New Style

A dull smack resounded through the air as the ball was tipped… right into the hands of Yasuda.

Damn! Sakuragi thought, dashing off to play defense as soon as he could. Though he had indeed grown taller, the new size advantage that he had over Rukawa made no difference—his legs still weren't in the same shape they used to be, and Rukawa knew how to time his jump better than Sakuragi.

Yasuda carefully dribbled the ball to the top of the key, with Hiroshi trailing the left wing and Rukawa off to the right side. The defensive assignments were consistent with the height of the players: Mitsui was guarding Rukawa, Miyagi was on Yasuda…but Sakuragi was staying in the paint, leaving his man, Hiroshi, open to roam about.

Yasuda abruptly stopped his dribble and tried to give the ball off to Rukawa despite the fact that the Shohoku ace wasn't even at a good passing angle. As expected, the sloppy pass was immediately picked off by Mitsui.

Mitsui shook his head disdainfully upon securing the steal, lecturing the senior. "Yasuda. You know better than to throw a dangerous pass to a closely guarded person."

"Right!" Yasuda replied, knowing he had made a mistake. The sight of Sakuragi on the court again had made even the normally calm guard a bit scatterbrained from emotion. Now more concentrated he quickly scanned his surroundings, having lost sight of Miyagi.

The moment of distraction had been more than enough for the crafty point guard to speed off. By the time Yasuda noticed him again, Miyagi already had possession of the ball thanks to a pass from Mitsui. As Miyagi scanned the floor, it was evident his eyes were still trained like that of a playmaker: he hardly looked at the basket, disregarding it as his first option, and instead focused on running the offense even though it was a casual game.

Yasuda jogged into position, taking advantage of Miyagi's intense focus on the offense to get in front of him. As means of exerting some defensive pressure, Yasuda tried a swipe at the ball, hoping to steal. But Miyagi not only easily avoided this with a smooth dribble between the legs, but he also didn't even seem to notice that Yasuda had caught back up to him; the dribble seemed to have been made with sheer instinct alone.

"Miyagi, right here!"

Miyagi didn't even directly look towards the person who shouted. Instead, by simply following the sound of the voice, he effortlessly threw a bounce pass to Mitsui in the corner of the court.

Mitsui gave Rukawa a glance, and judging that the spacing between himself and the other player was a bit too close for him to take a jumper safely, dumped the ball down to Sakuragi.

"Thanks Micchi!" Sakuragi shouted, turning towards the basket and realizing he was in perfect position for the easy dunk. He leapt into the air, displaying signs of his old game legs as he soared into the air for what appeared to be the unguarded slam.

"GORILLA DUN—"

Suddenly, an impossibly long arm reached out from behind Sakuragi's head and smacked the ball away. Sakuragi's surprise was evident on his face and he almost came crashing to the floor from the abrupt opposing force. Rukawa reacted instantaneously, scooping up the loose ball before the others could.

Sakuragi whirled to find the culprit to be Hiroshi, who gave the redhead an ambiguous look, as if he wasn't quite sure what to make of the redhead just yet.

"Luck!" Sakuragi fumed as he turned his attention back to defense… albeit a bit too late, as Rukawa simply lifted into the air and shot a mid-range jumper that caught nothing but net before Mitsui could even rotate over.

Yasuda went to fetch the ball. After picking the ball up, Yasuda gave Miyagi an inquisitive look, realizing that they had not set the conditions for the scrimmage yet.

"Play by ones and twos? Who takes out?"

Miyagi nodded distractedly, obviously displeased with their play on the last offensive sequence. "Yeah. Ones and twos, up to 11, loser's take out."

Ayako, having overheard the conversation from her spot on the sidelines, changed the score to 1-0 before again leaning back into her seat to observe the game.

Miyagi checked the ball and, before the other point guard could even register what had happened, shot past Yasuda with his raw speed alone. It was clear that Miyagi was still the fastest player on Shohoku.

However, there would be no easy path to the basket; Miyagi instantly flinched back when the long arms of Hiroshi charmed at Miyagi's dribble, nearly stealing it from out and under him. Miyagi shot a glance over the forward's shoulder and realized that Hiroshi had opted to leave Sakuragi open to guard Miyagi until Yasuda caught up.

Risky, Miyagi thought, slowing his dribble, his drive temporarily stalled. Hiroshi crouched ever lower, almost meeting Miyagi at eye-level. He spread out his gangly arms, blocking off possible passing lanes and lowering Miyagi mobility. It was textbook defensive positioning.

But that is not a wrong play, Miyagi realized, knowing that Hiroshi had been left with no options. Though Miyagi had seen Hiroshi play before, he was nevertheless impressed at the rookie's basketball intelligence.

Despite the fact that Sakuragi was open and Miyagi could have easily made a pass, Miyagi felt his competitive fire rising. He started to pound the ball quicker against the floor, locking gazes with Hiroshi.

In a flash, Miyagi bounced the ball right through Hiroshi's legs and shot past him, taking advantage of the natural hesitation that arose from Hiroshi when the ball had disappeared between his legs. Miyagi quickly picked up the ball on the other side and rushed in for the uncontested lay-up. 1-1 now.

Hiroshi glanced over his shoulder, not minding that he had gotten beaten—in fact, his voice sounded amused.

"Still playing street there, captain?"

Miyagi offered Hiroshi a devil-may-care smile that Hiroshi returned, the two friendly despite the brief one-on-one.

Rukawa, meanwhile, didn't even seem to care as he picked the ball up and heaved it to Yasuda at the top of the key, eager to start the next possession. Yasuda checked the ball with Sakuragi and bounced the ball right back to Rukawa, trying to take full advantage of the fact that Miyagi was still near Hiroshi and not guarding his man.

Rukawa considered Mitsui for only a moment before simply leaping up and swishing another jump shot, not even bothering to take advantage of the size mismatches that had been created. Miyagi looked just a tad embarrassed at having lost focus, moving off to check the ball with Yasuda as quickly as he could so they could move on and forget his lapse in concentration.

As if by second nature, Rukawa flowed seamlessly back into defense, the Shohoku ace now placing a hand on the small of Mitsui's back to make sure that the shooter wouldn't run off without Rukawa knowing.

Still taking this game so seriously…Mitsui thought. Maybe Sakuragi's return did have an effect on him…

Sakuragi, on the other hand, wasn't impressed with anything Rukawa did and was instead fuming at being neglected.

"Ryo-chin! Pass to me already!"

Miyagi heeded the redhead's words and shot a bullet pass to him, curious to what Sakuragi could do after just getting back from therapy. Sakuragi caught the speeding ball and turned, a pleased grin spreading across his face. He was open yet again and this time, Hiroshi was too far away to realistically rotate back over.

"Leaving this Tensai open is naïve!" Sakuragi's shouted before he leapt into the air… and completely botched the dunk, slamming the ball into the rim instead of into the net.

The Shohoku group let out a collective sigh.

"Damn!" Sakuragi swore, turning and getting ready to scramble for the rebound as soon as he landed. However, Hiroshi glided in and snatched up the ball, having already been racing in Sakuragi's general direction to guard him just a second prior.

"Yasuda-senpai!" Hiroshi yelled and threw a pass to his senior in the corner. Yasuda sped for the basket, managing to catch Miyagi out-of-position. With Hiroshi holding Sakuragi back, Yasuda was able to effortlessly lay in the shot before the rest of the players could converge. 3-1.

Miyagi turned and comically kicked Sakuragi in the rear, frustrated. "What kind of dunk was that?"

Mitsui's shout broke into Miyagi's rant before it could even get started. "Miyagi, the ball!"

Mitsui's inbounds pass bounced off Miyagi's back and Yasuda immediately picked it up, not missing a beat.

Crap, Miyagi dully thought, realizing his mistake. Yasuda snapped a pass to Hiroshi, who breezed past the distracted Sakuragi and made a lay-up of his own. 4-1.

Sakuragi returned the favor and slammed his fist over Miyagi's head. "What kind of catch was that?"

"A non-existent one," Mitsui said dryly as he motioned for the ball from Hiroshi, the shooter not even moving from his previous spot due to the botched offensive sequence.

He passed the ball to Miyagi again, this time after making sure the point guard was paying attention.

"Ryota, concentrate!"

Miyagi's ears instantly caught the sound of the clear, bell-like voice. He turned towards Ayako, his left hand in the victory sign and a blush on his face. He seemed to have tuned out the game—including the double-team about to converge on him.

"Holy crap, Miyagi, pay attenti—" Mitsui yelled before the ball slammed into his waiting hands. Mitsui almost missed the catch, surprised that Miyagi had made a seemingly blind pass to him so accurately.

Miyagi's eyes had already turned into hearts as he continued to oogle Ayako.

"Ayako-chan…"

The others could only gape at his pathetic behavior.

Seizing the moment, Mitsui let fly a three-pointer with a smooth flick of the wrist. As expected from a shooter of Mitsui's caliber, the result of an open three could only be a beautiful swish through the net. 4-3.

Sakuragi sweatdropped. Ryo-chin hasn't changed a bit…

While some mulled over Mitsui's shot (and others at Miyagi's embarrassing antics), Rukawa was not one to be distracted by the idiosyncrasies of his teammates. He was already racing towards the basket, having taken a pass from Yasuda. Mitsui took all but two steps from where he had been standing outside the three-point line before realizing that there was just way too much ground to cover.

"Sakuragi!" Mitsui shouted in warning, knowing he couldn't catch up to guard his man.

Sakuragi, heeding Mitsui's words, felt his muscles tense with anticipation as he turned to face his rival. Undeterred, Rukawa leaped straight into the air, cradling the ball close to his stomach.

He's trying to dunk on me…? Sakuragi thought in shock before he exploded with a huge jump, matching Rukawa's vertical.

"You think too little of me, fox!"

The slightest evidence of surprise floated across the ace's face, but Rukawa reacted to the unexpected burst of athleticism by twisting in mid-air and throwing the ball to a streaking Hiroshi. Sakuragi could only watch helplessly as Hiroshi raced behind the redhead, throwing in a gentle lay-up off the backboard.

Sakuragi scowled as he grabbed the loose ball, disappointed that Rukawa hadn't directly challenged him. However, typical to his behavior, Sakuragi still felt the need to taunt.

"What's wrong, smelly fox? Afraid of this Tensai's defensive skills?"

Rukawa stared at him blankly, the earlier surprise towards Sakuragi's display of athleticism long gone.

"Dou ahou."

Rukawa casually walked off after dropping his characteristic insult, leaving a seething Sakuragi behind. Before the redhead could spout any further offenses, Mitsui smacked Sakuragi upside the head from behind.

"Why do you always jump when another player looks even remotely like he's going to take a shot? You, of all people, should know damn well Rukawa passes the ball extremely well!"

Sakuragi's hands instantly shot to the bruise that was forming on his head, defensive.

"Stop complaining, Micchi! I'll shut down the fox next time."

Mitsui sighed and took a few steps back, aiming to improve spacing between the players now that his team was back on offense.

Still, Rukawa doesn't pass the ball as much as we'd like him to. Can't be helped, with the way the team has been playing… it's hard to trust your teammates when they can't step up.

Meanwhile, Miyagi was already patiently waiting for his teammates to stop their bickering, having checked the ball in already. Yasuda knew Miyagi's weakness and gave the Shohoku captain room, electing to be pretty prepared for a drive because Miyagi's jump shot wasn't reliable. Miyagi responded to this unspoken insult by shooting Mitsui a pass, not bothering to try and prove Yasuda wrong because even he knew his jump shot was not a priority on offense.

Mitsui managed to catch the pass but was instantly greeted with smothering defense courtesy of Rukawa. Mitsui straightened, managing to get a glimpse of Sakuragi being marked tightly by Hiroshi. The rookie's intuition was on point, since he seemed to have caught on to the fact that Sakuragi was a legitimate threat. It was indeed a surprise to everyone that Sakuragi was playing unexpectedly well despite the long lay-off time from basketball.

Mitsui was forced to pass back to Miyagi, out of options. Miyagi was still left open and now had no choice but to shoot a hesitant jumper. The shot came up short and Sakuragi was immediately in the air, hauling down the offensive rebound before Hiroshi could even react.

He hasn't lost that penchant for rebounds, Miyagi grinned as he blazed past Yasuda, easily beating the other point guard in speed. Sakuragi saw the short point guard race towards him and dropped a bounce pass down. The point guard caught the wonderful pass and quickly shot a floater before a defender could rotate over, bringing the scores to 5-4.

"Yes!" Sakuragi and Miyagi high-fived in celebration. Mitsui's annoyed voice instantly crushed their momentary joy.

"Hey, you idiots!" Mitsui called, albeit way too late. Yasuda heaved the ball up into the air, having already taken the ball out.

"Crap!" the two yelled in unison, turning just in time to see Rukawa throw down an alley-oop dunk. 6-4 now.

Mitsui heaved a frustrated sigh, shooting the pair a dirty look.

"Great defense, guys," Mitsui muttered sarcastically.

Sakuragi took the comment more seriously than Mitsui had intended. His mind started to drift; Mitsui's words had shaken something in him, though he was not immediately sure what.

The defense really is a lot worse now. If this Tensai thinks about it… all the shots were not really well-guarded. Ryo-chin loses his concentration easily on defense now, too...

Suddenly, a saying surfaced from his memories, having been nearly completely forgotten.

"We'll fight for our points with them."

We're playing like that longhaired monster's team! Sakuragi realized, thinking to the Toyotama game last summer. And was also reminded of the inevitable negative results that came with that playing style.

But that isn't Shohoku basketball…

"Oi!" Miyagi kicked Sakuragi in the calf to catch the redhead's attention. "We're back on offense! Look sharp!"

"All right," Sakuragi replied, distracted.

I'll mention this to the old man, he decided as he strayed a bit farther from the basket, trying to get into his favorite angle for a jump shot. He now felt like a stranger on this new-look Shohoku and one anxious thought sat in his mind:

Shohoku… what have you become while this Tensai was gone?