STEAK, CAKE OR ICE CREAM?
Part 1: Rukawa, Sendoh and Mitsui… The beginnings.
'Another school day…' A certain spike head sighed as he faced his dreaded daily task. "I hate school…" He muttered as he entered the old, dilapidated building of Ryonan High. As he walked down the halls, a couple of girls who spotted him giggled and started talking about him in hushed voices. He just plastered his usual smile and smiled at them before walking away to his locker. After his usual checking of what to bring to class, he entered homeroom.
"Sendoh… you're early? That's unusual… What did you do? Get Big Ben as your alarm clock?" Koshino, his very-annoying-ass-at-times best pal, said with scorn in his voice.
"Nice to see you too this lovely morning, Koshino…" Sendoh smiled as he took the table beside Koshino," and what makes you more viler than ten thousand cobras?" Koshino glared at the spike head.
"Nothing… except for today's practice…" he muttered as he showed Sendoh the notice that their coach had sent them. Sendoh took it and read it.
"Hmm… 'Today's practice will be shared with Ryonan High's girls basketball team… don't worry, it'll only be for today…Signed, Taoka-sensei.' Hey!! There's gonna be girls at the practice?! How come I wasn't notified??" Sendoh exclaimed, shocked that the captain was not told about the situation. But his perverted brain was pounding, 'girls! Girls! Girls!'
"Shut up, porn-for-brains! This isn't a chance for you to ogle at girls during practice…Especially when they manage to make it to Inter High's Girls Basketball Championship!" Koshino hissed at him.
"They did?" Sendoh gave him a look of disbelief," you're joking, right?"
"No, he's not…" came another voice. The both of them looked up to see a golden brown haired girl, her amber eyes glaring at them.
"Nayami-san, ohaiyo," Sendoh flashed his 75-watt smile at her," and just what can I do for you this morning?" Koshino sighed.
"How about getting your head out of the gutter?" she smiled coldly at him," and what's wrong with my girls getting in Inter High?"
"Nothing… just unbelievable," his smile grew broader. Yet again, this girl had beaten him at something and Sendoh was trying to be as sportsmanly as possible by managing his smile till his face cracks.
"Anyway, congratulations on your victory, Nayami-san…" he held out his hand for a shake. Nayami stared at it for a few seconds before slowly shaking it.
"Arigatou… Tonikaku, it's not like you guys did badly to win yours. If only those darn Shohoku guys…" Nayami started shaking her fists.
"So you were at the game?" Koshino asked, curious.
"Um… duh?" She raised her eyebrows at the fiery-tempered boy, who blushed at his stupidity.
"Aha! So you DID come. You said you'd rather watch your toenails grow!" Sendoh smirked at her. Nayami felt her cheeks turned red in embarrassment as she gave her memory a knockout punch.
"I-I had to. The girls forced me. Well, half of them are part of the 'We love Sendoh' fan club…"
"Which you are president…" Sendoh went, nonchalantly.
"YOU WISH!! I'd rather die than to go flurrying around for your autograph!" At that, she turned her heels and went to her seat. Sendoh gave a sigh.
"Why do you always piss her off, Sendoh? I know you guys were junior high rivals but there's no need to get to extremes…" Koshino folded his arms. Sendoh just shrugged at him and smiled before turning to the front.
'Why do I always do this to her?' he thought as he watched Nayami taking out her Japanese Textbook and started reading.
"Hayaku!! We're going to be late for practice~!" One of the girls whined. The girls were getting ready for their 'special' basketball practice.
"Sou yo… we'll miss Sendoh-san if we're slow…" went another girl, already at the door.
"Eh? So that's the reason you girls are early," Nayami went as she slammed her locker shut.
"Demo Captain…"
"This practice is for us to re-train because Inter High is coming. I got the court today not because I want you girls to ogle at Sendoh. Understood?" Nayami crossed her arms.
"Hai," they answered half-heartedly.
"Mattaku, I wonder what their priorities are…" the captain muttered as she went to the court where all eyes turned to her.
"Nayami-san, I need to talk to you for a while," Sendoh smiled at her.
"Nani?" Nayami adjusted her thick wristbands.
"The coaches gave us the decision to do our own practices. I think we should practice together…"
"Iya," Nayami shot her answer.
"Nayami-san… It's a learning experience," he reasoned.
"Yes, for you to learn more about the girl's anatomy… No, Sendoh. This is a practice, not a flirting zone," she turned, only to see her girls taking, laughing and joking with the boys. She blinked.
"Look's like they made a decision for you… Come on, let's start basics," Sendoh winked at her. Her face contorted to an angry one.
"So, you should concentrate more before shooting… like that," Nayami shot the ball into the hoop," your form's okay Hikoichi just concentrate. You let your mind wander too much."
"Arigatou, Nayami-san…" Hikoichi went as he fetched the ball and started shooting through the hoop.
"Nayami-san… you hogged the cute boy too much," went a girl as she approached her," you always hog the cute ones." She glanced at Sendoh.
"Nanda to?! Yumi, get back to practice!!" she shouted, trying to hide her blushing face.
"Open you arms wider, Aya!" Nayami shouted, watching her own teammate on defense. "Mitsuki, use your body! Put more muscle into that block! Chiharu, don't be hasty! Watch your opponent!"
"You sound like a coach, Nayami-san," Koshino pointed out as he passed the ball to her," play like a captain."
"I can only do that if I had a team, Koshino-kun," she passed the ball back to him, making him slightly stumble. It was a strong pass.
"Then, what about a one-on-one?" Sendoh added, grabbing the ball from Koshino," just like old times." Nayami smirked.
"Just like old times, huh? Okay, let's just see how much like old times you are, Sendoh."
"Sugoi! They're going to have one-on-one match! Yo check-u ya!" Hikoichi shouted in excitement. Some of the girls giggled at his actions. Hikoichi blushed at this.
Sendoh took a deep breath before dribbling the ball casually in one hand. Nayami smirked at him. Her body crouched to a defensive stance, her arms open and ready for his attack.
"Yosh, ikuzo!" Dribbling from one hand to the other from under his legs, Sendoh used a feint to fool Nayami. But she quickly saw through the fake move and kept tight on him.
"You're tougher than I thought…" Sendoh went, smiling at her.
"I'm still as tough as I used to be Sendoh-san," she smirked. Suddenly, she smacked the ball away from his hand, much to everyone's surprise. She caught it with the other hand and made a jump shot from her position. It went in. The girls cheered.
"That was unexpected," Sendoh commented, bringing the ball back to the starting point.
"You're distracted, Sendoh. Be serious if you want to play with me," the girl's captain gave him a serious look. Sendoh's smile faded, giving her the same look she had on her face. He nodded.
"Got it," his body swiftly moved to the left, then right, catching Nayami off guard. The next second, the sound of the ball dunked into the hoop was echoed through the court.
"You got my point, Sendoh-san. Now, let's play the real game. First person to reach ten points, wins," she announced. There was sudden uproar of murmurs.
"Okay, then. Let's roll!" Sendoh passed her the ball. Without wasting any time, Nayami swiftly dribbled towards the hoop. Sendoh was tight on defense but using a simple turnaround, she shot. It went in.
"One-Zero," she smirked at him.
It was an intense match between the two as the score grew to nine-seven… Sendoh was currently leading.
'I have to catch up. That means…' Nayami smiled at her thought. "Matte kudasai," she held up he hand," I have to do something."
"Okay, what is it?" At that, she unlatched her wristbands and dropped it to the floor. It fell with a thud, shocking everyone.
"Nani?!" Koshino hissed.
"It's wrist weights…" Mitsuki whispered, "she took it off during the Kainandai Girls match. It was the finals… she wanted to beat them bad. But being Kainan…"
"They never lose," Koshino continued from her line. Mitsuki nodded, watching Nayami take off her ankle weights as well.
"This means she's obsessed with winning…"
"Huh?"
"When coach picked her up, she was jumping across buildings, running away from gang members. Coach told her to stop wasting her talent. The club started then."
"I knew Sendoh and her were rivals… but…"
"There were lots of junior high gang cases, remember? Sendoh was involved in one of those gangs during junior high. Sadly, his rival turned out to be his own friend, Nayami… but both of them came out from the gangs for individual reasons. But now, they turn out to be… well, the same reason."
"Sou da… I didn't know Sendoh was… how did you…?"
"Let's just say, I knew the both of them far beyond your time…" Mitsuki smiled.
"So, you've been toying, huh?" Sendoh pointed to the weights. Nayami smirked.
"I wasn't called the Butterfly for nothing, Sendoh," she muttered, which only Sendoh heard.
"You're a beautiful butterfly, Nayami-san," Sendoh winked at her, making her blush.
"Urusai… let's play," she passed the ball to him, ignoring his comment. He dribbled the ball slowly, thinking of a plan to evade the now very fast, very alert girl… opponent in front of him.
'Left or right… shoot or dunk…' Nayami thought, her eyes not leaving Sendoh's. He winked at her again, making her blush harder. Using this distraction Sendoh passed her and dunked. Everyone cheered. Nayami turned to him in disbelief.
"Great game," he held out his hand to shake. Nayami blinked at him, her mind racing from the split second he winked. Why didn't she move? She mechanically shook his hand.
"Hai…" she muttered," great game…"
"Nayami-san, daijobou ka?" Sendoh asked, noticing her dazed expression. She shook her head.
"Yeah… gomen, what time is it?"
"Huh?" Sendoh checked the large clock behind her," 5.45… why?"
"Oh crap! I have to go… I'm going to be late!" She ran towards the changing room.
"What was that about?" Sendoh asked, particularly to no one but Mitsuki answered.
"It's a Friday night… I say she's got a date."
"With who?" he stared at her. Mitsuki shrugged, not knowing the answer.
Nayami took a quick shower, dried herself and took out a violet dress. She stared at it for a while before putting it on her undergarments and wearing the dress. She brushed her hair, put on light make-up and wore her black pumps. Satisfied with herself, she dumped all her things in her locker. School was open the next day, so she could pick them up tomorrow. She checked the clock again. It read 6.15…
"I'm late!!" She ran out of the changing room.
"Nayami-san?" Sendoh muttered, watching something reddish run through the court. From his view, she was gorgeous. Her hair, which was usually tied up in an awful ponytail, was now flying carelessly in the wind. The dress suited her and the light make-up was perfect to hold everything together.
'Now to find out who she's going out with…' he passed the ball to some anonymous player and ran out of the court, after Nayami. He caught up with her as she was outside the school gate, searching for a cab.
"Nayami-san…" he called out from behind her. She turned.
"Sendoh… what are you doing here? You've got practice…"
"You're all fancy… Where are you going?"
"…Meeting a friend of mine… It's none of your business, Sendoh-san," She answered, curtly, her eyes on the road.
"What's the hurry?"
"…" Nayami bit her lip as she turned to face the Ryonan captain. Her amber eyes stared into his blue eyes. She was trying to read his thoughts. "What is it to you, Sendoh-san?" She asked, her voice soft.
"I-I…" He stuttered, much to Nayami's surprise. 'What is it? What do I tell her? Why is my heart beating so fast?' Sendoh's thoughts were brought to a halt when a cab stopped, screeching in front of them. A boy with familiar black messy hair and fox eyes came out of it.
"Rukawa?" Sendoh muttered in disbelief. He was ignored as the Shohoku boy went up to Nayami.
"Nayami-san… why were you late?" he asked, suddenly turning to Sendoh, with a glower. Something clicked in Sendoh's head then.
"You're going out with him?" Sendoh asked, slightly shocked, slightly outraged. Nayami looked away from him.
"Rukawa-kun, can you wait in the cab? I need to talk to Sendoh-san," she said, her eyes not leaving the floor.
"Hai," Rukawa obeyed her, his eyes burning through Sendoh as he went into the cab.
"Sendoh-san…"
"How long are you guys together?" he asked, suddenly. Nayami felt the blood rush to her face.
"We're not together… as in a relationship. Sendoh, please understand, we're friends… like the both of us," it was then she looked up to him, her eyes gleaming with hope, searching for his understanding. Sendoh couldn't ignore his fury… but he couldn't ignore her pleas either.
"Don't worry… you're free to make your own choices, Nayami-san… I'm sorry for my misinterpretation," he smiled at her. She smiled back, resisting the urge to hug him in front of Rukawa.
"Go, the cab fare isn't going to be cheap…" he cocked his head to the cab.
"H-hai… Sendoh-san, arigatou," she went as she ran into the cab. Sendoh watched it leave with a heavy heart.
"Nayami-san… daijobou ka?" Rukawa asked, his eyes showing a glint of concern. The girl in question was staring off to space, poking at her vegetables. Rukawa placed his hand on hers. "Nayami-san…"
"Huh? What? Oh… Rukawa-kun, gomen… I was thinking about things," she said, giving him a faltering smile.
"It's Sendoh… isn't it?" he managed out of his mouth. Nayami just stared at him, his mysterious blue eyes penetrating through her.
"I can't lie to you, huh? Yes, it is Sendoh-san… he's been acting different lately," she pointed out.
"How different?"
"Like he finally cared about me. When I entered Ryonan, he was… cold. He knew I was there but he was cold. He acted like I wasn't there," her lip quivered slightly. Rukawa's hand tightened on hers. She glanced at it and then to him. "Now…" She found herself saying," he's looking my way… as a friend… and, finally…" the silence came then, Nayami didn't know whether to continue or…
"When you met him during those times in junior high, do you have a crush on him?" Rukawa asked, breaking the silence. Nayami felt her cheeks become very warm, her eyes not daring to look at Rukawa.
"A bit… but I never thought about it. It was admiration, Rukawa-kun… not blossoming to forbidden love," she bit her lip.
"Sou ka?" his hand cupped her chin, forcing her to look at him. How she wanted to look away from those chaste eyes…
"Rukawa-kun… I know… that you have feelings for me but…"
"Is he the reason that you turned me down?"
"I didn't turn you down, Rukawa-kun… I haven't," she took his hand into her own. Deep inside she knew it was a white lie.
"I really… didn't mean to…" She smiled at him as she let go of his hand.
Sendoh flopped onto his bed after his warm shower. He wanted to pull his blanket and sleep but something had been bothering him since the next half of practice. His heart gave him the easiest answer… Nayami. He remembered when they first saw each other at the roof of the old office building and how it bloomed into an unlikely friendship.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Hurry… they'll catch up!" he heard his gang leader shout as they started jumping from building to building. It was easy since they were all built up close. Sendoh turned back to see the gang that was chasing them. They were all big and blurry except for one, a longhaired someone with a small body.
"Sendoh, abunai!" someone shouted as he felt something swish pass him. It was a two-by-four that had landed in front of him.
'They're getting serious…' Sendoh thought as the gang jumped onto another building. 'We're going to run out of buildings soon.'
"Minna, disperse! Get yourselves out of here!" his ringleader shouted. Getting the idea, the gang had run to the roof staircase and hurriedly went down. Sendoh knew that the other gang was expecting this, as there was so little of them. He glanced around, looking for a way to get out of there without climbing down that staircase. His eyes fell upon a grappling hook, probably left by the window cleaners. He looked down to see a landing on the second floor of the building. Surely from there he could jump down and run. Grinning, he picked it up and hooked it to the side and began abseiling down.
"MATTE!!" he heard someone shout. Looking up, he saw the longhaired person, realizing it was a girl.
'What's a girl doing with this gang?' he thought as he went down faster. Finally, he reached the landing, jumped off and ran down the street, into the direction of his house. Finally, he made it in. His mind still on the girl, he tore off his clothes and took a shower.
"Don't bother with her, Sendoh," the ringleader went, lighting a cigarette. He offered one to Sendoh but he declined. He couldn't bring himself to smoke.
"Why? She's not… attached, is she?" he asked, looking around. The gang had been able to escape and was meeting at another one of their hideouts.
"She's called Nayami the Butterfly… she's pretty and powerful. I give you that. She can rough up guys so bad, half of them still in the hospital."
"Nayami ka?" he mumbled.
The meeting was finally over and that left Sendoh with other things to do… like the girl, Nayami.
'Weirdly, she's all I think about… well, I'm only fifteen, why can't I start thinking of girls?' Sendoh gave himself a mental shrug as he walked past the basketball court.
"Pass! Pass!" Shouted one of the boys, waving at his teammate. Sendoh stood at the fence that covered around the court, watching the game. The boy who shouted had black hair and beautiful shining, slightly foxy, blue eyes.
'Basketball… maybe, when I finally get out of this mess… I'll play that.' He smiled as he started walking down the pavement again. He took merely two steps before stopping again, this time noticing that a light brown haired girl was watching the game. 'Nayami… what is she doing here?' He shook his head and walked passed her when she grabbed his arm.
"You're not getting away this time," she went, her eyes not leaving the game.
"I don't want to get into trouble here," he said, not moving. Her hand squeezed his arm tight. "I'm sorry but I know who you are, where you come from and what school you're from… There's a lot more than just info, by the way," he smirked.
"What are you talking about?"
"You're exactly like me… you want out. You're sick and tired of this… And it's finally came to you that something else is beckoning you…" At that, she finally gazed into his sparkling blue eyes.
"Who are you to act like you know me?"
"I'm not… I'm just telling you a fact that's in all our faces. You're fifteen like me, right? Next year, you want a different life from running after or from immature gangsters. Are you going to make your new life or stick to this pathetic one?" He waited for a reply from her. She just stared back at him.
"I don't know…" She shook her head," I don't know what you're talking about!"
"Then why are you watching them play? You miss that life of being a normal junior high girl with your crushes and giggling over boys, don't you?"
"I joined the gangs to get away from that! You're telling me I miss it?"
"I see it in your eyes… Like the first time I saw you. It was easy to spot," he whispered, looking deep into her ocher eyes, which was full of uncertainty.
"You're mental," she mumbled turning back to the game.
"Maybe… at least we're the same, right? A couple of gangsters who really want a better life," he said, nonchalantly before walking away from her.
"What's your name?" she asked. Sendoh stopped, looked at her and smiled.
"Sendoh Akira, you?"
"Kitagawa Nayami," she went, a smile crept to her face. Sendoh nodded before walking again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nayami woke up late the next day, it being a Saturday and all. She yawned as she stretched herself before her mind settled on her dream.
'Why am I suddenly dreaming about my past? Why is it that Sendoh's always in my mind now?' She fought her thoughts back to wherever it belonged at that moment. She slowly climbed out of her bed and pulled the string that drew the curtains apart. The morning rays welcomed her, hugging her with warmth.
"Ohaiyo," she muttered to herself, scanning the area below. Her apartment had a very clear view of the basketball court near her place. For now it was empty, not until she filled it with her own court plays. At that, she turned away from the window and went to shower.
The ball circled the rim of the hoop before going in. Nayami ran to fetch it and began dribbling it again. Her eyes never leaving her imaginary opponent before she dodged it and dunked into the hoop.
"That was great," she heard someone say from behind her. She whirled to see a boy in front of her. Judging by his shirt and shorts, he was also planning to use the court.
"Who are you?" She went, eyeing him suspiciously. Being an ex-gangster, she kept herself alert at all times. The boy grinned pathetically before running his hand through his spiked, blue tipped, short hair.
"Gomen, maybe I shouldn't make comments before introducing myself. I'm Mitsui Hisashi, you are?" he held out his hand. She looked at it before considering. He was a nice guy and all he did was complimented her.
"Kitagawa Nayami," she said before shaking his hand.
"So that's you're name… I've always wondered who was this fine lady," he flashed his 75-watt smile. Nayami felt her cheek burning. At this moment, Mitsui was very cute.
"A-arigatou, Mitsui-san…" she mumbled.
"I'm just telling the truth… Speaking of truths, I would like to confess about something. I always noticed you come here every Saturday. So I started to come here and watch you play…" Mitsui dipped his head down. Nayami felt her cheeks turn redder. This nice guy had been coming here watching her play…
"I'm not really good at it but can I have a game with you, Nayami-san?" Nayami blinked a few times before nodding as her answer as she was too shocked to speak. Mitsui smiled at her again, his blue eyes sparkling.
"Arigatou…"
The game was fun. Contrary to what Mitsui had said, he was a good player, Nayami noticed. She also noticed that his shooting form [which was so cool, she added mentally] was very familiar.
"Mitsui-san," she started to say as she wiped her sweat with her towel," do you play for a team?" Mitsui who was also wiping his sweat looked at her for a while before giving her a smirk.
"Maybe," he answered, shrugging.
"Mitsui-san, you look familiar and you're name sound familiar too. I think I heard during the play-offs for Inter High…" Mitsui, who was taking a drink from his bottle, choked. When he looked at her again, she was grinning, pointing her finger at him like a gun.
"I'm right, am I?"
"You finally caught on…" He muttered.
"What do you mean 'finally'?!" She stomped her foot like a little girl getting angry.
"I mean what I said," Mitsui smirked," why don't you guess?"
"You're in a basketball team! And I know it isn't Ryonan because I'm from there and it is in the final four, am I right?" She held up two fingers at him.
"What makes you think I'm in the final four?"
"Because I went to watch the final four matches only," she pointed out. Mitsui mouthed an 'oh'.
"Okay, you still have three teams," Mitsui went, sitting down.
"Hmm… it isn't Kainan…"
"What makes you think I'm not from Kainan?!"
"Because Kiyota-san's an old school friend and he blabbered to me about his beloved sempais when I met him," she reasoned.
"Okay…" Mitsui creased his eyebrows.
"And that other team… which I completely forgot its name, sucked. They got into the final four by luck. So you definitely don't belong there…" She rubbed her chin," Shohoku's the only one left. You're from Shohoku, Mitsui Hisashi…" She faced him.
"Omedetou," Mitsui went, clapping his hands," you got it."
"That means you know Rukawa-san…"
"Rukawa's a friend of yours?" He eyed her with disbelief.
"Yeah, met him during the games actually," she went as she packed her stuff.
"Sou ka? I didn't know that he had friends… He doesn't seem to have much of friends."
"He doesn't have much of anything…" She mumbled.
"Nani?" Mitsui went, bewildered.
"Iya… Betsuni…" she smiled at him, sweatdropping. Mitsui took her word for it.
"Nayami-san… would you like to get grab something to eat?" Mitsui suddenly asked. Nayami felt her cheeks burn unexpectedly.
"H-Hai… Mitsui-san…"