Disclaimers: I do not own Slam Dunk and its characters. However, some of the characters in this wonderful work of fiction belong to me.
Author's Notes: This fic is set after 5 years from the original series.

Dedication: This one's for Kyo-chan

I Wanna Be Your Angel

By: nagi_silvermoon

Chapter 1

"Kuso! (shit) This can't be happening."

Mitsui Hisashi left work at the usual time that pleasant afternoon into thinking that nothing will hinder him from arriving early at the training camp he works in. At the very minute of his departure, heavy traffic greeted him. He was contained in the highway for an hour before he finally found the perfect detour to get him out of there. He tried his long detour with hopes of getting at the training camp faster. But at the end of his detour, traffic greeted him again.

Irritated to the core, Mitsui suffered half an hour before he finally managed to arrive at the apartment building where he shared an apartment with his former teammates and co-coaches Miyagi Ryota and Rukawa Kaede. Having no options left, he parked his car, took his bag and made a run for it.

He glanced at his watch and muttered another swearword. I'm almost three hours late!

It was because he was so concerned on being late and getting to the camp that he didn't pay much attention to his surroundings much less the people he bumped into. They weren't all that bad so he didn't give them much notice. But after he bumped into a couple, he bumped into a girl. And this girl was not that forgiving.

The girl, who was jogging, was thrown off-balance and she landed butt-first on the sidewalk. Mitsui, though reluctantly, stopped to help her up. But it wasn't much of "help" because the girl was caught by surprise when she was "jerked" up.

"I'm very sorry, miss," Mitsui apologized curtly at the baffled girl and started to leave. But the girl, after a few seconds of silence, shouted at him.

"Oi! You broke my discman!"

Mitsui, pissed, turned around and ran back to her. "I'll replace it." He took a calling card from his wallet and gave it to the girl. "Call me tomorrow. I'm very sorry but I'm in a hurry." Without another word, Mitsui left the girl staring after him.

"Kuso!" Mitsui cursed. "Now I owe somebody a discman. Darn that traffic."

As he ran the remaining distance to the training camp, his thoughts were suddenly filled with the girl from his minute encounter. She had the most beautiful dark brown hair and an exquisite pair of deep cerulean eyes that really draws people to her. She also had a very pretty porcelain face with a cute nose and very attractive lips. She looked like an angel…

Baka! Mitsui scolded himself. He felt his face blush from embarrassment. What are you thinking? You have a girlfriend already so stop daydreaming. But it was hard not to dream about the mysterious angel.

Gasping for air, he entered the stadium and braced himself for Akagi's sermon. Putting up the best face he could form, he opened the door leading towards the court and greeted them. "CHU-"

What greeted him was a sight not pleasing to the eyes. The place was in chaos and the people were all panicking.

Akagi was beside a young boy who lied sprawled on the floor with Ayako nursing him. Kogure ran past him and talked with Akagi. Mitsui looked at the left and saw that Miyagi, Rukawa and Sakuragi were trying to calm the kids. Looking dubiously at Akagi, he walked towards Miyagi and the others to inquire.

"What's going on?" He asked, still looking at the small group.

"The kid collapsed," Rukawa, who was the only one calm at the moment, replied. He threw a quick, worried glance at the kid and sighed. "Sempai, it's Yatsura."

"Hiro?"

~@~@~

Akagi was pacing up and down the corridor. Kogure was fretting while playing with his two thumbs. Mitsui just pinned his stare at the ceiling.

He hated hospitals especially the feeling it brings him. Everything was so monotonous that it depresses him to the point of near-insanity. It was not a very nice place to stay. That he knew very well. But even if he detested hospitals, it was a very important part of his life and he has a certain bond with it. It was strange but it was a bond nonetheless.

Those good old days were good to reminisce. But every time he remembered them his heart is filled with regret. They were the good old days but they were wasted. It was a good thing that he played basketball again. At least it lessened his regrets.

Akagi came up with an idea that would change Mitsui's life. He came up with a basketball training camp for young boys and he and Mitsui and Kogure will be the coaches. It was a nice idea and he and Kogure agreed right away. They had a hard time at first but after a few tries they became successful. By the time that the kids came in overflowing, they asked help from their former teammates Miyagi, Rukawa and Sakuragi.

One day, a kid of about ten entered the camp and signed in. He was a normal looking boy with a cheeky attitude. He was sent to Mitsui's team and after Mitsui looked at the boy, he felt dubious because cheeky boys meant hard time. But when the scrimmages came up, the boy proved him wrong by following his orders and playing with the team. Since then, Mitsui was fond of Yatsura Hiro.

But recently, Mitsui noticed a gradual change in Hiro. He lost weight almost everyday and he often looked pale. He also complained of bone pains, tiredness and sometimes, Mitsui diagnosed him with fever. Mitsui started to worry about the boy's health but Hiro told him not to worry because the doctors said that he would be okay.

The door opened and the doctor went out to greet them. They looked at the doctor expectantly. The doctor was in his mid-forties and his hair was already lined with silver. He shifted his glasses and looked at them, his wrinkled face expressionless.

"The boy is alright," he began his report. The four sighed audibly with relief. "For now." They stared at doctor in horror.

"What do you mean, sensei?" Akagi asked.

"The boy's family had already brought him here to the hospital before because he really became sick. We thought that he was just suffering from anorexia because the boy indeed lost weight and he admitted that he did change his diet. But when you brought him here again, I suddenly had doubts. I asked him if he was in pain in any part of his body and he told me that his bones were acting funny. I had my guesses but I still couldn't prove it until I had the test results. And it is as I have thought.

"The boy had already acquired an acute leukemia for more than two weeks now. He has almost all of the symptoms of leukemia. Weight loss, anemia, fever, fatigue, even bone pains. Leukemia is very hard to detect. You can sometimes think of it as other diseases but only the right kinds of tests, like biopsies of the bone marrow, could help you detect it. We could give him some antibiotics but I'm afraid it would be too late."

"What?" Mitsui demanded. He already had his fist clenched and he was using almost all of his strength to keep himself from hitting the doctor. "What do you mean 'too late'?"

"Acute leukemia at the age of fifteen and below may be fatal. It kills the victim weeks or months after the disease's onset. We could try giving him antibiotics and medications to see if he is still within our reach. But once that we find out that he has no chance…" The doctor left it hanging. "We'll transfer him to a room very shortly." The doctor bowed briefly at them and left.

Mitsui punched the wall and brooded about the sudden revelation of Hiro's sickness. It was not possible. It was just not possible. Why Hiro? Questions started pouring in his mind and he didn't want to believe that his friend was going to die.

"Mitsui, yamete!" Kogure said, almost pleading, as he held Mitsui's arms. Mitsui pounded his fists on the wall while he continued to stop him.

"Mitsui…" Kogure said silently. He released his grip on him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "There's nothing we could do now."

Mitsui stopped his pounding. He leaned on the wall to calm himself. But his body continued to shake as tears of anguish rolled down his cheeks.

To be continued

Author's Notes: how was it? I hope you like it. This is only the start so don't get excited. Also, you don't have to question me about the leukemia part. I checked it with a medical encyclopedia I have here at home and everything I wrote there is true. Acute leukemia is indeed lethal to kids aged 15 and below. Usually the patients survive a few weeks until a month or so before they actually die. But recently, fatalities are lessened because of medicine. It is also undetectable, unless exposed to the right examinations, because it can be identified as other diseases.