Natsumi sighed aloud. It had been a long time since she had ran far enough and the one place where she could stay without being seen is the gym. She got he ball from the gym's ball cart and dribbled it around her and in between her legs.
She stopped and smiled, "It has been quite a while since I've used a ball." She said to herself.
She held the ball and dribbled it around the court with a lay-up shot as its finisher. She came across the three-point lane and took a shot with the ball, the free-throw lane and from under the basket. Every shot was in as expected from a professional player.
She decided to take one last shot. She bended her feet while holding the ball in between her hands. Her eyes traced the corners of the net ready to take the last shot. A dunk. Even though her height was a little too short, she managed to have a jump (that surpasses the national level) that could help her make a beautiful dunk.
She was about to run when, the gym's door suddenly opened. She hurried to the upper part of the gym and spy on the one who just came in. It was Haruko and some odd-looking tall red-haired guy.
"Is that him?" she whispered silently as she sat on the grills of the upper gym to take a closer look. It seems that he was an amateur in the line of sports and was a little goofy, but he also seem to have the talent.
"Sakuragi-ku, do you know how to do a slam dunk? Haruko asked.
Natsumi's eyes widened, "He is indeed, Sakuragi…slam dunk…could he possibly do that?" she whispered.
It took all of Natsumi's great effort to control her laughter upon seeing what Sakuragi is doing. But her expression became serious when he started to run to try a dunk.
He was indeed good in running, holding a ball (he didn't dribble it) and jumping. It all seemed that he would get the ball through the hoop but, everything was miscalculated and he bumped his head on the backboard.
"Sugoi Sakuragi-ku, sugoi!" Haruko exclaimed while jumping again and again. On the other hand, the gym was suddenly filled with laughter.
"Who's that?" Sakuragi roared.
"Natsumi? Why are you here?" Haruko shouted upon seeing Natsumi.
She smiled at them, "I'm about to practice but then the two of you came. Gomen Haruko, I just can't control my laughter…"
"It's alright." She grinned. "By the way Natsumi, this is Sakuragi, he's a freshman like us in section 7."
Natsumi's eyes was fixed on Sakuragi, she was right, he was the one she was looking for. "Hi, nice to meet you!"
"Same here!" he said while grinning. "She's really very familiar, as though we were related in some way." He thought.
"Well, I'd better go now. Matta ne!" she got up and walked away.
"It's funny, she seems like a long lost sister or something." He whispered to himself.
