Training, Revisited Part I

Miyagi silently wiped sweat off his brow, trying to hide his frustration. Sakuragi's face, on the other hand, displayed the well of emotions surfacing within him… the primary one being discontent.

Mitsui was taking it the hardest. Typical to his character, he took the loss personally, even though it was just a scrimmage. In his head, he was already playing the match over again, and berating himself for every missed shot, missed rebound, and turnover he committed. Mitsui sighed, and tried to swallow his disappointment. However, it wouldn't disappear, and the feeling was bitter.

Bitter.

Hiroshi, clearly winded, was the first to extend a hand at Miyagi. "Thank you for the game."

Miyagi stared at the outstretched hand for a few seconds, as if it was a foreign and possibly dangerous object, before he shook it briefly. It was clear he was not used to such politeness after just a simple scrimmage game.

"Not a problem, but you don't need to thank me… we're just practicing, after all."

Hiroshi grinned sheepishly. "Ah, that's right."

"You like it here?" Miyagi asked conversationally, trying to take his mind off the loss. Hiroshi nodded ambiguously, not enough to give Miyagi clear commitment to the Shohoku team, but enough for the point guard to recognize that the win itself had pleased the rookie. Miyagi shrugged the thought off with little concern, knowing that the rookie would definitely be staying, if Miyagi's instincts from their initial meeting had been right.

Yasuda was satisfied over the team's win, but Rukawa had already shrugged off the victory and was wandering off to the lockers, as if the outcome was predestined and anything other than victory would have been a shock.

Miyagi considered everyone for a moment and then spoke hesitatingly. "Well… I guess practice is adjourned. If anyone wants to stay, feel free."

There seemed to be no takers and almost everyone clamored after Rukawa for the lockers to change out of their sweaty clothes. Miyagi shrugged and was about to leave as well before seeing that Mitsui and Sakuragi hadn't budged from their spots.

"It might be a good idea for Sakuragi to play some more," Miyagi suggested before walking off to join the others. Mitsui didn't seem to heed the words and instead gave the redhead an up-and-down, a move that Sakuragi instantly caught.

"You got a problem, Micchi?"

"Yeah…" Mitsui replied, tossing Sakuragi the ball. "Your defense sucked."

"Maybe in the eyes of a commoner like you!" Sakuragi laughed in self-bravado, easily palming the ball in one hand. "I easily conquered the fox! He's no match for me!"

"Says the air-ball master."

"Just giving them a handicap, Micchi! It was on purpose!"

Rukawa, who was tugging his Nike sweatshirt on as he meandered out of the lockers, gave the two a blank look before reaching for his backpack. Sakuragi instantly pounced upon the fact that the Shohoku ace was leaving practice earlier than he was.

"Ha! Smelly fox, scared of my skills today, hm? Running from a battle that you know you can't win…" Sakuragi stroked his chin and looked up towards the rafters, a mocking glint in his eye. "You are wiser than I thought."

"Dou ahou," Rukawa sighed, pulling his walkman out of his backpack and inserting his headphones into his ears. Without so much as another glance, he pushed open the double doors of the gym and walked out into the cooling night air.

"He's probably off to practice alone again," Mitsui said, nodding where Rukawa had exited. Rukawa had always preferred practicing on his own, and ever since he had underwent the All-Japan training, he seemed to be constantly seeking ways to push his limits even further.

"Loner fox!" Sakuragi laughed, leaving Mitsui alone as he went to do some layup drills. At the same moment, Miyagi walked out of the lockers, sports bag strap already fixated upon his forehead and sunglasses on. He gave Mitsui and Sakuragi a brief nod of the head as he headed for the exit.

"I'm out, so later guys." However, instead of immediately exiting, his gaze lingered a bit longer over Ayako, who was also busy packing up her things and filling out stats sheets at the other side of the court.

Sakuragi caught the stare and was about to comment about it before the gym doors opened once again, cutting into his thoughts.

A pretty schoolgirl, with dark hair and an innocent face, peeked her head in and glanced curiously around. Sakuragi started at the familiar face, completely caught off guard as her soft voice reached his ears.

"Hello? Is everyone still practicing?"

With his mind frozen momentarily, Mitsui, who had wandered over to where they were, spoke up on Sakuragi's behalf. "Hey, Haruko-chan. Recognize this guy?"

Haruko, the long-time crush of Sakuragi, donned a similar stricken look upon seeing who Mitsui was gesturing to. However, her face instantly dissolved into a bright smile as she quickly raced into the gym, excitedly stopping right in front of the tall redhead.

"Sakuragi-kun?! Oh… oh my goodness! It's really you! When did you return?!"

Sakuragi blinked, trying to stutter out some sort of response. Fortunately, Mitsui was there to again cover for him. "He got out of the hospital about two days ago."

"Ahh," Haruko said, slowly digesting the news before her smile widened. "Oh, Sakuragi-kun, did you get all the letters I sent you?"

Finally reaching a semi-coherent state, Sakuragi managed to nod with a fierce blush already evident on his face. "Ah! Yes! Yes, Haruko-chan! Thank you for always keeping me up to date! Hahaha!"

Haruko clapped her hands together excitedly, not minding (or even noticing) the nervousness of Sakuragi. "I'm glad! How did therapy go?"

"Oh… uh, no problem!" Sakuragi laughed, far too loudly. "Nothing that I, basketball genius, couldn't handle!"

Miyagi sweatdropped from the sidelines, having decided not to immediately leave if only to witness the comedy that was likely to arise from Sakuragi meeting Haruko again. Basketball genius? If Haruko had been here to see the airballs…

"He's rejoining the team," Hiroshi offered helpfully, the rookie having just stepped out of the lockers. He had changed out of his sweaty school clothes into a tattered hoodie and torn jeans, none of the clothes flashy or anywhere near as expensive as the things Rukawa normally wore.

In the thrill of the moment, Haruko grabbed Sakuragi's hands into her own. If Haruko's smile could get any wider, her face was liable to split. "That's great news! My brother is going to be so happy to hear this! We've been waiting for you so long, Sakuragi-kun! Ever since winter, I was always waiting for you to come back!"

While Sakuragi's brain entered a state of blissful meltdown, Haruko's hands dropped away as she lifted her head to speak with everyone in the room. "By the way…"

The other Shohoku players slowly gave her their attention, with those that were still trickling out of the locker room now gathering around the group.

"My brother wanted to wish you guys the best of luck, and to tell you guys 'not to mess it up,'" she quoted, mimicking Akagi's authoritative voice a bit without malice. She flashed a quick smile to show that she had been joking, but her voice again dropped as she continued to deliver her message. "He also said one more thing… it meant a lot to him.

He told you all to 'conquer the nation' in his place."

All of Shohoku's players, if they had not been completely attentive before, fell into a solemn hush upon hearing those words.

Miyagi was the first to speak up, taking over his role as the new captain of the team. "Tell Akagi that Shohoku will prevail. We…" he paused, searching for the right thing to say. "We won't let him down."

The heavy atmosphere lifted as Haruko again flashed everyone a bright smile. "Okay, I'll be sure to tell him!"

She gave Sakuragi an excited look as she started to slowly walk backwards, heading for the exit. "I'll be sure to tell Brother you've returned to the team. I'm sure he'll be happy about that! Oh, and Ayako, thanks for covering for me again today!"

Ayako raised her hand, acknowledging that she had heard Haruko. Though Haruko was the other manageress of the team, she did not show up to practices quite as much as Ayako did.

Haruko waved to everyone as she reached the double-doors of the gym."Well, I'll be going home then, since practice looks like its over! I'll see you all around!"

The Shohoku's players mumbled their goodbyes, while Sakuragi was quick to call out a thundering "Take care!"

As the gym doors quietly shut again, Sakuragi's gaze lingered at where Haruko had previously been. Haruko-chan…

Miyagi straightened the duffel bag strap on top of his forehead before giving everyone another curt nod, having seen all that he wanted to.

"I'm off as well, so see you all at practice tomorrow." He walked out with his hands placed firmly in his pockets, shooting another glance at Ayako despite himself. The rest of the players also began to trickle out, and soon it was only Anzai, Mitsui, Sakuragi, and Ayako remaining.

Ayako also made to leave, writing something on her clipboard before handing it over to Anzai. "Here are the statistics for the scrimmage. I'll be seeing you boys later."

She waved her fan at them, giving Sakuragi a tap on the head for emphasis. "Glad to see you back."

The three duly raised their hands and Ayako was soon gone as well. The gym was once again eerily silent, as it always was when there weren't many people there.

Before Mitsui could make a move towards the basketball rack, Anzai motioned towards the vice-captain. "Mitsui-kun, let me speak to you."

Mitsui gave the chubby coach a surprised look, caught-off guard by the sudden invitation. However, typical to Mitsui's character, he was quick to agree to any request by his favorite coach and was instantly at Anzai's side. While Sakuragi sauntered off to practice on his own, Anzai drew Mitsui away from the redhead's listening distance. He considered Mitsui for a moment and adjusted his glasses before speaking.

"Mitsui-kun…"

"Yes?"

Anzai looked past Mitsui towards Sakuragi, who was busy try to get his game legs back by going through an assortment of jumps around the bottom of the basket.

"I believe Miyagi-kun's earlier words were correct. Now is the time for Sakuragi-kun to train again. I mentioned this to Akagi-kun before… but Sakuragi-kun's learning ability is stupendous." Anzai paused, recalling how quickly Sakuragi had learned to have a useable jump shot before the start of last year's Inter-Highs.

"Shohoku technically has only two practices left before the playoffs begin," Anzai continued. "In this amount of time, Sakuragi-kun must not only remember all that he had learned previously, but improve upon them. I think, with proper guidance, he will be fully capable of returning to game shape."

Anzai directed his gaze back at Mitsui, obviously having elected Mitsui for the job. "Do you think you can teach him after practice? If there is a need for me to contact your parents, I'll—"

"I'll do it, sensei," Mitsui said, cutting off the coach and agreeing without any hesitation.

Anzai nodded and patted the tall shooter on the shoulder, grateful for Mitsui's help. "Thank you."

As Anzai started to walk off, Mitsui couldn't help but ask a question of his own. "Sensei…"

Anzai paused in mid-step and glanced over a chubby shoulder.

"Who are we playing first?"

Anzai's answer was but one-word.

"Ryonan."