Chapter 13: Victorious Hurrah
The day of the Kanagawa Tournament had finally arrived. For Shohoku's first match, they will go up against Yokosuka High.
The lone female in the group, Ayako, was standing near the entrance to the locker room, busily occupied with the roster sheets for both teams. A satisfied smile curved her lips as she studies the list of players. Shohoku clearly has the height advantage over their opponent. Unless, all their players are like Ryota, who compensates for his lack of height with his agility and strategic skills during the game.
Her eyes roamed around the small room, observing the players. Ryota was animatedly discussing the game plan with a baby-faced freshman. Ayako looked down at the roster on her clipboard again to study the rookie's data.
Norishige Zenko. Height: 197 cm. Weight: 120 kg. Position: Center.
His towering height will definitely bring a positive impact to their team. With Akagi and Mitsui gone, they needed to keep their spirits up if they want to pursue their dream of bringing Shohoku to the National Championship.
Although, in the case of Sakuragi, it seems that he didn't need any morale boosting. The redhead was his usual self, bursting with energy and enthusiasm as he joked around with his teammates; that notorious laughter of his echoing throughout the small room. For someone who just got injured, he didn't seem scared or the least bit nervous to be back in the court. Ayako had to admit that she was quite impressed. He is, after all, known for his intense competitive drive. They had all witnessed his unrelenting tenacity during the Sannoh match, where he continued to help lead the team to victory despite suffering from an injury.
'He truly has come a long way.' Ayako thought. Last year, he was just a newbie, totally clueless when it comes to basketball, and had the tendency to foul out of every game. However, he quickly learned the basics and under Akagi's tutelage, he soon revealed himself to be a formidable rebounder. Not to mention that it was Coach Anzai who personally assists him in developing his jump shots, by instructing Sakuragi to make 20,000 shots in a week. And all that hard work has certainly paid off.
Ayako's eyes then wandered to Rukawa, who's sitting quietly on the bench, lost in his own thoughts. Considered the key player of Shohoku and one of the best in Kanagawa region, Rukawa's incredible scoring ability and basketball skills land him a spot in the All-Japan basketball team. All in all, he was a great player; the only downside was his non-existent social skills. Rukawa's aloof and outwardly cold manner makes the other players, particularly the newbies, hesitant to approach him. Which is a shame because the new recruits could learn a lot from him, if only he appears more affable to them. With regards to his playing style, Ayako could see significant improvements. Before, he was criticized for being selfish in court, never wanting to pass the ball to his teammates. But when he was defeated by Sawakita, who is considered to be Japan's no. 1 high school player, Rukawa realized his flaw and begins to give assists. Ayako began reminiscing about the match they had with Sannoh. It was truly a memorable one. A smile lit up her face when she recalls such an unlikely display of kinship from the two sworn enemies. It was Rukawa who pass the ball to Sakuragi that enabled the latter to make the winning shot. Rukawa would never say it out loud, but Ayako can see that he consider Sakuragi a valuable player to their team.
"Dou ahou."
The smile on Ayako's lips immediately faded. Her mind was too occupied with the Sannoh match that she failed to notice that the two had already started their daily bickering.
Ayako could only sigh in frustration.
'Old habits are sure hard to break.'
xxxxx
Despite being a regular school day, the gymnasium was nearly full of spectators. Whereas before, the Shohoku basketball team was practically unheard of, now the audience were simultaneously chanting their name. After the Inter-high game, their team had gained significant fame, notably from their defeat of Sannoh, who was the defending national champion for three years. From there, they had managed to attract a number of followers where almost three fourths of them were from Rukawa's fans club who had increased hundredfold.
Even Sakuragi was experiencing a fresh burst of attention from the crowd, and he's enjoying every moment of it.
Standing at the center of the court, the redhead waved enthusiastically at the audience; acting as if he was having his own concert. "Nyahahaha! They've all come to witness this Tensai's explosive performance in court!"
"Nah! They've all come to watch you make a fool out of yourself!" yelled someone from the audience, who turned out to be Noma. The rest of the Sakuragi gang ditch their classes in order to watch him play. It is their buddy's first game after recovering from his injury and they wouldn't want to miss any opportunity of riling him up.
The redhead wasn't able to hear Noma's remark as he was forcefully dragged back by a fuming Ryota to their team's side of the court.
"Do your warm up, you idiot!" Ryota barked at him.
"Geez, no need to get jealous of this Tensai's popularity, Ryo-chin." He said good-naturedly before grabbing a ball from one of the freshmen.
Halfway through the warm up drills, the Rukawa fans club began cheering for their idol, to Sakuragi's utter annoyance.
"RUKAWA! RUKAWA! L-O-V-E RUKAWA!"
"Damn!Those girls are irritating!" Sakuragi complained loudly.
"They feel exactly the same way about you, Hanamichi!" Takamiya piped up from above him.
"Shuddup, you porkchop!" Glaring at his so-called friends, he pointed accusingly at them as he said, "Are you all here to support me or annoy the heck out of me?"
"Both, actually." Ohkusu replied.
"Stop fooling around and start cheering for me!" The redhead demanded. He then turned his attention to Rukawa and smugly said, "Listen, you arrogant bastard. This is what a true cheer sounds like!"
Sakuragi glanced at his friends and gave them a slight nod, motioning for them to begin.
At his signal, Mito took out two plastic bottles of soda - his cheering props and said, "Are you ready, boys?"
"Aye, aye, Captain!" The other three shouted, creating loud beating noises as they whacked the two plastic bottles on their hands.
Together, they chanted in perfect harmony.
Who's the king of the court with flaming red hair?!
SA-KU-RA-GI!
Athletic and handsome and genius is he!
SA-KU-RA-GI!
If basketball thrill be something you seek!
SA-KU-RA-GI!
Then join in the fun and make the slam dunk!
SA-KU-RA-GI!
Ready?
SA-KU-RA-GI!
SA-KU-RA-GI!
SA-KU-RA-GI!
Silence filled the auditorium except for the redhead's rambunctious laughter. Clearly, he was the only one who finds it entertaining.
The entire Shohoku basketball team sweatdropped and Ryota was unable to keep himself from shrinking with embarrassment.
"King of the court?" One of the players said in a questioning tone.
"More like king of all blunders." Rukawa mumbled as he dribbled the ball and continue with his practice.
Having super hearing powers when it comes to his rival, Sakuragi quickly approached the bane of his existence and mockingly said,"Che. You're just envious, Kitsune. Because your cheer sounds boring as hell. Just like you. Nyahaha!"
"Really?" Not even sparing Sakuragi a glance, Rukawa added, "Because yours sounds stupid. Just like you."
Knowing that a fight was about to transpire, Yasuda and the other senior players quickly intervened and stop Sakuragi from attacking Rukawa.
Ryota closes his eyes tightly and let out a tired sigh. Massaging his temples with his index finger, he asked, "When will these two stop their nonsense bickering?"
"When pigs learn to fly." One freshman answered.
"When frogs grow hair." Another commented.
"When chickens have tee-" Ryota gave the person speaking a death glare, effectively cutting his statement. He then jogged towards the third year players who were struggling to hold the fuming redhead in their arms.
"Alright, enough of that, Sakuragi. Game's about to start any minute now." Ryota informed him. Thankfully, Sakuragi mellowed down and didn't make any further protests.
"Ok, Huddle up, everyone." He announced afterwards.
The team assembled in a circle, and Shohoku's new captain gave his fellow players pointers in the game and some words of encouragement.
The referee blows his whistle, indicating the start of the game.
And as Ayako had predicted, Shohoku clearly had the advantage against their opponent. With scoring machine and ace player Rukawa, strategist and lightning flash Ryota, rebound king Sakuragi and the rookie 'babyface' Zenko, who had shown great potential during the game; Yokosuka had no chance against them, thus earning the Shohoku team their first victory for the preliminary game.
A/N: Apologies for the late update. My little bundle of joy is taking away all my time and energy. In the next chapter, a fan favorite will make an appearance. Can you guess who he is?
And by the way, if you want to join in cheering Sakuragi, just sing to the tune of Spongebob Squarepant's opening music.=D Till next time!
