Dreams Come True

Chapter 1

Ryota Miyagi, one of Shohoku's finest was on the court. Being the smallest player on his team, he was often prejudiced by the audience. They think he's too short to play basketball. But what they don't know is that Ryota moves with great agility and speed. There was only 20 seconds left before the final game of the summer ended. It was the game that would decide the champions of the year. The game that would separate the winners from the rest. With only 20 seconds left, and a tied score of 84-84, the competition was getting tighter by each second that ticked away. The opponents had the ball. They dashed on the court, hoping to score, but alas, the shot bounced off the rim. It was a fight for the rebound. Hanamichi Sakuragi jumped to the top and snatched the ball.

"Ryochin!" he passed the ball to Ryota, being the fastest player. He rushed to their side of the court, with no time to lose. 10, 9,8 seconds. The fate of the game was in his hands. Three opponents blocked him.

"If I score, we'd win." Ryota was breathing hard as he glanced around. He looked around, looking for a sign, some chance to score. Then he saw Ayako cheering for Shohoku like she always did.

"Aya-chan…" Ryota mumbled. He suddenly felt a surge of inspiration and hope running through his veins . "I'll do this for you, Aya-chan!"

He quickly dashed near the basket, with unbelievably fast swiftness and jumped high, looking like he was about to shoot it. His opponents fell for the bait and jumped and tried to blocked him. He smiled to himself and got back in the ground. He glanced at the clock. 4 seconds. He made a quick shot.

3, 2, 1, 0. Everyone watched the ball pass down through the net, and the stadium exploded with roars and cheers from the audience. Shohoku won the game!

The Shohoku supporters ran down from the bleachers, down to the court to congratulate Shohoku.

Ryota was tired, but he felt this amazing amount of happiness inside. A huge part of his time was devoted to basketball, and they did it! They had won the finals!

Amidst the crowd, Ryota saw a familiar girl with a red cap running toward him.

"Aya-chan!" Ryota was dazed as she saw, the girl of his dreams wrap her arms around him.

"Ryota!" Ayako said with delight, but noticed in a quick second that she had wrapped her arms around him. She quickly let go, looking embarrassed. She turned around, to hide her face, now in a deep shade of pink.

"Aya-chan…" Ryota held Ayako's arm and pulled her toward him.

"Ryota…you were great…" Ayako gazed into Ryota's eyes as she found her arms wrapped around his neck again.

Ryota smiled at her. "It was all for you Ayako… I love you…"

Their faces were getting close, both of them, wanting to fill the gap of each other's lips, feeling the warmth of a kiss when all of a sudden…

RRRRIIIIINNGGG!!!! THUD!

Ryota Miyagi fell down from his bed, and ended the wonderful dream.

He rubbed his back and took hold of his alarm clock.

"Bakaa!!! I was about to kiss Ayako!!" he screamed curses at his alarm clock, almost as if it was alive, then threw it out of the window. He rubbed his eyes and gazed at the mirror.

"Aya-chan…" he whispered in a dreamy voice. He wished that stupid alarm clock hadn't woken him up. It was almost a dream come true. Ayako was Shohoku's team manager, and Ryota fell in love with her ever since the first day he saw her.

Ryota groaned as he took of his clothes and took a shower. There was basketball practice that day, and he wouldn't miss it. He dreamed of winning the finals, being one of the best players. He would do it all for Ayako.

As he finished taking a bath and changing his clothes, he packed up his bag and went downstairs.

"Ryota." His mother approached him. "Your cousin is going to live here permanently while she is studying in Shohoku. Her dorm lets her pay too much, so I invited her to live here instead."

"Okay Mom. I have to go. We have practice." Ryota left his house in a hurry.

He was thinking about his cousin, Yuri. She was his cousin in the mother side, and she studies in Shohoku. She is a very talented swimmer, in fact, she's in Shohoku High's Swim Team.

Ryota arrived in school, but did not enter the gym at once. He peeped through the gym window, and looked for Ayako. He spotted her sitting on a bench, tying her black hair into a ponytail and placing her bright red cap on. He stared at her dreamily, thinking about how he will impress her today.

"Aya-chan...you're so beautiful..." Ryota said to himself, imagining Ayako and him together as a couple.

"Ryota." A sweet voice came from behind. This almost made Ryota jump.

"N-nani?"

Somebody just caught him staring at Ayako.

"How embarrassing…" he told himself while turning around.

He saw a pretty girl with long black hair and light brown eyes, smiling mischievously.

"Yuri." Ryota said with relief.

"You staring at Ayako again?" she asked while his face turned to a deep shade of pink.

"I have a proposal to make. Help me practice swimming, while I help you practice basketball."

"Hmm… Sounds fair enough to me, we've got a deal." Ryota was grinning. "So, when do we start?"

"We can start today."

"Okay then." Ryota stepped inside the gym.

Ayako watched as Ryota walked in the gym with Yuri. Unfortunately, Ryota still hasn't introduced Yuri to anyone, so the Shohoku Team stared at Ryota while he talked to Yuri.

"Who's that? Does Ryota have a new girlfriend?" Ayako mumbled to herself. She hid the fact that she liked Ryota--more than a friend. But she could not hide it to herself. It all began when she learned that Ryota likes her, bit by bit, little by little, Ayako felt a strange feeling inside her, a longing feeling for Ryota. But she cannot tell him, not yet.

Ayako felt a strange jealousy inside her. She stared at Yuri, examining her from head to toe.

"Stop being stupid Ayako, you don't own him." Ayako blinked hard and tried to forget about him. She stood up.

"Okay, is everybody present?" she checked the attendance, and began the practice.

They began with a quick game. The team was divided into two, and they practiced scoring. Ayako watched as Ryota made a score, owing to his fast speed.

"Go Ryota!" Yuri's voice echoed through the gym. After a while, she cheered again when Ryota snatched the ball. The practice continued, the game was heating up.

~*~*After a few minutes*~*~

Akagi called for a time out.

Yuri went to Ryota and wiped his forehead with a towel. She even brought him water. Then she talked to him about how he scored, his flaws, and she even praised him for doing good.

Ayako looked at them at the corner of her eye, trying hard not to look affected in any way.

As the game continued, Yuri was cheering for Ryota in every score or nice move that he made.

"Baka. She's too noisy. Hey wont be able to concentrate like that." Ayako grumbled. She spoke through gritted teeth, and was clenching her fist.

She showed the fact that she disliked Yuri for being too noisy, but we all know the truth.

It was official. Ayako was jealous.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Author's Notes:

I hoped you enjoyed my first chapter! How did I start this fic? On a simple boring day. I was thinking about Ryota and Ayako (like I always do) and *POP!* it just hit me. Of course, I won't be able to connect all the ideas without my friends, Shana, Tammie, Nayie, Reg, Merly, Marda, and a whole lot more!

I am so bad at Japanese. Of course I know a few simple ones. Hey, you know what, you can teach me! Review and post some few Japanese words or e-mail me at thunderbolt232@yahoo.com

Please review! I need to know your opinions!

(I have this bad habit of not finishing the story when no-one even bothers to read, I mean, who would want to write when no-one's reading?)

Sayonara! I'm off to the next chap!

Arigato for reading!