TITLE: AGAIN
AUTHOR: dingyou
DISCLAIMER: Slam Dunk is not mine *sniffs*. It belongs to Takehiko Inoue. I do own Miyagi Madoka and Mitsui Emiri, though and Kaede, Kogure and Hisashi are my koibito! *grins*
AN: Sequel to my first fic It Can Never Be. Mostly flashbacks and conversations so please bear with it ^_^. Based on the song Again by Janet Jackson. Fic dedicated to the birthday boy, Mitsui Hisashi! Still yaoi and again, consider yourself warned and no flames! I don't know if the boys are OOC here but it's better to warn you. You know, just in case. You can never tell from those guys. Reviews and constructive criticisms appreciated! Hope it's not bad. ^.^ OMEDETOU TANJOBI, HISASHI! Itsumo ai shitte iru!
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Kogure: Wai! A sequel to your first fic, Ding-chan!
Ding: See? What did I tell you, hon? A lot of people actually said that you deserve better so, here.
Kogure: Let's hope so. *smiles*
Ding: Sou. On with the fic!
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Again
Chapter 1 - Do You Remember?
-
I heard from a friend today
And she said you were in town
Suddenly memories came back to me In my mind
How can I be strong I've asked myself
Time and time again
That I'll never fall in love With you again
-
KRRRRNG! KRRRRNG!
I looked at the wall clock. It read 4 pm. It has been 2 hours since I forced myself to sleep but to no avail. It has been my habit to take short naps every afternoon before I attend my 5:30 PM class. Strange thing that I can't seem to lull myself to sleep today.
KRRRRNG! KRRRRNG!
The phone ringer resonated throughout my room again. Now who could it be at this hour? When the phone ringer persisted, I looked at the boy beside me before I sighed and went to the noisy machine. I looked at the caller ID and was surprised when I saw the name flashed on it.
"Moshi moshi. Mitsui desu."
"Konnichiwa, Mitsui-sempai," came her ever cheerful voice.
"You know you can stop calling me that, Ayako. We've been friends since high school and I already dropped that whole sempai-kohai thing so quit it, ok?"
"Ok sempai."
I heard her giggling on the other line. I smiled and shook my head. This girl doesn't stop. But I admire her and her respect on everything (except for a certain red head, of course). No wonder that muffin head is still so into her after all these years.
"So, what made you call?"
"Don't tell me you don't know."
"Know what?"
I heard the girl sigh. "I told that baka to call and tell everyone! Matta ku, how thick can Sakuragi Hanamichi get?"
I felt my brows furrowed at the sound of the bakeru's name. "Tell everyone about what?"
"Akagi-sempai and Kogure-sempai just arrived from California this morning."
The world seemed to stop the moment Ayako uttered those words. In an flash, images of Kogure flooded my mind. His friendly smile, his glittering eyes, it all came back to me. And strange enough, I felt my heart pounding. Because of nervousness or excitement, I wasn't able to determine which. That's probably the reason my mind seemed to be having a hard time registering those words at the time, for it felt like several minutes before I managed to muster one stupid word.
"W-what?"
"So you really didn't know, sempai?"
"Of course, I didn't. Chotto matte, is this for real? I mean, why didn't those two call and tell us that they'll be coming back?"
"Ah, you know those two. Remember the time when they told us that they'll be studying in the US?"
"Aa. They told us 5 days before their departure date. I shouldn't be surprised."
Like a morning dew, the memories of those days are still fresh in my mind. I can still remember the look on everyone's faces minutes before Akagi and Kogure's flight. And that was the moment when I got one of the greatest shocks of my life.
-
- Flashback -
"Do you really have to go, Kogure?"
"Don't start that now, Mitsui."
"Just kidding," I smiled as I gave him a light tap on his shoulder. "I'll miss you, you know."
"Yeah, me too."
"I know that already. Of course, there's not a lot of people like me in this world. So you better keep in touch, ok?"
He laughed. His warm smile and sincere expression never left his friendly face, something I'm sure I'm gonna miss.
"Mitsui, can I tell you something?"
"Mochiron. Nan da?"
He looked over my shoulder. I followed his gaze and realized that he was looking at Kaede. Sakuragi was with him, apparently fuming over something that Kaede must have said.
"I want to tell you this, not because I want to destroy whatever you and Rukawa have now, but because I don't want to feel this... this self pity anymore. I want to arrive in California with high hopes and dreams. Not like this."
"Kogure... I... I don't understand."
"I'm in love with you, Mitsui."
The words must've bounced off the walls, for they kept ringing in my ears. I couldn't believe what I just heard. Kogure? In love with me? When? How? I wanted to ask these question but for some unknown reason, I found myself unable to do so.
"You.. you what?"
"I'm in love with you," came the words again. It seemed like it took him a lot of effort to utter those 5 words.
I looked at his eyes. The same eyes that burned with anger the day my gang raided the gym, the same eyes that was filled with sadness when we lost to Kainan, the same eyes that fired the determination in us during our practice match with Ryokufu and the very same set of eyes that led us to victory against Ryonan.
At that very moment, there was nothing in those eyes except sadness.
"Kogure, I... I don't know what to say. I..."
"Then don't say anything, Mitsui. Like I said, I'm not expecting anything in return. I just want to let it out. And hey, I'm very happy for you and Rukawa. I'm sure you really love each other and I'm happy as long as you're happy. Really, I am," Kogure said.
"Sou ka?"
"Mochiron, Mitsui. My eyes would always tell you the truth."
He was right when he said that. Everytime I look into his eyes, all my doubts and fears seemed to drain away from me. His eyes bore the truth. It always has.
"JAL MD-80 bound to California..." the intercom announced.
Akagi went up to us and tapped Kogure on the shoulder. "That's us, Kogure."
I looked at Haruko. Her eyes now nearly red and swollen, probably due to too much crying. The girl has been very close to her brother ever since they were kids. For sure, she'll be missing her brother terribly.
"We will miss you very much, Kogure-san," the muffin head said as he tapped my best friend's shoulder. He then reached his pocket and pulled out the personalized key chain he himself made. The picture in the key chain was taken right after our victorious match with Ryonan. In the picture, Kogure and Miyagi were beside each other, both grinning and arms around each other's shoulders.
"Arigato, Miyagi, " Kogure said at he gave his kohai a gentle hug. "You take care of yourself, ok? And Ayako, too."
"Kogure-sempai!" Ayako cried as she flung her arms around Kogure. "We'll miss you..."
"Ore mo, Ayako. Now, promise me that you take care of that delinquent boyfriend of yours, ok?"
Ayako managed to smile. "Oh, he's going to be a good boy, sempai. I assure you of that."
"M-megane-kun..."
Kogure turned around and saw a certain red head whose eyes were nearly as red as his head. Behind him was his infamous gundam. Mito Yohei smiled and nodded at me. I did the same. Mito and I have been good friends since I went back to the team. None of us could ever forget that if it weren't for those four bastards, the team would've been dissolved and it could've been all my fault.
"Maa maa, Sakuragi. Geniuses don't cry."
"Sou da na. Demo, there's always an exception on everything, ne?"
Kogure nodded. Then Sakuragi reached into his pocket. Kogure's eyes widened when he saw what Sakuragi has pulled out.
"S-sakuragi. You shouldn't have bothered..." Kogure's voice trailed off as he looked at the new expensive pair of eyeglasses that Sakuragi stuffed in his hand.
"Iya, Megane-kun. You have always been a good friend to me ever since I started in the team. You've never criticized nor discouraged me. You were always there whenever I needed help. A wonderful person like you deserves a wonderful gift," Sakuragi said whose eyes started to water.
"Sou da ne, Megane-kun," Yohei agreed. "You take care in California, ok? I'm sure you'll do great there."
"Minna..." Kogure said as he looked at Sakuragi and his gundam. "I... I don't know what to say... Arigato." He then looked at the red head. "Saa, Sakuragi. Don't stop playing basketball, ok? Remember, you will be the one to lead the team to victory. Ne Sakuragi?"
"Sou sou. Ore wa tensai dakara na! Nahahahaha!!!"
He seemed to have forgotten that Kogure is leaving right after what the latter said, I thought.
"Kiminobu-niichan!" came the cries of Madoka and Emiri, Miyagi's sister and my sister respectively. The girls, bestfriends as they treat each other, have been very close to Kogure ever since I can remember, since he doesn't have any siblings.
"Watashi tachi wa inakute sabishiku omou Kiminobu-nii-chan," Emiri said as she wrapped her arms around Kogure.
"I'll miss you too, you know. Both of you."
Madoka slipped her arms into Kogure's and gave him 2 sterling silver bracelets, each with different designs. In Kanji writing, one bracelet bore Emiri's name and other, Madoka's. Both bracelets were engraved with the word 'muteki' - invincible.
Kogure's eyes windened with yet another expensive gift. "Now girls, how were you able to afford these? They must be expensive," Kogure said as he held out the bracelets.
"When onii-chan told me that you'll be going away to study, Emiri and I decided to save up our allowance so that we can buy you something. With that, you'll always remember that you have two sisters here waiting for you to come back," Madoka said.
"You girls... I love you both," Kogure said as she pulled the girls into a hug. "Take care of youselves. And look out for your brothers too. I mean it."
"Do you really have to say that, Kogure?" I said, a bit irritated. Kaede snorted at this which earned him a gentle jab to the elbow from me.
Kaede then took out something from his backpack and gave it to Kogure. It was a picture sealed in an elegant picture frame that he himself picked out for Kogure. The picture was taken after our match with Shoyo. In it was me and the boy that I loved the most, doing our infamous high five.
Kogure looked at Kaede with gratitude and admiration. He has always admired the Shohoku ace and proud that he played by his side. Kogure reached out for Rukawa's hand and pulled him to a hug.
"Rukawa, thank you. Thank you for everything. And thank you that at last, Mitsui is whole again. And it's all because of you."
"You've been an inspiration to me, sempai. I'll be the best so that you'll be proud of me."
"You were always the best for me, Rukawa."
"Now, I recent that," I said as Kogure pulled away from Rukawa. I stood in front of him and, for the first time since my high school days, I felt fear -the fear of losing him. I wanted him to stay and just never let him go. I pulled him to me and I gave him that tightest hug that I could ever give him.
"Mitsui," he said as he pulled away from me, his eyes filled with tears. "I'm going to miss you."
"I'll miss you more."
"I know," he said while wiping the tears from down his cheeks. "You take care of the girls, make sure that everyone doesn't fight and... take care and be faithful to each other, ok? You and Rukawa..." he said as I pulled him to one last hug.
"Yes sir. Kami-sama, I still can't believe that you're leaving. My only best friend's leaving me."
"Iya. I'll be back, Mitsui. I'll come back."
He pulled away from me and picked up his duffel bag. He and Akagi made their way to the departure area but not without looking back at us.
"Sayonara!" Akagi called out.
I managed to take a look at Akagi before he left. Emiri and I actually gave him the physics books that our parents bought for us last year, apart from the books that we're using in school. Physics was never my interest and apparently neither Emiri's, too. Since Akagi decided to take up Applied Physics, we agreed to give him those books. And he was delighted. Funny how we were rivals once and we managed to became close after I returned to the team.
"Sayonara, minna!" Kogure called out and waved. He looked at me and smiled his sweetest smile. I smiled back, not able to hold back tears any longer. Everyone, except Kaede, was already crying. I managed to wave back at him before he turned around and proceeded to the departure area. Kaede then held me tight, telling me that he's always there for me.
--
"Sempai? You still there?" Ayako said, snapping me back to reality.
"H-hai. So what's the plan?"
"We meet later at Akagi-sempai's house for the okaeri enkai. 7:00 PM sharp. No buts. And oh, does Rukawa already know?"
That question was unexpected. And I realized what a baka I have been. After all that happened, how will I let Kaede know?
~tsuzuite~
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Ding: Done with the first chapter... *sees Mitsui coming* H-hisashi! The birthday boy!
Mitsui: Yo, minna! *looks up* Ah, I see that you've posted the sequel for your first fic, Yumi.
Ding: Sou da ne. It's for your birthday. Omedetou tanjobi, Hisashi!
Kogure: Oh, right. Omedetou tanjobi, Mitsui.
Mitsui: Ah, arigato you two. *looks at Ding* Am I not getting a birthday kiss from you, Ding-chan?
Ding: Eh? Shouldn't you be asking Kiminobu for it, instead?
Mitsui: *blushes*
Kogure: *blushes*
Ding: Hahaha. Just kidding. Saa, let's go out. You deserve to have a good time, Hisashi.
Mitsui: Sou. Iku iku!
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~Ding, May 22, 2009~