Chapter 13: Uh-oh!
Shohoku basketball gym...
"Hana-chan, gomen!!! I really didn't mean to push you into the mud, I didn't know!!! Gomen!!!" Sakuragi pleaded with Hanayuki, referring to the incident the day before.
Hanayuki smiled inwardly, but decided to pretend to ignore him, just for fun. Wrong decision. As she was about to walk away, Sakuragi latched himself to her legs, causing her to lose her balance and fall down flat onto the ground. Face first.
The whole gym fell silent.
"Um... can somebody give me a hand here? I don't know, but I thought I saw birds flying around my head," came the muffled voice of Hanayuki, who was still lying face down on the floor. She paused, and then said, "Oh, there goes one of them now, and another, and another..."
In a blink of an eye, everybody was scrambling to help Hanayuki. It was Mitsui who reached her first, and gently turned her around. He gasped at the sight of her bloodied nose, and so did the others (except for...). Sakuragi visibly paled, while Rukawa got even paler, if that's even possible.
"Out of the way!" ordered Ayako, as she pushed her way to Hanayuki. She put down the first aid kit and regarded Hanayuki's nose for a while, touching it gently to see if it's broken. "It's ok. It's not broken," she announced and everybody breathed a sigh of relief.
Meanwhile, Akagi was punching Sakuragi's head again and again, while Mitsui and Miyagi stood aside, butting in once in a while to give him a kick at the back or something to that effect. Rukawa himself was itching to join in, but he was more concerned about Hanayuki at the moment. However, he wasn't about to let him off without doing anything. In the end, he decided to bestow on Sakuragi his most famous and exclusive one-liner.
"Do'aho."
Sakuragi was too busy trying to dodge Akagi's punches to retaliate. By the time Akagi stopped, Ayako was done tending to Hanayuki's nose. It had stopped bleeding, but the swell was still visible. Sakuragi approached her, his hand holding his poor battered head (it's a good thing he's used to banging his head on walls and floors), and asked meekly, "Er... Hana-chan?"
Hanayuki, who was seated on the bench, looked up at him. She gave him a smile and said, "I'm fine, oniichan, if that's what you want to ask. Really."
Sakuragi returned her smile with a weak one. "Yokatta..."
Her eyes travelled to his head, which, by the way, was still smoking. "Are you alright, oniichan?"
Totally forgetting about his head, he put on his Tensai pose and said in a loud voice, "Of course I am, Hana-chan! I am the Tensai. Whatever Gori does will not affect me at all. Nyahahahahahaha!"
"Don't worry about the baka, Hana-chan. His head is harder than steel. You should be worrying about yourself. Are you sure you're alright?" asked Mitsui, as he seated himself beside her on the bench.
"Yes, I'm fine. Don't worry, Hisashi-niichan," Hanayuki assured him.
"Is there anything I can do?" asked Mitsui again.
Hanayuki pondered on the question for a while. "As a matter of fact, there is." She gestured to him to move closer to her and whispered into his ear. The others watched as Mitsui nodded his head now and then. Rukawa narrowed his eyes at the scene before him.
After she was done, Mitsui stood up, clapped his hands together and asked for everyone to gather around. As it turned out, Hanayuki was planning a little game between the seniors and the freshmen. Akagi, given his injured ankle, was asked to watch from the sidelines, while Mitsui was asked to referee to handicap the senior's team.
"Hana-chan, why are we having this game?" Sakuragi asked.
"To build up your stamina, oniichan," answered Hanayuki.
"But the Tensai doesn't need to build up his stamina. I have a lot of stamina," protested Sakuragi. Before Hanayuki could say anything, Sakuragi interrupted, "Oh, I know! You are referring to Rukawa, aren't you Hana-chan?"
Turning to Rukawa, he shouted, "Oi, kitsune! You hear that? This game is for you to build up your poor stamina."
"Do'aho, you'd better not get in my way during the game."
"Teme! You had better not give up if you used up all your energy again, kitsune!"
The game started, and Sakuragi showed just how much he had improved in only three months time. Hanayuki was proud of her brother's remarkable performance, but she had a different agenda in mind for setting up the game. Wanting Sakuragi to act as a back-up center for Akagi, her intention was to have Sakuragi recover confidence in himself and to reveal what still needed to be improved in his skills.
She signalled to Mitsui, and he stopped the game. Substituting Kakuta, he entered the game as center for the senior's team, guarding Sakuragi. As the game continued, Mitsui revealed Sakuragi's weak points one by one; the first being his tendency to pass carelessly when blocked by an opponent he could not shake off; the second being the fact that he only knew how to do lay-up and dunk shots; and the third, his tendency to miss easy shots, despite his greater height over most of his opponents, in this case Mitsui.
Mitsui yelled at Sakuragi what to do, but the redhead was already in a state of panic and frustration. Akagi could only stand and admire Mitsui's astuteness and skill in blocking Sakuragi, while Hanayuki smiled as everything was working as planned, thanks to Mitsui no less.
In the last minute of the game, Rukawa grabbed the ball and attempted a fast break. As he neared the goal, he passed to Sakuragi, believing that the redhead would return the ball to him. However, much to his annoyance, Sakuragi smirked and said, "Nice assist". He leaped to dunk the ball, with a very furious Rukawa jumping as well.
CRASH!!!
"Sakuragi, for the next three days, you will be practising your shooting skills," said Akagi.
His words went ignored, though, because Sakuragi and Rukawa were both hanging from the hoop like monkeys, clobbering each other.
---
Three days later, 9.30 am...
Hanayuki ran around the house, trying to locate her keys. "I cannot believe that I'm actually running late! What was I doing?" She found her keys and threw it into her bag. Putting on her shoes hurriedly, she went out of the door and locked it behind her.
2 minutes later...
Jingle, jingle, jingle.
Click.
Bam!
"Shoot! I cannot believe I almost forgot my medication. What was I thinking?"
Once more, Hanayuki ran around the house, this time trying to find for her bottle of medicine. When she couldn't find it downstairs, she bounded upstairs and into her room. After much ransacking, she finally spotted the bottle lying on the floor under the table, and quickly bent down to retrieve it. Forgetting that she was under the table, she stood up quickly and knocked her head.
"F--k!"
---
At the stadium, one hour and forty minutes later...
Sakuragi's arrival drew the attention of the audience, not to mention both the Ryonan and Kainan teams. It wasn't long before everyone started laughing at his new hairdo. Akagi, furious that he was late for the game, punched him on the head.
"Where have you been, oniichan?" asked Hanayuki.
"I was doing 200 shots at the basketball court in the park, Hana-chan, Gori," said Sakuragi, rubbing the lump on his head.
Hanayuki and Akagi exchanged looks. While Hanayuki smiled, Akagi sighed and said, "It's too late for you to enter the game now, so you will stay on the bench."
"But Gori-"
"We don't want to let Ryonan see your improvement just yet," continued Akagi, looking at Sakuragi pointedly.
At this, Sakuragi glanced over to the Ryonan team, and saw the guy he met at the park a few days earlier, Fukuda Kiccho. He was surprised to know that he (Fukuda) was from Ryonan. Anyway, Shohoku won the game against Takezato with the score of 120-81, and the game between Kainan and Ryonan was about to begin.
While Shohoku sat in the stands, waiting for the game to start, Sakuragi's eyes were focused on the mysterious Fukuda. During warm-up, Uozumi showed off by performing a powerful dunk, prompting Kiyota to show off his own skills. He bounced the ball hard on the floor, and charged towards the basket. His intention was to do an alley-oop. However, to his horror and Sakuragi's delight, the ball went right into the basket before he could grab it, leaving a frustrated and embarrassed Kiyota dangling on the hoop. Not to be outdone, Sendoh passed to Fukuda, performing an alley-oop.
The starting line-up for the Kainan team was Maki, Jin, Kiyota, Takasago and Muto, while the Ryonan team sent in Uozumi, Sendoh, Fukuda, Koshino and Uekusa. Just before the game started, Uozumi approached Maki.
"Maki, today you are going to give up the title of the number one player in Kanagawa."
Maki raised his eyebrows, while the rest of the Kainan team was shocked by Uozumi's remark. "You think you are capable of doing it?" asked Maki.
"No. Not me, but Sendoh," answered Uozumi. Maki turned to look at Sendoh, who stared back in surprise, and smirked.
Sendoh looked away, mumbling to himself, "Talk about pressure." He caught sight of Hanayuki in the audience stand, who gave him a thumbs-up. On the other hand, it's not such a bad idea after all...
As the game began, Takasago and Uozumi both jumped for the ball, but Uozumi triumphed and swatted the ball to Sendoh. Everyone was shocked, because this would mean that Sendoh, who was a much taller player, would be serving as point guard for Ryonan. However, despite his height, Sendoh proved to be more than capable as a point guard, as he skilfully passed the ball to his team-mates whenever the opportunity arisen. Even Fukuda was a force to be reckoned with, quick to catch Sendoh's passes and scoring flawlessly.
At 8 minutes and 20 seconds on the clock, Ryonan was leading with the score of 14-25. Clearly, it was a difficult battle for Kainan. Maki charged with the ball, but Sendoh blocked him, bending his body low to guard him fully. Still, Maki eluded him and passed to Kiyota, but before Kiyota could do a lay-up, the ball was swiped away by Sendoh.
Stunned, Mitsui asked the others, "Um... are you sure you guys lost by only one point to them?" When nobody answered his question, he looked to and fro from Ryonan to his team-mates. "It can't be."
"It happened, Hisashi-niichan, alright? Now, just watch the game," said Hanayuki.
The second half began with the score at 29-39, Ryonan leading by 10 points. Maki blocked Sendoh, but he passed to Fukuda. Although Fukuda's shot was blocked by Takasago, he grabbed the ball on rebound and scored. At the bench, Hikoichi marvelled at the fact that Fukuda earned 20 points in his first official game.
Taoka-sensei remembered how Fukuda, upon recruitment into the team, struggled to excel against Uozumi and Sendoh, even when he lost constantly and was called the 'worst rookie'. He also remembered how he misjudged the boy, believing that by scolding him, he would improve more. He was wrong. A proud young man, Fukuda hankered for praise. He winced as he recalled the time when Fukuda retaliated with kung-fu crane chops when he berated the boy.
As the game progressed, Ryonan maintained its lead. In the stands, Sakuragi overheard a man comment that Ryonan will stop Kainan's winning streak. Before he could launch himself at the unsuspecting man, he was pulled back by Kogure and the other juniors. Surprisingly, Akagi didn't punch him on the head. Not wanting Shohoku to be judged weak, Sakuragi yelled to Maki and Kiyota.
"Oi, nozaru, jiji! What are you guys doing? You'd better beat the crap out of Ryonan, or people will think that Shohoku is weak!"
"Baka! What are you talking about? Ryonan is really good!" Kiyota yelled back.
Frustrated, Sakuragi decided to leave.
"Sakuragi, where are you going?" asked Kogure.
"I don't have time for this, Megane-kun. I need all the time I have to practise." With that, he walked out of the stadium.
"Let him be, Kogure-sempai. He has a point," said Hanayuki.
Back on the court, Kiyota realised that he shouldn't always depend on Maki. Remembering his dream to become the number one rookie in Kanagawa, he became determined to show Ryonan that they shouldn't underestimate Kainan, by eluding Fukuda and successfully getting in a shot, even when he was up against Uozumi.
At this point, Rukawa, Mitsui and Miyagi stood up to leave as well.
"Baka's! Why can't they act like a team?" muttered Akagi angrily.
"It's ok, Akagi-sempai. They just want to make sure that they are fully prepared for tomorrow's game," said Hanayuki again.
Kiyota's shot proved to be the turning point for Kainan. At 7 minutes and 8 seconds on the clock, Maki and Jin managed to narrow the score to 62-63. To improve Ryonan's defense, Fukuda was subbed out for Ikegami. Seeing that Uozumi already had 3 fouls, Maki ordered Takasago to nail the Ryonan center. The plan was to get Uozumi kicked out of the game. It worked, when Takasago got Uozumi to foul for the 4th time, a charging foul. Not satisfied, Uozumi argued with the referee, causing him to be given a technical foul for unsportsmanlike conduct. That being his 5th foul, Uozumi was ejected from the game, leaving Ryonan in a fix.
As the score became 64-63 in Kainan's favour, Sendoh made an aggressive offense, charging in between Maki and Takasago, and shot, reversing the score to 64-65. Kiyota got the ball and passed to Maki, only to have it stolen by Sendoh. Doing a one-man fast break, Sendoh ran for the goal with Maki in hot pursuit. Before he could shoot, Maki blocked the ball, telling Sendoh that he will never allow him to score, but Sendoh replied that he can do it. What followed next was a fierce battle between Maki and Sendoh, resulting in exciting reversals in the game, every time either ace scored.
However, the game was beginning to take its toll on Sendoh. Not wanting to overwork his star player for the next day's game with Shohoku, Taoka-sensei wanted to replace him, but was stopped by Fukuda, who said that it would hurt Sendoh's pride. Taking Fukuda's point, he sent Fukuda in instead to help Sendoh, hoping they could improve their scoring ability.
Kainan, being Kainan, was determined to win. The score was now 79-77, Kainan in the lead. With few precious seconds left in the game, the ball was tapped out of Maki's hand by Ikegami and was grabbed by Sendoh. Both Sendoh and Maki raced to the basket, and as Sendoh jumped, Maki was about to swat it away when suddenly, he stopped himself from doing so. Sendoh scored, equalling the scores, and thus there would be a 5-minute extra-time.
"Why didn't Maki stop Sendoh? He clearly had a chance to do so," asked Ayako. Nobody could answer her question. Even Hanayuki was knitting her eyebrows, trying to figure out what had happened between Maki and Sendoh. At the same time, the alarm on her digital watch started beeping, and Hanayuki subconsciously turned it off, her mind still on the game.
In another part of the audience stand, the members of the Shoyo team were surprised to find Fujima (who said that he would not attend the Kainan game) watching in the shadows. Fujima explained that Maki deliberately stopped himself from stopping Sendoh, as it would be a foul. If he had blocked Sendoh's shot at that moment, his foul would earn Sendoh a free throw, which would then ensure Ryonan's win.
Unfortunately, Sendoh's ploy didn't work, and the extra-time wasn't good enough for Ryonan, as Kainan took the lead all the way to the end, and finally won the game with the score of 89-83.
---
"Akagi-sempai, I think you'd better not wait for me. I need to go to the bathroom, and then I have to go somewhere else before going back to the gym. Why don't you guys go on first?" said Hanayuki.
"Ok. We'll see you at the gym then." Turning to the others, Akagi said, "Let's go," and they followed him as he walked away, leaving Hanayuki behind.
Hanayuki watched their retreating backs for a while before heading to the bathroom. She was about to make her way to the entrance after that when she felt her chest tightening painfully. Holding herself steady by leaning against the wall, she reached into her bag for her bottle of pills. This is what happens when you forget to take your medicine on time. For goodness sake, I even set the alarm to remind me. Popping one tablet out, she realised that it was a vitamin pill and not her heart medication.
Struggling to keep herself from panicking, she rummaged through her bag for the correct bottle. When she couldn't find it, she turned the bag upside-down, pouring out the contents onto the floor. Dropping down to her knees, she brushed through every item, but there was no other bottle in sight.
Oh my god! I took the wrong bottle this morning!
With that realisation, her mind went totally blank, and the pain in her chest began to grow. Gasping for breath, she tried to stand up and get help.
I must get help quick. Somebody please come quickly. Where is everybody when you need them?
Despite the fact that she was sweating terribly, her hands were as cold as ice. Slowly, she began to lose consciousness, and as she slid to the floor in a heap, her thoughts were only about the game between Shohoku and Ryonan the next day.
I cannot bail out now. Not now. Not when tomorrow's game is so crucial to the team. I must not. I... must... not...
And then, total darkness descended upon her.
---
"Why are there so many things scattered around the corridor? I wonder which stupid fellow did this," grumbled Koshino, as he kicked a bottle out of his way.
"Ne, Koshino, don't be so grumpy. So we lost the game. We'll just have to work extra harder to win tomorrow's game," said Sendoh.
"Yeah, easy for you to say," Koshino muttered under his breath.
"Sendoh's right. We must not think about today's game so much and concentrate on tomorrow's. No matter what, we will beat Shohoku and go to the National Championships," said Uozumi, agreeing with Sendoh.
"Hai, Uozumi-sempai. We Ryonan will make it to the National Cham...pionships..." Hikoichi trailed off. Noticing the sudden change in Hikoichi's tone of voice, the whole Ryonan team shifted their attention to him, and found him staring ahead at something in front of them.
"Hanayuki-san!" Sendoh shouted. Within a heartbeat, he was already beside her, holding her up and slapping her face gently as he called repeatedly, "Hanayuki-san, Hanayuki-san!"
When she didn't respond, he turned to the others. "Call an ambulance, quick!"
"H-hai!" Koshino ran down the corridor to the information counter where he could borrow the phone to call the ambulance.
Sendoh looked down at Hanayuki, brushing off the hair from her face. Then, he lifted her up in his arms and walked as fast as he could to the entrance to wait for the ambulance. Please let her be alright. Please let her be alright.
---
Shohoku basketball gym...
Sakuragi was practising his jump shots when Mitsui, Miyagi and Rukawa came in together. They had met at the entrance of the school, although they had gone their separate ways after leaving the stadium.
Without turning around, Sakuragi said, "You guys had better leave me alone. I am busy practising. I want to show Ryonan tomorrow which is the better team, ours or theirs."
Seeing his determination, Mitsui smirked and said, "Oi, Sakuragi. Since you are so determined, let me help you practise. I'll be the defender."
Sakuragi turned to look at Mitsui. "Mitchy..." He was touched at Mitsui's offer.
Then, Miyagi also stepped forward. "In that case, I'll pass you the ball."
This time, there was a tear in Sakuragi's eye. "Ryochin..."
"And I'll stand aside and criticise your play."
"Teme kitsune!"
Mitsui and Miyagi sweatdropped as Sakuragi and Rukawa started punching and kicking each other.
More than half an hour later, the rest of the team walked into the gym, and they started practising together. Not too long after that, a figure suddenly appeared at the doorway. Thinking that it was Hanayuki, everyone turned towards to door, only to discover that it was Hikoichi, who was breathing hard.
"Oi, Hikoichi! What are you doing here?" asked Sakuragi.
"I... I..." said Hikoichi, trying to catch his breath, but was cut off by Sakuragi.
"Are you here to spy on us, huh?"
"No... I'm here... to..."
"Then, what are you doing here?"
"I'm here... to tell..."
"Did Sendoh send you here to- ITAI!!!"
"Baka! Stop interrupting and let him finish," shouted Akagi, lifting his fist from Sakuragi's head.
"What exactly are you doing here, Hikoichi?" asked Mitsui.
Taking advantage of Sakuragi's momentary speechlessness, Hikoichi said quickly, "I'mheretotellyouthatHanayuki-sanhadaheartattackandwassenttothehospital."
"Whoa, slow down man! What was it that you said?" asked Miyagi.
"I said, Hanayuki-san had a heart attack and was sent to the hospital!" shouted Hikoichi.
Everyone stared at him, and he gulped. "Er... gomen. I didn't mean to shout. I..."
Before he could finish, Rukawa had moved forward and grabbed him by the collar, lifting him off the ground.
"What did you say?" he asked, his monotonous voice laced with panic and worry.
"Rukawa, put him down. He can't breath," cried Ayako.
Reluctantly, Rukawa put him down. Gasping for air, Hikoichi quickly inched away from him.
"Hikoichi, can you please repeat what you've just said?" asked Kogure, praying that he had heard wrongly.
Hikoichi nodded and said, "We found Hanayuki-san lying unconscious on the floor in the stadium, her things all over the place. We called the ambulance and sent her to the hospital. Sendoh-san's with her now."
"Which hospital?" asked Akagi.
"Kitamura General Hospital."
Akagi nodded. "Thank you for coming to tell us, Hikoichi." He turned to the rest of the team and said, "Practice is cancelled. We're going to the hospital now."
Even before he said that, Rukawa had already rushed out of the gym, followed by Sakuragi and Mitsui.
---
Kitamura General Hospital...
Sendoh was looking at Hanayuki as she breathed slowly through the oxygen mask fitted over her nose and mouth, holding her hand in his, when the door to her room burst open, and in came Rukawa, Sakuragi and Mitsui.
Rukawa froze on the spot when he saw Sendoh sitting beside Hanayuki and holding her hand, while Sakuragi and Mitsui brushed past him, oblivious to everything else except for the person lying in bed.
"What did the doctor say, Sendoh?" asked Sakuragi anxiously.
"The doctor said that she'll be fine, but she needs to stay in the hospital for a few days, perhaps a week or more," answered Sendoh.
"But why is she wearing that mask?" asked Mitsui as he pointed to the oxygen mask on her face.
"Just in case she finds it difficult to breath later on. That's what the doctor said." Sendoh took in a deep breath before continuing, "The doctor also said that had she been sent in one minute later, she probably would've been..." He closed his eyes, not wanting to think about it.
The door opened again, this time with the rest of the Shohoku team coming in. 5 minutes later, they were shooed out of the room by the nurse, who said that there were too many people in the room. In the end, only Sendoh and Rukawa were allowed to stay back.
At first, the nurse had insisted that everyone left, but changed her mind when Rukawa gave her a murderous stare. As for Sendoh, he didn't give the nurse a murderous stare. Quite the contrary, he gave her a charming smile, and so she decided that he could stay too. Sakuragi had wanted to stay as well, but when Ayako reminded him that he needed to practise for tomorrow's game, he grudgingly agreed to leave.
As night began to fall, Uozumi dropped by the hospital with Ikegami and Koshino to get Sendoh to go home. As much as they sympathised with Hanayuki's condition, they couldn't let Sendoh stay by her side the whole night, especially when they needed him to be in top condition for the game tomorrow. After much difficulty, they managed to drag Sendoh out of the room, while he wailed and begged them to let him stay.
Rukawa was only too happy to get rid of him. Finally. He sat closer to Hanayuki, putting his hand on top of hers. Then, he dropped off to asleep.
When he woke up, he found Hanayuki looking at him. She took off the oxygen mask, and Rukawa leaned forward.
"Rukawa-kun... go home and get some rest... tomorrow's game..." Rukawa shook his head, gesturing to her stop talking.
"We will win tomorrow's game. I promise," he said, clasping her hand between his.
"Tell... tell them... I'm sorry..."
"Stop talking and get some rest."
Too exhausted to do otherwise, Hanayuki nodded weakly and closed her eyes. Rukawa waited for a while before taking leave. He didn't want to, but he knew that he wouldn't be able to rest properly if he stayed. And rest was what he needed to be in perfect condition tomorrow. He took one last look at Hanayuki before walking out of the room.
We will win tomorrow's game and go to the National Championships, Yuki. I promise.
---
Author's notes: Ta-da! Another chapter finished. Say, did you guys read the credits which I put up before this? If you didn't, drop me a note or something or whatever. I replaced the credit page with the 12th chapter, you see. In it, I personally replied to each and every reviewer. )