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Chapter 16: Kogure's Anger Unleashed

"The basketball game!" roared Mr Gouhara at Sendoh at the hospital. "Didn't I tell you not to bring her there, huh? Didn't I?"

"Gomen, Ojiisan, I didn't expect her to faint… she begged me to bring her to the game, I couldn't turn her down…" said Sendoh quietly.

"No use to apologize now," snapped Mr Gouhara. "Now your fiancée is in there, fighting for her life…"

"Eh, fiancée!" yelled everyone (except Kogure, who looked as if he was in a trance) in Shohoku basketball team. They were there as well (except for Mitsui, who was elsewhere in the hospital, getting his knee examined), in their Shohoku jerseys, for they didn't even have the time to change.

"Sodesu, my daughter is betrothed to her cousin Akira since they were babies." said Mrs Gouhara.

"Hiroko is engaged?" asked Haruko in horror.

"And Sendoh is her cousin?" asked Ayako.

"That's impossible!" said Miyagi.

"Oi, Megane kun, why didn't you tell us?" asked Sakuragi.

Kogure was silent.

"That's why I want her to break up with this boy. I don't want her to hang around with a basketball player." said Mr Gouhara.

"If Kogure is a basketball player, then what is Sendoh? A fisherman?" asked Sakuragi in disgust.

"You are just being biased." said Miyagi.

"Is it because you think Kogure isn't good enough for Hiroko?" asked Ayako.

Even Rukawa, who seldom talked, said his famous line to Mr Gouhara: "Do'ahou."

"That's enough!" shouted Mr Gouhara furiously. "Hora, I want you all to get out of here and out of my daughter's life! I spend 16 years of my life protecting her but you lure her to your stupid basketball match and what happen? Her life is now in danger and it's your entire fault!"

"Our fault?" echoed Miyagi in disbelief.

"If she hasn't met that boy, none of this would have happened…" started Mr Gouhara.

"Temee…" growled a voice.

"Shimatta." said Sakuragi, recognizing the voice.

Suddenly Kogure got up, grabbed Mr Gouhara by the collar and slammed him against the wall.

"Dame, Kogure sempai!" cried Ayako in horror.

Kogure wasn't listening. He was glaring at Mr Gouhara with fire in his eyes.

"Our fault? Who's the one who ban her from the match? Hiroko wants to grow up like any one of us here. She wants to be normal and not to be treated like a dying patient, yet you and your wife keep a close eye on her 24 hours a day. She's trapped, Gouhara-san! All she ever wants is freedom, free to go anywhere she likes, do whatever she wants and love whoever she wants! All your talk about protecting her is crap!"

"Somebody grab Kogure before he hits Gouhara-san!" said Ayako in panic.

"Kogure, calm down!" said Miyagi as he and Sakuragi grabbed Kogure on the arms to pull him away from Mr Gouhara.

"It's your fault that Hiroko is in the emergency room now, I won't let you off if she dies!" yelled Kogure.

Sendoh watched as Kogure's friends dragged Kogure to a distance away from the Gouharas and himself.

"So Kogure isn't a person to be trifled with either…" he thought.

Hiroko finally got out of the emergency room on a bed. Without hesitation, Kogure and his friends rushed to her before her family did.

"Hiroko…" whispered Kogure.

Hiroko had her eyes closed and she didn't respond.

"Is she dead?" asked Haruko in fear to the doctor.

The doctor shook his head. "Iie, demo…"

"Demo?" asked Mr Gouhara, who finally got to his daughter's side.

"She's too weak. I have already given her an injection but her blood pressure still doesn't go up. This is all I can do. Now's it's up to her. If she pulls through tomorrow, she will survive, if not…"

"… she will die?" asked Sendoh.

The doctor nodded and turned to his nurses. "Take Gouhara-san to her room."

Kogure was in Hiroko's room, watching his girlfriend on her bed. An oxygen mask was over her face and there's a heartbeat indicator, showing the rate of her heartbeat.

His team mates, the Gouharas and Sendoh were outside, watching everything through the glass window.

Sendoh looked at Kogure's depressed face and he made up his mind. He turned to his uncle.

"Ojiisan…" said Sendoh slowly. "I know I shouldn't be saying this right now, but I want to break off the betrothal."

Mr Gouhara stared at Sendoh. "Nandayo? Doushite?"

"Hiroko and Kogure love each other." explained Sendoh.

"Nonsense, Akira…" started Mr Gouhara.

"Ojiisan," said Sendoh, with a serious tone in his voice. "I mean it. I hate this betrothal right from the day I know what's right and wrong. Hiroko and I will not be happy if we married each other. You can't force a person to love someone. Think about it, Ojiisan. If you and Obasan are forced to marry someone else, will you two be happy?"

Mr Gouhara was silent.

"I love Hiroko only as a sister. Kogure is right, Hiroko wants freedom to love whoever she likes and as a parent, you should give her that."

"Demo…" started Mr Gouhara.

Sendoh held up his hand. "No more buts, Ojiisan, my decision is final. I'm not marrying Hiroko and that's that. I better go."

"Akira, where are you going?" said Mrs Gouhara.

"Fishing." said Sendoh. "No use for me to stay around and wait."

Sendoh left, leaving everyone in surprise.

"Forget about basketball." said Miyagi finally. "Actually Sendoh isn't so bad."

Ayako nodded in agreement.

"But he's still one very annoying good player." said Sakuragi.

"Let's go, everyone, it's no use for us to stay here either. We will go and see Mitsui, then go back to prepare for the match tomorrow." said Akagi.

The team left. The Gouharas watched their daughter and Kogure for a while.

"I want to go in." said Mr Gouhara.

"Dame, Shujin, leave the two of them alone." said his wife.

"Demo…"

"Let's go for dinner and come back later." said his wife and she practically dragged her husband away.

It was around 10 minutes after the couple left when Hiroko slowly opened her eyes.

"Hiroko?" asked Kogure softly.

Hiroko's eyes were half-opened as she was very weak. She turned her head slightly and smiled at Kogure. She lifted her hand and Kogure took it.

"…Gomen, Kiminobu, I didn't mean to break up with you…" said Hiroko, her voice barely audible.

"It's all right. Sendoh told me everything." said Kogure quietly.

"… you don't hate me for not telling you?"

Kogure smiled. "Baka. Why should I? I understand perfectly."

"There's a game tomorrow for Shohoku, I won't go to the match, I will just stay here to be with you, all right?"

Hiroko's eyes widened slightly and shook her head. "… Iie… you must go…"

"Nani? But I want to stay here."

"You love basketball and it will be unfair if you miss it…"

"I will wait for the guys to come back and tell me the results…"

"…Iie… your team needs you. What if Mitsui's knee doesn't recover by tomorrow? You need to take his place…"

"…You're right. I need to take Mitsui's place."

Hiroko nodded. "… Kiminobu, I hope that I'm not asking too much… but promise me that your team will win the match tomorrow…"

Kogure held Hiroko's hand tighter. "I promise. Now you promise me one thing."

"… Nani?"

"Promise me that you will recover quickly. Once you have recovered, we will go to the amusement park again, how about that?"

Hiroko nodded again and smiled.