Only
Disclaimer: I wish I
/did/ own Slam Dunk and all the chars in it. But I don't.
Dreams
"Psst, Sendoh-san, wake
up!" I raised my head to regard my classmate drowsily, as he nodded frantically
towards our rapidly advancing teacher. I smiled, shook my head, and propped my
head up on one elbow as I stared off in the direction of the chalkboard,
pretending to be paying her rapt attention. She seemed to be satisfied, because
she gave a brisk nod and turned back to whatever she had scribbled on the board.
Good, I can go back to my dreaming.
Yes, believe it or not, the great
Sendoh Akira, Ryonan's Ace, straight-A student, likes to sleep. Particularly in
class. Somehow I always leave that out when people ask me about my hobbies,
though. I only tell them about fishing.
Basketball? That's not my hobby.
It is my life. It's made me who I am today, and has more or less described my
social circle as well. On the court is where I met everyone important to me,
besides my family.
Hobby: sleeping. Sounds... familiar.
Basketball
is how I met him. At first, I just had a tremendous amount of respect for him.
The way he dribbles, passes, shoots; it's like magic. Everything done in one
flawless, liquid motion. I knew they weren't kidding when they referred to him
as Shohoku's Ace. Super Rookie, Rukawa Kaede.
Later, I got to know him
better. Yes, via those famous one-on-ones we have. I swear half of Kanagawa has
somehow got wind of them. The other half isn't interested in basketball. When
you play someone one-on-one, you get to know them much better than if you played
them in a game. In a game, it's about two teams. One on one, it's just me and
you.
Definitely not a simple person. After a while, you realise that he
doesn't talk much, not because he has no opinions, but because he has so much to
say. His brain works faster than his lips can. It's not a matter of pride, but
of respect; he knows better than to tick others off with clever remarks that are
all too true. Most others, anyway.
He's not emotionless, or passive. I
can see everything he feels, everything he thinks; it's all in the deep blue
eyes, displayed with such intensity that the passion scares me sometimes, even
now. Kitsune's eyes. It's easy to get distracted when playing against him. Yet,
I dare not make it too obvious when I watch his gaze, lest he read my
own.
He's not really what everyone else thinks he is, you know. Playing
in Shohoku for his own glory, that's not true at all. He does care, though he
doesn't like to show it. But people just don't see that, they just call him
--
"An arrogant bastard." Shrugging, he leans back on the fence, hands
clasped behind his head. One hand rests atop the ball we just used, unwilling to
let it go even after the game. "Let them say what they like," he adds, raising
an eyebrow in my direction, expression unchanging.
That's right, say or
think whatever you want of him. Just don't get between him and basketball.
Basketball is his first priority, and his only love. There's no place for
anything else in his heart, or anyone else. I like to consider myself his
friend, perhaps his only true friend, and still I know that he only spends time
with me for the sake of basketball. Nothing can get his attention away from it.
Basketball is his life, too.
Oh, and sleeping, of course.
Which
brings me back to where I started. Strange, that Sendoh Akira likes to dream.
But well, if reality doesn't work out for you, the land of dreams is a good
place to escape to.
Only in my dreams will I be able to take his
attention completely away from basketball. Only then do I have the faintest
chance of taking first place from basketball in his heart and mind.
Only
in my dreams that I have the courage to look into his eyes without fearing that
he will see through me. Only then will I dare to stop smiling, and let my eyes
tell what my soul feels.
Only in my dreams do I dare to call him Kaede,
no more Rukawa-kun. Only then can I hear him whisper in response,
Akira.
It is only when I dream, that I can smile softly at him... and see
his smile in return.