A Rocky Love Story, by Oddsbodikins
Obligatory Disclaimer:
The characters from Slam Dunk are the creations and property of Inoue Takehiko and related enterprises. I do not own them, and do not make any profit from this fiction except for my (and my readers') own enjoyment in spending time with them.
Warning: A bit lime-ish. Nothing beyond conservative romance novels though. Ü
Prologue
A Crime (of the Heart?)
It was long past dismissal, and Shohoku High School was deserted. The setting sun weakly illuminated the grounds that hours before had been teeming with students, and its last sparkling rays slanted across glass windows to enter the empty rooms and halls within.
The only sound to be heard was the dull whirring of a printer doing its job. This low hum led to one of the rooms on the second floor, where a young girl was carefully packing her things into her backpack as she obviously waited for the said printer to finish. She was slim, with short hair cropped in a bob, creamy skin, and clear, intelligent eyes. When the sound stopped, she went over to the computer, turned it off, gathered the print-outs, and after a last minute check to see that everything was in order, left the room while closing the door quietly behind her.
Adjusting the straps of her backpack on her shoulders, she sighed. "Argh, this just keeps getting heavier everyday," she thought. "What with all the extra homework, plus the special assignment the EIC* gave me… this is going to be one hell of a week." Musing to herself, she slowly descended the stairs from the second-floor office of the school paper and made her way down the first floor corridor. "Hmm, they'll have closed the front doors by now. I'd have to go out the back doors by the gym," she thought, proceeding that way.
Her footsteps echoed along the hallway, seeming to bounce off the walls. It was peacefully quiet, a rare experience when one is used to going by this place during school hours when it is packed with chattering students. Lost in thought, she turned the corner, glimpsing the open doors just straight ahead.
A vague noise from somewhere inside a room further on to her right made her slow her steps. "That's odd," she thought. "This's the basketball team's locker room. I thought practice was long over?" Just as she approached the door, it opened, and a tall figure came out.
He caught her eyes, and he grinned. She stood rooted to her spot, as all rational thought flew out her head while all motion drained out her limbs. Straightening from the doorway, he shook his long hair away from his face, and sauntered to her slowly. He was dressed in dark jeans and a black leather jacket, nicely filled out by his well-built physique. As he unhurriedly came closer she could barely make out a small scar on his chin. His keen blue eyes seemed to have caught hers in a trap. She took a step to her left, her backpack falling from her shoulders as she did, but the wall that loomed behind her as she turned to face him prevented further distance between herself and this disturbing stranger.
"Hey," he spoke. His voice was soft and deep, like velvet over steel. "I thought I was alone… in here. Wasn't counting on any company…" He was so near now, that he leaned one arm on the wall behind the young girl. "Sonear… sotall… sobig…" She tried to clear her overwhelmed brain, as she unconsciously noted that her head came up only to his broad – very broad – shoulders.
Recovering some of her verve, she kept her eyes on his, returning the disconcerting gaze unflinchingly, thinking, "I won't give in. I won't… I'm strong…" As he leaned over her she gave a sudden kick to his shins, and he cried out, but as she turned to make a run for it he caught her arm in his, and he jerked her to him. "Wrong move," was all he said, and she smelled the alcohol in his breath. She struggled, but she couldn't shake him off as his head lowered to hers, his hair falling like a silken curtain that enfolded them in a world all their own. Closing her eyes, she tried to turn her mouth away as his lips came within a hair's breadth of it, but his other hand came up to hold her head firmly in place. And he kissed her.
His eyelids had fluttered down instinctively as his mouth crushed down on hers, but her eyes flew open as she continued to fight him uselessly. He felt her stiff lips beneath his, and her body rigid as stone as she tried, ineffectually, to hold herself away from him. Drawing away for a moment, he brushed his lips lightly over her tightly closed ones, appealing, coaxing. As his lips gentled she felt hers soften as well, and she felt herself give in to his kiss. Of their own volition her fingers curved around his neck, sliding into the soft, thick hair at his nape. She felt his swift, indrawn breath at this unexpected act, and he began kissing her earnestly now, both arms drifting down to clasp her around the waist and pull her closer to him. Entwined they leaned into the wall, both seeming to lose the ability to stand unaided.
After a long while, he drew away, taking a deep breath, his eyes opening and caressing her face. "Wow," he whispered. He leaned his forehead on hers, waiting for his breathing to even out, as she lay still in his arms. She could hear his heart beating erratically, though oddly enough, it seemed to be in time with her own. It seemed to her that she floated, suffused in a warm cloud of contentment.
Suddenly it seemed as if a dead weight descended on her, and opening her own eyes she found that he had… fallen asleep? No, fainted, she corrected herself. "Must be the drink…" She staggered under this load, her small frame insufficient to support all of his.
Deciding quickly, she grasped him around the waist, feeling his whole body going limp against hers. Tottering under his full weight, she lurched carefully towards the locker room door. Barely able to hold him up, she freed one hand and turned the knob, sighing in relief as it turned in her palm. She limped inside with difficulty, maneuvering his heavy form through the door, and together they wobbled to the benches that stood between the lines of lockers. With a sigh and a thud, she laid him down on the nearest one. He was so tall that his legs extended across to the next bench on the row of benches that continued in parallel with the lockers that were placed on opposite sides of the room. Bending, she put his arms up on the first bench too. His hair spilled over one end of that counter like ebony silk.
She stood for a moment more, just looking at him, and wondering at the things he had just made her feel. Inexplicably, she felt a sense of urgency, as if someone were watching, so she hesitantly took a look around, feeling guilty at violating the privacy of this place meant exclusively for the basketball jocks. Her gaze swept over the lockers, the towels carelessly thrown in one corner, the half-open window, the basketball rack with the balls haphazardly piled inside… shaking her head, she opted to make herself scarce before more trouble descended on her. With a last look at the prone figure on the benches, she hurriedly left, closing but not locking the door, and picking her backpack off the floor on the way out. Walking slowly at first, her steps gradually lengthened into strides, as she seemed to be almost running down the corridor and out the building doors, which thankfully were still miraculously open.
Bursting out into the twilight, she sped down the steps and sprinted all the way across the school lawns. It was only when she was finally outside the school's gates that she stopped, dropped her backpack on the ground, and leaned on the low walls surrounding the school grounds, panting heavily and all out of breath. She stayed that way for a moment, a lone figure hunched over with her palms on her knees. After a few more minutes, she straightened. A myriad emotions danced across her features – confusion, shock, wonder, and… she lifted the fingers of her right hand to her lips, feeling them. She didn't seem to notice the tingle that came from the swollen area, as she stood there lost in thought.
With another shake of her head, she slung her backpack on her shoulders, and proceeded to walk home.
to be continued… Ü
* EIC – Editor in Chief
Author's Privilege Ramblings:
Hi everyone!!! ÜÜÜ wave, wave So what do you think? Intrigued? ÜÜÜ For any comments, questions, criticisms, flames… please send to oddsbodikins@mail.com. I welcome them. Ü
In any case, thanks for dropping by! Hope you enjoyed yourself! Ü