To Incumbus-san (former caffeine-san) and Burato-kun: Thanks so so so much! Your reviews are what keeps me going!
I was hoping to focus on Uchiro, actually... I'll see how things go along...!
This chapter will hopefully be the last chapter in which I bring in new Team Shohoku characters. But NOT the end of characters from other schools, of course.
Last note before I begin: Please visit my DeviantArt from time to time (I am pasonia). This will be where I post all my artworks (including pictures of the new characters, not old! My skills of the pen is still not enough to recreate Sakuragi, not to mention Rukawa. So... yea... -o-")
By the way: Goston and Yao Ming are different. Shyness (perceived or otherwise) is the similar bit but there is a really marked difference, you'll know why later. :P
EDIT: I've updated the chapter after discovering numerous descriptive and uploading errors. If you'd read through the story the first time round... try re-reading again. Gomen . "
Chapter 3: Reasons, lessons, problems.
"With Akagi's replacement on our list... I guess we have no problem playing man-to-man once we need to, but we should kind of stick with the zone formation we've been using for the past 6 months... That'll allow that Goston to adapt to our play... Apparently he doesn't know that the -"
"SAKURAGI!"
Sakuragi bolted upright from his chair as his teacher in-charge blasted at him once again, using a loudspeaker this time. The teacher is now the wiser as he knows how to avoid any sudden moves from Sakuragi's "hate-disturbance" slumber (that is, some flailing arm that would catch him across the face like some sledgehammer). Problem is, Sakuragi wasn't even sleeping. He was really just randomly drawing out circles on his notes, trying to figure out the possible combinations for the team.
"Sakuragi, now you're going from bad to worse! First year you've been sleeping in my class all day, that I thought you would have sorted it through with over the break and reflect on your actions! But now...! You're drawing in my class! What the heck is this supposed to mean?"
The rest of Sakuragi's classmates looked around themselves, some yawning in boredom. It was just like any other day when the sensei is in class – ask for homework, scream at Sakuragi, class dismissed. And probably with the sensei getting a black-eye from it.
It was about to happen...
"What is the -"
When something miraculously halted him from his outburst.
"Wait, you idiot! Do you seriously want to be banned from competitions?"
Grudgingly, Sakuragi held back his words. "S... sorry then... I didn't quite mean it... I won't do it again, ok?" With a mental note: Not in FRONT of him of course.
Both the sensei and Sakuragi's classmates were quite taken aback. Has the red-headed gone through some canal operation during the break? Whatever it is, though, it sure is a welcome change from the usual black-eye he gets from the monkey. For the students, it meant no show to watch. Another reason to add to disdain for the dull sensei's lectures.
"...OK, Sakuragi, you're let off this time. If you do it again, off to the detention office you go."
The bell rang, inducing sighs of relief for the class.
"Class stand...!"
As the sensei left the classroom, Sakuragi was about to dash for the cafeteria when he saw a name prominently marked out in red on the sensei's working file. Yukigawa Arashi.
"Arashi? Wow, running into trouble so fast already?"
At the principal's office...
Arashi shuffled about uncomfortably. Even though the principal's office was his favourite hideout, new places always make him rather touchy. Besides, the presence of two more guys, who looked more like gangsters than students, had made the touchiness even worse.
"Aoiyama Uchiro! I thought we talked through this in the morning, so why are you here already within 3 hours?"
"Can't help it, sire. Someone mentioned my most hated thing in my presence and I had the urge to wallop him."
"And what would that be?"
"Basketball."
"He hates basketball? Why would he hate basketball to such an extent?" Gasped a surprised Arashi. He had never heard of anyone executing bodily damage on basketball fans for what they were – it was definitely no crime to be in love with basketball – but...
An itch of mischief suddenly sprang up and, feeling the touchiness no more, Arashi suddenly blurted, in an almost sing-song like tone...
"I am absolutely in love with basketball."
As Arashi would have expected, Uchiro turned around and glared hard at him. What was most unexpected is the raging fury in Uchiro's eyes that threatened to eat Arashi up. Slightly miffed but possessed by his trademark devil-may-care attitude now, Arashi casted an expression of "Haha, I gotcha", setting Uchiro's emotions on a really huge blaze.
Uchiro decided to teach the mischievious and irritating imp in front of him a lesson, and what better way to do that then a choke slam? He had his fingertips stiffened, and lunged for Arashi's throat in a quick thrust. The hapless Arashi was pinned to the floor, slamming into several wooden stools at the same time, as Uchiro had his fingers around the imp's throat expertly.
"Do you know that basketball betrayed the heart that loved it? Do you know how many hours I used to spend at the basketball courts perfecting my three pointers! Do you know that all those training went to naught just because I was in a freaking coma for 3 weeks? Do you know that all my teammates called me a bastard just because my absence made them lose? Do you KNOW the pain in me? DO YOU KNOW AT ALL?"
With each sentence that he had ended, his grasp on Arashi's throat tightened. Arashi was already beginning to suffocate and was flailing his limbs wildly, but in vain.
"Stop it young man! Or I'll be forced to call the police!" The principal stood up, voice clearly commandeering like a boss to his subordinate. However, it was clearly ineffective against disturbed individuals.
"Shut up, old m-"
Before Uchiro can finished his sentence though, the third student who was watching the spectacle gave Uchiro a very hard, very practiced karate chop on the neck. Uchiro was immediately blacked out as he fell to the floor. Arashi thanked the lucky stars that he was still alive, though he was coughing so badly, he could have easily been mistaken for a heavy smoker.
"Thanks... (cough)! You saved (cough) me!"
"Do-aho. I wouldn't have helped you if he wasn't about to kill you. Maybe because you're also a basketball fan."
"Wh...what's your name? (wheeze)"
"Shinichi Kawasaki, freshman, Small Guard at Harufusho Junior High. Eliminated during the semi-finals. Yours?"
"(cough)Yukigawa Arashi, freshman from Yasuhara Private School, no previous national competition experience but a street player with a 76-1 record in one-on-ones." 76-1, but what use is it when it is an imperfect record, thought Arashi. I don't think I'll ever mention this record again.
"Nice. Why'd you come to Shohoku since your family's rich enough to afford private schooling?"
"I dunno, it's my dad's decision after seeing my... less-than-desirable... results..." Arashi's words trailed off slowly, as if he was creating special effects.
"And how exactly undesirable is that?" Quizzed Shinichi, suspecting something was rather amiss with Arashi's saying that particular sentence.
"Well... 3 Bs, 1 A, and 2 A-Star?" Replied Arashi nonchalantly, as if it was just a small thing out of his everyday life.
"WHAT? That you call undesirable? I barely made it to Shohoku with 3 Cs and 3 Bs!" Shinichi went completely mental. Ten hours of mugging for 3 whole months, 3Cs and 3Bs!
Arashi shrugged. "I don't know, maybe my dad's perception of undesirable is a bit higher... the only person he was ever satisfied with is my elder sister Mai. Record straight A-stars."
Shinichi was quite miffed. This mischievious monkey can probably outdo him in any subject, although apparently personalities are a different matter altogether.
"Hey, umm," blurted Arashi as he switched the topic, "since you're going for basketballing, why don't you come over to the courts today? I heard there will be an official freshmen's induction later on."
"Well, I didn't come to Shohoku for nothing you know... That was old news. I want to be part of a great team..."
"Is Shohoku that good in basketball?"
"Well, their giant-slaying feat says a lot..."
"Huh?" Arashi was clueless. He really didn't do much to catch up to the national basketball scene, so he was really badly left out of the know.
"What? You mean to say you didn't know about the toppling of the Sannoh Technical High basketball team, widely regarded as one of the best in the nation?"
"No... I didn't... say, do you have a video of the match? I might be interested..."
"Well, you can really count on your lucky stars today," grinned Shinichi. "I now happen to have a Blu-ray disc that I used to record that match..."
Shinichi shuffled in his bag for the disc, and after quite a while he discovered the disc's casing tucked under one of his files. "Here."
"Thanks lots." Grinned Arashi. Finally, he thought, I'll discover the reason why Shohoku has such a powerful presence...!
Then suddenly they heard a throat-clearing warning tone. They had forgotten about the principal's existence altogether...!
"Well young men... on account of this sudden incident, I shall let the both of you off today... Shinichi, write a report on your latecoming to school. I want it in by tomorrow's morning assembly. 500 words minimum."
"Yes sire..." Shinichi sounded very okay with it. Perhaps it was a discipline instilled since young, thought Arashi. Wished I had that.
"And you, Mr Yukigawa Arashi. You'll serve an hour-long detention this weekend for community service. You know what that means, don't you?"
Arashi grimaced. That definitely meant washing toilets. Usually they'd be filled with a cigarette smell because of errant students wanting to take a puff and then discarding them in a rather disorganised fashion. In simple terms, the butts are usually found away from the bins, due to a myriad of reasons. Not to mention the extremely dirty urinals full of weird smells ranging from the extremely light ones to the extreme "heavy" ones. Yuck.
"O... ok sire..." Arashi knew that resistance was always futile. Not against the head of a school anyway.
"Failure to comply will mean a double punishment on a weekday. If I feel like it, I can slot it right into your training time. So be warned." The principal's sudden dark, steely tone meant that he's for real.
"Ok..." Gulped a slightly shaken Arashi.
"All right, Shinichi can leave first. Arashi, drag this guy Uchiro into the first-aid room. That karate chop doesn't seem all too light and it may take quite a while for this young man to come to."
Arashi stole a quick glance at Uchiro. Your hatred for basketball stemmed from this? But surely this isn't enough reason for you to drop the sport altogether... Naze?
With that, Arashi began carrying his unconscious assailant to the first-aid room. It was only a short distance away, but with Uchiro's overtly huge frame, every step seemed like an eternity. Damned.
Turning our attention to the spotlight of the day...
Goston was shuffling about his seat nervously. At least 3 other girls were staring at him from where he was sitting, more than 6 tables away. He had never considered himself very special as a person or a player, so this tsunami of attention is literally washing him off his feet. He quickly finished up his bowl of ramen and quickly left the cafeteria, with the girls still staring at him with love-shaped eyes. Unbeknownst to him, he will be rivaling Rukawa as the next most charismatic player of Shohoku. Girls love cute, shy boys, no matter their height.
(OOC: Which is why boybands were always popular during its first 2 to 3 years, and then trail off into no-man's land. (ahem-ahem!))
He sneaked his way past the corridor, where more girls hung out, chatting about the latest tank-top or the thickest rouge any girl will ever apply on their own faces. Having done so successfully (much to Goston's mighty relief), Goston then headed towards a rather remote part of the building that he had heard people talk of: The Abyss.
The Abyss is a place where no ordinary students dare thread because there were rumors that a pair of lovers hung themselves there during midnight when repeated attempts to elope had failed. It was a sort of urban myth that only a handful of teachers know the truth of, including his teacher in-charge, who happened to be Sakuragi's sensei too. Goston snorted when he heard of that.
Rumors are rumors, he thought, and even if it's for real and I see ghosts now, I won't be scared. I have never done any wrong and so nothing should daunt me.
So naturally, Goston just stepped right into the Abyss and got his phone connected to the Net. For thirty minutes, he immersed himself in the Net scouring for more basketball-related news and discussions, enjoying the anonymity that the Net offered.
Then, suddenly, something went slam above, and Goston, while surprised that someone else could have been at the Abyss, quickly decided for a quick exit in case anything happens to him. So without delay he slipped out of the Abyss quickly.
Goston was both smart and lucky. Something did indeed happen, and it was nothing good at all.
Shortly after Goston's hasty exit...
"Korosu, you promised. I want his sister right after I've done this job for you. It's kind of high-time I repay him for what he has done to my dad."
"Anything, Yokoro. Or should I say, Shibo-no-Tenshi?"
"Hey, you know what contractual assasins do best, don't you?"
"I do. I paid well, haven't I? You've got a nice downtown residence to yourself... not to mention a 1000-CC Yamaha bike, from all the earnings off my jobs for you."
"Well... I haven't missed yet. Just watch me. By the end of this week you should see his face in the obituaries. If anyone missed him at all, that is."
"I'm counting on you, Yokoro. Don't fail me."
"Don't worry, Mr Paychecks. I'll still be around to get your pay."
Then Shibo-no-Tenshi disappeared quickly. Vengeance in mind, payment on hand. Two birds in one stone. What else could he had asked for?
Over at the first-aid room, 3 hours after the knockout...
"Ughh..." Groaned Uchiro, the neck chop still giving him a rather painful sensation whenever he tried to turn the neck. "...huh?"
When he had shaken off the groggy-head, he found Anzai-sensei sitting just beside him.
"Aoiyama Uchiro," announced the old double-chinned. "The junior of Mitsui Hisashi."
"An...Anzai-sensei... you know me." Uchiro immediately recognised the old man he had seen earlier this morning, now up close and definitely personal.
"Well of course I do. You were part of the team that won the Junior High crown 5 years ago, after all."
"But what do those Takezono bastards treated me as? Alley-scum! Right after my coma..."
"Uchiro, you know that is not the real reason."
Anzai stared right into Uchiro's eyes, searching for that spark that would awaken Uchiro from his own hynosis.
Sure enough, Uchiro already began to feel something rather odd developing in his mind. Memories of the reason finally began to surface, after long years of being forcefully suppressed... The memory-dam had finally gone under.
To be continued...