First of all—thank you for bearing with me until now! I know I update slowly, but yeah.. I have so many stories in my plate I have a hard time focusing on any of them. I can only try to make the wait worth it. xD
Anyway, special thanks to those who reviewed, liked my facebook authorpage, faved, and/or followed! You folks motivate me to write more. So HUGS! So please do not hesitate to send me some feedback, no matter what they are!
DISCLAIMER: I WISH I own Slam Dunkand Kawamura Takashi from Prince of Tennis.
…
CHAPTER 7: Ryonan
It was finally Saturday and Sakuragi Hanamichi walked sloooowwly to their meeting place. Mito shook his head in amusement. "Seriously, Hanamichi. When we arrive at the train station, the game is already finished."
"Good." She nodded, and looked at him. "Where are the three idiots?"
And with that Mito smirked. "Ohhh… they should be with the team already…"
She stiffened immediately. "W-What, w-why?"
"They said if you were late, they'd tell your dramatic story to the whole team."
"W-Which dramatic story?"
"We don't know anything about your love life, yet, so I assume it has to do with why you quit."
And she sprinted to the train station, leaving a very amused Mito behind. But then, about half-way since to the station, she halted her steps.
"They should know what my father's last name is by now. I don't think it's a secret anymore."
"Does it matter? You're going to be connected to the team, one way or another."
"Why would I want that?"
"Not sure. But you definitely do."
"No, I don't."
"Liar." Mito said. And Hanamichi was a very bad liar, too. But she was extremely hard-headed, so he had to rummage his head for a way to get her admit she actually wanted to be in the team.
"Hmmm." He mused mentally for a few seconds when a light bulb finally appeared above his head. "What if you think of it this way:" He paused and raised his pointing finger for effect. "You're retired because you're really good.
"And now… you are now trying to share your genius."
Genius.
Genius.
GENIUS
And her eyes twinkled, as Mito anticipated, and her ears twitched excitedly—suddenly remembering how she and her father called themselves: The super cool red-head tensais.
Sparkle Sparkle~
"NYAAHAHAHHAHA! You're right!" Mito chuckled. Success! He mused, and with that—Hanamichi ran ahead of him to stop, positively beaming and yelling at the world how awesome she was.
"I shall share the genius passed from generation to generation to commoners!" She cackled. "I'm such a good person."
And Mito did, too. "Hai, hai~"
…
The train to the neighbouring district ran smoothly as usual. But some passengers passed by a cart emerging with faces that were stifling with laughter. The cart they were just at was occupied by the Shohoku team members, and they were doing a sit-in-the-air exercise.
Soon, Hanamichi and Mito joined in the cart. Hanamichi paused and blinked at the sight of the constipated-looking players. She shifted from player to player and make fun of them. Ayako and the others could only sweat-drop.
"PFfft—HAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHH!"
Veins started to appear here and there….
"Hahahaa. Kitsune you look even uglier than usual."
Twitch
"Gorilla really looks like a gorilla, now!"
Twitch
"M-Megane you're eyeglasses have steam! Cool… NYHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Twitch Twitch Twitch
And veins finally popped.
"URUSAI!"
…
RYONAN HIGH
Eventually, the team arrived at the opposing team's territory. And really—only Anzai-sensei was treated properly. Hanamichi, the tensai, wanted special treatment as well. She made her presence known by standing intimidate behind their coach. The opponent's coach flinched immediately.
"What?" He said and cleared his throat to regain his composure. "Who might you be?"
"I am Sakuragi Hanamichi—remember my name—and I am Shohoku's genius trainer!" She said proudly, and laughed… only to get a very painful flick on the head, courtesy of the gorilla.
"You haven't done anything yet, baka!" He yelled and behind him, Kitsune nodded.
"D'Aho."
"Teme—"
She stomped to him and grabbed his shirt. But when he did not flinch, she ended up wincing. He was just staring at her… and started muttering things silently. "Why did you sound as if you're trying to convince yourself?" He whispered, and her eyes widened. She frowned and forcefully transformed the surprise to a glare.
It was annoying—how the idiot Kitsune randomly blabbered… annoying things. She hardened her grip at his shirt.
It was then that she suddenly found a finger rudely pointing at her. It distracted her from Rukawa for about a second. "Ah!"
"What?"
"Y-You!" The other coach yelled and then looked at Anzai-sensei, who simply laughed like he usually did. "You said you're a Sakuragi, though?"
She nodded, knowing where it was going.. Hanamichi changed her last name to her mother's. But even so, hair color (which was 100% natural by the way) was too unusual that even when she quit basketball, she would occasionally get reminded by her father's fans. She could not change her hair color- all of the nicknames they made for themselves involved their hair.
Even if she hated basketball, it was still the only thing that connected her and her father, although she'd never say it out loud.
"Yeah."
For a moment there, the Ryonan members looked at each other as if there was something esoteric going on but shrugged in the end. They were honestly just wondering where their ace was.
The coach stared at Sakuragi with a mixture of surprise, relief, and distaste. He sighed in defeat after a few seconds and turned his head somewhere to yell: "Hikoichi!"
And a "Hai, sensei!"
"Get this annoying monkey a chair, too."
The red head blinked along with the boy, before laughing proudly afterwards. "Nyaahahahhaha!" She laughed and patted the coach's shoulders. "I knew you'd see the light of my genius."
"Baka. This is just for today. For the sake of his memory, after this game you'd just be another idiot to me."
"HAHAHA. Don't be shy~"
"I'm NOT!"
"Whatever you say~"
"Why you—"
Even Kogure was amused by the scene. She may be arrogant, but she never failed to lighten up the mood as easily as she could intimidate everyone. Kogure was still surprised though, that the Ueki Keisuke had a daughter. He should have known with that rare shade of red they both had.
The reaction they had when they had absorbed the fact was kind of epic as well, and Kogure felt like laughing every time he remembered. Most of them knew the man by name, but never actually saw him play. Now that he recalled—he was known for his hot-headedness as well…
"Who's that?" Rukawa asked just after Sakuragi became a trainer and they stared at him in disbelief. But then they realized it actually made sense—Rukawa wasn't quite the type to have an idol. He was the type to aspire beating anyone who he personally encountered. He was barely interested in matches that weren't his.
Oh, and Akagi's face. He wished he had a camer—
"Oi. Kogure. Stop looking like a maniac." The aforementioned captain pulled him back to the present. And he could only laugh awkwardly.
…
A few minutes later, on the other side of the courts, the enemy team was very annoyed for many reasons. First, their precious ace had (still) yet to appear, and second… the opponent team's so-called 'trainer' was spying on them. Rather bluntly, too.
She was standing coolly behind the team as they discussed their tactics. She suddenly walked behind them and looked at them smugly.
" .Tsk. You won't beat us with that kind of plan."
"W-What the heck—"
And they shooed her away. Not that she allowed herself to. But Gori just had to drag her away.
"Whoa, she's really tall aren't you?" This Hikoichi, who did not know how to whisper, yelled to his teammates in awe. "Almost as tall as Sendoh."
Did he just say Sendoh?
"Get going!" Gori said when she stopped her steps, and continued to drag her.
Hanamichi, too distracted to retort, shook her head. It was either she misheard, or she was imagining things. She could easily have heard the name because she wanted it to be him.
"Ah! It's Sendoh!" The small man said again and she placed a punch on his head. He should stop yelling misleading statements!
"Ara…?" A familiar voice rang in her ears and (in slow motion) she turned her head to look. Her eyes widened.
And flowers suddenly appeared and made her vision all pink. It really was him!
Pink…
Too much pink…
"Sendo." Another huge guy—even bigger than Gori, called him and he smiled.
"I'm sorry I'm late." He said stoically, while the white Gori just sighed. It was the coach who was furious and was nagging him.
"Gomen nasai, I overslept." And the coach's anger poofed away. Hanamichi wanted to laugh. That was just like him—charming people with his pure honesty.
Honesty…? She mused and unconsciously recalled his other words.
"You're beautiful."
And she blushed all over again. She willed herself together, and she composed herself (somewhat) when he turned to her. He grinned with delight. "I didn't expect to see you here."
"You two know each other?"
On the audience side of the courts, four grown men were gaping with interest. The chubbiest chuckled like a pedo-bear. "Ehhhh! Could he be—"
Noma nodded. "Yeah. Judging by that ogle... Pfft—"
"You have to admit, he is seriously good-looking."
They watched the respective teams segregate and meet at their own sides, and smirked when two certain people were left there. They were shaking hands (with Hanamichi looking all puffy), and Mito observed Rukawa. He narrowed his eyes at Rukawa's very stealthy glares directed at the two.
When the team finally noticed Hanamichi's absence, it was Rukawa who immediately went to 'call' her.
Sendoh chuckled as he shook her hands, "What a small world…"
"H-Hai…"
"Let's have a good game, okay?"
"Uhn!"
"D'Ahou." She gritted her teeth and whipped her head towards him. She flinched slightly at a different aura around him, but didn't back down anyway.
"Teme—"
"The team's meeting up now. D'aho. Better stop standing here uselessly." He stated and went back to his team. Hanamichi scoffed irritably, and Sendoh chuckled at the childish scene that they made.
"We better get going then." He smiled, Hanamichi blushed a bit, and agreed. And so… the two of them went to the sidelines, as well.
…
"I didn't know you know that idiot." The coach whispered slightly eyeing the red-headed girl, as his teammates entered the courts. He smiled.
"We met somewhere by chance." Was all he said, just before he joined his team.
Sendoh looked at the unmoving clock, and then to his opponents. He could feel their aura—It was a stronger team. It was probably because that Rukawa was there now, as well. He had heard a lot about him after all. They said he was him during his freshman year.
Then he heard the whistle, and the gigantic captains jumped for the ball.
Their captain was taller, so he wasn't surprised if he got that ball—he had been training hard to defeat Akagi, after all. But Akagi actually got the swap and the ball ended up with the opposing team. He said something encouraging to the captain, firing him up.
The towering Uozomi intimidated the Shohoku regulars and his teammates easily got the ball from them. Uekawa scored a point, and Uozomi continued to stand firmly on guard. Their captain was on a roll, definitely, blocking shots from Kogure, Rukawa, and Akagi. He could feel the sense of pride oozing out the captain especially at Akagi's shocked and impressed expression.
"What the hell?! He's just a bigger Gorilla, gori!" Sakuragi yelled from the sidelines and he could not help but chuckle. He recalled the previous day, when he actually hoped she'd show up again. Of course, he knew that it was very unlikely but he felt slightly disappointed when she didn't show up all the same.
And so it was just his luck that she showed up for his practice game. She was on the opposing team, yes, so he couldn't really expect her to cheer for him. But he was still glad she was there, anyway. He really didn't know he went to loud types—considering his happy-go-lucky personality… but she just had that unusual charm in her that he couldn't shake off.
Anyway, back to the game. She liked basketball didn't she? It would not hurt to try and impress her. He smirked at whoever was holding the ball.
Yasuda dribbled rather nervously as Uekasa guarded him, and looked at Rukawa who was free. He quickly passed it to him but—
Plak!
Sendoh stole the ball, and went for a fast-break. Rukawa quickly went to guard him but he skilfully passed the ball from his back when he jumped and faked a shot. Koshino scored a point.
"Nice pass!"
And another 11 points passed by in a flash, and he could feel the irritation on the sidelines every shot. He had to admit he was glimpsing here and then, and he could tell she was impressed when he was the one shooting, which was only 4 points. The other points made by his teammates made her burst out with annoyance.
Their coach didn't help calming her down when he yelled the plan: to get a 30 point lead. It would have been possible if the only strong opponent was Akagi. But Rukawa was there, too, so he was certain the coach was being idealistic. He'd try his best not to disappoint the coach, still.
"URUSAI, old jerk!"
"What did you say?!"
"Don't underestimate our team!"
The game continued, and he wept past through his obviously annoyed raven-haired guard and scored another point. He tricked him again by feigning a pass making the score 0-19.
He looked at Sakuragi who was in a daze, but shook her head as if forcing herself to snap out of it. "SHOHHOOOOKKUUUU!" She yelled for her team. And he smiled, making her look away.
"That's enough." He flinched at the usually-silent Rukawa's firm sentence. And in a flash he relentlessly went for an attack—passing by Uozumi who frankly was a turtle beside Rukawa and then bouncing the ball Koshino's legs. This time, he feigned an attack tricking him, and passed it to Akagi for his Gorilla Dunk.
There was a silence in the courts, as the audience was absorbing the amazing game play that just happened. Soon enough, Sendoh found himself huffing with a smirk.
Well, things were certainly getting more interesting.
"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! Rukawa! Rukawa! Rukawa! L-O-V-E Rukawa! Kyaaa!"
Sendoh chuckled in amusement at the Rukawa Shinietai, simply because it annoyed everyone else and their hero seemed to completely ignore their existence. Sendoh really liked seeing different type of people and interactions.
The game became more heated then, Akagi's guard of Uozumi got tighter making him violate the 30 second rule, and the opposing team got more energetic. Even Rukawa got much better. That guy seemed to play better when he was annoyed.
"GREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAATO!" An unknown player yelled when the ball was finally sent to him, he recalled the boy looking rather meek… but that definitely changed now. He was more powerful than anticipated, so he got past them and thus scoring few points, himself.
The first half ended with a surprising score of 42-50.
…
However, that fire didn't last long. By the time there was only 8 minutes left, it was all-too clear that Shohoku had lost their momentum.
Earlier in the second half—Akagi got into an accident, consequently getting sent to the clinic. But still, Hanamichi was quite the unusual cheerer.
"Darn it, don't lose! I'll kill anyone who deprives me of free sushi!" And she said so with a killing aura that could scare most people. Normally terrifying people was not a good tactic, but not with Shohoku—especially for people who actually liked challenges.
The thing to do was to shut their noisy and terrifying 'trainer' up—It was really equivalent to overcoming their fears in the weirdest way. Rukawa, though, really just wanted to win. No scaring needed.
"Impress Gori with the score when he comes back!"
And that was what they did. The score was 68-61 with Ryonan slightly leading. They tried their best to keep the difference at minimum, and as Hanamichi put it, to make the captain proud. The ball was passed to Kogure but it was tapped away—sending to the opponent's area on the sideline. The other people who was after it halted, thinking it was no use to keep going after the ball. But Rukawa didn't.
Rukawa went after the ball all the way to the coach's face. Hanamichi's heart skipped a beat.
Was he alright? But somehow the worry was washed away when everyone else (particularly his cheering squad) yelled worriedly for his name. He stood up like nothing happened and he didn't look idiotic at all. Hanamichi stared. Tenacity: something she used to have from the get-go.
"That isn't like you at all." His words echoed through her head all of a sudden. She clenched her fist and shook her head. There was no way she was going to keep thinking about that baka-kitsune.
3 minutes passed, and the score moved to 70-67. They were catching up, and Rukawa's… momentary cramp that worried everyone except Hanamichi. Heck—she even stomped to the courts to kick his leg.
"Don't you dare run from this one, kitsune." She said firmly, unconsciously bitter at his effect on her.
"D'Ahou." Was all he said and she returned to her seat.
The score was 76-70 when Akagi arrived all patched up. Everyone in the team beamed. "GORI!" And yet an even more heated match began.
Akagi's entrance gave the team 4 points, making them behind by only one shot. Everyone was motivated to work even harder and ride to the change of momentum.
But, Sendoh had a way with words and his team was inspired immediately. The people at the bench, including Hanamichi, thought that if Sendoh was there they probably would not get shaken for long. It wasn't a bad thing for the team, though, a challenge was always welcome.
And with Kogure's 3-pointer and the change of tactics with Kawamura and Rukawa guarding Sendoh—the opponent's ace was forced to use all his power. He got back their lead immediately.
A lot of things happened in those few minutes, making the players feel the time had slowed down at every shot that was made. The score was down to 85-84, with less than a minute left.
In the end, even with only ten seconds left and they actually took the lead. They dropped their guard, momentarily thinking it was over. But Rukawa, who made that last shot, noted Sendoh's eyes and yelled. "It's not over yet!"
But it was too late.
…
The team was heading out the school, feeling a mixture of disappointment and relief. Even though they lost, they still had a magnificent game. Sendoh approached Rukawa, who was near to him, and extended his hand for a handshake—only to be brusquely slapped away.
He blinked and noticed Hanamichi was free now, too. He smiled silently at her. She was definitely sad that they had lost—but it felt like she played in there as well. It was so weird…
"Sakuragi-san." He called, extending his hand again. She let out a weak smile as she gestured to meet the greeting when—
Another hand went in for the handshake instead. It was Rukawa's, much to Sendoh's odd mix of amusement and slight irritation. Rukawa, as he held his hand, then stoically turned to Sakuragi.
"D'Aho."
She immediately gritted her teeth. "Nani?" she asked. He saw the momentary shocked—no, terrified—expression on her face before it turned to the usual simply annoyed face. Her eyes followed Shohoku's ace and she quickly went to follow Rukawa to give him a piece of her mind, apparently forgetting Sendoh was there.
Sendoh let out a quiet chuckle and scratched his head.
'Aiya…' He mused, pondering about the odd feelings in his gut. 'I seem to have been dumped.'
.
.
END OF CHAPTER 7
Coming Soon:
CHAPTER 8: New Members
REPLIES TO ANGELS
Guest[07/20/13]- (Ch1) Thanks for the review~! And no, no one told me that. xD Thanks for pointing it out~ :D
Hitomi65- Yay! Glad you thought it was a nice chapter. Thank you for the review, by the way~
Nakku- hahaha. Indeed~! I had fun writing those 'rukawa notices' parts. xD And btw, the title's about various things, albeit it's primarily Sakuragi's giving a chance to basketball again. xD Thx for the review~
Fuyutsuki Hikari- Awww. So sorry to keep you waiting! Hope this chap was worth it but you can be honest. xD And thank you for the review! :D
Someone- Hehehe. So glad I made you fangirl! xD And I'm hyped that you thought it was amazing as well. I'll try to keep it up, and thank you for the review~! :D
AngelN- Hope you're still with me Angel~! xD lol. Haven't been seeing you around in the net anymore. xD Thx for the comment btw~
Sairakanzaki- I'm very glad that you like it! I hope I did the practice game nice enough but you can be honest with me. xD Thank youu for the review! xD
Kawaiishiella- Ahahahah. Yay! I'm glad you still like the story~ I hope I can meet your expectations, but feel free to tell me whatever you thought. ;) Thanks for the review!
Derderxp- Hihihi. Puppy crush banzaiii! xDD Glad you thought it was cute, btw, and thank you for the comment~! ;D
Dark crystal usagi- (ch4) lol. You'll find out soon, and thanks for reviewing a non-latest chap. (ch6) lol no prob! I was actually glad you reviewed not only this chap but an earlier one as well~ XD
BunnyPeace- Thank you for the review~! So relieved you found it interesting and I hope I can make a decent chapter. xD Tell me what you thought ne?
…
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