Disclaimer: The absolute undeniable fact that cannot be doubted is this: I do not own Slam Dunk. Pero pwede pa rin akong tumingin diba?
Calliope Medina Erato: hehehe… thanks! Yeah, Kiyota is a good friend, he knows when he's not needed… hehehehe… Miyagi and Hagino… I think based on the interview; Miyagi knows he's got some work to do… hehehe… cute na naman ulit this chapter… I hope… hehehe…
Coffeemaverick: you're actually on the dot… I thought of the scene and when I wrote that dialogue Kiyota was really supposed to say since I brought her. Hehe.. though I cut off that part… hehehe… um… actually Kiyota actually asked what Jin wanted to know already… hehehe… we don't want to rush into things… Karin's just getting over so, yeah, the story better take it easy on her… hehehe
Simmic: well, I think part of what you said may be the reason… hehehe… but I looked at Jin's pic and I thought ok, he kinda to me, looks like a carefree guy, not too serious, not too laidback, but at the same time, he also has this aura of almost shyness or I don't know, and his smile enables me to at least put things like this that are light, but not too overpowering or dominating in the story… it just showed itself in the ninth chapter, a bit on the eighth one with the eating part, but it was small snippets and didn't really take in or grew into a big scene… hehehe… cause he doesn't look too serious to me though, maybe unless he's playing b-ball… hehehe… which he will be right here! Hehehe… well I do hope you weren't too bothered with that part… hehehe…
The Writing On The Wall
Lately, the tension inside the court between Miyagi and Ayako turned out to be much better. At first he used to ignore her all the time, not even bothering to check with her on the progress of the team. But on this particular day, he did. The ball went out of bounds even as Sakuragi dove to save it. "I'll get it." Ayako volunteered. "No, I'll get it." Miyagi was already running to where the ball lay. At least he said something.
I would say that the loss of Akagi, Kogure and Mitsui highly impacted the team. Aside from being the point guard, Miyagi now had to shoulder the task of building up the team's morale, increasing their bond as a team, and to promote teamwork, and a bit of healthy competition. Sakuragi replaced Akagi as the new Center. Though there didn't seem to be a blossoming 3-point shooter. It seemed as if they once again returned to being a starting team – a green team. But, other schools have also lost some of their valuable players. Ryonan lost Uozumi. Shoyo lost Fujima and Hanagata. And from Kainan, Maki already graduated. It seems that they're still evenly matched after all.
Things between Ayako and I are also improving. On one of the practices, she offered me a drink, and I said "Thanks" to which she replied, "Your welcome."
Ever since Interhigh drew closer, Akagi, Kogure, and Mitsui oftentimes visit the team during practice. Akagi spoke mostly to Miyagi about leadership skills and also served as a part-time trainer to Sakuragi. Kogure for the most part helps out with training most of the new members, while Mitsui frequently scouts the team for a potential successor to his position.
Things between Mitsui and Miyagi are starting to cool off too. On one of the 3-on-3 practice games they played for fun, Akagi, Mitsui and Kogure on one team, Rukawa, Sakuragi and Miyagi in the other, Sakuragi accidentally knocked Mitsui over and Miyagi being the nearest, held out his hand and helped him to stand. Though after that was pure, raw, heated competition.
Today was the practice Match Kainan had arranged with Shohoku. Anzai-sensei strongly encouraged having matches with the four toughest opponents Shohoku has in order to see where Shohoku stands with the other teams, to assess how they are rebuilding and coping with the loss. To test how strong they have gotten since then.
One could not even say that a group of people gathered to watch the match, as the event had been kept rather private. A few leaked out here and there but the majority of the public had been kept in the dark.
I went inside to find out that Nobunaga had started bickering with Sakuragi on who was the real genius between the two, and Nobunaga declaring that he was the number one rookie and not Rukawa to which his only reply was "Do ahou." Takato-sensei was calmly having a conversation with Anzai-sensei though they were probably trying to sense something out from the other. And Jin was standing on the three-point line, holding a basketball while talking to, Mitsui. Though when I entered he caught my shadow and greeted me in a clear voice. "Karin!" The basketball team and the guntai stopped all their businesses altogether to spare a look at me. Even Anzai-sensei wondered why Sakuragi had stopped shouting. "Karin?" They chorused.
The guntai, led by Sakuragi, towered over me. "As leader of the gang, I am… I am – angry - mad, at… what you've done." He tried his best to control his anger, but true to his words, he was "mad". He looked closer to disappointed to me. Maybe he was looking for that word. "So," Yohei drew out his flashlight, and as the gang hovered around me, it seemed as if I was being interviewed by the police. "Since when have you been hiding this from us?" Hiding has such a negative connotation to my ears. Though what part were you referring to? Jin? Nobunaga? I didn't know where to start. "Not so long ago." They continued to encircle me. "And during this not so long ago interaction, are you sure that you have not divulged any information whatsoever that might be linked to the basketball team or to it's members?" I shook my head. "Is there –" Anzai-sensei quickly cut him off as called the team members to gather for a brief meeting before the game commenced. The guntai forgot about their interrogation and instead, walked up the bleachers to find a seat for themselves.
Ayako wore the whistle around her neck as she walked to the centre circle and Sakuragi and Kainan's new Centre, Satomu, met for the jump ball. As soon as the ball was released, they both jumped in the air, Sakuragi reaching the ball first and quickly smacking it to his left, where Miyagi's hands was itching to get a hold of its rubber surface.
Kainan's new point guard, Kazuma, instantly guarded Miyagi, and after he effortlessly eluded him, it became clear to me, that the only one's left from the previous year's team had been Jin and Nobunaga. Kazuma-san has a tough place to fill in.
Miyagi found Rukawa free near the free-throw line and passed to him. Rukawa, in his nature, being deeply against the idea of passing, forgot about his teamwork skills training and made a wild dash for the basket. His shot was thunderous, opening the game with a reverse slam-dunk.
Kiyota took control of the ball and passed to Kazuma-san as he was running towards the Mid-court line, getting in deep into Shohoku's court to guard Rukawa. As Kazuma dribbled the ball, getting nearer and nearer, and as Shohoku tightened their full-court defence, Kazuma passed diagonally to Jin who was waiting near the sidelines, and as Toki Kuwata jumped to block him, he had already shot, and just as sure, it went in with a swish.
Kainan, still starting out with mostly new team members, hadn't built up to match last year's line-up, though they were developing themselves to become excellent in the act of screening.
Kainan was already back on their side of the court, and Miyagi passed the ball to Kentarou Ishii as he cut in inside, while Ishii moved outside and dribbled to his left, passing back to Miyagi, and Miyagi threw it high into the air, and when it was obviously an air-ball, Sakuragi in no time was in the air, and performed a successful alley-hoop. The rest of the team gave Sakuragi a high-five, running back to defend their court.
Again, Kazuma passed to Kiyota who was just outside the free-throw line, though he had a hard time finding a teammate as Rukawa was guarding him heavily. He passed all the way back into Satomu just under the net, Sakuragi wasted no time in showing off his tremendous wall, and Satomu having not seen anything like it, bounced the ball back to Kiyota who was running to the free-throw lane, and Rukawa was cut off by Satomu himself, Sakuragi left to face Kiyota. Kiyota raised his hand to shoot, and while Sakuragi raised his hand to deflect whatever that was coming, it had been a fake, and it directly found itself back to Jin's hands.
Rukawa evaded Kazuma and ran towards Jin. He arrived there on time, and moved to guard him. Jin didn't seem to bother Rukawa's intense gaze, then he leaped once again, Rukawa following him, though when Rukawa tried to swipe the ball from his grasp, he missed, Jin staging a fade-away three-pointer. Again, it went in.
I saw them stop for a moment and face towards me. It was then that I heard the sound of my own clapping. From its speed matching that of a hummingbird's wings, it slowly drawled into a slow beat, until it no longer possessed sound audible to their ears. I dropped them to my side as Jin bowed his head for a laugh before getting back into the game.
Maybe this was their tactic for the day. Make Jin available, at least until they had established a team that could firmly hold their ground. They were using Jin as a support, or as someone that can dig them out from whatever lead Shohoku had. With Jin's shooting percentage, missing a shot only seemed to be a dream. With Shohoku countering mostly with dunks, jump shots, lay-ups, more than three-pointers, it was bound that provided Kainan could find a way to make Jin free, they could easily catch up.
As the game progressed, Kainan started to move more and more within the court. They seemed to always change whom they were guarding. Every time Rukawa received the ball Kazuma and Masato, two of Kainan's tallest players would form a double team. Sakuragi still wasn't taken seriously enough until it lead them to lose a few points especially when Sakuragi got rebounds which were able to give Shohoku a fast-break, and with Miyagi's speed, there was no one that could match him as he easily went for a lay-up, the other players trailing behind him.
Shohoku showed more teamwork later in the game. Rukawa even passed a few times. I think I counted 3. Miyagi always positioned himself close to Jin, and was great in stealing and cutting whenever the ball headed to where Jin was located. Shohoku took the risk and passed the ball sometimes to their point guard, Toki Kuwata, and sure enough, not being expected that the ball would be in his possession, Shohoku gained a few points. Though it wasn't done in a straight row, often it was passed to Sakuragi or Rukawa, back and forth from team members, confusing the Kainan players, only to find another player such as Ishii free for another jump shot.
Though the game didn't go on as smoothly as everyone would like it to be. Sakuragi's fouls were mostly charging. At another attempt to prevent Jin's shot from going in, Sakuragi slapped the ball away, though he did it when the ball was directly above the net, and so Kainan still receives the point. Sakuragi was also called for Lane Violation, because he moved into the lane without the ball even touching the rim yet. Miyagi in his eagerness to steal sometimes would be caught with a double dribble. Kiyota also fouled based on the 3-second rule, because he remained offensive inside the free-throw lane for more than 3 seconds. Sometimes he's also called for palming for he turning over the ball in his hand in between dribbling.
In the end, it had been a close match, though in the last few seconds, as the two teams were still struggling, Shohoku in particular to pull away from Kainan's two-point lead, Masato accidentally loses control of the ball, off it slips away from his grasp, and Miyagi was there in an instant, and throws the ball to Sakuragi who runs, and jumps into the air for what appears to be a slam-dunk, though in a split second he changes his mind, and tosses the ball to Toki Kuwata who is and was at the perfect position at just the right time, and he finishes off with a three-point shot that circumnavigated the rim once before falling inside for the win.
As the Kainan players begin to pack up, Nobunaga and Jin come up to the bleachers to sit at either side of me. Jin set aside his sports bag and placed a towel to dangle from his neck. I unzipped his bag, found the familiar cylindrical container of water, twisted its cap off and handed it to him. "Thanks." As another trickle of sweat made its way down the side of his face, I grabbed the edge of his towel and gently tapped it away. Jin turned his face to look at me, smiled, giving a short, quick bow, gently pulling away the towel from my hand.
"Look at her, if she weren't wearing that uniform I'd swear she was from Kainan herself!" Sakuragi just can't get by a day without expressing his comment. "I heard that!" I yelled while facing the opposite direction. Sakuragi flushed in embarrassment, which changed into a flush of anger, which in turn, was easily subdued by Haruko's presence. "Ha-Haruko san!" And for the third time, he blushed.
"Congratulations, by the way," I said while I handed him his sports bag. "Thanks, though we didn't win." Nobunaga had also finished packing up and stopped beside Jin, elbowing him lightly in the side. "Next time, we're sure to get them. Coach Takato has already developed a new training plan for us." After two taps on the back, Nobunaga followed in the footsteps of his teammates.
He took a step closer, and placed a hand on my shoulder. "Well, take care of yourself." I looked down, a smile tugging at the sides of my mouth; it was extremely hard to contain. I felt it conquering its way, evident in the smile that was widening. "You too…" I didn't know what to do after that, and so I laughed. He didn't want me to think that I was going crazy so he laughed with me too, even if we didn't know why in the first place we did.
He stepped back, waved once, and turned to walk away, though a few times he looked back, and I raised my arm to wave at him. He continued to walk, until he reached their bus, and I continued to follow him until he took his seat, followed the bus as it slowly made its way out, I tagged along until it was out of sight. But even after so, I still looked at where it once was. I could still see his eyes looking through mine, and I at his.
Hehehe… um… to me still light… hahaha… it's always quite funny for me to make up all these excuses just so that they could see each other… I mean, I don't want them to be always popping out here and there, and I don't want the issue of chance, luck, to dominate as the reason as to why they're able to see each other… so I looked in to other factors, and seeing shohoku had a practice match with ryonan… even a match with ryonan and shoyo combined, I said, why not Kainan? So yeah…