Roots

"Damn fox!"

Sakuragi could only swear in frustration as Rukawa threw in another corner jumper. The scores were now 14-12, Rukawa's team leading.

It was another day of practice for the Shohoku team. For the first time, the 3 on 3 scrimmages had been extended into a full-court setting to force the players to run more up and down the court. Also for the first time, the scores between Sakuragi's team and Rukawa's team was relatively close; Sakuragi was finally finding his rhythm and remembering where to move on the basketball court. His nose for the ball was once again making all the difference, as no one else on the opposing team could get rebounds quite like him. But his improved performance had also awakened Rukawa, who out of personal pride, would never want to lose to anyone and especially not to Sakuragi.

Hiroshi was the first to the loose ball, quickly taking it out of bounds and tossing it back into play.

"Shouldn't be a problem," Hiroshi said easily, unconcerned.

Sakuragi burst into a confident grin, agreeing with Hiroshi's words.

"Of course not, Hiro! Not with this Tensai on the team!" he chortled, already having assigned a nickname to the new rookie.

Hiroshi returned Sakuragi's smile, the first-year starting to adjust to his teammate's idiosyncrasies. Sakuragi handled the ball downcourt, with Rukawa not even bothering to guard the redhead despite the likelihood that the ball could easily be stolen. Rukawa was instead catching his breath, hands on his hips as he waited for his rival to approach.

Mitsui motioned for the ball as soon as Sakuragi crossed half-court, not unaware of Rukawa's generosity. In spite of their differences, Mitsui knew that Rukawa was also the type that would want Sakuragi to return to form as quickly as possible.

"Here Micchi!" Sakuragi announced loudly as he shot a pass to the shooter. Mitsui instantly focused on his opponent: the crafty Miyagi, who was already bodying up the taller player.

Shit, he's guarding me too tight! Mitsui thought, trying to get some space to shoot. His eyes danced around the court and focused on Hiroshi, who was camping out at the corner of the three-point arc. Near the freshman was Yasuda, though the senior was keeping a cautious eye on the basket, expecting Mitsui to take the shot.

Making a snap judgment, Mitsui put the ball on the floor and began to force his way in. While Miyagi was able to keep pace, Mitsui's larger build made it easier for him to power his way straight down the lane. As he expected, Rukawa and Yasuda were both quick to collapse on him to prevent him from getting a layup.

"Micchi! Pass to me!" Sakuragi shouted, motioning from somewhere behind Rukawa. Not wanting to risk a pass over the athletic Rukawa, Mitsui instead shot an overhead pass to Hiroshi.

Let's see how far your shooting range actually is…

Before the thought even finished crossing Mitsui's mind, Hiroshi had already shot the three. The ball almost soundlessly slipped through the net instead of making a resounding swish. 14-14.

Even better than I thought, Mitsui silently assessed, pleased. Sakuragi was quick to make his way to his other two teammates as they transitioned back to defense.

"Yeah! Great job, commoners!" Sakuragi slapped hands with his teammates, delighted that the teams were now tied. "Let's get a stop here!"

"Who're you calling a commoner, punk," Mitsui grumbled under his breath.

In spite of the opposing team's comeback, Miyagi calmly dribbled upcourt. After crossing the half-court line he snapped a pass to Yasuda. Yasuda in turn passed to Rukawa, who pivoted in place to meet the eyes of his defender: Hiroshi.

Rukawa's shoulders tensed and he jerked his arm to the side just slightly, making a fake towards the basket. Hiroshi only continued to stare at Rukawa's midsection, ignoring the other movements. Seeing that Hiroshi was not giving any ground, Rukawa jabbed a step forward, anticipating that Hiroshi would react. Instead the rookie continued to stay in defensive position, his eyes narrowed in concentration.

"Whoa, nice defense!" the other Shohoku players commented, enjoying a break to observe the match.

Rukawa shot a pass back out to Miyagi before he made a hard cut for the basket. This time Hiroshi sprung into action, managing to just keep pace with the Shohoku ace. While he backpedaled, Hiroshi kept one long arm out to try and block a return pass from Miyagi. This proved for naught, however, as Miyagi's passing was extremely precise—Rukawa gave Hiroshi a small bump with his shoulder, just enough to get a tiny bit of space for the pinpoint pass. Whirling around, Rukawa set his feet and launched into the air for the jump shot. Hiroshi managed to recover and bring a hand to Rukawa's face to try and disrupt the shot. This was a trivial distraction for the star player and the ball swished through the bottom of the net, ending the match at 15-14.

Hiroshi heaved a sigh, disappointed. "Sorry guys, I guess I shouldn't have played him that tight."

Mitsui used the neck of his practice shirt to wipe off the sweat on his face, speaking up. "Just keep at it. Your awareness is getting better."

Quicker than any of us expected, Mitsui thought, keeping his real assessment of Hiroshi to himself. Even if Rukawa still isn't playing you at his full strength, you're doing a better defensive job than you used to... and better than any of the past recruits have.

Sakuragi obviously wasn't as forgiving.

"What are you doing? I could have stopped that fox easily!" Sakuragi laughed, full of self-bravado. He draped an arm over Hiroshi's shoulder, continuing to his self-praise. "That fox would have never even had the opportunity to shoot!"

Hiroshi smiled weakly. "Yeah. I have a lot to learn."

A faint clap caught the attention of the Shohoku players. Everyone turned to see Anzai slowing approaching the group, the coach also having watched the entire game, but with a more critical eye than the others.

"Very good," Anzai concluded, giving his players a soft smile.

"Isn't it, old man?" Sakuragi chortled. In an instant, he appeared at the coach's side and started pulling on Anzai's double chin. "We did great, right? How about cutting that punk Rukawa from the team, hm?"

"Quit it, you bastard!" Mitsui shouted, peeling the redhead off the older man and again saving Anzai from further abuse.

Anzai didn't mind his rough-up and instead readjusted his glasses in response. His voice took on a serious tone. "Shohoku…"

Everyone stood at attention, listening carefully to their mentor's words. Anzai placed a hand on Sakuragi's shoulder as he continued to speak.

"With the return of Sakuragi-kun… now is the time for Shohoku to regain its form. We have compromised one important thing long enough, as you all know."

Anzai's gaze scanned across his players, meeting each of their eyes briefly to make sure they understood. "You have all shown me your outstanding offensive abilities. It is what brought us this far. But it is not all we possess."

His eyes finally settled on a specific group of three players that had never left the club since the legendary Sannoh match: Miyagi, Mitsui, and Rukawa.

"We had to make some compromises. But no longer. Abandon the idea of conserving energy on defense. Now is the time to truly show everyone Shohoku's defensive strength is equal to that of their offensive ability. I entrust you three with setting that example for the rest of the team."

Everyone fell into a deep silence. Anzai nodded, knowing that his message was clear. He turned and headed for the gym doors, making to leave.

"Rest up tonight, all of you. Tomorrow will be a trying day. But it will be even more trying for those that will play us," he added, saying just the right words to boost morale.

After Anzai left through the double-doors of the gym, everyone turned to the captain Miyagi for further instruction.

Miyagi held his hands up helplessly, feeling there was nothing that needed to be said after that.

"Well, you heard Sensei. Practice adjourned. Get some sleep and let's get a win tomorrow, guys!"

The players cheered in agreement before dispersing, everyone packing up their belongings. Mitsui and Sakuragi remained motionless, glum looks on their faces.

It wasn't yet their time to leave. They had planned the training of hell tonight and were not looking forward to it.

It went by all too quickly.

"DONE!" Sakuragi laughed in exhaustion, heaving the ball toward the ceiling. Mitsui also couldn't help but grin, seeing the innocent, raw joy on the redhead's face.

He really gave it his all, Mitsui thought, jogging off to fetch the loose ball. He's just about reached the competency level he had before the injury in only three days.

Mitsui had actually made a chart specifically for today's workout. Sakuragi was to first shoot ten free throws, and then work on one-hundred shots under the basket before doing fifty lay-ups per hand. Afterwards, he had assisted in grabbing rebounds from Mitsui's missed shots for a while to get a feel for rebounding again. Following that, it was one hundred more jumpers, fifty more layups each hand, and fifty more free throws. Bluntly, Sakuragi had completely worn himself out and if not for his miraculous stamina, Mitsui was sure that he wouldn't have completed the workout after the one from the previous two days.

Mitsui had kept a watchful eye on him at the beginning to make sure Sakuragi was doing everything with the proper shooting form. But there had been no need: the redhead was taking his form just as seriously as Mitsui had told him to and so Mitsui had left him alone for most of the extra practice session.

Sakuragi shot a cocky grin at Mitsui, holding a fist up. "Hey, Micchi. This Tensai still remembers it all."

Mitsui gave him a smile of his own.

"You do," he agreed easily, knowing that would please the redhead. "So let's be sure to surprise all of them tomorrow at the match."

Sakuragi nodded enthusiastically, fully confident in himself.

"This Tensai will make them regret it if they foul me!"

With nothing left to do, the two began silently gathering their things. Sakuragi's school attendance was better than it had previously been, much to the surprise of his teachers and students. Sakuragi still slacked off, but Miyagi had agreed to tutor him to the point where he could get caught up. Miyagi wasn't much of a student, but he was the ablest out of the Shohoku's basketball team currently. It was likely to impress Ayako, Mitsui had decided long ago.

The Sakuragi Army, now fully reunited with their leader, had all promised to attend the game tomorrow. And now with Haruko as a manageress, Sakuragi had shown great strides in his concentration level during practices.

With their belongings secured, Mitsui shut off the gym lights and stepped out into the cool night air. It was already almost midnight and the high school was quiet.

As he locked the door behind him, he turned to see the redhead still milling around instead of immediately taking off.

"Need anything else, Sakuragi?"

Sakuragi shook his head, but looked as if he had something more to say. Mitsui continued to stare at the redhead, expectant.

"How'd the team do for the Winter Cup?" Sakuragi finally asked, straightforward as usual.

Mitsui heaved a frustrated sigh, remembering their poor performance.

"We got beat up. Didn't even qualify. It was too hard for us to get the single qualifying slot."

"It would have been different with this Tensai playing!"

Mitsui fell silent upon those words, taking it more seriously than he probably should have.

"We're glad to have you back," Mitsui finally said, noncommittal. It was true that Shohoku was lucky to have Rukawa—but him alone was simply not enough. Not if they wanted to conquer the nation.

Akagi was the soul of Shohoku, the roots supporting everything. Losing him was losing more than a post presence. It was as if things just couldn't stay together, no matter how hard the others had tried. Maybe it was because no one else could understand—what it had been like for Akagi to struggle to bring Shohoku out of mediocrity. No one else had poured so much heart into the team.

Except for maybe one another.

Shohoku needed Sakuragi too, Mitsui realized grudgingly. More than anyone would care to admit.

The conversation now at an end, Sakuragi gave Mitsui a curt nod goodbye. Mitsui returned it and Sakuragi turned on his heel, walking off into the night.

"Sakuragi."

Sakuragi stopped, not bothering to turn.

"Yeah, Micchi?"

"Let's beat Ryonan down tomorrow."

Sakuragi grinned in the darkness.

"With this Tensai now here, you don't even have to worry."