Disclaimer: I don't own Slam Dunk and its characters… ^.^

Author's note: LOL actually I didn't really know what G-String was either… I had to do a little research for that ^.^ And let me tell you…. It WASN'T like what I expected! LOL I expected it to be like what sumo-wrestlers wear, minus the two flappy thingies! =P Thanks to all readers and especially reviewers! ^.^

Tensaispira : heyy….. u from Malaysia too? Uhh…. how do I order it? LOL I'm hopeless when it comes to this kinda stuff ^.^ It's something like Slam Dunk except that it features a guy AND girl team ^.^ LOL! HOW did you find out!? Btw…. Thanks for actually bothering to read my fic and review a second time!

Mainime : *kneels down and looks up to heaven in joy* LOL! Thanks for keeping up with my story and glad you enjoyed it! And thanks for bothering to review ^.^

Nellie : You live in Taiwan? LOL cool! Don't worry bout that… thanks for the review anyway!

LOL…. Don't know how many times I said thanks for the reviews altogether in the story… but I really, truly am very incredibly grateful! ^.^ Not many people who don't write know how much it means to a writer that people actually read and appreciate their story! LOL anyway thanks for the nth time, reviewers cause if ya'll weren't around, I'd probably leave the story hanging and never update it ^.^ So…… here's the next chappie! Enjoy! ^.^

Admirer

By: sLL

            Akagi walked slowly up to Mai's front door, clutching a bouquet of roses in his right hand. He hadn't wanted to go through with the flowers but Haruko had insisted on it looking at him with large, pleading eyes, so… He cleared his throat nervously before pushing the round doorbell with a mini-sticker with a face on it which looked suspiciously familiar… though he couldn't place it. He made a mental checklist of everything he needed… Suit-check. Car-check. Flowers-check. Girl-…well, she was gonna come out soon enough. Akagi looked down at his shoes and fidgeted uncomfortably.

            Hmm…so let's see…Kogure said she's really nice though she doesn't have many friends… and she's in Mitsui's class…? I don't really know many girls in that egoistic baka's class… but I'm sure it's fine… Kogure said she's really nice…Personality is always what matters, right? Still…I wonder how she looks like…She should be really cute and innocent, the way Kogure described her…Long hair or short hair though? Argh… that shouldn't matter… Now will she like me? Do I really look like a Gorilla like that egoistic baka calls me? Grr…how  dare that baka call me that… He really gets on my nerves!  If only I could get my hands on him, I'd--

            "Hee-llo, Akagi-san?" A blurry hand waved furiously in front of his eyes. Blushing furiously, he realized he had been so engrossed in his thoughts that he hadn't realized that the door had opened and his date was standing in front of him right now.

            "Uh..hi….err..Ishiiro-san..Aa…these are for you," Akagi stammered stupidly, then thrust his left fist with the flowers out towards her. Akagi lifted up his head. Taking in the sight in front of him, his jaw dropped open slightly. THIS girl!? People say she's really nerdy AND an introvert… PLUS she's fat… no wonder too, she's always eating and never exercising! How am I supposed to face everyone at the party with a NERD!? Kami-sama… you've gotta be kidding me… Akagi looked skywards. No answer there. He started to panic. Shimatta… that egoistic baka is gonna torture me forever… Kogure…you're DEAD!

 Akagi shook his head slightly, trying to clear his mind of those negative thoughts. Wait a minute… looks don't matter right? Since when do you care what that egoistic baka thinks anyway… Akagi looked her up and down as he led her to the car. She was smiling, looking quite happy for some reason. And anyway… she DOES look a lot better than normal now…with her hair down and…she's quite curvy too…Akagi's gaze moved down and rested on her stomach which was made clearly visible by the clingy dress. Okay, so she IS fatter than I thought…Ack! I shouldn't be staring at her like some sort of hentai! Akagi tore his gaze away, blushing once more as he opened the car door for her.

Akagi got into the car and started the engine, looking at her from the corner of his eye. Ookay… so she didn't notice my staring. He heaved a sigh of relief. She could actually be pretty if she didn't wear those horrible thick glasses and slimmed down a bit… Okay, a LOT… but what is she thinking about anyway? Smiling like a baka…

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(At the party)

            The butler opened the door and took Akagi's coat. He then gestured towards a door from which Mai could hear extremely loud music. Taking a deep breath, Mai walked into the large, dark, disco-ish room confidently with Akagi. Thank you, Kogure, for helping me pick out this great outfit…(she wore a sleeveless black, clingy dress with a satin green coat over) she waited for people's reactions. Almost immediately, heads turned and jaws dropped.

            Before she could take a second look at them to see what would happen next, Kogure appeared amidst the crowd, waving his at them. "Yo, Akagi, Mai! This is Reika," he gestured towards his date.

            As Akagi and Kogure started talking, Mai noticed the people around them were whispering to themselves and snickering. Some of them were looking at her out of the corner of their eyes. I. Musn't. Get. Nervous. She thought over and over again, like a mantra. I gotta act cool if I wanna impress Micchy…Wonder if he'll remember me…

            "Hey," a voice broke her train of thought. She looked for the source. Oh. Reika. Mai collected her nerves and smiled at Reika. "Hey," she said back.

            "Looks like they're gonna take quite awhile.." Reika glanced in the guys' direction where Kogure was talking animatedly to Akagi, waving his hands in the air. Mai nodded in agreement. "Wanna head over there and play a game?" Reika gestured towards a group of people huddling together in a corner of the large room.

            "Sure," Mai patted herself on the back mentally for being able to keep her cool. Reika led the way through the mob of dancing  bodies as they headed over to the corner. As they got closer, the group broke apart. "Hey Reika!" some girls screamed while some guys wolf-whistled and catcalled.

            "Wanna play?" a girl near them asked. Reika gave the group a once over and smiled seductively, lowering her eyelashes. "Sure," she purred. Mai looked at her in horror as she watched the seemingly cute, innocent girl change into a sexy vamp right before her eyes. "How about you?" the girl asked. Mai gulped and looked around the group which had gathered back. All eyes were focused on her now.

            To play or not to play, that is the question… uh..? Baka! I shouldn't be reciting Shakespeare lines now…Mai's eyes move from person to person. Yaaaaarh! Is that Micchy? Her eyes suddenly focused on the handsome young MVP heading towards them right now. The group seemed to have noticed as well and parted again to welcome him. Aside from feeling relieved that his appearance had saved her from having to decide, Mai was even more flustered than ever. Is my hair alright? Is my face alright? Oh no, don't worry or else you'll sweat! (A.N.: Fat people do sweat when they worry too much from what I've observed ^.^)

            Meanwhile, the group reformed, standing in a large circle and Mai found herself standing in between two girls. Mitsui was standing in the middle, bending down. Mai's face suddenly flushed beet-red. Guess why?  Yup, she was staring at Mitsui's ass ! (LoL hentai!)  As she was preoccupied, she didn't notice what he was doing until suddenly, one of the girls next to her nudged her.

            Mai was jolted back to reality and realized that everyone was looking at her and half the girls were….. green? She looked at the guys and they were laughing like hyenas… no help there. Confused, she looked at Mitsui….. and realized he was standing next to an empty Coca-cola bottle. His face wore an expression of shock.

            Mai started feeling nervous. Oh no… I'm sweating for real now! What is happening and why is everyone looking at me? Mai could feel sweat pooling on her upper lip. She could see the guys whispering something into Mitsui's ear. Kawaii…As she watched, Mitsui's face suddenly hardened and his eyes filled with determination as they met hers. He held her gaze and started walking towards her.

            The girl next to her seemed to pick up on her nervousness and whispered into her ear, "Just play along, don't worry, you're really lucky…" Play along? Play what? I'm lucky? Yeah I am, he's actually walking towards me!  Mitsui was coming nearer and nearer and his pace seemed to slow… everything seemed to slow down…

            Mai's heart beat faster and faster. Everything seemed to move slower and slower. Suddenly, Mitsui's face appeared right in front of her. Suge… He looks sooooooo much more kawaii up close… don't let this be a dream…Mitsui's face came closer to hers… This MUST be a dream… it's too good to be true…she could feel his warm breath on her skin… Kami-sama… I just wanna thank you for giving me such a beautiful and real dream… his lips met hers.

             Just as soon as his lips touched hers, the warmth was gone. Mai's eyelids fluttered open and she got a split-second glimpse of the horrible expression of disgust on his face as he sputtered, wincing just before she blacked out.

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            Akagi looked up from his conversation with Kogure as a loud roar of laughter erupted from a noisy, raucous corner of a room where Mitsui and his wilder friends were. He looked around and realized Reika and Mai had disappeared. As a matter of fact, half the party had gathered at the corner. Kogure had apparently noticed the same thing as he looked at Akagi questioningly. A quick scan around the room ensured that they were somewhere near the corner. They exchanged worried glances; they knew something had gone wrong judging from the cruel laughter. There was only one thing left to do… they headed towards the corner.

            Spotting Reika near the edge of the thick crowd nearly dying of hysterical laughter, they ran towards her. "Reika, where's Mai? What happened?" Kogure asked her. Regaining her composure, Reika smiled lazily, "They played a little babies game and she couldn't take the pressure," she batted her eyelids at Kogure. Akagi looked at Kogure in surprise. His face wore a worried look. Apparently, the vast difference in Reika's personality had gone unnoticed.

            Akagi and Kogure pushed their way to the center of the circle… and the sight that greeted them was shocking. Mitsui was rubbing his lips in disgust and Mai…

            "Mai!" Kogure exclaimed, running over to her side as Akagi followed suit. They looked at each other in horror. Mai lay in the middle of the circle, apparently fainted. "Mitsui you baka! What did you do to her!?" Akagi asked Mitsui who was glaring angrily at his friends who were laughing themselves silly.

            Mitsui's head swiveled towards them as he looked for the source of voice. The corners of his mouth turned up in a sneer as he laid eyes on Akagi. "We were just playing a little game of Spin-the-Bottle… and she couldn't take it."

            The corners of Akagi's mouth twitched as he imagined Mitsui, the ever popular jock kissing Mai, the reigning nerd queen… but controlled his impulse to laugh. "And I assume you had to kiss her?"

            Mitsui scowled. "Yeah… and it was HORRIBLE… she was sweating so much!" he involuntarily shuddered in disgust at the memory and cringed as a howl of laughter ensued from his friends who had been listening. "Urusei!" he shouted, whirling around to face them. The laughter quieted down into little snickers now and then.

            Meanwhile, unnoticed by everyone, Mai had woken up…

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            Urghh… where am I now? Mai opened her eyes as her vision blurred, then cleared. "And I assume you had to kiss her?" Huh? Akagi? What's he doing here? "Yeah… and it was HORRIBLE… she was sweating so much!" Mai's head was spinning as her thoughts recollected. Is that Mitsui? "Urusei!" She sat up and looked at the laughing crowd and the expression on Mitsui's face… and realization of what he said dawned upon her. Oh. My. God. He kissed me… and he hated it… Mai didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

            "And that fat nerd is your date?" she saw Mitsui smirk as he spit out the question to Akagi.

            Kogure glanced at Mai and looked away. Then his head turned around properly. "Mai-chan! You're awake!" he exclaimed.

            As the whole group turned to look at her, she recoiled in horror. Shimatta. This can't be happening. He kissed me. He hated it. He KISSED me! But he hated it… And he thinks I'm a fat nerd… and everyone is staring at me…thoughts ran through her head like wildfire.

            "Mai, daijobu?" Akagi asked her worriedly. Mai nodded, her eyes focused on a figure opposite her. Mitsui. He wore a look of utter fury on his face. The whole group went silent as he stalked angrily towards her. Hnn.. he DOES look kawaii even when he's angry… Mai's mouth unconsciously formed a half-smile.

            Suddenly, he stopped. His eyes locked onto hers as he pointed a finger at her. "You. Get out." He only said three words but his eyes showed the evident unspoken message : 'You. You've embarrassed me. I never want to see you again. Get out of my house and NEVER show your f***ing face here ever again.'

            Mai was too shocked to move. In her entire life, she'd been a good girl and always obeyed her parents (maybe that's how she became a nerd).

            "Baka no Mitsui, what are you doing?" Akagi's voice rose in fury as he noticed Mai's crestfallen expression. Although he DID agree that she was a nerd, he sympathized with her. He stepped in front of her protectively, shielding her from Mitsui's glare.

            "So now you're protecting the nerd? How interesting… Gori and the nerd… together you're Gorinerd…" Mitsui's voice dripped venom with every word as he let out a bitter cackle.

            Akagi was shocked. He'd always known that Mitsui had a big ego and he'd always thought he had a good heart… but now he knew better. "Yamate, Mitsui, don't you see you're…"

            A loud whimper interrupted Akagi's speech. All eyes swiveled in Mai's direction as she ran out of the room. "Matte!" Kogure glared at Mitsui and indicated for Akagi to follow him as he ran after her.

            The front door was wide open and the night was still and dark. No noise, no indication a girl had been running there. Akagi and Kogure looked at each other helplessly, not having a clue of what to do and where to go. After a few moments, they sighed and decided to leave to find her.

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Akagi's Conclusion

Well, after hours of searching, we didn't find her… Wonder what's happened to her… That baka no Mitsui… he never cared about other people's feelings….

Aa.. I'm hungry.. I didn't get to eat at the party… What's in the refrigerator? Roast chicken Mum made earlier… Mmmm…

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Kogure's Conclusion

            Shimatta, what have I done? I convinced her to go to the party but ended up humiliating her… Arrrggggh! I feel so bad! Well, she should be okay, right….? I hope so…. What can I do, what can I do….. and she'll think that we didn't come after her because we couldn't find her!

            Well, she should be alright, right?

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(Somewhere in the dark maze of Mitsui's neighbourhood)

            Mai sat at the bus-stop, sobbing. As a taxi pulled up, she got into it and gave her address in a muffled tone, feeling lucky she remembered to bring money.

            As she tried to hide her muffled sobs, the taxi coursed along the long, winding roads all the way to Mai's small house where she paid the fare and got into her home…

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*For those of you who don't know, Spin the Bottle is a game where the chosen player spins the bottle and has to kiss the person whom the bottle is facing

^.^