Reviews:

KoinoTenshi: The reason Rukawa is happy will be described during the next chapter. But right now, in these flashbacks, he's still the cold person he was. Thanks for the advice!!

Syyyyys: The U.S.A. parts will be coming soon, so don't worry!!

Chapter 3:

Uekusa walked up the court and gave the ball to Koshino, as promised. Koshino then faced up Mitsui, and suddenly shot.

Mitsui, taken in surprise, turned and looked as the shot went in the net. 77:80 for Ryonan.

"MICCHI! YOU BASTARD!" Sakuragi yelled.

"YOU GODDAMN DO' AHO!" Mitsui replied, while running up the court.

"You copycat Mitsui do' aho, I am the true do' aho talker. " thought Rukawa as he too ran up the court.

Miyagi again gave the ball to Mitsui, who casually turned his back to Koshino, his defender. He drove in to the basket, and on the corner of his eye saw Fukuda leave Sakuragi open to defend against him.

Mitsui then faked the shot, and threw it in to Sakuragi, now fifteen feet away from the basket. Sakuragi then executed a perfect jump shot, which swished the net cleanly.

"Stupid Kitsune!!! Seems like I'm the better player!! Bwahahah-"Rukawa ended Sakuragi's speech by kicking him in the ass.

"Bastard fox!" Sakuragi fumed while he got up and kicked him back.

"Get back on defense, you two!!" Miyagi yelled on the other side of the court. Two seconds later Koshino scored on a 5 on 3 break. 79:82 with two minutes left.

Shohoku responded again by Kashda throwing an overhead pass to an open Rukawa and Sakuragi, who both stayed near the Ryonan basket when Miyagi yelled.

The pass was right in the middle of both of them, and both pushed each other out of the way to get the ball. As a result, the ball tipped both of their fingers and went out of bounds.

"Do'aho." Rukawa stared at Sakuragi.

"Shut up, fox!"

"Oh shit, we're in a bad situation. Down by three, Ryonan possession, with a minute and fifty seconds left." Miyagi thought.

"C'mon guys we can't let them score!!"

This time, everyone got back on defense. Sendoh was handling the ball, and suddenly he rushed in, and rose up, trying to dunk the ball. Rukawa, who had gotten beat by Sendoh, ran after him and fouled him hard.

Rukawa noticed Sendoh's expression, which was completely serious, unlike the normal goofy face he had on.

Sendoh put in the two free throws, making the score 79:84 with a minute left. Rukawa responded by jacking up a three pointer, which hit the bottom of the net. 82:84.

This time Sendoh gave the ball to Fukuda, who posted up against Sakuragi. Fukuda drove in and tried to lay it in but got blocked from behind by Sakuragi.

"Tensai!!!" Sakuragi yelled while he gave the ball to Miyagi, who threw it over to a really open Mitsui.

He took his time, as let the ball go smoothly...SWISH! It hit clean net. Shohoku finally took the lead 85:84 with forty-five seconds left.

Sendoh took the ball, and raced up the court, and layed it in easily.

85:86. Forty seconds left.

Miyagi ran up the court, and gave the ball to the most reliable person to score, Rukawa. Rukawa against Sendoh.

Rukawa used his eyes, and thrust his eyes upwards as if he was shooting, then drove in, and suddenly pulled back again and shot. It went in.

Miyagi, Kashda and Mitsui went and high-fived him, while Sakuragi looked sullenly on.

"Show-off fox." He thought.

Again, Sendoh tried to run up the court but was stopped by a determined Rukawa.

Sendoh tried to fake his way through, but he got stolen from and Rukawa raced in and dunked it with no one defending. Shohoku now lead by three with fifteen seconds left.

Ryonan inbounded, but Shohoku's determined defense ran off most of the time, and when Sendoh threw up a three from almost the center, he had two hands in his face and missed it badly.

Final Score: 89:86.

After the game:

Sendoh approached Rukawa after the game, and said, "Hey Rukawa, you've improved a lot this year."

Rukawa just nodded. Sendoh continued, "I seriously think you're going to beat Eiji Sawakita this year."

"Do'aho, it's Sawakita Eiji!" Rukawa thought. He just nodded again, glared at Sendoh one last time and left.

"Typical." Sendoh thought as he too walked away.


Shohoku ended up first in Kanagawa, beating Jin and Kainan easily, who even with Kiyota and Jin, were no match for the hot Shohoku team.

Second place was Ryonan, with two wins and one loss.

Rukawa also remembered how he had become best friends with Sakuragi before the IH tournaments...

End Chapter 3.

demi: The next chapter will explain about Sakuragi and Rukawa, so it'll be a little drama instaead of action and adventure! Review plz!