Genre: Humour
Rating: G
Disclaimer: Slam Dunk character belongs to Takehiko Inoue. Gensomaden Saiyuki belongs to Minekura Kazuya
Warnings: This is probably the longest first chapter I've ever done… so please bear with me, okay? And because it's the first time I'm inconpensating Japanese words and phrases into the fic, please don't hesitate to point out anything that you don't understand, or correct me if I've wrongly used any terms. I would really appreciate lots and lots of constructive criticisms and supportive reviews. *looks around hopefully with puppy-dog eyes*
Note: This is set some time in early December, assuming that all the SD boys are on holiday and the Winter Tournament that never happened has already occurred. The plot doesn't make much sense since I've modified everything to suit how I want the story to pan out. Plus, I'm disregarding all those minor basketball players since they're not really that distinctive anyway. Ooh, and some Saiyuki crossovers in the future. Heh. ^_^
* * *
Chapter One ~ Let's Go Camping!Sendoh Akira love sunrises. Leaning dangerously close to the balcony, he gave a contented sigh as he breathed in the morning scents. It was peacefully quiet, the tranquillity occasionally broken by sounds of birds chirping to greet the incoming dawn. Living on the 11th floor of the fifteen-stories apartment, the boy had a clear view as the slightest tinge of pink and orange peeked from beneath the horizon. It felt so good to be alive, and he had the sudden urge to shout in happiness, to announce to the world the joy that was bursting to be let out from inside. But he doubted if his neighbours or his parents would appreciate the noisy wake-up call at five twenty something in the morning. So he merely smiled to himself as he watched the sun rise. Yes, he was definitely happy to be alive.
~ * ~
"Kakkoi, Onisan! To have Kanagawa's greatest players together in the same camp, what great fun it will be. How I wished I could go with you too," ended Haruko rather wistfully as she watched her brother perform last minutes checks to make sure he had packed everything. Two weeks on a remote island called for perfection, and it wouldn't do if he had accidentally left anything behind.
Akagi Takenori turned to smile wryly at his sister, "I'm not sure 'fun' is the correct word to describe the following trip; more like chaotic horror, what's with the two bakas going as well."
Haruko's eyes widened in surprise, "But I thought Rukawa-kun and Sakuragi-kun weren't going to join the camp?"
Shohoku's Captain sighed heavily, "Well, that was the initial plan. But then Anzai Sensei decided that it'll actually be a good experience for the first years to join in, so the both of them will be coming after all."
Haruko squealed even louder, "Sugoi, Onisan! Then all of Shohoku's greatest players will be there! Oh, now I really wished I could join you. Will Ayako-san be there too?"
"Of course. With everyone present, we're going to need someone sensible to prevent any bloodshed and possible fatal accidents."
"Don't be so pessimistic, onisan. I'm sure Rukawa-kun and Sakuragi-kun will behave themselves," pointed out Haruko before adding cheerfully, "After all, they will be surrounded by seniors, ne?"
"As if that has ever made a difference," snorted Akagi in response. "We'd be lucky if we were all still in one piece after two weeks together."
Haruko merely smiled at the exaggeration as she reminded her brother, "Don't forget you still have to pick up Kogure-san. So you better hurry or you'll both miss the train."
"Hai. You take care now, okay?"
Haruko nodded as she watched her brother entered the car while her okasan started the engine. Standing at the doorway, the young girl gaily waved a farewell as the car pulled out of the driveway.
~ * ~
Leaning against the wall of the train station, Kiyota Nobunaga grumbled aloud to the two boys standing opposite, "I really don't understand. How is it that only three Kainan players are allowed to join the camp when there are so many more Shohoku players going? Don't you think it's a bit unfair?"
Jin Soichiro grinned as he answered his friend, "Well, for one thing, the idea did originate from Shohoku's Anzai Sensei. And if I'm not mistaken, the organiser is Anzai Sensei's nephew and he had purposely reserved part of his hostel for this winter camp."
Kainan's Captain then added dryly, "You should consider yourself lucky that you're even invited. Apparently none of the first years were supposed to be coming for this camp, since this was meant as a farewell for third year players, and an opportunity for second year players to get to know the other captains from rival schools better."
Kiyota merely continued to pout as he folded his arms across his chest. Then he suddenly brightened; if the first years were going to there, then he'll have the opportunity to beat Rukawa Kaede and show everyone that he's the number one new boy in Kanagawa. He suddenly burst out into peels of wild laughter. Caught unaware, both Jin and Maki Shinichi sweatdropped as they took several steps back. Thankfully, right at that moment their train arrived, successfully drowning out Kiyota's loud laughter…
~ * ~
Fujima Kenji almost had to shout into his cell phone as another train thundered passed theirs, "Are you sure you can't come?"
For several seconds the Shoyo captain listened intently to the caller. Finally he sighed before answering rather unhappily, "If you're sure about your decision, then there's really nothing I can do. Yes, I'll tell you all about it when I get back. Okay, bye."
Ending the call, Fujima shook his head before answering the inquisitive look on Hanagata Toru's face. "He's not coming. Says he's got the flu or something."
Hanagata leaned back in his chair before commenting rather sceptically, "Is that so? Funny, I would have thought Hasegawa was in the pink of his health."
Fujima merely shrugged his shoulders, "Who knows what his real intentions may be? Anyway, it'll really too late for him to join us, we're just going to have to break the unfortunate news to Anzai Sensei when we arrive."
The bespectacled boy nodded wordlessly as they continued the rest of their journey in silence.
~ * ~
"Sakuragi-kun!"
The boy in question turned around before exclaiming loudly, "Hikoichi! What are you doing here?"
The infamous black notebook was held up to his face as Aida Hikoichi explained gleefully, "Anzai Sensei said I could come along to help monitor the players' performances. Sugoi ne?"
Instead of answering, Sakuragi Hanamichi pointed in surprise at the three other boys that emerged from the train, "Boss Monkey, baka Smiley and whats-his-name here too?"
Not familiar with the nicknames, Hikoichi's eyes followed Sakuragi's finger before he answered excitedly, "Oh, you mean Uozumi-senpai, Sendoh-senpai and Koshino-senpai? Of course, we were all invited by Anzai Sensei."
"What? How come the Tensai wasn't aware of this?" growled Sakuragi in annoyance as the boy before him cringed in response. Fire sparked in the cinnamon eyes as Hikoichi glanced wildly for any assistance; how was he supposed to know the answer? However, his silent plea for help was answered by the most unlikely person.
"Do'aho."
"Nani? Urusee na baka kitsune!" came the swift reply as the cinnamon eyes turned to meet icy blue ones. Hikoichi was momentarily forgotten and the Ryonan manager quickly ran back to reunite with the rest of his teammates. Greeting his friend was turning out to be quite a scary experience…
"Oh for gods' sake, will the two of you stop glaring at each other? We've only just arrived and you're already behaving like ten-year-olds."
"Mitchy!" whined Sakuragi in protest before launching into a string of defensive excuses. Rukawa Kaede however, snorted as he walked away from the other two boys who were now bickering rather animatedly. To be honest, he was actually quite thankful for the intervention since he wasn't really in the mood to argue. It was merely habitual for him to insult the redhead every time he said something stupid, and the word had escaped his lips instinctively.
"Hey Rukawa, why the long face?"
He didn't look up, preferring to continue staring at his shoes. Then again, it wasn't as if he didn't recognise the voice; the cheekiness and playfulness that lined the words could only come from one person. He breathed out rather reluctantly, "What is it, Sendoh?"
Sendoh leaned on the wall next to Rukawa as he dropped his bag at his feet. Stuffing his hands into the front pockets of his jeans, the older boy repeated his earlier question, "You don't look too eager about this trip."
Rukawa looked up to glance impassively at the spiky-haired boy, "Why should I?"
"Well, that's because I'm here! Imagine, two whole weeks of playing basketball together, that's equals to 14 days or 336 hours or 20160 minutes…"
Rukawa interjected in annoyance, "Yeah, yeah, I get the picture."
Still the wide grin, "So, aren't you feeling the least bit excited?"
"Oh yeah, I'm so trilled," responded Rukawa sarcastically as he turned back to his feet. Why couldn't the boy just leave him alone? And what was he even doing here in the first place? It wasn't as if the trip was compulsorily, not to mention that he had better things to do that spend two whole weeks of his holiday with fourteen other idiots. To hell with learning about teamwork, he'd much prefer to practise alone. A soft sigh escaped his lips unconsciously; maybe that was why Anzai Sensei had specifically instructed him to take part. Gods know he'd have to learn to work with the rest of his teammates, especially that annoying do'aho, if they wanted to win next year's competitions.
He was interrupted out of his musings as a bus screeched to a stop in front of the train station. A young man in his late twenties jumped out as he went forth to greet Anzai Sensei.
"That must be Anzai Sensei's nephew, huh?" remarked Sendoh though he wasn't really expecting a verbal answer.
He received none as Rukawa nodded soundlessly; he had seen the man once when he came to visit his uncle at Shohoku's gym to discuss about the camp. The young man had a friendly face and was grinning from ear-to-ear as he shook some of the members' hands. He then called out rather loudly, "So how many more boys are we waiting for?"
As if on cue, another train pulled into the station. This time, five boys emerged from separate cars as they then advanced towards the waiting group. Fujima quickly explained to Anzai Sensei about Hasegawa's absence to which the basketball coach merely waved aside his apologies as he gestured for everyone to board the bus.
~ * ~
As the bus started on its way towards the hostel, Anzai Sensei's nephew waved his hands in the air to grab everyone's attention. Satisfied that all eyes were on him, he gave a wide grin before speaking into the microphone, "Ohayo minna! We'll be reaching the hostel in about forty minutes so I thought I'd take this opportunity to introduce myself. My name is Anzai Toki, but you can all call me Toki so not to confuse me with your sensei. As you all know, this winter camp was specially organised for your benefit, so you'll all have free access to any parts of the hostel. However, please keep in mind that there are other guests so try to be considerate by not to raising your voices or squabbling in the hallways."
There was a definite twinkle in Toki's brown eyes as he added jokingly, "As you all might have already guessed, I've been given prior warning by Anzai Sensei to expect the worst."
Loud laughter followed as Toki then added, "I've also enlisted two friends to help Anzai Sensei manage your training. They're both waiting at the hostel so I'll introduce you to them later on. Are there any further questions?"
A voice, presumably Miyagi's, called from behind, "Yeah, what's the room arrangement like?"
"Well, it's four to a room, except for Ayako who'll have her own room of course. Ano, I think Anzai Sensei has already organised the room arrangements?"
With that Takeo glanced towards his uncle who nodded his agreement. Seconds later, the white-haired old man stood up to face the fourteen boys as he held up a piece of paper in his hand. He then proceed to read the names on his list aloud, "First room, Fujima, Hanagata, Maki and Rukawa; second room, Akagi, Uozumi, Jin and Miyagi; third room, Sendoh, Koshino, Kiyota and Sakuragi; and finally, for the fourth room, Mitsui, Kogure and Aida."
As expected, Sakuragi started protesting loudly as he complained about having to spend two weeks sleeping in the same room as the nozaru.
Kiyota shot back heatedly, "Baka, who are you calling a monkey?"
But before Sakuragi could offer a rebuke, Anzai Sensei's glasses gleamed as he turned his attention towards Sakuragi. As the boy glanced up sheepishly, the old man spoke clearly, his tone leaving no room for further disagreement, "I know two weeks is a long time to spend with someone else, but I hope that you will all use this opportunity to get to know the other better. As such, it is my aim for the seniors to act as role models for the younger players, and for the juniors to learn from the more experienced players. So I don't want to hear anymore complains, okay?"
A loud thud interrupted everyone's thoughts and they suddenly realised that their bus had boarded the ferry. They then continued the rest of the journey in silence, since every sound they made was drowned out by the loud 'chunka chunk' of the ferry's motor. Just when Mitsui was quite sure he was going to throw up partially because of sea-sickness, and partially because Sakuragi was making weird faces at him so that he would in fact throw up, the ferry came to a halt at the remote island's pier. Rows and rows of pine trees met their eyes as the bus drove off the concrete plank onto a small and winding road. Fifteen minutes later the road suddenly widened as a five stories creamy-white building met their eyes. Each occupant, save for the Anzais and the driver, gasped aloud in awe as the bus finally came to a stop.
Toki grinned at the awestruck faces as he announced proudly, "Here we are guys, your Winter Wonderland for the next fourteen days!"
~ * ~
While Toki was handing the keys around, his uncle took the opportunity to offer some advice, "You all have half an hour to settle into your rooms before we regroup right here at the foyer. Toki will be giving us a tour around the hostel before we have our dinner."
Toki grinned widely, "I think we'll begin a part of the tour now since I have to guide you all to your rooms. Now has everyone got their own bags? Okay then, follow me."
Since it was impossible for the seventeen of them to squeeze into the lift at the same time, it took three trips for everyone to arrive on the third floor. Leading the way, Takeo finally stopped in front of Room 33 before announcing, "Room 33 for Fujima and co., room 34 for Mitsui and co., room 35 for Sendoh and co., and finally room 36 for Akagi and co. Both Anzai Sensei and Ayako will be on the fifth floor, Anzai Sensei in room 51 and Ayako in room 53. I'll be bringing both of them up now, so I'll see you all later, okay?"
Fourteen heads nodded in response.
~ * ~
Three pairs of eyes widened in disbelief as their owners sweatdropped. Finally it was Maki who voiced their thoughts aloud, "He's not asleep, is he?"
The steady rise and fall of Rukawa's chest and the firmly shut eyes indicated otherwise. Fujima followed with a question of his own, "Who's going to wake him up?"
As the other two boys turned to him simultaneously, Fujima whined aloud, "Why me?"
Maki hazarded a suggestion, "Cause you're the oldest of us all?"
"Am not! Hanagata is older than me."
Hanagata sweatdropped as he pointed out, "But Fujima, you're the coach, captain and ace player of Shoyo. So that makes you the wisest among the three of us."
"Chicken," muttered Fujima crossly as he stared down at the sleeping boy. He had heard rumours of Rukawa's tendency to fall asleep just about anytime and anywhere, but this was his first personal experience witnessing the event. With a sigh, Fujima finally relented rather unwillingly, "Oh alright, I'll wake him this time, but only because it's inevitable. However, don't celebrate too quickly as I'm certain that there will be a 'next time'. Need I remind you that we'll be sharing the same room for the coming two weeks?"
Just then Rukawa rolled to his side as he curled his feet halfway to his waist. The three seniors could only sweatdropped some more.
~ * ~
Next door, Mitsui Hisashi's head was starting to ache due to the incessant babbling of Ryonan's basketball player-cum-reporter. The said boy was driving him nuts with the never-ending questions that sprang forth from his mouth and it was taking a lot of restrain on Mitsui's part to not pound the boy senseless. He didn't know how Kogure could have the patience to listen and answer Hikoichi's inquiries. In fact, Mitsui was positive that Hikoichi would be hanging around the bespectacled boy twenty-four-seven over the next fourteen days; after all, it wasn't everyday that Hikoichi gets such an attentive listener. A loud sigh escaped Mitsui's lips as he resigned himself to the fact that it was going to be a very painful, not to mention exceedingly noisy, two weeks.
~ * ~
If Mitsui thought his situation was raucous, the walls on the room opposite his were starting to tremble due to the loud bickering between Kiyota and Sakuragi. Sendoh could have sworn that the walls actually shook when Koshino screamed for the both of them to shut the hell up. They did, but only for two seconds before resuming their senseless argument. Sendoh gave his friend a sympathetic pat on the shoulder as the boy sat down heavily by his side.
"I don't believe it. From the moment we stepped into the room they hadn't shut up once, not once. Well, okay, maybe once, if you count those two miserable seconds. My gods, Sendoh, how are we suppose to maintain our sanity for the next fourteen days?"
"With earplugs?" offered Sendoh with a grin to which his friend scowled darkly at him before adding ruefully, "What was Anzai Sensei thinking to put us with those two loudmouths? It would have been a better idea to room them with Akagi and Uozumi instead. A couple of gori punches and all will be well."
As the chibi forms of Kiyota and Sakuragi with large bruises on their heads entered Sendoh's mind, the boy couldn't help but laugh aloud, much to the astonishment of Koshino. He asked rather worriedly, "Hey Sendoh, you okay? Please don't let me be the only sane one in the room."
Holding his hands against his aching sides, Sendoh tried to control his laughter as he wheezed out painfully, "Gori… punches…" The lips twitched upwards again as Sendoh collapsed on the bed in defeat. He really couldn't help but release the wild laughter that bubbled in his throat.
Koshino sighed; it was going to be a very, very long two weeks.
~ * ~
Miyagi's eyes caught Jin's and understanding passed between the two future captains as they both sighed aloud simultaneously. If Anzai Sensei had intended for both boys to learn from the current captains of Shohoku and Ryonan, he would be sorely disappointed. Insofar the last ten minutes both Akagi and Uozumi had talked of nothing but food, or more specifically, how to whip up the best banana split. Miyagi didn't know how much longer he could sit quietly while listening to the various steps in creating the prefect said dessert. Even Jin was trying hard not laugh as his facial features started to contract strangely.
"Hey, Jin, you wanna take a stroll outside?"
Instead of replying, Jin stood up and grabbed Miyagi's arm. Both boys hurried out of the door before collapsing on the ground with peels of laughter. Finally, their laughter subsided as Jin grinned weakly towards Miyagi, "Two weeks! How are we suppose to keep a straight face for two weeks?"
"How about if we discuss it over a bowl of banana split?" grinned Miyagi in response as they both started laughing hysterically again.
t.b.c. ^o^