10 ~ Rukawa vs Sendoh! – Battle for the Dream
"This is something I cannot do, for I am like a river going against the dam."
"Yes, it might be impossible. But sometimes the river washes the dam away."
Sendoh sighed and picked up a loose leaf that fluttered along with the wind. He couldn't erase the fact he just experienced during his club practice a few hours ago. "I can't believe I did that." He sighed again and recalled the incident.
During their daily practice, their stressed out coach Taoka was as usual criticizing Fukuda's rash movement during their games, not to mention his behavior before him, while the other players did their practice game three-on-three. But Fukuda was a good sport this time, he only stared at the wrinkled old man as he blabbered on with his complaints, instead of creating another reason that might make him quit the club again.
But after a few minutes some of the teammates couldn't take the insults anymore and tried defending their forward. Sendoh was left alone on the court and practiced on shots—he doesn't like debates very much. "Coach, maybe you should let it drop for now. After all, he is a valuable member of the team."
"Yeah," Koshino nodded in approval. "I don't think we would have scored nearly as much as Shohoku's last time if it weren't for Fukuda."
Some others agreed. "Sou da na."
"Uruse!" Taoka-sensei countered, almost at his limit. "You can never expect him to improve himself if you keep on praising him!"
"But what about Sendoh-san?" Uekusa chimed in. "You always praise him, and yet he continues to be an ace player and captain of Ryonan."
Taoka sneered at Fukuda (he's so mean X-( don't you think?). "That's a different story. Sendoh, on the other hand, is dependable, and prepared for everything. He's also considerate, and calm…"
Sheesh, does he have to say those things about me? Sendoh had his eyes way up his eyebrows when he heard partly their heated conversation. He threw the ball and it slammed hard into the ring. Another miss of the day. He grabbed the ball and made his favorite shooting position, but he suddenly stepped on a puddle and made him slip his balance. He realized after half a second the free hand that held onto the ball before. What the…!
"And most importantly, he doesn't make stupid mistakes that will affect the rest of the team and bring it down to failure—"
"Look out there!!"
"Eh…" a moment later a ball zoomed by in full speed, missing Koshino and Uekusa by inches, whizzed past Hikoichi's outstretched hand, and went to the finish line: Coach Taoka's face!
"TAOKA-SENSEI!!!!!!"
He was rushed to the school clinic right afterwards. After he woke up wearing a thick clump of bandage on his nose, he was speechless for almost two hours then and just walked straight out of the gym. (Can you say karma ^_^) The team continued to practice for half an hour before they gave up and headed for home.
"Yare yare (Oh boy)," he mumbled with a lifeless tone as he entered his desolate house on a little bump at the corner. He reasoned out at first that it wasn't his fault for making the coach escape injury in shambles, but he couldn't help being accused as part of the problem. "Stupid hand, I guess you're better off broken." He gave a wry smile as he glanced at the culprit taking out a stray lemon from the kitchen counter. After a few minutes he decided he couldn't stand being in the dim-lit house alone and went outside and walk in no particular direction. That's when he noticed.
He cast a glance at the 187 cm tall shadow a few feet ahead of him, who seemed unaware of his presence, so he tried to send him a greeting. "Yo! Rukawa!"
The freshman looked back at him and continued to walk far ahead. "Sendoh."
Sendoh paced a little quicker to catch up with him. "Man, you have no atmosphere at all!" he shook his head jokingly as he caught up. "Is that how you treat your buddies?"
"Who ever gave you an idea you were one?" Rukawa quickened his walk in order to avoid the annoying Ryonan player.
But Sendoh already sensed this and immediately blocked his path. "If you have any spare time, let's have a match."
Rukawa frowned a little and studied his appearance. He couldn't see any intentional motives, just friendly notions. But he wouldn't be fooled so easily with this guy. "Whatever, Sendoh. Spit it out and what do you want?"
"Nothing! I just want a little one-on-one 'cause I never got to practice much today," he reasoned out. Then he pretended to look mildly surprised. "Are you saying you want to back out on this? I thought you liked a challenge." He only said this to arouse his fighting spirit. He knew Rukawa wouldn't quit anymore at that line. He knew him that well.
Rukawa rolled his eyes. "You're losing it. Don't you go crying back home if you lose."
Sendoh grinned at him back. "Now that's the Rukawa I know!"
"Say, Hanamichi," Yohei started to speak something while the gang were strolling down the street to hunt girls as part of their routine. "Did you have time during your date with Haruko-chan that night?"
Sakuragi looked at Yohei in question. "What, I thought you guys were spying on us the whole time we were there!" Then he gave a mysterious smile. "You can say Haruko-san had the best night of her life. It wasn't as good as being with her alone, but…"
"Okay, okay." Yohei looked away and munched on a chewy candy they just bought, but any idiot could tell the forlorn look on his friend's face. "I get the picture."
"What's with you?" Sakuragi blinked several times and went closer to observe him like a piece of the science lab specimens. "Did you eat something b—"
"Hey, look at that!" Noma yelled-whispered at them to get their attention just as a girl passed by in the other sidewalk.
She had on a dark blazer and a denim skirt that hugged on her figure without showing too much. But already the boys were drooling heavily. "Oh man, she is HOT!"
Sakuragi took only a second to realize who it was by just looking at the loose blond hair. "Akari-san!! What's up?"
"Nani!? You know her?" the four members asked in unison.
"She's in the third year." He waved a little to the blonde. Akari smiled at him the moment she went to the corner to the delight of the Guntai (Army). "Hello, Sakuragi-kun, are you doing something?"
"No, they are," he added grumpily as the others crowded around Akari and making weird noises. (?) "You are so lucky, Hanamichi. So kanojo (girl/lady), do you want to have tea with us? C'mon, let's have some fun." Takamiya said in a voice that's supposed to be suave but he ended up making it bubbly.
Akari smiled a little at him before passing the poor guy. But he was already in heaven. "Look guys, did you see that? She smiled at me!!"
The other three shook their heads in sadness. "I really feel for him," they muttered.
"Akari-san, what's this?" Sakuragi held up a small envelope he just received, and tore it to reveal a blue stationary. He briefly scanned the contents. "You're having a birthday party…Who's coming there too?"
She ticked them out with her fingers. "Akagi-sempai, Mitsui-sempai, Miyagi-san, and Rukawa-kun."
"ALL of us? Is there a tournament there? And don't invite the KITSUNE, HE'S A WASTE OF TIME!!" Sakuragi spewed out a zillion replies at that. Akari's smile widened and chuckled. "No, Sakuragi-kun, but you'll find out when you get there, though it's not as exciting as you guys thought."
"Ok!" Sakuragi shrugged to let her know he wasn't that disappointed (Sakuragi's so polite, isn't he ^_^). "Sure hope I won't get lost finding your place. This looks way out from mine."
The Guntai's jaws dropped open. "Hanamichi's going to a party with that sexy girl?! What's the world coming to?" Thanks to that, they received another round of steaming lumps. "Itaii (Ouch)…"
Ellyta chuckled at them in sympathy, and then focused herself to Sakuragi. "Well, thanks a lot, Sakuragi-kun."
"Me? Why?"
The blonde smiled at him. "If it wasn't for you, I would've said something that I shouldn't." Akari turned and went to the other side, but not before waving at the group. "Bye guys! See you there, Sakuragi-kun!"
"Yeah!" Suddenly he ran towards her as he forgot to ask her something. "Akari-san! Chotto matte (Wait up)! Can I invite Haruko-san too? PLEASE!"
Rukawa grabbed the ball after Sendoh hit the ring hard with his slam dunk. "Damn it!" He turned to the porcupine-shaped captain. "My turn. Hurry up and get down from there."
"Okay, okay, take it easy Rukawa!" he laughed at him and got down to the ground in an instant, then went to his position. "Geez, this isn't the Inter High, so relax a little."
"You wish!" He dribbled slowly the ball and met his rival's eyes with determination to win the game. But Sendoh's apparently didn't share the same feeling as he smirked a little.
"What, are you bored?" Rukawa snapped in annoyance.
Sendoh didn't wipe the smirk off his face as he stared hard at him. "Nothing, really. I'm just wondering why Elly chose such an uptight guy as her friend, not to mention going all the way back for him just to get busted."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Rukawa seemed a little fazed, which gave a chance for Sendoh to steal the ball and make another dunk. "That makes 2 for me. And I thought you said you're going to leave me in victory!"
What's his deal today? Rukawa was reaching boiling point because of him. He knew Sendoh was irritating, but he never enjoyed making fun of others; instead he respected them for their trying. However now he was starting to become a pointy-headed demon whose goal is to delude others with misery. I shouldn't be beaten. I won over Sannoh, the one team he couldn't even face. So why do I bother hearing his dumb remarks? But he still remained shaken with his comments, and he couldn't figure out exactly why.
"Oi, I thought you wanted me to hurry!" Rukawa snapped back to earth and focused on the game. I will win this game. All I need is to concentrate on it, not on that freak. Sendoh grinned at him as if he could read his thoughts and dribbled the ball smoothly. A second later he suddenly attacked and passed the shocked Rukawa, attempting another dunk to purposely crash him mentally.
Rukawa cannot hold his tolerance any longer and jumped even higher to block his plans. But instead his outstretched hand subconsciously gripped on Sendoh's arm and the two players dropped hard to the ground, with the ball bouncing back afterwards.
"Hey!" Sendoh stood up and glared a little at Rukawa for a while. "What are you trying to do, kill me?"
Rukawa opened his mouth to say something nastier back to him, but decided against it. If he continues like this, pretty soon all of the whole darn world will be mad at him. Not that he genuinely cared about others' feelings, but somehow that can ruin his plan of beating Ellyta in her own game.
He ignored his furious words and didn't stand up for a moment. But after a few more minutes of the game he didn't muster enthusiasm to play anymore and plopped to the floor, taking a swig of his water bottle.
Sendoh who lost his original personality a moment ago kept his patience and sighed, taking a seat next to him. "I know you are good, Rukawa. No wonder Cloud Strife looked out for you until his last. But if you're going to stay like that, you'll never improve. Your talent will only be wasted!"
Rukawa couldn't believe his ears. Sendoh didn't appear jealous of the fact he wasn't chosen by the no. 1 player in Japan to be his successor but Rukawa—the reason why he always tried to best him in the first place—or even the situation with Akari: he was infatuated with her before she left. Did he actually CARE for his rival? "What are you trying to say?" he managed to ask.
Sendoh picked up the ball and rolled it around with his index finger. "I'm not really after the basketball thing, mind you. The problem is you and Elly."
The kitsune didn't react but listened attentively, for he could tell he wasn't finished with his speech yet. "Ellyta went back for you, and I think you know the reason why. So what's the point in ignoring her?"
"What reason? Actually, THAT'S the problem. She left and didn't even explain ten years ago!"
Sendoh was bug-eyed. "You mean you don't…know? Not even a clue or something?"
Rukawa let out a breath from tiredness. Sendoh dropped the ball without even sensing it. "Sometimes I can't get how those siblings' minds work."
He stood up again and handed him the ball. "Well, I don't know if I should say this," he started. "But you should at least respect your friend—er, your mentor's sister. She wants to help you and that's enough reason for me to do the same."
He walked towards the exit of the outdoor court, paused and faced the Shohoku ace. "And you better get started before it is too late."
He observed the thick letters imprinted on the neat brick wall. "Kanagawa Prefectural Shohoku High School," he read loudly and smiled. "I'm finally here."
As he brushed his pants and got up from crouching a little, he grabbed a crisp linen bag leaning against an old tree. He took out a notebook and opened it to the very last page. "So let's see…I gotta talk to the principal first at the third floor about Hiei's absence…Take the entrance test…"
"Oh my, isn't he different than anyone? Look, he has the cutest hair!" Two girls giggled, who were wearing what he could identify as female Shohoku uniforms. The boy put his notes back and went over to the two. "Anou, sumimasen. Could you direct me to the principal's office?"
The girl who commented a while ago—wearing pigtails and a dark lipstick—took a step closer to him to see more of his features. "So you're gonna be a new student here? That's great! We'll do more than that, we'll give you a whole tour of the school!"
"Oh, no, that's not necessary—" But before he could even finish, the girls grabbed his arms and dragged him along to the entrance. Are the girls here THIS impulsive? he thought with a shudder.
"Don't worry, you're in good hands with Kaoru and Fuki!" the girls chorused happily as they continued their march with their arms locked against his. "This will be a tour you'll never forget!"
~*Next chapter: Sweet Sixteen*~