Let One's Heart Decide
Disclaimer: Slam Dunk is © Inoue Takehiko and all its other companies. This fanfiction is © Hitora. It is not allowed to be put up on any other site without permission. Other characters in this fiction belongs to Hitora.
Chapter 2: First Basketball Practice
"I'm Miyagi Ryota, Captain of the Shohoku Basketball Team. Please introduce yourselves," Ryota instructed.
The first years began to introduce themselves, telling the rest of the team their names, class, height, weight, and played positions. Finally, it was Kazuo's turn.
"Kazuo. I'm Rukawa Kazuo. I'm 1.85m and my weight is 70kg. Like my aniki, I can play any position," he said, grinning at Rukawa.
Rukawa gave him a cold stare and rolled his eyes as the rest of the team began whispering. It was already bad enough that his brother was in the same school as him as his fans will ask all about him and Kazuo would be glad of the attention. Kazuo is also in the basketball team and he has to put up with him at school, practice and at home, and also his strong sense of rivalry in everything.
In his mind, Rukawa knew that this year was going to turn out horrible. Captain Akagi's sister, Haruko, became the assistant manager, and Rukawa didn't like that as he would have to get along with her and he knew that she was infatuated with him. To make matters worse, he had a bad feeling that the basketball team wouldn't go far without the previous third-years, Captain Akagi Takenori, Vice-Captain Kogure Kiminobu and the excellent three-pointer and former junior high MVP, Mitsui Hisashi. He looked at the side of the courts to see the three standing next to the sitting coach.
Rukawa was in such deep thought that he didn't notice that all the seniors who were present had already introduced themselves to the first-years.
"Rukawa. Rukawa," Ryota called the ace of Shohoku.
Rukawa snapped out of his thoughts and glared at the first-years.
"Rukawa Kaede."
All the first-years but Kazuo stiffened.
"Onii-san, don't look so serious, will you?" Kazuo said to his brother, trying to ease the tension.
Instead, he received yet another chilling glare and was forced to shut up. Suddenly, a song could be heard and it was so off-key that most of them winced.
"Ore wa tensai... basketman! Rukawa... lalala"
Rukawa frowned when Sakuragi stepped into the gym.
"The tensai has arrived!" he announced, laughing loudly.
Suddenly, he was pounded on the head and he looked up to see his attacker.
"GORI!" he cried out. "What are you doing here?"
"To check up on all of you! Especially you, bakamono!!" Akagi shouted, pounding him again.
"Itai! Gori!" Sakuragi yelped, clutching his head. His hair was growing and it looked a little spiky now.
"Now, he is our resident crazy basketball player. He's crazy but never doubt his basketball skills," Ryota told them.
"Ryochin," Sakuragi murmured, his eyes watering.
"Hanamichi, don't be late again. You're a senior!" Ryota told him off.
"Datte you're not gonna hit me like Gori, are you, Ryochin?" Sakuragi asked, watching out for Akagi out of the corner of his eyes.
"He won't but I would!"
Ayako was standing at the entrance of the gym holding onto her trademark paper fan. Standing meekly next to her was Haruko and she was dressed similarly to Ayako, in short tights and a baggy shirt. The only difference was that she did not wear a cap but tied her hair in two braids.
"Aya-chan!"
"Ayako-san! Haruko-san!" Sakuragi blushed when he saw the latter.
"Sakuragi-kun, you have to be good now that you're a senior," Haruko said sweetly.
Sakuragi blushed a deeper shade of red and nodded his head vigorously. Rukawa turned away and sighed.
'Why was everyone making such a big fuss over him anyway? He is nothing but a troublemaker.' Rukawa thought angrily. 'We're wasting time.'
Kazuo caught his brother's eyes and gave him a sympathetic look. Rukawa pretended not to catch his look but picked up a ball instead and dribbled to the post and dunked. The whole post shook at the strength of the dunk and finally, Ryota called practice to a start.
"Teme, Rukawa! What a show-off!"
"RUKAWA! RUKAWA! L-O-V-E, RUKAWA!"
"Grr.." Sakuragi growled.
Practice for the day was very basic. Just some passes and shots. After three hours, it was called to an end.
"Right, minna. Meet here at 3:30pm tomorrow," Ryota told them.
"UI!"
"Yohei, if Hatsuko comes, tell her to wait for me," Sakuragi told his best friend who came to watch their practice with the rest of the Gundan.
"Sure, but hurry up," Yohei said.
A few minutes later, Hatsuko came and looked around.
"Eh, onii-chan doko e?" she asked Yohei.
"Taking a bath, I think. Hey, Hat-chan, wanna play?" he asked, holding up a basketball.
"You're on!" she said grinning.
Hatsuko tapped the ball from Yohei's grasp and picked it up. She dribbled it to the nearest post and was about to shoot when Yohei was right next to her.
'I guess there goes my lay-up,' she thought.
She backed up but Yohei stuck close to her. Yohei grinned.
"I learnt a lot from watching your brother play," Yohei told her.
"I learnt a lot more from his lessons, Yo-chan," Hatsuko told Yohei.
Yohei's eyes widened as Hatsuko did a feint and stepped behind the three-pointer line. In a fluid motion, she jumped and shot and the ball sailed gracefully into the net.
"Yoshi!"
"You're good, Hat-chan," Yohei said.
"Of course! She has tensai blood in her!" Sakuragi said, appearing.
"Onii-chan, what took you so long?" Hatsuko pouted, punching her brother lightly on his arm.
"Oi!"
"You must be Hatsuko," a girl with dark brown hair tied in two braids said to her.
She was slightly shorter than her and really pretty.
"Haruko-san!" Sakuragi shouted so loudly that the Gundan has to clamp their ears.
"Haruko-san? Oh! Haruko-san! I heard a lot about you from onii-chan," Hatsuko said, looking at her brother who was desperately trying to tell her to keep her mouth shut and not tell Haruko his feelings for her.
"Ditto."
Unknown to them, outside the gym, in the darkness, stood Rukawa Kaede who was observing the small group. When he saw Kazuo, he walked away.
"Onii-san, going home?" Kazuo asked, but as usual, he didn't get a reply.
He began to mop the floor with the rest of the first-years, watching the small group with the corner of his eyes.
Sakuragi was admiring Haruko when he noticed scratches and bruises on his friends.
"Yohei, what's up?" he said softly, lifting his chin a little.
"Let's go outside," came the reply.
~*~*~*~*~
"Why do I have to wait for you everyday after school? I'm sixteen, you know! I don't need you to protect me!" Hatsuko yelled at her brother on their way home.
"Does this have anything to do with your friends being involved in a fight?" she demanded.
"How did you..." Sakuragi started.
"Onii-chan, I'm not blind! You've been fighting a lot even when Okaa-chan told you not to. If you hadn't been fighting, Otou-chan wouldn't be dead!"
Sakuragi looked at the ground and immediately, Hatsuko regretted what she had just said.
"Onii-chan, gomen-nasai. I didn't mean it."
"Wakatta, wakatta."
"Really! I mean, we wouldn't have been reunited otherwise, ne?" Hatsuko said, trying to sound cheerful.
In Sakuragi's junior high school days, he picked a fight with a group of gangsters and defeated them. Upon reaching home, he found his father on the floor of their house and he was running to the hospital to get help when the group of thugs caught up to him with their backup. Due to this, Sakuragi's father passed away.
When he did, Sakuragi's mother took him in. At a very young age, his parents were divorced. His father took him whereas Hatsuko was taken by his mother. When his mother learnt of the cause of her ex-husband's death, she made Sakuragi swear never to fight again. He did swear but he doesn't keep it. Hatsuko who adores her brother doesn't want to tell on him so till now, their mother is clueless on the happenings of her children's' lives.
"So, will you wait for me everyday after school? Please? Your life is in danger," Sakuragi pleaded.
Sighing, Hatsuko agreed. "But you have to come shopping with me tomorrow."
"Wha.." Sakuragi's eyes bulged. "Anything but that!"
Sakuragi turned chibi and started crying and Hatsuko, who was grinning mischievously, patted her chibi brother's head. Rivers of tears flowed from his slit eyes.
"Iya..." he sobbed.
Author's note: Finally! The next chapter is up, ne? It's a little shorter than intended but if I continued with the next part, it would be way too long. Oh well.
Disclaimer: Slam Dunk is © Inoue Takehiko and all its other companies. This fanfiction is © Hitora. It is not allowed to be put up on any other site without permission. Other characters in this fiction belongs to Hitora.
Chapter 2: First Basketball Practice
"I'm Miyagi Ryota, Captain of the Shohoku Basketball Team. Please introduce yourselves," Ryota instructed.
The first years began to introduce themselves, telling the rest of the team their names, class, height, weight, and played positions. Finally, it was Kazuo's turn.
"Kazuo. I'm Rukawa Kazuo. I'm 1.85m and my weight is 70kg. Like my aniki, I can play any position," he said, grinning at Rukawa.
Rukawa gave him a cold stare and rolled his eyes as the rest of the team began whispering. It was already bad enough that his brother was in the same school as him as his fans will ask all about him and Kazuo would be glad of the attention. Kazuo is also in the basketball team and he has to put up with him at school, practice and at home, and also his strong sense of rivalry in everything.
In his mind, Rukawa knew that this year was going to turn out horrible. Captain Akagi's sister, Haruko, became the assistant manager, and Rukawa didn't like that as he would have to get along with her and he knew that she was infatuated with him. To make matters worse, he had a bad feeling that the basketball team wouldn't go far without the previous third-years, Captain Akagi Takenori, Vice-Captain Kogure Kiminobu and the excellent three-pointer and former junior high MVP, Mitsui Hisashi. He looked at the side of the courts to see the three standing next to the sitting coach.
Rukawa was in such deep thought that he didn't notice that all the seniors who were present had already introduced themselves to the first-years.
"Rukawa. Rukawa," Ryota called the ace of Shohoku.
Rukawa snapped out of his thoughts and glared at the first-years.
"Rukawa Kaede."
All the first-years but Kazuo stiffened.
"Onii-san, don't look so serious, will you?" Kazuo said to his brother, trying to ease the tension.
Instead, he received yet another chilling glare and was forced to shut up. Suddenly, a song could be heard and it was so off-key that most of them winced.
"Ore wa tensai... basketman! Rukawa... lalala"
Rukawa frowned when Sakuragi stepped into the gym.
"The tensai has arrived!" he announced, laughing loudly.
Suddenly, he was pounded on the head and he looked up to see his attacker.
"GORI!" he cried out. "What are you doing here?"
"To check up on all of you! Especially you, bakamono!!" Akagi shouted, pounding him again.
"Itai! Gori!" Sakuragi yelped, clutching his head. His hair was growing and it looked a little spiky now.
"Now, he is our resident crazy basketball player. He's crazy but never doubt his basketball skills," Ryota told them.
"Ryochin," Sakuragi murmured, his eyes watering.
"Hanamichi, don't be late again. You're a senior!" Ryota told him off.
"Datte you're not gonna hit me like Gori, are you, Ryochin?" Sakuragi asked, watching out for Akagi out of the corner of his eyes.
"He won't but I would!"
Ayako was standing at the entrance of the gym holding onto her trademark paper fan. Standing meekly next to her was Haruko and she was dressed similarly to Ayako, in short tights and a baggy shirt. The only difference was that she did not wear a cap but tied her hair in two braids.
"Aya-chan!"
"Ayako-san! Haruko-san!" Sakuragi blushed when he saw the latter.
"Sakuragi-kun, you have to be good now that you're a senior," Haruko said sweetly.
Sakuragi blushed a deeper shade of red and nodded his head vigorously. Rukawa turned away and sighed.
'Why was everyone making such a big fuss over him anyway? He is nothing but a troublemaker.' Rukawa thought angrily. 'We're wasting time.'
Kazuo caught his brother's eyes and gave him a sympathetic look. Rukawa pretended not to catch his look but picked up a ball instead and dribbled to the post and dunked. The whole post shook at the strength of the dunk and finally, Ryota called practice to a start.
"Teme, Rukawa! What a show-off!"
"RUKAWA! RUKAWA! L-O-V-E, RUKAWA!"
"Grr.." Sakuragi growled.
Practice for the day was very basic. Just some passes and shots. After three hours, it was called to an end.
"Right, minna. Meet here at 3:30pm tomorrow," Ryota told them.
"UI!"
"Yohei, if Hatsuko comes, tell her to wait for me," Sakuragi told his best friend who came to watch their practice with the rest of the Gundan.
"Sure, but hurry up," Yohei said.
A few minutes later, Hatsuko came and looked around.
"Eh, onii-chan doko e?" she asked Yohei.
"Taking a bath, I think. Hey, Hat-chan, wanna play?" he asked, holding up a basketball.
"You're on!" she said grinning.
Hatsuko tapped the ball from Yohei's grasp and picked it up. She dribbled it to the nearest post and was about to shoot when Yohei was right next to her.
'I guess there goes my lay-up,' she thought.
She backed up but Yohei stuck close to her. Yohei grinned.
"I learnt a lot from watching your brother play," Yohei told her.
"I learnt a lot more from his lessons, Yo-chan," Hatsuko told Yohei.
Yohei's eyes widened as Hatsuko did a feint and stepped behind the three-pointer line. In a fluid motion, she jumped and shot and the ball sailed gracefully into the net.
"Yoshi!"
"You're good, Hat-chan," Yohei said.
"Of course! She has tensai blood in her!" Sakuragi said, appearing.
"Onii-chan, what took you so long?" Hatsuko pouted, punching her brother lightly on his arm.
"Oi!"
"You must be Hatsuko," a girl with dark brown hair tied in two braids said to her.
She was slightly shorter than her and really pretty.
"Haruko-san!" Sakuragi shouted so loudly that the Gundan has to clamp their ears.
"Haruko-san? Oh! Haruko-san! I heard a lot about you from onii-chan," Hatsuko said, looking at her brother who was desperately trying to tell her to keep her mouth shut and not tell Haruko his feelings for her.
"Ditto."
Unknown to them, outside the gym, in the darkness, stood Rukawa Kaede who was observing the small group. When he saw Kazuo, he walked away.
"Onii-san, going home?" Kazuo asked, but as usual, he didn't get a reply.
He began to mop the floor with the rest of the first-years, watching the small group with the corner of his eyes.
Sakuragi was admiring Haruko when he noticed scratches and bruises on his friends.
"Yohei, what's up?" he said softly, lifting his chin a little.
"Let's go outside," came the reply.
~*~*~*~*~
"Why do I have to wait for you everyday after school? I'm sixteen, you know! I don't need you to protect me!" Hatsuko yelled at her brother on their way home.
"Does this have anything to do with your friends being involved in a fight?" she demanded.
"How did you..." Sakuragi started.
"Onii-chan, I'm not blind! You've been fighting a lot even when Okaa-chan told you not to. If you hadn't been fighting, Otou-chan wouldn't be dead!"
Sakuragi looked at the ground and immediately, Hatsuko regretted what she had just said.
"Onii-chan, gomen-nasai. I didn't mean it."
"Wakatta, wakatta."
"Really! I mean, we wouldn't have been reunited otherwise, ne?" Hatsuko said, trying to sound cheerful.
In Sakuragi's junior high school days, he picked a fight with a group of gangsters and defeated them. Upon reaching home, he found his father on the floor of their house and he was running to the hospital to get help when the group of thugs caught up to him with their backup. Due to this, Sakuragi's father passed away.
When he did, Sakuragi's mother took him in. At a very young age, his parents were divorced. His father took him whereas Hatsuko was taken by his mother. When his mother learnt of the cause of her ex-husband's death, she made Sakuragi swear never to fight again. He did swear but he doesn't keep it. Hatsuko who adores her brother doesn't want to tell on him so till now, their mother is clueless on the happenings of her children's' lives.
"So, will you wait for me everyday after school? Please? Your life is in danger," Sakuragi pleaded.
Sighing, Hatsuko agreed. "But you have to come shopping with me tomorrow."
"Wha.." Sakuragi's eyes bulged. "Anything but that!"
Sakuragi turned chibi and started crying and Hatsuko, who was grinning mischievously, patted her chibi brother's head. Rivers of tears flowed from his slit eyes.
"Iya..." he sobbed.
Author's note: Finally! The next chapter is up, ne? It's a little shorter than intended but if I continued with the next part, it would be way too long. Oh well.