Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Slam Dunk is owned by Japanese Mangaka Takehiko Inoue. Aside from: Kyouaki Jaune and Fuyuki Haruko, all characters are owned by him. enjoy.

Lose ball

"... And up here, the second door, is your room... The bathroom is down the hall and if you turn left there you'll see my son's room so if you need anything you can ask him or you can knock on our door which is at the other end of this hall. Oh and you already know there's a bathroom downstairs as well."

The lady, the mother of the house, obviously didn't know how to breathe in between sentences, I stare blankly at her lips, trying to prepare for the next words that will come out of her mouth. I don't want to seem rude and impose on her just because my Japanese is still a little rough.

"Then who occupies this door right here?" I ask.

"It's the guest room. We have two guest rooms since we often have guests but I don't think you'll be a guest for a long time." the lady stared at me for a while, her eyes were like opal, glittering.

"Oh dear! You just dont have any idea how much I've been praying to have another female in the house. I hope you enjoy your stay here with us."

"Um... yes, me too..." I answered with a tired smile.

"It's been a while since you've been to Japan right? Your mother left with you and your father when you were five it's amazing how you can still speak Japanese fluently."

"... Thank you. I try to speak my mom's native language when I'm with her, and I really want to get this scholarship when I was young so it's important for me to know it. I just never thought they'd be offering me a scholarship while I'm still in high school."

"Well, some schools do that for international students to prepare them for the local university." The lady smiled, "Well, you should get to bed soon, tomorrow's your first day and you dont want to be tired by then."

Chapter 1: Superficial

*Yawn* I open my eyes to my new environment. It's a miracle that I slept in without budging on my first night nontheless. Maybe I was just really tired from the 48 hour flight, since it usually takes me a long time to get used to new surroundings, especially a new bed! The bed they have wasn't so bad, it's a medium thick futon in a japanese style single bed. The room is medium sized, there's a closet which couldnt contain all my clothes, there's the study table at the foot of my bed. A chair. A fan. A wall mirror. A wall clock. A door.

I sigh. My first day of school in Japan. This should be interesting.

My alarm clock finally rang, I smile since it's a sign that I was excited for waking up before my alarm, even though I dont feel excited... must be a subconscious thing, my psychiatrist mom always lectured me with those things to help me control my emotions- so she says.

Grabbing my towel I lazily walked out to the bathroom and as I opened the door my eyes nearly popped out of my eye socket. Seins? Sacrebleu! I gaped. *female boobies? Oh gosh*

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! What are you doing? Dont you know how to knock?"

"I... Sorry. I'm so sorry." A girl?

I closed the door and took backward steps until I bumped into what seemed like a stone wall, but as I turn around I saw his face for the first time.

"Hm." the freakishly tall man grunted in amusement, "This is awkward. She'll be taking a while in there, you can wait if you don't mind doing that for an hour, but there's a bathroom downstairs."

"Uh. Yea... Arigatou" thanks

"Your Japanese is kind of... weird." And you're freakishly tall. I wanted to say...

Well, that's a rude comment... I try to smile and tolerate, "I'm working on it, I grew up in France after all." His eyes gleamed for some reason I can only hunch about, but I just shrugged it off since foreigners from any country must have that kind of effect on whoever. "Well, I'll head downstairs then, tell your sister to lock the door next time."

He laughed. Guffawed. He flung his bath towel across his shoulder and said, "Yes, I will." before he went inside the same bathroom and locked the door.

I can only blush as I recall his mother's words last night... 'Glad to have another female in the house...' Oh boy. If this was a sign for what kind of day I'd be having, I might just think of skipping the orientation... but I cant since I'm one of the 5 students they'll be awarding a full scholarship to this year.

I can only wish that the awkward encounter in the bathroom was the end of the tense morning, but I knew otherwise. There was the Japanese breakfast to look forward to... not the food per'se but the the conversation that comes when eating it.

All 5 of us gathered at the dining table... my hostess, Mrs. Nobunaga, was laying all the beautifully prepared Japanese food on the table. Mr and Mrs. Nobunaga sat at the opposite end of the table, their son and his girlfriend sitting together while i sat across them, closest to Mrs. Nobunaga's side.

"So... what your name?" the girl asked, she was pretty. brown hair, brown eyes and heart shaped lips, she looked petite wearing the Kainan uniform. She was 6 inches, i think, shorter than I am so that would make her... 5'2. She looked friendly and bright that I felt guilty about our first encounter... but hey, it wasnt my fault.

"Kyouaki Jaune." I aswered her question politely. Although saying my name here in Japan was weird, it's the 'JAUNE' part, maybe I should tell people my name's Kyou Aki... hmm. No.

"Hmmm. Cute name, I'm Fuyuki Haruko." she smiled before taking a bite on her egg roll.

Her name means 'Winter Snow'... and 'Sky', "What a pretty name." I said.

That's the absolute beauty in Japanese names, they have meanings derived from nature. Although I can't say the same for mine: Kyou= Temple & Aki= red/autumn, my mom obviously didn't read poetry and my dad... well, it's not his fault my surname means the color of blood. It doesn't even sound that sacred even though it had the word 'temple' in it.

"Thanks for letting us finish our project here Mrs. Nobunaga." Fuyuki said in her sweet voice, I nearly choked. I'm only 16, but I'm pretty sure the word 'project' didnt quite describe the activity they had last night.

Kiyota, as I figured the son's name is, was quiet. Although I bet he's not really the quiet type. Judging from the shape of his mouth, which was quite wide, he's a talker.

Mrs. Nobunaga replied with a warm smile "No problem Haruko-chan. Now you kids better get up and leave. Kyou's going to be late for her first day."

"Aw... that's so adorable! Your first day in high school." Fuyuki had her elbows on the table with her chin resting on the back of her hand, her eyes were sparkling dreamily, I have no idea what kind of fantasy she's having.

"Er... Yeah. Although at my height you can't call it adorable." i said, finishing the food on my plate.

"No matter how tall you are, you're only 16 and your pretty face makes up for your atrociously tall figure." she paused, "I dont know about boys from Shohoku but Japanese guys like their women cute and small. Are you naturally blonde?"

I didnt know what to say but then I saw his blue eyes staring at me with an amused glow, I can't help but just force a cracked up smile at them and say, "Yes... and about boys, I think I'll manage." Like boys are on top of my priorities right now.

We said goodbye to Mr. and Mrs. Nobunaga and went to Kiyota's car. A silver honda civic. 'Haruko' as Fuyuki would preferred to be called, went on and on about Shohoku and Kainan's rivalry although i wasn't paying attention to most of it, I was more enthralled with the seaside view, the culture and the sceneries.

"Kyou." I snapped from my fascination,

"Yes?" I asked.

"I'll be picking you up at 7 okay?"

"Ah. Dont worry about me, I can take the train home."

Haruko shrieked, "Not on your first day! Listen to your senpai. Oh, and a word of advice so that you wouldnt pick any unecessary fights or problems, you should address your upperclassmen as 'senpai', as repect. It's kind of a big deal you know."

"Oh. yes senpai.", I smiled, his girl friend was helpful. They dropped me off at the gate and went off to Kainan which was 15-30 minutes away from Shohoku.

"KANAGAWA PREFECTURE." This is where I live now. The car ride only took 15 minutes, if I bought a bicycle it'd take me 30 minutes... wait... a motorcycle would be cooler... sigh. Riding the train would be more practical...

( CHAPTER 2: 3-Point Play)

...TBC

OKAY! This is my first time. FIRST TIME writing in a 1st person's POV. I've been writing for a couple of years now and this is the first time I've picked up the courage to frickin write as the main character sees the environment.

It's hard... In my opinion. How about you guys? Do you think it's easier to write in a 1st, 2nd or 3rd (or narrator's) POV? I want to know what you think.

I never really had the interest in reading novels written in the 1st person POV. i read twilight saga which took me 5 months to finish (a novel) when HARRY POTTER and LOTR and NARNIA took me only a day or two to finish. Even Percy Jackson which entertained me a lot, took me a while and great effort to finish and to continue reading, until now. Sophie Kinsella is entertaining, but i only finished 1 book from her... I have a hard copy of her 20's girl for 5 years and I havent finished reading it.

How about you? Which do you prefer reading more? Who's your preferred narrator?