Slam Dunk Fan Fiction ❯ Hidden Side ❯ Revealed Part 2 ( Chapter 5 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Disclaimer:

As usual, I don't own any of the slam-dunk characters.

Chapter 5: Revealed Part 2

//thoughts//

~^Flashbacks ^~

* Actions *

"Japanese"

'English'

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Last Chapter

"Why?" said Ayako quietly.

Sakuragi turned his head towards Ayako and stared at her for awhile before glancing around at his other team mates, whom by now are also curious to his answer. Everyone inched closer to hear his response.

Sakuragi sighed and unconsciously rubbed his left shoulder. He glanced around again before answering. Finally, he slowly spoke

"I was scared."

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"Huh?!" said Miyagi, looking slightly bemused.

Blinking, Ayako just looked perplexedly at Sakuragi, waiting for a more detailed explanation.

With a sigh, Youhei step forward with the intention of helping his friend.

"Minna. I think it is best if everyone take a seat ne. It's a long story." Glancing at Sakuragi, he smiled softly and added, "very complex too."

Still feeling a bit confused with the revelations from Sakuragi, everyone was slow to react and it took Ayako's lethal fan to wake them up from their dazed state. Sakuragi went to sit on the bench and took a sip of water before started talking again.

"When I was a 4 year old, my step father, Jack, taught me how to play basketball. After a few months, he realised that I had a knack for the game and decided to call up a personal coach for me."

"Hoa! You mean you played basketball since you were a 4 year old? You're kidding!" gaped Miyagi, while rubbing his eyes and knocking the side of his head as if to make sure he's hearing is fine.

* Slap * (the sound of a piece of paper fan hitting someone's head)

"Baka! That's what he said! Shut up and listen already!" fumed an annoyed Ayako. Upon receiving the punishment from his beloved Aya-chan, our dear Ryocchin gets all teary eyed as usual and said the usual lines ("Aya-chan, don't you like me anymore? * sniff sniff *"). The expected result of the pitiful display was just another slap on the head.

"Oi Miyagi. Urusai! Let Sakuragi talk would ya!" snapped Mitsui.

"Who died and made you boss," retorted Miyagi.

Looking like twin thunder clouds, both of them would have started a full-fledge brawl if it was not for Akagi's Mighty Gori Punch.

* POW! * * POW! *

* Groans can be heard from the now quiet duo *

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Throughout the entire incident, Sakuragi watched on with an amused look.

//This REALLY looks familiar. Maybe I should introduce those two to this two.//

* Chuckling under his breath and shaking his head slightly*

//Or maybe not. The four of them would be the death of us.//

At that thought, he gave another slight chuckle and was then shaken out of his thoughts by Akagi's shout.

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"BAKERO!!! URUSAI BOTH OF YOU!!!"

Making sure both troublemakers are keeping quiet, he turned back his attention at an amused and chuckling Sakuragi. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw his sister and her friends staring at Sakuragi intently, especially Haruko's shy friend, Fujii. Turning to look at them through his narrowing eyes, he could almost see the heart shapes circling Haruko and Fujii, while Matsui was shaking her head resignedly. Catching sight of Akagi, Matsui could only shrugged her shoulder at Haruko's behaviour.

Seeing that, Akagi sighed and frowned.

//Great. First Rukawa and now SAKURAGI??? What is the world coming to?//

He sighed again and turned back to Sakuragi.

Nodding at Sakuragi, he said "You can continue now."

"Ummm…ok. As I was saying. I got a personal coach to train me in basketball. His name is Takeshi Inoto. Takeshi-san was an old friend of Jack and I've known him as far as I can remember. Takeshi-san taught me a lot of moves and even encouraged me to create my own moves someday. One day, some coach from a junior basketball club saw me practising with my step cousin, Alex and Youhei. At that time I was 8 years old. I met Youhei when I was with Alex at the park. His family just moved in the neighbourhood and we became fast friends. Alex and Youhei trained with me and you could usually see the three of us training together with Takeshi-sensei."

Pausing for awhile, he sighed and then continued bitterly, "The moment that coach saw us playing was probably the start of the curse."

SILENCE.

"What do you mean curse?" asked Ayako slowly.

"It's were everything just went wrong. I mean how were we to know that guy is a big sicko," Youhei said wryly. He then shook his head lightly. "That guy was really sick and should have been in a mental hospital a long time ago."

"As Youhei said. He was insane. His team was just an average team but he was obsessed in being the best. He wants the best players and will do anything to get them. There were some rumours of him blackmailing parents just to get to the boys he wanted. When he approached us, he was so excited and all of us were just too happy about playing in a real team, so we agreed to his deal."

"But…he was as I said…obsessed. He wants wins with big margins and style. So he pushed us to the limit and most of the other boys got serious injuries and can't play basketball anymore because of him. He pushed them into playing even when they were injured, there was this boy who went into a coma because he was forced to play while having an asthma attack." With a bitter sneer, Sakuragi continued, "The coach didn't care though and just said 'If you're not strong enough, you lose'. He was totally heartless and only cares for his own ambitions."

"Why didn't you just quit?" asked Kogure.

"Because we already signed agreements when we agreed to join the team. Even Mr. Sanders couldn't do anything. That guy was as sly as a fox. I don't know what string he was pulling but I do know one thing," said Youhei. He then spoke softly with hints of regret on his face, "Many talented boys were destroyed then. But as he said, if you're not strong enough, you lose." Looking at the people in the gym, he then said, "We barely survived."

"The time under his charge was like being hell itself. The only thing that gave me the will to continue was the fact that Youhei and Alex were there with me and also the support from my mom and Jack. Even though what we did was stupid…signing an agreement without consulting an adult, he still supported me and tried to get the contract cancelled. It took him awhile but he managed to do it a few days before my 12th birthday. He also did it for Alex and Youhei so for me that was the best birthday present I could get. But…" trailed Sakuragi and a sad expression was soon masking his face.

"But…they, Sakuragi's mom and Jack, died in a plane crash. They were coming back from New York, where they had meetings with the lawyers there." Youhei continued for Sakuragi.

"Anou…Why all the way at New York? Don't you have lawyers at you're place?" asked a perplexed Miyagi.

"In L.A, we do have many but dad prefers someone he can trust and his friend was working in New York," explained Sakuragi. "When they died, I started to hate basketball so much and couldn't bear living in the States. I then persuaded Mito-san to bring me with them to Kanagawa. Youhei's family was moving back to Japan, so I followed them. Jack's company is mine now but most of it I just leave it to Alex's brother, Sam, to manage."

"Wait a minute! Are you saying you OWN Omega Corporations?" asked a VERY flabbergasted Mitsui.

"Yup," Sakuragi said with a small smile lingering on his lips, threatening to turn into a big grin at the sight of a very comical looking Mitsui. Not to mention everybody else.

"Which school were you from Sakuragi?" asked a curious Kogure. "You didn't mention anything except about the basketball club."

"That's because I was home tutored. Youhei and Alex were also tutored at my house because my dad wanted me to have some friends."

Seeing the confused looks, Youhei added, "He's a child prodigy. He has high IQ and would you believe me if I told you that he already has a doctorate in engineering and degrees in business."

At that, everybody has slack jaws and stared disbelievingly at Sakuragi. Sakuragi in the meantime, was trying to hold back his laughter at the funny sight before him. He nearly burst out especially when he saw Akagi's wide eyed and slacken jaw look.

Again, silence reined in the gym and distance sounds of birds chirping can be heard.

* chirp * * chirp *

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A few minutes has passed and everyone was slowly shaking out of their shocked state. Mumble's of "I can't believe it" and "Sakuragi is a child prodigy?" can be heard inside the gym. Another few moments has passed before Akagi asked Sakuragi with narrow eyes.

"If you already have degrees and doctorates, why are you still in high school?"

Sakuragi looked at Akagi thoughtfully and it was a moment before he replied back.

"Because I want to know what it feels like to be among other kids." He closed his eyes and smiled, "I've never been around many people around my age. Oh and about my behaviour before this…" He then looked at around sheepishly with a blush colouring his cheeks, giving him an adorable look. "I kind of get carried away. I wanted to avoid the old me. Who would believe an idiotic and self-proclaimed tensai is actually a child prodigy, president of Omega Corporations and also good in basketball?"

Miyagi snorted, "I certaintly won't believe that."

Grinning at Miyagi, Sakuragi said "See! It worked."

"Matte!" said Ayako firmly. "There's something else I want to know. You said you, Youhei and your step cousin, Alex, always play basketball." Turning to Youhei. "So how come Sakuragi started playing again when he said he hated it and why aren't you playing? Now that I know about Sakuragi pretending to be an idiot, I don't think the reason we knew is the REAL reason." At the word 'REAL', she glared at Sakuragi, who started squirming uncomfortably. Akagi also glared at Sakuragi, since he knew the reason given last time was 'to impress Haruko'.

Lowering his face, Sakuragi started playing with his face towel before giving a reply so soft that everyone had to lean in and hear it.

"Because I love basketball. I guess I still loved it."

Youhei who was quietly staring at the floor answered Ayako's question. "Remember the part where we said the damn coach would play those who were hurt in order to win." He looked up and gave Ayako a bitter smile, "I was one of them. I injured both of my knees during one of the games. I was jumping up to get the ball along with another guy. We lost our balance and collided with each other. He landed on top of me and during the landing, I landed knee first. It felt like my knees were burning and I can barely stand. After the match, which I had to play until the end, Benny, our usual doctor did a check-up on me and it seems that some of ligaments and nerves were bruised. Heck, even my knee cap was slightly dented. He advised me to stop playing for a few years."

"He can play already." Scowled Sakuragi. "He's just afraid to play again because of that incident."

"I'm just being cautious alright. I prefer to walk properly, thank you very much." Youhei snapped quickly at Sakuragi.

Before the two boys could start arguing, Akagi asked Sakuragi.

"So what is your birth name?"

"Huh?!" said Youhei and Sakuragi at the same time. Both were so engrossed in their argument that they were surprised at the question.

"Didn't I mention it before?" asked Sakuragi curiously.

Vein throbbing on Akagi's head. Stopping himself from growling at Sakuragi, he took a deep breath.

"Baka Hanamichi, if you had he wouldn't have asked," said Miyagi and proceed to roll his eyes.

"Oh." * blink blink *

"Do'aho"

"Teme Kitsune." Flared up an irritated Sakuragi. He glared at Rukawa.

"Have you been sleeping, I'm not an idiot. I'm not pretending anymore so stop calling me that before I beat you to a pulp."

Rukawa stared at him. He snorted.

"Do'aho"

"TEME!!!"

Sakuragi was about to unleash his wrath at Rukawa only to be stopped by Youhei.

"Yamero Hanamichi!" * grunts * as he tries to hold back Sakuragi.

'Ken!!! Would you stop it. I think pretending to be a hot head IS making you a hot head.'

Spluttering his protests, Sakuragi finally calmed down after much glaring has been done to Rukawa.

'Control you're temper okay? You can stop being the hot head now. Besides, poor Rukawa would probably be in the hospital after you are done with him.'

"Yare yare." With that, Sakuragi sat back on the bench with eyes blazing fire and started scowling. All the time, he was mumbling curses in different languages, varying from the common "K'so" and "Baka kitsune" to others in French, German, Dutch, Mandarin, et cetera.

Seeing Sakuragi not in the state to answer Akagi's long forgotten question, Youhei sighed and shook his head.

//I'm shaking my head so many times, I'm surprised it's still attached properly on my neck//

Turning to face everyone, "His birth name is Sakuragi Ken Hanamichi but when his mother remarried, Mr. Sanders adopted him so his name was changed to Ken Hanamichi Sanders. Ken here was just too lazy to say his full legal name so the name Hanamichi is practically unknown to people. People just know him as Ken Sanders."

Since the time when Youhei mentioned his injuries, Mitsui was busy pondering over something. He finally decided to question the boy.

"Yo Youhei. You said you played with Sakuragi and his step cousin. I know Sakuragi is Ken Sanders and his step cousin is Alex White. Are you the one they keep calling Pete," asked Mitsui.

"Yup. That's not my name so don't you ever call me that," said Youhei, practically growling at Mitsui.

//If I get those two idiots who gave me that stupid nickname, I'll strangle them till they're blue in the face.//

At those thoughts, he started smiling evilly as he imagined the tortures he would like to give them. When Sakuragi heard Mitsui's question, he had stopped cursing and started grinning at an already red Youhei. He was about to tease Youhei about it when Kakuta asked him a question.

"Sakuragi. Why did you decide to stop pretending?"

Stunned at the question, Sakuragi blinked in surprise at Kakuta before started smiling softly.

"My best rival." He answered simply. He then picked up a nearby basketball and started twirling it on his finger.

"My former rival came to see me. I met him a few nights ago. He wanted to ask my forgiveness for the past insults and asked me to join a junior NBA Team."

He then looked at Akagi, "I told him I didn't play that kind of basketball anymore but I guess some of the things he said made sense." He shrugged. "I'm still thinking of the offer…but I know one thing. I'm not leaving the team until we win the National Championship." With his mouth set in a firm line, he stared at Akagi and everyone could see the determination in him.

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~^Flashback^~

'Hey... Long time no see, wiz,' said the stranger. With that, he stepped out of the shadows to give a clear view of his face.

Hanamichi froze. With his heart thumping so fast that it feels like it was going to burst any second, he slowly turned to face the stranger. Once he saw the stranger, unconsciously he moved a step back in shock. His body now rigid and eyes showing shock, he whispered softly, "You…"

What happened next was like a haze for him. All he remembered was staring at the stranger for what seemed like an eternity before a gasp came from behind him. Swiftly he turned and saw Youhei with a shocked expression that was most likely the exact replica of his own.

In the dark night, both he and Youhei just stared in shock at the stranger as if by staring at him for a long time he would eventually disappear. Finally, not withstanding the deafening silence. Hanamichi whispered a name that was usually spoken with hate in the past. A past both of them wanted to forget and lock away.

'Eric.'

He couldn't believe that his former rival is standing in front of him.

'What the hell are you doing here?' snapped a protective Youhei. He glared at Eric through narrowed eyes.

Unfazed by the intensity of the glare, Eric just shrugged and continued looking at Sakuragi.

'Never thought you would turn out this way wiz.'said Eric.

'Yeah well, you never had to lose both parents did you?'

Pausing, Eric turned his head towards the night sky.

'No. You're right. I never had to go through that. But… do you think this is what they want to see? How cowardly their son or in Mr. Sanders case, stepson, is being right now?'

He turned his gaze back towards Sakuragi.

'I know you probably haven't forgiven me for adding your suffering during the time in we're in the team. If you can forgive me, I'll be happy but first of all I want to redeem myself. I want you to play again. This time I want to see you playing it the way you played before that bastard came along.'

Stunned at the request, Sakuragi could only ask 'Why?'

Youhei, who was still suspicious of Eric, asked, 'What do you REALLY want Eric?'

Calmly, Eric faced Youhei and answered him.

'To redeem all the things I've done. Besides, I hope we can be friends. You're not going to hold a grudge against me aren't you?' He frowned slightly, 'I was an immature brat last time. I've changed. Situations changed people you know.'

Youhei and Sakuragi stared intently at Eric. They saw that yes, Eric looked really sincere and admitted to themselves that Eric has changed.

'What happen to you?' asked Sakuragi softly.

'I'll explain later when we have ample time. Look, I want both of you and Alex to join a training camp by the Junior NBA. I told them who you are and they said it's ok. So how about it. Rei and Ryu are also invited and they have already agreed to go.'At the mention of those two, Youhei cringed. Seeing Youhei's reaction, Eric let out a small laugh.

'They're not as bad as last time. All of us have grown up you know.' He smiled hopefully, 'So…what about the offer? I mean… you don't need to answer now. Here's my contact number. Just call me when you're ready.'

He smiled a soft smile at Sakuragi, 'I kinda miss getting my butt kicked around on the court. Basketball is more fun when you're there wiz.'

He gave his card to Sakuragi, who took it quietly and stared at the given card. Eric turned and walked away but stopped a short distance from them. Without turning back, he said a last statement that echoed in Sakuragi's mind.

'You know why people call you the little Phoenix? It's because you're like the Phoenix in more ways than one. You're red hair is most probably the most noticeable similarity but to me, it's more because you never give up even when you're knocked down. Kinda like the Phoenix, never dies but reborn again and again and gets better and more beautiful each time.'

Turning back slightly, he spoke softly.

'Don't you think it's time the Phoenix is reborn?'

~^End of flashback^~

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//You're right Eric. It's time. The Phoenix will be reborn again…Thanks.//

Without him noticing, a pair of blue eyes was staring at him surreptitiously and smiled slightly at the determined expression on his face.

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A/N: Phew. This chapter is my longest one so far (I think). Basically, I've already explained the basic stuff about the other side of Sakuragi. Might be posting up a biodata thingy later on. See if I have the time. Just to let you know, this first book will be non-yaoi(hints of Yaoi) but in the sequel of this story, I might be putting yaoi. Depends on the requests and my muses. This book will be mostly of Shohoku's fight for the championship.

p/s: the sakuragi gundam are really quiet in this story ne. I'm making them too shocked to react in this chapter so that's why there's no reaction. The other members of the basketball are not so talkative because even in the anime, they don't talk much.