Slam Dunk Fan Fiction ❯ Hidden Side ❯ Shohoku’s Hidden Ace ( Chapter 6 )

Disclaimer:

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

A/N: He he. Gomen for not writing the story for so long, I've been busy with my computing projects that I didn't have the time.

Chapter 6: Shohoku's hidden ace

//thoughts//

~^Flashbacks ^~

* Actions *

"Japanese"

'English'

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Last Chapter

//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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Match day - Shohoku versus Kainan

"Kainan! Kainan! Kainan!"

Cheers for the Kainan team can be heard throughout the stadium. Stunned at the overwhelming support of Kainan, the Sakuragi Gundam, Haruko, Fujii and Matsui could only look around with wide eyes.

"Sugoi," said Haruko, with a slight hint of awe in her voice.

"Yeah, seems that the crowd is on Kainan's side. Hope Shohoku won't be overwhelmed by the atmosphere," said Matsui worriedly.

Frowning at Matsui, Fujii started protesting. "Iie Matsui! Shohoku has nothing to be afraid of especially with Hana-kun around," said the proud and starry-eyed girl. She then gave out a big sigh and a love sick smile lingered on her lips. Matsui was about to retort back a reply when she was suddenly pushed aside by Fujii, who stood up at the railings and started shouting.

"Hana-kun! Ganbatte!"

"L-O-V-E HANA! HANA-KUN!!! GANBATTE" shouted the newly formed Sakuragi brigade. Suddenly, the stadium was surrounded by girls waving pom-poms and wearing short skirts and tight sleeveless shirts, all which is colour co-ordinated red and white. Soon, the stadium which was ringing with cheers for Kainan turned into loud cheers for a particular red head.

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A few minutes earlier in the Shohoku locker room

Stifling a yawn, Sakuragi went to the sink and washed his face. Done, he took his face towel and wiped the droplets of water away and proceeded to shake his head, in an attempt to clear his sleepiness. Loosening his neck and shoulder, he walked back towards his assigned locker. Rolling his eyes, he faced Mitsui and Miyagi quickly and snapped.

"WHAT. Is there something on my face or what?"

Surprised at the sudden movement, both could only blink wide-eyed at Sakuragi. Seeing their reaction, Sakuragi sighed, shook his head and rolled his eyes again.

"Alright minna! Ikuzo! We have Kainan to beat. We have practised hard for this game and we're going to win because…"said Akagi seriously.

"WE'RE STRONG!!!"

"Then let's go!"

With that, everyone started to move towards the court area.

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At the basketball court in the stadium

"HANA-KUN! HANA-KUN! HANA-KUN"

The moment Sakuragi is within sight of the spectators, a big group of girls appeared out of nowhere and started chanting his name like a mantra. Upon hearing the chants, Sakuragi froze and looked around the stadium wide eyed and open mouthed. The rest of the Shohoku members could only look around amazed while the Kainan members were shaking their head in disbelief at the sudden change of atmosphere.

"Whoa!" said Mitsui, a little stunned.

"Huh?" said Miyagi with little question marks surrounding him.

"Sugoi Sakuragi! The chants for Kainan are totally drowned out," said Ayako gleefully. "He he he. Now they're most probably rattled to their bones," continued Ayako with an evil look in her face.

"Ehe! Hai…Ayako-sempai" said Sakuragi. He sweat drop when he saw Ayako's look.

//What made me do this again?//

"Sakuragi!" said Kogure, while smiling slightly to the already discomfort junior. "Don't worry, everything seems to be all set for you. Just play your best and forget everything else ne?"

Turning to face Kogure, he gave the spectacled senior a slight smile and said, "Mou Kogure-sempai. Ever thought of taking up some psychology classes, you'd do great."

Blushing, Kogure shook his head and smiled at Sakuragi again. With laughing eyes, "Yeah yeah. Just do it ok."

Akagi just snorted and started his warm-up. Rukawa being Rukawa just said his famous words.

"Do'aho"

Hearing this Sakuragi sweat dropped again and let out a frustrated sigh. He gave a glare at Rukawa and snapped, "You know, you're really starting to irritate me. Buzz of my case alright." With his eyes flashing in anger, he gave another glare at Rukawa before walking towards Anzai-sensei who is beckoning him.

Rukawa just watched on with a strange gleam in his eyes.

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At the Kainan bench

"Anou Takatoh-sensei. What is going on? Why would they be cheering on the stupid red haired monkey when they can cheer on ME. The number one rookie in Japan. Bwahahaha," said Kiyota with a hand pointing at his chest. Looking irritated he glanced around the whole stadium and glared at the Sakuragi shinentai's around the stadium.

With his right hand stroking his chin, Maki was staring at the new look of Sakuragi. He then noticed the head band and wrist guard Sakuragi was wearing.

//I feel like I've seen that before…but where? Why does it seem so familiar?//

"Maki-sempai! You don't have to worry, I'll take care of that stupid red haired monkey," claimed Kiyota upon noticing the frown on his sempai's face.

Pondering on that, he faced Kiyota. "Iie! I want to guard him. There's something about him that seems so familiar." He turned back to stare at Sakuragi again.

//Why do you seem so familiar? Who are you?"

Maki continued to ignore the rest of his team-mates. The rest of the Kainan team however were to busy looking at their captain in shock. Various thoughts ran through their mind.

//MAKI wants to guard Sakuragi???//

//Maki-sempai wants to guard the red haired monkey?//

//Maki…Huh?//

Takatoh quickly regained his composure and followed Maki's gaze and saw Sakuragi's new look.

"What's wrong Maki? You're supposed to guard Akagi or Rukawa. It's not like you to change the plans."

"Hmm. There's something familiar about him. I can't remember what but my instincts is telling me I have to guard him. There's just something about him that I can't pin a finger on." Frustrated at not being able to remember, he let out a small growl. "Kuso."

Turning to face the rest of his team-mates, he gave everyone a warning look.

"No slacking. We go full power from the start. I don't know why but I don't like it. Everyone got that?"

"HAI!" chorused the rest of the Kainan team.

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"HAI!"

Startled, Akagi looked at the Kainan bench and saw Maki staring at Sakuragi with a frown. Frowning, he looked at Sakuragi who was busy talking with Anzai-sensei.

"Seems like Maki has his eyes on Sakuragi. Do you think he knows something," asked Kogure quietly and startling Akagi.

Facing his best friend sharply with a frown on his face, he stared at the brown eyes before lifting his eyes to gaze back at the fired up Maki.

"We better be ready for anything. Maki looks like he's totally fired up. He looks different from the other games."

"Hai. Looks like we're in for a tough game," said Kogure worriedly.

Their conversation was soon interrupted by the referee's whistle.

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Start of the game

Tense atmosphere surrounded the stadium. The formerly loud cheers for Kainan were drowned out by the mantra chants of the Sakuragi shinentai. On the center of the basketball court, both teams of Kainan and Shohoku faced each other. Both teams are tense and ready for the start of the game except the exceptional few. Rukawa as usual glared at Maki with thoughts of beating the number one player in Kanagawa running through his mind. Kiyota with his simple minded brain started to brag with as usual.

"Bwahaha. Rukawa! I will beat you because I'm the number one rookie. Oh and what's up with you stupid red haired monkey? Even with a new look, you still can't beat me."

Unexpected to the Kainan team, Sakuragi just stared at Kiyota and gave a small smile.

"We'll see won't we?" with that reply, he ignored Kiyota and faced Maki who was looking at him.

Once eye contact has occurred, both Maki and Sakuragi faced each other with different thoughts running through their minds.

Sakuragi

//Does Maki know who I am? I've never met him before have 1?//

Maki

//I don't know why but I have this feeling that you're a danger to the team. To our chance of winning. Kuso, why is it so?//

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A/N: Sorry for the late update and the short chapter. I just have these two major projects for computing and my trials are on with my finals coming up in less than 3 months and not to mention I have small test in my Japanese classes that I absolutely have to study for. *sigh* can't wait for the 3 month holidays after my final. In the meantime, I'll be a bit slow in updating my story so don't mind me eh. After my trials I'll keep updating it once a week hopefully. Hope you'll read this and review. I know it's probably not as good as my other chapters but I'll try to improve it when I have the time. For now, this is my chapter 6 until I can get a better version up. Thanks to everyone who gave me the great reviews. It really helps boost my confidence in writing this story.