"Arigato!" she shouted as she closed the door of the school's clinic. She was now holding a whole bundle of bandage in her hand, enough to cover up her sprained wrist.

She sighed aloud as she raised her sleeve towards her elbow. "I shouldn't have played basketball this lunch." She thought. "Now, my wrist is more painful than ever."

It was not so long afterwards, when she realized several droplets of blood dropping down the floor in front of the main staircase. She hurried to the place just to see Rukawa's head full of blood.

"God damn it! What happened to you?" she asked the cute blood-covered guy infront of her.

"Nothing…it's just that one stupid guy bumped his head on mine." He replied slowly.

She held Rukawa's head slowly while turning it sideward. She got her stained handkerchief from her pocket and pressed it gently towards his injury. "Um, Rukawa-ku, can you sit down. It's really hard to wipe the blood off your face." She requested.

Without any hesitation, the obedient otoko slowly sat down on one of the floor steps, making it easier for Natsumi to cure the wound on his forehead. "Can you get the bundle of bandages in my pocket." She ordered while pushing her skirt a little closer towards Rukawa.

He pressed his hand inside her pocket and pulled out the bandage. He raised the bandage in his hand to be a little closer to Natsumi's reach. She carefully wrapped his head with it and finished it without leaving anything unused.

"Well, that's it…I'm done!" She smiled.

Rukawa just stood up and walked pass her in silence. He didn't even turn his back to say thanks or whatsoever. He just strolled towards his classroom until he was out of sight.

Natsumi sighed aloud. "There goes nothing…" she said softly.

Giant hands clapped loudly that it echoed though the whole gym. Akagi just came in the gym with Kogure to start the rookie's introductions. "Freshmen, line up! Introduce yourselves!" he roared into the whole gymnasium.

Natsumi crossed her legs while sitting on top of the gym's second floor grills. She was watching all those frightened freshmen tremble while introducing themselves. A beautiful smile suddenly curved across her lips as she took a look at Rukawa and Sakuragi at the corner of her eye.

"Rukawa Kaede, Tomigaoka Junior High School's captain ball. I can play in any position!" he introduced himself.

The whole gym suddenly burst into a chattering cage. Natsumi can hear tons of chattering voices, whispering about how great Rukawa is. It was the first time Natsumi heard an enormous amount of compliment given to one guy.

A loud vigorous voice suddenly filled the air. "Sakuragi Hanamichi! The next captain and—"Akagi's hand suddenly met his head, making it smoke a little.

"Ou-ou-ou-ouch!" he pulled his hands towards his head and massaging it slowly. "That hurts, how dare you Gori?!"

"Shut up Sakuragi!" he roared. "By the way, I'm Akagi Takenori, the captain and Shohoku's center."

Kogure moved forward and placed the ball he's holding in between his arms. "Kogure Kiminobu des." He bowed.

Suddenly, the gym's door flew open as a young tomboyish girl came butting inside the gym carrying a big bag. She pushed the bag down her shoulders and walked towards the freshmen. "Ayako des!" she greeted.

"She's our team manager!" Kogure introduced.

She gave them a peace sign in her hand and winked her eye, "Ei guys! Huh?" she moved forward and pushed Sakuragi hard. "Sakuragi Hanamichi you're here!

As the whole team went busy on chatting with Ayako, Natsumi stood there listening to all the conversations that were happening. It was then that she knew that Rukawa was Ayako's kowhai in Junior High.

The place where she was sitting on was a little far away from the gym's center that she could barely hear the conversation. She bent forward to hear a little better but to her excitement, she accidentally lost her grip and "Damn it, I'm Gonna fa—"

"Remember Basketball is no—" Akagi was cut when suddenly,

A scream was heard all over the gym as Natsumi's figure fell from the upper floor.

"Watch out!" Rukawa surprisingly shouted while sliding forward to catch her. He was right on time, as Natsumi landed down in between his arms.

As she opened her eyes, Rukawa's face was the first one she saw which made her blush a little, "Nice catch!" she told him with a smile.

"Ah! Natsumi get out from that kitsune otoko! It's a bad omen!" Sakuragi shouted while pointing his finger directly to Rukawa.

A big white fan suddenly hit Sakuragi's head. "Calm down Sakuragi. Rukawa's not a jinx you stupid idiot! Wait, how come you know such a popular person here?" Ayako asked him curiously.

Sakuragi placed his arm behind his head and laughed aloud. "Of course I know her! Boku wa tensai dakara!" he just continued laughing making it louder than before. "She's a model!" he continued.

"That's not all…" Ayako closed her eyes and raised her chin like a know-it-all girl. "Ne, Kogure sempai?"

Kogure cleared his throat and fixed his glasses up his nose. "She's also the number one point guard in Shizuoka as well as a playing coach!" he explained in his most formal voice.

"Sugoi!" was all that Sakuragi said. "What's a playing coach? And what's a point guard? Is it edible?"

Everyone suddenly stared blankly at her with 'no way' expressions on their faces and sweat drops. But to everyone's surprise, Natsumi suddenly laughed aloud. "God, you really are funny!"

Ayako then held her pointing finger at Hanamichi and smiled. "A point guard is one of the court position in a basketball game and a playing coach is a player as well as the teams coach. Get it?"

Sakuragi then smiled so big with his newfound information. "So she's really very good! A Basketball genius next to me!"

Ayako nodded. "Yup you got it all right except for the fact that she's a genius next to you!"

Natsumi blinked her now small eyeballs and grinned. "I think that's a little exaggerated. Don't you think so Rukawa-ku?" she asked the guy that was still holding her at his arms.

He flicked his shoulders and sigh. "Are…Are!"

She smiled at Rukawa's expression and pushed his forehead lightly with her forefinger. "Don't you have anything to say rather than that." She kissed his left check before jumping off his arms.

As she stretched her uniform to the way it was before, surprised faces of each club member surrounded her. She bowed her head and smirked, "Gomen, I disturbed your practice. I must be going now." She said while heading towards the door. Just before she could get out of the gym, she suddenly bumped into something very soft. She fell right on top of her butt and scratched her head.

A funny laugh suddenly filled the air. A very fat, white haired glasses man came in. It was Anzai Mitsuyoshi, Shohoku's head coach. "Anzai-sensei!" everyone shouted.

"Anzai-sensei?" Natsumi repeated. As she opened her eyes, the old fat man was blocking her sight. It finally occurred to her why she was so familiar with that laugh. Of course, it was Anzai-sensei, her ex-mentor.

"Sensei!" she shouted as she wrapped her arms around the old man.

Anzai laughed again. "Natsumi-chan! Nice to see you again!" he greeted. "Are you planning to join the basketball club this year?"

Natsumi's smile faded a little as she took a look down the floor in great depression. "I haven't thought about it yet…" she whispered.

 "Akagi-ku, I want to see a game between the freshmen and the seniors…" he instructed Akagi but then, he brought his gaze back to Natsumi. "I need a word with you Natsumi." He said as he led her towards the chairs right next to the court.

"Look Natsumi, I know just how well you play your games. It will be an honor to have you in our team." He said right after sitting down. Natsumi can't help but to feel sorry for herself. She looked downwards so that Anzai couldn't see her depressed expression. "It will be just like the old times, you'll be my assistant coach as well as this team's player."

Anzai stopped talking for a while to watch the practice game of his team. Natsumi then looked upwards to see this team's capabilities. Everyone was full of energy but among all of them, these four guys were above the rest.

Akagi, the team's captain and center was good at rebounding and it's defense was the best especially under the basket. Most of his plays were excellent. Kogure, the vice-captain, even though you can't see it in him, he was good at long range shots and he was the team's main brain. Though still an amateur, Sakuragi displays a unique talent hidden inside him. He is a fast learner and sooner or later, he would become a promising player. And of course Rukawa, he is good at everything that has something to do with basketball. A defensive center, an outside shooter for a guard, a promising rookie as a small forward and a powerful power forward…all they need is…

"A point guard…as of now…we need a point guard like you." Anzai explained.

Natsumi suddenly gazed back at the floor again. She held her wrist and closed her eyes. "Gomen sensei…" she whispered. She gazed at Anzai's eyes for a moment then stood up. "I…I…I think I can't play." She lowered down her face.

"Why not?" Anzai asked, still not changing his expression.

"I really can't sensei…."

Anzai smiled and stood up from his chair. "I won't loose hope. I know how dedicated you are when it comes to basketball. I'm sure one day you will be really one of us."

"Arigato, sensei…" she said as she took a look at Anzai's eyes. She saw the hope he had for her. It was flattering but her mind was so confused at the moment. "I think I better go now…see you tomorrow then sensei…" she said before running away from the gym.

"I can't do it…" she whispered to herself while running towards the small parking space behind the school building. "I just cant…stupid hand…"