Updated! And very pleased about it! Enjoy the chapter, everyone! PS: The Eri girl in the last chapter was based on the Eri in one of Slam Dunk's OVA. If you've watched it, you'll know she's the manager of this newly formed basketball team and is awfully rich and fussy. : ) Sorry, forgot to tell you that in the last chapter because I was too concentrated on getting the chapter up. :P
Lazuli: Just reread Redemption of Althalus. Me like Althalus. : )
Patty g: Aki x OC? Omigosh, this is the first time someone actually wants me to write an OC x OC!! Ha ha! I'll think about it. Maybe we can cast a vote or something, patty-san? BTW, Porka's chest HAS grown, along with the rest of her.
Fer-chan: *silently supports Porka as she bashes fer-chan* heh heh. Just one question, why was Porka asking for Miyagi's number?
Alexia: Read on!
Unchained: He he, let's see how you like Porka here in this chap!
Dreamiegal: hallo! Don't worry about reviewing! As long as I know you're enjoying this, it's fine! And lots of people write more than one fic at a time, Karla, so there's nothing impressive about that. :]
Yoriko: Have fun at the wedding – er, I hope it wasn't YOUR wedding??
Joy: Your waiting's over, Joy-san!
Tensaispira: Thanks, Sinn Yuin! (PS: Am I supposed to keep your name a secret? If I was, then everybody who's reading this who is not tensaispira, please delete the name mentioned from your memory. Arigato)
Frozenfemale: Am continuing!
Shirodachi: Thanks. :D I keep having this image of you going: "I wuv this, I wuv this" in this really cute way. Ha ha! I'm insane.
Fiery-ice: Aki a mini-Akira? Well, they're brothers, aren't they? : ) You can have him, once he gets over his obsession with Porka. Ha ha!
Rei142: Thanks! I appreciate your love for my fics! *grins*
sLL: Yes, I suppose Pork sleeps in the same room with Porka. Maki and Mitsui posted. (did that make sense?) Hey, *nudge, nudge* tell me, what's your favourite story? Don't be selfish and share good stories with the rest of us. : )
Jo-sen7: *joins Jo-sen7* yeah! Baka Akira! I don't know what I'll do with Aki yet. He's just a kid *smiles fondly*
Silhouette Panther: Find out. : )
Fer-chan: Ka ka ka! Your self-insert made me laugh like a hyena! Imagine Sendoh dancing with Pork *authoress goes into another tirade of laughter.* Arigato!
Reika Zelon: The pig thing is really getting to you, isn't it? *laughs* Sorry, can't help you there. : ) The next part is here!
Babypooh: Am continuing! Thanks!
Tiran: Somehow, everyone's getting fonder of Aki instead of Akira! I must be doing something wrong… anyway, enjoy this chap!
Kka: Eri reminds you of a bull? *tries to see the similarities* ha ha! Which book were you talking about? And what style was the same? Sorry, but I don't understand!
She glared at him across the breakfast table for the fifth time that minute.
Sendoh sighed and dropped his spoon noisily on the plate, his appetite deteriorating rapidly. "All right," he muttered, crossing his arms. "What is it?"
The glare immediately turned into a smile so bright it scorched him. "I don't know what you're talking about, Master, though it wouldn't hurt if you wanted to explain. I'm not as illiterate as you obviously are." Her eyes locked his in a deceivingly warm gaze.
He wasn't falling for it. "You know what I'm talking about, or else you wouldn't put up that fake sweetness. Answer me."
"Fake sweetness! Why, Master, I object to that term!"
"You're changing the subject. Answer me."
She dropped the pretence and all but snarled at him. "I hate you," she muttered viciously. "You're the most insensitive, stupid piece of a yellow-bellied chicken that I have ever encountered. You go off for years, and then come back as if everything was still the same." She slammed a fist on the table. "It's NOT the same, and you're blind not to see that!" She paused, watching his confused face, and then added: "And I don't like Eri!"
He stared at her, baffled. "Eri? What does Eri has to do with this?"
"You see? You see how insensitive and oblivious you are to –"
He raised his white napkin in defeat, burying his face under it and muttering some prayers for strength to get by alive. "You can go on talking," he told her. "I think I'll just lie my head over here and try to die."
She leaped up to him and grabbed his face. "OPEN YOUR EYES!" she yelled. "AND USE IT! Can't you see that everything's changed?? Can't you see that little embroidery over there? I did that, and I put it there. And what about that cake you're eating?? I made that too. Haven't you realised that I've learnt how to cook and am no longer the little, flat-chested girl you bought ages ago??"
He narrowed his eyes cunningly. "Ah, so that's what this is all about," he grinned. "You're mad because I'm not paying much attention to you."
She jerked her hands away. "No way am I mad because of such a –"
"I think you like me, Porka, underneath it all."
"What an incredibly dumb thing to –"
He laughed delightedly. "Maybe if you're not blushing so much, I'll believe you."
"I'm not blushing!" even though she knew she was beet-red. "You've always been colour-blind and that's hardly my fault! Now get that stupid grin off your face because it's annoying!"
He shrugged, taking the grin away. Porka tried to find something else to scream about at him, but his sudden withdrawal from the fight left her with nothing to spew over.
They sat in stony silence for a while.
"Are you going to marry Eri?" she asked suddenly and abruptly.
He blinked in surprise. "Marry? Eri? Why, I never even thought about that." He paused thoughtfully. "Are you suggesting it to me? I might just –"
She shook her head a little too quickly. "No."
The grin came back. "I knew it. You are in love with me." He leaned close. "Do you want to marry me?"
He was making a joke out of it, is it? Porka scowled deeply. "I'd rather bite my head off." Then, turning the game around, she looked at him. "Do you want to marry me?"
He laughed. "When Earth breaks into two."
Her eyes narrowed, suddenly insulted. "I can win your heart, Sendoh. You might be surprised."
His smirk was a little too degrading. "Surprise me." With a look that clearly spoke of how he thought of her statement, he walked away, whistling.
Porka watched him go, eyes narrowed and brain working. "I believe I will, Master."
Yet another embarrassingly short chapter. But I'll make up to it – someday. Really!