Introducing - Japan!
Part 11
Rukawa watched in amusement as Kazuha tried to regain her composure. Her eyes widen in surprise at the sight of him before her brows met in a scowl. Then she blanked her expression into the usual cold mask.
"That's not how you make a three-point shot." He surprised himself at the words coming out of his mouth. He saw her looking at him cautiously - he knew she was waiting for him to bring up the subject of her mutterings. But he decided to take pity on her since he was in the same muck as well.
[Pan.] His thoughts immediately formed her face. Green eyes crinkled in laughter and mouth curled in a cheeky smile, with a small dimple forming at the right corner of her mouth. [So lively.] She was everything he wasn't - and yet sometimes he could catch a glimpse of a totally different Pan than the one she showed to the world. Like the time after her fight with the Judo captain - she was cold then and there were those times when she thought nobody were looking, he could barely detect sadness in her eyes. In all, he was fascinated with her and he wanted to explore every facet of her. If she let him.
Yeah, right. In a million years.
Someone like her with someone like him.
"Oi." His imagination popped and he turned to face Kazuha.
".."
"You were saying."
"."
"About the three pointer."
He smiled mentally. It seemed to him that she was quite willing to change the subject. He twirled the basketball on the tip of his index finger. [Well.What the hell. Beats thinking about someone.]
"Stand there." He pointed to the three-point curve. "Here. Make a shot." He threw the ball at her.. She did but the ball rebounded of the headboard.
"You're too stiff. You need to relax your muscle and focus."
"Hn."
"You're not focusing."
"."
[Thinking about someone. I know the feeling.]
******
"Hiyeah!!"
"Harder! Faster!"
"Huh..huh..(panting) ..Hiiiiiii-Yeah!" Bam! Hiroshe Mamoru staggered backwards. Pan smirked at him. She was having her regular morning workout with her brother.
"How's that?" Pan wiped the sweat off her forehead with the back of her hand.
"Good but you're not concentrating enough." He commented.
"I know."
"You have a problem baby sis? We can always talk."
"Nothing I can't handle myself. Well, Ja. I'm off for my morning run." She ran to her room, changed into her jogging suit and just as quickly went off before her brother could mutter anything else of a talk.
"Hmm. Talk." She sighed as she jogged lightly. For her brothers, talk involved sitting down for hours and dilly-dallying around the subject. She cringed as a memory surfaced - it was when she reached puberty and it was one of the most embarrassing talk she ever had.
[What would they know. they're guys.] She stopped and looked at her hands. Then lightly touched her right hand. [Rough.just like a boy.] She wiped a tear off the corner of her eyes before her lips curled in a small smile.
[Baka, to cry over a small thing.]
[Although sometimes I wish I wasn't as different as the other girls.]
She smiled another small smile before continuing on her jog.
(A few minutes later)
"Woi!" She shouted at a group of three boys beating up another boy. All three turned. "Stop!"
"None of your business little boy. So Scram!!" Bully No. 1 shoved a fist her way.
"Hey, waitaminute! I know him!" Bully No. 2 pointed at her. "He's with Sakuragi and their Gundam - and he's the one who beat up one of our members quite bad a few weeks back."
"Yeah! Now I remember." No. 3 joined in. "Well, well, looks like you're all alone this time." Their victim had long gone, and it now seemed they had found a new one.
"I dunno guys," Bully no. 2 hesitated "what if Sakuragi came-"
"Don't be a chicken." No.1 aimed a fist towards Pan. She moved just in time and aimed one herself. It hit his stomach and he doubled back in pain.
"Bozzzou! Daijobu?!" No.2 glared at her and bulldozed forward. She stood her ground and moved sideways at the very last minute with one foot out. No.2 fell face first to the ground.
Pan looked at the third member who was steaming with anger. She crooked a finger and smiled a challenge.
"Why you-" He let out a war cry.
And so, the fight continued.
******
Sakuragi walked with his hands in the pockets of his pants. Everyone who passed his way steered clear of him due not to only his height and formidable red hair but the scowl decorating his face.
He had tossed and turned the night before and only managed to get a few hours sleep. The reason being of a certain Aisu and a certain Smiley with a gravity-defying hair out on date. He had stumbled across Hikoichi the day before, who was doing his usual research. Hikoichi pulled him aside and asked him if he knew of the identity of the girl Sendoh was going out with. Apparently, the girl wasn't Ryonan and rumor has it that she was from Shohoku. This had Sakuragi imagination running sky-high and he mumbled a 'dunno' before leaving Hikoichi scratching his head.
He was certain Smiley was going out with his Aisu. After all, weren't they flirting the other day at the practice game? They were talking and holding hands.and.and. (at this point he was exaggerating everything out of proportion)
He shoved his hands on his head and made a mess of his red locks. "Argh! Kuso!"
"Eh." His ears could barely make out the sound of a basketball being dribbled. Unknown to him, he had walked all the way to the open basketball court - where he had practiced for what seem like a long time ago with Haruko.
It sounded like someone was playing basketball. He decided to watch and maybe join the person - anything, as long as he could put his mind away from the thoughts of Sendoh with Aisu.
Sakuragi approached the court and his eyes widen at the sight before him.
Rukawa and Aisu. playing basketball together. [Rukawa?! Rukawa?! And Aisu?! My Aisu?!] Anger together with jealousy welled up and he saw red.
"Oi!! Bakas!!" Rukawa and Aisu turned to look at him, who at the moment was charging his way onto the court.
Without thinking, Kazuha threw the ball she was holding towards Sakuragi's head.
"Bang!" A lump formed. Sakuragi stared in astonishment mixed with anger at Kazuha. She stared back nonchalantly with a brow lifted in challenge.
Without warning, both jumped at each other. Fists went flying and legs were kicking madly. Forgotten, Rukawa stood aside, watching in amusement. He stood there for a few seconds before turning his back and left the two to sort out their problem.
******
Pan was surrounded on all sides. It was stupid really. She could have finished them off earlier but she had a lot of steam and frustration to let out. So she decided to play with them for a while. Look where that got her.
No.1 sneered and aimed a kick at her. She jumped back and stumbled into no.3 who pushed her to the ground. She put her hands forward to cushion herself and the impact jarred her newly healed shoulder.
[Itai. That hurts.]
******
Rukawa woke up from his sleep and managed to swerve from crashing onto a lamp post. He braked his bike and carefully touched his shoulder. He was sleeping dreamlessly when a sharp pain exploded suddenly from his shoulder. There were no cuts but it was still aching painfully.
[Pan!] His mind shouted [She's hurt!]
He left his bike and guided by instinct, ran as fast as his legs could carry him.
******
TBC.
Rei: Sorry.For taking soooooo long to continue the story. BTW, don't forget to review - I don't mind flames and critics, as long as they're your honest opinions.
Part 11
Rukawa watched in amusement as Kazuha tried to regain her composure. Her eyes widen in surprise at the sight of him before her brows met in a scowl. Then she blanked her expression into the usual cold mask.
"That's not how you make a three-point shot." He surprised himself at the words coming out of his mouth. He saw her looking at him cautiously - he knew she was waiting for him to bring up the subject of her mutterings. But he decided to take pity on her since he was in the same muck as well.
[Pan.] His thoughts immediately formed her face. Green eyes crinkled in laughter and mouth curled in a cheeky smile, with a small dimple forming at the right corner of her mouth. [So lively.] She was everything he wasn't - and yet sometimes he could catch a glimpse of a totally different Pan than the one she showed to the world. Like the time after her fight with the Judo captain - she was cold then and there were those times when she thought nobody were looking, he could barely detect sadness in her eyes. In all, he was fascinated with her and he wanted to explore every facet of her. If she let him.
Yeah, right. In a million years.
Someone like her with someone like him.
"Oi." His imagination popped and he turned to face Kazuha.
".."
"You were saying."
"."
"About the three pointer."
He smiled mentally. It seemed to him that she was quite willing to change the subject. He twirled the basketball on the tip of his index finger. [Well.What the hell. Beats thinking about someone.]
"Stand there." He pointed to the three-point curve. "Here. Make a shot." He threw the ball at her.. She did but the ball rebounded of the headboard.
"You're too stiff. You need to relax your muscle and focus."
"Hn."
"You're not focusing."
"."
[Thinking about someone. I know the feeling.]
******
"Hiyeah!!"
"Harder! Faster!"
"Huh..huh..(panting) ..Hiiiiiii-Yeah!" Bam! Hiroshe Mamoru staggered backwards. Pan smirked at him. She was having her regular morning workout with her brother.
"How's that?" Pan wiped the sweat off her forehead with the back of her hand.
"Good but you're not concentrating enough." He commented.
"I know."
"You have a problem baby sis? We can always talk."
"Nothing I can't handle myself. Well, Ja. I'm off for my morning run." She ran to her room, changed into her jogging suit and just as quickly went off before her brother could mutter anything else of a talk.
"Hmm. Talk." She sighed as she jogged lightly. For her brothers, talk involved sitting down for hours and dilly-dallying around the subject. She cringed as a memory surfaced - it was when she reached puberty and it was one of the most embarrassing talk she ever had.
[What would they know. they're guys.] She stopped and looked at her hands. Then lightly touched her right hand. [Rough.just like a boy.] She wiped a tear off the corner of her eyes before her lips curled in a small smile.
[Baka, to cry over a small thing.]
[Although sometimes I wish I wasn't as different as the other girls.]
She smiled another small smile before continuing on her jog.
(A few minutes later)
"Woi!" She shouted at a group of three boys beating up another boy. All three turned. "Stop!"
"None of your business little boy. So Scram!!" Bully No. 1 shoved a fist her way.
"Hey, waitaminute! I know him!" Bully No. 2 pointed at her. "He's with Sakuragi and their Gundam - and he's the one who beat up one of our members quite bad a few weeks back."
"Yeah! Now I remember." No. 3 joined in. "Well, well, looks like you're all alone this time." Their victim had long gone, and it now seemed they had found a new one.
"I dunno guys," Bully no. 2 hesitated "what if Sakuragi came-"
"Don't be a chicken." No.1 aimed a fist towards Pan. She moved just in time and aimed one herself. It hit his stomach and he doubled back in pain.
"Bozzzou! Daijobu?!" No.2 glared at her and bulldozed forward. She stood her ground and moved sideways at the very last minute with one foot out. No.2 fell face first to the ground.
Pan looked at the third member who was steaming with anger. She crooked a finger and smiled a challenge.
"Why you-" He let out a war cry.
And so, the fight continued.
******
Sakuragi walked with his hands in the pockets of his pants. Everyone who passed his way steered clear of him due not to only his height and formidable red hair but the scowl decorating his face.
He had tossed and turned the night before and only managed to get a few hours sleep. The reason being of a certain Aisu and a certain Smiley with a gravity-defying hair out on date. He had stumbled across Hikoichi the day before, who was doing his usual research. Hikoichi pulled him aside and asked him if he knew of the identity of the girl Sendoh was going out with. Apparently, the girl wasn't Ryonan and rumor has it that she was from Shohoku. This had Sakuragi imagination running sky-high and he mumbled a 'dunno' before leaving Hikoichi scratching his head.
He was certain Smiley was going out with his Aisu. After all, weren't they flirting the other day at the practice game? They were talking and holding hands.and.and. (at this point he was exaggerating everything out of proportion)
He shoved his hands on his head and made a mess of his red locks. "Argh! Kuso!"
"Eh." His ears could barely make out the sound of a basketball being dribbled. Unknown to him, he had walked all the way to the open basketball court - where he had practiced for what seem like a long time ago with Haruko.
It sounded like someone was playing basketball. He decided to watch and maybe join the person - anything, as long as he could put his mind away from the thoughts of Sendoh with Aisu.
Sakuragi approached the court and his eyes widen at the sight before him.
Rukawa and Aisu. playing basketball together. [Rukawa?! Rukawa?! And Aisu?! My Aisu?!] Anger together with jealousy welled up and he saw red.
"Oi!! Bakas!!" Rukawa and Aisu turned to look at him, who at the moment was charging his way onto the court.
Without thinking, Kazuha threw the ball she was holding towards Sakuragi's head.
"Bang!" A lump formed. Sakuragi stared in astonishment mixed with anger at Kazuha. She stared back nonchalantly with a brow lifted in challenge.
Without warning, both jumped at each other. Fists went flying and legs were kicking madly. Forgotten, Rukawa stood aside, watching in amusement. He stood there for a few seconds before turning his back and left the two to sort out their problem.
******
Pan was surrounded on all sides. It was stupid really. She could have finished them off earlier but she had a lot of steam and frustration to let out. So she decided to play with them for a while. Look where that got her.
No.1 sneered and aimed a kick at her. She jumped back and stumbled into no.3 who pushed her to the ground. She put her hands forward to cushion herself and the impact jarred her newly healed shoulder.
[Itai. That hurts.]
******
Rukawa woke up from his sleep and managed to swerve from crashing onto a lamp post. He braked his bike and carefully touched his shoulder. He was sleeping dreamlessly when a sharp pain exploded suddenly from his shoulder. There were no cuts but it was still aching painfully.
[Pan!] His mind shouted [She's hurt!]
He left his bike and guided by instinct, ran as fast as his legs could carry him.
******
TBC.
Rei: Sorry.For taking soooooo long to continue the story. BTW, don't forget to review - I don't mind flames and critics, as long as they're your honest opinions.