A/N: Sorry if it took me a long time to add the latest chapter of this fic. Anyway, as usual, please review. Flame me if you like! And this is just a temporary chapter. I MIGHT change this. The grammatical errors are not yet checked so please don't judge this fic so easily.
Chapter 14
This is the day I've been waiting for. Today's the practice game between Ryonan and Shohoku High! Everyone looked so nervous when the tall, serious faces of the gays, er… guys from Shohoku came into view. They all looked so determined but nothing can stop us from winning this game!!! Okay, I'm becoming overconfident . . .
There's this one guy I spotted who gave me chills. Kaede Rukawa . . . a mean-looking, snobbish, arrogant but excellent freshman. I saw him play once, and he played quite wonderfully. He's good . . . but Akira is much, much better. Even if I'm not from Ryonan High and Sendoh isn't my friend . . . and crush . . . I would still pick him as a better player than Rukawa. He isn't a snob, he's a respectable team leader, he's sociable and nicer, and most of all, he cares about the well-being of his teammates. That's what I think anyway.
Aside from Rukawa, there's this one new guy who got my attention. And man, did he really want attention! His name is Sakuragi. Hanamichi Sakuragi. He looks tough but violent, and he did have flaming red hair. Arriving at Ryonan, I heard him shout his objective, "I'm going to defeat Sendoh!" That was an eye-opener for me. Hikoichi noisily ranted to me that Sakuragi will be the next team captain and he even beat their current team captain, Akagi.
"Akagi? As in that gorilla, Akagi?!" I said audibly to Hikoichi. He looked at me along with some other basketball players with shocked faces. It occurred to me that Akagi was just near us, who probably heard every word of our conversation. Uh-oh . . . He didn't even react! Wow. Good thing he's pretty cool today and I am a girl. Or else . . .
There's one thing that made me worry despite the grueling practices we had. Sendoh still isn't here! WHERE IS THAT SPIKY-HAIRED SMILEY-FACED JERK . . . who took my heart away . . . The team needs him! Without him we'll lose and face humiliation from the other schools. And aside from that, *I* need him . . . . . . He should be here right now. Or else I'll kick his ass!
"WHERE IS SENDOH?!" Coach was fuming. The players were tense. They looked hopelessly . . . hopeless!
"I have no idea," I murmured. He wasn't with me after class. In fact, I didn't notice him at all. That's a first.
But still, I need to find him! I asked permission from Coach Taoka first and proceeded outside the gym.
So I ran and ran and called out his name repeatedly. I looked like an idiot, I know. But I'm getting desperate. Where the hell am I going anyway? To nowhere! There were around 1-2 minutes left before the game starts so I have to locate Sendoh at once, wherever he is. Sendoh wouldn't have gone to a restaurant or to a mall. He couldn't have forgotten about the practice game. He isn't that absent-minded. He has a good memory actually. Well, sometimes.
And then, I spotted a guy hanging out under the dark shade of a tree (don't ask), mysteriously away from all the activity in the gym. He really looked like Sendoh from his behind so I assumed that he was him. I tapped his shoulder and excitedly called out his name. "Akira?"
The guy looked at my eager face slowly. He wasn't Sendoh at all. He was . . . Shigeki. Oh great. I bumped into Sendoh's lookalike. He gave a charming and toothy grin that made me almost shudder. "I'm not Akira."
"Oh sorry . . ." I absentmindedly said, neither giving back a smile nor a frown. Then as fast as I could, I turned back. He caught my hand immediately. "Nanami, wait!"
"What do you want?" I said angrily. "I better go now."
"I still want you . . ."
"Pervert," I interfered.
"No . . . I mean, I still want to apologize."
"Why?" I retorted. My "why" always leaves people wordless.
"Because I'm still crazy about you!" Shigeki said loudly.
"Yeah, but how can you be so sure that I'll accept YOUR apology?"
"You have to accept my apology."
"WHY?" I demanded.
"Because if not, I'll . . ."
"You'll what?"
Shigeki paused. "I'll do something rash."
"Like what?" I said angrily, putting my hands on my hips. If he wants a fight, I'll give him a fight.
"Like this," Shigeki started, then held my shoulders tightly, as if trying to kiss me! Was I so overwhelmed that I was not able to move at all? He closed his eyes then . . . held my hand and kissed it. Yuck! After that loathsome event, I felt like I was bursting inside of me. Shigeki was so annoying!!! I felt hot, maybe from frustration. I felt like I cheated on Sendoh, even though Shigeki kissed only my hand.
I stepped on Shigeki's foot. I could see that I had hurt him. I asked furiously, "Why did you have to do that?"
Recovering from my blow, which was pretty forceful, he gave me again a crooked grin and said, "That was just a kiss . . . a kiss of apology."
"It was JUST a kiss?" I said, provoked. "Could you buy kisses from the marketplace?"
"Of course not . . . I never thought that you are sensitive about kisses."
"Now you made me really really mad!" I shouted at him, then turned my back and marched back to the gym. I looked back and saw that Shigeki looked like he enjoyed himself by still grinning mischievously. I felt like I wanted to beat the crap out of him because of the dirty look on his face. I added with a grin, "Oh and by the way . . . I haven't washed my hands yet!"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
When I returned, Sendoh was already there at last. Sakuragi was speaking to him with a mean look on his face. I heard him say, "I am secret weapon Hanamichi Sakuragi. I will defeat you Sendoh." Sendoh, meanwhile, stayed cool, cute and cuddly (how alliterative), and shook Sakuragi's hand. He's really so kind, so peaceable . . . so gentlemanly. Then, Akagi punched Sakuragi on his head and apologized to Sendoh. Poor Sakuragi! It's hard to have hotheaded gorilla-like captains. Akagi and Uozumi actually look like brothers. They have similar physical characteristics, with their wide lips and serious (and ugly . . . I'm so bad) faces.
When Sendoh glanced at me when I neared him and the other players, I just couldn't keep a straight face. I couldn't stop thinking about Shigeki's bothersome kiss. His soft unspeakable words echoed in my ear . . . "That was just a kiss . . . a kiss of apology." Should I tell Sendoh about that? What would be his reaction anyway? Will he react violently, or will he do anything at all?
"Good luck," I told Sendoh, patting his back before he headed to the starting line-up of the Ryonan players.
He smiled at me and said, "We'll win this game. I'm sure of that."
"Don't be overconfident," I smirked. "That's bad for your reputation."
"Yeah sure," Sendoh said casually, moving along.
"Don't 'yeah, sure' your manager!" I yelled at him.
The game began. I smiled as I saw Sendoh focus on the basketball as the referee tossed it into the air. From his expression, he looked like he just wanted to have fun and he doesn't take this game seriously. Well he shouldn't really do his best in this game. If he does then the Shohoku players will know how skilled Sendoh really is and prepare for him thoroughly for the coming elimination games.
Uozumi did a nice job of stopping Akagi and Rukawa from scoring points. Coach requested the team to have a thirty-point lead. Little did we know that Sakuragi sneaked behind us and um . . . poked Mr. Taoka's bottom. I tried my best not to laugh . . . I acted like I was shocked like everybody else. It was a really hilarious act, even though I'm loyal to Coach Taoka as well as to Ryonan.
Sendoh was successful in offense while Uozumi was great in defense. Rukawa, who was guarding Sendoh, was having difficulty to see through Sendoh's maneuvers and was always fooled. I must admit, Sendoh's a total genius in basketball.
Soon the score was 19-0 against Shohoku. Sendoh was about to perform a "Mid-air Dunk" but out of nowhere, Rukawa appears, steals the ball from Sendoh and runs to make the first point. I stared at Sendoh with my "what-are-you-doing?!" look while he glanced back at me for a sec and gave his "don't-worry-I'll-get-the-ball-back" look. Well, he didn't. Akagi received the ball and made a dunk.
Akagi marked Uozumi closely so that he cannot score. Akagi was able to steal all the offensive rebounds from Uozumi, so our huge score gap was slowly diminishing. At half time, Coach was very angry with our team's performance. The strategy was changed into a man-to-man formation. Unbeknown to us, Sakuragi was snooping around again and heard our plans! I'm surprised with this Sakuragi guy. Not only surprised but amazed. Akagi managed to get him back to the bench where he belongs.
Akagi had an injury so he needed to be substituted. Guess who substituted him? It was Sakuragi, who wasn't even as good as he said. He was just a novice who dreams of beating Sendoh. But . . . even if he's obviously just a newcomer, he was kind of . . . good, especially after Rukawa kicked him. He was speedy and he amazingly jumped up repeatedly and formed some kind of wall when Uozumi tried to score. I bet he'd be a great basketball player someday with his astounding agility and swiftness. Coach wasn't convinced and kept on saying that Sakuragi was just a rookie who cannot affect the outcome of the game.
We were doing pretty well since Akagi was out. Our defense was tight around Rukawa since he was the only person capable of scoring. But Coach didn't predict Sakuragi's strategy quickly. Instead of passing the ball to Rukawa when he gets it, he passes it to Kogure, another Shohoku player, who does a 3-pt shot every time he lay his hands on the basketball. Coach Taoka still didn't change his tactics and still made the Ryonan players heavily guard Rukawa.
Our score gap then started to widen again. We were leading of course, because Uozumi made a good job of stopping Sakuragi from getting any more rebounds. Akagi returned, and Rukawa was subbed to catch his breath.
Akagi shouted at Sakuragi for being lousy in rebounding. But then later on after that, Sakuragi miraculously turned the tables and started to get rebounds again. Slowly with Akagi's support, Shohoku started to catch up with us!
Soon, the score was 77-76, in favor of Shohoku. I gave Sendoh a death glare and he just smiled challengingly at me. Suddenly, there was a change in his appearance. He turned into a werewolf! AHH!!!!! Nah, just kidding.
Anyway, Sendoh's expression changed into a more serious one. All this time he was just playing around. Hanamichi marked Sendoh but Sendoh was too good for him and scores. Rukawa replaced Kogure and went back to the game.
Clearly, Mr. Anzai changed his strategy and requested Hanamichi and Rukawa to work together and guard Sendoh. Is Sendoh THAT good? Well, Hanamichi's screening still needed to be improved, so Sendoh easily passed the ball to Uozumi who scores. So the score is now 81 to 85, against Shohoku.
Hanamichi and Rukawa got together to stop Sendoh from scoring. Sendoh again got past their defense (yay) but then Rukawa ran back to defend. However, Akagi was there first but Sendoh still managed to shoot. Unexpectedly, Sendoh's ball was stolen . . . Sakuragi jumped high, higher than Sendoh, and swat the ball away. WHOA!
"Unbelievable," I muttered with Hikoichi. Hikoichi heard this and simpered at me. Oh, I forgot. That expression is HIS.
But still, Sakuragi was still a novice so he wasn't able to get pass Sendoh. He then passes the ball to Rukawa, for the first time. Rukawa scores 3 points making the score 85 to 84, still against Shohoku. 40 seconds remain. We had the ball but Akagi stole the ball from us with much audacity and passed it to Rukawa. Sendoh amazingly ran after Rukawa and ended up knocking the ball out of Rukawa's hands. The ball heads out of bounds but Rukawa still chased the ball. He passes the ball to a Shohoku player, who is Sakuragi. He speedily makes a lay-up shot, which made the score 86-85 against Ryonan. Darn that Sakuragi! We'll probably lose this game because of the little time left. But I still had faith in Sendoh and I still believe that we'll win this match. I frowned at Sendoh and acted like I was gonna cry, rubbing my eyes like a baby. He smiled and got the ball. And with all his speed, he scores the final basket, passing the combined defense of Akagi and Rukawa. The Shohoku team members looked shocked. The whistle blows and WE WON!!!
Sakuragi looked pitiful after the whistle was blown. . . He was still asking for the ball, and his training shoes were ruined. He looked like he wasn't going to recognize defeat. Akagi explains him that they have lost . . . This is too depressing. I wanted to cry! But I can't anyway, 'cause I'm too delighted to do so.
After the game, the Shohoku team players congratulated us for our win. I shaked hands with their manager, Ayako, who was almost my look-alike. Well, not really. Her hair is curlier than mine and her lips too are thicker . . . not in a bad way! Well, she was nice.
Sendoh offered his hand to Rukawa, but he coldly refused it and moved away. HOW RUDE! He's really a sore loser! Secretly, I was fuming mad and wished I could kick that Rukawa guy (no offense, Rukawa fans esp. Patty G.). Of course I can't. I'll completely destroy my image. But I already have anyway.
After that encounter, Coach congratulated the players for winning. Why did he congratulate us if he won't even treat us to dinner. He's the thriftiest person alive!
Sendoh accompanied me on the way home, as always. This time, he was pretty silent. He was in his "meditating" mood and I could see that he was really proud of what he has accomplished during the game.
"You really did a great job this afternoon," I praised, breaking his silence. "I'm the proudest manager in the world right now."
"Oh really?" was all he said.
"Well, yeah," I said with a smile.
Silence . . . A long awkward silence . . .
"Will you go out with Mitsuki tonight?" I spoke out.
"I don't think so . . . " Sendoh replied.
"Why? Did you dump her?" I inquired, personally wishing that he really had dumped that sassy girl.
"No," he answered. "Why?" That "why" really kills me!
"It seems that you haven't gone out with her for a while," I remarked awkwardly.
"Oh," Sendoh uttered.
Silence . . . again. I can't take this anymore! Why is he so glacial?
"Are you still dating Shigeki?" Sendoh suddenly asked.
"No way! He's such a jerk . . . " I said disapprovingly. Okay, it's "make Sendoh jealous" time. "BUT . . . he is sweet and nice."
"But he's STILL a jerk," he commented harshly.
"Yeah but the fact still remains that he's unlike any other guy out there . . . handsome, friendly, witty . . ." I started.
"Are you talking about me?" a voice called. Of course . . . It's Shigeki again. My plan backfired!
"What are you doing here?" Sendoh asked coldly. "I didn't see you, COUSIN."
"Is it bad for me to take the same route home?" Shigeki said, giving his crooked grin.
"Yes," I blurted.
Shigeki chuckled. "Nanami, you're such a nut . . . a nut so sweet and lovable that I can't ask for more."
"And you're an awful, demented nutcracker!" I retorted.
"Ha, at least I now know how you feel for me!" Shigeki gave me a toothy smile and then ran past us. "Bye Nanami! I'll call you."
"He is like his brother . . . " I murmured. I looked at Sendoh. He was still looking at the sky like a moron.
"Idiot!" I said audibly and left him. THAT was my best friend.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*