A bit far-fetched that chapter was, no doubt. However, this is how I'd have liked to continue it. Moving on, hmm, that does look like… uhh… more new guys around the house. An explosive battle is about to erupt!

Chapter 5: The storm before THE Storm

2 days later, during afternoon training…

"Ne, Sakuragi-kun…" Whispered Arashi, as though he was afraid others would hear him talk.

"Mmm?" Sakuragi growled in response, fatigue sweeping over him like never before.

"Any idea where Uchiro came from? I'm still kinda suspicious about this shady kid, seeing as he has tried to strangle me once."

"Uchiro?" Sakuragi turned around to look at the tall, lean youngster. "He reminds me of one of my seniors, only slightly on the thin side."

"Is that so? He doesn't seem like a simple character to me…"

"Listen, Arashi," Sakuragi turned around with a low grunt, "people make mistakes. It's how you learn from it that is the key point to everything. Some people learn faster; others, slower. Well, it took Mitsui only 1 week to comprehend but for me, I took a lot longer than that. Trust me, Uchiro is just an average, nice kid, with a suspiciously violent past. I've been through that road and it never was a smooth channel to travel in."

"Omaewa BAKA…" twack! pow! "…ni desu!" (Idiots!)

Two "meat-buns" were formed from Ayako's attention-grabbing fan-slap. No one else uses a fan with such ferocity.

"Ane-chan, what was that for?" Sakuragi was smarting from the fan-slap.

"Training, you two fools!"

"Ok, ok… what a nag…"

"WHAT DID YOU…!"

"Run for it, Arashi!"

"What?"

kapow!

"Ow..."

Meanwhile…

Kanaga watched intently from the sidelines, overseeing Ayako execute her coaching duties. It had been simple: "Guide Ayako and choose what you would want to do with the players." At least, that was what Anzai-sensei told him to do.

He noticed a huge shadow making his presence felt with his lay ups and defense plays.

"Goston Yamir… Yokoro Junior High, 210, and breaking an all-time school record with more than one thousand officially registered baskets made. What is missing from this kid, then…?"

An arm embraced his neck from behind. He knew who it was.

"Anata, here's some unagi bento for you." Mai smiled as she sat down beside her, making sure that she was of appropriate etiquette.

"Mai, what do you think of that tall guy over there?" Kanaga mouthed, in between bites of fish.

"Mmm?" She took a closer look at Goston. Strong biceps, strong movements, oozing confidence are all in. Something was clearly missing though…

"The tall guy is okay, but he is not utilizing his full potential. He seems to be afraid that he would injure someone, hence his moves are inherently on sub-par aggressiveness."

"Ah, that explains the low rebound capture rate despite his height. Ayako, come here for a while please!"

Ayako heard her name being called by Anzai-sensei's promised "fresh blood" and hustled to where Kanaga was.

"Yes, Kanaga-san?"

"I suggest you let both Goston and Sakuragi have a rebounding contest, while continuing training for the rest."

"Kanaga-san, I'm not sure… Theory-proving is a slightly daunting task here, and we're running short of time into the training. Do you want them to do this after the training, instead?"

"Be it may. I want to see how I can improve upon their skills."

A huge shadow appeared nearby the main shutter, capturing the attention of all the Shohoku basketball club players. Goston turned around and revolted with particular surprise.

"Ken….Kenichi…!" Stammered Goston as he stood completely rooted to the floor. This is much to the surprise of the other players, except – as usual – Rukawa.

The shadows disappeared, and in their place were green-clad players, white stripes a trademark of the Shoyo basketball team.

Immediately Ayako found something strange about the new Shoyo outfit, although it was common knowledge that the old team is no more.

"There is no particular center, and their players are a tad below the previous batch of Shoyo seniors' height, though relatively they still dwarf most Shohoku players. What kind of tactics can they formulate with such a… normal team?"

"Ken-san." Kanaga greeted with an unusual tone. "It's been a few months, ne?"

For some reason, this Kenichi avoided Kanaga's greeting and proceeded to talk to Ayako.

"Miss Ayako, you're the… manageress of the club, right?"

"Y…yea, Kanaga there is the…"

"Who is Kanaga?" Kenichi queried, throwing eavesdroppers into further confusion. They thought Kanaga and Kenichi knew each other!

"Kanaga Misano, the acting coach of Shohoku High School… that will be me. You are Kenichi Murasame, new coach to a brand-new Shoyo outfit. An ex-'All-Japan'."

"Yes, that will be… reiterating whatever is in my curriculum vitae." Kenichi eyed Kanaga with a blank expression, as if to express his nonchalance.

"OK, let's not waste further time," interrupted Ayako, sensing something terribly wrong with the two men but not sure enough to ascertain the causes of the tension. "What is your business in coming here, Kenichi-san? Do you wish to arrange for a pre-tournament friendly?"

"That is part of my objective, however that would be secondary. My primary objective here is to reclaim a player who is currently in your training, and whom we have scouted for earlier…"

"Kenichi-sempai, I will not be going to Shoyo! Shohoku is my own choice…"

"Unfortunately, we do not accept your decision. Your father as to the best of my knowledge, signed a contract with us to send you into our facilities…"

"Hold it, Kenichi-baka!" The "tensai" interrupted Kenichi's speech in mid-way, effectively breaking up the argument. "What contract were you talking about?"

"Shoyo has been signing players all over the country, Mr. Sakuragi Hanamichi. We do not wish to repeat a failure of what we have suffered during last year's Inter-High preliminaries, and we need to ensure that none of these players abscond anyhow during the three years. Unfortunately, it seems, absconding has occurred, and much earlier than expected…"

"Stop it! The man signing the contract was my father, not me. He is not me and therefore…" Goston raised his voice and tried to defend himself.

"I am afraid there is no say for you in the matter. I do not wish to make it ugly, but under current laws, parents make the decisions for their children up till the age of 18 years. You are sixteen now, and hence you still fall under your father's jurisdiction." Kenichi made his argument sound like something cast in stone, albeit in a rather repulsive manner.

Now things were getting ugly. Never before in Japanese senior high history had a student been poached from another school in such a dramatic fashion, and it did seem that Shohoku was about to fall foul to what must surely be one of the ugliest player-tussles in history. In the darkness, a light beam shone through it all.

"Kenichi Murasame! Enough is enough!"

Kanaga struggled to walk towards where the nearly 2-meters tall handsome was standing.

"You have caused the loss of my limbs, the loss of my All-Japan future, and now, this?"

"Misano-kun, I… I have no idea what on earth you are spluttering."

"Oh, is that so? Is that really so, if I produce a notice of arrest now that the police sent out for you on the 21st of November, 24 hours after my limbs were found irreparably damaged because of your reckless driving?"

"What the… this is completely unrelated to the issue at hand…!" Arashi started, not sure where to put his hands in this crazy tussle.

"I am innocent…!" Kenichi protested adamantly.

"…until you are proven guilty. In my eyes, you're already condemned. I will make only one concession; that I will drop the charges I have against you. Only under conditions that you do not pursue the matter regarding Goston's alleged 'contract'."

"Kanaga, don't -!" Mai gagged, wide-eyed at the decision.

"Mai, I don't wish to see another person walking down my path." Mai could sense that Kanaga was genuine in that sentence, as he had ever been.

Kenichi was absolutely stunned. He had never expected to be blackmailed on such terms. Anyhow, it was a good way to get the irritating charges off his shoulders. Surely the loss of a player wouldn't mean much. He'll explain to the Board of Directors himself. After all, he's a million-dollar signing.

"Now, about this friendly match… Ayako, what are our usual regulations for a friendly?" Kanaga approached Ayako on the next step to take.

"As per official guidelines, timing and refereeing will be done by our reserve players. 10 minutes of pre-match warm-up and changing is given."

"You heard that, Shoyo," barked Kenichi. "Now move it!"

The players moved out in military fashion, hustling to change up and warm up before the friendly.

While the Shoyo players were in the changing room, Goston approached Kanaga with relative uneasiness, not sure how he will repay his gratitude to his coach and sempai.

"Kanaga-sempai…"

"Goston, I have no time to explain this," replied Kanaga hurriedly as he scrawled line after line in the basketball marker. "Just concentrate on this word and it'll be the ultimate key to today's game… 'Aggressiveness'."

"Aggressiveness…? How do I use that against Shoyo's players…?"

To be continued…

PS: The basketball marker is not a person; it's a mini whiteboard that has a basketball-court backing. It's often used to plan out strategies in real-time. I said this like no-one knew what it was, but, JUST in case...