Reconciliation

Sakuragi's fighting spirit blazed, and the score had been tied. Just then, while diving to save a ball, Sakuragi crashed heavily to the floor and could not get back up for a long time...

After Sakuragi let out a miserable cry of "Aaaah~~~~!", everyone rushed over.

"Sakuragi! Hang in there! What happened?!" Kawaguchi shouted.

Sakuragi looked to be in terrible pain, his expression twisted.

"Damn it, I haven't won yet!" Sakuragi said through gritted teeth.

"Enough, stop the match. I declare it a draw. It's over—call an ambulance, now!" Takayama said decisively.

"Sakuragi..." Haruko looked deeply worried.

The reporters who had been waiting outside the gym were bewildered by the sudden arrival of an ambulance.

"What happened in there?!"

"Don't tell me they got into a fight!"

"The Jaguars are in serious trouble now!"

Several reporters began speculating.

Once the ambulance arrived, Sakuragi was immediately placed on a stretcher. Kawaguchi got into the ambulance and headed to the hospital with him.

"The reporters have surrounded the front. Everyone, follow me out through the back door!" A gym staff member hurriedly called out when he saw everyone preparing to leave through the main entrance.

As expected, those who left through the back door avoided the reporters' pursuit and smoothly boarded Mr. Takayama's business van, rushing to the hospital.

Only after the ambulance had left and no one else appeared for a long time did the reporters realize they had been led on a wild-goose chase.

By the time they arrived at the hospital, Sakuragi had passed out from the pain.

The doctors quickly began examining Sakuragi.

Outside the examination room, Kawaguchi waited anxiously and prayed for Sakuragi. He had heard before about the severe injuries Sakuragi had suffered and the difficult rehabilitation he had endured to return to the court. If anything happened to Sakuragi, it would be like a bolt from the blue for Kawaguchi!

"The results are in. Fortunately, there is nothing serious. His body was stretched too violently, causing back spasms." The doctor's words calmed everyone down.

"The patient is weak right now. Wait until he wakes up before going in," the doctor instructed again.

"Whew~~" Hearing the doctor, Kawaguchi finally let out a sigh of relief.

"Haruko, I heard you're Sakuragi's close friend. Please take care of things here for now. A large group of reporters will definitely be coming soon, so I need to make some preparations. Thank you so much!" Kawaguchi had thought everything through.

"No problem. Leave this to me. Don't worry!" Haruko said firmly.

"That's great. I really appreciate it. I'll be going, then!" With that, Kawaguchi ran off into the distance.

In the VIP ward, only Haruko remained by Sakuragi's side.

Before long, Sakuragi woke up.

"You're awake, Sakuragi." Seeing his eyes slowly open, Haruko hurriedly asked.

Sakuragi's hazy eyes first saw the ceiling. He looked around in confusion, and the unfamiliar surroundings woke him up considerably. When he turned his head, he finally noticed Haruko sitting beside his bed.

"Ha... Ha... Haruko..." The moment Sakuragi saw Haruko sitting there, his sleepy eyes snapped fully awake.

"Where am I? How did I end up here?" Sakuragi looked as though he had lost his memory.

"Don't you remember, Sakuragi? You were injured while saving a ball during your match against Rukawa Kaede. This is the VIP ward Mr. Kawaguchi arranged for you!" Haruko explained.

"Ah!!! That's right, my match with Rukawa Kaede—we still haven't settled who won!" Sakuragi suddenly remembered.

With that, Sakuragi tried to get out of bed. But the moment he moved, a piercing pain shot through his waist, making him cry out, "Ah! It hurts, it hurts!"

"You can't move. Your back spasms only just subsided, and you can't do any more strenuous activity. The doctor said you need to rest!" Seeing Sakuragi about to get out of bed, Haruko tried to stop him.

"My body's fine. It's nothing!" Sakuragi said stubbornly.

"No, Sakuragi. If you keep this up, I'm really going to get mad!" Haruko said angrily.

"Haruko..." Sakuragi was startled by Haruko's sudden outburst.

"I don't want to see you get hurt again, Sakuragi!" Haruko said, sounding somewhat aggrieved.

"Haruko..." Sakuragi looked somewhat guilty.

The two fell silent for a long while.

Sakuragi, you're such an idiot. You actually made Haruko worry about you. The Haruko you've dreamed of day and night is right beside you—hurry up and apologize. Be a man and face Haruko!

"I'm sorry, Haruko. Please forgive me for suddenly showing up! I actually wanted to surprise you, but one strange thing after another happened, and so..." Gathering all his courage, Sakuragi finally began explaining himself to Haruko.

"Alright, alright, Sakuragi, don't say any more. You don't need to apologize. I was a little rash at the press conference too. Seeing you so suddenly left me with mixed feelings of sadness and joy, and that made you misunderstand." Haruko explained as well.

"So you're not mad at me?!" A look of sincere anticipation flashed across Sakuragi's face.

"How could I ever be mad at Sakuragi?" Haruko said.

"Haruko~~~~!!!" Upon hearing Haruko's words, Sakuragi's tears poured down like a waterfall!

"Idiot~~~" Seeing Sakuragi moved like a child, Haruko said shyly.

Idiot!!! Haruko actually called me an idiot!!!!!!!! Ah!!!!! We're alone together in a hospital room, and she even called me an idiot!! It really feels like I'm dating Haruko!!! Hahahahahaha!! Hearing Haruko's words, Sakuragi's heart burst into bloom, and his expression looked as if he had hit the jackpot.

"Sakuragi, what's wrong with you?" Haruko was at a loss as she watched Sakuragi grinning foolishly to himself.

"Ah~~ Ah~~ Nothing, haha." Sakuragi still could not help snickering.

"Stop grinning like an idiot and tell me about your life in the United States! I'm so jealous of you—you got to go to the United States and live there for so long!"

"Ha ha, it wasn't anything too special, just..."

The two old friends who had not seen each other for years began chatting. It felt wonderfully comfortable.

"Hahaha, was your red hair dyed before?"

"Haruko!!!"

"So... did I get taller, or did you get shorter, Haruko??"

"Sakuragi!!! You jerk!!!"

"Hahahaha, I was just joking, Haruko!"

"Hmph! I'm not talking to you anymore!"

Laughter rang out from the hospital room from time to time. The two really did tease and flirt like a couple, and the atmosphere was incredibly lively! Having not seen each other for three years, both had so much to say—especially Sakuragi, who had no idea how long he had waited for this.

Knock, knock, knock! The cheerful atmosphere between Sakuragi and Haruko was interrupted by the deafening knocking.

"I'll get it." Hearing the sound, Haruko got up to open the door.

"Big brother!!!!!" Haruko exclaimed in surprise as she opened the door.

"Big brother??!!" Sakuragi was taken aback.

"Ah! Could it be..."

"Gorilla!" Sakuragi finally remembered that Haruko had an older brother.

A huge, bronze-skinned man entered, bending at the waist and lowering his head to avoid the doorway, which was far too low for him.

As Sakuragi watched the man gradually approach, his face suddenly turned pale, and he even seemed to break out in a cold sweat.

"Idiot! What the hell happened? You got hurt the moment you came back!"

That's right—this burly man, built like a boxer, was none other than Akagi Haruko's older brother, Takenori Akagi!

"G... G... Gorilla?" Sakuragi was clearly unprepared for Akagi's arrival, and even began stammering.

"Without that red hair, you really are harder to recognize. But you're the only one who'd dare call me 'Gorilla.' Looks like your injuries aren't that serious!" Akagi was still extremely sensitive about being called "Gorilla."

"Big brother!" Haruko said as if pleading on Sakuragi's behalf.

"You came back without even letting us know. That's not like you, Sakuragi!" Akagi was not overly angry.

"Captain... I..." Sakuragi did not know how to explain himself to Akagi.

"Forget it. I heard you had a showdown with Rukawa Kaede over the top pick and fought to a draw. Not bad!" It seemed Akagi already knew something about what had happened.

"Hahaha, not bad, not bad. I could have won, though!!! Hahahaha!" Akagi's praise made Sakuragi relax a little.

"Stop bragging, idiot. You worked your body into this state." Akagi still spoke in a scolding tone, but he was actually very concerned about Sakuragi. Having watched Sakuragi grow, he knew just how much potential Sakuragi had.

"It was an accident, an accident, hahaha!" Sakuragi chuckled foolishly.

"Big brother, did you come alone?" Haruko vaguely saw someone outside the door and asked.

"Oh, right. There are others outside. They're embarrassed to see you." Perhaps Akagi had been so excited to see Sakuragi again after so long that he had forgotten about the others outside.

"Others??" Sakuragi was puzzled.

"Sakuragi!!!" Before Sakuragi could react, "the people outside" charged in and threw themselves straight at him.