Wish on a Swan
NOTE: I don't own Slam Dunk
Prologue:
The air blew a cold breeze. Sakuragi Hakichi tightened her jacket and tried to warm herself up. Winter had just begun and the air gets colder as the days pass. The swan statue on the wooden bridge is still an awesome sight. She's been visiting it since their field trip on her first year in Junior High school. The snow which surrounded it gave it a rather shimmering look and the frozen water on the swan's head glittered like a princess' crown. The lake is frozen like a floor made with crystals.
"Beautiful" she said adoring the picturesque view.
"Really?" said a voice from behind.
Hakichi was distracted by the person who just stood beside her. He was tall and handsome about the age of twenty three or so in her opinion. His face was familiar but she was certain that she never met him before.
"I haven't been here for some time. I see this place hasn't changed a bit."
He stretched his arms up and took a deep breath. The young girl was speechless, she had no idea why a man whom she never knew or met before would suddenly come and talk to her.
"Oh! The snow on her head looks like a crown" he smiled,
"Ehem…" Hakichi interrupted, "Excuse me sir, but have we met before?"
"I don't know, have we?"
She raised an eyebrow unconsciously, the man laughed. Seeing this, she immediately opened her bag for her compact powder and looked at herself on its mirror. Nothing was wrong with her face. She stared at the laughing man. He noticed and stopped,
"I'm sorry, it's just, you remind me of someone"
he took a deep breath, "Do you like visiting this place Miss?"
"Um, well… Yeah, and you?"
"Yup, this place is special to me. Do you know the story of the swan on this bridge?"
"No, I haven't heard of it yet… Maybe you could tell me"
he turned to look at the flowerless cherry tree. Hakichi followed him,
"It's too long… Why don't we just skip it?"
"Huh?" she stated in an irritated tone.
"Just joking… Twenty years ago, two teenagers, a boy and a girl met on this very bridge. At first, the girl treated the boy rudely, but fate brought them together and later on they confessed their love to one another. They were both happy to be with each other, but the girl got very sick and-"the man paused
"She died…" she continued,
The guy stared at the swan statue, "Yes" he answered,
"Tragic story… so why did the swan come up?"
"The girl liked swans, so the guy had a swan statue made here in memory of her."
"That's nice of him… Well what happened to the guy?"
"Well… he lived his life"
"Did he get marrie-"
"See the frozen water which looks like a crown on the swan's head?" he interrupted,
"Yeah?"
"Some people say that when you make a wish on the swan after the last snow melts or falls from her head your wish will be granted"
"Really… How true?"
"Actually, I don't know… I haven't tried it yet, why don't you try it instead, then tell me if your wish comes true"
"When would the ice melt?"
"After Winter maybe, when the weather is no longer this cold" he smiled and turned to look at his watch, "Ooops, time to go… Good luck on your wish, tell me if your wish comes true ok, I have to go now… Bye, nice meeting you" he walked away,
"T-Thanks" she said.
Hakichi stared at the swan for quite a while, "Your love story must have been really nice." She thought, then her watch' alarm sounded. Hakichi hurried home.
-o-
When she reached her house, her mother, Sakuragi Haruko's warm smile greeted her, "Good day Hakichi! How's school?"
"Same thing mom… I went to the lake where the swan statue is"
"Really, so how's the place?"
"It's still as it is, really pretty"
"You really like going there, though it's a bit far from here, are you not exhausted in going there?"
"Not really mom" she said while taking a seat on a chair near the table and taking a bite of some home made chocolate chip cookies which her mom had just made, "It's really weird though, I love that place… There's something about it which makes me come again… It's so peaceful there, it relaxes your mind and body… By the way I just met someone there, he told me about the story of the swan on the wooden bridge"
"Someone? Hmmm… Is he a guy?" her mom teased,
"Mom… yeah he's a guy but he's about twenty three, I think… too old"
"Hey don't tell me that twenty three is too old, I'm thirty five"
"Yeah, but I'm sixteen"
"Well yeah… Anyway, how does he look?"
"Mom…"
"Sorry, 'couldn't resist… I remember, I was about your age when I met my first love"
"First love?"
Her mother giggled, "Yeah"
"How about him?"
"Well… well- you should promise not to tell your father, he'll go mad when he hears about this, the two of them argue a lot before"
"Hmmm… sounds interesting go on mom"
"Ok… I was still in first year high school at that time, your Uncle Takenori is of course the Captain of the high school basketball team. At that time, there was a guy, my age, who joined the basketball team… he was extremely handsome and extremely good in basketball…"
"Extremely good in basketball, you mean better than dad?"
"Well, your dad was only a beginner at that time. I recognized his talents and asked him to join the basketball team, there he started to do really well at it"
"Ok, enough of that, continue about the story of your first love"
"Well ok… He was really popular, especially among girls. He even had his own cheering squad. He was like the ace player of Shohoku high school. But he never had the time for socializations. He was so into being the best player in Japan that he never had the time for girls and for me…"
"So he never asked you out?"
"Uhuh… well it really broke my heart that he never really had feelings for me. It was for a reasonable thing though."
"What's that?"
"He had a girlfriend, someone he really cared for… I found it out later on when the basketball team and I decided to go to his house to stay on before leaving for training camp."
"How is his house like?"
"Really huge, it was more of a mansion actually… Anyway, I wasn't a part of the basketball team but I managed to come with them because of my brother which is your uncle. At that night, I saw him on his terrace with the phone on his ear. He was talking to someone, who I know is a girl, he said some things about how he missed her, and- how he loved her… Then, a month after, his girlfriend came"
"Is she pretty?"
"Yeah, she's very beautiful… She was studying in another country. That was the reason why they don't see each other very often"
"So you mean to say that he remained loyal to his girlfriend even if they didn't see each other that much"
"Yeah… I adored him more when I knew that. It really hurts, but he got my respect"
"What a guy"
"Well your father is also very loyal"
"Yeah, but he's more of a clown than a prince charming right mom?"
Her mother laughed,
"Uh, mom, if this guy is really good in basketball, then he must be playing for the national team"
"Well no, I really don't know why, but he did not play basketball right after he graduated from college… I don't know why… But that guy had skills, the National team will really benefit if he joined"
"Cool, too bad though. Oh, I still have something to do, I'll go upstairs first"
"Ok"
Hakichi went upstairs to her room. There, she pulled a book from her drawer and opened it. She took a pen from her pen mug and began to write something on the page,
"Dear Diary,
I went to the swan lake just this afternoon, I met a guy there, he was really tall and handsome… He told me about the story of the swan on the wooden bridge, I never thought that there was a love story behind it… The story's really nice… Mom also told me of the story of her first love… I hope that I'll find my story someday… Anyway, the guy I met at the lake told me that if I make a wish after the ice melts from the swan's head, my wish will come true… Well, I guess I'll just have to wait until that happens, and maybe….
Well I guess that's it for now…
HAKICHI "
-o-
At the start of spring Hakichi went to the Swan Statue by the bridge and did what the man told her. She waited until the last snow on the swan melted and then she made her wish,
"I wish that I would find the one for me" she whispered and left.