The Past Part XI – Fujima and Maki
Fujima whipped a no-look pass down the right side of the court, just past half court, where he knew Maki would end up if he ran fast enough, anticipating the play. As he expected, Maki snared the ball and began to battle against Kiyota for positioning. Fujima told Akagi and Rukawa where to go with some hand gestures, and then waited for Maki to make his decision who to go to next. Then, as Maki continued to run down the time, Fujima saw what his old rival would do next.
Always the selfish one! Fujima thought to himself. He always has to do it himself … but, deep down, Fujima knew better. As he watched Maki spin to his left and use Rukawa as a block to fend off Sendoh as he entered the key, Fujima was reminded of just how effortlessly Maki could run the court. However, as he was blocked by Sakuragi, Maki flicked a glance behind him, towards Fujima, which had the former Shoyo player quickly shake off Jin's defense to move up court. Then, Maki flicked the ball back to Fujima, who promptly elevated for a quick three-pointer, which swished through the net.
As they went back on defense, Maki said to Fujima, "I knew that you would be there, but you knew that I would pass, right?" Fujima replied, "You know, I actually thought you'd go all the way, just like you used to." Maki shrugged his shoulders as they both turned to face the oncoming rush. "That redhead … you can't beat him with skill moves like before, because he's so quick to adjust. So, I relied on your quick mind to adjust to what I was doing, because truth be told, he had me stopped. You were always good at figuring things out, Fujima, especially on the fly, which is why you made a great coach." Fujima, reaching in to steal the ball away from a showboating Kiyota trying to gte by both himself and Maki, made a quick bounce pass to Akagi to his left, who moved up court again with Rukawa against a defending Sakuragi and Sendoh. "Yes, a great coach, but I could have been an even better player!"
With those words, Fujima raced up court to streak behind Sendoh, reaching between his legs to receive a quick bounce pass from Rukawa and then faking out a recovering Sakuragi with a pump fake before moving right by him to make a reverse jam in the basket.
Maki smiled from his vantage point down court. We'll have that chance to go one on one yet, Fujima, he thought to himself. You can count on it. Jin, receiving a long pass from an inbounding Sendoh, rushed past the deep-in-thought Maki and flicked in an uncontested quick three of his own. Maki, turning just in time to see Jin work his magic, could only shake his head. Jin, turning back, smiled. "Captain, don't forget to keep your head in the game. Otherwise, Sakuragi may start calling you 'Old Man' again." Maki replied, "That enough motivation for me, Jin," as the two former teammates moved up court together.
Fujima, watching from mid-court, looked at the two friends and sigh with regret. What I would have given for a chance to have that kind of dynamic on my team, he thought to himself. Just then, Fujima noticed two more figures walk over to where Youhei was manning the scoreboard. Youhei then motioned to Haruko to blow the whistle to stop the game, and as all of the other players on the court turned around to see what had happened, Youhei yelled out to everyone, "Hey! Five on five now, because we have two more players!" He motioned to the taller figure to join Fujima's team, and the shorter one to join Sendoh's. As the new players joined their respective teams, Fujima watched as Sakuragi began to talk to a bemused Fukuda with Sendoh at his side, and then turned to face his new teammate.
Hanagata smiled and said, "I heard from Youhei that there was a game on. It seemed like a good idea to see who was playing first, but once I heard that you were a part of it, I decided that this is something that I want to be part of. Perhaps our last chance to play together on a team of equals …."
Fujima smiled. "All right, my friend. Let's show them what basketball really looks like!"
