Author: Kenjii Izuke (Izuke)
Status: Ongoing Part 1/27
Part 1: The New Player - Izuke
**********************************************************************
NOTE: Notice that the star in this fanfic is Izuke... (and that's my adopted japanese name) I'm not egoistic - just couldn't think of another name for the character. I can play basketball too even if i'm a girl!!! don't insult me. :)
**********************************************************************
Captain Akagi Takenori stepped up front and turned to his team mates. His expression was serious and focused, as though he had been deep in thought just a while ago. "Now listen up!" he barked loudly, "We will be facing a rather tough team..." Kogure interrupted him.
"Akagi-san, it's hardly...!"
"Shut up, Kogure," Akagi snarled aggressively, driving a pale-faced Kogure back into line, then gave a loud laugh, seeing the frightened look on the vice captain's face. "Anyway... as I was saying... once again, we will be facing team Shoyo! Even though this is just a practice game, I want all of you to practice hard... and..."
Just then, Ayako, the bubbly and enthusiastic team manager, burst into the court, panting. "Sumimasen! Akagi-senpai!" she exclaimed, her face bright. She was red in the face, breathing hard, and her thick, curly black hair was in a mess. She was holding a red cap in her hand, and she was wearing her usual black tights and plain white shirt.
"Ayako! You're late again – as usual. What's wrong... with you?" Akagi said, approaching the panting and puffing Ayako.
"You... wait... and see," she said, smiling and straightened up. "I've got a new ace player for you!" Everyone gasped and turned to her when she said this. Ayako turned to the green sliding doors of the basketball gym. "You can come in now, Izuke-chan!" This caught everyone's attention. Who was Izuke? They were curious to meet this new ace player of Ayako's and they were eager to see if she was as good as their manager said. Suddenly, the doors of the gym opened and in stepped a... GIRL – relatively tall for a 15-year old Japanese girl – and a dwarf compared to most of the Shohoku boys, except shorter ones like Miyagi Ryota.
"Um, yoroshiku minna," the girl said, and smiled. She had twinkly hazel eyes and sleek dark brown hair which she tied in a neat ponytail. She was quite pretty - and this caught the attention of Sakuragi Hanamichi. However, Akagi Haruko's sweet face popped into his mind, and he soon decided he'd go after the captain's younger sister instead.
The whole team was quite surprised and shocked, as well as confused. A girl in the team? No girls ever entered the basketball team or were even interested… well, except Akagi Haruko and Ayako, and they weren't even players – only because girls didn't play or it just wasn't right. But here was a girl stepping into the team as if she had all the rights in the world!
"Um... my name is Izuke, and I'm... er... kind of new here. I know you all have played for a long time here... and..."
"Izuke-chan," Akagi said, "We're training for a match. You might not want to join just yet."
Izuke looked slightly taken aback. She stepped forward and confronted the tall, giant of a captain. Izuke was 169 centimetres tall (5"7), and, despite her height (being quite tall for a 15-year old girl), looked quite ridiculous standing just in front of the giant Akagi Takenori. It was like comparing a giraffe with an ant.
"I play basketball," Izuke said boldly, obviously not intimidated by Akagi's size.
"Oh, you do, do you?" Akagi-san said, and gave a loud laugh. "Show us, then. You have a choice. Is there anyone you would specifically like to challenge?" He stepped aside, showing off the whole row of players. The entire team was easily at least 5 cm taller than her (except Miyagi who was the same height as her).
Izuke thought for a moment, studying each of the players intently. Finally, she spoke. "The best front line you have."
"Er... what?"
"The best front line here. Don't you even understand simple basketball terms, then? Geez! You know... the best five players of each position you have?" Izuke said loudly, stepping back. Immediately she threw off her Shohoku school blouse, under which was a light blue basketball shirt, which said 'DO-MINATO'.
"Do-Minato?" Akagi said, laughing loudly, "Isn't that the team we beat ages ago? Ha ha ha! I haven't played with them for a year!! They must still be really lousy."
"Take back your words, I mean it," Izuke said, "Of all my years in that school, I myself doubt if I have ever played against Shohoku. I'm not from Kanagawa, the high school basketball is of practically no value. I'm an ex Tokyo girl, and that's where the greatest value of basketball comes from. Would you like to keep thinking that way? Or take back your words? I may be a freshman, but don't underestimate me. I wasn't the captain of Do-Minato for nothing."
"…once captain…?" Kogure murmured in shock, "…She must be really good. Plus, she's from Tokyo..."
Akagi gave a snort. "Try us," he answered.
Ayako rushed in. "Stop fighting! Stop! Just go and play. Izuke-chan… are you sure about this?" Ayako looked extremely worried. "Don't worry," Izuke said, and shrugged. "I can beat them easily enough. Take Kanagawa's Ryonan team, for example. I bet I could beat them on my own with a margin of at least five points."
The whole team gasped. What a show off! Who did she think she was, showing off like that - beating the whole Ryonan team on her own? This was too much.
"W-ell..." Izuke corrected herself, "Maybe not the whole Ryonan team. But if you put me against Sendoh-san and Uozumi-san I'm sure I'll throw them off easily." She grinned. The team was impressed by how boldly, easily and confidently Izuke spoke. She was not afraid of speaking big... or did she really mean what she said?
"Handicap," Akagi said, handing the ball over to Izuke. "I'll let you start."
"Are you sure? Because you may want to take that back," Izuke said.
"I'm sure," Akagi said, grinning. Hah, he thought, this girl will never beat us! She looks so weak. But he thought otherwise when Izuke rushed off, dribbling the ball with style.
Akagi ran to the basket while the other team members covered Izuke. Izuke shook her head, chuckling softly. She had her own way of escaping from such defence. She glanced over at the basket. She was about 45 metres away from it. She took a small step forward, ready to throw. Her small hands tightly gripped the ball, not keen on having it stolen. Her eyes were focused intently on the purple rim of the basket.
"Think you can make it? No way!" Akagi laughed.
Izuke threw the ball. The team members stepped back. Suddenly, Izuke laughed and ran after the ball, which was coming down quickly. They were fooled! She had never meant to shoot from so far away. "I could have done it, you know!" Izuke laughed, as she neared the basket. Akagi struggled to cover her, as the other team members watched the events with interest.
Izuke ran forward and leaped up with amazing agility. Immediately, Akagi used his specialty, the 'steamboat cover' on her. Izuke simply moved her hands around and performed an alley-oop under Akagi's arms into the basket.
"Satisfied?" Izuke said, running a hand through her ponytail. "Or do you want to give it another go?"
"One more," a dark voice said. Izuke turned around.
"Rukawa-kun," Izuke murmured, then her face brightened. She smiled. "OK, one more round it is! Though I can't guarantee that your team will win this round."
It was Shohoku team's ball this time. Rukawa caught it and began dribbling to the other end. Izuke caught up with him easily and guarded him tightly so he could not even find a way to pass the ball. As a last resort, he made a backhand pass to Sakuragi, who laughed loudly at this act and proceeded to near the basket.
Sakuragi Hanamichi, with his growing red hair ruffling with the wind produced, jumped high up, all prepared to launch a full-scale dunk. However, he lost grip on the ball and it hit the board instead, causing a major BOO-BOO. Izuke quickly readied herself for a screen-out play. "Rebound…" she murmured to herself. Instead of getting the rebound, she waited for Akagi to get it instead. With speed to match Fujima Kenji's, she moved over and hurriedly snatched the ball from Akagi.
"What the...!" Akagi roared, as Izuke made her way to the other side of the court. Mitsui and Sakuragi were waiting there. They jumped high up, both using the 'steamboat' technique but Izuke was careful not to put force in her jump. Her hands moved backwards, and she threw the ball towards the basket, as she landed diagonally backwards.
"...Fade-away jump shoot!" Ayako exclaimed in surprise, standing up immediately, "I've never seen a first-year do that… plus Izuke is not that tall… she's great!!! Sugoi, Izuke-chan!" Izuke turned and smiled brightly at Ayako again. "What did I tell you?" She turned and suddenly noticed Rukawa wiping his sweat away with a blue Adidas towel. "Rukawa Kaede, is it?" she said, cocking her head to one side. Her voice was curious, as though she was trying to make sure that she'd got the right person.
"Er..?" (Rukawa shows a funny look)
"Baka! Now she likes YOU?" Hanamichi said angrily, raising his hands in frustration.
Izuke rushed over to Rukawa with an enthusiastic smile. "Oh, you're now playing for Shohoku, are you? I used to watch you play all the time!! Don't you remember me from the Inter Junior High?? I was the captain of Do-Minato Junior High!! I was the one who was always sitting on the bench at the side, keeping quiet doing nothing…?"
Rukawa thought for a moment. "Oh, now I remember. I used to think you were some idiot benched player since you hardly moved. Ha ha!" For once, Rukawa actually broke out into a slight smile, the first actual smile the team had seen since their match against Akita Shonen's Sannoh, and he chuckled in amusement. Izuke laughed along too. "But then, you were quite good on the court. Why were you sitting there for so long? What did your coach say?"
"Er... I was kind of like the coach...!" Izuke exclaimed, turning slightly red. "Or much rather, my elder sister and brother."
"Oh!" Rukawa said, quite surprised, "Interesting. It's not often you come across junior high students who coach their teams, much less high school students… except Fujima Kenji, and he's already in his third year. But… you actually coached your team during junior high? That's... quite something to do."
"Really...?" Izuke said, "Well, that's partly thanks to you, you know. And besides, I didn't do that coaching all on my own. My brother and sister were a big part of it. And that was only for less than a year, after the coach left and we couldn't find anyone to take over his job at Do-Minato. Kind of like... a no-choice decision."
"Ah, I see. Thanks... to me...? What did I do now?" Rukawa said, raising an eyebrow. His warm smile disappeared, and he took another long drink from his water bottle.
Izuke smiled, and reddened even more. "I used to try and imitate your every movement on the court… and then slowly I developed styles of playing. New styles, all my own – and some not even my sister knows about. Then the school just assigned me to be the coach."
"Ahh... I see," Rukawa said thoughtfully, rubbing his chin. "Well, good job. Maybe captain might let you join the team. Gori… I mean, captain…?"
"I'm not sure," Izuke said doubtfully, "He doesn't seem to..."
Suddenly Akagi gave Izuke a hard thump on the back. He was grinning all over. "Of course I will!" he boomed, looking quite cheerful. "With people like you around - who can afford to lose?"
"I'm not accustomed to losing," Izuke said, staring at Akagi coldly, the twinkle in her eyes disappearing, "I really hate myself when I do something stupid."
"Just like Rukawa," Akagi said, obviously not put down by this statement. "The two of you can be really good buddies, eh? Hope to see both of you practicing hard. You'll be our secret weapon this time.
We're against Shoyo."
"Shoyo," Izuke repeated softly, "Oh..."
"Something wrong?" Rukawa asked, squatting down and staring at Izuke. Izuke joined Rukawa and sat down next to him on the floor, her legs stretched out in front of her.
"Is that Kenji-kapten's team?"
The team was surprised. Kenji-kapten? No one had ever called him with such respect. Everyone called him Fujima, even the other coaches. Even the Shoyo team members. Everyone. Well... except for Izuke, who had just called him Kenji-kapten.
"...Fujima.. kapten...? Er.. yeah, why?" Rukawa answered, wondering what Izuke was thinking about. "You know him?"
"Not really," Izuke said. She lifted her head and smiled again. "I really admire him. He plays basketball really well."
"Hm, yeah..." Rukawa said, nodding, "Even I think so. For his height, he's..."
Izuke chuckled, and hugged her knees, rocking back and forth. "For years, I'd always dreamed of becoming like Rukawa-san and Fujima-san. Your performances really inspired me. I trained everyday... EVERY DAY... well, almost... from morning till night... until I did so badly in school I had to stop my long hour practice and start studying..." Izuke's expression was wistful, and she took a deep breath before continuing. "But… now, nothing is going to stop me from being the best player in Japan!"
Wow, Ayako thought, she's really determined. Even Akagi never sounded like that. He never actually meant what he said. But the new player Kenjii Izuke – well... she was like Rukawa in a way. The two of them had so much in common despite Izuke being new. They shared the same greed... the same desire to win. Maybe Anzai-sensei might send both of them to the US.
"Ho ho! Not bad! I like your determination!"
Everyone turned around. "Anzai-sensei!" Akagi exclaimed. "Everyone up! Good morning, Anzai-sensei!" Everyone echoed. Anzai-sensei looked at Izuke, smiling his usual, cheery smile.
"I think I know you," he said, "But I'm not sure... have I seen you before at a match?"
"I'm not sure, sensei," Izuke said, "But I have gone for a number of matches before. I was the captain … and coach of Do-Minato Gakuen Tokyo.... I used to play shooting guard, but later the team made me point guard."
"Sou desu ne. Coach… I think I remember now… Do-Minato… the first team to set a record of not a single charged time-out that whole year," Anzai-sensei said, still smiling. "That was your year, wasn't it? If I'm not mistaken…"
"Yes, that's right," Izuke said. The Shohoku basketball club members were now very shocked. It was obvious that Izuke surpassed all of them, even the seniors and sophomores, highly in basketball. Her skills were far superior to theirs, and she definitely had over five years of experience in playing the game.
"No charged time-out…" Ayako whispered, "…her team must be really strong… if we meet them in the IH…"
"Anyway," Anzai-sensei said, turning back to Izuke, and fixing his glasses, which were falling off his nose. "When I was outside… you were saying something about… Fujima Kenji?"
"Er... kind of. He is good," Izuke answered.
Anzai-sensei nodded. "Very good. Who would have thought - he'd be the coach of Shoyo, at such a young age too. But maybe I'll change my mind about that, since there are people like you." He chuckled. "I talked to Kenji before. He said being a player and a coach for teams like Shoyo was very stressful… especially since he was shorter than the rest, and they are all of the same age, and he had to find out someway not to take advantage of the team's height, but sharpen their skills. Stressful, yes, but he'd do anything to make Shoyo win, to be the best team in Japan. That's the kind of determination I want. What you are doing, Akagi, is not correct."
"Wha...?" Akagi said, shocked.
"I don't want you to keep punishing the students. Take Kainandai, for example," Anzai-sensei said, "Their captain, Maki never punishes them, nor scolds them a lot. And what about Ryonan? Akira and Jun don't make a lot of noise, do they, Akagi-kun? In fact, they encourage them. Taoka does the shouting. Kenji encourages his team mates. You saw him in your last match with Shoyo, didn't you? He was always determined and soft-spoken, never harsh. He speaks with encouraging words." Anzai-sensei chuckled. "He believes that in Shoyo there are no failures. But he believes in weaknesses. And he wants to destroy all those weaknesses."
"Uh...?"
"You know Jin from Kainan? The coach and the captain never pushed him, but he practiced on his own. He practiced, and now he's the best shooting guard in this prefecture!"
"Oh...?"
"If they don't want to practice, Akagi, let it be. I don't want them to be pushed around. If they're not going to practice, we'll just lose. Leave it to them. But give them some form of encouragement."
Akagi nodded, finally understanding what the coach was saying. "Anzai-sensei, one more thing..."
"…Akagi-kun?"
"Izuke-chan... she wants to join the team."
"Sou desu ne… is she any good?"
"VERY!" Akagi said, his face all smiles, "She beat us all on her own just now, and she shoots well too!"
"Sou yo." Anzai-sensei nodded. "I knew that was coming. When I saw the girl at the IJH full of confidence… even at the benches, looking bright and confident… I was sure she'd be a star someday. Her skills may even surpass that of Shin'ichi Maki's."
"Anzai-sensei... arigato! Domo arigato gozaimasu, Anzai-sensei!" Izuke exclaimed, bowing deeply. "But my style is nowhere near Shin'ichi-san's. He is too good a player."
Anzai-sensei obviously wasn't listening to what Izuke was saying. "Anyway, now that Izuke is here... this is the new strategy I'm going to devise..." Anzai-sensei began....
**********************************************************************
"GO! SHOHOKU! GO!"
"GO! SHOYO! GO!"
The cheers echoed round the stadium as teams Shohoku and Shoyo proceeded to the benches on either side of the court. Captain and Coach Fujima was there, encouraging his team and urging them on with effective words as usual.
"We're going to win this!"
"YEAH!"
"We lost to Shohoku once, but not now! We'll win this now, or never!"
"YEAH!!"
"Good!"
"YEAH!!!"
Fujima gave his team members a sidelong look, saying, "You don't have to say that so many times..."
"YEAH!" the team echoed. Fujima sighed.
**********************************************************************
end of chapter 1
by kenjii izuke (izuke)