Author's note:
Hagaki: CHAPPY SIXTEEN! CHAPPY SIXTEEN!
Minami: Minna-san! Here's chappy sixteen!
Hagaki: Yeah, and hope you guys like this!!!
Minami: Happy reading!!!!!!!
Disclaimer: Slam Dunk is the property of the cutie guy namely Takehiko Inoue!!!!!!!!!!!! ^^
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Chapter 16: I WILL PLAY!
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~ And now! Kaede Rukawa putting up a good defense against T. Hox! But then..AH!!! T. Hox passes perfectly to D.V.D and…and ends it in a fantastic three pointer!!!!! And that closes the score into 31-26, still in favor of the Japan team!~
Rukawa groaned, wiping the sweat forming on his chin.
" They're catching us." Mitsui panted as he fixed his knee band.
" Don't mind." Rukawa said before running towards the goal to prepare for their offense.
" Hey, I know that line." Mitsui said, straightening his back after successfully fixing his knee band.
" So do I." Akagi remarked.
" What does that mean?" Masaki asked inquisitively, eyeing the two laughing a bit.
" Don't mind! Just keep on passing the ball to me and everything would be alright!" The two said in unison, imitating ( but didn't succeed) Rukawa's voice.
MAsaki blinked twice. " Ah! So that's it!" He laughed softly along with the two. " I've been with him for quite a while now, but I didn't know that?"
" It's not surprising since he doesn't talk often." Mitsui said.
" Okay, we'd better go now. Iku!" Akagi exclaimed.
" Aa!"
Masaki started to dribble the ball towards the goal. * I need to play with the best that I can give to somehow fill the gap Miyagi left.* he thought to himself. He then saw the impatient Rukawa, whose eyes were burning like crazy, obviously telling him one thing….PASS!!!!
* Wait, you impatient kid.* He replied by a look that said the whole sentence. He faked on passing it to Akagi, then quickly passed it onto the heating Rukawa, who charged his way uncontrollably on the court. He succeeds in widening the gap again with a sugoi finale showy lay up, super cutie, Sendoh-eye-catching (^.^;), suicidal gorgeous unbelievable super mega shot! ( Hagaki: hekhekhek!!!)
" Woa! Great!" Sendoh commented, actually "PRAISED" Rukawa from the great…( minami claps Hagaki's mouth) lay up he displayed just a few moments ago. " I knew he'd do that! That's Kae-chan!"
" You know him pretty well, do you, Aki-chan?" Keiji said.
" Sort of." the spiky hunk replied proudly. (^^)
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Intense pain engulfed Ryota as he limply opened his right eye, looking around at the place, stopping, and then mused at the white ceiling of the clinic. He felt that there was something that blocked his left eye. Reaching it and feeling that it was bandaged, he moaned ponderously in despair. Great...just great…I'm injured…
He tried to move his left hand, but then he felt that another held it. He didn't protest any further, since the hard grip on his hand meant a lot to him. It was her. From warm, her felt something cold drip onto his hands.
Tears.
" Ryota?" Came the first word he heard from the past minutes of his slumber.
" Aya….chan…"
Ryota straightened his back as he tried to get up, but before he could, Ayako gathered him in her arms, tears of unexplainable joy flowing from her eyes.
" I'm so glad you're alright…I was so worried…" she said in between soft sobs.
" Sorry, I worried you." He replied as he embraced her back. ( Hagaki: EEK! Both of you sit up first!!!!! Minami: Bonk! green minded!!! )
" Hump! What would happen top your promise marriage if that injury was serious?" She grumpily said, still embracing him.
Ryota laughed. " Well, you know I didn't want this to happen." he replied. " But don't worry, I'm okay now."
He then sees doctors and medics smile at them, quite - no - totally loving this dramatic scene before them ( considering that they're hugging each other while the other lies on the bed!) His cheeks flushed gradually as he carefully broke the embrace, ( finally) shifting his position to a sitting one.
" By the way, what happened to the game?" He asked as Ayako timidly wiped her tears.
" Uhm…well…you see…I was here since you collapsed so I didn't have the chance to even have a peek at what was going on, so--"
" I will play." He cut her sentence off, his face showed utter determination. Ayako looked at him with a questioning look, the one that showed the question * what was that?*
" I WILL PLAY." Ryota repeated. He stood from his bed and tried to walk away, but Ayako and the other medics stopped him.
" No sir! Under your condition, you can't!!!" A Japanese medic exclaimed, pushing him back.
" I'm alright! Let me play!!!" He protested, trying to free himself from the doctor's tight grip.
" Ryota!!!" Ayako called out, tugging his arm to stop him.
" I only impaired a vision on my left eye, but this is nothing. I'm alrught now so LET ME PLAY!!!!"
The second half finally started. In the first two minutes, the Yornese took the score by 33-30 ( four points brought about by a lay-up and a not-so-good-for-Japan slam dunk. Masaki dribbled the ball towards the goal furiously and nearly succeeded a lay up, but it was snatched by DVD and threw a baseball pass towards Nob Voiji, Who almost succeeded a jump shot.
Akagi fly swatted it before it could even touch the ring, shouting: "You're dreaming!!!!!!"
" The flyswatt!!!!!!!" The benchwarmers shouted, waving their hands victoriously on the air.
" That's my brother!!!!!!!" Haruko exclaimed happily from her seat.
" Hehe..that's Mito-san's soon-to-be brother-in-law!!!!" Sendoh remarked as he smiled mischievously.
" Se-sendoh-san!!!!!" Youhei exclaimed, turning super kadooper reddy. (^^)
" Yeah! That's right!" The guntai exclaimed in unison.
Haruko: blush blush
" AAH! That's…!"
Everyone on the court was shocked when finally, the great pointguard Ryota Miyagi appeared on the court, walking as normal as possible. Ayako trailed behind him.
" RYOCHIN!!!" Sakuragi exclaimed, looking absolutely stunned from the sudden appearance of their team mate whose condition looked really serious a while ago. Coach Anzai, too, as a bit stunned as Ryota went near him, eyes burning for hope.
" But, Miyagi-kun…your injury…" Akane said out softly, standing from her seat.
" I'm alright." He replied back, silencing her by motioning her to sit down.
" Uhm..demo…"
" Anzai-sensei." Ryota started, Ignoring Akane. " Coach, please let me play." Coach Anzai stared at him for quite a while from head to toe.
" Are you sure you're alright, Miyagi-kun?" He asked, fixing his glasses that allowed the light to glimmer through the frame.
" Never felt better, coach." He replied. ( actually, he was secretly holding Ayako's hand at his back, and he tightened his grip as he replied to lil'o 'jisaan. ^____^ Kawaii desu ne?)
Everyone eyed coach Anzai as he called for a substitution on the referre's table.
" Seriously?!?!?!" Akagi exclaimed.
" Red! Number six!!!" Mikatsu heaved a heavy sigh of what sounded like a crossover between relief and disbelief as he ran towards the baseline, clapping Ryota's hand with his.
" Miyagi-kun, are you really OK?" he asked before taking his seat on the bench.
" Well, what's the use of my other eye?" Ryota replied before stepping inside the court. Masaki gave him a wide grin as he was handed with a towel.
" I just hope he means what his facial expression says." Masaki prayed, wiping his face.
" Hey guys!" Ryota called out as he entered the court.
" Are you really gonna play? " Mitsui asked.
" Ryochin! Don't push yourself too much!!!!" Sakuragi patted Ryota's back heavily.
" How many times must I tell you guys that I AM ALL RIGHT?!?!" He said aloud, emphasizing every syllable of his sentence.
" Well then, get ready for both defenses and offenses. Miyagi, remember that you ARE the play maker. Do your job well or you'd be benched." Akagi said, patting Ryota's shoulders.
" Ossu, captain." Ryota replied.Nob widened his eyes in shock. No way! He should be knocked out of the game totally a while ago! His blow should've put him into a deep and long sleep. ( no, certainly not DEATH…)
He's back, the great pointguard…
This won't be easy
Ryota looked onto the giant scoreboard. 33-30. He then altered his gaze onto the time board. It just turned to the fourth minute of the second half.
This should be our showdown! That Nob guy should pay! he thought, charging for the offense.
~ min- er- folks! Miyagi Ryota came back on the play and he's FABULOUS! He doesn't even look like he had an injury!!! And…he passes onto Rukawa, Rukawa shoo--no! That was a fake!!! Passes onto Mitsui, dribbled, AND THREE POINTS!!!!! Great!!!~
As Ryota have said, the rest of the remaining time on the game between the Japanese and the Yornese had been the Jap showdown. Of course, this was made possible with everyone's marvelous plays. Whenever the gap closes, Shoho--er--the All-japan basketball team finds a way to widen it again.
The game finished with the referee's wistle. " Game over!" HE hollered, waving his hands in the air. " Seventy , sixty two. Japan won!"
" We won!!!!!" Haruko exclaimed happily, hugging Midori tightly.
" Yatta!!!" Both Sendoh's exclaimed.
" Sugoi!!!!!!" The guntai said in agreement.
" Nice job!!!!!!" Akane cried out from the bench.
Every person on the A.J.B.T ran towarss the first five amazing players and hugged them, patting their heads while at the same time, congratulating them for their first victory.
At last, I've seen hose smiles I've wanted to take a gander at….
Akane curved her lips into a wide beam. " Sou desu ne, Nobuhiro-san."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Almost three weeks had passed. The race team had one loss, but that didn't stop like that since the next games, they've swept all the gold. (in the one lose, Youhei got silver L)
As for the volleyball team, they've also lost one game L, but, similar to the race team, it didn't end sad for them. Instead, the won all the games after the incident where they lost. ( The Jap spirit, NEVER GIVE UP!!!)
The Japanese basketball team isn't losing so far. They've won all the games. But that STILL doesn't settle it, since tomorrow would be their final, and deciding game…
Everyone practiced hard, but not very hard to strain their selves too much. Mitsui finally developed some stamina that would keep him lasting on a game, Ryota's injury healed a lot (but he's still wearing bandages for extra protection), Sakuragi, believe it or not, can finally do long shots, to be exact, three pointers, and even hard shots like fade-away. Rukawa became utterly indestructible, and played like there was no tomorrow. Despite this, Coach Anzai once said to him that he finally surpassed Sendoh ( woa!!), since he's more of a team player now. Akagi improved on his plays, rebounds, flyswats, and many other more. On one game, whereas Mitsui collapsed 9 he always, though J), Kogure replaced him ( * . *) and he proved that when a megane's at the court, BEWARE! He isn't a national player for nothing, isn't he?
" AAH! What a fine day!!!" A little neko said aloud, stretching her little arms and legs. " Nee-chan, okiro!!! The final game of the A.J.B.T would be today, ne?"
Another one fluttered her eyes open. " Ah..sou…" she murmured before fully standing.
Just before they could walk towards the gym, they spotted a red head running towards their direction.
" Ah! Sakuragi-kun! Sakuragi-kun!!!!"
" Hagaki-chan! And even Minami-chan!" Sakuragi exclaimed, jogging on his place.
" You're in a hurry, ne?" Hagaki asked.
" Of course! This is our last game!!!" He said, still jogging on his place.
" Why aren't you with the others?" Minami asked.
" I…woke up late..so you see…I missed the private bus…" The little neko's landed with a loud thud on the concrete floor.
" Anyway, I need to--" The redhead was cut short because a group of goons surrounded the three abruptly.
" Looks like trouble." Sakuragi murmured under his breath. " NANDA, OMAE TACHI?"
" Sakuragi-kun…ano…they're not Japanese…" Hagaki reminded the war freak redhead
Sakuragi: Sweat drop ***
" That's the consequence in not paying attention to your English teacher!!!!" Hagaki added.
" What do you guys want? We're in a hurry!!!" Minami exclaimed in English. The goons grunted and cracked their knuckles.
" Why are you the one asking? Is that giant guy behind you speechless? Or maybe that red head is really a chicken?" The goons laughed hard after the leader said this.
" He doesn't know straight English." Hagaki replied. The goons' sweat dropped.
" Tell him to fight like a man!"
" For what? You see, we're in a hurry, you dirty crook!!!!!!!" Hagaki answered back, raising her voice.
" Why you---!!!!"
" Matte!" Sakuragi called out.
" huh? Wha whazzat?" The leader stopped before laying a hand on me (oops, wrong POV)
" MATTE." Sakuragi repeated.
" Ah, so you're saying 'fight', isn't?"
Sakuragi didn't understand, so he didn't move.
" What? Are you chickening out? " The guy said again. He then imitated a chicken in front of Sakuragi.
Sakuragi, though he didn't understand the words, understood the act, and delivered a strong kick on the ass of the leader, sending him flying from the strong impact.
" Why you--!!!" The others gave Sakuragi jabs and kicks all over his body.
" Sakuragi-kun!!!!" Hagaki and Minami exclaimed. " We'll call for--"
Suddenly, someone appeared behind the two little neko's.
" Youhei-kun-tachi!!!!!" The two exclaimed. Youhei went near Sakuragi to give the ones who were punching and kicking him a strong jab on the cheek, sending them flat on their rears.
A little later, the other guntai members joined in, and with their raging fist of fury ( o.O huh?), hey shooed all the goons away.
" Youhei! Minna!!!!!!" Sakuragi called out.
" Don't forget, Hanamichi." Youhei said as he turned back to look at him after sending the last goon running home to his mommy's back, crying.
" We're still the SAKURAGI GUNTAI." The other three continued.
Sakuragi smiled as he was helped by his frinds to stand up. " Sankyuu ne, omae-tachi." he said, smirking broadly.
" Now you better go or you'd be late for your last game." Youhei reminded, fixing his collar.
" Aa." Sakuragi replied, running as fast as he could toward the bus stop nearby.
" Aren't you guys coming with him?" Hagaki asked the guntai.
" We will. Youhei's still waiting for Haruko-chan." Takamiya said.
" Haruko-chan? Doushite?"
" She forgot something at the hotel room so she went back to pick it up." Youhei explained
" And of course, Mr. Loverboy here is waiting for her!" Said Takamiya, nudging Youhei by the elbow.
" We met him on the way and HE dragged us along!" Ohkusu added, re-enacting the drag scene.
" And that's when we spotted Hanamichi and the both of you guys." Noma finished.
" Ah, sou…Dewa, Ja ne!"
" Huh? Why?" The guntai said in unison.
" We'll be going with Sakuragi-kun." The two replied. " if we want to go early, we'll take the same bus Sakuragi would be taking."
" Wait! We'll go too!!!" The three exclaimed.
" Bye guys!" Youhei waved as the five went out of sight.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A/N
Hagaki: There's chappy sixteen!!!!! Yahoo!!! Off to seventeen!!!!!
Minami; Please review!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Both: that's all for now, see ya guys again at chapter seventeen! JA NE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!