The Kainan rookie had never before this drawn himself to so close a proximity to the Shoyo superstar-coach-captain-ace. When he almost dropped his ball upon realizing that the senior was advancing on him, his composure buckled all at once.

"No training today?" Fujima asked casually, firing a fade-away shot from 12 feet away. His stance, Kiyota observed, was perfect even when he used his left hand to push the ball. As a result, it all gave Kiyota an idea of how unpredictable things could get if he were to play against this guy. His keen observation also did not miss the fact that the Shoyo ace released the ball when he was yet to reach the zenith of his jump.

This can't be a sure ball, Kiyota thought.

Swack.

Nothing but net. Kiyota could barely restrain his amazement, so much that he forgot he was just asked a question.

"No training today? National Tournament is serious business." Fujima repeated.

"Oh, uh, today's a non-training day for us. Yeah, that's why." Aside from being intimidated by the senior's skills, he was also being made thoroughly aware of this person's reputation as Shinichi Maki's sole nemesis. To add on that, the formality of Fujima's voice made him sound so professional and mature, and that was enough to make Kiyota wince.

"I see…one-on-one? Nothing serious; I'm just not in the mood to waste my time on studying my shots' projectile and the physics of my game."

The freshman swallowed the lump that had built up in his throat.

…

A mixture of disappointment and agitation almost drove Sakuragi to uproot the lamp post at the entrance upon discovering that the basketball court was occupied. Sendoh managed to restrain him by pointing the absence of any other ballers on the other side of the court, which would then warrant them a place to conduct their very own one-on-one stint.

"Oh, yeah, you're right hahaha…"

Sakuragi unloaded his stuff on the side-court bench and started warming up. On the other hand, Sendoh drew closer to the showdown. Before long, he began to watch the game intently.

"Kuso.." the redhead mumbled contemptuously, apparently because whatever Sendoh's immobility was implying was plain to him: the Ryonan jock wasn't going to take him as seriously as to pull stretches. That, of course, was not the real case. And so after a series of stretches, he approached Sendoh with a menacing glare as if the latter had incurred on him some unholy offense. But before he could say anything, Sendoh spoke,

"Interesting match up."

"Huh?"

"Kenji Fujima versus Kiyota Nobunaga."

Sakuragi managed to understand what the sophomore was talking about upon closer inspection of the two players, both of whom apparently unaware of the attention they had just invented. And even less aware were they of whatever opinions their spectators might have been articulating.

"Hmmm…" Sakuragi seemed to have forgotten the 'insult' Sendoh had unknowingly and unintentionally committed against him. He continued while rubbing his chin, looking as though he had been presented a puzzle waiting to be solved, "Interesting indeed; a complete mismatch."

Sendoh nodded in agreement, his eyes still locked on the two.

"Do you know why?" He asked the redhead, sounding like a teacher who was waiting for the student's response, with full knowledge and anticipation that he was to receive a decent answer, if not a correct one. Truth was, Sakuragi's comment made perfectly good sense; it was all too easy to decipher. It would've been foolish to expect a senior player of Fujima's star quality to break a sweat in a match against a mere rookie, even granted the latter could jump all the way from the foul line to the basket.

"Wild monkey will scar benchwarmer's ass. LITERALLY." Sakuragi remarked. Apparently, the product of his observation could only reach a skin-deep conclusion when uninterested.

Sendoh unlocked his gaze from Fujima and Kiyota to stare at Sakuragi.

"…" He sighed, resuming his activity.

"I've got an idea!"

"Huh?"

"Let's play with them. You team up with benchwarmer while I team up with wild monkey. Two-on-two." Sakuragi proposed, neglecting the obvious possibility of his proposal turning out to be the most ridiculous match up ever to take place on local soil.

"Are you serious?" Sendoh asked, wide-eyed. His astonishment wasn't exactly borne out of self-confidence…or maybe it was. Wasn't Sakuragi aware that Sendoh, in their game against Kainan, just weeks ago, possibly had joined the ranks of Maki and Fujima and had turned the rivalry into a three-contestant competition? He turned to look at the redhead who was now seriously absorbing every move the two was making. There was really no point in expecting a turn-around to suddenly take place; Fujima was playing like a monster and Kiyota was to be his breakfast.

All things considered, the rookie wasn't a lousy player. On the contrary, his skills were something. Moreover, if it were the opposite there would be no starting slot reserved for him the Kainan Varsity Team. And that's not mentioning that entering Kainan Varsity alone was not a walk in the playground.

Sendoh, on the other hand, could remember vividly that moment: Kiyota's dunk over the 204cm tall Uozumi which initiated Kainan's turning of the table against them. Yet now, contrarily, every shot he fired was landing on Fujima's hands, blocked, stolen. More than that, every effort he exerted to prevent the Shoyo star from stretching his infinite-point lead ended futile, wasted and meaningless.

"Game. It's Kiyota and me vs. you and Fujima." Sakuragi was repeating. There was a distinct conviction in his tone of voice. Also, it was noticeable that he was now watching the two with no less intent than Sendoh's.

"Ok. After all, Shohoku and Kainan are Kanagawa's representatives in the National Tournament. Perhaps we can more or less give you a taste of the toughness of…whatever…let's wait 'til they finish."

The game ended with the freshman trailing by 8 baskets. Of course, he wasn't too happy to find the two sets of eyes which had come to witness his disgrace. For all he knew, they could just testify to the entire universe against his reputation as an athlete.

"Kuso!" Kiyota cursed barely above a whisper as he fought the urge to gather his belongings and to march off unannounced, like some brat.

"Not bad." Fujima commented.

Sakuragi had waited long enough for them to finish dilly-dallying.

"2-on-2." He stepped up to Nobunaga who didn't seem, in the least, threatened by the redhead's towering figure.

"Huh?"

Fujima turned his head to Sendoh, who made an it's-not-my-idea gesture, shrugging his shoulders as he did so.

"You heard me." Sakuragi continued, shifting his eyes to Fujima.

As if some smart idea suddenly crawled up Kiyota's head, a wide evil grin gradually painted itself on his face. It was a good time indeed to erase the unsalvageable mess he got himself into earlier by consenting to a 1-on-1 with Fujima.

"Fine. I should team up with Sendoh cos Fujima-san and I are both 178cm and you two 6-plus footers should split."

"Moron. What's the point of you or me teaming up with either of them? I say freshmen versus oldies."

Fujima had just downed a bottle of Pocari Sweat. He stood up, smiled and said, "Okay then.", obvious excitement sneaking its way to his lips.

"But—" Kiyota started. More than anything else, he was sure it was gonna be a blow-out game, if not exactly a moral suicide. Come to think of it, he was even more sure of it than he was of the sun's eventual settlement to the west.

"Shut up, saru. If we beat benchwarmer and hedgehog right here right now, we'll make history. Don't tell me you're scared."

"…"

Sendoh, who had been silent for quite some time now, took the responsibility of translating Sakuragi's proposal to its more convincing version, "Arguably," he started, searching for the right words to make his point sound as modest as possible, "the title 'Best Player in Kanagawa' lies somewhere between Maki-san, Fujima-san and me. Having said that, our combination may be of National standards, therefore this is a good opportunity for you two. In this game, I will exhibit my all-out skills." He finished.

Finally, the outline of Sakuragi's idea began to take shape in the other rookie's head.

"Interesting." Fujima said, still grinning.

"In short, I'm getting my ass whipped twice in a row in one freaking day." Kiyota told Sakuragi through gritted teeth. As his temper was already getting sour, he made for his towel without waiting for a response.

"I'll do some stretching. I suppose Fujima-san and Kiyota-kun are still in need of a few minutes to catch their breaths." Sendoh volunteered.

Sakuragi started dribbling merrily. Beside him, Kiyota went on cursing and mumbling complaints under his breath.

TBC