Author's Note: I don't know if anyone is actually reading this (probably not bc it's a possible SenHaru, so I'm trying to tone down that pairing a bit since I want SenSen all to myself nyahahaha) but here's another chapter, and it was pre-written, so there are still traces of SenHaru in it. For the next chapters, I'll tone down the SenHaru until it disappears completely. This fic was originally supposed to be about Sendoh and Inu-chan, after all.


Chapter 2: Inu-chan, Wingman!

The sun was just rising; its rays piercing into the awakening sky. Kanagawa was slowly becoming alive, though a sole runner powered his way through the deserted streets, panting slightly as he pushed himself to meet his target of a 5 kilometre jog before the world woke up.

Rukawa Kaede didn't like running, simply because it wasn't half as exciting as basketball. Even so, he knew he needed to increase his stamina if he wanted to last in a competitive high school basketball match. Shohoku High didn't have an extensive training regimen like Kainan High and Ryonan High had; and those schools had the best players in the district.

Rukawa had decided, if he wanted to become the best high school basketball player, he needed to be on par with the incredibly fit Kainan and Ryonan players. Hell, he was going to be much better than all of them combined. Even if he had to sacrifice his precious sleep.

7 AM, Sunday morning. Rukawa made his way to the town park, hoping to finish his run there. A few joggers were just starting out, warming up; and a couple of elderly people taking a morning walk at their own leisurely pace. No one else was pushing their cardio as much as Rukawa had. A glow of accomplishment welled up in his chest, but he wasn't going to stop there, obviously. Later he was going to the school gym to practice his plays; he was going to be the best in the whole of Japan, and no one will be able to catch up to him!

"INU-CHAN! WAIT UP!"

Before Rukawa could register the oddly familiar voice, a golden streak zipped past, followed by a lanky spiky-haired boy.

Sendoh…?

Sendoh Akira cursed under his breath as he fought to keep up with the manic shiba. Should've put that damn dog on a leash…

Rukawa sweatdropped, still going at his own pace. So that's how he gets his cardio. His eyes trailed his ultimate rival, who was chasing after the excited shiba.

Inu-chan stopped abruptly, causing Sendoh to trip over it and crash onto the ground. And of course the playful dog had to jump onto the boy and relentlessly lick his face!

Glad that I'm more of a cat person. Rukawa jogged past the tangle of the dog and the boy, still panting, trying his best to disregard the whole commotion.

"Getoffme." Sendoh sat up, gently pushing the dog aside. He instinctively touched his hair. Still spiky. He'd spent half an hour that morning styling his crowning glory. Inu-chan wagged its tail and let out an excited bark.

"You're fun and all, but you better behave. Otherwise you're not going to be my running buddy anymore." Sendoh stared intently into the shiba's black eyes.

Have I been a bad boy? Inu-chan sat down and cocked his head to the side.

"Don't you use that sad puppy dog face on me." Sendoh reiterated sternly.

Inu-chan started whining as its ears drooped, sensing Sendoh's strict tone.

But the Ryonan sophomore was barely paying attention to the shiba as he spotted a lithe figure entering the park's basketball court, with a basketball in her hands. A grin crept onto his handsome face, as his heart started doing somersaults. The moment he saw her, he was already on his feet, cradling the whining shiba in his arms.

"Good morning, Haruko-san!"

Haruko gave him a shocked smile; he'd literally come out of nowhere. "Morning, Sendoh-san. And hello, Inu-chan!" She cooed over the struggling shiba in Sendoh's arms. A knot of worry flickered onto Haruko's face,seeing Inu-chan's discomfort.

"Are you going to play basketball, Haruko-san? I haven't seen you in a week!" Sendoh said in a chipper voice, holding on tighter to a squirming Inu-chan just in case it decided to go rogue and run all the way to the next prefecture.

"Why don't you let Inu-chan go, Sendoh-san? He looks uncomfortable."

The moment Sendoh did, Inu-chan knocked the basketball away from Haruko's hands, yapping happily. The loose ball rolled into the bushes, and Inu-chan raced after it.

Sendoh speechlessly stared down at Haruko. Usually he'd drop a suave line, but he couldn't think of anything to say.

"Are you okay, Sendoh-san?" Haruko realised that his blue eyes were piercing onto her.

"Uh...yes?" His reply came out more like a question than an answer.

Inu-chan popped out of the bushes, rolling the basketball with its head. Haruko's face lit up when she saw the dog, and knelt down to stroke it.

"Who's a good boy?" Haruko praised excitedly.

Me, I'm the good boy. Inu-chan's tail was wagging lightning fast.

Sendoh shoved his hands into his pocket, watching Haruko petting that damn dog. "So...Haruko-san. Are you gonna play basketball?" As if it wasn't obvious the first time he asked.

Pant, pant, pant. Woof!

Sendoh wished that he was Inu-chan, instead. It was definitely stealing all of Haruko's attention from him.

"Actually, I promised Sakuragi-kun that I'd help him practice today, but he's not here yet." Haruko stood up and looked at him.

Sakuragi Hanamichi was the unpredictable Shohoku rookie with the shockingly unusual red hair. A starter for the Shohoku team, though he'd just learnt how to play basketball, Sendoh remembered how the freshman had challenged him when Ryonan had a practice match with Shohoku. Sakuragi's abilities weren't up to par yet, though who actually knew his limits? The redhead still had so much to learn, yet his debut had been incredibly surprising, like he'd been playing for years, although he made rookie mistakes. Sendoh was dreading, yet looking forward to the day when Sakuragi's full abilities were unleashed.

"That's nice of you to help him." Sendoh said with a smile.

Meanwhile, Inu-chan started rolling the ball away from the pair, using its head.

"Inu-chan. Come back here." Sendoh said calmly, his blue eyes still glued to Haruko. Of course Inu-chan, the epitome of rebellion, didn't heed his words, starting off quicker with the ball. Sendoh wasn't up to chasing after the shiba again.

"Let it be. He won't go far." Haruko smiled, watching the shiba.

"But your ball…" Sendoh was already a few steps after Inu-chan.

"He's a good boy. He'll bring it back."

Sendoh stopped in his tracks and turned around to face a smiling Haruko, who was now sitting on a bench.

"So…" Sendoh took a seat right next to her without being asked. "You like basketball?"

You idiot, Akira. Why don't you ask her if the sky is blue?

"Ever since onii-chan started playing it in elementary school." Haruko replied softly, her eyes trailing Inu-chan's movements, playing with the basketball. "He'd teach me the basics, then in junior high, I joined the school team…" Sendoh noticed that her face was turning red. He wondered what she was thinking about…

"When did you start to play, Sendoh-san? You're so good." Her eyes transfixed directly onto his, and on reflex, he smiled and laughed dismissively at the compliment.

"Elementary school, actually. I grew up in Tokyo and there's some fair competition there." Sendoh explained. "Like this guy, Kitasawa. He was much better than me."

Meanwhile, Inu-chan was having the time of its life with Haruko's basketball, though it was difficult to control (since Inu-chan didn't have hands) and the ball kept rolling everywhere, inching away from Sendoh and Haruko. It tapped the ball with its head with a little too much force, and with the momentum, the ball started to roll.

The ball kept rolling, rolling...until it hit a boy's foot.

"Hey, you fetching the ball, buddy?" The boy bent down and picked up the ball. Inu-chan crouched in a playful stance, barking and wagging its tail. Its black eyes followed the orange ball as the boy bounced it.

"You want it? Go get it!" The boy lobbed the ball high into the air, then ran off.

Inu-chan took off after the airborne ball, barking excitedly, never losing sight of it. It didn't heed where it was heading to, and leaped up to catch the ball…

...landing straight onto Haruko's lap, as the ball hit Sendoh's head with a loud smack. Inu-chan's momentum caused a domino effect as Haruko knocked back into Sendoh, and they both tumbled onto the ground. The ball, halted from its flight by Sendoh's face, rolled off to a stop nearby.

"Sorry, Sendoh-san!" Haruko's face easily turned red as she found herself intimately close to the Ryonan ace.

She looks even better up close….time, please stop.

"It's okay." Sendoh's laughed it off. His face was smarting from the force of the ball. He sat up, touching his hair. "That's the second time I've fallen down today…"

Inu-chan trotted up to them, rolling over the rogue basketball that had caused all the trouble. The two of them were still sitting on the ground, and Sendoh rubbed his left cheek, which had taken the greatest hit from the ball. He could practically imagine bruises marring his face…

"Are you okay?" Haruko reached out to examine his throbbing cheek.

Time, please, please, please stop.

"HARUKO-SANNNN!" A loud voice interrupted the moment.

"Sakuragi-kun?" Haruko whipped her head up to see the redhead towering over them.

Inu-chan barked playfully at the new addition. Hello, new friend! Let's play!

Sakuragi ignored the shiba; he was too focused on the sight in front of him: the love of his life with that idiot basketball genius from Ryonan. He clenched his fists, his jaw taut. "What are doing with that guy?"

"It was an accident." Sendoh got to his feet, and helped Haruko up. He shot a look at Inu-chan, who simply cocked its head to the side innocently.

Me, I'm a good boy, right, Sendoh?

"Get your hands off her!" Sakuragi yelled. Sendoh took a step backwards, holding his hands up. A fight was what he wanted to avoid, especially with the energetic Sakuragi. Rumours said that the Shohoku rookie was good at fighting, and Sendoh wasn't one to test the truth of said rumour.

"I'll beat you, Sendoh!"

"Then train like hell, Sakuragi."

"I will!" Sakuragi gritted his teeth, and his face was so red with anger that it was almost comical. Steam was practically coming out from his ears!

Sendoh took that as a cue to leave. "C'mon, Inu-chan, let's go." The shiba barked playfully, bouncing around his ankles. "See you around." He turned and walked away, leaving the Shohoku freshmen to their business. He really, really wanted to look back and grin at Haruko, but Sakuragi's angry vibes were emanating towards him, and that made him uncomfortable.

Inu-chan, as usual, took the lead, Sendoh lazily trailing behind the dog. "Good day, right, Inu-chan?"

Inu-chan barked once in response.

"Though that ending kind of sucked. Didn't know that Sakuragi and Haruko were a thing." Sendoh looked at the shiba, now trotting by his side. Inu-chan looked up to Sendoh with its black eyes, as if sympathizing with the Ryonan ace. But then it rushed off excitedly, barely heeding Sendoh's words.

It was a dog, after all...

"Plenty of fish in the sea, I guess." Sendoh looked up to the clear blue sky. "Oh, it's perfect weather for fishing. Wanna come with me, Inu-chan?"

Said dog, of course, was already a mile away, barking excitedly.

"INU-CHAN, WAIT UP!"

to be continued.