Disclaimer: All SD characters doesn't belong to me

To Ellen and Karla

Chapter 10

As the Shohoku players and their friends came into the dormitory, Rukawa went to place his camping bag as far away from Sakuragi as possible. He didn't want to stay up listening to his boasting and annoying laughter the whole night. He then looked at the rest of the team-mates to see where they were sleeping.

Sakuragi and Miyagi placed their bags together, and they grinned, as if they were up to something.

Mitsui was whistling when he and Mina placed their bags together.

Kogure was sweet enough to carry Hiroko's bag with his together and placed them the spot near the fan.

Naturally, Ayako and Haruko had their bags together in one place. Then they waved at Miharu to put her bag with theirs.

"Ne, Kaede, can I go?" asked Miharu.

"Why asking me such a question?" asked Rukawa. "I'm not your father."

Miharu just smiled and went to join Ayako and Haruko. A few moments later, she came back.

"Kaede, where are the Kainan players sleeping?"

At the mention of the Kainan players, Rukawa had a strong urge of demanding Miharu why was she staring at them just now, but he controlled himself.

"I don't know."

"Oh… so where are you all going now?"

"The boys are going to the track for 8 rounds of running."

"The players from the 4 schools?"

"… Uh."

"Then I want to go and watch." said Miharu.

"… The boys are just running." said Rukawa.

"I know."

"Then why do you want to watch?"

Miharu looked at Rukawa and she blushed. "… I, I just want to take a look…" she said quietly.

"… At the Kainan players?" said Rukawa before he could stop himself.

Miharu didn't answer, but her cheeks went pinker.

Rukawa wished he was somewhere else but here, looking at Miharu blushing.

"… If you want to watch, go ahead." said Rukawa, turning away.

"Kaede, I…" started Miharu but Rukawa had already left.

Players from the 4 schools were all doing their warm-up on the field before going to the track. Their companions went to sit on the seats near the track, watching the players as they warmed up.

Rukawa was doing his warm-up when he spotted Miharu walking to the seats, along with Mina and Hiroko, girlfriends of Mitsui and Kogure respectively.

They sat down and Mina was giving Mitsui a wink while Hiroko was waving to Kogure cheerfully. Then she shook her head and pointed to her cap as Kogure mouthed a few words to her.

Miharu was not looking at Rukawa, instead, she was looking at the Kainan players.

Rukawa scowled and continued his warm-up.

"Hey there," said Sendoh to Rukawa. He was wearing his sleeveless vest and shorts. "How are you doing?"

Great.

Rukawa just continued his warm-up, ignoring the Ryonan Ace player.

"What's with you?" asked Sendoh curiously.

"None of your business." muttered Rukawa and glanced at Miharu, who was still looking at the Kainan players.

Sendoh followed Rukawa's glance. "Who's that?"

Rukawa didn't respond.

Lucky for Rukawa, Sendoh didn't ask any further and just continued his warm-up.

A few minutes later, the players gathered at the starting line, getting ready for the 8 rounds. Rukawa did a last minute warm up with his legs.

"Maki-sama, did you notice something?" asked Kiyota behind Rukawa.

"Huh? Nani?" asked Maki.

"Rukawa's friend is looking at us." said Kiyota excitedly.

"Really, where?" asked Jin in amusement.

"There, sitting with the girl with blond hair…"

"Maa, she is kind of pretty…" commented Jin. "Don't you think so, Maki-san?"

"I guess so."

A dark look came across Rukawa's face and he prepared himself ready for the run.

"Ready…" called Ayako, her gun in the air.

BANG

The players dashed off.

Minutes later, Rukawa had finished his 8 rounds and was resting on a bench, drinking Pocari Sweat as he watched the rest of the players running.

"Yo."

Rukawa looked up and saw Sendoh, wiping the sweat off his skin. He ignored Sendoh, but Sendoh sat down beside Rukawa anyway.

"I wondering... is that girl your girlfriend?"

Rukawa rolled his eyes and said, "None of your business."

"Really? Then never mind…"

Rukawa looked at Sendoh. "What do you mean?"

Sendoh pointed at one direction.

Rukawa followed and found Mina giggling and pushing Miharu towards the Kainan players who were resting.

The players all looked up.

"Ah, it's Ingrassia-san!" exclaimed Kiyota.

Jin smiled while Maki just looked politely puzzled. The rest of the players were muttering among themselves.

Miharu was clutching the towel in her hand nervously. Then she looked up and handed the towel to…

Maki.

Sendoh raised his eyebrows and Rukawa's eyes widened. Kiyota's jaws dropped.

Maki blinked. But then he smiled, took the towel and gave his thanks.

Miharu then said a few words to Maki. The older player just nodded seriously and Miharu left with Mina, who was talking to her excitedly.

"Oh my…" said Sendoh slowly. "Looks like Maki does have a few attractive areas… Wonder what would Maki says if that girl confesses her feelings to him…"

Rukawa clutched his fists tightly at the sight and Sendoh's comment.

"What… what's so good about that old man…" muttered Rukawa in a low tone of voice.

"I don't know. He's mature, calm and polite I guess." said Sendoh.

Rukawa got up and just left, leaving Sendoh behind.

"Oi, Rukawa, oi!"

Rukawa just kept walking until he had got back to the Shohoku Basketball Team's dormitory. No one was there.

Rukawa stood there and stared into the space for a moment before he leaned on the wall and sighed.

"I knew it… who will like a person like me…"

Rukawa stayed in the dormitory until the Shohoku players came back, laughing and talking. All of them looked as if they had played in the rain, even though it was sunny outside.

"Oi, Rukawa! Where have you been?" asked Sakuragi. "We have a water-bomb fight just now! Are you afraid of being bombed by us?"

Rukawa looked at them. Miyagi and Mitsui were laughing madly. Both of them were dripping wet. Mina was giggling. Kogure was busily wiping Hiroko's hair dry with a towel, ignoring his own wet appearance completely. Mina, Haruko and Ayako were still talking as they dried themselves.

"… Senior?" asked Rukawa to Ayako. "Where's my friend?"

"You mean Miharu-san? She didn't join in the fight," said Ayako and turned to Miyagi. "Ryota, stop laughing like a lunatic and dry yourself."

She tossed a towel to Miyagi, who blushed and gave his thanks.

"… She didn't?" asked Rukawa.

"I thought she's with you."

Rukawa shook his head.

"Looks like somebody has been dumped, nyhahaha…" said Sakuragi unmercifully.

Rukawa ignored him. "What about Maki?"

"Maki of Kainan? Kind of think of it… I haven't seen him in the fight either…Why?"

Rukawa went silent.

"Come on, let's go and change our clothes…"

The players went off, but Mina stayed behind.

"Um, Rukawa-san?" started Mina. "Actually Miharu…"

Then, Miharu came back to the dormitory, looking as if she had finished a long run. Her cheeks were pink with excitement and she looked happy. Extremely happy.

"Miharu?" asked Mina in surprise.

"Oh my God, Mina!" said Miharu, taking Mina's hands. "I did it, I told him!"

"And?" asked Mina.

"He accepted everything!" said Miharu. "I'm so glad that he didn't reject me, I…"

Rukawa got up and shoved his hands in his pockets. "Are you talking about Maki-san?" asked Rukawa, his voice as cold as ice.

Suddenly Miharu's excitement faded at his tone.

"… Yes."

"… Good for you. You found yourself a boyfriend in just one day." said Rukawa, but he didn't bother to make his tone brighter.

Silence.

"I… better go," said Mina and whispered to Miharu. "You better explain."

Mina quickly left, leaving Rukawa and Miharu behind.

"Kaede, he…" started Miharu.

"Strange," said Rukawa in a louder voice, his hands in his pockets. "I wonder why out of all of the players here, you have to pick Maki Shinichi… you really have good taste. He's the King here. Good thing you didn't pick my friend Sendoh Akira, he's single, but not available. He's courting a girl in his school and doesn't bother about other girls."

"Kaede, Shinichi is…"

"Oh, it's Shinichi now? That's fast. I suppose it will be Shin-chan tomorrow?" said Rukawa bitterly. "How loving."

"You got it all wrong." said Miharu in protest.

"In what way?" asked Rukawa. "If you want to go with Maki-san, go, I'm not stopping you."

"Kaede, will you just listen?" asked Miharu, who was getting annoyed.

"Why should I? I'm the stupid one who brings a friend to camp so that she could have a boyfriend."

"You... fine, so I'm here to get myself a boyfriend, and I actually pick Maki Shinichi, the leader from the 'Kings of Kanagawa', happy?"

"So you are admitting it then?"

Miharu folded her arms. "Yeah, so what? You know what? Maybe I should go to the Kainan players' dormitory to join my new boyfriend."

"Go ahead."

Miharu bit her lower lip and turned around. She then stormed out.

Rukawa looked at the door that Miharu had gone through and lay down on his camping bed. He didn't have the mood to do anything right now. He lay down for a while before slamming his fist on the bed in frustration.

Rukawa fell asleep and didn't wake up until evening. He got up and found that the dormitory was still empty. He looked at the timetable that Ayako had pasted on the wall earlier and found that it was the time for the 4 schools to do their own basic training. Quickly, he went downstairs and to the Sports Hall.

Straightaway, he saw the players from the 4 schools doing their own training. The Shoyo players were jogging around the courts, Fujima in the lead. The Ryonan players were practicing their passing and dribbling. Sendoh practiced in a relaxing way, passing the ball to Koshino and chatting at the same time. The Shohoku players were using the court and practicing their shots. The Kainan players were using the other court, practicing their lay-ups.

What made Rukawa's face darkened was Miharu, sitting beside Maki, listening attentively as he talked gently. Maki had long finished his practice and was drinking his water.

"Oi Rukawa, over here!" called Miyagi.

Miharu and Maki looked up at Rukawa. Miharu frowned slightly and just turned away. Maki spoke to her but she shook her head.

Rukawa tried to ignore the pair and walked to his team.

"Rukawa, why aren't you sleeping upstairs?" asked Sakuragi.

Rukawa stared at Sakuragi and said, "Mind your business."

"All right, let's practice our jump shots!" said Akagi.

Rukawa bounced the ball he had in his hands and looked at the hoop before he aimed…

He then heard Miharu and Maki laughing from a distance. That was the first time he ever heard her laughed.

But she wasn't laughing with him.

He threw out the ball.

The ball bounced off from the rim. Miyagi, Mitsui's jaws dropped. Ayako's eyes widened. Kogure raised his eyebrows.

"What the…"

"It's just a simple jump shot," whispered Miyagi to Mitsui. "How could he miss?"

"And no one is blocking him…"

"Rukawa, concentrate!"

Rukawa bounced the ball and threw it out. The ball bounced the backboard and went through the hoop.

"Good!" said Akagi as he tossed a ball to Rukawa again. "Now do again."

Rukawa got the ball and saw Miharu and Maki looking at him.

Looking at them together made his heart burned with an unknown feeling and his hands clutched on the ball tightly.

"Rukawa?" asked Ayako.

Suddenly Rukawa ran off, dribbling the ball past the other players, who all turned and looked at him.

Rukawa kept running until he reached the opposite court. He bounced it with massive force and as the ball flew up in the air, he jumped up.

"Is he going to…" started Miyagi.

Rukawa caught the ball and made an impressive air-dunk. He hung onto the rim for a while before he let go.

"He is." ended Mitsui.

Silence on the court. The players from other schools had stopped and were staring at Rukawa in awe.

Then…

"You show off!" yelled Kiyota and Sakuragi in unison.

"Cool!" said Aida of Ryonan excitedly. "I should have brought a camera! That move is really awesome! I must record it down!"

"Is he really a high school student?" asked Hanagata to Fujima, who shrugged.

"Rukawa, I'm asking you to do a jump-shot, not an air-dunk!" yelled Akagi.

Rukawa just ignored him.

Sendoh shook his head and smiled. "Looks like he has been driven crazy with jealousy."