1 //Hanamichi… Hanamichi…//
The calling echoed throughout the hollow mind that was drifted away into the world of dreams. He tighten his eyes shut and his lips twisted in pain. These dreams, this unclear and abstract dreams kept ringing in his mind, in the nights when he was asleep, lately. Thinking about it will drive himself crazy. That's why he hadn't focused much in the basketball practices. With no intentions of staying asleep, Sakuragi rolled out of his thin bed and his feet hit the floor. The morning breeze caressed his cheek and his bare skin. It's already 5 am in the morning, so he should go out of his room and perhaps cook himself breakfast and shower, since there's nobody around to serve him around.
What should he do? Cook breakfast first or hit the shower immediately. The red-head rolled his eyes and think for a while. Yeah, he should probably cook first, since he'll get himself dirty if he's in the kitchen. He pulled out a frypan out of the closet and placed it on the stove. "Uh… This is sooo tiring… I wish I could have someone to do it for me… I wish Ka-san were here to cook for me all her tasty dishes…" He lit the stove with a single match. "Demo, how did I know that Ka-san's cooking were delicious… I couldn't remember a single thing about her except her voice, the familiar voice that I think I used to hear… I couldn't even remember how she looks and how she dresses," He inhaled the fresh morning air and looked up to the ceiling before he continued. "Wish you were here, Ka-san… Where are you now…?" Sakuragi grabbed few eggs and slices of bread from the rusty fridge. "Oh well, for now… I'm gonna cook the Tensai's special dish; French Toast!!" And there he goes, making the mess in the kitchen, cooking his favorite breakfast, the infamous Tensai french toast.
After his morning chores had been done, i.e. dusting the floor, the yard, and making his own room up, cleaning the mess in the kitchen and not to mention take a clean shower, the 2nd year Shohoku student walked out of his small house, locked the main entrance, and went to walk to school. But before that, he always checked his mailbox every day, count that as a habit, to see if there's letters for him from his fans (haha, in his dreams -__-) or some other person. He groped inside the grimy mailbox and pulled out a bunch of letters. He grumbled to himself when he saw few bills that me must cover. "Maa… guess there's no fanmail for the tensai!" He piled the letters neatly and went to put it in through a small window opening, but then a piece of hard paper slipped out of the stack. It was a postcard, with the picture of a dunking Michael Jordan on the front. He stooped to picked it up and see who it was.
Hey, Hanamichi-kun, how are you doing?
I'v read the articles about your highschool basketball career in some sport magazines. I guess you're famous now, aren't you? Well then… nice writing to you… Bye
Yours Truly,
Sakuragi Mifuyu.
"Aa… Ka-san?" There was nothing more written there, not even her telephone number or her address. Just that. Hanamichi hoped for more though, so that he could write back. He sighed and quickly put the stacks of bills inside through the opening and put the postcard from his mother in his bag. It was strange for her to write to him that way, though. He remembered the last card that she had sent him, it arrived in his hands about 4 years ago, a year before his father's death. All that she wrote in the postcard was Color your hair red… and there's no more sentences other to that. Sakuragi could barely remember the time when she had left him. It was about 8 years ago, he suppose, when he was just a child at 9. Why? Why did she left him? How could he possibly remember? The memory just seems to smudge out in his head, he couldn't think back and find a thing about it. He had missed her so much, he had longed for the day when he'll be able to see her again. Seems like a little of a chance, though, he can't even contacted her in any ways. But he never loses hope and wished that she would one day come to his house, since she knew his address.
"Oi Hanamichi! Ready for school?" Tsukimiya, one of his friend from his cliques called out. Sakuragi turned to his back and find his three best friends walking in his back and greeting him, a way to start their walk together to school. With them, Sakuragi had found happiness, since he had lost his one and only father, and her mothers out in the world somewhere. Once he was too much overwhelmed by grief when his father was beaten to death, but the Sakuragi Gundan had find a way to cheer him up and bring him back to the old cheerful self. They meant a lot to him, they're now more than just ordinary friends to him, but perhaps they were a family to them. And besides, the gundan won't be complete if Sakuragi is missing.
"Oh sure! I love school! I'll do anything just to go to school!!" He cried out as he lifted his muscly hands in the air.
"Aaah, Hanamichi… Since when did you start to like school that much? I thought you were sick of them like we do." His best friend, Youhei, teased him playfully in a sarcastic tone. Sakuragi only laughed for a while before he spit out the answer. "Since Haruko-san came into my life!"
"Ohayo, Sakuragi-kun! You call my name?" Out of their expectations, she popped out into their presence. They were walking in front of her house, no wonder. Now it's kind of awkward to see Haruko walking by herself to school, cause once she used to have her loving brother, the famous Gori, to accompany her. But now since he had graduated highschool, Haruko was now alone. But she was not sad, since the Sakuragi Gundan used to come by to pick her up and walk to school together, making Sakuragi floating in the air with happiness and joy surrounding him.
"Aaa… Good morning, Haruko-san!" Sakuragi Hanamichi rubbed his head as his face were flushed red in the sight of Haruko.
"Ohayo, Minna!" Ayako, the beautiful, wavy-haired manager were also in their way, walking side by side to the new captain of Shohoku Basketball Team, Miyagi Ryota. Not to mention, they were couples now, since Shohoku had beaten Sannoh on the previous Inter-High tournament. "Yea…Ohayou, Sakuragi… Haruko-san… And you guys…"
"Hey it's kinda unusual to see this view in the morning!" Sakuragi bursted out his laughter. "The new Shohoku Basketball Club were gathering here altogether for a nice long walk to school!"
"You forget about one guy, Do'aho…" And there comes the guy who's known as the famous Super Rookie, or the No. 1 Rookie across Japan, Rukawa Kaede, now in his second year, though.
"Heh!" The long rival of his, Sakuragi, snorted as he grinned widely like a horse. "We, Shohoku won't need a foxy idiot like you, Rukawa! All they need is the tensai, Sakuragi!!"
"Ohayo, Ayako-sempai… Ohayo, Captain…" Ignoring Sakuragi's foolish boasts, Rukawa bowed down to his seniors in respectful manner.
"Teme, Rukawa!! How dare you ignore the tensai!!! You should pay for your dishonor!! I'll show you that I will completely beat your ass one day!!" Sakuragi crumpled his fists. Well, that's the way his daily life goes, with his friends and with the basketball teams. It's kinda bittersweet of what he went through each day, but without them, he himself is incomplete, for they had become the major role that plays in Sakuragi's life. But there was another substance that had cropped Sakuragi's whole life, the loss of his mother.
The calling echoed throughout the hollow mind that was drifted away into the world of dreams. He tighten his eyes shut and his lips twisted in pain. These dreams, this unclear and abstract dreams kept ringing in his mind, in the nights when he was asleep, lately. Thinking about it will drive himself crazy. That's why he hadn't focused much in the basketball practices. With no intentions of staying asleep, Sakuragi rolled out of his thin bed and his feet hit the floor. The morning breeze caressed his cheek and his bare skin. It's already 5 am in the morning, so he should go out of his room and perhaps cook himself breakfast and shower, since there's nobody around to serve him around.
What should he do? Cook breakfast first or hit the shower immediately. The red-head rolled his eyes and think for a while. Yeah, he should probably cook first, since he'll get himself dirty if he's in the kitchen. He pulled out a frypan out of the closet and placed it on the stove. "Uh… This is sooo tiring… I wish I could have someone to do it for me… I wish Ka-san were here to cook for me all her tasty dishes…" He lit the stove with a single match. "Demo, how did I know that Ka-san's cooking were delicious… I couldn't remember a single thing about her except her voice, the familiar voice that I think I used to hear… I couldn't even remember how she looks and how she dresses," He inhaled the fresh morning air and looked up to the ceiling before he continued. "Wish you were here, Ka-san… Where are you now…?" Sakuragi grabbed few eggs and slices of bread from the rusty fridge. "Oh well, for now… I'm gonna cook the Tensai's special dish; French Toast!!" And there he goes, making the mess in the kitchen, cooking his favorite breakfast, the infamous Tensai french toast.
After his morning chores had been done, i.e. dusting the floor, the yard, and making his own room up, cleaning the mess in the kitchen and not to mention take a clean shower, the 2nd year Shohoku student walked out of his small house, locked the main entrance, and went to walk to school. But before that, he always checked his mailbox every day, count that as a habit, to see if there's letters for him from his fans (haha, in his dreams -__-) or some other person. He groped inside the grimy mailbox and pulled out a bunch of letters. He grumbled to himself when he saw few bills that me must cover. "Maa… guess there's no fanmail for the tensai!" He piled the letters neatly and went to put it in through a small window opening, but then a piece of hard paper slipped out of the stack. It was a postcard, with the picture of a dunking Michael Jordan on the front. He stooped to picked it up and see who it was.
Hey, Hanamichi-kun, how are you doing?
I'v read the articles about your highschool basketball career in some sport magazines. I guess you're famous now, aren't you? Well then… nice writing to you… Bye
Yours Truly,
Sakuragi Mifuyu.
"Aa… Ka-san?" There was nothing more written there, not even her telephone number or her address. Just that. Hanamichi hoped for more though, so that he could write back. He sighed and quickly put the stacks of bills inside through the opening and put the postcard from his mother in his bag. It was strange for her to write to him that way, though. He remembered the last card that she had sent him, it arrived in his hands about 4 years ago, a year before his father's death. All that she wrote in the postcard was Color your hair red… and there's no more sentences other to that. Sakuragi could barely remember the time when she had left him. It was about 8 years ago, he suppose, when he was just a child at 9. Why? Why did she left him? How could he possibly remember? The memory just seems to smudge out in his head, he couldn't think back and find a thing about it. He had missed her so much, he had longed for the day when he'll be able to see her again. Seems like a little of a chance, though, he can't even contacted her in any ways. But he never loses hope and wished that she would one day come to his house, since she knew his address.
"Oi Hanamichi! Ready for school?" Tsukimiya, one of his friend from his cliques called out. Sakuragi turned to his back and find his three best friends walking in his back and greeting him, a way to start their walk together to school. With them, Sakuragi had found happiness, since he had lost his one and only father, and her mothers out in the world somewhere. Once he was too much overwhelmed by grief when his father was beaten to death, but the Sakuragi Gundan had find a way to cheer him up and bring him back to the old cheerful self. They meant a lot to him, they're now more than just ordinary friends to him, but perhaps they were a family to them. And besides, the gundan won't be complete if Sakuragi is missing.
"Oh sure! I love school! I'll do anything just to go to school!!" He cried out as he lifted his muscly hands in the air.
"Aaah, Hanamichi… Since when did you start to like school that much? I thought you were sick of them like we do." His best friend, Youhei, teased him playfully in a sarcastic tone. Sakuragi only laughed for a while before he spit out the answer. "Since Haruko-san came into my life!"
"Ohayo, Sakuragi-kun! You call my name?" Out of their expectations, she popped out into their presence. They were walking in front of her house, no wonder. Now it's kind of awkward to see Haruko walking by herself to school, cause once she used to have her loving brother, the famous Gori, to accompany her. But now since he had graduated highschool, Haruko was now alone. But she was not sad, since the Sakuragi Gundan used to come by to pick her up and walk to school together, making Sakuragi floating in the air with happiness and joy surrounding him.
"Aaa… Good morning, Haruko-san!" Sakuragi Hanamichi rubbed his head as his face were flushed red in the sight of Haruko.
"Ohayo, Minna!" Ayako, the beautiful, wavy-haired manager were also in their way, walking side by side to the new captain of Shohoku Basketball Team, Miyagi Ryota. Not to mention, they were couples now, since Shohoku had beaten Sannoh on the previous Inter-High tournament. "Yea…Ohayou, Sakuragi… Haruko-san… And you guys…"
"Hey it's kinda unusual to see this view in the morning!" Sakuragi bursted out his laughter. "The new Shohoku Basketball Club were gathering here altogether for a nice long walk to school!"
"You forget about one guy, Do'aho…" And there comes the guy who's known as the famous Super Rookie, or the No. 1 Rookie across Japan, Rukawa Kaede, now in his second year, though.
"Heh!" The long rival of his, Sakuragi, snorted as he grinned widely like a horse. "We, Shohoku won't need a foxy idiot like you, Rukawa! All they need is the tensai, Sakuragi!!"
"Ohayo, Ayako-sempai… Ohayo, Captain…" Ignoring Sakuragi's foolish boasts, Rukawa bowed down to his seniors in respectful manner.
"Teme, Rukawa!! How dare you ignore the tensai!!! You should pay for your dishonor!! I'll show you that I will completely beat your ass one day!!" Sakuragi crumpled his fists. Well, that's the way his daily life goes, with his friends and with the basketball teams. It's kinda bittersweet of what he went through each day, but without them, he himself is incomplete, for they had become the major role that plays in Sakuragi's life. But there was another substance that had cropped Sakuragi's whole life, the loss of his mother.