Sports Tournament

The next morning, I got up early and left the house without seeing anyone.

I got a text from Sho on the way to school, telling me that he wished me luck for the sports tournament. I wanted to ask him why I hadn't seen him around to see what he would say, but I chickened out. I knew the reason anyway but was still too scared to bring it up. So I just said thanks.

I nervously approached the school, knowing that me taking off last night after Yankumi's wrestling match with Yuuki raised some questions.

But the guys cheerfully greeted me and didn't say a thing about last night, much to my relief.

"Do you think he'll come?" I overheard Minami nervously whisper to Kuma, who shrugged defeatedly.

I went to change in the restroom into my sports wear before joining the guys back in the classroom. I realized that I was starting to get a little nervous. What if Yuuki didn't show up?

We waited until right before the sports tournament was about to begin, but Yuuki did not come. Yankumi came into the classroom and it was hard to miss her crestfallen expression when she realized he wasn't here with us.

"It's alright. We'll do our best," Kuma said to Yankumi.

"And if he doesn't show up, I could find a disguise and play basketball too," Sawada said. If he had said that any other time, I would have found it amusing, but he seemed dead serious.

"Alright everyone, gather 'round," she said, putting out her hand. We all stacked our hands on top of hers. "We'll do our best. Fight-"

"OH!" we shouted.

Soccer, ping-pong and softball were being played at the same time, so the class had to choose which to go root for.

I looked up at Uchi surprised when he followed us out to the field. I thought he'd go with the others to the softball game.

"Do your best," he said with a smile. I nodded.

"Let's win this!" we all shouted together in our group huddle.

"Game START!"

At the whistle, our team took off. Everyone ran hard for the ball.

"Pass it, pass it!"

"Kick it, kick it!"

"Don't let him get it!"

"I'm open!"

The shouts and calls that the teams made filled the air.

Our basic strategy was to have three or four players kick the ball back and forth while the rest of the team blocked our opponents. It got a little rough, as blocking began to consist of tripping and waving arms in people's faces, but we were on a roll.

During practice, I had complained a lot about the amount of running back and forth we had to do, but during the game, the adrenaline must have kicked in because I found myself moving and focusing on the ball. I even managed to successfully pass the ball once to Sawada, which was a pretty big improvement from when we started. For a moment, I really believed we had a chance.

The soccer match was going pretty well - we hadn't scored but neither had the other team, but we managed not to start a fight yet - until we had a kick off in the next quarter. Horibe went for it as hard as he could, somehow missed, and kicked his opponent.

Our teammates thought it was funny and congratulated him, but we got disqualified for "deliberate injury".

Sawada stood off to the side, rolling his eyes.

"Man, I really thought it was going to be me that hurt someone," I said, amused.

"Well, that means us winning the championship is off the table," Sawada muttered. So much for our bet with Saruwatari.

"You did your best," Uchi said as encouragingly as he could. "You were really cool, Kana."

"I didn't do anything!"

"Still," he insisted. I shook my head. He really was too nice.

"What about me?" Sawada asked dryly.

"You're always cool, Shin," Uchi remarked.

"That's right," Sawada responded coolly. He glared at me when I let out an exasperated groan and Uchi laughed. Somehow, just for that moment, I forgot that we had lost.

But the rest of our team's glum looks quickly brought us back and we all trudged back to the classroom, an aura of defeat weighing on us. The moment the adrenaline wore off, I felt exhausted and the day had only just begun. We sat waiting for the other teams to show up.

Suddenly, the door opened and the softball team and the rest of 3-D walked in with Yankumi. We stared at each other.

"Your match is over already?" Yankumi asked.

"Disqualified for deliberate injury," Sawada said.

"Yeah, I was trying to kick the ball and sort of kicked the other guy…my bad!" Horibe explained.

Yankumi sighed. "You guys too?"

"And what about you guys?" I asked.

"Their pitcher hit Oishi with the ball, and so we sort of lost it and went after the entire team…" Minami explained. I mean, it was Oishi and I could imagine it all going down.

"Well, there's always ping-pong," Yankumi said.

At that moment, Hazama and Gamo, our two ping-pong players, walked in, rubbing the back of their necks.

"We kind of got mad and flipped the table over, so we got disqualified," they said. "Sorry."

The whole class hung their heads in disappointment.

"So that leaves basketball…" Yankumi said.

The class looked at each other. Yuuki still had not come.

When we got to the gym, Class 3-C, our first opponent, was already there warming up. There was a tense atmosphere.

Abe sauntered up to me, catching me in a corner when 3-D was busy cheering for our team who was finally taking their turn to warm up. We hadn't spoken since the last incident and I was surprised and annoyed that he had the gall to even try now. I almost laughed at his pink shirt that had Fujiyama's face on it. We had all heard that she had promised to kiss the winning teams of 3-C on the cheek. It had been Noda's biggest gripe this past week.

"Yuuki's not here yet?" Abe smirked.

"Mind your own business," I snapped.

"Well even if he's here, it's not like you guys can win anyways," he said.

"Do you always have your head stuck up your ass?"

"Then let's bet on it. If Yuuki actually shows up and you win, I'll announce that 3-D is the best class at this school on the loudspeakers," Abe said.

"And apologize to Yuuki," I said, surprising myself at how quickly I thought of it. Abe grimaced. "I know you bullied him and that's why he stopped coming to school. Without that apology included, there's no bet."

"Fine," he growled.

"And if we lose?" I asked, dreading his answer.

He leaned super close to me. "You kiss me, the moment we win."

"Get the hell away from her," I heard Uchi growl before I could react. Uchi had stepped between us, grabbing the front of Abe's jersey.

I grabbed Uchi's arm as Abe just laughed, holding his hands up.

"Wouldn't want to get disqualified before we even start, would we?" Abe smirked. "And that would mean I automatically win the bet."

"What bet?" Uchi demanded, turning to me after releasing Abe reluctantly. So he hadn't heard what Abe said.

"We haven't shaken on it, Kana-chan~."

"Don't call me that!" I snapped.

God, this was so stupid. But I couldn't stand to see that smirk on his face. I looked up at Uchi who was staring down at me worriedly. Could 3-D really win? Would Yuuki show up?

"She doesn't trust that you can win against us," Abe sneered and it sent me over the edge. I stepped past Uchi and held out my hand.

"Deal," I said through gritted teeth. Abe grabbed my hand quickly, squeezing my upper arm with his other hand, making me feel sick. I yanked my hand out his grasp and glared at him. I felt Uchi's hand on my shoulder. Abe seemed like he would say something else but we both seemed to spot Sawada walking towards us at the same time.

"I'm looking forward to this," Abe grinned, taking off towards his team before Sawada reached us.

"What was that about?" he asked us, tilting his head towards the way Abe went.

"What the hell, Kana?" Uchi asked me. "What kind of deal did you make with that bastard?!"

"Please do your best to win," I said as cheerfully as I could, hitting his shoulder.

Sawada looked between us, clearly not understanding. "It's time," he said, sticking a thumb towards the court. Saruwatari was holding the ball and the players for 3-C and 3-D were lining up for the start of the game.

Uchi gave me one more look before heading onto the court.

I took my spot next to the rest of 3-D and Sawada stood next to me. We saw Tetsu and Minoru as well as Shinohara-san and his detective buddy standing at the opposite corner of the court.

"Yuuki's coming right?" I said quietly.

"I hope so," he responded.

"3-D is one player short," Saruwatari pointed out when the two teams lined up to face each other.

"There's still two minutes until game time," Yankumi told him.

"Fine. Two minutes until you are officially disqualified," Sawtari said.

"Might as well just give up now," Abe sneered at our team.

"What's that?!" Kuma demanded and would have attacked him if Minami didn't hold him back. The two teams glared at each other.

"I guess it's pretty much decided that not only can you not win the championship but you're in last place," Saruwatari scoffed.

We all held our breaths as the timer counted down.

"Time's up," Saruwatari declared when the timer reached 0. "3-D, you're disqualified," he said, about to blow his whistle when the sound of a door opening stopped him.

We all looked over at the gym entrance and saw Yuuki walk in slowly but determinedly, a bandage on his cheek courtesy of last night I assumed. He actually made it. Even 3-D who was noisy this whole time were dead silent as we all stared at him. He walked past 3-C and stopped next to Uchi.

"We have all 5 team members," Yankumi said to Saruwatari who shrugged.

"Very well, then. Proceed with the game between 3-C and 3-D," he said and blew his whistle. The two teams bowed to each other before heading to the appropriate side of the court.

I saw Abe stop Yuuki and sneer softly, "I didn't know you were alive. I thought you died."

Sawada grabbed my arm when I made a move towards them.

"It's up to him now," Sawada reminded me. True, but that didn't make me want to pound Abe's arrogant face into the ground any less.

"Ganbare!" everyone shouted as the game began.

From the get-go, I saw that 3-C took every chance they could to knock into Yuuki. They played dirty against the whole team, but Yuuki especially suffered. I fumed. Saruwatari must be freakin' blind if he didn't notice all the fouls that should have been called. I saw Minoru struggling to hold Tetsu back as he looked just as mad as I was.

Uchi passed the ball to Yuuki, but Abe punched him in the stomach as he stole the ball from him. Yuuki doubled over and coughed.

But that wasn't the end of it. Kuma couldn't keep tight control of the ball, and when Noda got knocked over, he also knocked Uchi down with him. I groaned. Minami was the only one who made a shot, but even he couldn't fend off the blocks from Abe. Yuuki was getting beaten and bruised all over for even touching the ball.

There was no doubt that Abe was a skillful player, but using brute force to win this game wasn't getting him any points in my book, not that he had any to begin with.

Our class was getting more and more aggravated. I wondered how much longer it would be before they all jumped on the court and attacked 3-C's players.

The score was ridiculous at halftime. 21 to 2. We were losing, of course.

As we watched, Minami suddenly gained access to the ball. He dribbled quickly down the court and then passed it to Yuuki, who dribbled down to the basket.

"Go Yuuki!" I shouted.

Suddenly, Abe came and deliberately tripped him, and Yuuki fell flat on the ground.

As Noda, Minami, Uchi, and Kuma and the rest of 3-D shouted at Saruwatari to call a foul, I watched Yuuki just lay there. All voices ceased when people realized that Yuuki was immobile.

Minami went over and stuck out his hand to help him up. I knew it was a big step for Minami to fess up to his mistakes and try to make things right again. Yuuki stared at the hand, then looked back at the ground. I knew Yankumi's words were echoing through his mind, because they were in mine.

If you wait around for someone to offer you a hand, you'll always be weak. To stand and fight back on your own strength is what it means to live. Pick yourself up.

"Hey," Minami said to Yuuki kindly. Yuuki looked back up at him and time seemed to pause.

"I'm fine," Yuuki said finally and got up by himself. He turned to look at Abe bravely in the eyes, and Abe's stupid smirk fell into an annoyed glare.

Yankumi's smile was radiant. "You guys, go and get those dirty cheaters! You guys can win!"

Our class cheered for Yuuki's sportsmanship, riled up once more. I smiled, knowing that things would be drastically different now.

3-D began to work as a team. Uchi passed to Minami, who did awesome lay-ups. Noda made some great shots. Kuma, unable to pass to anyone, once shot backwards, making a three pointer. All of 3-D, including me and Sawada, couldn't stop yelling our support in excitement.

The team spirit was up and so was our score. We were now tied at 35 to 35 right before the end of the game.

Yuuki managed to steal the ball from Abe, and dribbled down to our basket. He did a crazy around-the-body move and shot a lay-up which made. Yuuki, Noda, Minami, Uchi, and Kuma began to jump around, exchanging high-fives, before slumping to the ground from exhaustion.

"Game over!" Sawatari shouted after blowing the whistle. We all stared in silence as we watched the scoreboard. Our 35 became a 37.

"We won?! WE WON! YESSSSS!" everyone in 3-D began to scream and shout, racing onto the court to bombard our team with high fives and hugs.

I stood there in shock. 3-D had won. They had pulled off yet another miracle and I was stunned. I was only jerked out of my thoughts when Sawada hit my shoulder.

"Let's go say 'grats," he said with a smile. I nodded.

There was a lot of grabbing each other and hugging and shouting going on and I stood at the edge, smiling at the pure joy 3-D was exuding. I found myself suddenly being hugged before a shocked Uchi let me go.

"Sorry! I got carried away and I'm all sweaty and..."

I laughed and punched his arm. "It's fine. You were really cool out there."

"Thanks," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. He seemed like he was going to say something but other classmates grabbed him and started congratulating him.

I stepped back and looked around.

Yankumi was ruffling Yuuki's hair who resisted but she was relentless. The huge smile on his face was radiant.

I almost laughed when I saw Kuma and Minoru embracing like long lost brothers. They owed a lot to Minoru and Tetsu's coaching support, after all. I wondered what Kuma would do if he found out the loveable guy he was hugging was actually yakuza...

"We won, Kana! Yeah!" Noda shouted, hopping up and down next to me excitedly. I slapped him on the back.

"You guys did great!" I said enthusiastically. He beamed.

I looked over and saw Minami and Kuma apologize to Yuuki for having bullied him. Yuuki shook his head.

"Don't apologize. It's all in the past now," he said with a smile, and they all shook hands.

I knew this was a rare and incredible moment to witness and I was going to remember it for a long time.

I walked up to Abe who was watching this exchange with a glare.

"So who's the best class at this school?" I asked. He scowled at me. "I can't wait for that announcement on the loudspeakers. And remember the other half of our bet?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he snapped.

"I guess your apology would be worthless anyway because you don't mean it," I said. "But if you go anywhere near Yuuki again, me and 3-D will make sure you'll never hear the end of it."

He stormed off without another word.

I saw Sawada smiling in the midst of the celebration. He caught my eye and grinned. It may be just one victory so far, but it was huge for us.

We lost the other games in the basketball tournament, ending our run for the championship. But 3-D's spirits were soaring still from the excitement of that one game and the fact that Yuuki was here.

"Hey, I think I'm going to start by repeating second year," Yuuki said to us in the classroom. "I did miss a lot of it, and I want to get as full of a high school experience as possible, since all of you made it seem so fun."

After expressing our support, we all went with him to the teacher's lounge. We waited outside while he talked to Saruwatari about it. I stood closest to the door and peered in.

"Well…I guess that's fine," Saruwatari sputtered after hearing Yuuki's proposal, since he had apparently been on the verge of expelling Yuuki for having missed so much school.

"Do your best," Yankumi said to Yuuki.

"Thanks, Yankumi," Yuuki said to her. I felt something incredibly warm bubble up inside of me, as I thought of how hard Yankumi had persisted to get him to come to the school.

"What's happening? Let me see!" 3-D kept shoving towards the front and I lost my grip on the door, slamming it open. We fell into the teacher's lounge, causing a huge commotion. In the midst of it, Minami and Kuma gave Yuuki a thumbs up, which he returned.

"Even though you guys only won one game, I'll do you a special service!" Yankumi said. "I'll kiss you all on the cheek anyways!" She puckered her lips.

"YUCK!" the guys shouted and ran out of the teacher's lounge as fast as they could. Yankumi chased after them, surprised by the rejection, while Yuuki and I stood there and laughed.

As I packed up to leave, I suddenly remembered that today was the last day I would get to go home late, as Shun was okay with me joining the after party. From next week, it would be back to normal - but what was normal anymore?

The rest of the guys were riled up at the after party as usual, and Yuuki had even joined us today. But Uchi seemed to notice that I was lost in my thoughts.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing," I said, forcing a smile as I tried to shake away the thoughts I was having. "You were really great today. Thanks for winning."

"Because of Abe?" he asked hesitantly.

I laughed. I had forgotten all about Abe by then. "Well that too. But I needed something to cheer me up and your win was so good."

"What did you bet Abe?"

I looked away. I couldn't bring myself to tell him. "It doesn't matter. I promise not to make stupid bets anymore, okay?"

Uchi nodded. Why was he always so worried for me when I couldn't do anything for him?

"As a thank you, you can ask me for anything," I said, remembering how Abe never fulfilled his promise and this was honestly the least that I could do for Uchi.

"What? You don't have to…" he protested.

"I want to! Just nothing too expensive okay," I joked. "And you don't have to decide right away. Just let me know when you think of something."

"But…" he hesitated.

"If you don't want it, I can offer it to someone else," I said. Uchi shook his head immediately.

"I'll think of something. It's just...sometimes you feel so far away…" he said slowly.

I forced another smile and patted his arm. "What are you saying? I'm right here."

But I couldn't bring myself to look at him again. It was true. My thoughts were elsewhere - all centered around what was going on at home. I felt like everything I thought to be solid at home was slipping through my fingertips and I didn't know how long I could hold on or take it.

Yankumi's words echoed in my head.

If you wait around for someone to offer you a hand, you'll always be weak.

Pick yourself up.

Maybe it was time to start.

But the difference between Yankumi and Yuuki becoming stronger and finally standing on their own and me? They had someone tell them to pick themselves up the whole time and to tell them good job when they were finally able to stand back up.

Would anyone be waiting on the other side for me?

Author's Note: The next arc, some of you may remember, will be a huge turning point for a lot of the characters. I'm really excited to get to it but also really nervous. This story has turned into something a lot bigger than when I first wrote it. Please let me know your thoughts!

But HOW EXCITING is it that Gokusen is actually being rebroadcast on TV in Japan right now?! I almost cried hearing the news.
I know there's a lot going on in the world right now, but I hope you are all out there fighting for what you believe in in your own way but also staying safe out there.