Chapter 1: The new coach

CRASH!

"Hn..."

Rukawa Kaede slowly sat up and rubbed the back of his head. Slowly (in case you didn't notice, he does almost everything slowly, except for basketball, fighting, and falling asleep), he picked up his fallen self and his fallen bike. Yup, you guessed it... our beloved Super Rookie had once again crashed into a car while sleeping and cycling to school at the same time. God knows how he had managed to walk, or rather, cycle away unscathed every time. Anyways, back to the story...

It was the first day of high school. Rukawa was on his way to Shohoku High School, the school which he had so conveniently labelled as 'the school near my house', also the reason given to Moichi Taoka-sensei as to why he chose Shohoku over Ryonan when he was invited to join Ryonan's basketball team. Turning around a corner, he was about to fall asleep again when suddenly...

"Get away from me!"

Rukawa was instantly jolted awake. "...huh?"

"I said get away from me!"

Rukawa immediately halted to a stop. Looking around, he saw nothing. At first. Then, he heard it again.

"I said get away from me, or I'll scream!"

Only this time, he also heard other voices.

"Hehehe, go ahead my pretty little baby. Go ahead and scream all you want. That's what you'll be doing soon anyway..."

Rukawa's eyes widened with surprise, and soon, anger. If there was something he couldn't tolerate, it was a girl in trouble. (A/n: Actually, there're a lot of things he couldn't tolerate, but let's just put that aside for the time now shall we?) Not just any trouble, but BIG trouble. Don't get it wrong, it doesn't mean that Rukawa has a soft spot for girls. It's just that he couldn't bear seeing a girl in trouble, and a BIG trouble at that. Especially not when he could do something to stop it.

Walking towards the voices, he soon found himself in a back alley. And right in front of him, was the source of all the noise. A girl was being surrounded by...

3 guys. Rukawa mentally counted. Shouldn't be much of a problem.

"Do'aho."

"What the...?" The guy with his back towards Rukawa turned around.

"You'd better mind your own business kid. Not if you want to be hurt..."

"Hn..."

In a flash, Rukawa knocked him down with a clean upper-cut.

"Why you... oomph!" The second guy tried to punch Rukawa but was awarded with a quick kick to his stomach.

Two down, one more to go. And he turned around to face the last one.

"Look out!"

PRANG!

Blood started trickling down his face. Shreds of glass that were the remains of the bottle which had come in contact with his head a while ago lay scattered on the ground. Rukawa, being Rukawa, remained standing while touching his forehead to check the wound. Seeing the blood on his hands, he shrugged and lashed out a kick to the attacker.

Game over.

"A...anou..."

Remembering the girl, he turned around... and found himself looking into a pair of eyes so blue, it was almost purple.

"Oh my god! You are bleeding! Are you feeling alright?" The girl asked, panic clearly showing in her eyes.

Coming to his senses, Rukawa shrugged (again) and started walking back to his bike.

"Matte! Where are you going? You have to go to the hospital. Or a clinic at least. You are still bleeding." The girl ran after him.

Rukawa ignored the girl and was about to mount the bike when he suddenly lost his balance and almost fell down flat on his face. A pair of hands grabbed his arm, trying to break his fall. It worked. Almost. He didn't fall on his face but rather, on his knees.

Kuso.

"Are you alright? Did you hurt your knees?" came the girl's voice again.

Struggling to get back on his feet, he let the girl help him up before pushing her away. "Leave me alone. I don't even know who you are." With that, he started pushing his bike and walking away from the girl.

"You don't, and yet you were still willing to save me."

Sigh... and I thought he wouldn't be as bad as they say he is.

Determination and concern written all over her face, she decided to follow Rukawa not too far behind, just to make sure he's alright before reaching wherever he's going.

10 minutes later...

Kuso. Why is she still following me? It's not as if I don't know the way to the clinic...

Deciding to continue ignoring the girl, Rukawa kept on walking, not once turning to look at the girl who was still following behind him.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he reached the clinic. Leaving his bike lying on the pavement, he was about to walk into the clinic when once again, he felt his legs give way and fell down, only this time, flat on his face.

"Rukawa-kun!"

He felt a pair of hands on his arm, trying to hold him up. "Hold on a little longer, Rukawa-kun. The clinic is right in front of us. You'll be fine soon." He heard the girl say. He felt the girl gathering all the strength that she could muster to help him walk into the clinic. He would've pushed her away, if not because of his head, which by the way was throbbing so hard he could've sworn it was on the verge of exploding.

He struggled to keep himself conscious, although slowly, he was beginning to lose consciousness. He heard the nurse asking for his name. And the answer given to her.

"Rukawa. Rukawa Kaede."

How did she know my name?

And then, everything went black.

The next morning...

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnggggggggg...BAM!

Kuso.

Rukawa sat up slowly, this time from his bed, while massaging his bandaged head. As he did so, his thoughts wondered back to what had happened the day before.

-Flashback-

"You'll be fine. Just get enough of rest and you'll be up and about in no time." The doctor proceeded to his desk before continuing, "I'll prescribe you with some pain killers for your headaches."

"Hn..." With that, Rukawa walked out of the room, still a little wobbly, but he managed to get himself seated on the bench outside in the waiting room before he fell again. And before he could stop himself...

Where is that girl?

"Rukawa Kaede."

He looked up, expecting to see the girl standing in front of him. Instead, it was the nurse at the receptionist desk calling out to him. Not knowing whether he was disappointed or relieved, he stood up and walked to the desk, steadying himself at the same time by keeping his hand on the wall.

He barely registered what the nurse was saying about his prescription as his head was still throbbing hard. However, as he was about to leave, he distinctly heard the nurse add, "The girl you came in with said she had to go and do something first, but she'll be back so... hey, wait! Didn't you hear what I've just said? Aren't you going to wait for her? She said she's coming back. Wait!"

Who cares if she comes back or not?

-End of flashback-

Better get to school quick. I missed the first day of school, can't afford to miss it today.

With that, he got up and walked to the bathroom. 5 seconds later...

BAM!

"Kuso..."

Class of 1-10...

"In the year 1943, the second world war started when..."

Knock, knock.

The door slid open. "Sumi masen, sensei. I'm sorry I'm late. I had to settle some things at the school office, and then I had to go to the principal's office."

"And you would be...?" Miyamoto-sensei enquired. The student passed him a piece of paper. Taking the piece of paper, he looked through it before nodding and said, "Alright, Tsukino-san. Why don't you introduce yourself first before taking a seat?"

"Hai." The student turned to face her new classmates and bowed. "Oyaho gozaimasu. My name is Tsukino Hanayuki. You may just call me Hana or Yuki. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu."

She straightened up and ignored her whispering classmates as she made her way to the only available seat at the back of the classroom, which was next to Rukawa's, who was, by the way, hunched over his desk, sleeping.

Recess time...

Rukawa made his way to the rooftop, where hopefully he could get some of his deprived sleep.

No one had better disturb me this time or I'll really wrench their head off their body.

-Flashback-

"Alright class. For today's homework, I want all of you to..."

Snore.

Patience, patience. "I want all of you to..."

Snore.

Patience... "I want all of you..."

Snore.

Snap. That's it! I've had enough. And it's only the second day of school!

Walking in between the desks, Miyamoto-sensei stopped beside the last desk next to the window. A sleeping figure was hunched over the table, drool dripping onto the floor.

"Rukawa Kaede!"

Snore.

"Rukawa Kaede!"

Snore.

"RUKAWA KAEDE!"

Almost immediately, his eyes flew open, but not completely. Because if they did, he would have realised that it was his sensei who woke him up, and he probably wouldn't have done what he was about to be doing next.

"Nobody wakes me up from my sleep."

One sentence, and then a loud scream could be heard from the classroom of 1-10 that morning.

-End of flashback-

Luckily, his classmates had managed to get the sensei to safety before any further damage could be done. Not that there wasn't any damage though. The sensei had been sent to the school's medical room, and it seems that he had not gain consciousness yet. Talk about a teacher's nightmare.

Anyway, not too long after he had settled down to sleep, he was once again awakened. Only this time, it was a kick that woke him up.

This time they're really gonna get it.

And with that, he stood up, and kicked the guy who kicked him in the first place. It wasn't long before he was finished with them (there were three of them), although he did sustain some minor injuries.

He heard the door to the rooftop open, and turned around to face 5 boys, all of them looking at him and then at the three unconscious third-years. One of them, the shorter guy with dark hair, asked him, "Hey, did you do this by yourself?"

"Hn..."

Another guy, this one with yellow hair, then asked, "Who are you?"

This time, he answered. "Rukawa Kaede."

Wrong answer.

The next thing he knew, he was being sized up by the tallest one of them all (or something like that, considering that the redhead was practically looking at him with fire in his eyes), whose hair was a shocking red colour. Suddenly, the door burst open again, and a girl came running.

What happened next was total chaos. First, the girl started berating the redhead, something about rumours and resorting to violence. Then, she turned her attention to him and tried to offer her hanky to clean his wounds. As usual, Rukawa brushed her off. Only to be head-butted by the redhead.

Damn, my head! His head started throbbing again.

The redhead was being held back by his friends, and also by the girl's screams and shouts. Not wanting to continue the fight since his head was threatening to explode, Rukawa left the rooftop.

I shouldn't have taken off the bandage. Then again, even if I didn't, that doesn't mean that the do'aho wouldn't headbutt me. Damn that stupid do'aho and the girl. I don't even know them. K'so... I'd better get to the clinic fast.

As he made his way down the stairs, somewhere in the school, someone was blissfully unaware of what had happened on the rooftop of Shohoku High School. If she had known, things would have been so much more complicated.

The next day, in the classroom of 1-10...

Miraculously, Rukawa came to school. But as usual, he slept through the lessons. This time, the teachers were careful not to wake him up. Not after what he did to Miyamoto-sensei. Apparently, Miyamoto-sensei, who was absent from school that day, was confined to bed at home, still shaken from the bad experience. Gee...

His new seatmate however, whom, by the way, he hadn't noticed yet, tried to wake him up, and immediately found a fist flying towards her face. Her classmates gasped, and gasped again. She had managed to dodge his fist. Undeterred, she gave it another try, only to find the fist flying towards her once more.

Finally, she gave up, to the relief of everyone. If you think that they were relieved because they were concerned about their new classmate, think again. They were concerned alright, but not for her safety.

More like they were concerned that the punch will ruin her unusually violet eyes.

After school...

There was a big commotion coming from the basketball gym of Shohoku High School. Rukawa wouldn't have bothered about what was going on there, if he hadn't heard the name of the person involved.

Sakuragi Hanamichi. The do'aho who headbutted me yesterday.

He found out soon enough what was causing the commotion. Seems that the redhead had vented his anger at a few basketball players when their ball accidentally hit him, due to his bad mood from the incident the day before, but was stopped by the captain of the school team. Then, the redhead had insulted the game of basketball, saying that it was child's play, and infuriated the captain even more.

In the end, the captain had challenged the redhead to a one-on-one game. The redhead was allowed to use any way to make a successful shot into the basket. Just one and the redhead would win. However, if the captain successfully made 10 shots, he would lose.

What happened next was a... well, not exactly a disaster, but then it wasn't smooth-sailing all the way either. The captain of the basketball team successfully made 9 shots, while the redhead couldn't even put in one shot. Not even when he accidentally pulled down the captain's pants while trying to stop him from scoring, thus exposing his, um, bottom, to the crowd which had gathered at the gym to watch the showdown.

It was hilarious for most people, and totally embarrassing for the captain, but the game went on, and finally, the redhead succeeded in making a dunk (although it would have been a foul if they were playing in a real game). The game ended with the captain admitting defeat, and the redhead pledging to join the basketball team, as he wanted to impress the girl who had berated him on the rooftop the day before (by the way, she had apologised to the redhead for misunderstanding him, and also, the captain is her brother, a fact that the redhead found out after the game ended).

Not bad, Sakuragi, thought Rukawa, as he left the scene.

Somewhere in the school, someone was still blissfully unaware of what was happening around her (some people can be so ignorant). Once again, if she had known, things would have been so much more complicated. But then, it seems that fate had decided that it was not the right time yet, and so it would stay that way, until the time comes, when everything would be revealed.

Recess time, some days later...

A girl could be seen walking along the corridors of the school, trying to find her way around. To be exact, she was trying to find the way to the rooftop. Clutched in her hands were two bentos; one wrapped in blue cloth while the other in white. As she continued searching for the stairway that would lead her to the rooftop, whispers could be heard from the students and glances could be seen thrown at the girl.

At 175 cm, she was quite tall for a girl. In fact, she was taller than most of the girls in the school (for all you know, she was probably the tallest girl in school), although if compared to the guys her height was nothing. She had long straight black hair, which was always tied up in a braid, sometimes in a bun. And then there were the eyes. Always the eyes.

She was not bothered by the people around her, mainly because she had learnt to ignore them from an early age (well, you have to if people started gawking and gaping at you since you were young). At the moment, she was more interested in finding her destination.

Finally, she found the stairway and started climbing up the stairs. Upon reaching the rooftop, she scanned the area for something, or more accurately, someone. Her eyes rested on the figure lying on the floor.

She walked towards the sleeping figure and, after carefully positioning herself, preparing for what she knew would be coming, she called out softly, but loud enough to wake him up.

"Rukawa-kun. Rukawa-kun." She shook his shoulders a little.

As expected, a fist flew towards her face, but, having been prepared earlier, she dodged the fist easily. Undaunted, she tried to wake him up again. This time, she couldn't dodge the fist, but managed to hold it back with her hands.

Feeling somebody holding his hands, Rukawa finally opened his eyes and sat up. He snatched his hands away and glared at the intruder. He was about to stand up and leave when he suddenly recognised the intruder.

"What do you want?"

"Rukawa-kun, I just wanted to say thank you for saving me that day. I'm sorry I didn't thank you earlier, I didn't have the chance. When I went back to the clinic, they told me you have already left," the girl replied, bowing her head a little. "And I didn't know where you were staying so..."

"You have thanked me. Now leave me alone," Rukawa cut her off and lied back down on the floor.

"How is your head? Does it still hurt?"

"I said leave me alone."

"Rukawa-kun, please." She pushed the blue cloth-covered bento towards him. "I've made some cookies and cakes for you. It's not much, but I really wanted to show you my appreciation. I hope that you will like it." She waited for his response.

None came.

"Anou... Rukawa-kun. The bell is going to ring soon. Don't be late for class, ne?" With that, she left the rooftop, taking her own bento with her.

Finally. She is such a troublesome girl. But then again, all girls are.

Within 5 seconds, he was asleep. Alas, things did not seem to be going well for our Super Rookie that day...

RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!

Kuso! Damn that stupid bell.

Reluctantly, he stood up and started walking to the door, when something blue on the floor caught his eye.

The bento.

Rukawa stopped and looked at it for a while, contemplating on whether to take it with him or just leave it there.

Sigh...

He took it with him. As he climbed down the stairs, he decided to open the bento and have a look.

The cookies look nice enough, although the cakes look as if they've been squashed or something. As if on cue, his stomach started rumbling in hunger. I guess I'll just taste one and see if they taste as nice as they look.

He took a bite. And another. And another. And another...

By the time he reached the bottom of the stairway, only bits of crumbs were left in the bento.

Not bad, he thought as he walked into his class. The seat next to him was empty. Come to think of it, I never knew who was sitting beside me. Hn, who cares anyway?

He fell asleep almost immediately after sitting down. And naturally, he didn't notice his seatmate sitting down next to him.

After school, at the Shohoku High School basketball gym...

Yasuda Yasuharu and Kakuta Satoru were walking towards the basketball gym for their daily basketball training when they heard the sound of a basketball being bounced. They couldn't have been mistaken; since they were basketball players, the sound of a bouncing basketball was like second nature to them.

"That's weird. It seems to be coming from the gym, but who could be this early for practice?" Yasuda asked.

"Perhaps it's captain Akagi. Who else could it be?" Kakuta replied.

They were in for a shock.

"I wonder if they have started practising yet." Kogure Kiminobu, the vice-captain of the Shohoku High School basketball team wondered aloud to no one in particular.

"Well, they'd better be, or I'll knock them senseless," came the reply from his friend, Akagi Takenori, also the captain of the Shohoku basketball team.

"Maa, maa, Akagi. You shouldn't be so hard on them. You know that they are trying their very best to keep up to your expectations." Kogure said.

"It's for their own good and for the team's as well. This year will be the year we become the National Champions."

"Sigh. I really hope so. I mean, of course I want to... Hey, isn't that Yasuda and Kakuta standing at the doorway to the gym?"

Without waiting for his friend's reply, he jogged up to his juniors. "Yasuda, Kakuta. What are you guys...?" He trailed off when he caught sight of what his juniors were staring at. And just in time too.

BAM!

The basket shook from the impact of the ball slamming through the net, and the ball fell to the ground along with the person who slammed it in.

Watching somebody do a slam dunk was not a very big deal to the boys, especially since their very own captain does very impressive slam dunks himself. However, they had every reason to be really shocked and awed at this person. Why was that you ask?

Well, this person was a girl.

Panting slightly, she was about to go and retrieve the ball when she caught sight of the people standing at the doorway. She turned to face them.

They continued staring.

Sighing inwardly, she walked towards them with a smile.

They stare some more.

Ignoring the stares, she approached Akagi. But, before she could say her greetings and introduce herself, she was cut off by Kogure.

"That... that was a great shot. You could actually do a slam dunk despite... er, I mean, despite..." Kogure stammered a little as he realised that he was about to say 'despite her height'. He hoped that she wouldn't notice in case it offended her.

"Despite my height?" She finished his sentence for him with a smile. "Don't worry Kogure-sempai," she continued when she saw him blanch, "I get that all the time."

"Ah, gomen. I didn't mean to say that. It's just that... wait a minute. How did you know who I was? Ah... well, um... forget about it. Anyway, you were amazing. How did you do it?" Kogure asked.

Before she could answer, she was interrupted by Akagi. "Before that, may I ask why you are here?"

"Ah, yes. I was wondering when you were going to ask me that, Akagi-sempai. Perhaps we should all sit down somewhere before I start ne?" With that, she started walking towards the benches situated at the side of the gym, beckoning for the boys to follow her. Though surprised that the girl knew his name, Akagi went after her, followed by the others.

Upon reaching the benches, she gestured for the boys to be seated while she herself stood in front of them. She took a deep breath before started speaking. "First question. Why am I here? Well, you see..."

"Er... sorry to interrupt you, but that wasn't the first question. The first question was Kogure sempai's 'How did you do it', as in how did you do the... ITAI!" Yasuda clutched his head, which had just been administered with a Gori punch by Akagi. Hanayuki sweatdropped.

"Forgive this baka. Please, you may continue."

Another deep breath. "Anyway, before I answer the question, haven't any of you ever wondered why Anzai-sensei never came to your practises since the holidays started a couple of weeks ago?"

"Eh? Well, actually, we did. But we thought that maybe he went on a holiday or something, so we never thought much about it. Why do you ask? Don't tell me something had happened to him." Kogure started panicking at the thought of something happening to Anzai-sensei.

"Now calm down Kogure-sempai. Anzai-sensei is perfectly fine. However, you were almost right on target when you said he went on a holiday. Because you see, he is now in America."

"Nani?" All four of them chorused.

"Yes. He went to the US two weeks ago when the holidays started. However, he didn't go there for a holiday. He went there to undergo a heart surgery. He's doing fine," she quickly added when she saw their eyes widen in panic, "but he will have to stay there for at least a year so that the doctors could keep an eye on his heart condition."

"Oh." They breathed a sigh of relief. But not for long.

"Wait a minute. You said that Anzai-sensei will have to stay in the US for at least a year? But... but that means he wouldn't be able to coach us anymore."

Panic started engulfing the four boys. Yes, even Akagi, though he tried not to show it.

"What are we going to do?"

"How are we going to get a new coach at such short notice?"

"How are we going to cope without Anzai-sensei?"

"How are we going to realise our dream of becoming national champions?" (Guess who said that?)

"How are we...?"

"WOULD YOU GUYS PLEASE CALM DOWN!"

They stopped ranting and looked at her.

"Good. Now please listen to what I have to say. All your worries are totally meaningless, because Anzai-sensei had everything arranged before he left. Did you honestly think that he would just leave you guys like that without doing anything?" Hanayuki explained. Finally getting their full undivided attention, she proceeded, "Anyway, he had arranged for a new coach to take care of the team whilst he's away, and you are supposed to meet the coach today. Which brings me to the answer of your question, Akagi-sempai." She looked at Akagi pointedly.

Confused, Akagi asked, "Er, which is...?"

"I am your new coach."

Author's notes: Well, I've combined the first three chapters together, so that all of you Mary-Sue haters out there who have so unfortunately chanced upon this piece of fiction can stay away quickly.