Role Reversal
Chapter 2
Sakuragi
I opened my locker, and gifts and flowers literally flowed out, pooling at my feet. I sighed, and bent down to pick them up and stuffed them into my bag, making a mental note to throw these 'gifts' away once I got home.
I heard several squealing girls who I assumed were overjoyed to see me 'accept' their gifts. But all the same, this was one of the things that make my life more interesting, so I thought I'd bear with this a little while longer; I still believed that crushes never survived the summer.
After replacing what books I didn't need, I shut my locker and turned to see Rukawa opening his own locker. Unlike mine, what flowed out was not gifts but trash, including used tissues and paper cups. However, he seemed unfazed by this and fished out a large black garbage bag and swept all the trash into it. It seemed comical enough to me, but then I realised that this sort of thing must have happened to him often enough for him to prepare himself for this.
'Hey, Rukawa!'
'Hanamichi.' He blushed, caught in the act of clearing up his 'trash bin' locker. It was evident that he didn't want me to know that he was really a loser.
'Wanna eat lunch now?'
He seemed surprised by my offer, as were the other students in the corridor. I mean, who'd want to be seen with The Loser? But he gladly accepted my offer anyway, and we made for the cafeteria together.
Sitting across from each other, separated by our bowls of ramen on the table, we began to talk about mundane stuff as we ate. Then the topic suddenly shifted to basketball when we asked each other who his idol was. Mine was Kobe Bryant; his was some Korean Go personality whose name I forgot. I asked him if, after yesterday's beginner session with me, he would join basketball; tryouts were after lunch. He blushed, and then asked if Haruko would be there. I laughed, and told him, 'Why don't you go and see?'
So here we are lining up in a row, facing our seniors. We were the ones who had passed the tryouts, which had included some running and passing. Surprisingly, Rukawa could sprint really fast; I never really expected such a pale, frail-looking guy like him to be able to run like that.
Most of our seniors seemed normal enough, at least that was what I thought, until my eyes finally rested upon a stern-looking man who looked like a ...
'Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. Gori! You look like a gorilla! Bwahahahahahahahaha.'
Gori didn't look the least bit amused. In fact, I spied an ominously large vein beginning to pop out of his forehead. A wave of unease washed over me, as I sensed that I was in for it. My fears were confirmed when he used his iron fist to hit my equally hard head.
'Itai!' Guess who yelled in pain? It wasn't me! Gori was nursing his swollen fist, while the bespectacled vice-captain hopped around Gori in a vain attempt to appease him. It sure didn't help that I was rolling on the floor, clutching my sides, and laughing with my mouth wide open.
No one else present was amused. Everyone was watching me with a frozen expression of horror on his face, as Gori slowly stopped yelling. Sensing that something was amiss, I stopped laughing abruptly.
I suspected that there was more to come. And I was right. Gori suddenly stiffened as he caught sight of my Gundam hanging around the gym door, and mouthing 'Gori' at him, and then bursting into loud guffaws that echoed in the silent gym.
It only took one look at Gori's red face to tell me that he was like a bomb ready to explode. It took only a spark it off, and my Gundam's laughter was the last straw for him.
'YOU REDHEADED MONK! HAVE SOME RESPECT FOR YOUR SENIORS! MY NAME IS AKAGI TAKENORI, NOT GORI!'
'It rhymes.'
'WHAT?'
All heads turned towards Rukawa, whose monotonous voice was unmistakeable. '"Akagi Takenori" and "Gori" rhyme.'
Gori was about to open his mouth to shoot back a reply at the pale Loser, when Megane quickly ran up to him and attempted to pacify him. However, Gori was in no mood to be pacified. His nostrils and ears spewed dark and angry-looking smoke. If one looked closely enough, one could even spot fire dancing in his eyes.
Oh dear, this was no way to get acquainted with your seniors. I didn't know what to do, so I just lowered my head, and waited for the inevitable punishment that I deserved.
Just at that very precise moment, a gorgeous-looking woman of average height wearing tights and a loose tee that failed to conceal her well- endowned chest burst into the room. Everyone blushed at the sight of her. Oh, what a sight to behold! It's not everyday that a guy gets to see such a woman. full cherry lips, wavy red hair tied in a loose ponytail tucked under a red cap, porcelain skin. oh, and what beautiful sapphire eyes she had.
'Gomen, I'm late!'
Gori turned to look at her. 'Ayako, the freshmen are here already.'
'Konnichiwa minna-san. Boku wa Miyazaki Ayako desu. I am your team manager and am in 2-7. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu!'
We continued staring at her, mesmerized by the movement of her enchantingly pink lips.
'Hey, are you all mute or what? I said, "Yoroshiku onegaishimasu"! What are you supposed to say in reply?'
All of us stammered a nervous reply, and she nodded, satisfied.
Gori seemed to have forgotten about the earlier incident (which was good), for he told us to introduce ourselves, and give him our height and weight, as well as a summary of the positions we played in middle school.
My turn came. 'I am Sakuragi Hanamichi from 1-7, 188cm, 83kg. I have no fixed position.'
Next was Rukawa. 'I am Rukawa Kaede from 1-10, 187cm, 69kg. I have never played basketball before.'
'All right, guys,' bellowed Gori. 'Practice will commence now!'
I caught Rukawa's gaze and gave him a look that told him that practice was going to be fun.
His expression in reply to mine showed his doubt. It seemed to say, 'Are you sure I can do it?'
A/n: heehee. I'm such a naughty person. Supposed to study, but here I am posting. XP. Probably will not post for the next forever and a half. =D
Chapter 2
Sakuragi
I opened my locker, and gifts and flowers literally flowed out, pooling at my feet. I sighed, and bent down to pick them up and stuffed them into my bag, making a mental note to throw these 'gifts' away once I got home.
I heard several squealing girls who I assumed were overjoyed to see me 'accept' their gifts. But all the same, this was one of the things that make my life more interesting, so I thought I'd bear with this a little while longer; I still believed that crushes never survived the summer.
After replacing what books I didn't need, I shut my locker and turned to see Rukawa opening his own locker. Unlike mine, what flowed out was not gifts but trash, including used tissues and paper cups. However, he seemed unfazed by this and fished out a large black garbage bag and swept all the trash into it. It seemed comical enough to me, but then I realised that this sort of thing must have happened to him often enough for him to prepare himself for this.
'Hey, Rukawa!'
'Hanamichi.' He blushed, caught in the act of clearing up his 'trash bin' locker. It was evident that he didn't want me to know that he was really a loser.
'Wanna eat lunch now?'
He seemed surprised by my offer, as were the other students in the corridor. I mean, who'd want to be seen with The Loser? But he gladly accepted my offer anyway, and we made for the cafeteria together.
Sitting across from each other, separated by our bowls of ramen on the table, we began to talk about mundane stuff as we ate. Then the topic suddenly shifted to basketball when we asked each other who his idol was. Mine was Kobe Bryant; his was some Korean Go personality whose name I forgot. I asked him if, after yesterday's beginner session with me, he would join basketball; tryouts were after lunch. He blushed, and then asked if Haruko would be there. I laughed, and told him, 'Why don't you go and see?'
So here we are lining up in a row, facing our seniors. We were the ones who had passed the tryouts, which had included some running and passing. Surprisingly, Rukawa could sprint really fast; I never really expected such a pale, frail-looking guy like him to be able to run like that.
Most of our seniors seemed normal enough, at least that was what I thought, until my eyes finally rested upon a stern-looking man who looked like a ...
'Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. Gori! You look like a gorilla! Bwahahahahahahahaha.'
Gori didn't look the least bit amused. In fact, I spied an ominously large vein beginning to pop out of his forehead. A wave of unease washed over me, as I sensed that I was in for it. My fears were confirmed when he used his iron fist to hit my equally hard head.
'Itai!' Guess who yelled in pain? It wasn't me! Gori was nursing his swollen fist, while the bespectacled vice-captain hopped around Gori in a vain attempt to appease him. It sure didn't help that I was rolling on the floor, clutching my sides, and laughing with my mouth wide open.
No one else present was amused. Everyone was watching me with a frozen expression of horror on his face, as Gori slowly stopped yelling. Sensing that something was amiss, I stopped laughing abruptly.
I suspected that there was more to come. And I was right. Gori suddenly stiffened as he caught sight of my Gundam hanging around the gym door, and mouthing 'Gori' at him, and then bursting into loud guffaws that echoed in the silent gym.
It only took one look at Gori's red face to tell me that he was like a bomb ready to explode. It took only a spark it off, and my Gundam's laughter was the last straw for him.
'YOU REDHEADED MONK! HAVE SOME RESPECT FOR YOUR SENIORS! MY NAME IS AKAGI TAKENORI, NOT GORI!'
'It rhymes.'
'WHAT?'
All heads turned towards Rukawa, whose monotonous voice was unmistakeable. '"Akagi Takenori" and "Gori" rhyme.'
Gori was about to open his mouth to shoot back a reply at the pale Loser, when Megane quickly ran up to him and attempted to pacify him. However, Gori was in no mood to be pacified. His nostrils and ears spewed dark and angry-looking smoke. If one looked closely enough, one could even spot fire dancing in his eyes.
Oh dear, this was no way to get acquainted with your seniors. I didn't know what to do, so I just lowered my head, and waited for the inevitable punishment that I deserved.
Just at that very precise moment, a gorgeous-looking woman of average height wearing tights and a loose tee that failed to conceal her well- endowned chest burst into the room. Everyone blushed at the sight of her. Oh, what a sight to behold! It's not everyday that a guy gets to see such a woman. full cherry lips, wavy red hair tied in a loose ponytail tucked under a red cap, porcelain skin. oh, and what beautiful sapphire eyes she had.
'Gomen, I'm late!'
Gori turned to look at her. 'Ayako, the freshmen are here already.'
'Konnichiwa minna-san. Boku wa Miyazaki Ayako desu. I am your team manager and am in 2-7. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu!'
We continued staring at her, mesmerized by the movement of her enchantingly pink lips.
'Hey, are you all mute or what? I said, "Yoroshiku onegaishimasu"! What are you supposed to say in reply?'
All of us stammered a nervous reply, and she nodded, satisfied.
Gori seemed to have forgotten about the earlier incident (which was good), for he told us to introduce ourselves, and give him our height and weight, as well as a summary of the positions we played in middle school.
My turn came. 'I am Sakuragi Hanamichi from 1-7, 188cm, 83kg. I have no fixed position.'
Next was Rukawa. 'I am Rukawa Kaede from 1-10, 187cm, 69kg. I have never played basketball before.'
'All right, guys,' bellowed Gori. 'Practice will commence now!'
I caught Rukawa's gaze and gave him a look that told him that practice was going to be fun.
His expression in reply to mine showed his doubt. It seemed to say, 'Are you sure I can do it?'
A/n: heehee. I'm such a naughty person. Supposed to study, but here I am posting. XP. Probably will not post for the next forever and a half. =D