a/n: Tons of a/ns, first off, yes, I humbly apologize- took me long enough! I just went on a small hiatus because I have been getting a slump on writing this! Nonetheless, still very much keen on finishing this! Sorry na! Ang tagal kong mag-update, hahaha! Tinatamad ako minsan, I must admit! ^_^
a/n: oh wow, this is rather surprising- to be getting these awesome feedbacks. Thanks very much. I plan to end this soon, probably five-six chapters more and then I'll call it quits! Hehe! Yup, my next fic/story is on the works already. Will I ever write a one-shot? Of course; it's weird though because every time I would try my best to write a one-shot, it always ends up being a terribly long one shot. LOL! Eka, Addicted to SD, Maria Mae, Kaede4ever, etc… thank you! :) Next, let's make Kaede a bit more OOC now, shall we? Since this is nearing the end- if you guys don't mind! ^_^ let's make him talked more often, ne? Hahaha! Well, it's him first that has come to realized that he's in love alright… And Sendoh? Well, he's not the naïve type… it's easy to manipulate the charming guy, hahaha! :D Lastly, napansin ko in chapter 10, while everyone seems to be busy practising their asses off for the match-ups- si Sendoh at Rukawa naman ay naglalandian? Hahahah! Wala lang! O, hanggang dito landian pa din!*laughs at her own story*
a/n2: Addicted to SD? 'Yume' is a Japanese word for dream. Hmm, someone once asked me about that word too, I wonder if its déjà vu or not… The italicized paragraph back there in chapter ten is the mini dream sequence Rukawa had… hehe. I already planned for that happen (of course) ^_^ so yeah, basically I'm already trying to sneak in the would-be ending already. But I'm not about to spill everything yet. ^_^
a/n3: Eka-chan, wow you're amazing as well, did you read the whole fic in just one sitting? ^_^ Ako nga hindi ko na kayang ulitin, LOL! Super thank you! Glad you liked it! Thank you tlga! Oh really, you find that particular scene cute? Hahaha… well, I never thought about it really, I mean I just want them to have a fun conversation and all. Cool! Let's kiligin then, together! 3
Once again: Standard Disclaimer Apply and the usual Warnings!
CHAPTER 11
The incessant ring of his phone finally reached his ears. He expertly put his hand on it and swiped the screen to press 'stop'. Rukawa took note of the time to be 5 am- he muttered something under his breath before burying his head deeper into the sheets; it's still cold as usual. But the sound of the washroom door opening perked him up as he instantly found himself pulling off the blanket off him to take a tiny peep to his left. He partly saw Sendoh from a small corner near the cabinet rummaging something there. He was already wearing his jogging pants and some shirt. The older boy went back to the washroom without noticing him and that is where Rukawa decided to hoist himself up to sit down on the bed. He yawned a bit before deciding to stretch his arms. He is still a bit sleepy but he knows best- today is the day of the match ups and according to the schedule they will be playing against Sakuragi and Fukuda at one in the afternoon. So that means, its either he eats early lunch or don't eat at all. He moved at the edge of the bed and wordlessly did his sheets, eyes looking down as he flatted and patted his pillows in an attempt to make everything spic and span. He stopped for a while to looked across the other bed and almost gasps when he saw Sendoh's bed all tidied up. 'Really huh?' He almost snorted softly as a soft chuckle erupted. He looked up and saw Sendoh leaning on the corner of the wall- smiling mischievously as he stared back at him. "Good morning, your highness." The rookie simply nodded. "Looks like someone learned the concept of fixing the beddings." A pause. Then Rukawa added, "…and good morning too, slave." A brief nod. Sendoh laughed. "Aww, c'mon- such handsome slave you have right here, your highness." Rukawa's ears flushed a bit- he bit his lower lip and tried to ignore his blabbering senior. 'Doaho, keep still now you blood pumping organ…' "Whatever, you're full of yourself, baka." 'You looked cool alright.' He inwardly mused and for real.
"Hahaha, okay- enough of that for now, let's shoot some hoops." Rukawa snorted softly. "Hoops at this hour? Can't we eat something first?" Sendoh was dumbfounded. He looked and looked. Rukawa remained unfazed staring back as well. Only then Sendoh smiled. "Are you sick again?" A grin. Rukawa frown. "Idiot." Sendoh chuckled. "Hahaha, it's just that you've been speaking a lot and… wow, you don't like hoops in the morning? Hallelujah!" Sendoh jokingly raised his arms while laughing softly. He walked towards the pale rookie as he continued to grin mischievously. "I pray to the Gods above that whatever happened to you during your slumber… remains. Amen-hh-HEYY!" And Sendoh found himself being smacked on the face by a pillow. The older boy laughed merrily as Rukawa continued smacking him for a while now sending the Ryonan dude to bend low in attempt to cover his face as he chuckles continuously. "Ss-stop it now, Rukawa-kun. Alright, alright…I lost!"
Rukawa found his lips tugging upwards as he smacked his senior a few more times—even though it's just a pillow, being smacked by a guy and with force is something Sendoh could not also escape easily; but Akira wonders why he seems to tolerate this kind of playfulness. Rukawa stopped and sighed deeply, obviously feeling pumped up now as that lame smacking caused him to exert and burn some efforts. He placed both hand on his hips and looked down at a sitting Sendoh on one edge of his bed. The older guy looking up to him with cheery eyes. He obviously destroyed a part of Sendoh's hair. "My hair?!" Sendoh almost whined. Rukawa rolled his eyes. He shook his head and was about to stepped inside the washroom when his left wrist was pulled by no other than his roommate. He felt his ears burned as he was pulled and was made to look back, eyes a bit surprised. 'What the-?' Sendoh pointed at his ruined hair and smirked. "You destroyed it, you fix it." A grin. And Rukawa found his ears burning now. 'Ba…baka, Sendoh Akira! Why are you putting me in this kind of situation?' He felt his chest thumping more wildly now. He clenched his right fist in an attempt to woo away that blushing ears of him. Sendoh seemed to be unfazed as his eyes continued to stare back- if only he knew that the younger guy has been melting under his stare, he would have stopped, but looks like he wasn't aware of that.
"C'mon, I woke up early just to have my hair fixed alright and then you just destroyed it." Sendoh said as he smiled and snort softly. 'Rukawa-kun, you blushed too much, and it's cute.' He inwardly mused- obviously aware at the fact that his younger roommate is adorable in his own little ways. Rukawa tried to pull away his wrist but failed. He pouted. "I don't know how to do that, doaho." Rukawa's heart couldn't get more ecstatic now. It had to stop. This scenario just had to stop. Sendoh pulled back and chuckled. "It's easy, just put a right amount of gel in your palm and that's it!" Rukawa rolled his eyes. "Do it yourself, silly." Sendoh whined. "I want you to do it." He grinned. Rukawa flushed & pulled again- but failed. "Go buy a wig."
"A what-?!" Sendoh laughed and Rukawa took this chance to pull his wrist and succeeded. The rookie found himself smiling a bit as he rubbed his left wrist. 'I thought I'll sprain this, idiot.' "A wig. An afro or anything." Rukawa almost stated boringly as he went inside the washroom and locked it. Sendoh continued chuckling. From inside the washroom Rukawa leaned back at the door and tried to calm his racing chest. 'Baka…baka… that was…' He lift the back of his hand and placed it on top of his lips. '…that was close.' He sighed and shook his head before finally deciding to have an early hot shower.
Sendoh found himself staring almost longingly at the closed door- his chest feeling full and… warm. He lips formed into a smile and decided to knock on the door- but there was no reply. "Rukawa, I'll be at the gym, okay?" But the sound of shower was the only sound he heard. He then exited their room wordlessly.
Sendoh was practising some dribbling and shooting from the three-point range when the door to the gym opened revealing Rukawa dressed up in a black pullover and jogging pants. Sendoh momentarily looked but continued playing nonetheless. He fired a three and the ball went in. "No canteen yet, a little later at six and they'll be ready to serve breakfast." The older boy informed. Rukawa nodded and started pulling up the sleeves of his top. He paused briefly and as if seeing a chance to steal, dashed towards the taller guy to grab the ball; Sendoh was surprised as the orange leather that he has been playing with was stolen in a sec. He looked at the stoic guy's face as Rukawa dribbled the ball. Sendoh smirk. "Someone's fired up, I wonder." He chuckled softly. Rukawa twitched his lips and shrugged. "Whatever… I'll beat you now." And that is how their probably first serious game ensued. "Prepare to lose, Sendoh-senpai." Rukawa flatly goaded. Sendoh simply laughed a bit and grinned. "Lose eh? Hehe, big word. Bring it on, dear." Rukawa's eyes widened. 'D-dear?!' But he found himself attacking the basket nonetheless; he ran towards the free throw line only to find Sendoh there and stepped back at bit as he tried for a fake; it worked- Sendoh thought he was going to shoot but Rukawa sped off past him and as if he's been given wings to fly, jumped up in the air to do a resounding dunk in an early as 540 am. He looked back to see an astounded Ace- Sendoh smiled and clapped. "You got me there, Rukawa." Kaede simply nodded and tug his lips upwards. "10-0."
Akira laughed. "10-0? What the-?! Where'd you get that lame ass score?" He chuckled some more. Rukawa snorted softly as that seemingly microscopic smile graced his delicate features. He was glad to get the first basket and what's more is that he was more than happy that he really feels okay now and upbeat. 'I feel like we could win today.'
"That dunk is worth ten points…because I haven't eaten yet." A pout. Sendoh rolled his eyes in amusement and chuckled; placing his hand on one of his hip. "Right, I'll show you a dunk that's worth twenty points." Rukawa snorted. "Show off." Sendoh snickered. Sendoh dribbled the ball, his eyes never leaving Rukawa's- he snorted for a while and smiled that caused the other to be a bit confused; Sendoh feigned to attack head-on and spun around to run past his defender- but Rukawa was there alright. They both ran; the other defending, the taller attacking. Sendoh forcefully made his way in only to jump high as he prepared to dunk- but was surprised when Rukawa's hand was there ready to block him. Sendoh knew and miraculously held the ball for a split second before slamming them again onto the ring. Rukawa was stupefied. Both players looked at each other, panting. It was Rukawa who broke the silence first, earning him a chuckle. "H…hey! That was my move!" He almost wailed like a kid. Sendoh laughed- he turned around and was clapping his own hands as he was merrily laughing his head off. Rukawa pouted, seemingly annoyed. "Copycat, bastard!" Rukawa threw in but the older boy seemed not to hear him as Akira continued laughing. Only then he faced his younger companion as he rubbed both of his eyes. "Hahaha…okay, okay… so that was my twenty-point dunk. Score now is 10-20, I'm ten points ahead now- and I haven't had dinner and breakfast since last night." A chuckle. Rukawa twitched his lips and got the ball on his hand- walked towards his cheating senior and threw the ball onto his taller companion's leg. Sendoh groaned and winced. "H-hey! Ouch. Hahaha, sore loser!" Rukawa almost found his lips tugging upward as he shook his head. "Not over yet, doaho." Sendoh bent low to rub his leg as he grinned back.
"Where'd you see that?" Rukawa prodded. Sendoh shrugged. "Game videos, from Hikoichi, we watched your game against Kainan and that is where I saw you did that." He grinned. "That dunk was beautifully executed, Rukawa-kun. I bet Maki-senpai was rocked." Rukawa almost flushed as he was praised but shrugged, putting his head down as if feeling shy all of a sudden. "That…well, we lost anyway."
"Well, we lost twice." Sendoh reminded him. Rukawa looked up at his senior and simply nodded. Sendoh waved off and shrugged. "But we've moved on. Let's continue now, shall we? 10-20, right?" A grin. Rukawa snorted and rolled his eyes. "Yeah sure, whatever." Sendoh chuckled. 'Rukawa… I could play with you along like this every day and everything will be alright…' Sendoh mused, wondering why he has these thoughts very much.
6 AM. Both were still playing on the gym. Sendoh has the ball as Rukawa tried to focus on defence. Sendoh dashed to the left but the rookie was there. He tried to dribble the ball in between his legs and fire a fade away. Rukawa was able to tick it off and true that, the ball bounced off. Kaede run after the ball and sped on the other end- Sendoh trailing behind; but being used to longer hours of practice, Akira was able to catch up just in time to defend. Rukawa pulled over, dribbling while contemplating on his next move. His eyes darted to the right and he dashed there alright but Sendoh was quick being able to block him over. Rukawa backed away- dribbling steadfastly but the ball was suddenly batted away! His eyes widened and run instinctively to the other side once more to catch up. "Hey!" He almost shouted. Sendoh looked back and chuckled amusedly- but Rukawa being born with natural speed was able as well to catch up- he was now once again back in defending. He squinted his eyes and snorted. "I hate you…" Sendoh laughed- dribbling the ball in a fancy way, eyes cheery. "Don't hate me for that, sunshine…" Rukawa frowned. "Doaho!" Sendoh attacked but Rukawa seemed to have tightened his defence and Akira found himself shaking his head in response. He clacked his tongue for it seems that he wasn't getting any available chances of getting the basket- he looked down momentarily and as if an idea struck him, he chuckled for a bit startling the younger guy- Sendoh backed away slightly and since he can't get pass through the younger, pale guy, bounced the ball in between Rukawa's legs just as the rookie looked down to see what happened! Kaede almost gasps just as Sendoh caught the ball behind the raven-haired guy to chuckle merrily as he sped away to make an easy two via lay-up. Rukawa could only looked on as he childishly stomped his foot. 'I hate you, I hate you…' He pouted. Sendoh was laughing as he caught the child-like tantrum displayed before him.
"What was that?" A frown. Rukawa snorted. Sendoh laughed. "That? That was… a smarty-pants pass?" He grinned. Rukawa rolled his eyes- seemingly unable to think of what to say. Sendoh continued chuckling softly, placing his hand on his mouth. The rookie shaking his head. "220-200, looks like I won?" Sendoh snickered some more. Rukawa wiped his forehead with the back of his hand and pouted. "Teach me that, idiot." Sendoh stopped chuckling for a sec. "Teach you what, sunshine? That pass?" Rukawa nodded. Sendoh laughed. But when he saw the seemingly serious guy, he approached the latter. "Alright, alright… I'll show you." He grinned. Rukawa's features seemingly relaxed as he gave in a microscopic smile, too small to notice but to Sendoh, it was one of the most adorable he has seen.
"Rukawa-kun?" Sendoh asks. Rukawa looked up, inquiry all over his blue irises. Sendoh smiled his usual. "Tell me, why can't I say no to you, hm?" Rukawa felt his ears burned and in doubles, this time. He tried to bit his lower lip and acted normal. 'What is this baka?' "Hn, doaho- if you don't want to teach me, then it's okay." He said almost indignantly. Sendoh laughed and reached to ruffle the hair of his younger companion. Rukawa tried to dodge away but failed. "Heyy… quit it." Sendoh chuckled and rolled his eyes. "Kidding, I'll teach you that alright. Okay let's begin." Rukawa find himself pouting a bit before nodding in response.
Koshino yawned as he walked through the halls, from behind him, Mitsui is trailing by- eyes looking sleepy as the three-pointer yawned too. They passed through one door, a second one, and the gym, then- a pause. Koshino was made to pause when he heard voices and thumping of the ball against the linoleum floor. From behind him Mitsui knotted his brows in seeming annoyance. The older guy twitched his lips and shrugged nonetheless. "I'm heading to the canteen." Short and crisp- Mitsui said paying no interest as to why his roommate decided to stop and seemingly peeped inside the gym. Mitsui head off and walked towards the door that leads to the canteen. A small peak is all he needed to take a good look inside; Koshino wordlessly peeked into a tiny small slit and was met by the familiar back of his teammate, Sendoh. The taller guy has his back on him of course and as his eyes darted further, he saw… Rukawa- in front, or rather probably a good three-four steps away from him. Rukawa was holding the ball- then he dribbled it for a while. Koshino pushed the door a bit further to now fully see what's been going on inside, careful not to alert the two who seemed rather busy with something. Koshino can now hear practically the conversation between the two as he stood silently on one door frame- eyes a bit in question. 'Sendoh, what are you-?'
"Okay, let's see you do it again." Sendoh said. Rukawa wordlessly nodded as he prepared for something. He backed a few steps and started dribbling the ball- Sendoh readied himself to defend. Rukawa bit his lower lip for a sec before speeding off to attack the spiky-haired boy; and as he neared his older companion- his eyes widened a bit as he tried to execute the said pass; he bounced the ball in between Sendoh's legs to the surprise of the taller kid- but the ball seemed to hit one side of Akira's leg as it momentarily lost its momentum and bounced off on somewhere else- far from where Rukawa wanted it to be. Rukawa clacked his tongue as he was not able to do it for the third time. Sendoh sighed and slightly winced at his leg as he was being constantly hit unintentionally by the ball. He bent down to rub that side of his leg. Rukawa caught up with the ball instead and fire away a jump shot- the ball went in. He sighed and turned to look at Sendoh who was smiling nonetheless. "No good, cannot do it." Rukawa stated flatly, quite annoyed that a simple thing like that seems suddenly not quite to fall rightly in place. 'Kso, need probably to practice more…' Sendoh softly chuckle and shook his head. "Nah, you'll get it soon." A sighed. "Well, in any case I think we should get breakfast first- I'm famished." Rukawa continued dribbling the ball and shooting some layups-seemingly not hearing the older boy. Just then, his eyes seemed to focus on one side of the gym and that is where he saw Koshino.
Koshino stared back at the pale rookie and knotted his brows. Only then Sendoh seemed to have followed the rookies gaze and as he did so, saw also his teammate. Sendoh waved. "Oi Kosh, good morning, you're here? I didn't noticed." Koshino twitched his lips and went fully inside the gym now- walking a bit towards where Sendoh was. "Apparently, I was…seems you two are busy." He looked from Sendoh to Rukawa who was giving him obviously the blank look.
"And how are you?" Koshino asks the younger player- not quite the one to technically greet an enemy but has a nagging feeling that somehow, he just had to. 'Weird, why do I even ask this brat.' Rukawa simply dribbled the ball once and looked up- eyes showing no emotion or whatever. "Good." He muttered softly. 'Oh, he asks?' Rukawa looked at Sendoh who stared from Koshino to him. A grin. "Well, we are done here anyway, and about to eat breakfast, join us then?" Koshino shrugged and decided to exit the gym as well followed by the two blue-eyed boys.
Inside the canteen, the same scene can be witnessed. The strong aroma of coffee filling the air and sumptuous meal for breakfast. Everyone is almost there- from the Shoyo-Kainan block to the Shohoku-Ryonan block. It was 7 am already. Koshino entered the room first followed by Sendoh then Rukawa trailing behind- Koshino almost cringed as stares threw in at them. Well, not for him the least, to one stoic, pale kid who somewhat caused a hype yesterday by fainting. All eyes were on Rukawa as they seemed curious to know if he's feeling any better. Rukawa knew of the stares around him as he tried to remain oblivious- looking only down as he walked to queue on the lines- waiting for his food to be served. As they passed by a small table with Maki and Fujima on it, Fujima could not helped but to voiced out his thoughts. "How are ya, Rukawa-kun?" Maki only waited for an answer as he sipped onto his coffee. Rukawa looked momentarily and shrugged. "Fine…thanks." He said softly. Fujima nodded but Rukawa did not missed that seemingly glint in the brown-haired guy's eyes. Just then, the door to the canteen opened once again this time to reveal Sakuragi and Fukuda. Now, all stares tripled especially when the two queued from behind the food lines. Sendoh passed the tray to Rukawa who simply took it without word. Sakuragi stopped a good two steps away as he squinted his eyes menacingly to the pale rookie in front of him. He snorted. "Looks like someone is alive." He sneered. Rukawa looked back and snorted softly. "And looks like someone is about to die soon." Rukawa shot back coolly. Sakuragi fumed. "Oh really? Pretty scary coming from someone who just fainted his ass off. Pathetic. Good thing your nanny's there. Aint that sweet?" A cackle. Rukawa glared. "I suggest you start digging your own grave, doaho." Sakuragi simply cackled more. 'Kitsune's annoyed, hahaha!' Sakuragi inwardly mused. Sendoh chuckled a bit upon hearing that. Sakuragi glared at the spiky-haired boy. Fukuda shook his head. 'Idiot.'
"Don't assume that I'll be guarding your sorry ass off, kitsune, you're easy to pass…" Sakuragi goaded further. Everyone fell silent. Eyes were on them as a small tension clung tightly in the air. Rukawa choose to be silent. 'Doaho, who would even think of being guarded by you sure is stupid'. But he chose not to say that. Sakuragi darted his eyes at Sendoh who was looking at him- smiling as he held one tray on one hand. Sakuragi stepped forward at Sendoh and looked a tad bit closer- the space between their faces, a good two inches apart. "I'll guard you Sendoh, and defeat you-both." Sakuragi grinned evilly as he cackled his familiar laugh. Fukuda simply shook his head and rolled his eyes. 'Stupidity everywhere.' Sendoh simply chuckled softly and handed one tray at Sakuragi to the surprise of the redhead. Sakuragi almost blushed. 'Teme! This smiley is way too nice! Ch! He will be defeated by the tensai later.'
"No problem, Sakuragi. I'll take you on, anytime." A smirk. A few cheers and hoots erupted from some players as the tension seemingly vanished in the thin air. From afar, Kiyota cannot help but to hoot a whistle- he grinned. "I'll finish my game early to watch you four slit your throats off, hahahhaha!" Maki glared at his blatant and noisy freshman. Kiyota sat down and pouted. Sakuragi gritted his teeth in annoyance and gave Kiyota the stare. "The game won't take too long though, wild-haired monkey! It'll be over before you knew it, nyahahaha!" Cheers and laughter erupted. Akagi and Uozumi simply shook their heads and sighed dejectedly. "Remind me to bonk him later, Uozumi." Uozumi simply smirk. Kogure sighed as he worriedly look as if sensing an impending danger. "Don't worry, Kogure-senpai, I think they're doing fine!" Ayako said and she smiled back. From her side, Haruko simply nodded. "Sakuragi-kun is sure fired up today… I wonder if Rukawa-kun is feeling alright now." She said softly as a soft tinge of pink graced her cheeks. She was patted by Ayako on the head. "Why don't you go and ask him yourself? Hahahah!" Ayako joked. Haruko turned beet red. 'Impossible, Ayako-chan…'
"It'll be over too soon redhead, because Sendoh and Rukawa will be pulverizing you. Hahahah!" Mitsui somehow managed to holler back. Everyone seemed to laugh. Miyagi high-fived with him. Uekusa simply chuckled good-naturedly. "Teme, Micchy-kun!" Sakuragi fumed and Mitsui simply grinned back. "Hahaha, don't worry, I'll side with you later! Moral support!" Mitsui goaded further as he flashed a peace-sign. The redhead rolled his eyes but he smirked back nonetheless. Koshino simply rolled his eyes as he heard the callous statements all around him and sat himself besides Uekusa, in front of Mitsui. He looked at his table momentarily and sighed. Mitsui noticed him and shrugged. "Eh, what's your problem?" Koshino almost scowled. "Isn't it funny that we're seated all four together?" Miyagi and Uekusa looked at each other and back to the other two. "No, it's not funny coz I aint laughing." Mitsui snapped. Koshino scowled. Ryota grinned and chuckled. "Hahaha, yeah this is rather a bit awkward but, we're good, aren't we, Uekusa?" Uekusa simply nodded? "No problem, here Miyagi." Mitsui simply smirked and shrugged. Koshino simply rolled his eyes and went back to digging his own food. 'Ugh, breakfast buddies for now, then court enemies later. Weird.'
Rukawa clacked his tongue and overtake Sendoh from the line to the surprise of the taller boy. "Hungry guy in queue, move." Sakuragi snarled as Fukuda simply tugged his lips upward. 'Fiery one you got there, taichou.' Sendoh simply snorted as he absent-mindedly scratched the back of his head.
Rukawa sat himself somewhere as hunger overtook him- he did not wait for his older companion as he wordlessly started eating his meaty omelette. He feels like he needs to practice a bit more. He pressed his phone for a sec to take in the time and saw that its 730am already. 'Damn, how time flies.' He looked up as another tray was placed right in front of him- it was Sendoh. Akira simply grinned back as he sat down in front of the pale guy. "Well, Sakuragi sure looks like he's ready to beat me." He chuckled softly as he munched in a piece of bread. Rukawa simply ignored his taller companion. 'Maybe, maybe not. I don't know.' He inwardly mused. After a few more minutes, it was Rukawa who initiated to talk first. He looked up at Sendoh who was busily eating his food.
"So, uh, do I guard your teammate, then?" He almost hesitantly asks. Sendoh tilt his head to one side as he munched and nod at the same time. "Well, looks like it." A pause. Sendoh looked back and smiled. "I feel like Sakuragi is going in at me today." He laughed softly. Rukawa simply stared back and shrugged. "Yeah, that idiot will probably try to tick you off." Sendoh chuckled as he sliced in a portion of his omelette. "In any way, I think you could take on Kicchou." He paused and look at the rookie and as if stating in a low and steady voice he replied- Rukawa stared back. "But I warn you, do not take him lightly… he's a skilled player, mind you." Silence. "I mean, not because he is a teammate of mine and all, he is just simply capable." Rukawa found himself nodding. "I kind of figured that." He said softly. Rukawa briefly looked at the table to where the redhead and Fukuda was and was almost surprised to see Fukuda looking back at him. Rukawa lowered down his head and went back to eating. On one end, Fukuda found his lips tugging upward. 'Cap, sorry but, I won't be easy on your… sunshine.' Fukuda simply shook his head and snorted softly. 'Love makes the world go round. But you probably realized it by now, Taichou…' Fukuda stopped for a while and went bug-eyed at what he just seemed to inwardly muse. 'Ugh, so not-me.' He cringed at his own thought. He momentarily looked at the redhead in front of him and saw Sakuragi in a dazed state. The guy seemed to be waving back at someone from another table, eyes in a heart-shaped. "Haruko-cchaan…" Sakuragi muttered softly and fondly. From one table, the said girl waved back and smiled. Sakuragi giggled like a love-struck fool. Fukuda sweat dropped.' 'It doesn't simply make the world go round, it makes people looked stupid too.'
Rukawa forked a piece of meat and stared at it for a while. "Well, aren't you going to tell on me some of Sakuragi's hidden skills?" Sendoh jokingly asks as he grinned back. Rukawa snorted softly. "He likes dunking on enemies heads." Sendoh snickered. "Aside from that." Rukawa shrugged. "He jumps high." Sendoh nodded. "I know that as well. Anything else?" Rukawa paused. "He said he's the 'rebound king'." Sendoh laughed. "He seems like one. Anything else?" The rookie knotted his brows. "His timing is way off most of the time but…" A pause. "…sometimes they're surprisingly good." Rukawa seemingly made a thought on that one. Sendoh nodded and smile. "Yeah, I kind of thought about it as well, anything else?" A frown was what greeted him. "Nothing else." Sendoh chuckled softly as he sipped on his juice. "Alright, good luck on my head then." Rukawa almost tugged his lips upwards. "Yeah, better put on a helmet." Sendoh laughed and almost choked on his own juice. "I think I don't want to play anymore, hahaha! I'll pass now, you can do it on your own anyway, Rukawa-kun." Sendoh merrily chuckled. "Just dodge the dunk, doaho." Rukawa lowered his gaze and almost smiled as he snorted softly; but he kind of enjoyed their almost non-sensical breakfast chatters sending flutters of warmth inside of him; he can feel his ears and cheeks heat up a bit.
'I think, I like you, you know…' A pause. For the very first time… he inwardly mused and admitted.
At room five though after breakfast, Shoyo and Kainan went back to their building to officially start off their match-ups. Same goes for Shohoku-Ryonan block. Most of the players went back to their rooms first to probably prep up a few things but went back down in an instant into the gym to warm-up. Rukawa and Sendoh wordlessly went back to their room as well. Rukawa opened the cabinet and got his small bag and stuffed in there his extra shirt and towel. He decided to simply wear a black shirt and a pair of jogging pants. He seemed to pause for a while as if trying to think if he has forgotten anything- but coming up with a nothing in blank, he decided to close the cabinet and walked towards the small coffee table to check on the game schedule that has been handed over to them by Ayako. "Can I put this in your bag?" A grin. Rukawa looked up to see Sendoh grinning at him and asking if it is okay to put in his towel in his bag. Rukawa stared back, seemingly confused- he simply shrugged. "Okay…" the pale boy simply replied. Sendoh nodded his thanks. "Well, let's go now- its ten am already." Sendoh paused a bit to look at his watch before turning his back to walk towards the door. Rukawa stuffed in the extra towel in before sighing softly to look at the back of his older companion. Sendoh was wearing a white shirt against his black shirt, and also a dark-coloured jogging pants. Rukawa almost sweat drop. 'What team are we again?' Sendoh paused as he opened the door to look at his companion. Rukawa stepped out just as the room across them opened to reveal Sakuragi and Fukuda, yet again. Sendoh closed the door and once again, the four were caught in another deadlock stare. The other two decided to wear their respective jerseys, a complete opposite from the two players from room five. Sendoh looked for a bit, suddenly feeling a pang of nostalgia upon seeing their own Ryonan jersey. He smiled wistfully at Fukuda. "Hey there, Kicchou." Sendoh smiled. Fukuda simply tugged his lips upwards and nodded. "Taichou…" Sakuragi looked dumfounded as he darted his gaze from Sendoh to Fukuda, he scowled. "Taichou?! Captain?!" He voiced out. Rukawa simply rolled his eyes.
"Spikey, you're the captain now of Ryonan?!" Sakuragi hollered. Sendoh simply nodded. "Well, yeah, kind of like it." A grin. Sakuragi gape. "Waah! You mean, Boss Monkey is no more?! Is he quitting?!" Fukuda knotted his brows. "Who's boss monkey?" He almost frowned, dreading to hear the answer. "Who else, Uozumi of course, nyahahah!" Sakuragi exclaimed, hands on his hips as he hollered on the quiet aisle. Sendoh sweat drop and his smile faltered a bit. He scratched the back of his nape. 'Jeesh, I wonder what name he calls me though?' He chuckled to himself softly. Rukawa simply snorted and shook his head. Fukuda clenched his fist, how dare this redhead insult their Captain Uozumi. "In any case, if you're the Captain now, I believe that I, too, will have a slot to be the next Captain of Shohoku, since Gori will be retiring soon as well, hehehe, I guess its fated after all-?!"
"What fate?" Rukawa prodded flatly, looking bored. Sakuragi glared at the fox-eyed boy and smirked. "I am fated to be your leader, fox. Our team depends on me." And he cackled slowly. "If that happens, I'll transfer to another team then." Fukuda chuckled softly to the surprise of the two Shohoku players. Sendoh too, laughed a bit as he rolled his eyes. Sakuragi simply smirked. "Well, I don't really mind if you decide to leave, you're not our loss anyway. Hahaha!" Sendoh shook his head while still chuckling a bit as he decided to take a good two steps. "I guess we all better hurry now, its past ten." Fukuda nodded as he, too, followed suit- trailing behind them are the two Shohoku first years who walked with a very obvious space between them.
"So when are you going to transfer?" Sakuragi goaded. Rukawa clenched his fist as a vein popped on one of his temple. Sendoh wasn't able to help but to laugh a bit as Fukuda chuckled softly again. Sakuragi cackled evilly. The four reached the elevator and they all hopped inside. They reached the ground floor in peace and Sakuragi and Fukuda went on ahead to the gym as Sendoh and Rukawa followed behind. Sendoh chuckled a bit as he stretched his long arms behind his head. "So do you really mean it?" Rukawa looked at his older companion. "Mean what?"
"Transfer?" A grin. Rukawa simply snorted and shrugged. "If that doahou becomes Captain?" A pause. Sendoh seems to be looking at him expectantly. Rukawa shrugged. "I'd probably give a small thought about it." Sendoh grinned. "So where would you transfer if ever?" Rukawa remained silent. Sendoh decided to continue. "You could go to my team, I would love to have you." He grinned. "And why is that?" He challenge his older companion. Sendoh simply shrugged and smile. "Like I said, you're a forward any point guard could ask for." Rukawa paused on his tracks as he was made to look- he suddenly felt his cheeks heat up a bit as he clench and unclench his fist. Sendoh was simply looking at him- smiling that disarming smile at him. "What?" Sendoh asks, as he grinned more charmingly. Rukawa instinctively looked down at the floor- suddenly feeling shy all over. "Doahou, I'm thinking of going to Shoyo, instead." He lied softly but deep inside, he knows best- and he could only tug a portion of his lips upward as he looked down on the floor absentmindedly. Sendoh feigned disappointed. "Tsk, aw, too bad- I thought we'd make a great team. Haha. But why Shoyo?" Sendoh wondered very much- truth is, he was not expecting Rukawa's silly answer- he honestly thought that he would choose Ryonan or Kainan instead. The next statement made Sendoh laughed a bit more as he found the answer to much sillier that what he initially thought of. "Because their team starts with the letters S-H-O…. just like Shohoku." Rukawa simply stated flatly. He felt his ears burned a bit as he very well knows that his stupid answer caused for Sendoh to chuckle profusely. "How lame, and here I thought I'd be welcoming you in Ryonan."
Rukawa twitched his lips and clutched his bag tighter. "Your school is far… I'll be coming in late always." He reasoned softly and Sendoh simply grinned back. "Well, if I'm your Captain, you'll always be excused." Rukawa fought the urge to flush. "Doahou." But deep inside, Rukawa knew.
It was 1030 in the morning and true enough, most of the people are already inside the gym. The first game is about to start at eleven am. As Sendoh and Rukawa stepped inside, as always, stares were thrown at them but it seemed that they never mind. Sendoh momentarily walked over to Akagi and Uozumi. The two Captains nodded at him as Ayako handed him over a folder, asking him to sign over. Rukawa placed his bag on a nearby bench as his eyes caught sight of Mitsui and Koshino practicing their shooting skills on one side of the court, from the far end, there's Uekusa and Miyagi who seems to be practicing as well while chatting, they looked like they've been good friends since day one. Rukawa wordlessly sat on the bench as he tried to look bored. From across, Sakuragi can be seen looking all too giddy beside Akagi's sister as he tries his very hard to impress her. Fukuda seems to be listening to his music while eyes close as he sat on the far end of one bench. Hikoichi can be seen around Ayako, Kogure, and the two Captains. Hikoichi seems to be getting excited at something as he keeps on saying something to Sendoh- with the taller guy smiling and nodding once in a while.
Sendoh handed back the paper back to Ayako and nodded his thanks as he smiled as well. Ayako simply chuckled softly in response. Akagi took in a brief moment to look at the younger guy just a few inches away from him. From his observant eyes, he could sense an aura of leadership around Sendoh. He may be young and a bit carefree most of the time, but his guts tells him otherwise. Sendoh can manage to be deadly serious especially when he tries to focus all of his energy on something. Akagi knew, and probably has always known that one day, this boy would probably topple a few good players around Kanagawa, and maybe even Maki himself. He has always knew especially when he watched the game Ryonan had with Kainan. It was truly intense- Sendoh has been playing his skill at par with Maki and has been deliberately making the older guy commit a few fouls and struggles. Coach Taoka has really put in all of his efforts on the boy. But Akagi wondered, if the spiky-haired boy would be devoting his passion towards basketball forever or not. He has heard a few good stories from Uozumi that Sendoh seems to be the type of guy who excels in the sport but is not really keen on making his life revolve around it. He loves basketball but also likes a lot of things or hobbies. He often is late for practice but is there alright when the team needs him. Overall, Sendoh seems to believe that there is indeed more to life than hoops and all. Akagi sighed deeply just in time as Sendoh managed to look back at him to his utter surpised- he almost gasps but managed to smile as the blue-eyed boy from Ryonan nodded his acknowledgement. Akagi smirked. "Are you ready for today, Sendoh-kun?" Akira simply smiled and shrugged. "Yeah, I guess…" A grin. Akagi softly snorted and chuckled a bit. Just as he thought. Sendoh seems to be living life to express and not to impress. And Akagi thought that it's all good to have that kind of attitude.
"Sendoh-kun, call Rukawa-kun please, he needs to sign also this paper." Ayako chirped in. Sendoh looked at the manager of Shohoku briefly and nodded. His eyes searched for Rukawa across the court and there he saw him sitting like a rock again, unflinching as the pale boy simply looks at the players practising on one corner. He tried to wave his hand in an attempt to get his attention- and true indeed, Rukawa must have sense that someone is deliberately trying to do something somewhere and as he turned his gaze to look, saw Sendoh smiled and waved his hand in an urge to call him to sign something. Rukawa wordlessly got up from his seat and approached them.
"Sign here, Rukawa-kun. Just a few information to be filled up for the Ministry of Education." Ayako informed him and the rookie wordlessly got the pen and started writing. Sendoh looked briefly before turning back to Uozumi and Akagi who's also at the side. "Wow, you guys are going to wait for the winners, aint that cool?" Sendoh grinned. Uozumi smirked and close his eyes. "We are waiting for you two." He emphasized the word two and everyone around them chuckled a bit except for Rukawa who seemed to be serious on writing on the paper. Sendoh chuckled softly as he scratched his head. "Pressuring me eh, Uozumi-san?"
"I doubt if you feel that though, Sendoh." Uzoumi prodded further.
"I'm sure he does. It's not easy being Captain." It was Akagi who butted in and Sendoh could only looked at Shohoku's leader as he nod and smile. Sendoh knew that Akagi might be referring to the other kind of pressure- being the team Captain now and all, plus having not to have qualified in the Nationals, the upcoming Winter Tournament, scouting for new players… "Thanks, Akagi-san." Sendoh said softly and Akagi simply smiled and nodded. "We'll wait for you- and Rukawa-kun." Sendoh chuckled as he just nodded his head off. "Sure, sure… uh, if we make it." A grin. Both Captains simply nodded their heads.
"Done." Rukawa stated flatly and handed over the paper to Ayako who checked in a few details before nodding her head off. "Good, you two can go back now." The two started walking towards across the court passing by Miyagi and Uekusa. Miyagi snorted as he made a fade away, sending the ball in. He grinned. "Black and White, shirts huh!" Sendoh stopped as he looked at the smaller point guard of Shohoku-with Rukawa pausing in as well to see if something came up. Miyagi grinned- Uekusa too paused a bit. Sendoh simply smiled. "You two are like Yin and Yang you know." Rukawa looked at his shorter teammate as if waiting for an answer. Sendoh furrowed his brows for a moment, and twitched his lips. "Uh? Yin and Yang?" Miyagi simply shrugged and smile. "Yeah." And Miyagi went back to shooting some hoops. When the two player decided to resume their practice, Rukawa headed off to sit back. Sendoh paused and looked back at the two running players. "Good luck, later." The spiky-haired said good-naturedly.
Just then the first game is about to start. Kogure and Ikegami was chosen to be the referee- and the four players decided to walk towards the centre. From the corner, a few cheers and hoots of excitement, coming mostly from Sakuragi and Hikoichi entailed. Fukuda remained unfazed as he simply looked on wordlessly. Mitsui smirked as he came face-to-face with the equally smirking Miyagi. "Aint this sweet, Ryo-chin? I'll be beating your shorty ass off. " Miyagi simply chuckled. "Whatever Mitsui, did you glue your teeth tightly?" From one corner, Sakuragi laughed like a madman. Koshino too was a bit surprised as Mitsui flared beet red in annoyance, but he knew best as he shrugged it off. He is after all good friends with their shorter member anyway. Uekusa laughed a bit and nodded. Kogure sweatdrop at the callous statements before deciding to blow the whistle to officially start the game. Sakuragi fidgeted on his seat. "Arrgh, I don't know who to side, I mean, they're both my friends! Go Ryo-chin! Go Micchy-kun!" He cheered on one side. Fukuda simply eyed him almost uninterestingly as he darted his eyes someplace else—more like to someone else. And more specifically to two Aces across the court.
Ikegami walked at the middle-in between four boys and raised the ball up- he looked at each side to see if both teams are ready for the jump ball just then, he whistled and both Uekusa and Koshino tried to jump to tick of the ball to their corner. The ball got first into the hands of Miyagi and Uekusa. From one side, Sakuragi cheered. "Hahaha, nice one Ryo-chin! Micchy-kun what happened?! Old age?! Nyahaha!" Mitsui simply scowled and hollered. "I pray you lose later, monkey!" Sakuragi fumed. "Teme, Micchy!" And the game ensued against four players.
Mitsui choose to guard Miyagi as the two Ryonan boys guarded each other as well- Miyagi tried to ran past his senior as Mitsui tried his best not to let him lose, Miyagi passed the ball to Uekusa who caught in readily and was getting to fire up a jump shot when Koshino tried to block him, he passed back to Miyagi who was right under the basket in lightning speed and put on a layup shot for an easy score. A few claps erupted on one side. Sakuragi cheered. Mitsui simply twitched his lips and got the ball to dribble back on court. "Yeah, yeah, game's just starting." And he smirked that deadly smirked of his as he too, began to fuel up and started playing serious for real.
"So, who do you think will get this?" Sendoh asks as they both watched the game that has been going on for about fifteen minutes. They were seated on one bench, space between them, more like, Rukawa's bag in between them as Sendoh watched the game with one palm on his cheek. Rukawa was simply sitting along- eyes moving towards whomever pairing that gets the ball. "I don't know…" Rukawa started and then he paused. Sendoh looked at his left expecting an answer, when he found himself chuckling upon the response. "…you're the oracle of Ryonan, you're supposed to know." Rukawa flatly stated, obviously trying to humour the older boy as he found his lips tugging slightly upward. Sendoh laughed a bit and shook his head. "I'm the Captain, not the oracle." He chuckled softly to himself. Rukawa simply shrugged and answered, "Mitsui-senpai, probably."
Sendoh nodded- seemingly to agree as they have been leading on the game with six points. Miyagi and Uekusa has been trying obviously to penetrate under the basket but the defensive play by Mitsui and Koshino has been unnerving that it seems impossible. Koshino has the ball, he is currently dribbling it and was contemplating on charging forward for an easy two, they were on one side of the court- Koshino was trying to eye Mitsui who seems to be having a struggle against Miyagi's defence- he tried to run past Uekusa who guarded him knowingly. Koshino scowled. 'Kso!'
"Trip him over, Uekusa." Both Ryonan turned to look at one side and saw Sendoh grinning like a ten-year old kid. Beside him, a frowning Rukawa seemed to simply look on as if seeing nothing. Koshino and Uekusa sweatdrop. Koshino scowled and gritted his teeth in annoyance. 'Really Sendoh, and you call yourself Captain?!' Uekusa simply chuckled softly at Sendoh's blatant statement. "Trip him now, Uekusa." Another goad, Sendoh seems to be annoying Koshino. Koshino scowled. "Ch! Shut up there, Akira! I hope you tripped over on your game as well, you silly!" Sendoh laughed as he clutch his sides, apparently he found the scene funny. Rukawa looked at him as if he's grown three heads or something. "What are you doing, doaho?" Sendoh shrugged. "Nothing, I'm just cheering for Uekusa." Rukawa pouted. "Idiot, you want your teammate to trip your teammate?" Sendoh looked at Rukawa and chuckled a bit. "To make it more exciting." Sendoh grinned. Rukawa rolled his eyes and snorted.
Koshino was able to passed Uekusa and run towards the basket but not before shouting his annoyance towards Sendoh. "Damn you Akira, I'll get you after this!" Mitsui wondered what fired up Koshino as the hot-tempered freak simply did a layup and this earned him a few cheers from some of his teammates. "Nice one, senpai!" Hikoichi hollered! Koshino shot a look at Sendoh and smirked. "See that, Sendoh?" Sendoh simply shrugged. "Boo." And Koshino scowled as Sendoh laughed. He flashed a V-sign and Hiroaki was left with no choice but to nod as the game resumed. Rukawa rolled his eyes and stated in his monotone voice. "You act like a kid, you know." Sendoh gave him a stare and Rukawa almost felt his ears burned a bit. "Well, you blush like a girl, you know." Sendoh grinned. "I hate you." Rukawa hissed. Sendoh chuckled amusedly and cheerily retorted back. "Well I don't…" He paused. "…hate you that is." A grin. Rukawa bit his lower lip and moved his right foot to kick Sendoh on the shin, sending the older boy cringing in pain as he chuckled. "He-heyy! You're barbaric!" Rukawa twitched his lips, almost tugging it upward as he rolled his eyes off the taller guy. 'Hahaha, you really are adorable, Rukawa-kun.' Sendoh found himself musing in the middle of a game. But this time, he doesn't need to wonder much. Truth is… 'Rukawa-kun, I think I…'
From afar, Fukuda could only looked on as he, too, tugged his lips upward at the scene across him. 'Taichou, somewhere between your laughs, long talks, stupid little fights and your lame jokes, you fell in love.' A pause. Fukuda cringe once more. He felt like vomiting this time. 'Ugh, I better stop analysing Taichou's feelings. 'Sheesh.'
Sakuragi simply cheered as well and went forlorn for a minute. Fukuda shook his head. "Nice one, Micchy-kun and commoner! Hahahah! Aww, Ryo-chin, fight will you! Ayako is watching!" Miyagi gritted his teeth and a vein popped on one of his temple. "Shut up Sakuragi! Argh!" Miyagi hovered a small look on one corner and indeed saw Ayako looking at him a bit worriedly- but she smiled nonetheless, seeing the efforts Ryota has been exerting is enough. "Aya-chaan!" Miyagi whined and sniffed. 'I'll try to win this! For love!' He vowed and with the final five minutes left on the game, the four players tried to give all their best. Miyagi was able to cut the lead in three with a miraculous three-pointer- he was able to steal the second possession and made again an easy two, now cutting the lead to one, but somehow, Mitsui, being the former MVP was able to pull the strings together to fire a three and the lead was up by four with less than two minutes on the game. It was a game of defence and both pairings have been tied up in one time but as the seconds died down, Mitsui has the last possession- he drive past Uekusa and Miyagi who decided to double team him and passed the ball to a free Koshino; Koshino was about to shoot but somehow hesitated- he returned the ball back to Mitsui who almost got the ball stolen by Uekusa but managed to hold onto it; as the final ten seconds tick by- sending a few players on the bench on their feet, Mitsui fired a jump shot, although Miyagi was able to tipped the ball a bit, hoping against hope that the ball won't go in but fate dictated otherwise as the said orange leather swished inside the basket sending Mitsui and Koshino in glee. Both dudes, high-fived and stopped for a bit in surprised. They weren't really close after all. Miyagi smiled a bit wearily and sadly but he was good. Uekusa walked over to tap him on the shoulder and Ryota simply grinned. "I'm good, don't worry." Uekusa simply shrugged and smiled as well. "Yeah me too, Miyagi-san… it's been fun playing with you." Mitsui walked over to both of them and glomped them hard. He was grinning and laughing. "Hahahaha, that was nice guys, aww, let me hug you both!" Koshino smiled and the four exchange handshakes. Akagi ang Uozumi, clapped their hands at the good game played before them plus of course the sportsmanship shown by the four players- they were given their towels and all men walked towards one side of the court to greet their teammates. Koshino however walked towards the other side with a small pout on his lips, approaching a smiling Sendoh. When he was in front of his team Captain, he paused for a bit before kicking lightly yet again Sendoh. Sendoh gasps and winced once more. "Hey! What is it with you guys, always kicking me?" He chuckled in between his cringing. Koshino pouted. "So Akira, I just won, you know." Sendoh grinned. "Yeah, good job!" Sendoh offered his hand for a tap and Koshino wordlessly did so. He looked momentarily to the person beside Sendoh and saw Rukawa staring with a stoic expression. Koshino looked for a bit, sighed and turned his back. "Well, good luck on your game then."
The game ended at with ten minutes before twelve, the next game will be at one pm so that means, there is still an hour or so before the next match up. Sendoh stretched his long arms and yawned. The other players were across the other side of the court, chatting and laughing along as they drink their Pocari. From one corner, Kogure, Ayako, Haruko, Akagi, and Uozumi were busy jotting down on the match-ups because every stats, games, and the whatnots needs to be recorded indeed. Rukawa looked down at the linoleum floor and tried to blank his thoughts. 'Well, this is it. It's our turn.' For some reason, Rukawa isn't really feeling anything towards the game, this is a simple match-up with no bearing and all- one can lose and still go on as if nothing happened, just like what Miyagi and Uekusa who was now all laughing and smiling and even joking at the lame mistakes they did while on court. It was something so simple and plain; you just have to play and enjoy. But somehow, winning for him is an added bonus, a star clipped on a ribbon as if you just have been awarded with something profound. Rukawa thought of the 'what ifs' this time. 'What is we did lose to Sakuragi and Fukuda later?' Yes, for some unknown reason he found himself contemplating on this simple thing—will he feel bad? Probably he will, but somehow, just like Sendoh said to him one time, 'every winning streak will have to end sometime' Rukawa honestly gave it a thought- he is always seen as someone who's very fired up on getting the glory to the point sometime that people tends to ask him if he's still enjoying the game- or is he is just simply playing just to win the game. Enjoy. Fun. The two words seems simple enough but almost as complex as well like a chemical formula to him sometimes. A tap on his shoulder and he was made to look at Sendoh. He smiled. "You're concentrating again?" Rukawa looked and shrugged. "No, I'm sleeping." Sendoh chuckled. "Yeah right, well, we're up next, you wanna shoot some hoops?" He asks nonchalantly, feeling a bit of déjà vu somewhere. Rukawa paused for a moment. Sendoh sighed and stood up. "Hey…" He started softly, Rukawa looked up to him slowly and gasps when Sendoh decided to ruffle his hair. "Don't think too much, alright? Just have fun out there." Sendoh winked. Rukawa pouted a bit. "This game is meant to be enjoyed sunshine, not just endured. There's a difference." He grinned. Rukawa seemed still unconvinced as Sendoh rolled his eyes off in amusement, he chuckled. "Just play. Have fun. Enjoy the game."
"Just that, huh?" Rukawa shot back coolly. Sendoh nodded. "Yeah, just that…" A pause. Rukawa shrugged as he cast his eyes down. "Just have fun and time is not wasted, huh…" Sendoh sighed and shook his head. He felt endeared, as if he is talking at the naïve part of Rukawa. "The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time, Rukawa-kun." When Rukawa cannot think of anything more to say, he wordlessly stood up from the bench as well and stretched his pale arms. He paused to see Sendoh looking at him with something in his eyes- he couldn't read into yet. 'Stop daydreaming, doaho.' He inwardly berated himself. He felt his cheeks heat up a bit. "So…" Rukawa started, and almost fidgeted his right foot, "…do we practice?" Sendoh simply snorted softly and chuckled. Rukawa frowned. "What's funny?" Sendoh shook his head. "Nothing, it's just that… you looked cute, Rukawa-kun." And probably, that statement made one pale and blue-eyed Rookie beet red in the ears. "Do-doahou." Sendoh only grinned back as the taller boy walked towards across on one side to get the ball and dribbled across the gym. Stares and heads turned now as the game that they've been waiting for has finally arrived.
Sendoh dribbled the ball on the free throw line, eyes looking up at the basket- oblivious to the stares around him, and to the gym door that has just opened just in time for the Shoyo-Kainan players to come inside and probably watch the match-up that they deemed of as matchups between four rivals.
Thirty minutes before the game and the four players can be seen on each side of the court, practising on their own. Sakuragi can be seen running around doing some layups as Fukuda simply dribbled the ball in fancy ways, but he has this deep thoughtful expression. The bench are almost full now with players from all teams and Ayako could only watch in anticipation as she shook his head. "Kogure-senpai, please remind me that this is simply just a match-up right?" Kogure adjusted his glasses and chuckled nervously. "Uh, well, apparently it is- just so happened that the players who would be battling it out are not ordinary players." Ayako simply sighed and shook her head. "Even I am utterly surprised."
Maki sat down wordlessly on one bench with Fujima of course on his side. Behind them a mixture of team Shoyo and Kainan boys stood- waiting patiently as well for the second game to ensue. Hanagata sighed softly as he spoke in his low-toned voice, "So is it safe to assume that Sendoh and Rukawa will be having this game just like a walk in the park, perhaps?" He inquired almost analytically and Fujma could only shrugged and snort. "Technically and to everyone else here perhaps, yes, they might find this too easy but if I would give in my innermost thoughts about it…" A pause and Kenji found himself smirking. "…one can never be too confident." Maki nodded his head. "For the past few months, Sakuragi has shown a great deal of improvement. He may be a beginner in the field, but to someone who's very much a fast-learner, his relentless energy and stamina is a threat indeed." Maki shifted his gaze now to the two Aces from both teams. He made a long stare to one particular player on the court, the taller of the two- Akira Sendoh to be exact. He remembered their game against Ryonan a few months ago and once again, he was reminded on how Sendoh played against him on a level that almost got him, had fate dictated otherwise. 'Sendoh, it is as if he almost came up to me and said, let me win, but if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt.' Maki found himself smirking as he closed his eyes. 'Genius.' He inwardly mused once more.
Sendoh fired a jump shot from one corner and the ball went in, he tugged his lips upward and jogged to catch the ball that has bounced somewhere. Rukawa was simply standing on one side, dribbling- eyes looking blank, aware of the fact that all stares were being particularly thrown at them. He tried to remain oblivious as he can be and decided to run past by Sendoh to have a simple layup. He caught the ball with one hand and stopped on one side only to be greeted by the welcoming stares of the few people on one side. He was about to turn his back to have another shot when Kiyota hollered back at him. "Just so you know, Jin and I won." Kiyota snickered. Rukawa momentarily looked back, not really knowing what to say. 'So? Who's Jin? And who're you?' He inwardly shot back. He shrugged and sped off to the free throw line. Kiyota gritted his teeth in annoyance and snob the pale rookie. 'I'll beat you both, Sendoh and Rukawa! Jin and I will win this!'
Sendoh stopped for a while when he thought he heard something ringing- it was a very familiar ring and instantly he knew that it was indeed his phone. He walked towards the bench; and rummaged his bag to receive the call from his brother. He smiled through the call. "Hey there bro!" Akira greeted a bit cheerily this time. Akito laughed at the other line. "Wow, you sound friendly, I bet you missed my calls, otouto!" Akira rolled his eyes and grinned. True enough, it's been two days since his brother called and he kind of missed him alright. They are very close to each other and they don't really get into serious fights- they bicker but it's mostly nothing serious. "Haha, yeah well, you could say that." Akira finally admitted he missed his brother.
"Aww, you're sweet otouto, I'll make you your favourite dessert when you come back!" Akito said on the other line. Akira simply nodded and respond. "Sure."
"So, how are you there? How's everything?" Akito asked.
"It's all good, actually I'm about to play- second matchup." The younger Sendoh grinned, liking the way his brother groaned on the other line. "A game again?! How many games are you guys playing anyway?" Akito hollered. Akira laughed and rolled his eyes. "We will be playing our asses off til we die, bro." Akito snorted. "Yeah right airhead, oi, by the way, don't forget that we still have a lot of Christmas shopping to attend to, so better hurry back!"
"Yeah, I know that bro…look, I really want to talk but my teammate is kind of giving me the glare, we need to practice." Sendoh obviously tried to construct a lie- truth is, Rukawa was simply playing on court by himself. "Teammate again? From Shohoku?" Akira nodded as if Akito can see it. "Yeah, its today's matchup- it's kind of complicated, I'll tell on you when I get back about the rules, but they kind of mixed us up." Sendoh shrugged. 'Something like that.' Sendoh Akira mused inwardly.
"Who's your teammate bro? Is he there with you? Can I talk to him? Do you have a picture of him?" Akito grinned on the other line. "I plan to tell him not to cooperate so that you'll lose, you know. Hahaha!" The younger Sendoh rolled his eyes. 'There goes his brother again.' "Hey, shut it now, will you, the last time you called. I lost. We lost."
"Fuck, for real?" Akito gasps on the other line. The spikey-haired nodded. "For real. Remind me to kill you when I get back." Akito laughed at the statement he just heard. "Hahahah, no thanks, I pray you'd have amnesia though! Oops, kidding there. But, I knew it, you're going to lose! Hahahah!" Akira simply rolled his eyes and snorted. "Not this time bro…" He paused and looked at the pale guy who fired another jump shot. Akira smiled. "…I won't lose this time, Akito-niisan. Apparently, I am teamed up with one Kanagawa's most formidable scorer." Akira grinned.
"Oh really, huh! C'mon let me talk to him!" Akito prodded. The player simply chuckled. "He doesn't talk much." 'Or so I think.' Akira added as a thought, because the last time he checked, Rukawa seemed to be talking already a bit to him. He smiled at the thought. "I'll call you next time, bro, I need to go! Game's about to start!" Akito snorted at the other line, "Whatever, just do your best!" Dial tone. Sendoh momentarily looked at his phone a smile on his lips. He looked at his left just in turn to see Rukawa approaching him- the pale rookie wiped his forehead with the back of his hand as he huffed slightly. Sendoh smiled. "Hey, don't push too much, Rukawa- still ten minutes more, rest now." Rukawa wordlessly nodded as his gaze fell on Sendoh's hand clutching his phone. "Who you're talking to?" Somehow, managing to ask the older boy. 'Duh, Rukawa why are you asking anyway?' He inwardly kick himself for being a bit nosy back there. 'What gives, Kaede?'
"My brother." Sendoh grinned. Rukawa looked up and nodded. "Oh." He softly stated. Sendoh simply shrugged as he both sat down on the bench, just awaiting the whistle to blow to signal off the start of the game. Rukawa panted as he drank in his Pocari and wiped his mouth using his shirt. Eyes looking ahead brightly on the court. For the next forty minutes, both he and Sendoh are going to be teammates. And somehow, somewhere, Rukawa promised, that for the next forty minutes—he will play as if they've been teammates for the longest time. He doesn't need to explain why so… because he already knew. He now only wonders if… the older boy somehow cares. Rukawa involuntarily gulped as his blue eyes moved to wonder around the court- seeing all too familiar faces, chatting endlessly with each other; and as Rukawa slowly closed his eyes with the final few minutes ticking down- there a whistle blew by signalling the start of their game. The crowd erupted in a familiar echoes of hoots and cheers, some taunting and others encouraging. He could recognized a few voices from afar and as Rukawa opened his cerulean orbs- they seemed to focused more intensely now; he was about to stand up when a weight on his shoulder grabbed his attention and it was no other the hand of his teammate- Sendoh Akira; Rukawa looked at his right and saw that handsome face smiling back at him. "Are you ready, your highness?" Sendoh asks jokingly. Rukawa paused, as if hesitating for a bit before finding the will to nod his head off- he tugged his lips upward. 'Have fun. Just enjoy.' Surely, the pale boy would very much love to oblige. "Ready when you are, slave." Sendoh chuckled and probably mustered all his strength not to gasps upon hearing Rukawa spoke those words, truth is- he felt happy and contented, and he now knew why. He ruffled the pale guy's head and stood up from the bench. The crowd going a bit frenzy now as they hoot and cheered. From across, Sendoh eyes Maki looking at him- Maki nodded and Sendoh simply smiled back. And as they walked towards the centre of the court- with Sakuragi and Fukuda waiting already on the middle, looking very imposing indeed, Rukawa paused and looked back at Sendoh who was trailing two steps behind. He pouted. "You'd pass the ball, to me right, and not to Fukuda?" Sendoh stopped- and chuckled. "Haha, you think I'd betray you on court, dear?" Rukawa felt his cheeks heat up. 'Dear? Damn you Sendoh Akira!' Sendoh grinned and clacked his tongue. "Aw, you turned red again." He chuckled. Rukawa glared back. "Of course I'd pass the ball on you…" A pause. "… but promise me, you'll pass back."
Silence. Rukawa contemplated at first before answering. "I'll think about it." Sendoh snorted and shook his head, scratching the back of his nape. Akagi and Uozumi stepped on the courts- chosen to be the two referees this time. "On the middle now, for the jump ball!" Akagi hollered. Sakuragi immediately took the slot to take in the jump ball. Eyes looking menacing now as he prepared to jump high to get the orange leather on their side. Fukuda standing close behind, looking ready as well. Akagi eyed the other two and asked, "So, who's going to the jump ball?" Rukawa immediately shook his head. "I don't do jump balls." Uozumi chuckled upon hearing this and Sendoh could only snort back in response. The redhead cackled evilly and menacingly looked at the pale guy. "It's a pity you can't do a simple thing like this. Good thing, nanny's around, eh? Nyahaha." He was bonked by Akagi on the head. "Itte, Gori!"
"Quiet already will you." Akagi turned to look at Sendoh who was smiling sheepishly. "Don't tell me, you don't do jump balls, either?" Akagi threatened. Sendoh raised both of his hands and shook his head. "Er, don't worry, I do, Akagi-san. I'll do it." Akagi smirked. From the corner, loud shouts and hoots with laughter erupted at the start of the awkward scene before them. Maki shook his head, disbelieving the silly little thing at the start of the game.
Sendoh positioned himself at the centre but not without hearing something from Sakuragi who stood almost already the same height as his. Sendoh's eyes widened a bit as he smiled his usual and nodded his head off to the redhead. Sakuragi only smirked as he readied himself for the jump. "Spikey, I've always waited for this, I'm going to beat you now." Sakuragi said confidently, eyes looking sharp and with a smirk so sure of himself. Sendoh simply snorted softly and shrugged. "I have always seen your improvement, Sakuragi-kun… and sure, you're welcome anytime to try." Sendoh calmly stated back- and as the ball was raised between them- Akagi tossed it over two tall players, and in a split seconds, two boys tried to jump simultaneously to get the orange leather. Sakuragi, for obvious reasons, was able to bat away the ball with his force causing for the whole gym to be surprised- he sent the ball to bounce off someplace just as Fukuda ran off to have the ball right into his hands. The crowd was surprised- well, everyone honestly thought that it's going to be Sendoh and Rukawa's first basket. Fukuda sped off towards the other end and was about to charge into the goal when Rukawa appeared in front of him- Fukuda backed down a bit, stunned by that seemingly sharp and blue eyes that speaks of 'seriousness'. Fukuda tried to have a one-on-one against Rukawa who was carefully trying to observe first before noticing that he had a chance to steal. Sakuragi came in from behind and hollered, "Pass!" Fukuda looked at his left to see Sakuragi keen on having the ball passed onto him but hesitated when he saw Sendoh guarding the redhead to the much enjoyment of the crowd. Everyone was cheering for both the redhead and Sendoh. Mitsui's voice boomed throughout. "Sakuragi! Don't hesitate, beat Sendoh now!" Miyagi as well shouted to boost Sakuragi's confidence. The others simply hooted and cheered randomly. Sendoh in all honesty, was still beginning to start up. He was guarding Sakuragi but not the total kind- he was not trying to take it on easy as well, but he was defending. He is still trying to read into the redhead's move. 'This kid is unpredictable- he might do something funny later on.' From the corner of his eye he could Rukawa trying to guard an attacking Fukuda. And as Fukuda dribbled once- twice, he ran past Rukawa and evaded him to the surprise of the crowd and was able to jump up to put in a reverse layup. The stunned crowd erupted in cheers as the first two basket was made. Sakuragi was surprised, he wanted very much to get mad but seeing their first score on board- he wasn't able to help it but to smirk as well. He cackled. "Nyahahah, it's all because of my exquisite pass." Akagi shouted at him. "Back on the game, doaho!" Sakuragi scowled and this time, it's their turn to defend. Sendoh dribbled the ball and walked towards the other two that's already on the other end of the court. Rukawa was simply walking beside him, eyes looking blank. Sendoh chuckled, "Rukawa-kun, when I say enjoy the game, I don't mean that you lax on guard." Sendoh reminded as he dribbled the ball, picking up pace now. Rukawa simply glared at him menacingly. "Who says I'm chilling, doaho? I just got passed by, that's all." He pouted. Sendoh snickered some more, shaking his head. "I'll get this point, just wait and see." Rukawa hissed. Sendoh simply rolled his eyes and bend low just as the redhead approached him now, eyes looking menacingly. Sendoh smiled. 'A little challenge wouldn't hurt.' Sendoh bent low and dribbled- he charged right in front of a stunned Sakuragi and turned his back on him- pushed a bit back and turned once again to fake-ly attempt on a jump shot- it was executed perfectly because Sakuragi thought that he would be shooting indeed as the redhead jumped up but Sendoh knew and he instinctively passed the ball to his left expecting Rukawa to catch it but alas- Rukawa's eyes widened because the pass was anticipated by Fukuda and the smug-face guard sped off towards the other court. All three ran behind him and Sakuragi came in right behind Fukuda, asking yet again for a pass. "Pass, Fukusuke!" Fukuda wordlessly did so and as the ball was handed to him over, Sakuragi grinned menacingly readying himself for his first layup. He jumped- ready to place the ball on top of the ring when the said ball was batted away by no other than Sendoh- only to be caught by Rukawa who now ran towards the end of the line for the easy two. This time, the crowd hollered evenly. Sakuragi fumed. "Teme!" Sendoh looked over to Sakuragi and smiled. "Nice try, Sakuragi-kun." The redhead blushed a bit and pouted.
Sendoh turned to his pale teammate who was walking towards him now. "I didn't get the pass." Rukawa childishly exclaimed. Sendoh simply snorted and chuckled. "You'll get it next time." Rukawa could only snort back. "Ch, doahou." And so the game ensued between this four players for the next twenty minutes. The first half was clearly a close battle between the two-miraculously as many expected for Sendoh and Rukawa to get the easy win- but Sakuragi and Fukuda proved to them that everybody can like the underdog for everyone feels like the underdog at one point in their lives. The first half ended- score is 48-54, in favour of the two blue-eyed boys. Fukuda knew at some point that this is going to happen, still he was grateful because somehow he manages to keep his focus optimal and commits a few mistakes. Somehow, the redhead as well is not committing mistakes- just so happened that Rukawa is truly indeed a deadly scored on court. Fukuda sniffed as he drank his water and looked at the other side, to where the two Aces sat. He was thinking on how to slightly weaken their offence. At one point he thought he could read into his Taichou's passes- but Rukawa seemed to be getting the hang of it already because every time Sendoh made a pass, the young boy is sure to be there. Sakuragi gritted his teeth and clenched his fist. "K'so, can't we foul them?" Fukuda shook his head. "Not going to be easy to foul… Sendoh." Sakuragi clacked his tongue. "I'll try to foul him and I suggest you elbow the kitsune!" Fukuda sweatdrop. That is not happening of course. "Remember what I told you, Sakuragi?" Sakuragi seemed to pause. He did remember a few smarty-pants lines from this smug Fukuda. "It's not the size of the dog in a fight… it's the size of the fight within the dog" Sakuragi looked on wordlessly and tightened his grip on his tumbler. "Are we going to lose now, Fukusuke?" Fukuda snorted. 'Lose? Too early to give up yet…' His reverie was broken though when Fukuda put on another line that sent him pondering once again, but, somehow believing as well. "I never expect to lose. And even when I'm the underdog, I still prepare a victory speech."
The whistle blew. Start of the second half.
TBC
a/n: sheesh, I must admit I didn't quite like the last part and the game details, lol! Sorry, I'll put in more intensive details on the next chapter! Thanks so much for keeping with me, I hope you're still on this! :D