A/N: And yes, as you readers have expected, Yohei pretends to be attracted to her! Oh wow, I sound like I¡¯m announcing an important thing~~ haha¡ However, sorry, but the mushy part doesn¡¯t come now. No, he does not kiss her. He merely¡ ¡just read on.
Disclaimer: Do I have to put it down? Oh alright. Slam Dunk does not belong to me. Eh, to whom then? Oh, you know it.
# sLL: Oh no! Sorry¡I think the quotation marks appear weird again because I saved them in a different format¡ That¡¯s because I need the bold and italic effects on the words. If you can tell me how to save the document without the weird symbols, but with the bold and italics, I would really appreciate it. Arigato! #
# Perc Mad Hatter: It¡¯s weird? And no, I am not going to disclose the plot to you¡hehe #
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CHAPTER FOUR
Yohei pulled her into his embrace. And right on cue, Haruko pushed him away forcefully and slapped him resoundingly across his cheek. Yohei flushed, and began to shout some indiscernible words at her, grabbing her arm in a swift motion. Hot tears blinded her, and she escaped from him in a flurry, tripping over her feet as she went.
Sakuragi eyes almost popped out of their sockets. His eyes flamed with anger as he charged forward and tried to knock the young man down. Yohei, however, did a neat twist and landed, free of his friend¡¯s bulky body. Sakuragi ended up crashing down onto the floor, wincing as sharp jolts of pain coursed through him. Yohei shut his eyes tightly as the impact of the fall took its toll on his friend. He didn¡¯t mean for it to turn out this way.
As Yohei bent over his friend in concern, the ¡°ever-hyper¡± man stood up almost instantly, without a complaint. Yohei shuddered to think of what would follow next.
¡°How could you?!?!¡± Sakuragi burst out, all his energy focused on projecting that sentence alone. He wanted as many people to hear it. Yohei wanted to just take off immediately, but he knew that he had to play his part.
¡°I like Haruko-chan!¡± he blatantly lied. ¡°Why can¡¯t I show my affection for her?¡±
Sakuragi¡¯s eyes bulged even more. [If that is even remotely possible]
¡°Nani?!?!!¡± All his pent-up emotions flowed forth, and a stream of unbelievably foul curses emitted from his mouth. [Heaven forbid!]
Yohei tried to cover his ears to shut out the awful sound. You never knew that Hanamichi had such a fierce temperament, did you? Haruko-chan.
After the cascade of vulgarities had subsided, Yohei looked straight at Sakuragi and arranged his face in what he hoped was a sorry expression. [Sound familiar, HP fans? BTW, HP is Harry Potter, not Hewlett Packard]
¡°Gomen ne, Hanamichi. But you are in the same boat as me. You know what it¡¯s like to like a girl and not be able to express your fondness for her.¡± Good Lord, I never knew that it was so difficult to tell a lie! Yohei was struggling with his conscience. But to help a friend in need, this was necessary.
Sakuragi collapsed onto the ground, exhausted by all the recent events. His mind screamed for him to get up and teach Yohei a lesson. Instead, Sakuragi opted for the better and more rational choice. He didn¡¯t have the energy to shout anymore.
¡°Okay. Go ahead and explain.¡± He sighed wearily.
Yohei withheld the truth, and spun a story about his so-called crush on Haruko. When Yohei was finished, despite his tiredness, Sakuragi swore determinedly to himself that he would win Haruko¡¯s heart before Yohei had a chance to snatch it away. He drew in a ragged breath and crossed his fingers, unnoticed by his friend.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
¡°Wasn¡¯t my acting good?¡± Haruko squealed excitedly over the phone.
¡°Uhm¡yeah.¡± Yohei replied, still feeling the nagging guilt at the back of his mind.
¡°Yours was perfect too!¡± she continued, clueless about his feelings. [Couldn¡¯t she guess from his tone?]
¡°Uhm, okay.¡± Yohei muttered, not really paying any attention to her words. ¡°Look,¡± he started. He wanted to get it off his chest. ¡°Hanamichi was really furious and hurt. Didn¡¯t you even notice?¡± His tone was slightly acidic.
¡°Oh no! Gomenasai!!¡± Haruko apologised profusely over the phone. ¡°I didn¡¯t realise!¡±
As usual, Yohei thought dryly. ¡°So, uhm, I think we should stop this act and tell him the truth.¡±
¡°But¡but¡¡± Haruko protested. ¡°Rukawa-kun¡¡± She sounded like a love-sick puppy.
Oh my. Yohei sighed inwardly. Here we go again.
¡°Okay, okay, you can have it your way.¡± He knew that he would only waste his time trying to argue with her.
He could almost picture her grinning to herself.
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A/N: Sorrie if it¡¯s too short again¡my parents were nagging at me to study¡again. Well, I know that nothing much happened in this chapter, and I¡¯m very sorry, but I need more time alone if I¡¯m to write a better chapter. I hope you readers out there who are reading my fic can give me some feedback¡sigh~