A/N:
Yaaaaay… F I N I T O!!! *sniff sniff* I really liked writing about Sendoh…! How bout another Sendoh fic, minna? HauhUHAuHAuhAa… *sees Sakuragi growls at the corner for not getting a fic written of him yet* Eeks! *sweatdrops* Okay… I hope this still counts as a Valentine ficcie… even if I'm one day late in finishing it hoho… Thanks for reading everyone, I hope you liked the ending!
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End of first half. Shohoku was trailing behind by 8 points. Partly because they're up to such a strong combination team. Fujima and Hanagata of Shoyo, paired with Uozumi, Fukuda and Sendoh of Ryonan, then having Ikegami of Ryonan and Hasegawa of Shoyo sitting as standby substitutes. Ayako agrees, you won't find a stronger combination such as this in the whole Kanagawa prefecture.
But another part is that Rukawa Kaede, Shohoku's ace rookie, is missing.
Sendoh cracked open the can of Pocari Sweat that he had just obtained from the vending machine around the corner of the Shohoku basketball club locker room and gulped the liquid to quench his thirst. The moment he walked into the Shohoku gym, the first person his eyes were looking for was Rukawa. But apparently, he skipped practice today. Maybe he went to see Sumire off to the station. But he would've been back by now. But then he remembered that Sumire has told him that things hasn't been too well between the two. And Sendoh couldn't help but wonder where Rukawa is right now and what is it that he could be doing.
He saw two girls walking up towards his direction in the empty hallway, and he stopped his steps when he realized that one of them was Chie, walking casually with her classmate, Akagi Haruko. After a moment, he found himself surprised for he found no signs of sadness nor pain as he looked at her. And with that, he brought his steps forward towards her.
"Hello, Chie." He said casually as he stopped his steps in front of her. She had stopped her steps ever since she caught sight of him and was caught by surprise at his greet. He looked different to her this time. When she saw him on the street quite some weeks ago she could see the definite sadness in his eyes. But they weren't there this time.
"Akira-san…"
"You look well." He said again.
Chie's face turned red for a moment in awkwardness. "Nee, Akira-san, what happened to your face…?" She asked softly.
Ah, the inevitable question about Rukawa's mark. Sendoh smiled and just shook his head. "Ah, it's nothing." Then he turned and smiled at Haruko as well. And now both girls were standing in front of the tall Ryonan point guard, with blushing red faces. Haruko knew of Sendoh and Chie's past history, and she found herself as an intruder standing amidst a very awkward position, and she doesn't know whether to stay by Chie, or run as fast as she could.
And speaking of Rukawa's mark…
"Say," Sendoh broke the awkward silence again. "Where is Rukawa?"
"Rukawa-kun?" Chie repeated Sendoh's question, most certainly glad at the change of unspoken subject, then she promptly turned towards a now even more beet-red Haruko. An instant reaction that happens at the mention of Rukawa Kaede's name. "Nee, Haruko-chan… where is Rukawa-kun?" Chie nudged Haruko.
"Wakaranai yo!" Haruko exclaimed in discomfort. "He… he didn't show up at all today!"
"He stomped out of practice a few days back. And haven't returned since." Mitsui continued Haruko's sentence as he showed up among the three.
"Yareyare…" Rukawa's voice suddenly startled the four as he appeared behind Sendoh. "Didn't your parents tell you that it's bad to talk about someone behind his back?"
Sendoh promptly turned around, and saw Rukawa making his way casually into the locker room. At a split second before Rukawa entered their eyes locked and Sendoh was sure there was a glint beyond the boy's deep cobalt blues.
Challenge? Sendoh smirked. You're on.
* * *
"Rukawa sure is spunky today, isn't he, sensei?" Ayako said to Anzai-sensei as they observed the second half of the practice game. With Rukawa back in the game, Shohoku regained its pace. And he seems more fiery than ever, especially when faced man to man with Sendoh Akira.
Then again, so was Sendoh. Nothing brings his blood to a stir more than a good play of basketball, and somehow, it's only either Rukawa Kaede or his sister Sumire that could bring the utmost enjoyment for him to an ingenius play of basketball.
Shohoku was leading by one point now. Less than one minute left of play.
"DEFENSE!!!" Ayako bellowed from the bench as the ball falls swiftly right into Sendoh Akira's hands.
Sendoh stopped his steps in the middle of the court and smiled as Rukawa promptly appeared again in front of him, defending his turf.
"You can cut that smile off your face, Sendoh." Rukawa said solemnly, his eyes never failing to read his opponent's next movement. "I will bring you down."
"Yareyare…" Sendoh exhaled as he dribbled the ball in a coherent yet seemingly erratic rhythm. He kept his eyes locked into Rukawa's, not taking bait to his taunting bluff. He's not the kind of person who loses concentration that easily, especially on basketball. Suddenly in a split second, he eluded Rukawa smoothly. Now suddenly faced against a towering Akagi, he passed the ball to Fujima without looking, already knowing where his teammate's position is. As he eluded Akagi, Fujima promptly passed the ball back to Sendoh.
Again, Sendoh found himself standing underneath the ring with Rukawa guarding him tightly. Sendoh is always so intrigued by this freshman boy who had made himself his one true court nemesis. And now, somehow, Sendoh felt an even more intriguing bond with him, because of a shared interest. Sumire.
Sendoh took one step back, and jumped in the air with the ball high above his head.
Fake! Rukawa thought. But then he realized just in time that it wasn't a fake. As Rukawa jumped high in the air to block Sendoh's shot, suddenly Sendoh was fast enough to bring the ball back down and laid it up smoothly behind Rukawa, and it plopped through the ring.
Shohoku has lost its one point lead.
Thirty seconds left.
"Offense, Rukawa!!!" Ayako's voice tore into the gym interior as Miyagi passed the ball towards Rukawa, positioned just outside the three-point curve line with Sendoh, naturally, guarding him.
"What was it you said about bringing me down?" Sendoh taunted with his trademark smile on his face.
Rukawa's blood stirred. "Don't be so smug just because my sister likes you." Rukawa said as he attempted to elude Sendoh, but failed. He made another attempt, but then failed again.
"Rukawa, PASS!!!" Sakuragi's brashy voice echoed throughout the gym as he waved rapidly at one side, with Hanagata guarding him. Rukawa looked to the other side, and saw Mitsui guarded by Fukuda. Then his eyes turned back to the person in front of him, Sendoh.
"Don't be so smug just because you're her brother." Sendoh replied back to Rukawa's previous comment.
Seven seconds left. Every other Shohoku member was being guarded tightly by Shoyo and Ryonan. None of them could make it through. Rukawa is their only chance. It looks like Shohoku may not make it out of this game alive, when suddenly…
"Kaede!!!" Sumire's voice yelled out from the balcony top. "Ganbatte yo!!! Don't give up to that big porcupine head!!!"
Sendoh froze at the sound of her voice. His face changed as he stared at Rukawa, still not believing his ears. Then everything started to seem like they're moving in a slow motion. Rukawa's lips curved into a smile as his eyes glinted, then his other hand raised into the air and pointed to a direction up ahead.
Sumire?
"SENDOH!!!" Uozumi roared as he saw the look of distraction in Sendoh's face. This was the first time ever he had seen Sendoh lose his concentration.
And so Sendoh turned his eyes away from Rukawa, and saw Sumire leaning over the balcony railing, looking down at him. And Rukawa eluded, jumped high in the air, and dunked the last ball of the game just as the whistle blew.
Was he dreaming? If this is a dream, then I don't want to wake up.
Sumire shrugged innocently, then smiled at the still astonished Sendoh. She stepped backwards and retreated from the railing. Sendoh immediately rushed his steps towards the door. "Where's the stairway to the balcony!?" he exclaimed urgently at Ayako.
Taken by complete surprise over Sendoh's behavior, Ayako could only point towards a direction. "Aaa… asoko da…"
But he had already sped off up the flight of stairs, his heart racing fast from the fear of losing her again. This is not a dream, is it? Suddenly, he crashed onto someone as he turned around the corner of the stairway.
"Itaaaai!" Sumire wailed as she was trapped underneath Sendoh's weight. Then her playful hand pulled on his ear, as she always did. "Akira no bakaaa!"
He opened his eyes, and saw Sumire right in front of him.
"Sumire…" he finally mouthed the words out. "What's going on…? Why are you…"
She smiled. "Tadaima." She said softly, as she leaned closer and kissed him.
As their lips locked, he realized that it wasn't a dream. His Sumire is back, and he's never going to let her go again. Ever. Slowly coiling his arms around her, he kissed her back. And being completely intoxicated in the moment, they both had entirely forgotten where they were.
"Oi, oi. Nani yatten da, do'ahou." Rukawa's cold, flat voice was heard, interrupting their moment of bliss.
Sendoh and Sumire looked up, and was looking right into a towering Rukawa, who was staring down at them.
Sumire giggled in amusement over the situation that they're in. Sendoh quickly pulled away from Sumire and helped her to get up on her feet.
"Can someone please tell me what exactly is going on here?" Sendoh asked.
"Kaede…!" before anyone could reply to Sendoh's question, the answer to his question had appeared at the bottom of the stairway. A woman, possibly in her late thirties, and one look at her, Sendoh knew who she was.
"Hai, okaa-san." Rukawa replied and made his way down the stairs. But then he paused in the middle of the flight of stairs, turned around towards Sendoh and Sumire, and then smiled as he looked at them. It wasn't just any smile. Sendoh could see that the dark cloud that had hovered over Rukawa are starting to scatter away slowly, although not entirely. But he was off to a good start.
"Thank you, Rukawa." That was all Sendoh could say right now. Thank you.
* * *
"You know… you never told me what exactly happened that day…" Sendoh said as he lazed under a tree up in the park where they had first kissed that one day.
Sumire's eyes were looking out to the glimmering ocean stretched in front of her. Yes, Kanagawa was and will always be her home. She never really knew what exactly it was that Kaede did that night when he disappeared. But he had shown up at the train station with their mother that day. So what she knew was that Rukawa Kaede had conquered the anger and bitterness in his heart to let go of the past, for the very first time, and she was grateful for that.
And it was their mother's dream come true, as she really did love Kaede with all her heart. Having her lost son back in her embrace, she decided to move back to Kanagawa, where she could be close to him. It doesn't really matter to Sumire that their family was not completely reunited back together, but it was definitely a good start towards that.
A miracle. That's what it is, of that thing called love.
And so she smiled silently. "It's getting late." She said. "Shall we go?" she stood up and dusted the dry leaves off her uniform skirt. "Mooh…" she grumbled softly. "Why did Ryonan choose such a drab color for their uniform?"
"Oh, I don't know." Sendoh shrugged casually. "I think you look cute in them."
"Do'ahou." Sumire giggled as she flung a dry leaf at him.
Sendoh smiled as he put his arm around her.
A do'ahou in love, that's what.
With a happy ending.
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- O W A R I -