"HAHAHAHAHA!! Now you realise how weak you are without the Tensai's presence in Shizuoka!"

They glared at the redhead standing before them with that infuriating grin on his face before they even told him that they won the match between Jousei Highschool.

"Baka!" growled Akagi, bashing his fist onto the redhead's crown, "We won!"

"Ho! Ho! Ho!" laughed Anzai-sensei as he watched Hanamichi rub at the steaming bump on his forehead.

"So, Sakuragi," said Akagi looking at the redhead seriously in the eye, "How did that special practice go?"

"Heh heh!" chuckled the redhead, "You can see it for yourself later."

As the Guntai continued to throw confettis, blow party trumpets and cheered, Rukawa, Mitsui and Miyagi narrowed their eyes at the redhead who was looking all too sure of himself.

"Hmm... you sound confident," smiled Akagi, pleased. Although he knew that the redhead always tend to over-estimate himself, Akagi also knew that Sakuragi was the one with the strongest will of them all. That and he did not doubt one minute that Anzai-sensei had a reason for keeping Sakuragi behind for a solo practice.

"Of course," drawled Hanamichi, "Ask sensei if you don't believe me."

The white-haired coach laughed again as the redhead patted his shoulder smugly. The three team-members glared at Hanamichi again.

Damn it! cursed Mitsui, feeling jealous that of all people it had to be that stupid redhead who was to receive a personal training from coach Anzai.

What special training did he do? wondered Miyagi speculatively.

There were no thoughts running in Rukawa's mind but one could see his jaw clenching everytime the redhead looked at him condescendingly.
Rukawa wished he could somehow do something to bring the redhead back down from the pedestal he made for himself so when Mitsui and Miyagi approached him with an idea, the fox-eyed boy did not hesitate to join.

Akagi yawned and scratched at his head wearily as he walked towards the gym for their weekend practice. He chastised himself for staying up late to revise his physics but he couldn't help being neutoric with the mock-exams 2 months away. His other classmates would only start cramming one month before the exams but they were only aiming for a pass. He, like Kogure, aimed for honors. He would only stop playing with the team when the start of the revision week came but not before. Right now they have the championships to train for. Thinking about it woke him up and his strides turned determined. Soon they would be going against the Toyotama team and he wanted to make sure all of them to be in good shape before they leave for Hiroshima.
The captain smiled. All of them have been working pretty hard, especially the idiot rookie, Sakuragi. Anzai-sensei held Sakuragi in high regard and that added the degree of trust he had in the redhead to help them bring them to the championships.
The same went to Mitsui who worked just as hard as anybody. He was glad that the scarred-face boy came back to them after that trouble with his knee and his initiation with the group of bad students. With Mitsui back in the team, nine out of ten they can expect Mitsui's three-point shots to help them gain points.
And Miyagi. The little runt had trouble with Mitsui the first time round that placed him out of action for a period of time but now that the guard was back, their power of speed has also returned.
How about Rukawa? Well, the boy was the best solo player he has ever met. If only the junior taught himself more team playing skills, he would undoubtedly be the most valuable player in the entire highschool and college basketball squad. And probably the best person if he learnt to stop fighting with Sakuragi all the time which kept disrupting their practice with their sudden outburst of childishness. Just imagining it made Akagi shake his head wryly. Out of all the people in Japan, the captain was not surprised it had to be the redhead to make Rukawa give a slight reaction to stupid taunting. How they act was almost too impossible to understand, especially on a silent and serious person like Rukawa.
Importantly, he still had Kogure, Ayako and Anzai-sensei who helped him through the hard times since they met. They aided him in understanding and helping him to understand about the people in his team and at the beginning of his third year as the Shohoku team-captain, he realised that everyone has matured and he was only proud that he has been a part in their steps of growth. Even when along the way they felt pain, humiliation and defeat. And maybe it has helped them get wiser faster.
Yes, they have grown up fine...

"Ryotaaaa!!! Give me back my clothes!!"

"I don't have it! Mitsui does!"

"Micchy!! Hand over my pants!"

"Hey! I didn't take it! I only have your shirt!"

"Temme-! Then give it back to me!"

"Make me!"

"Mitsui! Give Sakuragi back his shirt. Onegai!"

"Hell, no, Kogure! Let everyone see him in that for a while!"

"Oh, you are so gonna get it!"

"Ahahahah! Hanamichi! If you bend a little lower and I can see your butt!"

"Urusai! What's that you got there in your hand, Ryota?!"

"Your towel."

"You swiped my towel?! Why didn't you tell me?!"

"You didn't ask!"

"Gimme!"

"Iie!"

"Wait'll I get my hands on you!"

"AHHH!!"

"Give it to me!"

"Guys....."

"Hey, Kogure! Catch!"

"What-?"

All Akagi could see now was red. Oh no, he was not angry yet. The vision of red came from the towel which has landed on his face. When he slowly pulled it off, he could see two grinning faces of Mitsui and Miyagi, one red-faced power-forward, one vice-captain looking pale and the last player as stoic as ever.

"Ah! Akagi! Gomen, ne. They didn't mean it-"

Akagi put up his hand to silence Kogure and asked calmly, "What is going on in here?"
Mitsui and Miyagi were still grinning like maniacs with a little hint or guilt in their smiles, Hanamichi was still blushing furiously tugging the hem of his shirt lower to cover at least his thighs, Rukawa still maintained his stony look- WAITAMINUTE! The captain shifted his attention back to the redhead and his eyes bulged out from his sockets.

Hanamichi was wearing a thin pink t-shirt with short frills around the collar and the word 'KICK THE FOOL' at the front. That and nothing else as Akagi could see from the material's shirt plastered against the redhead's skin by the wetness from the showers.

If Akagi wanted to break the seriousness of the moment he would've keeled over and laughed out loud but instead he growled, "Where are your gym clothes? And what are you doing wearing that... thing?"

"They hid my clothes while I was taking a shower!" fumed the redhead tugging at the hem of the shirt again.

Akagi waved his hand towards the redhead's body, "And the shirt?"

"It was the only thing I found hanging by the shower stall."

"And it suits you very much Sakuragi!" snickered Mitsui.

"Yeah! Who would've thought you look pretty in pink!" laughed Miyagi.

Akagi turned towards Miyagi and Mitsui and glared at them, "Kid's prank. You are both seniors! You should set an example to the younger students!"

"Ch," Mitsui huffed, "He annoys me."

"Hah!" scoffed Hanamichi, "You're just jealous Anzai-sensei thinks I'm better than you are!"

"You wish!" growled Mitsui.

"Hah!" laughed Miyagi, "Don't deny it Micchy. You are jealous because Anzai-sensei takes more time with Sakuragi than you."

"Jerk!" yelled Mitsui, "You're the one to talk! You were also pissed off that sensei gave Sakuragi personal training instead of you!"

"Jealous of that baka?! No way!"

"I'm not stupid!" yelled Sakuragi.

"Of course not," smirked Mitsui, "You're a fool."

"Temme!!"

"Yeah!" chuckled Miyagi, "It says so right here on the t-shirt!"

"ARGHH!! I'LL KILL YOU GUYS!"

"URUSAI!!" roared Akagi.

Everyone did shut up but the smirks were still visible on Miyagi and Mitsui's faces and Sakuragi was still blushing and fuming at the same time as he tugged on his t-shirt which seemed intent on riding high up his thighs. And Rukawa was ... well, still Rukawa.

Akagi sighed and turned towards the fox-eye boy, "And why did you help these two idiots in this stupidity?"

Rukawa shrugged, "I like to look at his legs."

Everyone stared at the raven-haired rookie in surprise. Hanamichi sputtered and began blushing again as he furiously began to tug the hem down to cover his legs for modesty, "Hentai!"

Shaking himself out of his shock, Miyagi snickered, "Well, at least he didn't say anything about your butt."

"No - oh, wait," gasped Mitsui in mock surprise, "YOU did."

"Ah! You're a hentai like the fox!" Hanamichi accused the short guard.

"Now wait a minute!" protested Miyagi, "I was just teasing him! It meant nothing! I love Ayako!"

"Yeah, right," grinned Mitsui, "And we didn't hear Rukawa praising Hanamichi's legs just now."

"Alright, that's enough!" commanded Akagi. If he allowed them to bicker all day, they'll miss precious practice hours. "Give Sakuragi back his clothes! Now!"

Grudgingly, Mitsui and Miyagi complied. Sakuragi snatched them angrily but stopped when he realised that he was missing one item of clothing.

"Rukawa," said Akagi, looking meaningfully at the short pants in Rukawa's hand, "Give it to him."

"Hai."

Hanamichi glared at Rukawa as the fox-eyed boy advanced but before the redhead could lay his hand on his pants in the boy's hand, he received a hard kick on the gut.

"UGH!!"

"Rukawa!" cried Kogure horrified, "What are you doing?"

"What the shirt says," said Rukawa montonously, pointing to the redhead's t-shirt. Akagi rubbed at his forehead while Mitsui and Miyagi doubled up in laughter.
Before they realised it, Sakuragi sprung into action and kicked Rukawa back. The fox-eyed boy conteracted with another vicious kick and the two went on until Akagi went over to the duo to place a bash on their heads.

"Itee!" cried Hanamichi. Rukawa winced.

Akagi slanted his eyes towards the four trouble-makers with a dangerous look, "Be ready in court in two minutes. If anyone is late that person will have to run 50 extra laps."

As Akagi strode towards the bench to sit down to change his shoes, Hanamichi grabbed his shorts from Rukawa and turned around to put them on. The others also got busy changing into their gym clothes except Rukawa who was blatantly staring at something on Hanamichi's back.

"Rukawa," Akagi said, annoyed that the fox-eyed boy was just standing there doing nothing instead of going to the court to start warming up.
"Shouldn't you be doing something?"

Rukawa arched an eyebrow and looked at Akagi skeptically. When Akagi's glower did not diminish, the raven-haired player sighed and walked up to stand behind Hanamichi to pull the redhead by the waist to lean the redhead against his chest. When Hanamichi suddenly stilled, Rukawa easily forced Hanamichi's face around by a grip on his chin to give the surprised boy a long kiss on the lips. Stunned, Hanamichi's lips slackened and Rukawa slipped his tongue in before he let himself consider that the kiss has turned way too intimate than he planned. The kiss lasted for less than 10 seconds but already the redhead was panting when Rukawa released him.

Everyone's jaw fell to the ground in pure shock.
No way! Rukawa did not just french kissed Hanamichi in front of all of them, did he?!

"E-Eto...?" stammered Kogure shakily.

"Wh-What...?" fumbled Akagi.

"Did that... just happened...?" asked Miyagi quietly.

"I...dunno..." replied Mitsui.

With a careless shrug, Rukawa stepped back to point at Hanamichi back, "It's what the shirt says."

"NANI?!"
Snapping out of his daze, Hanamichi twisted and turned to peer at his back and when he was finally able to read the wordings after stretching the shirt's material back, his face went aflame.
"Y-YOU HENTAI KITSUNE!!" Hanamichi sputtered

There on the back of Hanamichi's shirt were the words 'KISS THE FOOL'.
When the others saw the wordings, the shocked tension broke. Miyagi and Mitsui started laughing again, Kogure started blushing but with an amused grin on his lips and Akagi was trying to control his temper.

"Kami-sama!" gasped Miyagi, "I forgot about that one!"

"Damn it, Ryota," wheezed Mitsui, "Where did you get that thing?!"

"Sakuragi," sighed Akagi as he stood up from the bench, "Take that stupid shirt off and change into something else. As amusing as it is, I don't want any disruption in today's practice because of a piece of pink clothing with frills. The rest of you, hurry up with changing. I'll wait for you at court. And remember you have.... one more minute."

As he stepped out of the locker-room he heard the enraged voice of a very loud redhead, "AHH!! You stupid fox! Stop kicking me already!"

"Yeah, Rukawa!" Akagi heard Mitsui snicker, "I think he wants you to kiss him instead."

"Hmph. If the shirt says."

"Yeah, the shirt does!" cried Miyagi.

"AHHHHHHH! STAY AWAY FROM ME YOU PERV!"

"Ano... guys. Akagi said one minute."

"That's alright, Megane-kun," said Miyagi, "Rukawa kisses Hanamichi quicker than that."

"I didn't mean-"

"ITEE! BAKA KITSUNE! I SAID STOP KICKING AT ME!"

Akagi shook his head and continued to walk away. So much for maturity. Now he can only hope for sanity.

~Owari