Kogure had a few bruises on his face too, but they were nothing compared to Mitsui's. If Yohei kept hitting him, Mitsui would probably end up in intensive care.
But Mitsui showed no appreciation at all. He stepped forward and slapped Kogure across the face with a sharp smack, sending even his glasses flying. "Get lost! This has nothing to do with you!" His voice was terribly hoarse, and that slap seemed to have drained the last of his strength. He panted heavily.
Yohei's gaze turned cold. He was about to move when Kogure raised a hand to stop him again. "Mitsui," Kogure said calmly, looking at him with complicated eyes, "it's been three years. Isn't it time you grew up a little?"
Those words stabbed like a thorn straight into Mitsui's heart, making him freeze.
Bang, bang, bang! Bang, bang, bang!
Suddenly, thunderous pounding came from the gym doors. The sound drilled into everyone's ears. To Tetsuo's gang, it was nothing short of a lifeline!
Their leader, Tetsuo, had long since been beaten into a heap by Shirasawa. A few seconds earlier, he had muttered, "You're really strong..." from the floor, then stopped moving altogether. His second-in-command, Ryu, had also passed out long ago after Shirasawa took him down in an instant. Mitsui had been on the receiving end of Yohei's beating the whole time. Hanamichi Sakuragi and Ryota Miyagi had finished their fights long ago too.
Everything was settled. The Shohoku Basketball Team had won this brawl hands down.
At the knocking, the few of Tetsuo's lackeys who could still move scrambled toward the doors. Opening them and ending this nightmare was their only thought now.
Ryota Miyagi saw them and inwardly cried out in alarm. During the fight, he had vaguely heard movement outside. It was almost certainly people from the school-there was no way Tetsuo's gang could have barged in like that without anyone noticing. If the school caught them red-handed at this point, the Shohoku Basketball Team would surely be disbanded!
"You idiots! Don't open the doors!!" Miyagi shouted frantically.
But it was already too late. Two lackeys yanked the doors open and looked up expectantly-there was no dawn of freedom outside, only an enormous, King Kong-like figure completely blocking the doorway.
It was Takenori Akagi!
Frightened by his imposing build, the two lackeys thought more Shohoku reinforcements had arrived. Scared out of their wits, they stumbled back several steps.
Several school staff members behind Akagi were desperately trying to squeeze past him. One shouted at the top of his lungs, "Akagi, move aside! What on earth is going on with the basketball team?"
"We received a report that outsiders broke in! Is there a fight? Let us in now!"
Takenori Akagi frowned as he surveyed the wreckage strewn across the gym, then turned and slammed the doors firmly shut again. Leaning his back against them, he explained in a low voice, "The team is holding a secret training session. Visitors aren't allowed. I'll come explain the situation personally once it's over."
That clearly wasn't enough to fool the people outside. Thunderous pounding immediately shook the doors, and shouting came through them. "What kind of training can't even the school watch?" "Akagi, open up! We're coming in right now!"
Akagi said nothing more and walked straight toward Hisashi Mitsui.
Everyone from Shohoku breathed a sigh of relief-the captain clearly intended to keep the matter under wraps. But they couldn't understand why Akagi had headed for Mitsui without a word.
As Mitsui watched that towering figure approach step by step, his heart beat faster and faster. Scenes from three years ago suddenly surged through his mind. His throat tightened, and he instinctively murmured, "A... Akagi..."
Before he could finish, Akagi had stopped in front of him. Under everyone's astonished gaze, Akagi suddenly raised his arm-
A slap landed squarely across Mitsui's face.
Before Mitsui could recover, another slap came backhanded!
Mitsui staggered from side to side like a blade of grass about to snap in the wind. Even Shirasawa couldn't help turning his face away-a nearly two-meter-tall man slapping someone already covered in injuries over and over hurt just to listen to.
Hanamichi Sakuragi watched, dumbstruck. In his eyes, Mitsui's gravestone was practically being erected already.
Tetsuo's gang didn't even dare breathe loudly. They could only huddle to one side and watch helplessly. They were meat on the chopping block now, entirely at the others' mercy.
Amid the slapping, Sakuragi crouched and sidled up to Kiminobu Kogure, lowering his voice to ask, "Four-Eyes, does Gorilla have a grudge against this guy too? He looks like he's going to kill him."
That was actually what everyone else was wondering too. None of them had ever seen Captain Akagi like this.
Kogure sighed softly, bent down to pick up his fallen glasses, and put them on. He was silent for two seconds before speaking quietly. "Hisashi Mitsui... was once the hope of the Shohoku Basketball Team."
Every player froze at those words. They simply couldn't connect the delinquent before them with words like "basketball" and "hope."
Akagi delivered another slap, and Mitsui finally couldn't hold himself up anymore, collapsing to his knees. Fighting back the pain, he suddenly turned and roared at Kogure, "What nonsense are you spouting? Shut up!"
The words had barely left his mouth when Kogure suddenly charged over and grabbed him by the collar. "Why shouldn't I say it? Who was it who said we'd conquer the nation? Who said he'd win MVP again? Mitsui, weren't you the one who said all that? Now you don't dare admit it?!"
Kogure's rare roar exploded through the gym, as though he meant to pour out every emotion he had suppressed for years. Mitsui gritted his teeth and tried to break free, only to be gripped even tighter.
"You're a bastard!" Kogure's eyes reddened. "You're the one who destroyed my dream with your own hands! The day you left the team, I knew my dream was over-but Akagi never gave up! He held on all by himself for three years!"
"This year, we finally got some strong reinforcements. Our dream could finally continue... but you had to show up now! And like this! Talking about the end of the Shohoku Basketball Team... Mitsui, how many times do you have to steal our dreams before you're satisfied?!"
"I fucking... want to beat the hell out of you!"
After Kogure's furious outburst, the players finally understood most of what had happened. None of them had imagined Shohoku had such a past.
His words pinned Mitsui to the spot, dispelling every trace of his earlier arrogance. His gaze grew evasive as he looked at Kogure, but he still stubbornly retorted, "Enough of that useless crap... what do your dreams have to do with me?"
"Basketball... I already..."
"Mitchy."
A muffled voice interrupted him. Tetsuo Hotta struggled into a sitting position, his face swollen like a pig's head. He stretched his mouth, hissing in pain, but still forced out a smile. "Things have already come this far. Stop acting tough. You've been running away from basketball. You might fool everyone else, but you can't fool me."
"Deep down... you still want to play, don't you?"
Mitsui's teeth ground audibly. Of course he had never truly let go of basketball-although he hadn't trained in three years, he neither smoked nor drank. That was probably his last bit of stubbornness. He had picked a fight with Ryota Miyagi a few months earlier because he saw him making a name for himself on the basketball team. That was precisely what he had lost, and he could only use extreme methods to fill that hole in his heart.
Even today's supposed bloody assault on the basketball team was half for Tetsuo Hotta, while the other half... was simply because that place in his heart felt frighteningly empty.
Fate had played another trick on him.
Yet it had also given him one final chance to turn back.
Mitsui clenched his fists, his nails digging deep into his palms, his whole body taut as a fully drawn bow.
Just then-
From outside the gym doors suddenly came a voice he both missed and feared.
"Open the door."
"Akagi, it's me."
Mitsui's heart felt ready to explode, but his mind went completely blank.
That voice, however, made Shirasawa smile. He knew everything was settled. He turned to open the doors. Miyagi panicked a little beside him and called softly, "Xiao Bai..."
Last time, Akagi had covered for them when the doors opened, but what about this time? Surely Coach Anzai wouldn't help bluff their way through too? Besides, with this mess before them, no bluff could possibly work. But Shirasawa merely gave him a meaningful nod and pulled the doors open, fully exposing everything inside.
The school staff swarmed in and immediately sucked in sharp breaths. Good grief, this wasn't a basketball gym-it was a gladiatorial arena!
"Check how badly they're hurt! Get the school doctor!"
"The one by the door! Don't let him get away!"
Compared with the school staff's panic, Coach Anzai was as calm as though nothing had happened. He slowly looked around, gave an almost imperceptible nod when he saw that none of the players were seriously hurt, then fixed his gaze steadily on Mitsui and walked toward him, step by step.
Mitsui's breathing grew more and more rapid. When Coach Anzai's figure truly came into view, the final wall in his heart came crashing down.
He could no longer hold back the emotions that had built up for three years, and he began bawling like a child. Those around him were all somewhat moved.
Teacher and disciple were like father and son. Three years ago, Coach Anzai had treated him like his own son and placed great hopes in him. But what had he done? Because of one injury, he had veered down the wrong path and never set foot in the basketball team for three whole years.
After three years apart, this was how they met again. He was no longer the middle school MVP who had drawn everyone's attention.
Back in the Kanagawa middle school league, Mitsui's MVP title had carried real weight. He had been far more famous than this year's Kaede Rukawa. He had come to Shohoku specifically for Coach Anzai, vowing to build a realm of victories for his mentor.
Now, three years later, he knelt here in utter disarray. Where was even a trace of his former high spirits?
He didn't know how to face his mentor. He could only let his tears stream down, crying over his foolishness and absurd behavior these past three years.
Coach Anzai had reached him.
Mitsui raised his head helplessly, unable to say a single word. But Coach Anzai seemed to understand everything. Looking at his once-beloved pupil, he said gently, "Mitsui, it's been a long time."
Who knew how much concern lay within that simple "it's been a long time"?
Mitsui trembled all over. Finally casting aside every distracting thought, he raised his tear-streaked face and choked out between sobs, "Coach... I... I want to play basketball!"
"I really want to play basketball!"
Coach Anzai smiled with relief, reached out to rest his hand gently on Mitsui's head, and spoke the words Mitsui had longed to hear for so long.
"Welcome back to the team."
Watching the scene, Shirasawa nodded meaningfully. Shohoku's final, and most important, puzzle piece had finally fallen into place.