Disclaimer: I don't own any of Slam Dunk characters, I just used them in the story for the merit of imagination and having fun time doing so, but I do aown Liz (Elizabeth/ Liza Stanely) and using her name in any other literally work will be a violation of copy rights. Thank you :)

Having said that, let me tell you that YES Liz Stanley is an American girl living in Japan, and you will get to know her story once you start reading. Hope you would enjoy it.

Please write to me and tell me what is your review of the story, and be gentle, it's my fisrt Fanfic:)

P.S. The dates mentioned will help you keep track of the years and times.

Enough talking, and lets start!

Cross roads:

March 2013

"Kaede...no, no don't..." she screamed.

"Darn, another nightmare… I'm tired of reliving that day!" said Liz to herself.

Liz has been seeing the same nightmare repeatedly for more than 2 months now, and then she would wake up screaming his name. She wished that she could go back in time to have her old perfect life back again.

She looked at the clock; it was still 6:00 am, so she decided to go out for an early walk, hoping that would help in distracting her tired mind.

She stopped in front of the basketball court and took a deep breath.

"You swore, Liz, you swore! You shouldn't be here, not anymore." She mused.

She went inside the court with a childish hope that she would find him inside, but deep inside her, she knew she would not see him anymore.

It has been two months since she last went near the court. Being there brought so many painful memories to her, but she did not want to leave. It felt as if it was just yesterday when she was there. However, she could hear the dripping of the ball…HIS dripping, she could even remember when she was nagging the team and when they would complain….worst still, and she could hear HIM calling her name.

"Go home, Liz, you know that you do not belong here anymore. There is nothing you can do here." She mused.

Involuntarily, she picked up the ball and tried to shoot. In her mind, she knew that he would make fun of her 'as usual'.

"That's a lame shot, Liz. You know that you can't beat me." he would say.

"Ha Ha...try me Mr. Perfect!" she would reply.

Usually she would fail to win any challenge against him.

"And he wins, as usual!" he would say while landing gracefully on the ground.

She dropped the ball with the deepest hope that the memory would go away...

"I wish I have never known you, Kay, I can't spend a minute without thinking about you…you broke something inside me, and it seems that I can't breathe without you." She cried.

Flash back!

Liz Stanley was that castaway American girl who joined Tomigaoka Junior High at the age of 15, soon enough to start her senior year there. It was rather unusual to have an American Kid in Japan, but her story was somehow weird. Her Japanese mother was married to an American tycoon, and they lived in the states for 12 years. When her parents got divorced, her mother took her back to Japan, and they have been living together in Japan for almost 3 years now, where her mother continued the family business and became one of the famous businesswomen in Japan.

"We were both young when I first saw you, I close my eyes and the flash back starts, and I am standing there on a balcony in summer air. See the light; see the party, the ball gowns. I see you make your way through the crowds, and I say hello, little did I know that you were Romeo, you were throwing pebbles, and my daddy said stay away from Juliet..."

July 2009

Liz was introduced to Rukawa Kaede in a party held in the Rukawas' mansion by his father to celebrate the new partnership between Rukawa Corp for Computers and Yamagato's Softwares, which happened to be Liz's mother's company; the famous Dragon lady; Yurika Yamagato.

At that time, Liz was only 15, and so was Kaede.

Liz was socializing with the guests in the party when she noticed someone looking intently at her from a corner in the hall. She looked to see that person who pierced her soul with deep looks. She was astonished to see a rather fine tall young man with soft raven-like black hair. The boy was handsome and she couldn't resist looking at him.

He was none but Kaede Rukawa, but she did not know that by that time; however, she knew that she was automatically attracted to those wild blue eyes.

She excused herself from the crowds, and headed towards that raven-haired beauty who was standing alone.

"Enjoying the party?" she said cheerfully.

"Hnn!" he just hummed.

"What! You don't understand English, do you?" she raised her eyebrows in astonishment.

"Of course I do you silly!" he replied.

"Sorry, I'm Yamagato Liz, nice to meet you…?" she offered her hand for him for a handshake.

"You can't be a Yamagato!" he said with a poker face.

"Why? Is it the dress? I told the old dragon that it is too much, but she didn't believe me!" she frowned while checking the dress, as if she was talking to herself.

"You are not Japanese!" he said in wonder.

"Oh that! Yeah, I know; the brunette American girl...I get that a lot! How awful is it to be labeled by people who do not even know you." she said while waving her hand in the air.

"It brings out the color of your eyes." He said quickly.

"Excuse me?" she stopped in wonder.

"The dress is blue and you have brown eyes. It is good." He noted.

"Oh! Thank you." She smiled, "Would you like to drink something, Mr.?" she wondered again. She wanted to know who he was.

"Rukawa!"

"No way!" she said in surprise.

He just glared at her.

"So you are the famous handsome guy that every girl I meet in school talks about! You are quite famous around here, do you know that?" she asked.

He looked away.

"Well, I can see why! You are quite charming, Rukawa-boy! I bet those cold blue eyes do the charm for a lot of girls…someone has a nice love life!" she said while winking.

"It's Rukawa-kun you idiot!"

"Oh! You do not like being complimented! I like that in guys! Anyways, it's nice to meet you boy, let's get together sometime, I bet this is the first thing the dragon would ask me to do; to get closer to her new partners, because it is good for business." She waved good-bye while walking away.

Kaede thought that she was the most awkward girl he has ever met.

However!

Kaede could not get Liz Yamagato out of his head for days, and it annoyed him in the beginning, for he did not know why he would think of such an annoyingly cheerful person. However, he was astonished that she did not seem to be a raving fan of his, like all the other stupid girls. In fact, He felt that she had no idea whom he was other than what she heard about him from other girls in school and that he is the son of her mother's new partner. She wasn't interested in him as a handsome and rich Japanese boy as they say, nor as a famous basketball icon. That was a big wound for his Ego in the beginning. For once in his life, someone was not ready to sacrifice their place in the lunch queue to let him in, or to scream his name in surprise when he shows up.

"She is the most awkward girl I've ever seen, but she is interesting! And her relation with her mother is a big question mark! She seems rather unaffected by her mother's strong character. Anyways, why would she take a great space of my mind if she is just an object of interest?" he started to wonder.

Rukawa Kaede feared to admit that she was more than a mere object of interest for him.

"I like Liza Yamagato!"

Nevertheless, confessing that wasn't as easy as it sounded in his head.

After that, Kaede started to keep an eye on that girl in school. He was astonished by the fact that she did not try to approach him. However, nobody ever noticed that he was following her. It seemed like the fox's secret way of watching Liz.

Few weeks later….

Yurika invited Rukawa-Sama, her partner and his son to lunch and she forced Liz to join them. Liz liked the boy, but not enough to spend the day with him, so she pretended to be sick to get away but her mother never bought it. Thusm she eventually joined them for lunch.

After lunch, she retreated to her room, because she disliked being around that 'gloomy' silent boy as she described him to her mother.

But love has its own magic. Just as it attracted her to him in the first meeting, it attracted Kaede to her room.

He was roaming around the Yamagato mansion to kill the boredom he was feeling! His dad forced him to go with him to the Yamagatos, and he did not want to, even though he secretly wanted to see that girl who occupied his mind for quite some time now.

He was checking the drawings on the ceiling of the second storey when Liz decided to go out of her room… in the same storey.

"Well, well! Look whom do we have here! None but the famous Rukawa boy!" she said sarcastically.

"It's kun, Lil One!"

"I'm not little!"

"And I'm not a boy!" he said angrily.

"Ugh! What are you doing here anyways?"

"Wandering obviously or do you need glasses?"

"Gosh! Why are you so aggressive! Chill out, boy! You are one unbearable kid to be around!"

"Well, I'm not here to impress you!" he glared at her.

"Yeah, of course! You have an army of girls dying to be impressed by your arrogance!"

"Stupid girl!"

"Arrogant boy!"

There was a moment of silence, then Liz decided to act as the grown up in that situation! After all, they both thought because they were 15, that made them adults.

"I can show you around the house, if you want! i think it's similar to your mansion, except for the Dragon's ward." She giggled.

"Your mother?" he asked.

"Yes!"

"Why do you call her by that name?"

"Is not that the name the press gave her? Just to think that I'll grow up to take over that name one day gives me the creeps!" she stated.

"And you are ok with the name?"

"She is actually a dragon! Mom has suffered a lot in her life, which made her very tough! Just like a dragon, she can never open up even to her own daughter, so why do you expect me to be sad about her nickname…. She once said, "The woman has to make her own path among the fires of hell and leave her marks! You have to be tough as steel to be able to do that, Liza."… She has been always like that since dad left us in the street in the States… So me and my mother are like the sun and moon…..totally different, and we are only blood-related, because she will never understand me, and neither would I." she stated her story as if she was reading a boring book.

"In the street!" said Kaede in shock.

"Weird family, I know!" she laughed, but her expressions changed when she saw the shock on his white handsome face, "Not that look! Careful there, Kaede, You don't wanna fall for a girl like me!"

"Fall? That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!" he said defensively, but he knew deep inside him that her story moved something inside him; she was as weird as he was, but the only difference was that she was annoyingly talkative.

"What's your story anyways? You walk around like James Bond…All famous, but always alone and gloomy."

"Hnn"

He left her without looking back.

"Weird boy!" she sighed.

A couple of minutes later, Liz found Kaede sitting on the staircase, so she went down and sat beside him silently.

"My mother passed away 5 years ago! I was too young to realize it, but I remember her last words to me." he said.

"I'm sorry to hear that!" she apologized.

He handed her a worn-out letter out of his pocket.

"Here. I never go anywhere without it."

"My little prince...I am lucky to have you as my son, and I am proud of you. Just remember that I will always be there with you, watching over you, and I will be extremely proud of my little man when he becomes the world's most famous player... I love you Kaede, no mother is luckier than I am… take care of your dad for me, will you? See you in your dreams, prince charming."

"Kaede!" Liz said with tears falling from her eyes.

"My dad was never the same ever since, and I was never the same…We stopped talking to each other somewhere. We became like you and your mother!" he admitted in pain.

Kaede felt the warmth of the arms of the young girl hugging him. He has never felt that warm or close to anyone since his mother passed away, but suddenly he pulled away.

"Leave me alone! You and I…That didn't happen." He said in denial.

"What is 'that'? We are just talking, Kaede! We are getting to know each other." she said innocently.

"Bonding! We are not friends, I've made a mistake and that is the end of it. Gosh! What came over me to talk to you like that! Enjoy telling everyone in school about the sad story of Rukawa Kaede, because nobody will believe you!" he said aggressively.

"But I have not intended to tell anyone in the first place, Kaede! Why would I do that?" she wondered innocently.

He was surprised by the fact that she was not planning to tell his story to anyone, he was even more surprised of himself, because that was the first time he opened up and talked that much to any one since the day "his angel" left, not even to his dad.

Kaede was awaken from his thought by his father's voice.

"Son! Move we are going home. See you later, Ms. Yamagato." Said the father firmly.

Liz ran to Kaede and held his hand.

"Stanley! Call me Elizabeth Stanley, I love that name, I 'd like to be called by that name by the people I like, and you are one of them, not matter what you do." she whispered in his ear to his surprise.

"Elizabeth! Behave! I'm sorry son; my daughter is a little bolder than usual today." Expressed the mother.

"I'll see you around, Rukawa boy!" she winked.

"Up to your room, young lady. I'm sorry Rakawa-Sama."

Liz gave him a little smile, which made him feel more puzzled…

"He trusts me! Ain't I the luckiest girl ever!" Liz mused with a deep smile on her face.

Something about that girl was definitely different….She was so warm. She even started to melt the ice around his heart without noticing, but Kaede knew that he should never let her in his life, he can't bear to lose anyone anymore.

Kaede never understood how his relationship with Liz worked! She was always there around him…talking, bubbling and even joking about anything and everything without waiting for him to join in the conversation, and she seemed to enjoy it. He wondered why she enjoyed being around someone as quiet as he was, and more importantly, why did he let her be around him. That was so not him!

"You want to ask me about it, I know! So, I give you the permission to ask!" she said cheerfully as usual.

"What?" he glared at her.

"You know!"

"No I don't… go away," he groaned.

"Not in thousand years!"

"Hnn."

"So, you don't want to know why Stanley?" she grinned.

He raised his eyebrow in wonder.

"That was the name of my grandfather. He was a kind man! He would always take me away to the park and buy me ice cream when mom and dad would start fighting. He was a nice me, the nicest kin I've even had, and because I trust you, I'm telling you that." She said rather sadly.

"Good for you!"

"How rude of you!" she remarked.

Liz would usually lecture him on how he should behave around other people, and he would not listen, eventually leave her, and walk away.

On the other side, Kaede would usually avoid being seen with Liz around school, especially that his name was getting famous across all the junior highs in the province, and the last thing he wanted was to be known for his relationships with girls, even if it was Liz, his American "FRIEND"

April 2010

Despite how abnormal and weird their friendship was, Liz never missed any of his games, and she would loudly cheer for him in any game, which would embarrass him, and make him pretend that he does not know her. But she would feel embarrassed later on and pretend that she was cheering for her school.

"It is just that our cheer leaders in school aren't loud enough, so someone has to do it right, and that would be me." She would say joyfully after the game.

"You say only my name when you are cheering!" he would mentally note to himself.

After one of the games, one of the players approached Kaede.

"Your girl is one fire today! Have you looked at her? She is expecting you to take an action, but if you are not ready, I can always take the step for you, pal." Teased the other team's player.

"What the hell did you just say? She is none of your concern." Shout Kaede, and that scared the other guy away.

He was enraged by what the guy had said to him, and he felt like punching him in the face, but he didn't get the chance to.

At that time, Liz went down to the players' seats to congratulate him, she even tried to hug him, but he pushed her away and pretended not to know her.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked in pain.

"Stop pretending that you know me, and that you are my friend or anything else. I'm not going to take any stupid actions if you are expecting that. I do not want anyone to pity me. Get out of my life." He said sharply.

"Pity? Kaede! Well, I'm sorry to bother you, Rukawa-kun." She said angrily, and threw the flowers that she brought him on the ground and left.

"I just love you, Kaede." She mused.

Since that day, Liz did not talk to Kaede for the whole summer vacation. She was dying to talk to him but her dignity prevented her every time she tried to. She loved Rukawa Kaede with all her senses, and he humiliated her in public and pushed her out of his life, and she knew she would barely see him anymore, for he grew weirder and weirder since she knew him a year ago. He just got more introvert every day, he kept pushing everyone out of his life, and of course, since they graduated from Tomigaoka Junior High, they would go to different high schools, and she would see him only in any party thrown by his dad or her mother, or sometimes when he passes by her house on his way home.

She loved him but he never did!

Kaede felt bad for pushing away the only person who truly cared about him, he even wanted to make things up with her, but he could not. He knew that he lost the ability to communicate properly with human beings a long time ago, so he wrote her an apology letter, but that letter was never sent! He was too proud to send it, because deep inside him, he knew that this letter would reveal his feelings for her.

Stay tuned for chapter two soon:)