Title: Slam Dunk – A Different Story
Author: Kenjii Izuke (Izuke)
Part 2/27: "Fujima – Foe or Friend?"
Shohoku's new player, Kenjii Izuke, wearing the red jersey with the large, white number nineteen on it, sat on the bench patiently. She glanced across the court and noticed someone staring at her, cocking his head to one way to get a better look at her, as though he recognized her from somewhere before. It's Fujima-san, she thought. Why is he giving me some weird look? Maybe he's never seen a girl play basketball before. She chuckled and shook her head. Fujima-san, I want to see who's better – you or me.
Cold, dark-haired Rukawa Kaede, Shohoku's small forward, wearing the jersey with the number eleven, seemed to be thinking along the same lines as Izuke. Fujima – its time to test our strengths again. You – or me. Only one of us will win this match.
The game started in a few minutes. Izuke watched fearfully. Even though only five minutes passed, Shoyo was running wild and were leading 12 – 0. In about another five minutes Shoyo had scored again and the score was now 16 – 1. After fifteen minutes of the game, Anzai-sensei called for a break. Immediately the two teams got off the court and Anzai-sensei proceeded to talk to the Shohoku team. "Izuke-chan," he said, "I want you to get in there and show them how you play." The coach turned over to the other judges and muttered something.
"I don't believe this," he said, turning back to the team. He took off his glasses to clean them and the team noticed his bright, twinkling eyes. Anzai-sensei was obviously quite enthusiastic about the match that day. "But they've actually allowed us a brief five minutes of practice before we continue."
"WHAT?" Akagi said. By right, this was not appropriate – but because Izuke was a new player, the judges had given in, giving her time to 'break in' on the court and get used to the area. Usually, this never happened, but the fact that Izuke was a girl may have been an asset in changing the judges' minds as well. "Well! That's good, then! Come on, team!"
Shohoku took one half of the court and Shoyo along with Fujima took the other side. Izuke practiced shooting with the Shohoku team covering her as if she were from the other team. Out of 10 balls, 9 went in. All perfect lay-up shots. Like Akagi Haruko, Akagi Takenori's younger sister, she was one who could never afford to miss at least the lay-up shot or running shot.
Fujima turned to watch Shohoku and noticed Izuke's amazing lay-ups and alley-oops. He was quite impressed and found this interesting to watch. "Fujima… who are you looking at?" Toru came over.
"Look…" Fujima pointed at Izuke, "Who's that girl there?"
"Would I know?" Toru said, laughing. He adjusted his glasses, which were about to fall off. Then he turned to Fujima again.
"She plays very well for a girl of her height. Be careful of her. I watched her playing and her shooting. She's small, so she can elude easily, and she moves quite quickly. She could be even better than Jin," Fujima warned Toru. Soichiro Jin was a player from Kainandai Fuzoku whose name was famous in the 3P-shooting league. No one beat him at 3-pointers.
Toru nodded. "If it doesn't go well…?"
"I'm coming into the game… and I'll take care of her," Fujima said seriously, "Maybe if I could get her to be in Shoyo…"
"That's ridiculous," Toru said, "That would mean she has to switch school. Fujima, are you thinking fine?"
"I'm fine, I'm fine. I was just thinking."
The bell rang, indicating that the five minutes were over. Anzai-sensei called out to Izuke. "IZUKE!! REPLACE MITSUI!!"
Mitsui nodded and ran out of the court, running a hand across his sweaty forehead as Izuke took his place on the court. He didn't like the idea of being taken out of the court so early, but he was eager to watch how Izuke would take to trashing Shoyo with her superb skills. The bell rang loudly again. The game had started! At the tip-off, Akagi roared as he jumped and gave the ball a great smack and sent it flying across the court. Izuke ran after it and caught it. She began running to the basket, dribbling as she went.
Three of the Shoyo team members followed to cover her while the other two guarded the basket. In a swirl and flurry of amazing moves, which included a number of excellent feints, Izuke escaped the team and ran over to the basket. Toru proceeded to use a steamboat cover, but Izuke countered this easily – she didn't shoot. It was a false move. She jumped up again and threw the ball. It swished through the net.
"YEAH!" she shouted, punching the air with her fist. Fujima, shocked, took this as a signal to act, even though Izuke had just scored once. He understood what would happen in just five minutes if he didn't counter the situation. The game would be Shohoku's wave. He stood up, his face determined and full of confidence, and immediately called for a player change for Shoyo. "Player change!" he called, turning to the judges, "I'm going in to play."
"Ito! Out!" he shouted, pointing to Ito. Ito jogged out of the court immediately. Fujima removed his jacket, exposing his green Shoyo jersey. Fujima walked into the court with a slight smile on his face. His determination would lead Shoyo to victory.
"Shoichi! Number 4! Mitsuru! Number 7! Kazushi! Number 4! Toru! Number 11! I'll guard number 19…" Fujima said, approaching Izuke. Izuke gulped.
"Fujima Kenji?" she said, looking at Fujima in the eye.
"Eh…?" Fujima was obviously distracted.
"Let's see who's better… you – or me," Izuke said boldly, even though she was shaking from head to toe. Fujima stared down at her – he was only about 9 cm taller than the 1.69m tall Izuke – and grinned slightly.
"…Really? Well, I don't mind the challenge," Fujima said, smiling and patted her shoulder as though she were a little girl. Izuke looked extremely confused, but this quickly turned to seriousness as the two centre players got ready for the tip-off.
And the game began. Kazushi passed the ball to Fujima without signalling, who shouted, "Baka! Don't pass it to me like that!" at him when the ball hit his shoulder. He turned around and tried to pass the ball to Shoichi. But Izuke wouldn't let that happen. She covered Fujima as well as Hanamichi covered Uozumi.
"Soh~!" Fujima said, grinning at Izuke, "You are good." He attempted a fake ball, but Izuke, who knew all about Fujima's moves – since she tried to follow them – was too smart for that. As quick as lightning she snatched the ball from Fujima and dribbled it towards the basket. "Rukawa-kun!" she shouted, and passed the ball to Rukawa. Rukawa caught it marvellously and attempted a shoot. Mitsuru knocked the ball away. Fujima ran after it, but Izuke was nearer. She caught the ball – and Fujima caught her.
"Yikes!" Izuke exclaimed. Fujima, realizing that he'd accidentally grabbed hold of Izuke's head, jumped away, yelling "Sorry about that!" and attempted to cover her. Fortunately, the referee hadn't taken note of this and did not blow a whistle for foul.
Izuke soared high. It was too late for Shoyo to do anything now. Despite her height, she jumped amazingly and her fingertips just reached the rim… she actually performed a SLAM DUNK!!. All those years of doing high jump and going for artistic gymnastics training sessions in her old school really paid off. Izuke grinned and high-fived Rukawa, who complimented her, saying, "Nice!". She ran over to the middle of the court, and was immediately blocked by Fujima.
Mitsuru tossed the ball to Fujima, but Izuke was quicker. She reached out her hand in front of Fujima and intercepted the pass.
In just eight minutes, Izuke had scored 9 points for the team, Rukawa 10, Sakuragi 4 and Akagi 6. But Shoyo was still leading 50 – 40. Rukawa, furious, pushed himself to his limit. Now, after eleven minutes of furious and aggressive scoring as well as fine teamwork, the score was raised to 55 – 52. Shoyo's determination was growing, and their defense was much stronger. There was still about a minute to play.
"SHOHOKU! SHOHOKU! GO KENJII IZUKE! GO RUKAWA KAEDE!"
"SHOYO! SHOYO! GO FUJIMA KENJI! GO HANAGATA TORU!"
Izuke was struggling to keep Fujima from scoring as well as catching or even passing the ball. The same went with Fujima. It was a furious battle between a girl and a boy almost a head taller than her, and with more sharpened skills. Many people in the stands, watching the friendly match, were amazed at how Izuke outdid Fujima so easily.
"Argh! I'm coming!" Rukawa yelled as Izuke was being covered by 4 Shoyo team members. "Sonna! 15 seconds!" Rukawa sprinted across the court and Izuke tossed him the ball. Just as the Shoyo team covered Rukawa, Rukawa passed the ball back to Izuke and the new star player performed a beautiful three-pointer that saved the team – from losing. The bell went, indicating time-out. The score was a tie. 55 – 55.
The Shohoku team and the Shoyo team shook hands and then went back to their respective benches, all except Fujima Kenji and Kenjii Izuke. Izuke had been dragged out of the stadium by Fujima who 'wanted a word' with her.
"What? What?" Izuke exclaimed, rubbing her wrist, which was red from Fujima's strong grip. "Ouch, for crying out loud, don't pull me out like that next time!"
"Hey, congratulations," Fujima said, smiling at Izuke, "You deserved to win."
"Oh? Well, we didn't. Too bad," Izuke answered quickly, forcing a smile. She went back to rubbing her painful wrist. "You played well."
"I did?" Fujima said, and laughed, "So did you. You played much better than I did. I was surprised you didn't fall for my ace fake ball. Everyone does."
Izuke blushed immediately. "Oh… that. I know all about your fake balls." She looked up and grinned. "You can't trick me. I know every single move you've got. So its not easy getting past me, you know."
"Sou yo…?" Fujima said, "How?"
"Well," Izuke said, and sat on a bench outside. Fujima sat next to her. "The truth is… when I was younger… junior high… I used to watch you play. I really loved the way you play… and Rukawa-san too… that I made up my mind that one day… I would be like you. I would be like Rukawa-san. That I would be the best player Japan's ever seen."
"And you did a good job. So what about me?"
"I used to imitate every single one of your moves. Every trick, every step," Izuke said, "I became something like a replica of you. But then I decided to make my own moves. My fake balls. My moves."
Fujima nodded. "I'm impressed," he said, "By the way… I think I've seen you somewhere before, you know."
"You have?"
"Yeah," Fujima answered, "During a competition or something. I think during the IH… or the IJH. Were you at the IH two years ago…? I think you were talking to… Minami." He turned away slightly, and winced when he mentioned the name Minami. Minami played dirty on the court when he wanted desperately to win. He gave Fujima an injury once during the IH.
Izuke nodded. She broke out into a grin, not noticing Fujima's wistful expression, and hugged Fujima loosely. "Yay! The famous player Fujima actually remembers me!" She let go and laughed. "Whoops," she exclaimed, "Sorry about that." She moved away, feeling slightly embarassed.
"Nope, don't worry," Fujima said, laughing, "By the way… sorry about what happened on the court. I was too focused on the ball. I had no idea you were going to cut in so fast."
"Its OK," Izuke said, "But… I have to admit, it was kind of surprising. One minute I'd caught the ball, and suddenly somebody pulls my head back. Ouch!"
"That's not as painful as you think," Fujima said, lauging, "Once that Sakuragi guy actually fell on top of me during a game." Then Fujima suddenly stopped laughing. He hung his head, looking quite sad.
"Something wrong?"
Fujima looked at Izuke with sad eyes, but he forced a weak smile. "That was the time we lost. We lost. To Shohoku. All my dreams. To be the best coach. To be the best player. To make Shoyo the best team. To enter the IH. All gone. But now… I'm going to keep playing! Shoyo is number one this year! I'll do whatever it takes to get my team to the top!"
No wonder Anzai-sensei likes him, Izuke thought. He's so full of determination!! He does things not for himself. He works hard… for his team. "I feel that way too," Izuke said, "I try my best to make my team the best in Japan. It bothers me when something goes wrong."
"Sou desu…"
"I've never actually tried playing any other position besides second guard and point guard before. I should talk to Anzai-sensei about it," Izuke said suddenly, purposely changing the subject.
Fujima looked at her. "I think you do quite well as a point guard."
"So do you," Izuke said, "Okay, so the both of us are two of the best point guards Japan has ever seen." She laughed at her own joke and slapped Fujima a high-five.
"Look… uh… Izuke," Fujima said, "Would you consider… coming to Shoyo?"
"What???"
"I mean it. Shoyo needs plenty of promising players these days… and we're losing. We're losing. I need more good players to take over the game. Plus… I'll be leaving school in a year's time…" Fujima hung his head, "I'm really gonna miss basketball."
"You can play for college."
"Yeah, maybe, but its not the same as high school basketball…" Fujima said, "Anyway… would you come to Shoyo?"
Izuke chuckled. "You know, this is ridiculous," she said, "I just entered Shohoku, and now you're asking me to go to Shoyo?? This is weird. What will my parents say…?"
"Please," Fujima pleaded, looking at her with his deep blue-gray eyes. "PLEASE." Izuke shrugged.
"I don't know," she said, "I have to ask my parents about it first. Besides… Shohoku… the game's not over…"
"That's OK," Fujima said, "You can change parties when this is over. Besides, the tie-break is next week." He grinned slightly when he said this.
"I'll… I'll think about it," Izuke told him reassuringly.
"Good," Fujima said, grinning, "Hope to see you in Shoyo soon, then!" They both got up, and walked back to the stadium, hand-in-hand.