Third Person POV
Rei was traveling again on her bike on the almost empty road, a loud motor noise had taken her attention when a group of motor riders went past by her that was going beyond the limited speed. She lost her control a bit but managed to stop at the side of the road and said, "Hey, what the hell!!"
Her attention went to a certain someone who was up at the crossing bridge, yelling a name. "Mitsui-san?!" She says in surprise when he quickly ran down the stairs. He looked at her and his face was in distress, Rei didn't understand and was quickly shoved by Hisashi away from her bike, "I'm sorry, Genji. But Tetsuo is in danger." He uttered before stealing her ride away.
"Tetsuo? Hey, wait!" Rei was left in the street without a clue of what was going on, but she was worried something was wrong. "Damn it, Mitsui must've lost his mind right now. But isn't Tetsuo a friend of his? In danger?" With dumb courage, she held on to her duffle bags and ran to where she sought Mitsui was going.
...
"Stop, Ryu!" Hisashi shouted.
"Shut up! I won't let you or Tetsuo act all big!" Ryu spoke.
Hisashi looked at the people that surrounded him, he was at an alleyway, standing in front of the unconscious Tetsuo, "Pretending to be a boss by recruiting new minions?" His statement made Ryu furious, he curled up his fist and landed a solid blow on Hisashi's abdomen before throwing another on his face.
Hisashi slowly dropped to his knees to the floor, causing Ryu to chuckle, "What's wrong, Mitsui? Since you only know how to play basketball now, have you forgotten how to fight?" He kicked his cheek and continued to attack him while Hisashi was defending with his hands, grunting from the pain.
"You said you were going to destroy the basketball team. And what's with you now? Even you fight, too. You're pathetic, going back to basketball and acting like an athlete!" Ryu continued to rant Mitsui finally fell on the dirt.
"You're afraid of disqualification? Come on, hit back! Get up, get up!"
Hisashi didn't like the idea of people ridiculing him, he tried to stand up but was stopped when an arm reached through his vision, "I'm the one you're after." Tetsuo says, surprising the gang that he was still conscious. Tetsuo stood up and took slow steps to face Ryu, but unbeknownst to him, an attacker was already launching at him from behind.
Rei turned from left and right, some decisions she guessed on luck until she found an alleyway where two-wheeled vehicles and most of all her bike were seen lying across the ground. Rei was exhausted and tried to catch her breath, but the sound of thudding, grunting, and punching had alerted her.
She peaked her head behind the wall, and she was shocked to see a few of the same people that caused a ruckus back at the gym. Seeing Tetsuo on the ground, with his head bleeding while Hisashi was beaten who seemed to defend him was, Rei knew this was trouble.
"Come on, hit me back. I'll keep it a secret from your school." Ryu taunted.
Hisashi was already on his knees, still refusing to throw a single punch, "I promised... Coach Anzai... never to fight. I promised!"
Rei was now terrified and angry, she let herself out and called for him, "Mitsui-san!" She ran to him while spreading her arms, trying to defend him from them, "Stop it! You sick bastards!!"
"Genji-san! Get away from here!" Hisashi exclaimed. Ryu's eyebrows started to furrow and his lips turned into a smirk, recognizing her. "Hoh? You finally got yourself a girlfriend, huh? Didn't know it takes a beating for you to bend on the likes of Mitsui." He said it slyly, which made Rei shiver her skin in disgust.
His arm reached in for her, but she used her duffle bag to swing and block it, causing him to falter a few steps, "Keep your hands OFF ME!"
"Genji!" Hisashi called and then was kicked by Ryu who told him to shut up. "Shit, I didn't know this bitch is a tough one!" He eyed down at Hisashi who was fueled by much anger, "What's the matter? This bitch has more balls than you do."
Ryu snapped his fingers, and two men caught her wrists and gripped them to prevent her from doing anything. She tried to wiggle and fight her way out but couldn't do anything when her hands were held behind her. "Don't touch her!!" Hisashi screamed, curling his hands into a fist to ready a fight. They'd crossed many lines, and laying their hands on Rei was just too much. But he stopped in his tracks when Rei begged.
"Don't do anything, Mitsui! Just run away!" Rei was hurt, sad, and angry at the sight of Mitsui's current beaten state, "You have to get away!"
"Is basketball precious to you?" Ryu asked, his smile still not falling from his face, "Then kneel for me and beg. Say "please", you'll do anything for basketball right? We won't lay a hand on her too, I promise."
Hisashi wanted to fight, but he had already made a promise. He can't throw a few punches even if it was to defend Rei, no matter how badly he wanted to. Seeing this as the only way to meet everyone's goal, he planted his palms on the ground, kneeling for forgiveness.
"P... Please, forgive me." He uttered the words and Rei was baffled and her heart sank. Hisashi had proven he had kept his promise, this was already obvious of how much he actually loved basketball, and it made Rei almost teary.
But alas, Ryu had other plans and nodded to his crew. Rei noticed this when two of the minions went towards Hisashi and stomped their feet onto his hands, before gripping him on his shoulders to prevent him from moving.
Hisashi and Rei were alerted when Ryu took a pipe tube from the one who was wearing a helmet. Hisashi knew where they were going, and so he pleaded, "Stop! Let go! Stop!"
Ryu positioned his grip on the tube, "I'll smash your hands so you can never play basketball again!"
"Mitsui!" Rei used the rest of her might to free herself, but the man was too strong to release his grip, she tore in her eyes and begged for them to stop, "Don't hurt him!! You bastards! Don't do it!!"
Ryu was taking his time on which hand he was going to impale first, until he had decided, "I'm taking the right hand first!"
Suddenly, an echo of a male's voice was audible which caught everyone's attention, where then Hanamichi came out from nowhere and landed on top of Ryu, "I think I landed on something." He murmurs.
Not knowing what was happening, Hanamichi saw Hisashi and Rei with the other strange men. "Mitchi?! Rei-chan?! What's the meaning of this?!" He says whilst quickly standing up when he noticed the body he had just sat on.
Ryu slowly stood up, catching Hanamichi's gaze. The redhead slowly approached him when he recognized him, he rested his hand on his shoulder and said, "You really did beat up Rukawa pretty good there... " Then proceeded to pat him.
Ryu was uncertain of his words and commanded his crew to attack him. The man who was holding Rei finally released her and she ran straight to Hisashi, trying to see his overall state.
Hisashi warned the redhead to not attack, "Stop, Sakuragi! Don't get involved!" Not understanding the situation, Hanamichi was punched right across his face but was unphased, worrying his attacker.
With one grip and unimaginable strength, Hanamichi lifted the man's collar in a single grip, causing the gang to slightly panic. "Sakuragi, stop! If you throw even one punch... It'll be over!" Rei warned.
Hanamichi realized this and loosens his hold on the man. Ryu laughed at this, saying he had a score to settle with the redhead too. But before he could even attack, newcomers had arrived. Coming from the other side of the eight feet tall wall, was Chuichirou, Yuji, and Yohei. Nozomi is on top of the wall to have an epic introduction, only to fall on top accidentally on Hanamichi.
"Yohei... " Rei's voice cracked, feeling finally relieved when she saw a friend. Feeling nostalgic, Yohei was the only one who always came to save the day, and she felt even more indebted to him. Hisashi groaned in pain, turning Rei's attention, "Mitsui-san, are you okay?"
Yohei looked over at Rei and was surprised to see her, "This is a weird place to see you." He jokes. Ryu had enough of it and started to swing his metal rod at Yohei, yet he dodged it with a shift of his head and Hanamichi caught it.
He bends it with his strength, scaring Ryu. "Cut it out, you punks!" Hanamichi demanded. Deafening the warning that Hisashi and Rei gave, he approached the men with the intimidation and stared while saying, "Kill with a look!" He says repeatedly at each one of the gang, confusing everyone.
"Hehehe! The key to defense! Kill with a look!"
"Key to defense?" Hisashi questioned.
"Quit messing with us, redhead!" The man who wore a helmet said, he had taken it off to use it as a weapon and swung it around, trying to hit Hanamichi. Yet surprisingly, Tetsuo was now conscious and gripped on the man's legs before lifting him up and throwing him to the other direction, hitting him against the wall.
"You'll be late for the game." Tetsuo says to Hisashi.
"That's right! Mitchi!" Hanamichi reacted.
"Hurry, Hanamichi."Yohei said.
"But are you guys alright all alone?"
"Yup."
"Easy." Yuji shrugged.
"Piece of cake." Chuichirou added.
With that, Hanamichi was reassured. Rei was gathering her duffle bags while Hisashi was with Tetsuo, "So long, athlete." Tesuo says. Hisashi had nothing to say yet he was aware and thankful to have an ally like him.
"Mitsui-san! Sakuragi!" Rei called when she had her bike within her reach. The two listened and ran away from the scene, "Let me ride your bike, Rei-chan!" Hanamichi said.
"No way! You two are running!"
...
The game was about to begin and Shohoku's team was still worried about the absence of the three until they saw them running to their bench side, "Ayako-san! Everyone!" Rei called.
"Mitsui!"
"Sakuragi Hanamichi!"
"Rei-chan!"
They finally arrived at the tournament, relieving everyone's worry except for Akagi who asked about Hisashi's face, "What's with your face, Mitsui?"
"Are you alright?" Ayako said in concern. But Hisashi ignored the two and went straight to the coach, "Sensei, sorry for making you worry. I did not throw a single punch, I swear!" Anzai looked into his eyes and said, "I know, now go play."
Rei was happy to witness their interaction, and touched by how the coach had faith in him from the beginning. She stepped towards the two and patted Hisashi's back, "Now that it's settled, I believe it's time to get patched up."
"But the game is about to begin!" He retorted.
"In five minutes, that is! Now, come on!" She dragged his arm to a seat after bowing to her sensei. She laid out her first aid kit and started cleaning the cuts from Hisashi's face. His face slightly heated up from how close they were and demanded to let her do it himself, which she refused.
"Just hold still and we'll be done in a minute!" She scolded him and he groaned yet listened. While she was wiping this small wound on his cheek, her eyes trailed at the scar on his chin and reminded her that Hisashi and Ryota had a gruesome fight. These fresh wounds and his scar were telling different stories, one was when he was lost and confused, fighting away for what he used to love, while the other came from a battle with unwavering honor, she was proud.
Hisashi noticed her smiling and was weirded out, "What are you smiling for? It's creepy, do you enjoy this kind of stuff?" He referred to his treated cuts.
"No, ew. It's just... " She stopped dabbing the disinfected on his broken skin, "You were pretty cool, back there." Hisashi was stunned to hear that from her. She finishes the treatment and tucked away her things. Hisashi turned away and slightly coughed away his bashfulness which then turned into a frown, "I couldn't do anything. You were in trouble but I-"
"It's okay, I begged for you not to, didn't I? This was no one's fault except for those bastards." Rei reassured him. "Now go play." She smiles.