned herself at the service line, holding the ball excitedly on her hand, waiting for the moment-of-truth whistle.
" She's so great, Hanamichi!" Takamiya said as he pushed the record button at his camera, focusing it on the grinning girl at the court.
" Of course!" He said proudly, as if Midori was his long-life girlfriend. ^^
" Oh, by the way. Yohei's match would be later." Ohkusu remembered, staring at his watch.
" Yeah." Noma said as he relaxed on his seat. " Just like Hanamichi, he's a sportsman now."
"*A-CHOO!*" Yohei sneezed abruptly, causing his teammates to nearly jump off their shoes. Yohei grunted and sniffled, not minding Haruko drop by. "Who the hell is talking about me?!" He said as he scratched his head and started fixing the machine of his car again.
" Yohei-kun!!!!!" Haruko exclaimed, running happily to the pit house of the all-Japan race team with a big plastic of snacks and refreshments.
" Oh, it's Haruko-chan." Mr. Honda said in surprise as he arose from his seat, leaving the unaware Yohei behind.
"Honda-san! Konnichiwa!" Haruko greeted happily.
" Konnichiwa!" Megumi greeted.
" Konnichiwa, Megumi-chan!" She said, spotting Yohei at their rear, his back facing her.
" Ah, Mito-san is a bit busy with his work." Mr. Honda reported after receiving a towel from Megumi. " By the way, thank you very much for your help here." He added with a bow.
" Ah, no. Its nothing. By the way, I brought some snacks for you guys. Here!" she said as she laid the bag on the floor.
" Honto Arigatou Gozaimasu!" Mr. Honda said merrily. " But, isn't this too much? I mean-"
" It's alright, Honda-san. It's just like a good luck gift for you guys later." She said as she twirled around to look at the place." It's really busy here." She added with an amazed expression.
" I think Mito-san is very exhausted by now and needs help. Better-"
" May I?" Haruko interrupted. Mr. Honda gave her an "OKAY" look as she heartily walked towards Yohei, bringing a bottle of Gatorade with her.
" Hmm…lets see…adjust this and…" Yohei mumbled, looking at the inner parts of the car. He then looked on the other side as a sweat rolled at his cheek. " Better check the other…" He then saw a hand holding a bottle of blue liquid (Since the flavah of the Gatorade was ice cool) at his front. "…Side…" He then turned to see a smiling Haruko.
" You're working hard as usual, ne?" She said as Yohei accepted the offer without any hesitation.
" Yeah…sort of. Anyway, thanks for this." He said, indicating the bottle. " Sorry I couldn't repay your help these days." Haruko shook her head that made her small pigtails fling from one side to the other.
" I don't expect that anyway. I did this on my own will." she replied as she wrapped her arms on his back. " I just wanted to help." Yohei couldn't help but smile.
" Well, what could I do anyway?" He said as he held her hands.
" Oi, oi! Its not bad to show love to each other but do it privately, would you?" Someone said from behind. Everyone laughed as they abruptly parted away from one another, faces turning crimson from embarrassment.
" Everyone, you destroyed their mood!" Mr. Honda said with a chuckle.
" Okay! Let's practice today!" Akagi exclaimed with supremacy. " We'll have our one on one, then tomorrow morning a practice game. Miyagi, you practice with Toshiro, Mitsui, you and Kogure (^^), Rukawa, you and Masaki, the others may take their pick, while you Sakuragi…wait...where's that fool again?!" Akagi asked, his head steaming again.
" Ah…he's not here…" Ayako said, looking around nervously.
" Darn that crazy, stupid monkey!!!" Akagi exclaimed as smoke released violently from his head. " Anyway, we'll go on with our practice." Everyone sighed an exasperated sigh as they all went to their positions to play one-on-one with their designated partners.
" Maa, maa…that Sakuragi is really a pain, isn't he, Kogure?" Mitsui asked as he looked at Kogure, who ignored him in return.
" Hey…hey! What's the matter with you?" Kogure, as if there was no one before him, still didn't reply. Mitsui then thought for a while, and then smiled, remembering the *accident* last night.
" You're just like a girl, Kogure! If you're thinkin' 'bout that *THING* yesterday, well, admit it, you liked it, didn't you?" Kogure then reddened in shame as his brows met furiously at the middle of his forehead. He looked at Mitsui terribly that if only looks could kill, Mitsui had died 3 seconds ago.
" Excuse me." He said grumpily, as if the person he was talking to was his long time archenemy. " What are we going to do? Practice? Or talk about this…*Thing*?"
" Okay fine…" Mitsui said in defeat as he positioned his defense. " Show what you've got!"
Rukawa triumphantly succeeded in faking Masaki and gracefully dunked the ball on the hoop, leaving Masaki smiling gleefully behind, sweating feebly.
" Whoa…you're getting better and better." He remarked as he picked up the ball from the ground.
" So are you." Rukawa said as he picked up a towel from the bench and wiped his face. He then went back to the court swiftly and readied his defense. Masaki started to dribble the ball, change-of-pace style.
" Say…" Masaki said as he watched Sendoh from the corner of his eye. " That Sendoh guy was your rival when you're in high school, right?" Rukawa nodded slightly as an answer.
" I've watched your games before. Your moves then were still reckless and unstable. But it seemed to be nice movement when that Sendoh guy was around. And let me tell you something." He said as he found a little gap that could open up as a big chance. " I was a Kainan player before. When Maki was a third year student already, I was in second Year College." He said as he moved to the left slightly, then to the right, faked a shot, and passed it under Rukawa. He then got the ball and pretended to do a lay up shot, which fooled Rukawa. But then, the moment his back faced the ring; (THE RING!!! ^^), he dunked the ball backwards.
" That was my favorite stunt when I was in high school. Neat, huh?" He said with a prideful smile after both of them landed on the ground. Rukawa remained silent as he mentally cursed himself for not being able to read Masaki's mind.
" Well, I want to see how the former rivals play. Why don't you challenge Sendoh, one-on-one?"
* Sorry but I don't want that perverted hedgehog…* " I disagree." Rukawa said.
" This' just once Rukawa. And I know he'd be a better practice than me."
" I still disagree." * I had one-on-one with him yesterday, but it turned out to be a stupid, goddamned one. *
" C'mon!" Masaki insisted like a child. He then walked near Rukawa and whispered something that made him look contented and persevere on having a match with Sendoh.
Seeing Rukawa's quick change of expressions, Masaki then went near Sendoh, wearing an exhausted, but blissful look.
" Raise your hand" He demanded. Sendoh looked curious but he slowly raised his hand.
" Like this?'' he asked, taking a second look at it to make sure that it was raised fully. Masaki then clapped his hand on Sendoh's and said, " He's yours. Finish the game for me."
" What?" He then looked at Rukawa who looked persistently scary. " Yare yare, what else could I do?"
Midori started a powerful spike as the whistle signaled her. It went to the other side where the A'ans started their play. They hit the ball three times, one with a spike, which brought the ball to Japan's side. Their captain, Tsukasa Mia hit the ball, followed by another player, then Midori's favorite stunt: the so-called super spike. The A'ans where unable to hit the ball because of its incredible speed. Another point for Japan. Now they only have 6 points left to win.
" Yatta!!!!!!! Midori-san!!!!!!!!" Sakuragi yelled, waving his hands like crazy.
Midori winked at him as she wiped her sweat with her bare hands. " This' for you, Hanamichi!" She shouted at him as she held the ball and prepared to spike.
" Y-You heard that?!" Sakuragi exclaimed with joy. " She dedicated that pike for me!!!"
" It's SPIKE. Not PIKE." Ohkusu corrected.
" Pike is a peak, hilltop, or something like that." Noma added.
" WHATEVER!" Sakuragi exclaimed.
With one heavy blow, she sent the ball flying heavily to the other side. The amazing thing is that one player from the A'ans team miraculously hit the ball, and then the center hit it next, and then the player at the upper right corner spiked it, which the center and the upper left player of Japan attempted to block. Unfortunately, the ball missed their hands and nearly touched the ground. Good thing Midori's reflexes were quick, so she performed a swift, clean dig attack that surprised the A'ans. They were unable to respond the sensational attack that caused the Japan's road to victory easy by one point. Japanese players ran to Midori and cuddled her, congratulating her for her superior work.
" Midori-san!!!!! SUGOI!" Sakuragi yelled at the top of his lungs.
" Ossu! (YEAH!)" She replied blissfully, a bright grin shone on her face.
~ Charged time-out! A! ~
" Looks like the coach of the A'ans is getting nervous." Tsukasa said with a chuckle, thanking the one who handed her a towel. Midori drank hungrily on her jug, and then wiped her face victoriously. " By the way, Takeshima. You're doing great today even though this is your first time in the team."
" Not really." She said humbly, her face turning crimson.
" Now that you mentioned it…ah! Is it because of some inspiration or what?!" a player said.
" Oi, oi! This is no time to think about these things guys!" Midori said, trying to change the subject. " What's our strategy…"
" Here we go again, Mr. Rukawa Kaede…playing one-on-one with each other." Sendoh said after changing into his practice uniform, the normal blue shirt and white shorts with his black and blue colored bass shoes, contrasting to Rukawa's dress which was a black shirt underneath a whitish-blue sleeveless, black colored shorts, and shoes (Still NIKE Air Jordan) with magnificent shades of black, white, and gray.
" Urusai. (Shut up) Just go on and attack." Rukawa ordered as he tossed the ball to Sendoh.
" Attack? So I play offense first and you defense?" He asked as he looked onto an irritated Rukawa.
" Common sense, hedgehog, common sense…"
" Just kidding!" Sendoh said as he started dribbling the ball with incomparable glee. He'll now play seriously, unlike what he did yesterday.^^ Surely, he's going to give the kitsune a hard practice.
" Look, this' gonna be an exciting game between aces." Ayako said as she stopped writing on her notebook. Everyone stopped too to watch the heating game between Sendoh Akira and Rukawa Kaede.
" Sure is, Ayako-san." Akane said as she settled beside Ayako. *Akira Sendoh…if only I've recruited him earlier…* Akane thought as she cried (Chibi form).
Sendoh stood at the three-point line dribbling the ball, thinking of how to outsmart his long-time rival. After thinking of a stylish, vast plan, He then charged frontward and Rukawa followed him with a steady defense. He abruptly halted that made his spiky hair fling from left to right as sweat flew along with his hair's movement. He dribbled the ball under his legs and prepared for a shot, but Rukawa still had his fluid movements and attempted to steal the ball from Sendoh's hand. Alas, his hands met nothing but air because Sendoh dribbled two steps backward, to be exact, two steps backward to the three-point line. He then jumped but Rukawa, out of nowhere, blocked his hand on Sendoh's view that distracted him a bit. Little did he know that Sendoh did not attempt for a simple three-pointer only, but a fade-away-jump-three-pointer (so much for him, ne?). He rose from the ground higher by inches and tilted backwards, then finally released the ball. Still, Rukawa was persistent and jumped, hoping to even just tap the ball to lose it's balance. He succeeded it but was shocked at Sendoh's quick positioning for the rebound. The moment the ball bounced off the ring, Sendoh jumped victoriously and caught the ball right in front of Rukawa's very own eyes. It was almost a perfect dunk for Sendoh when, out of nowhere, Rukawa's hand tapped the ball and caught it by himself. They both landed heavily on the ground by their feet, panting and sweating, at the same time, thanking God for the fast reflexes that He gave as a gift. Without those, they wouldn't be able to block this, or do that.
" I'm…not… a… proletarian to not know these moves…mind you…" Rukawa said in between breaths, panting heavily.
" I know that…" Sendoh said, suffering from the same thing.
" It's one hot fight that is surely unpredictable." Akagi said with amazement.
" Ah…they're showing nice movements." Coach Anzai said, entering the gym door, startling everyone whose attention was on the game only.
" Sensei!" Everyone said in unison. " Chuusu!"
Coach Anzai laughed his usual ala-Santa Claus one as Akane courteously offered him a seat, which he accepted whole-heartedly. Rukawa and Sendoh stopped playing to greet the old coach, but Coach Anzai told them to go on what they're doing.
The Japanese people rejoiced as their team won in the first game, 30-25. Everyone clapped their hands in delight as the players shook their hands filled with the spirit of sportsmanship and the virtue of being humble. After the greetings of congratulations and other things, people flooded the outside of the court and celebrated with the team for it's first victory and a step closer to the dream of every player in the game, championship.
" Midori! Good job!" Sakuragi said as he clapped his hands heartily with Midori's, which in return, smiled gleefully.
" Ossu!" She replied, clapping the other hand of Sakuragi. " By the way, I heard your friend Mito Yohei also has his national debut, ne? Both of us and he are experiencing the same thing!" she added.
" AAH!!! I almost forgot!!!!!" Sakuragi hollered as he quickly looked at his watch. It was exactly quarter to four. It usually takes fifteen to twenty minutes to reach the racetrack from the volleyball court. " We gotta go now or he'll fume hot!!!!" He said as he tugged Midori hastily with him, not minding the fact that she was being hurt by the tightness of his hold.
" But...wait!!!!" Midori halted as she finally released herself from his very tight grasp soothing her wrist.
" Ah...sorry 'bout that." Sakuragi apologized.
" No. It's not that. It's this…" She said as she pointed her dress. " I can't go to the racetrack with this sweaty uniform." she added.
" But we'll be late-"
" It's alright. You go ahead and I'll be right behind you guys."
" But…"
" Don't worry. I keep my word. Promise." she said as she patted Sakuragi's shoulder. " Go ahead!!! I'll follow right away!" she said as she quickly ran away and was lost in sight because of the number of people around.
" Let's go, Hanamichi." Noma said, tugging Sakuragi's dress like a lost child.
" Yeah." He replied as they headed for the taxi-waiting area.
Rukawa landed heavily on the ground, breathless, perspiring, and over-exhausted with the terrible one-on-one he had with Sendoh. He flung his head to the right, making his raven-colored hair swing gracefully as sweat flew with it. On the other hand, Sendoh sat weakly on the bench and quickly drank from his jug after wiping the hot perspiration trickling down from his forehead to the blazing warm cheek that was incredibly damp. Everyone was totally amazed of the result of the one-on-one. Within thirty minutes of time, both scored the 23 points with different kinds of showy styles that nearly kicked everyone's ass off. They were left bewildered and with questions like 'are they human?' or some things like those.
" It wasn't a bad idea after all." Masaki said, fully contented with the result. " Ace against ace…. darn! I wish I've brought my cam with me!"
" Oh, it's alright. I've got it all here." Ayako said as she showed him her camera. " See?"
"Yoshi, that's all for today since you're already exhausted. But don't forget to come here early morning so that we could finish our practice game early."
" Yeah!"
" Eat a good breakfast and never forget your warm ups. It would be a shame if Japan loses it' first fight." Coach Anzai said as he finally stood from his seat, his glasses shining under the gym light.
" YES!!!!"
" Hey, today's the first game of the race team." Said Ryota after he hung his dress on his locker.
" Hmm now you've said it…I wonder who's the player of our country…" Mitsui said as he popped his head on the blue and gray dress he was holding, at the same time, closing his locker using his back.
" We still have time to watch it." Said Kogure who was fixing his bag. " I'll go and watch." He added.
" Me too." Ryota said, hanging the bag on his shoulder and placed his dark blue (almost black) shades on his eyes. " Aya-chan is going too."
" Count me in." Mitsui said as he slid into his white and black jacket, plopped his blue baseball cap on his head, then inverting it.
" I'm all set, let's go." Kogure said as he opened the locker room door.
" Ossu!"
Yohei proudly polished his HIMMEZ: E.O., with a length of 4580 mm, a width of 1980mm, tranmission: 5 speed, and a top speed of 335kilometers per hour. The engine they were using is the standard engine, HM36DAST.
" Mito-san," Mr. Honda said, looking cheerfully at his watch. " It's time for the practice run." Yohei nodded as he slid his helmet neatly on his head.
" Ganbatte, Yohei!" said Haruko. Giving her a thumbs-up, he opened the door of his car he named " Hikari" or in English "Light", since when he first saw the car (he was in second year senior high then), it shined brightly as if the sun's rays stopped right in front of him. Amazed with the 'light' of the car, he decided to earn money for it since he made up his mind a week ago to enter the sports of racing.
" Remember, Mito-san." Mr. Honda said, bending on the car window. " If you want to win, you should beat your old record that is 1'19'190 in this practice run."
" Ossu." Yohei replied under his helmet. " I'll try."
Seeing the person in front signal him a go sign, he stepped on the gas pedal and drove off in an incredible starting speed.
Author's note:
Hagaki: Yoshi! Chap 13 finished!!! Off to chapter MITCHIN!!!!!!!!
Minami: Yehey! Its Yohei-san's debut already!!! I just can't wait!!!
Hagaki: If you're wondering where I got Yohei's best time and the dimensions and name of the race car, you really won't believe it. (Or would you?!) Grand Turismo Concept 2001 Tokyo and Ridge racer V!!!! Hehe…I even played those two before I wrote this chappy (Of course!!!!) , and 1'19'190 is my best time so far…SO FAR!!!!! I'll beat my own record someday!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ja ne!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!^^