A/N 1: this is a totally brand new series; it's going to be based on Slam Dunk. But before I go into details on how I'm going to do it, I'm thinking of re-watch the series before writing and I needed time to plan. Therefore this is just a foreword. See you soon!
Author's Note 2: I cannot believe I am doing this now, I mean I do have other things on hand to do but I simply decided to revise this fic of mine, revamping it into something better. Well, here goes nothing and on a side note, the sequel up and running now.
Title: Lost and Found
Genre: comedy/general/romance
Rating: PG-13/ T
Pairing: Fujima Kenji/Sakuragi Hanamichi
Summary: Fujima Kenji and Sakuragi Hanamichi used to be childhood playmates; the two of them ended up losing contact with one another after some unforeseen situation occurred that resulted in Sakuragi's move from the neighborhood.
Disclaimer: No, I do not own Slam Dunk nor its' characters.
Prologue
10 years ago…
The sun shone brightly through the dimly lit room, a red-haired boy about the age of 5 is staring intensely at the tightly closed bedroom door ahead of him. A fore brooding sense of doom loomed over him, as the endless quarrels and fighting of his parents can be heard echoing throughout the house. It seems like the parents' no longer cared whether or not their fights would attract their young son's attention now that it had escalated down to this point of the situation.
The red-haired boy was none other than Sakuragi Hanamichi, his features a unique blend of both his parents. His fiery red hair was inherited from his mother, a typical western woman who yearns for freedom and passion in life. His eyes though was brown, a trait inherited from his native Japanese father.
His parents met in the wonderful city of London, England during one of his father's business trips and his mother's holiday trip overseas. They fell in love with one another at first sight, his father was attracted to his mother's fiery spirit and his mother fell for his father's maturity and gentleman like mannerism. Still, their love didn't last for long… he came into their life soon after they were married and that was when everything went down the hill for his parents' relationship.
His mother, being a westerner could not understand the thinking of his father's traditional opinion of wanting her to stay home full-time to look after him. That was the start of all the endless quarreling between them, Sakuragi Hanamichi believed.
A sigh left the lips of the child as he thought, 'There goes my supposedly carefree childhood days… instead of playing with my friends, I am stuck in the midst of another of their fights…' With a shake of his head, the five year old red-haired boy trudged his way back into his own room.
Glancing about the room, his eyes landed upon a photo frame and could not help but smiled in response. The photo frame held a photo showing two boys, both smiling widely towards the camera screen. It was a photograph of him and his best friend, Fujima Kenji…a boy two years older than him that resided just down the road. That was his first and only friend that he had made in this neighborhood.
The boy in the picture was the only person whom he shared his thoughts and dreams with, his only source of comfort which sheltered him from his unbearable life thus far. However, he knew it won't last for long now, judging from the way these fights are getting from bad to worse... his parents would be getting a divorce before the day is over. That much, he knew enough to gauge.
Although neither of them had mentioned anything of that sort to him just yet, he simply knew it would happen. He had the misfortune to overhear it during one of their fight which took place the previous night, whereby his parents had apparently thought him to be asleep when he was not. He had been busying himself with his nightly routine when he heard a vase crash first followed by his parents yelling and finally, his mother had all but wept and suggested for a divorce to end all of these 'hell' she claimed.
His mother was young, too young…only twenty-five years old whereas his father was in his thirties. The age gap was too big, and their difference in lifestyle and opinions would no doubt put a dent in their relationship sooner or later. His mother's westernized way of thinking would never fits into his father's traditional way of doing things, one of these days everything would fall apart… Hanamichi had often heard his grandparents off his mother's side talking about it whenever they came to visit. Of course, they spoke in English then and while Hanamichi doesn't really understand their words then since it's' too far advanced in vocabulary for him to catch on without troubles…he still managed to get the gist of it all.
Moreover, he has a good memory so much so that he had recited everything he had heard his grandparents telling his mother to his kinder-garden teacher the following day and had the teacher explaining to him the meaning. Of course, that hasn't gone off well either and he felt guilty for it still… as his teacher had probably freaked out on his words and went off to inform his parents of it. When his father caught wind of it, his mother had suffered greatly for the impact of his acts. His father had all but forbid his grandparents to come visit them again, and with his mother's only source of comfort gone from her life… it was no doubt that she had snapped totally and exploded from the never ending stress ever since she had had him.
Sakuragi Hanamichi might have been young, but he was not naive. He knew what a divorce meant; it meant that his parents were going to be separated. After all, this is a pretty common sight especially when one-quarter of his classmates had originated from a single family. It turns out that his prediction had came true after all…because that very night, his mother had came into his room and sat by him for a long time without moving an inch before finally breaking down emotionally in front of him, once again with the wrong impression of him being asleep when in reality, he was only faking it.
One week later, their house was sold. His mother left him alone with his father in Japan while she left for Australia to start her new life whereas his father moves them to a shabby area, renting an apartment with only a room, tiny kitchen and bathroom. They had been staying there ever since then.
Even though his mother had sent him money every year without fail, his father had forbidden him to use it for reasons he could not fathom. As times passes by, he grew up to become defiance and eventually became a gangster. Finally, his father died of a heart attack leaving him alone to his own device. His father's funeral was handled by one of his father's co-worker at work, and his mother never did once appear to show her face. Then again, she probably wasn't even aware of it to begin with…since his father had cut off all contact with her and Hanamichi had no way of contacting her even if he desires to do so. Heck, he didn't even know how to contact his maternal grandparents then. His father had made sure of that.
10 years later…
The time has comes for him to begin his high school journey. After some last minute cramming studies, he managed to get into Shohoku High together with his friends, Mito Yohei and gang. Upon his first day into the new school, he got himself infatuated with one Haruko Akagi and even joins the Shohoku Basketball Team for her sake. When he found out that Haruko likes Rukawa, he even went all out to see Rukawa Kaede as a rival and even nickname the latter as 'kitsune' which meant fox in Japanese. Soon, it will be time for them to play against Shoyo High within the district tournament. However, what he didn't realize at that point of time was that it was in this impending game that he would be playing with…that brings an old friend of his back into his life for good.
TBC…
Chapter 1 - A familiar face.
Fujima Kenji and Hanagata Toru were at the indoor stadium watching a game between Shohoku and Tsukubu, when someone on the court managed to catch his attention.
Standing at a height of 188cm and with that head of bright red hair, Sakuragi Hanamichi is not someone to be missed easily. From the moment, he stepped onto the court he had unintentionally caught the attention of Fujima Kenji, captain and coach of Shoyo Basketball team.
Hanagata Toru peered at his best friend, Fujima closely. He noticed that the latter had an intense look on his face; he caught his gaze and look over to the source which caught Fujima attention and felt nothing but bewilderment.
'What's so special about this red head? Why is Fujima feeling so strongly about him?' Hanagata couldn't help but wonder. At the same time, the same thought keep flashing within Fujima Kenji's mind.
'Could it be? Can it really be him? No…it can't be…but that bright red hair…no one else can have that sort of hair. From what I knew, his hair color was inherited by his mother side of the family as his mother came from Australia.' Fujima Kenji found himself thinking about the same thing over and over again.
Even when the game had come to an end, the same thought keeps on swirling within Fujima Kenji's mind. Irregardless, how he tried to ignore the question… it still ended up coming back to him. As the game against Shohoku neared, he felt his whole mind filled with questions. The feeling is so strong that he almost missed the question made by his friend, Hanagata Toru.
"Ne, Fujima! Did you hear what I said a moment ago?" Hanagata waved his hand in front of Fujima, trying to gain the said teen's attention.
"Eh? What?" Fujima asked as he was startled out of reverie.
"I had been asking you, what time is our practice going to end today? After all, our match against Shohoku is just tomorrow…" Hanagata repeated his question with a hint of exasperation and weariness in his tone of voice.
"Well, I suppose we could end it now. We will need all the rest that we can get." Fujima replied, after snapping back into reality from his thoughts.
On the other hand, Hanagata was in charge of dismissing the team members, while Fujima Kenji found his thoughts going back to one Sakuragi Hanamichi. Later as he lies in bed that night, he continues to ponder on the question. Just before he was about to drift off to the dreamland, it suddenly clicked and everything starts to fall into place in his mind.
'Sakuragi Hanamichi…Hana..! So that's it! It has to be him! Hana is the short form of Hanamichi! Why didn't I think of it before?' His eyes widen as realization drawn in, with the answer out in the open. He felt himself fell into a deep slumber of sleep.
The following day, he woke up feeling refresh and energetic. On his way to the stadium, he only had one thought in mind which is to see how Hanamichi had been faring these few years. He had his mind set on discovering the other life after all these years since they parted.
As soon as the Shohoku members came in, his eyes immediately found his way towards Hanamichi who's basically oblivious to his surrounding. Looking over he found that Hanamichi had been one of the starters five, he brief his teammates for a moment before turning his attention back towards the Shohoku's Team corner.
(A/N: I'm going to skip the match part, since people who watch the anime should know what had happen… so I'm going to go directly to the part after the match.)
TBC…
Date started: 12/09/04
Date completed: 12/09/04
Date edited: 28/2/2013
P.S: Amended the name of the school from Jintsubu to Tsukubu.