I'm not a Cheater
By: Princess Ren
Author's notes: Hi guys! I'm back! I'm very sorry if this chapter took a long time to be posted! I've been busy with school projects and such things. Anyways here's the long awaited CHAPTER 7. I hope everyone likes this chapter… Don't forget to drop your review at the end of the chapter okay!? Enjoy the chapter! ^_^
Disclaimer: You know it.
Chapter 7
Rukawa was sitting comfortably he fills up the application form of the Basketball team until he heard someone shout,
"Let's go to the gym! Sakuragi made the captain of the Basketball team mad and challenges him!" Rukawa continued to fill up the form and after finishing it he stood up.
'Sakuragi Hanamichi? Let's see if how well he plays in basketball.' Rukawa thought as he began to walk towards the gym. When he arrive there, all the students were there and he saw Sakuragi and a big man which Rukawa presumed captain Akagi standing and glaring at each other angrily.
"Since you insulted basketball I'll give you a chance to taste how this stupid sport you call is played!" Akagi said angrily as he point towards Sakuragi.
"Alright!"
"The rule is just simple you must take the ball away from me and shoot before I get 10 points. I don't care how you can score. But if you do that, you win! Understood!?"
"Hmmp! It's as easy as taking candy from a baby! C'mon Gorilla!" Sakuragi shouted and smirked when he saw Akagi becoming angrier than before at the gorilla comment.
Akagi started to dribble the ball and the game had begun.
~#~#~
Rei and her friends were chatting happily about the clubs they were going to join.
"Really Rei!? I can't believe you! How come you took the application form of the volleyball team and not the basketball team?" Akane asked in disbelief.
"Yeah Rei-chan! How come? Are you abandoning basketball? I mean you excel in Basketball and you chose another sport? Did you quit basketball?" Hikaru added, Rei could just smile at them.
"Of course not! I did not quit basketball. I love the sport. And if my father founds out that I quit I'll be dead." Rei said but the last sentence was in a joking tone.
"Then how come?"
"It's because I want to play volleyball." She replied in a soft tone. With that, Akane and Hikaru just sighed not believing that Rei can just say those words without any regret.
"Don't worry guys, there's still the Winter Cups, I'll quit in the team and join the basketball club to play there… is that okay with you guys?" Rei smiled at them when she saw Akane and Hikaru fill their hopes up.
"Really!?" Rei nodded with a smile. She wanted to play basketball badly just as she wanted to play Volleyball and Gymnastics. Nevertheless, she decided to play one sport at a time 'cause she knew that she would end up just like in Junior High. She don't want to stop playing sports until she achieve her dream of becoming one of the best athletes there is but that doesn't mean that she must play all the sports at once, that's too much.
"Don't worry I'll be in cheering for the team when the Elimination begins." She added then took the application out of her bag and slowly fill it up.
"We will be also be cheering for you Rei." Hikaru and Akane said at the same time and followed Rei's example. After they were finish, they stood up and walk towards the door to give their form to their necessary club captains. After that, they saw many students run towards the basketball gym.
"What's going on here?" Akane asked particularly to no one as she looks at the students running towards the gym.
"I don't know. I'm sure that there's no assembly." Hikaru answered, confused why the students are going towards the gym.
"Let's find out." Hikaru and Akane nodded to Rei and they too made their way towards the gym, only finding out that it was well crowded by all the students of Shohoku High. They walk towards a spot and look at the middle of the gym only to see a red hair guy and a tall guy who is carrying a basketball in his side.
"Um… excuse me, but mind telling us why there is a lot of people here?" Rei asked a girl who was near them.
"Didn't you heard? Sakuragi insulted the sport that the captain of the basketball team loves. He called it child's play and made him angry. He then challenged Sakuragi to a duel." The girl answered without looking at Rei. Rei nodded and said thank you.
"What did she say?" Hikaru asked
"She said that Sakuragi insulted basketball, calling it child's play. The captain of the basketball team was angry at that and challenged Sakuragi to a duel." Rei said as she scanned the place.
"I'm sure the whole school is here."
"Yeah… I can't believe he can say those words in front of the captain of the club. He must really hate basketball, don't you think so Rei-chan?" Rei nodded.
"Well let's see who's going to win the game." Rei replied as she saw the captain of the club dribble the ball.
~#~#~
Everyone watch to what was happening to the two tall men in the court. They were all cheering.
"What's the matter? I thought you said that you can take the ball from me so easily?" Akagi asked as he smirk when he saw Sakuragi's angry expression.
"Darn you!" Sakuragi then kicked the ball from Akagi as if he was in a soccer game. The whole crowd laughed when he did that.
"You can't kick the ball in basketball!" someone shouted and Sakuragi was very angry at that comment.
"Bet who's going to win! Sakuragi or the captain!" Sakuragi's friends said to the crowd.
Rei and her friends are watching the game when Sakuragi's friends came to them. "Hi there! Bet who's going to win!" Mito said to them the girls look at each other and giggled.
"I'll bet to the Captain of the Basketball team." Akane said while giving some money.
"Me too." Hikaru added while giving also some money. Mito look towards their friend who he saw looking intently at the game between Sakuragi and Captain Akagi. Mito blushed at Rei's beauty but then smiled,
"Rei-chan? Bet who's going to win the game." Akane said to her. Rei looked at her from the game and nodded,
"Please wait a moment." Rei replied to Mito who nodded, Rei returned her gazed towards the game. When she saw Sakuragi run faster than Akagi who was currently dribbling the ball towards the goal. She was surprised at Sakuragi's speed.
'He's fast!' she thought. She then looked at Sakuragi who was now near the ring. Akagi was about to shoot when Sakuragi blocked him as if he was a wall. Akagi was shocked and then Sakuragi took the ball from him.
'He has skills.' Rei looked at Mito and smiled.
"I'll bet that your friend Sakuragi will win the game against the captain of the club." Rei said as she hand him some money.
"Are you sure that Sakuragi will win?" Mito asked and Rei nodded.
"I'm sure of it." Then Mito nodded and then left.
"Rei-chan? You sound so confident that Sakuragi will win." Rei smiled at them.
"I'm sure Sakuragi will win."
"Do you have some grudged against the captain of the basketball team?" Hikaru asked suspiciously as she lean towards her. Rei just took a step back and shook her head.
"Of course not! Why will I be?"
"Why did you vote for Sakuragi then?"
"I- It's because Sakuragi has skills only it needs improvement." Rei said nervously.
"Really now?" Rei nodded. She returned her gazed at Sakuragi and smiled secretly.
'Ojiichan, if you were only here you'll be happy to see this. Sakuragi has much talent than he had imagined. If he joins your team, I know that he'll be a fine player in one or two years. And he can help your team to go to the top.' Rei thought. Her thoughts were broken when she saw Sakuragi swung the ball from Akagi but failed then she saw him jump very highly while holding the ball together with Akagi.
"Oh my God!" she said in disbelief when she saw him do that and dunked the ball as Akagi fell to the floor.
Rukawa in the meantime was also intently watching the game and was shock at Sakuragi's performance. He never saw someone like him. Rukawa knew that if Sakuragi can just polish his skills he will be a very good player. His eyes widened when he saw Sakuragi dunk the ball together with Akagi. He looked at him in disbelief as the crowd went wild. The game had ended and the red hair won! Rukawa took one last look at him and then left the gym saying,
"Your good, Sakuragi."
"Rei-chan! You were right! Sakuragi won!" Akane said to Rei in disbelief
"I can't believe he did a reckless thing!" Rei just nodded.
"Yeah…" Rei said as she looked towards Sakuragi who she saw talking to Haruko and the captain. She then smiled.
"Let's go Hikaru-chan, Akane-chan." She said while taking one last look at Sakuragi. Akane and Hikaru nodded also talking one last look at Sakuragi.
"He'll be a fine player soon." She whispered as she stepped out of the gym.
~#~#~
"C'mon! Move faster!" Coach Asano shouted to the members of the volleyball team. "How can we go to the Inter-High with those skills!?"
"Atami, Komatsu! Hit the ball harder!" he ordered as he took a sit on his chair while muttering curses.
"Gomen Sensei!" he heard the two girls shout in unison.
The coach looked at the rest of the members of the volleyball team, and he smiled secretly.
'I don't want to admit this out loud that they are good, we can go to the inter-high but I don't want them to have their skills as it is, I want them to be stronger.' he thought proudly as he continue to look at the members, his gazed stop at the back of a player. He looked at her. It's been 2 weeks after Rei Anzai had joined his team. He was beyond joy when he saw her name in the new comers list.
~Flashback~
"Anzai Rei, 160 centimeters, 41 kilograms. Graduate of Tomigaoka Junior High." Coach Asano just entered the volleyball court just in time to hear Rei say her name to the other members. His eyes were about to fall when he saw her. He couldn't believe it! There, together with the new comers stand Anzai Rei. The very girl who won the MVP for two consecutive years in volleyball. Is he dreaming? He pinched himself to see if he was dreaming or not.
"Ouch!" he hissed in pain. Yes! He could feel the pain, which means he was not dreaming. He grinned widely and came closer to Chigasaki, the team's captain.
"So how many new comers do we have?" he asked and surprised Chigasaki that made her shrieked.
"S-Sensei!? I didn't know you were there. How long have you been here?"
"I just arrived. So how many?" he asked again not leaving his gaze to Rei.
"Oh! Sorry! Well we have 6 new members. And Coach you won't believe it! One of the members is the one and only Anzai Rei! The Gods are with us! We can win the championship with her!" She squealed as she points towards Rei who just smiled at him and bowed politely. He returned her smile with one of his own and bowed also.
"Isn't it great Coach!?"
"Of course it's great! The prefectural MVP player in volleyball is here in our team! We should celebrate." He announced and the members cheered.
~End of Flashback~
He smirked at the memory, he knew Rei can bring the team to the top alone, but he knew that the members must do well for it will be unfair for her. She might think her coach is abusing her and he does not want Rei to think that. He looked at her again and saw her hit the ball that was hit by a player with a spike. He grinned at her skill.
"Alright! Assemble!" he shouted and all the members stopped and came to their coach who was smiling at them.
"I want to see how well you do in a team and how you cooperate with each other. In short, I want to see a game. So since, we have 15 members the remaining 3 will be the scorer and the officials. I want to see how the freshmen do. You juniors and seniors will be in a team, you decide who the three will be. Okay!?" he asked kindly but his voice held authority.
"Yes sir!" they replied in a happy tone. A game at last. They never played before because their coach was busy letting them practice by their selves.
Everyone started to make their warm-ups. And all the freshmen where around Rei.
"Anzai-san, Let's do our best to beat the seniors." A girl said smiling warmly at Rei.
"Let's show them how good we are." Another said also smiling at Rei.
"Let's do that! Let's show them that we are better than them. And call me Rei, after all we're friends." Rei said as the girls smiled at her. They were admiring Rei ever since they were Junior High and they want to meet her. And it's a privilege that they were her teammates and also her friends, though not close.
"Let's go." She said when she heard their captain call for them. She looked at her teammates and smiled.
"Ready?"
"Yes." Came an answer.
Everyone walk towards the court and took their positions. The juniors and the seniors on the right side and the freshmen on the other. The referee called to the two captain balls and Chigasaki walk towards her. Rei looked at her teammates and gave them a questioning look that says, 'who is going to be the captain ball?' To Rei's surprise, they all smiled at her and nodded. Indicating it's her. Rei nodded slowly and made her way to the referee. Once their Chigasaki smiled at her which she gladly return.
"Okay you know the rules and whatever necessary things is need to be known. Should we start?" she asked as the two nodded. The referee nodded and tossed the coin and catches it with her hand and lay it on top of her hand with the other over-lapping it.
"Head or Tails?" she asked
"Heads" Chigasaki answered. The referee looked at Rei to respond and nodded.
"Tails" She nodded and slowly remove her hand from the other to reveal what side of the coin it is and it was tails. Rei smiled. The referee gave her the ball.
"Good luck." Chigasaki said then walk towards her teammates and took her position.
"You too." She replied also walking towards her teammates and then to their outside court to do the service. She held the ball, took a deep breath, and waited for the whistle. When she heard it she run, threw the ball in the air, and spiked it and returned to her position. The other team saw the ball coming and where ready to hit it when they realize it was a powerful one. Chigasaki saw the ball flying towards her with great speed and hit it as soon and as mighty as she can, though she had no idea where the ball will end up. She hit it and ended up to the outside court thus giving the freshmen the first point.
"Kuso!" Chigasaki murmured. Half angry that she did not make the pass a good one and half of her was happy that Rei could deliver that kind of serving. She knew Rei would be their key for winning the championship.
"It's okay. It's only the first point we're going to score the next one." Mika said to Chigasaki. She too can't believe Rei can serve the that hard.
'I know that with Rei we can win the eliminations.' She thought as she looked at the freshmen who were giving Rei high-fives.
Coach Asano in the meantime was sitted on the chair watching the game and smirked when Rei did the jump serve with great force. 'I knew we can count on her.'
"Chigasaki! Watch the ball carefully! And pass it to the right direction!" he shouted to Chigasaki who nodded. He took his sit and watch Rei serve again.
Rei took another breath and waited for the whistle. 'Maybe I shouldn't hit the ball that hard.' She thought as she heard the whistle and did a over-hand service and smiled when the ball fly towards the other court normally and was hit by a junior. She took her position and waited for a chance to hit it. The game continued normally after that.
~#~#~
Rukawa took the ball from Yasuda, dribbled the ball towards the ring, and did a spectacular dunk in spite that Akagi tried to block him. The players looked at him and had their mouths hanging. Sakuragi who was in the side of the court doing the basics was looking at Rukawa with a shock expression then to an angry one.
"Hmp! I can do better than that!" Sakuragi growled as he looked at Rukawa who was being praised by his teammates.
"Damn you Rukawa! You think you're the only one who can do a dunk!? I can do better than you 'cause I'm a tensai! Unlike you a kitsune! Nyahahaha!" Sakuragi said loudly as the team sweatdropped at his antics. He then received a punch on the head by the gorilla.
"Ouch! Gori, what do you think you are doing to a tensai!?" he asked while holding his head.
"Shut up! Do the basic! And who is the gorilla!?" Akagi asked angrily before blowing another punch on Sakuragi and returning to the court.
"Stupid Gori!" Sakuragi mumbled as he held his head.
"If I were you Sakuragi, I will shut up and do the basic." Ayako said to Sakuragi while watching the game.
"What!? How can you be so mean to me Ayako-san?" He whined while dribbling the ball as he watch the game also.
"I'm not being mean to you, Sakuragi." She replied looking at him right now.
"But you are! I've been stuck here since I came here doing this stupid basics! I joined the team so I can do the Slam Dunk." Sakuragi said in an angry tone.
"Basics is not stupid! It's the most important part of the training. Without learning the basics you will be nothing! Every player must learn the basics, remember that Sakuragi Hanamichi!" Ayako replied in a frustrated voice. She was tired of Sakuragi's mumblings of doing the basics. Everyday the only thing she hear from Sakuragi is he wanted to do a Slam Dunk or he was sick of the basics. But she knew she must be patient with him. She knew Sakuragi has the talent but it has not yet been polished. She sighed and continued,
"Don't worry Sakuragi after you master the basics I know you will be a very good player, so just be patient and do what you have been told. Okay?"
"You mean to tell me that even Gori or Rukawa learn the basics?" Asked Sakuragi as if Ayako didn't say anything.
"Yes, even Gori and Rukawa." Ayako answered as she looked at Rukawa with wondering eyes. She have been wondering why Rukawa was so quite and cold to everyone. When she left Tomigaoka he wasn't like this. And she is wondering the most when she asked him about Rei. She knew the relationship of the two for she is the one who also help Rukawa to get Rei and she was so confused that Rukawa don't want to talk anything about her anymore.
'Could he and Rei broke up?' she asked herself. She is asking the same question over and over again but she refused to believe that Rei and Rukawa broke up. She knew Rukawa is madly in love with Rei she knew that he won't hurt her no matter what. And Rei, she's not awfully close to her but she was close enough to tell her problems. She knew Rei have a crush on Rukawa ever since their first year and it turned out that she was in-love with him. She knew she would never ever do something such as broking up with him. But then why don't Rukawa tell her the problem? She always tell him that if he got problems he can approach her, then how come he hasn't? Ayako sighed and then looked at Rukawa's every move.
~Flashback~
"Rukawa Kaede, graduate of Tomigaoka middle school. 187 centimeters, 75 kilograms. And I can play any position." Rukawa said as he heard the members say wow or some other complements. He looked at Ayako and nodded to her and saw her approach him.
"It's nice to see you again Rukawa, It looks like we are in the same club again, aren't we?" Ayako said as she flash him a smile which he only nodded in response.
"Wow! You've grown a bit! So how's Tomigaoka when I left it?" Ayako asked while elbowing him.
"How are you and Rei doing?" she asked in a teasing tone, but then she wished she didn't asked him that question when she heard him grunt angrily.
~End of Flashback~
"I'm going to find it out no matter what." Ayako said to herself in a whisper but Sakuragi heard her.
"You're going to find out what? Ayako-san?"
"W-what?" Ayako asked a bit startled at the question.
"You said you're going to find out something. What's that?"
"Oh! It's nothing! Just continue your basics." Ayako replied as she laughed nervously.
'I should better keep my mouth shut.' She thought as she looked at Rukawa again.
'I wonder what school Rei is enrolled… I know Coach Anzai is Rei-chan's grandfather, I bet he knew that Rukawa and his granddaughter broke up… But I don't think he'll tell me the reason…" Ayako thought again while searching the gym for their coach. She have no idea right now that Rei is here in Shohoku despite of the rumors about Rei Anzai being here in Shohoku.
"I guess he's still not here." She said aloud
"Who?" Sakuragi asked, Ayako blinked at Sakuragi.
"Who's still not here?" Sakuragi asked again this time more specific at the question.
"Oh, that… I'm talking about Coach Anzai, he's still not here."
"Oh… the old man, I wonder why he still hasn't come…" Sakuragi said while looking at the door and held his chin as if he was thinking.
"Who knows…" Ayako replied her eyes seemed a little distant.
"You know Ayako-san, you're acting strange right now… Are you thinking about someone?" Sakuragi asked in a teasing voice. Ayako raised an eyebrow.
"Stop it!" she replied as she hit him with her fan.
"Ouch!"
"Do your basic!" she shouted at him and return to let her mind wonder about Rukawa and Rei.
'I just hope I find out soon…' she thought tiredly as she sighed.
~#~#~
Hikaru and Akane are playing together with the rest of the team. (A.N. Girls Basketball Club that is. ^_^) They have been practicing for like eternity despite of their coach's orders. They didn't know why their coach is so angry. He was like this ever since he first came here 2 weeks ago when the new members are introduced.
"I wonder why the coach is so mad?" Akane whispered to Hikaru as she heard Coach Morisato shout orders like 'Faster!', 'Get the rebound!', 'Komatsu! Do you know how to shoot properly!?'
Hikaru just shrugged and looked at their coach's direction who looks so mad. Then their coach looked at their direction and glared at the two, which who shivered in fear.
"You two! Why aren't you practicing!?" he demanded pointing towards the two.
"Su-Sumimasen Sensei!" They stuttered and returned to practice. Coach Morisato gave one last glance at the two and then took a sit while he crossed his hands while muttering curses.
"I shouldn't have trusted the rumors…" he mumbled angrily as he watch the team play. He became angry again when he saw Sasaki, the team captain steal the ball from Maria, a freshman.
"Maria, what are you doing!? Watch the ball!" he shouted angrily. Oh! How he hated this year. It's not that he absolutely hate the team but for the fact that someone very important was not in his team. He had expected her there but to his surprise she wasn't. His anger increased when he remembered the details.
~Flashback~
Coach Morisato was walking towards the gym of Shohoku High with a neutral expression as always.
"Another year of hard training." He whispered to himself. "I wonder who the new comers are…" he wondered. He really wanna know who the new comers are despite the fact that he will be knowing them sooner or later. The Shohoku Basketball club for girls was in the best 4 for two consecutive years and he was beginning to wonder if she had accepted the offer of joining his team. He was in the middle of his thoughts when he heard someone,
"Hey have you heard of the rumors?"
"What? What rumors?" another voiced asked
"The rumors about Anzai Rei." The voiced replied and when Coach Morisato heard the name he immediately stop and looked at the students who was talking.
"No… I haven't heard anything about her. So what kind of rumor is it?" the other student giggled and replied in a proud voice.
"She is here in Shohoku High!" the other one squealed and Coach Morisato had his eyes big as a balloon. He approached the two and asked for some details about the rumor.
"Um… excuse me… I was wondering if the rumor you are talking about is true…" he said in his normal voice. But deep inside he was screaming for joy at the information. The students looked at each other and then to him.
"Oh you mean the rumors about Rei-san?" Coach nodded.
"Is it really true?" he asked again this time in an impatient voice.
"Well… Some students saw her but I haven't seen her myself. They say she's in section…" the student drifted off.
"Section? She belong to section what?" he moved closer at the students for the answer.
"Um… I'm sorry but I forgot to what section she belong…." The student answered and bowed politely then walked off.
Coach Morisato stood there for a few minutes and then run towards the gym to see if she had joined the team. He can't wait. He was excited the MVP was in the school. She had accepted the offer! Well… that's what he thought. He opened the gym and looked frantically. The members were there and the new comers. He walked towards Sasaki, the team captain and looked at the new members to his surprised the person he was looking for was not there. His temper was going up and he looked at Sasaki in an angry way. The girl meanwhile shrieked in fear.
"That's the new members!?" his voice filled the whole gym and some wince at the volume of his voice. Sasaki gulped and nodded slowly.
"I-Is t-there so-something wrong Coach?" Sasaki stuttered in fear.
"You're telling me that the members are only them!?" he asked again pointing at the new members who where holding each other in fear.
"Y-Yes…" Coach Morisato was red. Red from anger. Red for being disappointed. Red for knowing she was not there. He took the list from Sasaki and scanned it angrily having not finding her name he screamed in rage. And the members shrieked.
~End of flashback~
"Rumors are very stupid sayings!" he hissed and looked at the game and said,
"Run faster!" he shouted bossily.
Akane and Hikaru shrieked and do as they were told. They shook their heads in disapproval. they could never understand their coach's true intentions. Sasaki looked at them and gave an apologetic glance.
"Sorry about the coach's temper… you see he's not really like this. He may have a temper but he is really kind." She said and the two nodded.
"Do you know why he's acting this way?" Akane asked as he looked towards the direction of their coach.
"Well… Terada-san said that he's just upset about the rumor he heard."
"Rumor? What rumor?" Hikaru asked as she looked at Akane in confusion.
"The rumor about Anzai Rei is here in Shohoku high." She said and the two looked at each other and said,
"But Rei is here! In fact she's a very close friend to both of us." The two answered in a loud voice as the others member stopped what they were doing and looked at them as if they were crazy. Coach Morisato stood up and by the way you looked at him you may think that he have seen a ghost or something. He walked slowly at them and held Akane's shoulder very tightly.
"Could you repeat what you said." He asked in a shocked voice.
"Rei-chan is here…" she stuttered.
"What!? And you didn't tell me!?" he shouted angrily.
"Y-You n-never asked…" Coach Morisato closed his eyes and sighed deeply.
"Do you know why she didn't join the team?"
"It's because she joined the volleyball team." Hikaru said
"WHAT!?" he shouted in disbelief
"HOW CAN SHE JOIN THAT IDIOT'S TEAM!?" he asked. How can she join his team!? The team of Asano the Idiot. How can she join that team!? Coach Morisato growled angrily.
"Do you know why?" he asked
"Um… she said that she wanted to play volleyball…"
"What!? That's her reason!? She's being unreasonable!" he shouted.
"We asked her if she was abandoning basketball and she said that she wasn't." Akane said
"But she assured us that she'll quit the team before the winter cups and join us." Hikaru added.
"What!? The Winter Cups!? We can't wait that long! Inter High is not going to wait for us! We need her to win the championship! We need her!" he screamed and the members gasped at the tone of his voice.
"Well what are you two waiting for!? Get her! Meet us at the main gym, understood!?" he ordered and started to walk towards the door.
"B-But what are we going to tell her when she asked why?" Hikaru asked
"Tell her that someone wants to talk to her." He said
"B-But what if her coach won't allow her?" Akane asked in a small voice
"Don't worry, Asano no baka will allow her. If he asked why tell him it's very important." He replied the last time and looked at the other members.
"Are you all coming with me or not!?" he asked in annoyed tone. The members looked at each other then to their coach. Their coach smiled at them for the first time and said,
"I thought you guys want to win the championship? Well what are you waiting for? The key will be joining the team anytime soon, I'll assure you that!" he said in a determined voice.
'I won't let the baka to have her without a fight!' he thought.
"Besides Rukawa Kaede is there, I thought you wanna see him?" He looked at the team and saw some blushed in the mention of Rukawa's name and nodded. They started to walk towards the door to follow their coach. They were all smiling; something is telling them that their coach won't be bossy anymore.
"We will be waiting in the main gym Sukimura, Kurosawa!" his voice drifted off and Akane and Hikaru was left in the gym to do their task: Get Rei to the main gym. The two smiled and started to walk towards the volleyball court.
~#~#~
Rei spiked the ball towards the other side of the net and the referee whistled when the other teamed failed to save it. The freshmen cheered and gave Rei high fives. Rei looked at the scoreboard, 20- 14. Only five more and they win the set and the game. They have won the other two sets and was now on the third for the end of the game. She looked at her teammates and smiled.
"Only 5 more and we win! Don't be happy yet, they can still catch up." She said
"Hai!" the remaining 5 on her team said with determination. Each one of them was really happy that Rei was their teammate. They can win the championship with her. They prepared their selves when they heard the referee whistled for the service.
Coach Asano was grinning like an idiot. He was really happy that Rei had joined his team. He knew he can count on her. He looked at the other players and said to himself,
"Their not bad their selves. I really have a strong team right now."
"Chigasaki! What's going on in your team! Are you letting Rei and the freshmen to beat you!?" he shouted angrily at Chigasaki. He can see that she's trying her best to stop Rei but she's just no match for the girl.
"Sumimasen!"
He was about to sit down when a voice interrupted,
"Um… excuse me." A female voice said. Asano looked at the direction of the voice and found two girls wearing practice clothes looking at him nervously.
"Yes? Is there something you want?" he asked in a cool voice.
"Um… you see were friends of Rei and we were just wondering if we can talk to her… it's important." Akane said nervously. Coach Asano raised an eyebrow and said,
"Oh, well can you wait for a moment? She's in the middle of a game and it will be finished you can talk to her after that." He replied and Akane and Hikaru looked at each other.
"The game will be finished soon, only 3 more points to go before the freshmen win. It won't be long." He said in a kind voice.
"You can watch the game if you want." The two nodded and looked at the court. They saw a female tossed the ball and saw Rei spike it. They squealed when they saw the other team can't hit it.
"Sugoi! I never knew Rei is very talented in Volleyball!" Hikaru said, and Akane can just nod in admiration. They saw the referee give Rei the ball for the service.
"Go Rei-chan!" Akane cheered and Rei looked at the direction of the voice and was surprised to see her two friends there.
"Akane-chan, Hikaru-chan, what are you doing here?" she shouted 'cause she was in the other side.
"We'll tell you later! Finish the game already!" Hikaru replied.
"Alright!" she said and she waited for the referee to whistle. When she heard it she did a overhand toss and the ball hit the net and then to the other side. The other team wasn't able to save it for they thought it would only hit the other teams net. The freshmen gave Rei high fives and said,
"Good ball Rei-san! Only one more and we win!" Rei just smiled. She waited again for the whistle and when she did she ran, toss the ball in the air and made a very powerful spike. She watch the ball go towards the other side of the net with great speed and smiled greatly when no one on the other team dared to hit the ball. The referee whistled and the freshmen cheered. They have won! Thanks to Rei. They hugged Rei and gave high-fives. Akane and Hikaru squealed in delight. They watch as the two team shook hand and walk towards the benches.
"I can't believe we lost! You really are great Rei!" Chigasaki said as she saw Rei blush.
"Not really." She said in a small voice.
"Really now? You made your team win. And besides you really played great!" Rei just nodded her head and said,
"T-Thanks I guess." Chigasaki giggled
"No need to thank me. It's the truth." She added and Rei blushed harder.
"Rei-chan! You are so awesome! I can't believe you did a powerful… um what service is it called again?" Hikaru asked.
"I'm not awesome Hikaru-chan… It's called a Jump serve." Rei said as she smiled. (A.N. I'm not sure if it's a jump serve… I think it's a running serve but anyways it's still the same movement.)
"No you really are awesome! Look at you! You haven't even broke a sweat and even tired!" Akane said and Rei just blushed.
"So why are you here?" she asked, Hikaru and Akane looked at each other and to Rei.
"Um… you see we came here to talk to you…" Akane begin with a nervous voice.
"Talk to me? About what?" Rei asked in a confused voice.
"Well not really us someone wants to talk to you. We were just given the task to tell you that." Hikaru replied.
"Oh… so who's this person?" she hoped it's not a guy who will be asking for a date.
"Um… you'll find it out soon."
"Oh… so when is it?"
"Well right now."
"Now? Where?"
"In the main gym."
"The gym? Oh… alright. I'll just asked permission." Akane and Hikaru nodded and waited. They smiled when they saw Rei walk towards their way with a smile.
"Let's go. Coach Asano said that I should return as soon as possible 'cause we're still having practice." She said as she started to walk towards the door with Akane and Hikaru.
~#~#~
Coach Morisato and the members of the club walk towards the main gym.
"Sensei, it is okay that we use the main gym? I mean we can just talk to Rei-san in the other gym… that way we won't be able to disturb the other club." Sasaki asked
"You're right but the baka will find out that I have sent those two." He replied and the word baka was said in disgust.
"Baka? I'm wondering sensei… you mention baka alot of times… who is this baka you called?" Yumi, the vice-captain asked curiously and the others nod.
"The baka I'm talking about is Asano. Asano Matsuhiko, he's the coach of the Shohoku's volleyball team. He's really a baka I tell you." He said as the other sweatdrop.
"Um… care to tell us why?" Sayaka asked, she's a junior and she plays the small forward of the team.
"Well… it's a long story but to make it short, he's an all around baka." The girls just sweatdrop again. Morisato opened the door of the main gym and looked around. The guys are practicing basketball but soon stopped when they saw them. He ignored the looks that were given to them and search for their coach.
"Hm… That's strange Mr. Anzai is usually early in practice. Oh well… Sasaki asked their captain if we can use the gym for a while." Sasaki nodded and approach Akagi.
"Hey! Akagi-kun can we use the gym for a moment?" Sasaki asked politely at him, Kogure elbowed him and made him blush.
"S-Sure Megumi-chan…. But why?" he looked at Kogure and glared at him.
"Um… Coach Morisato wanted to talk to someone and he don't want to use the other gym for… er personal reasons… so is it okay with you guys?" Yumi said as she smiled at Kogure who blushed in a deep shade of red.
"Sure." Akagi answered as he grinned when he saw Kogure blush.
"Thanks!" The two replied as they give a thumbs up to their coach who smiled and nodded.
Sakuragi in the meantime was watching and listening to the whole conversation. He had seen Gori and Megane-kun blush to the two girls.
"Ayako-san who are they?" he asked in a confused voice.
"Oh they? Their the school's another basketball club except that it's only for girls." She replied as she looked at them.
"Oh… do Gori and Megane-kun know those two girls?" he pointed towards the two girls who Akagi and Kogure were talking to before.
"Them? Their Sasaki Megumi and Tachibana Yumi, their the captain and vice-captain of the club pretty girls aren't they?" Ayako said with a smile.
"Do Gori and Megane-kun like those two?" Sakuragi asked in a suspicious voice.
"W-What?"
"I mean do they like those two girls? I saw Gori and Megane-kun blush…"
"I-I don't know…"
"Oh… okay. So do you have any information about their team?" Ayako looked at Sakuragi in a shock. She never knew Sakuragi has interest in other teams. She thought that he's only interested in making a Slam Dunk.
'He never stops to amaze me.' She thought then smiled.
"Well their team is really strong. They have been included in the best 4 for two consecutive years and been included in the best 8 a few years before. The team also have gone in the inter-high… but that was like 4 or 5 years ago." Ayako said
"Oh… I see. How about our team?"
"Well… I can't say that our team is weak or anything but compared to their team we haven't made to the inter-high, the best 8 or 4. But I knew we can do it this year… especially when Rukawa is on the team now." She said in a soft voice.
"Never fear Ayako-san this Tensai will bring the team to the top and We'll win the inter-high nyahahahaha…" Sakuragi said in a bossy way and Ayako can just sweatdrop but his laughter was really loud and the whole gym looked at him.
"So who's the red hair?" Megumi asked Akagi as Akagi looked at Sakuragi's direction with a sweatdrop.
"Oh he's Sakuragi Hanamichi, don't mind him." Megumi just nodded
"What a weird guy…" she said
"You bet."
Coach Morisato was standing at a corner, his hands crossed and he was tapping his feet impatiently. Hikaru and Akane had been gone for about 10 minutes and they weren't still here. Could that baka didn't allow Rei to be excused? He didn't know but that was the only excuse that he can think is that they were late.
"Where could they be?" he asked through clench teeth. Just then the door swung open and everyone looked at the door only seeing 3 cute girls. Except that the one in the middle was far more beautiful than to the two. And immediately all the boys blushed when they saw her. Rukawa looked at the three and made him stop to whatever he was doing. There in middle of the door stand Rei. Nothing had changed except for the fact that she grew a bit and was more beautiful than before. But that was out of the question.
'What is she doing here?' he asked in a shock voice. He saw them walk towards the group of girls with he heard form Ayako the basketball team for the girls. He then looked at Rei like he was going to melt her but then stopped when he remember what she did to him.
Rei looked around and saw Rukawa. She looked at him and smiled sadly. Oh how she missed him. It's been a while since she last saw him and even though she was already dating Sendoh for quite some time now she couldn't forget him. See looked around and saw Ayako. It's been a while since she last saw her it's been like a year. And how she missed her. She looked at Hikaru and Akane who were busy walking towards the group of girls and decided not to tell them that she's going to greet someone. She just walk off towards the direction of Ayako. She smiled when she saw her busy chatting with a red hair who was doing basics of dribbling. She walked silently and put her hands towards Ayako's eyes. And said,
"Guess who?" she said in a happy voice. Ayako can just stop talking to Sakuragi when she felt a pair of hands in her eyes.
"W-what?" she asked
"Guess who?" Rei replied. Ayako was dumb fold. She knew that voice really well. That soft melodious voice of Rei. Could it be? She put her hands towards her eyes and held Rei's hands.
"R-Rei is that you?" her voice filled with shock. Rei let go and smiled at her.
"I can't believe you can guess it's me…" she said in a soft voice.
"I can't believe it! It's really you! My god, you looked far more beautiful than the last time I saw you!" Ayako said as she hugged Rei and Rei can just blush at her comment and hugged back.
"I missed you." She said
"Me too."
"How are you?" Rei asked
"Great! How about you?"
"Fine, I guess." She said as she looked at the direction of Rukawa and found out that he was staring at her also. She looked away sadly when he looked to another direction. Ayako looked at the direction of where Rei was looking at and saw she was looking at Rukawa. Suddenly she remembered that she had to asked Rei about her and Rukawa's relationship since he won't say a thing about it.
"Rei… can I ask you something?" Ayako said in a serious yet kind voice.
"Huh? What is it…" she asked
"About you and Rukawa… did you two broke up?" she asked slowly she looked at Rei's expression and cursed her self when she saw Rei's extreme sad expression.
"I-" she stopped and heard Hikaru called for her. She sighed and looked at the direction of Rukawa then to Ayako. She smiled sadly at her.
"Ayako-san Hikaru-chan is calling for me, I'm not being rude or anything but I need to talk to someone important… don't worry I'll tell you everything when this is finished… I promise." She said in a soft and sad voice. And Ayako can just nod.
"Alright…" she said
"Go now… I think their Coach is angry." She said in a joking tone and Rei giggled a bit and nodded. Ayako frowned when she looked at the direction of Rukawa. She saw him glare angrily at Rei's back then returned to his practice.
'So something had happened… I'm gonna find it out soon.'
Rei walked towards Hikaru and the other girls.
"So Hikaru-chan, Akane-chan… who's the person who want to talk to me?" she asked in a polite voice.
"Well I want you to meet our Coach, Mr. Morisato. He's the one that wants to talk to you." Akane replied and looked at Rei's confused expression.
"I'm Mr. Morisato, nice to meet you Anzai Rei." He said as he extended a hand for a handshake. Rei smiled at him and shook his hand.
"Nice to meet you sir. Can you tell me how you know my name?" she asked, totally confused.
"Well your name is known all over Kanagawa for the fact you have won the MVP award for 2 consecutives years in basketball and that is why I want to talk to you." He said
"I want you to join our team Rei-san."
To be continued….
Author's notes: (READ EVERYTHING)
Okay guys that's the end of chapter 7. I know you're gonna hate me for letting this chapter end up with only that but you see I'm very tired of writing half of the chapter in one day and I need rest. I know I have posted this chapter really late and I am very sorry for that. As I said earlier I have been busy in school projects and stuff and I can't just neglect it… so I am very sorry about it! I hope you forgive me! ^_^
I can't promise you when I will be posting chapter 8 'cause I haven't started it! Don't worry the next chapter will be interesting… well that's what I think. Anyways I need some suggestions about the coming chapters 'cause I'm running out of ideas and I might be having author's block and I don't want that! Hehehe… So feel free to send suggestions through a review or e-mail me.
For those people who want to be informed whether I have posted a chapter just leave your e-mail and I'll gladly informed you when I have another chapter!
Okay my notes are already long so to make it short….. PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!! It will mean a lot to me! See you in the next chapter! Happy Holidays everyone! ^_^