Rukawa Kaede was lost.
Somewhere re alond his sleep cycling tryst, he had lost his way. He absently turned his bike along the unfamiliar streets as he tried to navigate his way through Kanagawa.
Fate may have it, that he should be led to a street basketball court. The neighborhood in which it was situated was nearly empty that afternoon. there were several flats, and strangely enough, there was a pub in the corner of the street. He hopped off his bicycle and walked towards the court with his bag of books. Seeing no one there, he picked up a stray ball and started shooting hoops. He played for over an hour, completely unaware of his changing sourroundings.
A sudden burst of loud blaring music caught his attention causing him to miss a shot. Annoyed, he huffed and looked to the source of the unforgivable disturbance. As expected, the music was coming from the pub. Sighing, he picked up the ball and took aim. A second blare of music caused him to miss the shot yet again. Glaring at the pub, he picked up the ball yet again. I will not be disturbed this time, hethought.
He bent his knees, lifted the ball above his head and looked at the basket. This basket will be mine. He smirked and released the ball.
"Kaede? Is that you?"
The ball bounced off the rim of the basket.
Balling his fist to punch the one who dared to intrude his precious practice, Rukawa turned to come face-to-face with the unforgivable soul.
Sendoh.
Catching his fist in mid air, the spiky haired Ryonan ace casually smiled at him. Rukawa gave him his best possible ice-glare. Unperturbed, Sendoh continued, "I haven't seen you in this neighbourhood before, do you come here often?"
"Hn."
"A few of us guys from the team are going over to The Mischief over there" he said, pointing to the the now lively pub, "would you like to come along?"
What a nuisance. First he disrupts my practice, then asks me to go to a pub. He thought, then looked up at the sky. It was getting dark. Well, I can't practice for long now. Perhaps a little while wouldn't hurt.
He nodded in aquiescence and the two walked off into the pub.
Inside the pub...
"Hey hey Sendoh! Late as usual! Huh? Who is that with you?" A slightly tipsy Koshino yelled from the bar counter. "How now! Kaede Ru-"
"You! What are you doing here!" Kiyota, the freshman from Kainan, pointed an accusing finger at Rukawa.
"Hn."
"He is with me Kiyota-chan." Sendoh replied, as the long haired player walked upto them. As he started a string of incoherent gibberish, Rukawa took the time to assess his surroundings. The pub by itself was not to large. There was a bar counter at one end and there were about five round bar tables, only three being occupied. Currently, the bar counter seemed to be occupied with the Ryonan players -Koshino, Ikegami and some others he didn't know.
At one of the round tables sat Shinichi Maki and other Kainan players. The rest seemed to be occupied by a mix of students from random schools he did not recognize.
What shocked him was the familiar loud boisterous group in the corner that seemed to be making most of the noise in the room. The Shohoku team, comprising of Mitsui, Ryota, Yasuda and Hanamichi were leaning against the wall and laughing. Or maybe fighting? He couldn't tell.
As if on cue, they turned towards him. The red head wa the first to speak.
"Oi kitsune! Following the tensai aren't you? Hahahahaahha!"
"Doahu."
"Teme kitsune!" Hanamichi was held back by the others before he started a brawl I the bar. That could not be good for the team.
"Hn."
Nevertheless, Rukawa abandoned Sendoh and walked over to his team mates. Looking at the long list of drinks, he was about to order when Mitsui beat him to it.
"He'll be having nothing more than lime water, miss." He said, winking at the young waitress. Noticing the glare he was getting from the ace, he said, "no alcohol till you're older, young man."
"Hn."
Back at the court...
Haruko Akagi was walkin home after a tutoring session at her friend's house. As was her habit, she walked by the basketball court, daydreaming about a certain Kaede Rukawa. Rukawa-kun was so good at practice today. I know he will take us to the Nationals this year!
Noticing an abandoned bicycle by the court, she walked over to inspect it. Looking up ahead, she noticed a book bag. Let me see who it belongs to.
To her immense surprise, it belonged to none other than the aforementioned ace.
"Rukawa-kun was here!" She exclaimed to herself and then felt giddy. She looked around. He was nowhere to be found. "It is unlike him to leave his things around. I wonder where he is. I hope he hasn't got into trouble." She began to walk around, nervous. "I must find him and return it to him."
As if on cue, a group of Kainan Dai players walked out of the pub, with Maki pulling Kiyota by his hair. The freshman was yelling a string of profanities.
"That stupid re monkey thinks he's better than me! I'll show him his place on the court!"
Haruko turned towards them. Hanamichi is in that place. Maybe he knows where Rukawa-kun is. Turning back, She picked up his books and walked into The Mischief.
Back in the pub...
Ryota and Mitsui were holding down Hanamichi with great difficulty. A brawl had broken out between him and Kiyota over some trivial matter like 'who's better than who' and 'who can beat the kitsune'. Thankfully Maki had stepped in and pulled away the Kainan freshman before matters got out of hand.
Still seething from the heat of the previous argument, Hanamichi finally sat down. Small conversations ensued among the players accompanied with a few drinks. Soon, they were all tipsy.
"Hey Hanamichi! Get down from the counter, will you?"
"Hahahahaahha! The tensai is king of the court and the bar! Hahahahaahh!" He danced on the counter. The bartender had long since left to the back of the bar.
The bell at the entrance rang and in walked Haruko Akagi.
"Hanamichi, what pare you doing!" She cried in horror. Completely inebriated, he said, "Haruko-San is so pretty!" Ignoring him, she turned around and gasped. On the floor lay Yasuda, completely intoxicated. Ryota was trying to claw his way up the plastered wall but failling miserably. Sendoh was walking around with a creepy grin on his face. The only ones who seemed close to sobriety where the two aces of the team - Mitsui and Kaede.
She must do something. If the team were to be found in such a state, they could be disqualified. Mustering up some courage, she walked over to the couch where they were seated and cleared her throat.
Author's Note: Story to be continued. Please read and review!