Chapter 8: Kakeru High School @ Sendai Daiichi Private Academy, Part One.

The two captains leaped up for the ball. Teruo tipped the ball back to his team. Ryuzaki caught the ball, dribbling it up the court with his teammates running in front of him. Ryuzaki passed the ball to Yoshinori. Yoshinori dribbled the ball up as #75, Hachiro Sugimoto on Sendai Daiichi jumped in front of him, blocking his view. Yoshinori passed the ball to Kazuma who took it up to the three-point arc.

Kazuma jumped up tossing the ball toward the net. The ball would hit the rim, bouncing off. Teruo Ikehara jumped up, catching the ball. He dribbled down the three-point arc. Ryuzaki stepped in front of him, attempting to guard him. Ikehara sidestepped past Ryuzaki, dribbling past him quickly. Ryuzaki's eyes widened,

"He fast…" Ryuzaki internalized. Ikehara dribbled down the court, dodging Kakeru's players attempting to guard him. Just then, Hidē stepped in front of Ikehara. Ikehara chuckled, dodging Hidē's guard. Yusuke's eyes widened in shock, seeing Teruo effortlessly dodge his captain. Ikehara ran up toward the hoop, jumping up. Yusuke stood up,

"He wouldn't…" Yusuke internalized. Teruo approached the hoop mid-air, preparing to dunk the ball. Teruo let go of the ball as it was about to enter the hoop. The ball hit the backboard, bouncing back out. One of the refs then blew his whistle as Coach Takeuchi called for a timeout. The teams on the court approached their benches.

"Why'd you call a timeout coach?" Hidē asked. Takeuchi raised a brow,

"Why?? Did you see what just happened there…?" Takeuchi asked. Hidē nodded,

"I did coach…" Hidē said. Takeuchi sighed,

"Alright… I want Kazuma guarding Ikehara at all times… Got it?" Coach Takeuchi said. The team nodded,

"Chisaka you're subbing in for Nakama…" Takeuchi said. Yoshinori looked shocked,

"What!? Why??" Yoshinori asked. Coach sighed,

"I think he'd have a better chance of getting past Ikehara if it gets to that point…" Takeuchi said. Yoshinori nodded,

"But if I'm wrong, I'll sub you back in at the first opportunity…" Takeuchi said. Yoshinori nodded, looking over at Yusuke. The ref then blew his whistle, ending the timeout period. The teams walked out to the court with Sendai Daiichi owning the ball. Eiji stood on the sideline as the ref handed him the ball. Yusuke stood in front of #42, Sho Hachimura. The ref blew the whistle and Eiji passed the ball to Ikehara. Ikehara ran past Kazuma, dribbling down the court. Kazuma chased after him.

"FUJIMOTO-SAN, GET ON 42!! I'LL GUARD 22!" Yusuke shouted. Kazuma nodded switching places with Yusuke. Over at the benches, Coach Takeuchi looked in shock.

"What the hell is he doing!?" Takeuchi thought to himself. Meanwhile, Yusuke ran toward Ikehara. Ikehara stood at the three-point line preparing to shoot a basket. Yusuke grit his teeth as things seem to go into slow motion. Ryuzaki looked at Yusuke in shock.

"What's he doing??" The coach said Fujimoto is covering him!?" Ryuzaki internalized. As Ikehara was about to shoot, Yusuke sprinted toward him. Ikehara jumped, shooting for the three.

"I HAVE TO STOP HIM!" Yusuke thought to himself. Ikehara jumped, shooting the ball toward the hoop. Yusuke leaped forward as he did this. Ikehara looked to his left in shock, seeing Yusuke.

"What the hell!? This is that 1st year on Kakeru!?" Ikehara internalized. Yusuke managed to get a hand on the ball, chucking it at Ryuzaki. Ryuzaki caught the ball, looking at it in shock.

"KUROSAWA!! GO~~!!" Yusuke shouted. He remembered his conversation with Yusuke the night before.

"It's for my mom too... She's really sick... And if we win the Miyagi prefecture tournament and then go to All Japan... After that Nationals... And then hopefully an American University... And then obviously pro..." Ryuzaki said. Yusuke smiled,

"Let's go there, together..." Yusuke said. Ryuzaki scoffed, 

"Tch, like I'll go there with you... I'll make it on my own.." Ryuzaki said. Yusuke stood up, smirking. 

"Oh yeah!?" Yusuke said.

Ryuzaki nodded, "Yeah!" Ryuzaki said.

Yusuke walked up to him, putting his hand out to high-five.

"We're gonna have to start together..." Yusuke said.

The two high-fived.

"As long as I get to kick your ass at some point!" Ryuzaki said. The two smiled, looking each other in the eyes.

"Let's get Kakeru to nationals..." Yusuke said.

"Together?" Ryuzaki said. 

"Together," Yusuke said, nodding.

The two bumped fists, 

"Together!" The two said in unison. 

Back in the match, Ryuzaki's eyes widened as Ikehara sprinted toward him. Yusuke landed on the ground, rolling out of bounds. The Kakeru teammates on the bench, stood up in shock. Ryuzaki turned running toward their hoop. Ikehara catching up not too far behind him. Yusuke stood back up, running back onto the court. Ryuzaki ran toward the hoop, dribbling the ball on the ground repeatedly. He approached the hoop, jumping up. Takeuchi's eyes widened from the sideline,

"He's not going to…" Coach internalized. Ryuzaki jumped up in the air, slamming the ball into the hoop. Ikehara jumped up with him attempting to block the dunk.

"… DUNK IT!?" Takeuchi internalized in shock. The ball fell into the hoop landing on the ground. Ryuzaki landed on the ground with him. Ryuzaki stood there breathing heavily. Ryuzaki's face look full of adrenaline from the shot he made just now. The ref blew the whistle signaling a timeout from Sendai Daiichi. Yusuke ran over to Ryuzaki hugging him. Ryuzaki lookedat Yusuke in shock. 

"What he said last night…"

"… Together…" Ryuzaki internalized. Ryuzaki grinned,

"We might be able to win together!!" Ryuzaki said to himself. Ryuzaki shook his head as the two ran over to the bench. The team would high five Ryuzaki from the shot he made assisted by Yusuke.

"Not just us… But the whole team!" Ryuzaki thought. The Sendai Daiichi team returned to their bench.

"Teruo… What the hell happened just now??" His coach asked. Ikehara looked at the ground,

"Sorry Coach… You got into your head… You saw him coming, why didn't you pass!?" His coach asked. Ikehara shrugged,

"Don't know, Coach-"

"Don't give me that! What happened!?" His coach asked.

"Believe me, coach… I don't know…" Ikehara said. His coach sighed,

"You got into your head Teruo, just because they're slower than you, doesn't mean you're smarter!" The Sendai Daiichi coach shook his head,

"Just… Get back out there, it's only two points and we're tied…" Their coach said. The Sendai Daiichi team nodded, running back onto the court. A few minutes before atthe Kakeru bench, Coach Takeuchi talked to his team.

"Keep doing what we're doing… Yusuke, don't pull that again or you'll be on the bench for the rest of the match…" Takeuchi said. Yusuke looked surprised,

"B-But coach, we scored??" Yusuke asked. Coach Takeuchi sighed,

"That doesn't matter, that fact is that it was risky… Did you see how you rolled out of bounds?" Takeuchi asked. Yusuke nodded,

"Yes Coach…" Yusuke said.

"Good, now, I want Yusuke defending 22 and Kazuma defending 45…" Coach Takeuchi said. The team nodded. The refs blew their whistles, signaling the end of the timeouts. The team put their arms together.

"KAKERU!" The team shouted in unison, walking back onto the court.