Work Text:
The sounds of shoes squeaking on the polished floor used to annoy Rukawa, mainly because that meant he wasn’t the only person on the court. Not that it was something he wanted to get used to, but if it was the only sound he could hear rather than the babble of the players, he might enjoy the practice sessions a little more.
Especially if that meant excluding one particular person.
“Pass pass pass, Rukawa! Pass the ball!” Sakuragi yelled.
Sakuragi waved his arms frantically as he ran towards Rukawa, glaring at him like he hoped to provoke him into passing the ball. Rukawa caught Mitsui from the corner of his eye and passed the ball to him instead, slipping a smirk at the horrified shout from Sakuragi.
Mitsui dribbled towards the hoop, dodging a block from Miyagi and jumping back to shoot the ball and score the point. He grinned back at Rukawa with a thumbs-up. “Nice pass, Rukawa!”
“Eh?!” Sakuragi practically deflated at the sound of the whistle. “Mi-chan! You could’ve passed it to me!”
“Yeah, but you were too far.”
“Just throw it to me and I’ll catch it, idiot!”
Miyagi motioned for the ball to be thrown at him and hurled it towards Sakuragi. “Catch this then!”
Sakuragi laughed when he jumped to catch the ball, holding it up victoriously. “Ha! See?! I’m perfectly capable of anything!”
“Anything, huh?” Mitsui grabbed another ball from the cart and threw it while Sakuragi laughed. “I can believe that!”
Perhaps anyone can if they witnessed what Rukawa saw: how fateful it was for the ball to hit Sakuragi’s face and send him to the floor with the ball he held onto. The court erupted in laughter and Sakuragi sprang up, a bump seeming to grow on his forehead and matching the red of his cheeks when he bellowed at Mitsui.
“H-hey! Immediate foul, Mitchi!”
“You gotta be ready for everything, right?!” Mitsui laughed while Sakuragi chased him. “You are capable of anything, including catching fouls!”
“Dammit!”
Rukawa rolled his eyes while they ran about. As easy as it was to tease Sakuragi about his luck with fouls, whether they were his fault or not, there was a bit of truth to his words. As much as he does have potential, Rukawa couldn’t help but feel impatient at his skills–or rather, lack of skills. Keeping that mouth shut might do wonders for the whole team and even give Rukawa a bit of enjoyment in the practice games, but if even Anzai believed the amateur of all people could work as the hidden card of the team…
…Rukawa glanced at Anzai, who watched Sakuragi tackle Mitsui on the floor with a thoughtful hand on his chin. Maybe he should have a bit of faith in Anzai, as foolish as the thought was to have an ounce of hope in Sakuragi. Rukawa straightened his posture when Ayako blew the whistle to regroup the players, and somehow Sakuragi untangled himself from Mitsui and ran to the center of the court first.
Akagi voiced his praise to those who participated in the match, even with the entertainment from a particular someone finding his own fate with the basketball. Sakuragi scoffed at him, his arms crossed when Anzai stepped towards him and gestured to Rukawa to come closer to the group.
“I may have a plan in the works for another mock game. If you two were to work together in future games…” Anzai hummed softly, “I think you two would be–”
“Eh?! Work together?” Sakuragi retracted in disgust. “This genius with a novice like him? Old man, you’ve got to be joking!”
An accusing finger pointed at Rukawa while Sakuragi jabbered on to Anzai, restating ‘moments of absolute genius play’ to somehow persuade Anzai into changing his mind. The conversation happened before, though under distasteful circumstances when Shohoku played against Ryonan and Anzai suggested the two play together and guard Sendoh.
Rukawa slightly raised an eyebrow. That moment was back then when Sakuragi’s skills were laughable even to the crowd, but if they were to work together now...
A glance at Sakuragi tugging on Anzai’s chin with a distraught Ayako waiting to smack him with her fan, and Rukawa exhaled. It was foolish to think they could ever make a team, and yet–
“Hey! Rukawa!” Sakuragi turned around, switching his demeanor with a devilish smile. “If the old man has enough faith to believe in this genius, I might play nice and pass the ball every now and then. But first, I have to see your skills again in a mock game!”
… Moron.
Rukawa stared at him, familiar with the fire in his eyes and the burning confidence all fueled at the thought of his own genius. His arrogance was admirable on occasion, but it didn’t make him less of an idiot on the team. And like he thought before, he was impatient to see Sakuragi hone his skills into becoming a formidable opponent.
“I wasn’t planning on going easy on you anyway,” Rukawa simply said. He turned around before seeing Sakuragi’s grin replaced with a look of rage and ignored his building fury. Sakuragi tended to play better when he was angry, especially if he wanted to surpass an opponent in his own way.
Let him be, as all of Shohoku had learned about Sakuragi, and don’t hold your breath if he were to come up with his own surprises. Akagi watched the interaction with a faint smile, knowing full well of Anzai’s plans for both rookies–as unrealistic as it could be on the surface with their clashing personalities. But they were both skilled: Rukawa handling both inside and outside the rim, and Sakuragi’s phenomenal rebounds and potential for learning new skills. If they were to set aside their rivalry and work together… Shohoku would have a whole new ace for future games.
“Oy! Sakuragi!” Mitsui yelled. “Don’t get your face hit with a ball this time!"
“Not this genius, Mitchi!” Sakuragi laughed. He caught the ball Miyagi threw at him and placed himself before Rukawa, dribbling the ball while calculating his next moves.
Whatever those calculations could be, that is. As powerful as Sakuragi was, he still relied on that power too much in his plays to make any skilled player able to predict his next moves. Rukawa matched Sakuragi’s movements, ready for the right moment to steal the ball with a quick smack!
The sound echoed through the gym and Rukawa ran with the ball, adding to the thunder of his dribbling and Sakuragi stomping after him. Sakuragi was tempted to hit the ball from him, but Rukawa took advantage of his change of focus by stepping back to dribble around him. He caught Sakuragi’s look of surprise before he continued to run towards the basket, though Rukawa was puzzled at the lack of insults thrown at him for the move.
To think he was taking the mock game seriously, though Rukawa had to give him some credit. It was more refreshing than the last time Sakuragi challenged him to a game, but they lacked an audience at the time–which may have been wise with Sakuragi’s humiliating loss. And now?
Sakuragi ran in front of Rukawa to block him from attempting to make a shot, shifting side to side when Rukawa focused on finding the right moment to throw the ball. Move to the left, move to the right, take a step back and Rukawa jumped while Sakuragi tried to spring up with fierce momentum. Sakuragi’s hand barely grazed the ball when it left Rukawa’s hands and a soft swoosh from the hoop accepting the ball filled the momentary silence.
A look of disgust on Sakuragi’s face, but not a word left his mouth, even with the fire ablaze in his eyes. Rukawa could make a comment of his own, perhaps to motivate his focus or send him spiraling back into his bad luck, but refrained himself from how quiet the court was. Everyone’s focus remained glued to their movements and where the ball traveled, even Sakuragi kept his jaw clenched to bite back an insult–unless it was a new tactic of his own? Keeping silent to throw everyone off?
Sakuragi lunged forward to grab the ball and picked up the pace while heading towards the hoop on the other side of the gym. Rukawa never had a problem catching up with Sakuragi, whether it was chasing after him or making up for the fouls he performed in previous matches. The ball dribbled and Sakuragi kept it close to him, his brow furrowed in concentration and he jumped once he made the three-point line to make the shot.
If only he was decent with the three-pointers, Rukawa had rolled his eyes at the thought. Sakuragi cried out in horror from missing the hoop and ran to catch the ball again, this time dribbling closer to it to make a better shot. Rukawa stepped around to block him, easily matching Sakuragi’s movements as he tried to find the right angle to throw the ball. Perhaps he found the right calculation or he believed in his own foolishness when Sakuragi harshly flung the ball to the hoop.
A right calculation when it bounced and circled the rim, a foolish move when it circled several times over and fell away from the net. While it would’ve been an easy defeat, that was when Sakuragi’s skills finally came into play with his rebounds. He jumped to catch the ball and in one smooth move when his feet hit the ground, made the throw again before Rukawa could jump to block him.
Another bounce against the basket, another circle around the rim, but fate had wanted to favor Sakuragi this time when the ball fell into the net and scored him a point.
A second of silence to take in the moment and Sakuragi’s face split into a grin. A tie didn’t mean official victory on his end, but a point was still a sacred point to him, whether it was because he truly improved or Rukawa decided to test the waters with his skills. No matter of it with what everyone had witnessed, and he jumped up in victory–celebrating just a tad too soon before he realized Rukawa had already grabbed the ball and made his way to the other side of the court.
Maybe Sakuragi was feeling hopeful as he dashed after him, hoping that his ‘phenomenal skills’ would shine through again to score another point. But alas, he celebrated too soon when Rukawa jumped to make a simple shot, effortless without Sakuragi in the way–although Sakuragi did crash into the floor when he tried to jump after him and Rukawa side-stepped in time to avoid him.
Always the fool, but a surprising one with that point he made. Ayako blew the whistle and the rest of the team cheered for Rukawa’s victory; although if Sakuragi strained his ears, Miyagi might have voiced a quiet cheer for him. Rather than scolding him for lacking the enthusiasm for his support, Sakuragi paused for a moment when he looked at Rukawa. Taking in the score and recollecting how all the points were made, he raised his hand as an offering, only to then shake his head at the gesture for even fathoming the idea of high-fiving Rukawa.
Rukawa caught onto it, though amused. “Good call. I would’ve caught your stupidity if I touched you.”
“Shut it, idiot. It was just a reflex saved by another reflex,” Sakuragi muttered.
“It explains my skills, you know, not touching you during our sessions.”
“I said shut it.”
Perhaps it was better if some things didn’t change, character-wise. Rukawa heard the quiet hum from Anzai and watched as he rubbed his chin again, pleased at the results of the game. Maybe it was embarrassing to have someone like Sakuragi in the team, but maybe it was more foolish to underestimate him. Rukawa knew he would have to be patient for a while, and as much as he would rather practice against someone as competent as him, he had to cut Sakuragi some slack.
Rukawa glanced back at Sakuragi, watching him pull on Miyagi’s cheek with one hand while spinning the basketball on one finger with the other hand. Maybe the next game won’t be as horrendous as it could be if he acted the same way he did in the mock session. Rukawa could only hope he didn’t have to hold his breath for too long at the thought, lest he wanted to wind up dead before the final match.
Not a chance, he had thought. He couldn’t give Sakuragi that much satisfaction anyway.